Third reading
The Secret History begins with the revelation that the narrator and his friends have killed someone, before flashing back to the narrator's earlier life and events leading up to the murder. This is a whydunit instead of a whodunit.
The narrator, Richard, feeling out of place as the son of working-class parents in the blandness of California, escapes through financial aid to a small, prestigious New England college. He doesn't initially seem to fit in there, either, until he lands in a Greek class under the tutelage of a charismatic classics professor. His five fellow students are all eccentric children of privilege and wealth, and so Richard re-invents himself, lying about his family and past. As he desperately tries to be one of the group, he is drawn into keeping their secrets, leading him inexorably into complicity in murder.
This is the first Donna Tartt novel I read (also, the first she wrote), and I immediately knew her to be extraordinarily talented. The narrator helps commit a murder, and yet I felt sympathy for him because I felt that I understood him. It's a rare thing for an author to be able to make a reader hope for the best for a character who does terrible things, but Donna Tartt does it. In meticulous prose.
Tartt has written only three novels: this one, The Little Friend, and The Goldfinch, which won the Pulitzer Prize. I highly recommend them all.
Friday, October 26, 2018
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
SONGS IN ORDINARY TIME by MARY McGREGOR MORRIS (1995)
Second reading
Songs in Ordinary Time has a huge cast of characters, so one would think that at least some of them would be sympathetic. But no. One family, neighbors to the central characters, comes closest, but one comes to suspect that they, too, might have nasty secrets.
At the center of the plot is the divorcee Marie Fermoyle and her daughter and two sons. Her ex-husband and the father of the children is a raging alcoholic who lives with his vengeful sister and her henpecked husband, who secretly makes stalking phone calls to women of the town. Marie is so lonely and down-trodden that she is ripe pickings for romantic overtures from the conman (and secret murderer) Omar Duvall. The children also have their problems. The daughter becomes sexually involved with the local priest, the oldest son is defensive and a hothead who constantly gets in fights, and the youngest son saw Omar commit murder but keeps quiet because he wants his Mom to be happy. (????Does that make sense?) All the other residents of the town whose stories are told are guilty of one vice or another.
Reading this rather long novel (700+ pages) is like watching some of the less appetizing reality shows, Marriage Boot Camp, for instance. You can't find anyone to cheer for.
The author does bring some suspense as the reader wonders how far Omar will go to protect himself from discovery and if Marie will finally realize the truth about her criminal lover. The ending is rushed and rather melodramatic.
This novel received generally favorable reviews and was a pick for Oprah's Book Club. (I don't know if that would be considered a recommendation or not.) I would give it a B- at best.
Songs in Ordinary Time has a huge cast of characters, so one would think that at least some of them would be sympathetic. But no. One family, neighbors to the central characters, comes closest, but one comes to suspect that they, too, might have nasty secrets.
At the center of the plot is the divorcee Marie Fermoyle and her daughter and two sons. Her ex-husband and the father of the children is a raging alcoholic who lives with his vengeful sister and her henpecked husband, who secretly makes stalking phone calls to women of the town. Marie is so lonely and down-trodden that she is ripe pickings for romantic overtures from the conman (and secret murderer) Omar Duvall. The children also have their problems. The daughter becomes sexually involved with the local priest, the oldest son is defensive and a hothead who constantly gets in fights, and the youngest son saw Omar commit murder but keeps quiet because he wants his Mom to be happy. (????Does that make sense?) All the other residents of the town whose stories are told are guilty of one vice or another.
Reading this rather long novel (700+ pages) is like watching some of the less appetizing reality shows, Marriage Boot Camp, for instance. You can't find anyone to cheer for.
The author does bring some suspense as the reader wonders how far Omar will go to protect himself from discovery and if Marie will finally realize the truth about her criminal lover. The ending is rushed and rather melodramatic.
This novel received generally favorable reviews and was a pick for Oprah's Book Club. (I don't know if that would be considered a recommendation or not.) I would give it a B- at best.
