Mildred Pierce would have made a great guest for Dr. Phil or Oprah.
During the Great Depression, Mildred鈥檚 husband has been moping about since the collMildred Pierce would have made a great guest for Dr. Phil or Oprah.
During the Great Depression, Mildred鈥檚 husband has been moping about since the collapse of his real estate business and takes up with another woman until Mildred has enough and throws him out. That takes care of one problem but leaves her to support their two daughters herself. With no work experience, Mildred finally takes a job as a waitress that she finds humiliating, but eventually her parlays what she learns and her baking skills into a successful restaurant.
So Mildred could be a great example of feminine independence as a single mother who becomes a small business owner thanks to her hard work and careful planning. On the other hand, Mildred is often a conflicted mess with an inferiority complex who can never find the balance between living too cheaply or too extravagantly, and she鈥檚 got horrible taste in men.
And then there鈥檚 her daughter Veda.
Veda is an exceptional instance of a writer creating a character that you just love to hate with this snobby manipulative child who looks down her nose at the mother who supports her and grows into something even worse.
Damn, did I love to hate Veda.
I hated her so much that I hoped that Mildred would sell her off to work in a Depression-era sweatshop in which there was some kind of dangerous machinery that would mangle her.
I hated Veda so much that I hoped she鈥檇 get polio.
I hated Veda so much that I hoped she鈥檇 take an airplane ride with Amelia Earhart.
I hated Veda so much that I hoped she鈥檇 end up traveling with the Joad family so she鈥檇 get all the misery she so richly deserved.
I hated Veda so much that I started hating Mildred for loving her.
Since Cain created a couple of classic noir femme fatales in The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity, it鈥檚 interesting that he wrote this book about the complex and unhealthy relationship between a mother and a daughter that also took a long look at what it was like for women of the era. ...more
Warning! The following review contains humor. If you read it and actually think that I'm being critical of Huxley, try reading it again. (Here's a hinWarning! The following review contains humor. If you read it and actually think that I'm being critical of Huxley, try reading it again. (Here's a hint. Look for the irony of the italicized parts when compared to the previous statements.) If you post a comment that asserts that I'm wrong/ stupid/ crazy for this and/or try to lecture me on all the points you think I missed then I'm going to assume that you read it literally, missed the joke, didn't read the other comments where I've already answered this about a dozen times, and I will delete your post.
I have to apologize for this review. The concept of this book was so outlandish that I think it made my mind wander, and you may find some odd random thoughts scattered in it.
Anyhow, this book was so silly and unrealistic. Like any of this could happen. In the far future the babies are genetically engineered and designed for certain stations in life with a large workforce bred to be happy with menial jobs that don鈥檛 stress them physically or mentally. I really should look into getting that data entry position I saw in the job postings. It鈥檇 be a lot less stressful than what I鈥榤 doing now.
In addition to all the genetic modifications, the children are raised by the state, and words like 鈥檉ather鈥� and 鈥檓other鈥� are considered obscenities. Subliminal messaging through infancy and childhood also condition people to repeat idiotic platitudes as if they are genuine wisdom. I鈥檝e been in a bad mood today. I need to turn that frown upside down. And since the world economy depends on constant consumption by the highest classes, they鈥檙e encouraged to be wasteful The collars on a couple of my shirts are a little frayed. I should go buy some new ones and throw the old ones out. and to engage in activities that demand spending and resource use. Should I get a new set of golf clubs? I lost my old ones when we moved, but I hadn鈥檛 played in a long time. But would I play more if I got new clubs? There鈥榮 that really nice looking course right down the street. I don鈥榯 know how they keep the grass that green in this heat. The population even gets to zip around in their own private helicopters rather than cars. Man, when are they going to come out with jet packs for everyone. It鈥檚 2011 and I鈥檓 still driving around in a car like a chump. I want my jet pack!
Casual sex is actively encouraged. Wow. These condom commercials on TV have gotten really racy. The population is also programmed to be constantly partaking of some form of entertainment and to never just sit quietly and think I鈥檓 bored. Writing is boring. or to be alone Let鈥檚 check Facebook and see what all my friends are doing.
One of the sillier ideas is that the foundation of this society is Henry Ford鈥檚 assembly lines and that Ford has become the most revered figure in history. Like a businessman could ever become that popular. Is Steve Jobs making any announcements this week? I get itchy when there鈥榮 no new Apple products.
While everyone seeks to be constantly entertained, all of the entertainment panders to the lowest common denominator. Hey, Jersey Shore is on! and the emphasis is on presenting it with gimmicks to engage the audience like 鈥檛he feelies鈥�, movies that the audience can also smell and feel the sensation from. I wonder if they鈥檒l re-release Avatar at the movies so I can see it in 3D again like James Cameron intended? At one point, a character complains about the feelies, 鈥淏ut they鈥檙e told by an idiot鈥�.works of art out of practically nothing but pure sensation.鈥� I should go see that new Michael Bay Transformers movie.
Perhaps the most far fetched idea in this is that the population has been trained to sedate themselves with a drug called soma that relives any potential anxieties and keeps people from thinking about anything upsetting. I want a beer.
