4 posts tagged “kurt vonnegut”
The Apocalypse Reader--Justin Taylor (editor)
As the name would suggest, The Apocalypse Reader is a collection of 34 short stories dealing with the apocalypse. Justin Taylor defines the term very broadly, so readers will be disappointed if they're looking for a book about zombies or robots that take over the planet. For every story about the living dead or alien invasions, there's one about Jews escaping from the Inquisition or marriages falling apart. I came to this book hoping for stories in the same vein as The Road, World War Z, and "After the Plague". As far as I'm concerned, too many of the stories in The Apocalypse Reader were off-topic.
There were a few good ones, though. Here are my personal highlights from the book:
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"These Zombies are Not a Metaphor" by Jeff Goldberg was one of the best stories in the collection. It's the only story in the book that featured the brain-eating living dead. Unfortunately, it was only three pages long. Boo!
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Jared Hohl's story, "Fraise, Menthe, Et Poivre 1978" was another of the highlights. It's about a group of friends slowly starving to death in Paris. According to the brief biographical blurbs at the end of the book, this was the author's first published story. I look forward to his second.
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"Crossing into Cambodia" by Michael Moorcock was also a favorite. I thought it was going to be the usual, run-of-the-mill Vietnam story, but I soon realized it was much more than that. It featured a chilling ending that I'm sure will haunt me for awhile. I'd love to see that closing image on the big screen.
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"An Accounting" by Brian Evenson tells the story of a man who accidentally becomes a "Midwestern Jesus" to some post-apocalyptic rubes. He inadvertently makes cannibalism one of the tenets of their new religion. This was probably my favorite story in the book.
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I also liked "The End" by Josip Novakovich. It featured a non-traditional apocalypse, but was still a quality story. Much of the action in "The End" took place in my real-life neighborhood.
In addition to the stories mentioned above, the ones by Nathaniel Hawthorne and H.G. Wells were also worth reading. I'm going to be honest, though. The rest of this collection was a disappointing waste of my time. Some of the stories were flat-out garbage. Dennis Cooper's contribution, "The Ash Gray Proclamation", was basically 30 pages about boys selling their bodies for heroin. I now know what "fisting" means, but I really wish I hadn't read that story. Let's talk about comics.
The Best American Comics 2006--Harvey Pekar (editor)
I read and largely enjoyed The Best American Comics 2007 earlier in the year and decided to go back and read the 2006 edition. The worst part of The Best American Comics 2006 was Harvey Pekar's introduction. For some reason, he felt the best way to introduce the book was by spoiling the endings for all the stories he'd selected. Seriously, he went through the stories one by one and basically ruined them all. If you read this book, save the introduction for the end. You'll be better off.
My favorite comics in the book were "The Amazing Life of Onion Jack" by Joel Priddy and "Adventures of Paul Bunyan & His Ox, Babe" by Lilli Carré. The former features Onion Jack, a stickman superhero who'd rather be a chef. The latter features a melancholy Paul Bunyan who'd prefer to stay inside and read Proust than go out for drinks with Babe after a long day spent kicking down trees. Paul also bemoans his inability to find an appropriately-sized woman. Both of these comics managed to be funny and sad at the same time.
Other personal highlights were "Dance With the Vultures" by Jonathan Bennett, "Thirteen Cats of My Childhood" by Jesse Reklaw, and "Passing Before Life's Very Eyes" by Kurt Wolfgang.
Of course, in a collection this size, there are bound to be some selections that I didn't care for. The blabbermouth editor could have left out "La Rubia Loca" by Justin Hall, "Wonder Wart-Hog" by Gilbert Shelton, and the incredibly stupid "Busted!" by Esther Pearl Watson. Overall, though, The Best American Comics 2006 was a worthwhile collection and slightly better than the 2007 edition.
Deadeye Dick--Kurt Vonnegut
I bought a very old hardback version of Kurt Vonnegut's Deadeye Dick. It came with the dust jacket, but there was absolutely nothing printed on it that even hinted at what the book was about. There was no plot synopsis and not even a single reviewer's quote. There was, however, a full-body photograph of the author napping on a couch. He's wearing a beautiful button-up sweater, a brimmed cap, and no shoes. There's a tiny dog resting on his lap. I don't think Kurt Vonnegut was faking for the photographer. I think he was really sleeping. I liked the picture so much that I bought the book even though I had no idea what it was about.
