Speaking of Atonement
I just finished reading the book by Ian McEwan and it knocked the wind out of me. Wow, what a great book. The first section of the book was simply gorgeous in the style of Virginia Woolf--subtle, sensual, and thought-provoking. The other sections of the book were no less wonderful, although the ending was so unbearably sad.
I'm only sorry they made a movie out of it because now everyone will think I read it because of the movie. (I hate it when that happens.) No, I have not seen the movie version, although I suppose I will because I'm anxious to see what Hollywood did with such a fantastic piece of writing. No doubt they ruined it, and I guess that makes me a masochist.
Anyway, read the book if you're so inclined. It's one of the best books I've read in a very long time. Labels: Books
Dystopian novels
Hi, everybody!
So lately I've been on a dystopian-novel kick. I am not really into science-fiction, but I've discovered that dystopian novels help me process contemporary reality, and give me new ways to think about politics. And hey, let's be honest: the world we live in today is not a far cry from the dystopias of Atwood, Orwell, Huxley, and McCarthy. (If you disagree with me, you're obviously not reading the news.)
Back to the novels. My favorite dystopian novel is, hands-down, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I love the pacing, the agonizing slowness of this novel, for one thing. As a reader, you really feel the depression and boredom endured by the main characters. Furthermore, for all its commentary on society and politics, you can never pin down the author's opinion: just as the politics of reality are infinitely complex, the politics in The Handmaid's Tale are shaded with gray areas. It is clear from her attacks on conservatism and religious fanaticism that Atwood places herself on the left side of the political fence, but it is impossible to tell where she stands in regard to other issues such as feminism, marriage, and economic policy. Atwood also sheds necessary light on subversive political tactics like social conditioning, media manipulation, and false-flagging. There are several themes in this novel that strongly resonate in our contemporary reality, and reading it will help awaken your mind to the dangerous possibilities of society's present course. Not too much violence, mainly suggestion. Sexual, but not sexy, situations. Read this right now.
I've also recently read 1984 by George Orwell. Wow, what a fantastic book. For some reason I did not read this in high school like the rest of you, and I'm very sorry I am only just now discovering this great novel. The plot of 1984 was so engrossing that I had to force myself to put it down so I could cook dinner, or go to work. This book has a bit more violence and much less poetry than The Handmaid's Tale, but it is nonetheless very provocative. I loved Orwell's predictions for technology, especially in the case of governments' monitoring of their own citizens--something that is definitely happening at this very moment. Orwell also points out the perilous efficacy of false-flagging (hello, Iraq?). This is a chilling novel, all the way through, but not quite as chilling as...
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Some people may not call this a dystopian novel--perhaps apocalyptic is a better term--but I don't want to squabble. This novel certainly describes a world that is completely the opposite of Utopia, so I'm going to include it on this list. To be honest with you all, this book is so horrifying that I made a rule for myself: no reading The Road before bed. A few dozen pages later, I put it down and have not yet worked up the courage to finish reading it. The strange thing is, this book has almost no physical violence, from what I've read so far. Just lumbering, hovering, ever-present doom and the desperate struggle to survive in a world that is literally on fire. And, nearly as bad as the lumbering, hovering, ever-present doom are the heart-wrenching descriptions of a father's love for his young son. It's a beautiful and haunting novel, but it's not for the faint of heart (like me).
Animal Farm, also by George Orwell, is a shorter, microcosmic Disney-fied version of 1984. Animals are the main characters in this dystopia, and they can walk on two legs, talk, and basically function as though they have higher brain functions and opposable thumbs. The political commentary of Animal Farm is thinly veiled and not especially thought-provoking. I did, however, enjoy the final paragraphs of this novel.
I did read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley in high school, and I remembered liking it very much at the time. Lately, when I became bored by all of the books I currently own, I decided to re-read it. At present I am only about halfway through the novel, and I must admit I am not as impressed this time around. Dystopian burnout? Maybe. For me, the most interesting aspects of the novel occur at the very beginning, when the author describes a new way of propagating the population. I'm still holding out for something interesting to happen in the second half of the book. Or maybe I should just buck up and finish The Road.
Labels: Books
Fathers and Sons
If you're into literary biographies or if you enjoy British humor, you should pick up a copy of Fathers and Sons by Alexander Waugh. Recognize the last name? Alexander Waugh is the grandson of the literary giant Evelyn Waugh, the nephew of lesser literary star Alec Waugh, the great-grandson of historian and all-around ineffably silly sentimentalist Arthur Waugh, and the son of the comic journalist and general bellyacher Auberon Waugh.