I guess this Huxley guy might have gotten lucky and predicted a few things, but he was way off base about where society was going. ...more
I had high hopes for this and it started with an incredible opening sentence. But the whole thing remained curiously flat to me despite some detailed I had high hopes for this and it started with an incredible opening sentence. But the whole thing remained curiously flat to me despite some detailed sympathetic characters and an interesting premise. I think my reaction may have more to do with my state of mind than the book itself. It鈥檚 the middle of a long hot summer, and my literary cravings are running to crime thrillers and sci-fi that I can easily absorb as I cower from the sun in the house with the central AC on so high that the senses become numb. Or to shake off the frostbite, I鈥檒l brave the heat on the shady part of the deck but it takes a lot of cold beer to make that tolerable. Those conditions aren鈥檛 ripe for books that make you think too much.
In the early 1700s in Peru, five random travelers are in the wrong place at the wrong time when crossing an old Incan bridge and go splat. A priest got obsessed on figuring out if those victims 鈥榙eserved鈥� their fate any more than the lucky bastards who just missed being on the bridge. The book gives a glimpse at the trials and tribulations of the people who died and the circumstances that had them on the bridge at that exact moment.
There鈥檚 some great writing and good characters here, but there鈥檚 also an aloofness that makes you feel above caring about what happened to these people. From the afterward in this edition, Wilder deliberately kept the reader at a distance so that we can view what happened somewhat dispassionately. For my taste, he did it a little too well because this didn鈥檛 have much emotional impact to me. This is one that I ended up admiring as a technical accomplishment rather than liking as a story. ...more
Graham Greene鈥檚 classic account of a priest living on the run in a Mexican state after socialists have taken political control and are trying to abolish the Catholic Church is a grim tale of human nature at it鈥檚 best and worst. The unnamed priest is a drunk who isn鈥檛 particularly brave and has committed sins big enough to register fairly high on he Catholic Guilt-O-Meter. Even as he flees, he half-hopes to be captured and end his miserable life on the run, but he still tries to cling to his duty and faith by holding Mass and hearing confessions when possible.
The priest is being pursued by a Lieutenant, a committed socialist who hates the Chruch for the way it milked the poor for every peso, yet while he believes he鈥檚 doing the best thing for the peasants, he won鈥檛 hesitate to kill some of them in an attempt to get the priest to be given up by the locals. It鈥檚 a classic portrayal of someone who puts their ideology above actual people.
This is my second Graham Greene book, and like The Heart of the Matter this one has a lot to do with Catholic ideas of what damns and redeems someone. I liked it, but as a non-Catholic, I hate seeing characters tied in knots because of dogma. I tend to see their worrying about their eternal damnation for not being able to perform a ritual as kind of silly and pointless. Still, Greene鈥檚 good enough to make me sympathize with the plight of the priest, and it鈥檚 a powerful story....more
Falconer Correctional Facility certainly sounds dreary and no place I鈥檇 want to spend any time, but it doesn鈥檛 seem nearly as bad as many fictional prFalconer Correctional Facility certainly sounds dreary and no place I鈥檇 want to spend any time, but it doesn鈥檛 seem nearly as bad as many fictional prisons. In fact, it seems pretty dull. There weren鈥檛 any beatings from brutal guards. There鈥檚 no racial tension evident. No one gets shivved or shanked. The only riot in the story actually takes place at another prison and isn鈥檛 discussed in detail. There鈥檚 no escape tunnels being dug through walls. Compared to fictional prisons like Oz or Shawshank, Falconer seems like a Sandals Resort.
Farragut is a new inmate who was convicted of killing his brother. He鈥檚 a drug addict on methadone, and came from a formerly rich family. In a typical prison story he鈥檇 be fresh meat, but the worst thing that happens to him in Falconer is getting his watch stolen and a bad episode of methadone withdrawl. Other than that, Farragut mainly sits around listening to the other prisoner鈥檚 bitch and reflecting on his life. He falls in love with another inmate and has some tense moments when a neighboring prison has an Attica style riot and hostage situation that makes the Falconer guards nervous, but that鈥檚 about it.
This is a curiously 鈥榤eh鈥� story to me. I was expecting a lot more from a book that was named one of Time鈥檚 100 best novels. It鈥檚 not bad, and I don鈥檛 think I wasted my time reading it. However, when I was done, all I could think was, 鈥淚s that it?鈥�...more
The on-going discoveries of priceless books and comics found in a stack of Rubbermaid containers previouslTreasure of the Rubbermaids 6: Made in China
The on-going discoveries of priceless books and comics found in a stack of Rubbermaid containers previously stored and forgotten at my parent鈥檚 house and untouched for almost 20 years. Thanks to my father dumping them back on me, I now spend my spare time unearthing lost treasures from their plastic depths.
I bitch about having to mow my lawn, but when I鈥檓 done, I usually sit on my deck and have a few ice cold beers. Then I take a hot shower and get in my car to go to the grocery store where I buy a cart full of food without giving it a second thought.
Chinese farmer Wang Lung (I wanted to type Wang Chung there. Damn you 鈥�80s!) spends all day doing back breaking labor in his own fields and there鈥檚 still barely enough food to keep from starving. His big reward is a cup of hot water in the morning with maybe a few tea leaves in it on special occasions, and he sponges himself off with hot water every couple of months whether he needs it or not.