I think that if you have any interest in reading Deadeye Dick, you should approach the book as I did...without knowing anything about it. I also think you should look around and get an old copy with the picture of Kurt Vonnegut sleeping on the back. It'll be worth it, trust me.
The Postman Always Rings Twice--James M. Cain
I read James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice because it was mentioned in the introduction to the Dashiell Hammett books I recently read. Also, at 117 pages, it was the shortest book I hadn't read on the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels list. Having read it, I have no idea how it made the list. It was a well-written novella about a drifter and an unhappy young wife who team up to commit the perfect murder--and how even the best plans can unravel if a cat decides to climb up a step ladder. It wasn't a bad book by any means, but I can't imagine that the Modern Library couldn't have come up with something with more substance to it. If I had a section on my bookshelves labeled "Pulp Fiction", I'd place The Postman Always Rings Twice right there.
I've now read 74 of the 100 books on the Modern Library's list. I'm going to read The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow, but then I'll probably retire the list. There's not much left on it that interests me.
CURRENTLY READING:
- Death and Restoration--Iain Pears
- The Pillars of the Earth--Ken Follett (audiobook)
I've been reading too much lately, so I've decided to divide this month's SIBR post into two parts. This is the first part and covers all my book-related activities up through October 19th. The second part will cover the rest of the month. I'll post it in a week or two.
BOOKS BOUGHT:
- The New York Trilogy--Paul Auster
- Angle of Repose--Wallace Stegner
- A Bend in the River--V.S. Naipaul
- Disgrace--J.M. Coetzee
- Blood Meridian--Cormac McCarthy
- Jar City--Arnaldur Indriðason (thanks to SteveP)
- The Book of Pilates--Joyce Gavin
- The Walking Dead: Vol.5--William Kirkman
- Pastoralia--George Saunders
- The Studs Lonigan Trilogy--James T. Farrell
- Ticknor--Sheila Heti
- The Middle Stories--Sheila Heti
BOOKS READ:
- Search Party: Collected Poems--William Matthews
William Matthews was a poet born in Cincinnati in 1942. He died ten years ago. I'm usually not much of a poetry reader, but my cousin recommended William Matthews to me and I decided to give him a try. I bought and read Search Party: Collected Poems. My favorite poems in the collection were the ones written about seeing Charles Mingus perform. I also enjoyed "The Penalty for Bigamy Is Two Wives", "Nabokov's Death", and the hilarious "A Poetry Reading at West Point". Some of the later poems were too long and dense for me to figure out in the time I gave them. That's my fault, though.
- Giotto's Hand--Iain Pears
Giotto's Hand is the fifth book in Iain Pears' seven book Art History Mystery series. I made the mistake of reading the seventh book first, so the surprise twist at the end of Giotto's Hand wasn't as surprising as it otherwise would have been. It was still a good, quick read.
- McSweeney's #24
McSweeney's #24 was divided into two sections. The first featured a bunch of authors trying to convince me that Don Barthelme was a great writer. I read his 60 Stories collection last year and didn't care for it at all. In fact, it is probably my least favorite short story collection ever. For some reason, though, I didn't mind reading other authors fawning over Barthelme. I may not enjoy his writing, but it sounds like he was an interesting man.
The second section of McSweeney's consisted of six short stories full of violence and murders. I don't want to spoil anything, but bullets fly in all six stories. It was very un-McSweeney's, but it made for good reading anyway. I especially enjoyed "Bored to Death" by Jonathan Ames.
- The New York Trilogy--Paul Auster
My brother recommended The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster. It's a collection of three interrelated detective novellas. These aren't your typical detective stories, though; these are flat-out weird. They actually reminded me a bit of Franz Kafka's novels The Castle and The Trial. All the characters seemed to be mentally unstable with a slightly screwy grasp on reality. I think The New York Trilogy is supposed to be "postmodern", but I've honestly never understood what that term meant. I always thought it was just a fancy thing that grad students said to get me to punch them in the throat.
But anyway, the stories were confusing, but ultimately worth reading. I didn't really "get" the book until I finished it and was able to see how the stories and characters were related. Even now, I'm not sure I understood everything.
- God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian--Kurt Vonnegut
My uncle told me about God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian by Kurt Vonnegut. The book is based on a series of brief essays originally aired on NPR. In them, Vonnegut repeatedly "dies", interviews famous dead people in the afterlife, and then gets brought back to life by Jack Kevorkian so he (Vonnegut) can tell us what the dead people had to say.
