3 posts tagged “philip roth”
BOOKS BOUGHT:
- McSweeney's #25--Dave Eggers (editor)
- Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs, etc.--Ted Thompson (editor)
- Silence of the Grave--Arnaldur Indriðason
- Voices--Arnaldur Indriðason
- The Bridge of San Luis Rey--Thornton Wilder
BOOKS RECEIVED FOR CHRISTMAS:
- Tree of Smoke--Denis Johnson
- Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow--Zak Smith
- Jimmy Stewart and His Poems--Jimmy Stewart
- Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting--Jimmy Webb
- Infinite Jest--David Foster Wallace
- Gentlemen of the Road--M-----l Chabon
- The Apocalypse Reader--Justin Taylor (editor)
- Zeroville--Steve Erickson
- Deadeye Dick--Kurt Vonnegut
- Death and Restoration--Iain Pears
- Julius Winsome--Gerard Donovan
- Icelander--Dustin Long
- A Child Again--Robert Coover
- The Best American Comics 2007--Chris Ware (editor)
BOOKS READ:
- A Bend in the River--V.S. Naipaul
A Bend in the River is a good book. It probably even deserves its reputation as a modern classic. Unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean I enjoyed reading it. I actually found it kind of boring. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for a book about post-colonial Africa. That's a topic that rarely interests me. I enjoyed the last couple pages and was better able to appreciate the book once I'd finished it, but reading A Bend in the River felt like a chore to me. I just wanted to finish it and get into something else.
- Story of the Eye--Georges Bataille
One of my favorite songs this year was Of Montreal's "The Past is a Grotesque Animal". There's a line in the song that mentions George Bataille and Story of the Eye, so I thought it would be a good idea to read the book. My logic went like this: If a book is mentioned in a song I like, then I'll like the book. Things started off well. In fact, one of my favorite lines of the year began the second chapter:
That was the period when Simone developed a mania for breaking eggs with her ass.
Sure, that's kind of raunchy, but it's also humorous at the same time. Unfortunately, the book soon lost its humor and Simone and the narrator escalated into unmentionable perversions that made me sick to my stomach. I somehow made it through the book, but I ended up feeling scraped and numb for the next two days.
- Young Lonigan--James T. Farrell
Young Lonigan is the first book in James T. Farrell's Studs Lonigan Trilogy. It tells the story of a young Irish ruffian growing up in Chicago in the early 1900s. The events of the first book take place on the day Studs graduates from Catholic school and during the subsequent summer. How does Young Lonigan spend his last summer before high school? Falling in and out of love, getting into fights, smoking cigarettes, checking his look in the mirror, and screwing fourteen year old prostitutes. You know, the usual.
I'm not sure how the rest of the trilogy will play out, but Young Lonigan was a fun read that really made me want to plow through the other two books. The Studs Lonigan Trilogy has the makings of a personal favorite, but I'm going to reserve judgement until I've finished the remaining 800 pages. So far, so good, though.
- The Breast--Philip Roth
Julie recommended The Breast to me after reading my recent review of Goodbye, Columbus. The Breast is similar to Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis except that the protagonist turns into a gigantic breast instead of a dung beetle. The other difference between the two novellas is that The Metamorphosis ended with one of my favorite lines in all of fiction and The Breast ended with a poem I didn't understand.
- Silence of the Grave--Arnaldur Indriðason
- Voices--Arnaldur Indriðason
Silence of the Grave and Voices are the second and third books in Arnaldur Indriðason's Reykjavik Murder Mystery series. I had no intention of reading Silence of the Grave anytime soon, but I noticed that Voices took place at Christmas, so I quickly read the first book so I could read the second at Christmastime. In Silence of the Grave, Inspector Erlendur and his team work to identify a skeleton buried for half a century. The best line in Silence of the Grave is the very first one:
He knew at once it was a human bone, when he took it from the baby who was sitting on the floor chewing it.