So maybe I shouldn鈥檛 complain about walking around behind a power mower for an hour or two a week during the summer?
The book begins on Wang Lung鈥檚 wedding day. His bride, O-Lan, is a slave in the great house of his town, and they鈥檝e never met. He splurges by taking a bath, buying her a couple of peaches, and getting a little pork and meat for their wedding feast which O-Lan prepares. For a honeymoon, they go work in the fields together. This whole section made me laugh thinking about the women on those reality wedding shows like Bridezillas.
Wang Lung and O-Lan make a good couple. They鈥檙e both hard working and she soon bears him sons which is kind of important to the Chinese. (And she returns to the fields right after giving birth with no assistance. O-Lan is a dream client for an HMO.) Together their family will go through bad times including droughts and famine, but O-Lan鈥檚 steady nature and Wang Lung鈥檚 farming skills eventually bring them prosperity.
The one thing that sets Wang Lung apart from other farmers is his constant desire to acquire new land. Part of this is pride, but Wang Lung realizes that owning good farm land is the key to providing the necessary cushion to keep from starving during bad years. Plus, he genuinely loves working his crops and bringing them to harvest. His fierce love of the land is the one constant in his life, but he obviously never went through a real estate crash. (Diversify, Wang Lung! Diversify!)
This book works on a lot of levels. As a depiction of a culture that little was known about when it was published, it鈥檚 fantastic. I liked how Buck never comments or judges on things that are kind of horrifying like selling girls for slaves or binding their feet, but treats them as just the way things are to all the characters. She just let the facts speak for themselves. It鈥檚 also works as a family drama with trials and tribulations worthy of a soap opera. You could also read it as a plain old rags-to-riches success story.
Despite being set in a time and place so alien to me, the characters still seem very real and relatable despite the cultural differences. Wang Lung doesn鈥檛 seem that different from any modern American farmer I鈥檝e known. I think it must be universal that farmers everywhere like to gather and shoot the shit whether it鈥檚 at a Chinese tea house or a diner in Kansas.
And when a successful Wang Lung experiences a mid-life crisis and falls for a younger woman, you realize that it鈥檚 no different from any modern guy divorcing the wife who stood by him for years. It鈥檚 just that the sports car hasn鈥檛 been invented yet so Wang Lung can鈥檛 go buy one.
This is one of those classics that has an easily readable style and a compelling story that still seems fresh even though it was published over 70 years ago....more
At first glance, Willie Stark seems like he would have been the perfect Tea Party candidate. He uses fiery rhetoric to stir up crowds by claiming to bAt first glance, Willie Stark seems like he would have been the perfect Tea Party candidate. He uses fiery rhetoric to stir up crowds by claiming to be just like them and that he鈥檚 going to bust the heads of those evil ole politicians at the state house to force them the straighten up and do things the right way. But on the other hand, Willie actually knows something about government and uses his tactics to improve the lives of poor people by taxing the wealthy and using that money to do things like improve roads and provide free health care so maybe he wouldn鈥檛 fit in with Sarah Palin after all.
This classic novel tells the story of Willie Stark through the eyes of Jack Burden. Jack came from a privileged background but eventually turned his back on that life and became a cynical political newspaper reporter in an unnamed corrupt southern state. When Jack first meets Stark, he thinks of him as 鈥機ousin Willie from the country.鈥� because of his rube manner. Stark is a smart, hardworking and principled county commissioner, but he gets in over his head when he tries to award a government contract to the actual best bid and the corrupt politicians trash him for it.
Then Stark is tricked into running for governor by the state political machine to split the rural vote and make sure that the party favorite wins. Stark had been getting nowhere with his carefully planned speeches that patiently explained needed changes to the tax codes and other government business, but when he finds out he鈥檚 been played for a fool, Stark finds his voice as an angry hick who is tired of being abused by the politicians. Using his new populist tactics of playing up his upbringing as a poor farm boy who taught himself law at nights and promises to kick the collective ass of the political good-ole-boy network, Stark eventually does win the governorship, and Jack joins him as his political hatchet man.
Stark no longer cares about doing things the right way. He becomes a political force in the state through a combination of bullying, cajoling or bribing anyone who gets in his way. To Willie鈥檚 way of thinking, the state is full of sons-of-bitches that he either has to buy or break to get things done, and he is now fully convinced that the ends justify the means. He does actually follow through on his promises to try and help the common people of the state, but many consider him even more dangerous than the corrupt people he鈥檚 fighting.
Jack has no problems with the way that Willie runs thing until the governor gets angry at the incorruptible Judge Irwin for backing a rival in an election. When Willie can鈥檛 charm or bully the Judge into falling into line, he orders Jack to dig up some dirt on the man. However, Jack has known and admired the Judge since childhood so he has reservations about the assignment. Trying to find the Judge鈥檚 dirty laundry brings back Jack鈥檚 issues with his mother and father, and the girl he loved and lost, Anne Stanton. Things get even stickier when Willie decides that the only man to run his new pet project, a huge modern hospital, is Ann鈥檚 brother and Jack鈥檚 childhood friend, Adam.