I went up to the bookstore to buy God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian and saw that it was a thin volume printed in a huge font with a lot of blank filler pages. I sat down in a chair and read the entire book in the store. It only took me 20 minutes and I saved $10.
- Disgrace--J.M. Coetzee
I have a book called 1000 Books You Must Read Before You Die. It features essays on books the editors consider to be essential reading. In skimming through the book, one of the things I noticed was that there was a lot of J.M. Coetzee in there...eleven books, in fact. I'd never read anything by the author before, so I went out and bought a copy of Disgrace. I picked it over his other books because it had a "Winner of the 1999 Booker Prize" emblem on the front.
Disgrace is about a South African professor whose life falls apart after he has an affair with a student. He loses his job and ends up going to live with his daughter on her farm. He volunteers at an animal shelter and tries to write an opera about Lord Byron. Just when he thinks it can't get any worse, real tragedy strikes.
Disgrace was a great book and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Maybe the 1000 Books editors were on to something.
- The Book of Pilates--Joyce Gavin
This was just a book I bought to familiarize myself with the basic concepts and techniques of Pilates. It served its purpose and one of the models was cute. There's not much else to say about it.
- Blood Meridian--Cormac McCarthy
I was out book shopping and a crazy lady came up to me and told me I should read Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. I've enjoyed McCarthy in the past and I'm always willing to listen to crazy people, so I bought a copy. Wow! I thought No Country for Old Men was a violent book; it doesn't even come close to Blood Meridian.
Blood Meridian follows the adventures of "the kid", a young gunslinger who hires on with the Glanton gang, a real-life gang that was contracted to kill Indians near the Mexican border in the mid-1800s. The Glantons scalp their kills and get money from the government for each scalp they bring in. Before you know it, they're killing everybody...men, women, children, infants, the elderly, horses, donkeys, each other, etc. Glanton himself is one of the most depraved characters I've read, but he pales in comparison to Judge Holden, a huge, strangely gifted man who leaves a trail of raped and murdered children wherever he goes. The Judge makes Patrick Bateman look like an altar boy.
I must admit that I didn't enjoy Blood Meridian. It wasn't even the violence that turned me off; I just had trouble following the story. The other Cormac McCarthy books I've read were easy reads. Blood Meridian was a tough one and it seemed even tougher because I wasn't expecting to have to concentrate so much. There was also a lot of untranslated Spanish that gave me trouble. I don't quit books once I've begun them, though, so I pushed on through. I'm glad I did. The last chapter was absolutely amazing. It was one of the best endings I've ever read. It was so good that I'm seriously considering going back and reading the entire book over again.
CURRENTLY READING:
- The World Without Us--Alan Weisman
- The Middle Stories--Sheila Heti
This supplemental column covers all the reading and book-buying that took place while I was out-of-town from June 22nd through July 1st.
BOOKS BOUGHT:
- Cat's Cradle--Kurt Vonnegut
- Led Zeppelin--Erik Davis
- Black Ghost Apple Factory--Jeremy Tinder
BOOKS READ:
- The Bernini Bust--Iain Pears
- No One Belongs Here More Than You--Miranda July
- On The Road--Jack Kerouac (audio)
- Black Ghost Apple Factory--Jeremy Tinder
- Cat's Cradle--Kurt Vonnegut
Iain Pears is famous for writing An Instance of the Fingerpost, a Rashomon-like historical mystery that was published in 1997. Before he wrote that, he toiled away in relative obscurity as an art historian and the author of a series of mystery novels that takes place in the world of Italian art thievery. This series is collectively known as the Art History Mysteries. There are seven books in the series and I took the third one, The Bernini Bust, with me on my trip to Idaho. The Art History Mysteries are my favorite books for traveling. They don't require much thought, so they're easy to read in an airport or on a plane or train. In addition, they're pocket-sized so they don't take up much space or weight in the luggage.
Although these are mystery novels, they slightly turn the genre on its side. For example, the main character, an art dealer named Jonathan Argyll, could have solved the entire mystery about a third of the way through The Bernini Bust if he'd only been paying attention to what another character was telling him. Argyll was thinking about Flavia di Stefano, an Italian art detective (and potential love interest), at the time and failed to pick up on the hints that were being dropped right in front of him. Jonathan and Flavia eventually wrapped up the case, but it took them an additional 200 pages.