Saturday, October 20, 2018
THE LITTLE FRIEND by DONNA TARTT (2002)
Second reading
Author Donna Tartt has published only three novels in 21 years: The Secret History in 1992, about intellectually arrogant students at a prestigious New England college; The Little Friend in 2002, about the repercussions following the murder of a child; and The Goldfinch in 2013, (which won the Pulitzer Prize) about the life of a man who as a boy was present at a terrorist bombing. All three open with the mention of a murder. All three could, on the surface, be classified as "coming-of-age" stories. All three veer into dark territory. And all three are beyond excellent.
The central character in The Little Friend. is a 12-year-old girl named Harriet, whose brother Robin was murdered, apparently in front of her eyes, when she was an infant. Even after twelve years the murder has not been solved, and her family has fallen apart: her sister has withdrawn into herself, her father is living with his mistress in another town, and her mother has sunk into a chemically tranquilized haze. In a quest to make some sense of her life, Harriet determines to find Robin's killer.
Anyone familiar with the children's book Harriet the Spy will immediately recognize the initial resemblance between the two girls, surely not coincidental. Both are brighter than most, inventive, and often charge ahead without giving sufficient thought to their actions. Both fancy themselves to be detectives. But the seeming resemblance soon crumbles as this novel veers in a darker direction. Harriet's hearsay evidence leads her to believe that the murderer is one of the Ratliff's, a family of petty criminals and meth cookers, but when she decides to investigate them events soon tumble out of control in unexpected ways.
One of the most attractive aspects of this book, for me, is that it is totally surprising; I never anticipated the events as they unfolded. From about midway, an atmosphere of dread intrudes, but of what? The prose is old-fashioned, almost 19th century in flavor. Even minor characters are so clearly delineated that they take on a reality, much like Dickens' characters. Tartt has a particularly keen ear for dialogue. Her ear-perfect renditions of the conversations of fallen Southern aristocrats, Southern white trash, and Southern black servants are most impressive. The whole novel is so well executed that the addition of its extremely suspenseful plot is almost unnecessary.
I highly recommend this to folks who appreciate extraordinarily good writing and who welcome the unexpected.
Author Donna Tartt has published only three novels in 21 years: The Secret History in 1992, about intellectually arrogant students at a prestigious New England college; The Little Friend in 2002, about the repercussions following the murder of a child; and The Goldfinch in 2013, (which won the Pulitzer Prize) about the life of a man who as a boy was present at a terrorist bombing. All three open with the mention of a murder. All three could, on the surface, be classified as "coming-of-age" stories. All three veer into dark territory. And all three are beyond excellent.
The central character in The Little Friend. is a 12-year-old girl named Harriet, whose brother Robin was murdered, apparently in front of her eyes, when she was an infant. Even after twelve years the murder has not been solved, and her family has fallen apart: her sister has withdrawn into herself, her father is living with his mistress in another town, and her mother has sunk into a chemically tranquilized haze. In a quest to make some sense of her life, Harriet determines to find Robin's killer.
Anyone familiar with the children's book Harriet the Spy will immediately recognize the initial resemblance between the two girls, surely not coincidental. Both are brighter than most, inventive, and often charge ahead without giving sufficient thought to their actions. Both fancy themselves to be detectives. But the seeming resemblance soon crumbles as this novel veers in a darker direction. Harriet's hearsay evidence leads her to believe that the murderer is one of the Ratliff's, a family of petty criminals and meth cookers, but when she decides to investigate them events soon tumble out of control in unexpected ways.
One of the most attractive aspects of this book, for me, is that it is totally surprising; I never anticipated the events as they unfolded. From about midway, an atmosphere of dread intrudes, but of what? The prose is old-fashioned, almost 19th century in flavor. Even minor characters are so clearly delineated that they take on a reality, much like Dickens' characters. Tartt has a particularly keen ear for dialogue. Her ear-perfect renditions of the conversations of fallen Southern aristocrats, Southern white trash, and Southern black servants are most impressive. The whole novel is so well executed that the addition of its extremely suspenseful plot is almost unnecessary.
I highly recommend this to folks who appreciate extraordinarily good writing and who welcome the unexpected.