I absolutely loved the way that Stark is portrayed in this book. It was inspired by Huey P. Long in Louisiana, a politician who accomplished a lot for the poor of his state but did so with highly questionable methods. Willie does indeed want to protect the common people from the 鈥榮ons-of-bitches鈥� who have let the state wallow in poverty and neglect while lining their pockets, but this isn鈥檛 a simple case of power corrupting either. Willie always had a lot of ambitions for his political career, and he tried to play it straight at first because he thought that鈥榮 how it was done. Once he saw the ugliness of reality behind the scenes, Willie seemingly adopts the same tactics without a second thought. Power didn鈥檛 change Willie, he changed to get and keep power, and he seems to relish his opportunities to take revenge on the types who screwed him over early in his career.
Warren鈥檚 prose is elegant and lyrical. He brings an entire region alive with a cast that includes everyone from the high society to the poorest farmers. His descriptions are so good that you can almost feel the humidity and hear the insects at times. However, he did tend to go on a bit long for my taste when relaying Jack鈥檚 personal history and insights. I would have liked more of Willie laying on the charm or ruthlessly taking down an opponent.
They say that watching government work is like watching sausage get made. Everyone wants the finished product, but no one wants to see how it鈥榮 done. This story gives weight to this idea. It鈥檚 something that will make any reader think about whether one can get anything done in a democracy without deals being cut or threats being made. Even if the goal is accomplished, is the whole thing tainted because of how it came about? And how can a person with even the best of intentions work in a system like this without becoming corrupted? ...more
Most of us have one big advantage over rich people and fictional characters when it comes to dealing with our personal issues. For example, look at MoMost of us have one big advantage over rich people and fictional characters when it comes to dealing with our personal issues. For example, look at Moses Herzog in this book. Herzog goes through an ugly divorce, and his circumstances allow him to wallow in his misery and behave erratically for months. I鈥檓 sure any of us in similar circumstances would like to put our lives on hold as we picked at our emotional scabs while ignoring our jobs and taking trips across Europe.
However, most of us don鈥檛 get that luxury. Those are usually the times when we can least afford to screw up so even though all you really want to do is hide under the covers or drink heavily or eat ice cream or drink heavily while eating ice cream under the covers, we gotta get up and go to work. And pay the bills. And do the laundry. And get the oil changed in the car.
And that鈥檚 to our advantage. Because getting over something like a divorce means moving on, even if you鈥檙e faking it half the time. Eventually, you鈥檙e not faking it anymore, you are actually living your life, and that鈥檚 how you finally recover.
Or you just completely lose your shit and end up getting stuck in endless loops inside your own head as you ping pong from one impulsive thought and whim to another until you鈥檙e completely unable to tell the good ideas from the bad. Like Moses Herzog. If he would have had to get off his ass and go back to work rather than mooching off his family then he might not have gone cuckoo for Coco-Puffs and come unglued while writing a series of bizarre letters to family, friends, celebrities and dead historical figures.
Yes, I know that Saul Bellow was using Herzog to make a statement about how a modern man viewed his life and society in the 鈥�60s, and the writing is as good as his reputation. But I just couldn鈥檛 get into it, mainly because I wanted someone to give Moses a brisk slap and tell him to grow up and get over himself. I didn鈥檛 dislike the character, I actually felt bad for him. That just made me wish even more that Herzog could start pulling his life back together instead of indulging in his self-involved musings....more
It鈥檚 been over 20 years since the Berlin Wall fell, and as someone who grew up in the 1970s - 80s, reading about dueling Cold War spies gave me a weirIt鈥檚 been over 20 years since the Berlin Wall fell, and as someone who grew up in the 1970s - 80s, reading about dueling Cold War spies gave me a weird nostalgic rush. 鈥淭he Soviets? East Germans? Damn! We used to HATE those guys!鈥�
In this era where decades of misdeeds by intelligence agencies are common knowledge and the notion of elaborate spy games are widely used fictional plots, it鈥檚 a little hard to imagine how groundbreaking this book was back in 1963. James Bond was in full literary swing and just beginning his cinematic career, and most people in the western nations still trusted their governments and believed that their spies were the good guys who would hold back those dirty Commies with sheer moral superiority.
It had to have been a hell of a shock to read a novel like this from a writer who had worked for British intelligence who convincingly told a story where the conflict between the two sides was a series of elaborate con games about either hiding what you knew or tricking the other guy into believing a lie. And as demonstrated here, both sides fully believed that the ends justified the means.
Alec Leamas is with the British intelligence service nicknamed the Circus and runs their operations in West Berlin. However, he鈥檚 lost every valuable agent he had to a ruthless East German operative named Mundt. Leamas is recalled by the Circus back to London where he is offered a dangerous new assignment. The Circus demotes Leamas. He pretends to become a disgruntled drunk who eventually loses his job and his pension, and he briefly gets sent to prison after assaulting someone. The ploy is to make the other side think that Leamas is ripe to turn on the Circus so that they can plant false intelligence and get back at Mundt. However, Leamas may have made a critical mistake by actually falling in love while playing a drunken disgrace.