Quite a pedigree.
Fathers and Sons follows five generations of literary Waugh men as they all, in a grand and twisted family tradition:
-get expelled from English prep schools, -scrape by at Oxford, -resist and then embrace the "family business" of writing, -get married, -have children, and -screw them up.
The story of the Waughs is wickedly funny and at times nearly heartbreaking. The relationship between Arthur the elder and his son Evelyn is by far the most excruciating--as a child, Arthur systematically neglected Evelyn, his younger son, in favor of Alec, his oldest. Alec was a talented and prolific writer himself, although he was not nearly as brilliant as Evelyn. Nonetheless, their father esteemed Alec on a level usually confined to kings and religious figures. As such, Evelyn treated his own children with affectionate disinterest and often described them as filthy, illiterate, boring, or downright crazy in his letters to friends. Evelyn's son Auberon thusly treated his own children with indifference, calling each one by random names as they popped into his head (so each child was, at different times, referred to as Nigel, Bernie, George, etc.). In life, it sounds rather cruel, but in Fathers and Sons it is highly amusing.
Told largely through letters preserved across the generations, Fathers and Sons presents modern literature's most luminous family from a unique and intriguing perspective, and this memoir is perhaps one of the finest, most touching tributes to fathers and grandfathers ever published.Labels: Books
Who's afraid of...
"But you don't remember..." Mrs. Haines began. No, not that. Still he did remember--and he was about to tell them what, when there was a sound outside, and Isa, his son's wife, came in with her hair in pigtails....
In her novel Between the Acts, left unfinished at the time of her death, Virginia draws the curtain away from our most secret thoughts and feelings and captures the beautiful subtleties of human emotions and interactions. Virginia Woolf is a master of describing things that are invisible and un-knowable--words unspoken, thoughts unexpressed. In all of her novels, her characters struggle with elegantly hidden confusions: loveless marriages, feelings of inadequacy, longing for the past, aimlessness. Yet, for all their tribulations, Woolf's characters are never cloying or precious--they are real people. They are you and me.
In Between the Acts, a small-town family prepares a community pageant depicting the history of England. As the pageant unfolds, the lives of the family unfold, revealing the love and pain suffered by each of the family members.
I've only just begun to read Between the Acts, but I highly recommend it. Woolf is a brilliant and beautiful writer, and one of my personal favorites. If you haven't read any of Virginia Woolf's works, you really should. Her talent is impossible to quantify. (Start with Mrs. Dalloway or To The Lighthouse if you're a newbie.) I'll keep you all updated on the progress, although I can already tell you, it's going to be a great read.
Another book I've been working on lately is Marie Antoinette: The Journey. I've always been a bit of a Francophile, and although I am generally uninterested in history, I really enjoy learning about the French Revolution. This is a meticulously-researched biography of one of France's most notorious characters, and it offers many surprising conclusions about the life of Marie Antoinette. In all, it portrays her as a kind if somewhat naive young woman whose actions were often misinterpreted.
The author submits that Marie Antoinette was actually a loving mother and respectable queen who was the scapegoat for her ineffective and capitulating husband. Of course, the author is sure to mention, Marie was not perfect--she was most likely an adulteress, and for a queen she had a shocking lack of interest in politics--but on the whole, a portrait emerges not of a greedy, interfering Austrian in the French court, but a compassionate, courageous woman who fell victim to dangerous times and rebellious ideas.
The historical details can be confusing at times--I estimate a character count of more than a hundred--but it is an intriguing and gripping story, and at the conclusion, the fate of Marie Antoinette is moving and thoroughly disappointing. Nonetheless, I recommend this book if you like history, or if you like a little bit of celebrity gossip now and then (this book is full of juicy tidbits, even if the subjects are long dead).
PS--Sofia Coppola's adaptation of this book is beautiful and lavish, no doubt, but it is an extremely flimsy glossing-over of Marie Antoinette's life. Kirstin Dunst and Jason Schwarzmann are brilliant casting choices, but the weak and superficial script does not even begin to create an accurate depiction of this book. Artistically, I give the movie two thumbs up; academically, I give the movie two thumbs way down.
More about Between the Acts and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance soon...Labels: Books