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
THE INFINITE PLAN by ISABEL ALLENDE (1991)
Second reading
I believe I will send this book on to Half-Price Books. When I took it down from my bookshelf I couldn't remember anything about it, and as I read it I still couldn't recall ever having read it before. Before you (or I) chalk this forgetfulness up to old age, consider that I well remember The House of the Spirits, also written by Allende. That novel was written in the Latin American tradition of magic realism, a style I much appreciate. The Infinite Plan has no trace of that, being entirely realistic.....and forgettable.
The primary shortcoming of the novel is that it tells, tells, tells, rather than showing and letting the reader come to conclusions for himself. We are never dropped inside the story or the characters' lives. It's like when somebody tells you, in excruciating detail, the plot of a movie, which becomes entirely unimpressive when summarized in that way, even though the movie itself may have been wonderful. If I had been the publisher to whom this manuscript was submitted, I would have turned it down.
The plot chronicles five decades in the life of Greg Reeves, from his youth as he traveled the country with his father, who preached of the "infinite plan" for each man's life, until his middle age, when he concludes "...there is no infinite plan, just the strife of living." Along the way he makes so many self-destructive choices that he becomes a totally unsympathetic character. By the end, I did not care one whit whether he ever found himself or not.
I do not recommend this book at all. It is not well done enough to be literary fiction and not cheerful or suspenseful enough to be popular fiction.
I believe I will send this book on to Half-Price Books. When I took it down from my bookshelf I couldn't remember anything about it, and as I read it I still couldn't recall ever having read it before. Before you (or I) chalk this forgetfulness up to old age, consider that I well remember The House of the Spirits, also written by Allende. That novel was written in the Latin American tradition of magic realism, a style I much appreciate. The Infinite Plan has no trace of that, being entirely realistic.....and forgettable.
The primary shortcoming of the novel is that it tells, tells, tells, rather than showing and letting the reader come to conclusions for himself. We are never dropped inside the story or the characters' lives. It's like when somebody tells you, in excruciating detail, the plot of a movie, which becomes entirely unimpressive when summarized in that way, even though the movie itself may have been wonderful. If I had been the publisher to whom this manuscript was submitted, I would have turned it down.
The plot chronicles five decades in the life of Greg Reeves, from his youth as he traveled the country with his father, who preached of the "infinite plan" for each man's life, until his middle age, when he concludes "...there is no infinite plan, just the strife of living." Along the way he makes so many self-destructive choices that he becomes a totally unsympathetic character. By the end, I did not care one whit whether he ever found himself or not.
I do not recommend this book at all. It is not well done enough to be literary fiction and not cheerful or suspenseful enough to be popular fiction.
Monday, October 15, 2018
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE by GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ (1967)
Third reading
This story of the rise and fall of the Buendia family through seven generations differs from most family sagas in that it is written in the style of magic realism, of which Columbian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez is the acknowledged master. Thus we have supernatural events such as flying carpets, levitating priests, and ghosts mixed in with realistic political events such as civil wars, rigged elections, and a massacre of strikers by government troops (all based on the history of Columbia). Along with these seemingly disparate elements, Marquez tells a page-turning story about the loves, hates, and follies of the family which presided over the founding and the demise of an isolated village. The seamless blend of the magical and the mundane makes this an unforgettable reading experience.
The plot is too complicated and encompasses too much to summarize in any understandable way. It begins when Jose Arcadio Bundia founds the village after receiving a vision and ends when the last Bundia is eaten alive by ants.
The only ways I could have appreciated this novel more is if I knew more about Columbian history and if I were capable of reading it in the original Spanish. Otherwise it is perfection, at least for those with the kind of mind which can embrace this style of writing. I know some people only want to read super-realistic novels, and this is not for them.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. I enjoyed his novel Love in the Time of Cholera even more than this one.
This story of the rise and fall of the Buendia family through seven generations differs from most family sagas in that it is written in the style of magic realism, of which Columbian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez is the acknowledged master. Thus we have supernatural events such as flying carpets, levitating priests, and ghosts mixed in with realistic political events such as civil wars, rigged elections, and a massacre of strikers by government troops (all based on the history of Columbia). Along with these seemingly disparate elements, Marquez tells a page-turning story about the loves, hates, and follies of the family which presided over the founding and the demise of an isolated village. The seamless blend of the magical and the mundane makes this an unforgettable reading experience.