Even with nearly 50 years worth of spy stories after this using similar plots, this book still had enough twists and turns to keep me guessing. The theme about how the supposed 鈥榞ood guys鈥� were just as willing to use any individual or deal with any devil to get the job done as the 鈥榖ad guys鈥� were is just as relevant today as it was when it was first written. I can鈥檛 believe it took me this long to read this book....more
This is what happens when you live your life trying to get a piece of Sky Cake* in the great hereafter. Not only will you probably make yourself miserThis is what happens when you live your life trying to get a piece of Sky Cake* in the great hereafter. Not only will you probably make yourself miserable while you鈥檙e here on earth and waste time that could be spent eating delicious actual cake, but you鈥檒l most likely fuck up the life of everyone else involved with you.
*(For the detailed explanation of the concept of Sky Cake, check out comedian Patton Oswalt鈥檚 routine of the same name.)
Henry Scobie is a police officer in an unnamed British colony in West Africa during World War II. Scobie is incorruptible, but not na茂ve. Even though it's not a glamorous posting, he actually loves his work and the area. However, when he gets passed up for a promotion to the top police job, it puts stress on his marriage to Louise. Scobie doesn鈥檛 love her anymore, but does feel responsible for her. He can鈥檛 resolve his wish to stay with her desperate pleadings that they should leave.
Despite his desire to just do his job and try to keep the peace and limit the diamond smuggling that is flourishing during the war, Scobie is soon facing a host of problems. Rumors are flying that he was passed over for sleeping with native women or taking bribes from Yusef, the local smuggling kingpin. A new British official named Wilson seems to have fallen for Louise and may have a larger secret agenda, Louise is falling apart and Scobie can鈥檛 raise enough money to send her out of the country.
Trying to fulfill Louise鈥檚 wish to leave will cause Scobie to bend his own code, and that sets off a chain of events that trap him in an ethical dilemma that he can鈥檛 square with his own Catholicism. It鈥檚 bad enough to make mistakes that put you in a situation that someone you care for will be hurt no matter what, but when the Catholic rule book assures you that you鈥檙e going to be damned for eternity if you can鈥檛 do things exactly according to the manual, it makes for a rather shitty moral dilemma.
Great writing, believable characters, a unique setting and a tragic situation made for very compelling reading. ...more
With a title like The French Lieutenant鈥檚 Woman it鈥檚 gotta be a romance novel with a cover featuring some Fabio-like male model in a 19th century FrenWith a title like The French Lieutenant鈥檚 Woman it鈥檚 gotta be a romance novel with a cover featuring some Fabio-like male model in a 19th century French army uniform that鈥檚 ripped to pieces to expose his abs as some buxom wench showing a lot of thigh clings to him, and he waves a sword in the air? No?
Oh, so it was the basis for some award winning movie with Meryl Streep back in the 鈥�80s? Then it鈥檚 got to be some boring-ass lame period piece with all kinds of proper English folk walking around with sticks up their asses as they talk about their proper English ways and how they musn't remove the sticks. Not really? Well, then what the hell is this book?
It鈥檚 not what I was expecting, that鈥檚 for sure.
Sarah Woodruff is a governess who has scandalized the English community of Lyme Regis by falling for a French naval officer who had been washed ashore and then left her behind after she 鈥榬uined鈥� herself for him. I guess back in those days a woman couldn鈥檛 just eat a bunch of ice cream, get drunk with her girlfriends, and then forget about some jerk who did her wrong. Hooking up with a loser was grounds for a lifetime of people shaking their fingers at you. Sarah doesn鈥檛 even have the decency to hide her shame. She insists on going out walking by the ocean as she is clearly pining for Frenchie in spite of strict orders from her pious lady employer not to walk around where decent folk can tell what she鈥檚 thinking.
Charles Smithson is a Victorian-era gentleman engaged to Ernestina and visiting her aunt in the area. After he accidentally comes across Sarah, he gets interested in her story and tries to convince her to stop making her situation worse by being so openly miserable and letting him help arrange for better employment in London where her scandal won鈥檛 be so well known. But Sarah plays a dangerous game of asking Charles for clandestine meetings for advice while acting like she has no urge to change her life. Naturally, Charles finds himself falling for her despite warnings from a local doctor that Sarah is 鈥榓ddicted to melancholia鈥� and may only be interested in spreading her misery around.
At first, this seems like it鈥檚 going to be a pretty standard Victorian-era tragic romance. But John Fowles took some serious detours in this book. First, he openly writes it as a god-like narrator from the future who knows how silly and hypocritical a lot of English society was then. It gets even stranger when he starts writing about the writing of the story itself. He complains that characters aren鈥檛 behaving the way he thought they should. Then he begins presenting alternate versions of the plot based on decisions by the characters that vastly change how the book would end as he explains that the only fair way to end the story is to present all the ways that it possibly could end.
It鈥檚 also not entirely clear about who you should be sympathizing with here. Is Sarah a woman ahead of her time being unfairly treated by a bunch of hypocrites? Or is she a slightly unbalanced woman taking a hatred of men out on Charles by gaining his pity and love at the possible cost of his reputation? Is Charles a good man living in an age that traps him with outdated ideas of duty and honor? Is he just a selfish snob who gets cold feet about his own upcoming marriage and deliberately acts stupidly to try and stop it? It could be that all of these factors are true. Or that none of them are.