I read The Bernini Bust on the flight from Cincinnati to Salt Lake City. I was supposed to have a two hour layover in Salt Lake, but it turned into the longest seven hours I've ever spent in my life. I finished up The Bernini Bust while sitting in the airport and had to start in on the only other book I'd brought along, No One Belongs Here More Than You, a short story collection by Miranda July.
I enjoyed Miranda July's movie, Me and You and Everyone We Know, but it was really her short film, Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody?, that hooked me (it's available on the first issue of Wholphin and is well worth checking out). I read a couple of her short stories as a result. I enjoyed them both and picked up No One Belongs Here More Than You for my trip. I was very happy with the book. It exceeded my every expectation. Miranda July has a unique, almost demented, point-of-view, and her short stories were a pleasure to read...especially "Majesty" and "Something That Needs Nothing".
I originally read Jack Kerouac's On the Road during my month-long Beat phase back in college. My Beat phase only lasted a month largely because I didn't care for On the Road. I still hear people rave about the book, so I thought it would be a good time to revisit it. I bought the unabridged Blackstone Audiobooks version as read by Tom Parker. I'd never heard a book before, but I thought listening to On the Road on the road would be appropriate.
The On the Road audiobook consists of seven cassette tapes and lasts about nine and a half hours. We had over forty hours to kill, so we had no difficulty making it all the way through. I'm happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook. I liked it a lot more than I remember liking the book itself. Maybe it was Tom Parker's voice. Maybe it was the fact that we were driving through places actually mentioned in the book. Maybe it was the twelve years that have gone by since I first read it. I'm not really sure. I enjoyed it a lot, though.
My favorite line took place in Chapter 12 when Sal Paradise is about to meet his Mexican girlfriend, Terry, for the first time.
A pain stabbed my heart, as it did every time I saw a girl I loved who was going the opposite direction in this too-big world.
Tell me about it, Sal. That line is always going to remind me of the Lithuanian girl cleaning the bathrooms in an Iowa rest stop...and the curvy gal from the tacqueria...and the Korean waitress in Ithaca...and...well, you get the idea.
My long layover in Salt Lake City really messed up my reading schedule for the trip. By the time I got to Boise, I had already finished The Bernini Bust and most of No One Belongs Here More Than You. Those two books were supposed to last me ten days. It was clear to me that I needed another book. I wandered around the indie bookstores and eventually found one that had a copy of Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. It's a book that's been on my list for a couple years, but that I'd never gotten around to. It's got 127 short chapters, so it seemed like a good book to read in the car (I have a short attention span for car reading). Strangely enough, some of the book takes place at Cornell University, the final destination on our cross-country drive.
Cat's Cradle was a good book, but all the talk of karasses and sinookas and granfaloons annoyed me a bit. I'll take Slaughterhouse-Five or Breakfast of Champions any day. I ended up finishing Cat's Cradle about two minutes before my plane landed in Cincinnati at the very end of my trip. I thought for a second that it would be kind of cool to die in a fiery crash just seconds after finishing a Vonnegut novel, but it didn't turn out that way. It wouldn't have been cool anyway; I'm horribly frightened of fire.
The only other book I read on my trip was a 50 page comic by Jeremy Tinder called Black Ghost Apple Factory. I picked it up at an Ithaca comicbook store called Comics For Collectors. I'm not usually a fan of comics, but I hid in the store from a torrential rainstorm and felt like I had to buy something. Black Ghost Apple Factory only cost $5, so I bought it. It features stories about robots who don't say "I love you", a young man who gets mauled by his roommate (who happens to be a bear), a bunny who's bored with his naked human girlfriend, and a kitty who has a traumatic experience at the vet. I laughed out loud a few times, so it was definitely worth the $5.
CURRENTLY READING:
- Babbitt--Sinclair Lewis
I met a crazy woman at Half Price Books last year. She came up to me while I was browsing and started telling me about how she'd made over $50,000 selling used books on the internet. I'm always afraid I'm going to get stabbed in the neck by a crazy person, so I went along with her and told her I was impressed. She then revealed to me the secret of her success:
"All you gotta do is buy up all the old copies of books by authors who recently died and then sell them on the internet. I made thousands last month selling Kirk Vonnegut books."
"But Kurt Vonnegut isn't dead."
"Yeah he is."
I then spent the next five minutes arguing with this woman about whether Kurt Vonnegut was dead (while subtly defending my neck from attack). I was right at the time, but I've got a feeling that if I went back to the store today, I'd see the same woman hauling out all the Vonnegut books; I'm sure she'd turn to me and say, "I told you so".