The plot is too complicated and encompasses too much to summarize in any understandable way. It begins when Jose Arcadio Bundia founds the village after receiving a vision and ends when the last Bundia is eaten alive by ants.
The only ways I could have appreciated this novel more is if I knew more about Columbian history and if I were capable of reading it in the original Spanish. Otherwise it is perfection, at least for those with the kind of mind which can embrace this style of writing. I know some people only want to read super-realistic novels, and this is not for them.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. I enjoyed his novel Love in the Time of Cholera even more than this one.
Thursday, October 11, 2018
THE SHIPPING NEWS by E. ANNIE PROULX (1993)
Third reading
The Shipping News won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In contrast with more than a few of such prize winners that I have read, I judge it to be entirely worthy of those honors. It not only tells a page-turning story, but also evokes a place more vividly than most novels. And it is supremely well-written, though unconventional in style.
Quoyle is an obese and awkward cuckolded husband whose run-away wife has come to a bad end. Filled with sorrow and a continuing obsession with his dead wife, he retreats with his two daughters to the home of his forefathers on the coast of Newfoundland. Accompanied also by his aunt (who is a closeted lesbian), he attempts to reclaim his life. His new job as a less-than-accomplished newspaper journalist brings him in contact with a large cast of colorful characters who help him make a new beginning. One feels from the start that this will be a story that ends well, and that hope is fulfilled. The plot thus holds no major surprises, but that becomes comforting. Don't we all wish that life will ultimately award us with happily ever after?
I highly recommend this novel. Its word pictures of Newfoundland will make you want to visit there. As a plus, it is often sardonically funny.
The Shipping News won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In contrast with more than a few of such prize winners that I have read, I judge it to be entirely worthy of those honors. It not only tells a page-turning story, but also evokes a place more vividly than most novels. And it is supremely well-written, though unconventional in style.
Quoyle is an obese and awkward cuckolded husband whose run-away wife has come to a bad end. Filled with sorrow and a continuing obsession with his dead wife, he retreats with his two daughters to the home of his forefathers on the coast of Newfoundland. Accompanied also by his aunt (who is a closeted lesbian), he attempts to reclaim his life. His new job as a less-than-accomplished newspaper journalist brings him in contact with a large cast of colorful characters who help him make a new beginning. One feels from the start that this will be a story that ends well, and that hope is fulfilled. The plot thus holds no major surprises, but that becomes comforting. Don't we all wish that life will ultimately award us with happily ever after?
I highly recommend this novel. Its word pictures of Newfoundland will make you want to visit there. As a plus, it is often sardonically funny.
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
THE SECRET SCRIPTURE by SEBASTIAN BARRY (2008)
Third Reading
For good or ill, I am the kind of reader who so immerses in a book that it affects my mood for days, and sometimes I even dream about it. Thus, when I finished Cormac McCarthy's Suttree, I felt discouraged and depressed. So I decided to re-read a novel by my favorite living writer that would improve my mood. This is a beautiful book, both its content and the manner in which it is written. It tells of an undaunted spirit in the face of hardship and persecution. I highly recommend it, especially for times when your own spirit needs a boost.
Roseanne McNulty, as she nears 100 years, decides to write her life story in a secret journal. She is a resident of a mental institution which is about to close. Dr. Grene, one of the psychiatrists, is tasked with determining who can be placed back in society and who must be rehoused elsewhere. The narrative alternates between her journal and his case notes. As he delves into her past and the reason she was initially admitted, secrets are uncovered which have been long buried, affecting his life as well as hers.
Along with the core story, Barry pictures the troubles in Ireland's tumultuous history and the great influence of the Catholic Church, which was not always for the good of the people.
The language in which the book is written is as mesmerizing as the suspenseful story. Barry writes with an Irish lilt -- rhythmic and poetic prose that is a joy to read. I would cite only one misstep in the entire novel: the ending seems a bit contrived. Otherwise, The Secret Scripture is perfect. I would recommend all his novels, especially A Long, Long Way.
The Secret Scripture was short-listed for England's Booker Prize.