While I liked the writing and the way that Fowles played with the structure of a traditional novel, the problem for me is that I was so unsure about Sarah and Charles that I couldn鈥檛 ever really get engaged with them emotionally. At times I felt bad for one or both of them, and at other times I didn鈥檛 like them at all. I ended up admiring the book more than I enjoyed it....more
Jim Thompson must have had noir in his veins instead of red blood cells. This dark first-person story has the reader inhabiting the mind of a killer iJim Thompson must have had noir in his veins instead of red blood cells. This dark first-person story has the reader inhabiting the mind of a killer in way that most authors can't even come close to matching. It's disturbing, chilling and one of the best pieces of crime fiction I鈥檝e ever read.
Lou Ford is a small-town sheriff鈥檚 deputy in West Texas. He appears to be just a good natured, not-to-bright, good-ole-boy who usually speaks in a series of clich茅s to the point of annoying or boring whoever he鈥檚 talking to. But Lou鈥檚 persona is all a mask to hide his true self and to keep what he thinks of as 鈥榟is sickness鈥� in check.
When Lou is dispatched to give a warning to a call-girl named Joyce, it escalates into a confrontation that unleashes Lou鈥檚 sadistic side, and he鈥檚 shocked to discover that Joyce is a willing partner. Letting his darker impulses out of the box soon leads Lou to more violence, and then a lengthy cat-and-mouse game with the local power structure as he covers up his crimes with a mixture of his dimwitted persona and even more bloodshed.
Reading this is a really odd experience. At times, you find yourself rooting for Lou to get away with everything he鈥檚 done, but at other times you want to scream at the other characters, 鈥淩un! He鈥檚 freaking crazier than a shithouse rat! Get out of there before he murders you all!鈥�
And I was both horrified and amused at the malicious joy that Lou takes in 鈥榥eedling鈥� people under the guise of playing the fool that can鈥檛 stop running his mouth. He鈥檚 got a knack for annoying and insulting people while he pretends he doesn鈥檛 realize what he鈥檚 doing. That鈥檚 just one of the many ways that evil Lou has of getting under your skin. ...more
So there鈥檚 a damn dirty hippie in India named Siddhartha who is supposed to be seeking spiritual enlightenment, but instead of going to a good ChristiSo there鈥檚 a damn dirty hippie in India named Siddhartha who is supposed to be seeking spiritual enlightenment, but instead of going to a good Christian church like a normal person, he wanders around the woods for a while with some other damn dirty hippies. After he meets Buddha, he finally gets tired of being broke-ass and homeless, and he goes into town where he makes a pile of money. This is good because everyone knows that engaging in capitalism is the only proper way to go through life. As a bonus, he also meets a beautiful woman.
Then, just when he鈥檚 having a good ole time; doing business, drinking, gambling and making time with the woman, the dang fool鈥檚 hippie ideas pop up again, and he walks away from all of it. Remember that Chris Farley routine on Saturday Night Live where he鈥檇 scream that someone would end up living in a van down by the river? Well, this hippie ends up living in a hut down by the river. And that鈥檚 even worse, because at least you could play the radio in a van.
Finally, Siddartha thinks that the river is god. Or something stupid like that. It just didn鈥檛 make any sense. Give me one of them Lee Child novels any day over this hippie dippie crap. That Jack Reacher is a man鈥檚 man!
Just kidding.
Actually, this is an elegant allegory about a guy going through different phases as he pursues a lifelong quest to rid himself of his ego so that he can know true peace and enlightenment. It鈥檚 filled with incredible writing, and it鈥檚 short and smart enough to hold the attention of even a doofus like me. I鈥檇 put this in the category of books that everyone should read at least once. ...more
Things had to have been boring in ancient Rome with no TV, internet or video games. But after reading I, Claudius, I think that the average Roman citiThings had to have been boring in ancient Rome with no TV, internet or video games. But after reading I, Claudius, I think that the average Roman citizen鈥檚 chief entertainment probably came from watching what the imperial family did to each other. There was the crime and intrigue of a show like The Sopranos. All the narcissism and betrayal of a season of a reality TV show. More sex than cable on-demand porn channels and enough family dysfunction to make Jerry Springer鈥檚 guests look classy. You could have kicked off your sandals, put your feet up and watched out the window as all kinds of people got married, divorced, betrayed, robbed, disgraced, exiled and murdered. You can鈥檛 put a dollar value on entertainment like that.
The story is told from the perspective of Claudius, a member of the royal family who managed to survive because he was widely considered to be an idiot due to his stammer and bad leg, and because he never had enough money for anyone to bother killing him for his estate. Shunned and forgotten by most of the family, Claudius becomes a historian and scholar who documents the terrible things that happen around him as everyone seeks to gain and keep power.
Over his life, Claudius will have to deal with three emperors; the noble Augustus, the sullen and paranoid Tiberius and the crazy Caligula. His grandmother Livia, who married Augustus, would ruthlessly manipulate and destroy generations of her own family through various schemes and murders to make sure that her son, Tiberius, would one day inherit the throne.