In Voices, Erlender works to solve the murder of a former child star who has spent the last twenty years working as the doorman at a Reykjavik hotel. The best line in Voices is the following:
He knew that the hotel would never be able to shake off the murder. It would never wipe away the smear. After this it would always be known as the hotel where Santa was found dead with a condom on his penis.
Inspector Erlendur seemed a bit slow on the uptake in Voices, but it was still a good mystery. Both books were enjoyable, quick reads. I'd recommend them to anyone interested in the crime genre or contemporary Nordic fiction.
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Comedy by the Numbers--Eric Hoffman & Gary Rudoren
This is the full version of the book that was published in pamphlet form and given away free with McSweeney's #23. All the funny parts were in the pamplet, so I really shouldn't have bothered buying the full book. There's a saying about giving away the goods for free that concerns virgins and sex and marriage (and maybe even cows), but I can't remember what it is right now. I'm sure it's appropriate, though.
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"Auggie Wren's Christmas Story"--Paul Auster
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"Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor"--John Cheever
I also read the two Christmas-related short stories mentioned above. If anyone out there got that Caroline Kennedy Christmas story collection as a gift this season, you should probably return it and track down these two stories instead. That's just my opinion, of course.
CURRENTLY READING:
- The World Without Us--Alan Weisman
- The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan--James T. Farrell
- The Bridge of San Luis Rey--Thornton Wilder
- The Best American Comics 2007--Chris Ware (editor)
BOOKS BOUGHT:
- Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans
- Story of the Eye--Georges Bataille
BOOKS READ:
- Jar City--Arnaldur Indriðason
I spent some time in Reykjavik a few years back, and came away with an interest in Icelandic culture that remains to this day. I've read Icelandic authors as diverse as Halldór Laxness (yeah!!) and Hallgrímur Helgason (boo!!). SteveP mentioned Arnaldur Indriðason's Jar City a couple months back, and I knew I had to track down the book and read it. I'm glad I did; it's one of the best crime novels I've read in a long time. I look forward to reading the rest of the Inspector Erlendur books.
- Goodbye, Columbus--Philip Roth
I originally purchased Goodbye, Columbus as a present for my brother's birthday. Then I remembered he hadn't bothered to give me a present for my birthday, so I ended up keeping the book for myself. Of course, keeping the book meant I had to read the thing. I was a bit hesitant as I haven't always enjoyed the Roth I've read. I liked Goodbye, Columbus a lot, though. The titular novella was excellent. The remaining five stories were also impressive. They all dealt with Jewish culture and the problems of assimilating into post-war America. It's not subject matter I thought I'd find interesting, but I did.
My favorite was "The Conversion of the Jews" which had a young boy named Ozzie questioning some of the illogical tenants of his religion. I don't want to spoil it for you, but Ozzie ends up on the roof of his synagogue while his classmates down below encourage him to jump off.
- Pastoralia--George Saunders
I first became interested in George Saunders when I watched the second season Christmas episode of NBC's The Office. In it, Ryan buys a Saunders book to give to Toby for Secret Santa. I thought to myself, "What kind of book would Ryan buy for Toby?" I had to find out. Unfortunately, the episode wasn't clear as to which book Ryan actually bought. I picked Pastoralia because it was short and had a deer and a caveman on the cover.
Pastoralia is a collection of six short stories. They were all hilarious and weird. (The stories reminded me a bit of the work of T.C. Boyle.) In the first story--also named "Pastoralia"--a man and his co-worker while away their days in a live caveman exhibit. The thing is, no one ever comes to see the exhibit. Would you act like a normal person if no one was looking, or would you spend all day in character just in case someone showed up?! These are among the questions Saunders asks the reader.
Oh, while I'm writing about Pastoralia, I feel I must quote from the story "Sea Oak". In it, some of the characters watch a television program called The Worst That Could Happen. The show is described as follows:
...a half-hour of computer simulations of tragedies that have never actually occurred but theoretically could. A kid gets hit by a train and flies into a zoo, where he's eaten by wolves. A man cuts his hand off chopping wood and while wandering around screaming for help is picked up by a tornado and dropped on a preschool during recess and lands on a pregnant teacher.