For good or ill, I am the kind of reader who so immerses in a book that it affects my mood for days, and sometimes I even dream about it. Thus, when I finished Cormac McCarthy's Suttree, I felt discouraged and depressed. So I decided to re-read a novel by my favorite living writer that would improve my mood. This is a beautiful book, both its content and the manner in which it is written. It tells of an undaunted spirit in the face of hardship and persecution. I highly recommend it, especially for times when your own spirit needs a boost.
Roseanne McNulty, as she nears 100 years, decides to write her life story in a secret journal. She is a resident of a mental institution which is about to close. Dr. Grene, one of the psychiatrists, is tasked with determining who can be placed back in society and who must be rehoused elsewhere. The narrative alternates between her journal and his case notes. As he delves into her past and the reason she was initially admitted, secrets are uncovered which have been long buried, affecting his life as well as hers.
Along with the core story, Barry pictures the troubles in Ireland's tumultuous history and the great influence of the Catholic Church, which was not always for the good of the people.
The language in which the book is written is as mesmerizing as the suspenseful story. Barry writes with an Irish lilt -- rhythmic and poetic prose that is a joy to read. I would cite only one misstep in the entire novel: the ending seems a bit contrived. Otherwise, The Secret Scripture is perfect. I would recommend all his novels, especially A Long, Long Way.
The Secret Scripture was short-listed for England's Booker Prize.
Friday, October 5, 2018
SUTTREE by CORMAC McCARTHY (1979)
I'm glad I am not Cormac McCarthy. Never mind that he is a supremely talented writer. I couldn't live with the kind of thoughts he evidently has running through his mind.
Suttree is one of the most unpleasant books I have ever read. It is filled with vivid imagery, all of it picturing a grimy, putrid world. Cornelius Suttree, the protagonist, is a drunk from a rich family who has left his own wife and child, for reasons unrevealed, to live a life of debauchery among thieves, whores, and other derelicts of society. The plot consists of several incidents involving his fellow drunks and other acquaintances, most of whom come to a bad end. Readers who expect or desire some sense of redemption for Suttree (or any of the characters) will be disappointed. I can't perceive at all what the point of the novel might be, except to showcase McCarthy's extraordinary talent.
The narrative alternates between straightforward, detailed actions and conversations and sections of surrealistic, stream-of-consciousness prose, wherein McCarthy unleashes his inner Faulkner. These make for a strange and uneasy combination. Mind you, the surrealistic bits are impressively written and very evocative, even if they don't always make logical sense.
Anyone deciding to read this should also be aware that McCarthy is prone to using an esoteric vocabulary filled with $20 words where a $1 word would serve quite well. This habit comes to seem pretentious. I often felt that he was trying too hard to be deep and different.
This is, of course, not among McCarthy's best known works. Those would be All the Pretty Horses and Blood Meridian and The Road, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. None of his novels are pleasant to read, with only The Road ending on a somewhat hopeful note. But he does have a way with words, even though the reality they picture is indeed grim.
Suttree is one of the most unpleasant books I have ever read. It is filled with vivid imagery, all of it picturing a grimy, putrid world. Cornelius Suttree, the protagonist, is a drunk from a rich family who has left his own wife and child, for reasons unrevealed, to live a life of debauchery among thieves, whores, and other derelicts of society. The plot consists of several incidents involving his fellow drunks and other acquaintances, most of whom come to a bad end. Readers who expect or desire some sense of redemption for Suttree (or any of the characters) will be disappointed. I can't perceive at all what the point of the novel might be, except to showcase McCarthy's extraordinary talent.
The narrative alternates between straightforward, detailed actions and conversations and sections of surrealistic, stream-of-consciousness prose, wherein McCarthy unleashes his inner Faulkner. These make for a strange and uneasy combination. Mind you, the surrealistic bits are impressively written and very evocative, even if they don't always make logical sense.
Anyone deciding to read this should also be aware that McCarthy is prone to using an esoteric vocabulary filled with $20 words where a $1 word would serve quite well. This habit comes to seem pretentious. I often felt that he was trying too hard to be deep and different.
This is, of course, not among McCarthy's best known works. Those would be All the Pretty Horses and Blood Meridian and The Road, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. None of his novels are pleasant to read, with only The Road ending on a somewhat hopeful note. But he does have a way with words, even though the reality they picture is indeed grim.
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