Great book that really makes Roman history come alive. Claudius is a sympathetic narrator and there鈥檚 a streak of hilarious deadpan humor along with all the palace intrigue. ...more
There鈥檚 an impression that American manhood took a nosedive in the 鈥�60s after a generation of manly men beat back the Nazis and then turned their no-nThere鈥檚 an impression that American manhood took a nosedive in the 鈥�60s after a generation of manly men beat back the Nazis and then turned their no-nonsense pragmatism and can-do spirit to business and started a huge economic boom. Since those damn dirty hippies ruined the country, and liberal crybabies made being a hetro white male a crime, it鈥檚 just been generation after generation of worthless girly-men ever since.
However, after watching Mad Men and reading Rabbit, Run and Revolutionary Road, I鈥檓 starting to think that maybe we aren鈥檛 so bad after all since the men of the 鈥�50s and early 鈥�60s seem to have been self-absorbed, passive aggressive bastards who are so insecure that they demand that their women love them unconditionally even as they do everything they can to break their spirits and make them cater to their every whim. I feel like John Wayne compared to Rabbit Angstrom or Frank Wheeler.
Frank and April Wheeler are a maddening couple. Frank is a bullshit artist who spent some time in New York鈥檚 hipster scene in the 鈥�50s convincing everyone that he was something special. He鈥檚 not, but poor April doesn鈥檛 find that out until after they get married. A couple of pregnancies later and they鈥檙e living in a suburban enclave while turning up their noses at the 1950鈥檚 American lifestyle they鈥檙e leading.
The main problem they have is that while Frank talks a good game and acts like he鈥檚 better than his job and the suburban life, he鈥檚 actually kind of comfortable and would be happy to just keep coasting along. But April is itching for something more and uses Frank鈥檚 ego to trap him into agreeing to move to Paris. When he actually starts succeeding at his job in the marketing department, Frank uses every trick he鈥檚 got to convince April to drop the idea of moving to Europe.
I couldn鈥檛 stand the selfish Frank any more than I could stand Rabbit Angstrom in Updike鈥檚 book, and I have an idea that hell may be having endless cocktails with those two idiots. But I didn鈥檛 have much patience with April, either. She got a crappy condescending husband, but thinking that moving to Paris is going to fix everything that鈥檚 making her unhappy isn鈥檛 very realistic.
A few years back, shortly after Katrina had her way with New Orleans, Time magazine did a cover story about how Americans prepare and cope with disastA few years back, shortly after Katrina had her way with New Orleans, Time magazine did a cover story about how Americans prepare and cope with disasters. And we don鈥檛 do well with them. The story pointed out that while Americans love to obsess about all the potentially horrible things that can happen, we refuse to take actions to prevent or minimize their impact because we don鈥檛 want to admit that they鈥檙e really possible.
That鈥檚 why Americans will freak out if you try to spend a few hundred million dollars of tax money on something like shoring up the levees in New Orleans or making stricter building codes for hurricanes in Florida despite the fact that doing so would have saved many lives and countless billions in rebuilding costs before Hurricanes Katrina or Andrew. (My favorite recent example of this is when the Republicans tried to turn a few million dollars for a volcano eruption early warning program into an example of Obama鈥檚 wasteful spending, yet when an actual volcano eruption occurred in Sarah Palin country shortly after that and early warning was credited with saving lives, you never heard about it again. Oh, you wacky right wingers!)
On a more personal level, your average American will obsess endlessly about their weight, their cholesterol, heart disease, cancer, swine flu, bird flu, etc., but most will do so as they still don鈥檛 exercise, eat poorly, avoid regular physicals that might provide early detection of a life-threatening illness or get vaccinated. Or people will refuse to evacuate an area where potentially devastating storms are headed.
I kept thinking about that Time story while reading White Noise. The book itself lives up to it鈥檚 billing as a post-modern masterpiece with a black, absurd sense of humor, and it鈥檚 got layer after layer of themes. But it was DeLillo鈥檚 masterful presentation of how people worry themselves to death about death while still trying to deny that it's ever going to happen that I found really engaging.
The story revolves around Jack Gladney, a professor at a small college who created a department and academic field of studying Hitler. Jack and his wife Babette have a typical nuclear family circa 1985, with several divorces and a large group of children from their previous marriages, and their kids seem a lot more adult than the parents in a lot of ways. Jack spends most of his time getting into surreal discussions with his children and colleagues about a number of trivial subjects, but their suburban tranquility is eventually disturbed when a train accident leads to an 鈥榓irborne toxic event鈥�, and the entire community is forced to flee.
After the event, Jack learns that he may have been exposed to potentially fatal doses of the toxins, but it鈥檚 uncertain when the effects may start. This leads to both Jack and Babette admitting to each other that they鈥檝e both got an intense fear of death. In Babette鈥檚 case, she鈥檚 taken extreme measures and been keeping some pretty serious secrets to deal with her phobia.
Even though both Jack and Barbette believe they鈥檝e got a larger than normal dread of death, the lengths they go to in admitting potentially lethal problems are hilarious in a demented way. After the train accident, the kids are watching the toxic cloud grow larger from their view of the train yard and try to alert Jack that there may be trouble. Jack refuses to admit that it鈥檚 even possible that middle-class people such as themselves will be victims of an industrial accident. Only the poor people who live around train yards and factories have to worry about such things Jack assures the children even as the cloud grows larger.