If you can find the humor in that, then you'll probably enjoy Pastoralia.
- Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans
The full name of this book is Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans: The Best of McSweeney's Humor Category. As the name would suggest, it's a collection of humorous bits from the McSweeney's Quarterly Concern and website. I bought this collection because it made me laugh outloud in the bookstore four times. The collection of lists at the end of the book was particularly funny. The best part, though, and the part that made this book worth purchasing, was the essay by J.M. Tyree called "On the Implausability of the Death Star's Trash Compactor". Yes, this guy wrote four whole pages on why it didn't make any sense for the Death Star to have a trash compactor.
- I Am Legend--Richard Matheson (reread)
All the kids are talking about the upcoming movie version of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, so I thought it would be a good time to revisit the book. For a science fiction/horror story originally published in the 50s, I Am Legend stands up better than most. (It occurs to me now that I have no frame of reference here. I Am Legend is probably the only science fiction/horror story from the 50s that I've ever read. I'm just assuming it's aged well.)
I had a couple issues the first time I read I Am Legend, and those issues remain even after the second read. First of all, I think Matheson did a poor job of explaining the differences between the two types of vampires. This comes into play during the story's ending and left me a bit confused. Second of all, the parts where Neville tries to scientifically explain the vampire phenomenon are just flat-out boring. Other than those two issues, I Am Legend is an exciting and interesting take on vampires and one of the best post-apocalyptic tales out there.
My copy of I Am Legend features some of Matheson's short stories tacked on at the end. I read the stories the first time I read the book and hated them all. They are among the worst stories I've ever read. I didn't bother reading them a second time.
- Angle of Repose--Wallace Stegner
I was on a reading roll at the beginning of November. In fact, all the books mentioned above were read in the first ten days of the month. My roll promptly crashed to a halt when I picked up Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose. It took me twelve days to read the first chapter. At that rate, it would have taken me 416 days to finish the book. Most people would have dumped the book and moved on to something else. I'll quit jobs and relationships without a thought, but I've never quit a novel once I've started reading it. I plow on through. It's what I do.
I'm glad I didn't quit. Angle of Repose turned out to be one of the top two or three books I've read this year. It tells the story of Lyman Ward, a historian struggling with the results of a divorce and a bone disease that have left him crippled and immobile. He settles into his grandparent's old house and begins writing the story of their marriage. He uses his grandmother's letters, old newspaper articles, and his own childhood memories. The story that results is sad and beautiful.
Here's one of my favorite lines (it's Lyman speaking to Shelly, a neighbor who works as his secretary):
How do I know what you should do? You'll do what you think you want to do, or what you think you ought to do. If you're very lucky, luckier than anybody I know, the two will coincide.
I like that.
Angle of Repose won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1972. I'm not exactly sure what other books were up for the honor that year, but I'd have to say the board got it right.
CURRENTLY READING:
- The World Without Us--Alan Weisman
- A Bend in the River--V.S. Naipaul
Today was a good day for books. Now & Then, Robert B. Parker's 35th Spenser novel, was released today. Now that I'm on Vox, I felt the need to document this event photographically. So here's a picture of my hand grabbing the top copy at Costco this morning. This may seem like a mundane event to you, but in my world the Spenser release dates are celebrated as holidays. There's one a year and I always count down the days.
When I finished up at Costco I went over to Half Price Books where I finally found a copy of Tony Hoagland's poetry collection, What Narcissism Means to Me. That has to be my favorite book title ever. I also found a sharp Modern Library edition of Philip Roth's Goodbye, Columbus. It was my intention to give this book to my brother for his birthday, but now that I've got it home, I think I'm going to keep it for myself. He hasn't done anything to merit a gift.
And then I turned my fiction collection around so all the books are facing the wrong direction just to see what it looks like.
It's freaking' me out.