So they sit down to dinner instead of packing up the car and getting to a safe distance. When emergency vehicles go down the street and use loudspeakers to tell everyone to evacuate, and the kids again urge that they should leave, Jack and Babette want to debate whether the guy on the loudspeaker said that they should leave NOW or whether they still have time. Surely, he would have told them to run immediately if there was any real danger, wouldn鈥檛 he?
Later, when Jack is talking to a doctor about his blood test results, he insists on lying about his health habits, claiming that he eats well, exercises, doesn鈥檛 drink, etc. as the doctor is trying to explain what they鈥檝e found. Even though the results of a chemical test are sitting in an envelope in front of him, Jack鈥檚 irrationality makes him lie to the doctor as if pretending to live a healthy lifestyle will change the outcome. It鈥檚 a terrific scene of both bargaining and denial.
There鈥檚 also great satire about academic careers, suburban American consumer culture, family life, media and a couple of hundred other things. It鈥檚 a treasure trove of dark deadpan humor with brilliant writing. ...more
I really want to like Thomas Pynchon. I love the whole brilliant but reclusive author act, and all the cool kids at the library seem to think he鈥檚 theI really want to like Thomas Pynchon. I love the whole brilliant but reclusive author act, and all the cool kids at the library seem to think he鈥檚 the cat鈥檚 ass. But I鈥檓 starting to think that he and I are never going to be friends.
I tried to read Gravity鈥檚 Rainbow twice and wound up curled up in the fetal position , crying while sucking my thumb. Supposedly, this is his most accessible book. It was easier to read than GR, but easier to understand? Well鈥︹€�.
Oedipa Maas unexpectedly finds herself as the executor to a wealthy former lover鈥檚 estate. While trying to deal with that, she begins meeting odd people and seeing symbols that lead her to a bizarre conspiracy theory about a centuries old society called the Trystero that is mostly known for running an underground postal system. But the more evidence she finds about the Trystero existing makes Oedipa increasingly paranoid about whether she鈥檚 the victim of an elaborate hoax or if she鈥檚 losing her own sanity.
This is one of those books that I enjoyed while reading, but knew that I was missing a whole layer of meaning. I loved the idea of a rogue postal service and how Pynchon played with it as the idea of an urban myth or conspiracy theory. It鈥檚 probably the kind of book that I鈥檒l really only get on a second reading so I鈥檒l try it again someday....more
Set in the early '70's as the Vietnam War was winding down, Converse (a guy, not a shoe)is supposedly a journalist, but in reality has gone to VietnamSet in the early '70's as the Vietnam War was winding down, Converse (a guy, not a shoe)is supposedly a journalist, but in reality has gone to Vietnam mostly as a tourist. As he gets ready to return home, he gets involved with a deal to smuggle a large quantity of almost pure heroin back into the states, and he has reason to think that the CIA is covertly sponsoring the plan.
Converse recruits a former soldier, Hicks, to get the dope back into the States and hand it off to his wife, Marge. Marge is supposed to hand it off to others per arrangments Converse has made. However, once the drugs are in the states, things go wrong, and Hicks and Marge end up on the run from a couple of thugs and a government agent. Converse returns home to find the deal is blown and is soon in desperate trouble himself.
Even though most of this book is set in the U.S., it's really about the effect that Vietnam had on America. Once your government has unleashed large scale death and destruction on another country for murky reasons, keeping your own moral compass seems naive. Get what you can, do what you want, and don't worry about the consequences. It explains most of the 1970s.
But the book is a cautionary tale about this view. It says that if you go this route, beware. You've bought into the law of the jungle, and there are a lot of predators out there. Just because you think you're ready to live outside the law because you saw some bad shit and think you've jettisoned the conscience that comes with your place in society, that doesn't mean you're ready to deal with the people who never had one to begin with.
A grim little tale of a pack of losers leading sad and desperate lives in L.A. in the 1930's. Tod is an artist with a job at one of the movie studios,A grim little tale of a pack of losers leading sad and desperate lives in L.A. in the 1930's. Tod is an artist with a job at one of the movie studios, and he's in lust with Faye, a wannabe actress with no talent and a sick father, who has made it clear that she has no interest in Tod, but that doesn't stop her from teasing him. Homer Simpson (Bear in mind that this was written before Matt Groening was even born.) is a yokel in from Iowa who came to California for his health who apparently has some form of OCD that involves his hands having minds of their own. Throw in a Hollywood producer, a handsome cowboy who just leans against a building all day, a guy who runs cock fights, and a very small bookie, and you've got a crowd of misfits who will make almost anyone feel better about their own lives.
This has some incredible writing with short spot-on depictions of hopelessness and quiet despair. Just to make this an even happier read, the introduction tells how the author, West, was friends with F. Scott Fitzgerald and was killed in a car accident while rushing to F. Scott's funeral. This is the book that just keeps on giving. Unfortunately, what it's giving is depression.
The worst thing about the book isn't even the author's fault. Having a character named Homer Simpson makes it hard to read something as serious fiction, especially a book like this. Every time I saw the name, I started grinning, even as as the story is describing his sad and shabby little life. All that was missing was an alcoholic named Barney....more
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