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kaiserbrown's LiveJournal:
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| Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | | 11:51 pm |
book 16
16) Fictions, Jorge Luis Borges- This collection of short stories is when I start wishing I could read Borges in the original Spanish rather than the excellent and universally lauded translation that I have. The Borges of these stories is a man that I'd enjoy having a drink with on the patio of a Buenos Aires terrace, and gives a fantastic indication of exactly what sort of man he was. Having jumped ahead to his later, more famous, works, I'm amazed at how much the writer of those tales fits with the immature author of "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbit Tertius" who already understand exactly how far magical realism can take an author without leaving his audience agape and blinded. Borges is making a strong challenge to Marquez as my favorite 20th century author (and I have the feeling this isn't an uncommon circumstance) but I'm going to move onto regular novels for the next few weeks to make sure I really enjoy the Argentine masters work. Also, if Mephistopheles is out there, I'll trade an eighth of a soul for fluency in 20th century South American Spanish. Step with the counter offer, if you dare. | | Saturday, June 27th, 2009 | | 2:07 am |
| | Friday, June 26th, 2009 | | 2:07 am |
| | Thursday, June 25th, 2009 | | 12:23 pm |
#'s 13 and 14 and
13) In Cold Blood- Truman Capote: This book frightened me more than I expected. I found myself having a hard time reading the book until after the murders, oddly, and I think that was at least partly intended. I also think it's glaringly obvious that Capote had little use for Dick Hickcock and at least some sort of feeling for Perry Smith, despite the fact that it was likely Perry who committed the actual slayings. But overall the book is fantastic and thought provoking without coming across as an act of snuff voyeurism, regardless of Tom Wolfe (he of the horrendous quasi-pornographic novel "I am Charlotte Simmons") calling it the first of the "pornoviolence" genre. Capote imparts humanity into the abused and damaged Perry Smith while raising questions about how a kid like Dick Hickock, from a good family with parents who cared for him, could fall so far. 14) Rabbit, Run- John Updike: Reading this right after In Cold Blood was weird, given how many similarities there are to Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom's personality and that of Dick Hickock in In Cold Blood. Both are incredibly narcissistic sociopaths, who really don't care about what effect their actions have on others, but given the nature of the two books we get a better idea of who Rabbit Angstrom is than we can about the late Richard Hickock. Rabbit Angstrom is a dick. He peaked in high school, and throughout the book he more or less does whatever he wants, demanding that people do things that he wants them to do, and being frustrated when anyone asks anything of him to the point that his immediate reaction is to flee (hence the title of the book). Yet for all that the character is a stunning study in selfishness the book is compelling, even gripping. Updike is an amazing wordsmith, and his portrait of Rabbit leaves the reader no illusions about the character of the protagonist allowing the character to come to grips with how nasty a character Rabbit is and yet grant some sympathy to him. This is impressive, and Updike strikes me as a good contrast to Bukowski, who had a similar skill with words but was too much of a coward to be honest about his alter ego- Harry Chianski. I can see Rabbit Angstrom as someone dislikeable, but also as someone whom I can empathize with. Harry Chianski is just a self-aggrandizing dick who won't let anyone see how he really feels because he's too scared of what they'd think. 15) A Universal History of Iniquity- Jorge Luis Borges: This is the first book of short stories by Borges, and it shows in the uneven quality of the stories and the lack of confidence Borges shows in his own talents at that point. Based largely off true stories about ruffians and no-goodniks from around the world and across time and space, the stories are an impressive collection of portraits and are written so tightly and with so much verve and panache that I once again wish I could read Spanish proficiently. The one story wholly of Borges pen, though, lacks the same sense of confidence which the true-life tales are written with and while good is clearly the weakest tale in the book. | | 2:07 am |
| | Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 | | 2:07 am |
| | Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 | | 2:09 am |
| | Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 | | 2:07 am |
| | Monday, June 15th, 2009 | | 2:07 am |
| | Saturday, June 13th, 2009 | | 2:07 am |
| | Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 | | 2:07 am |
| | Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 | | 2:07 am |
| | Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 | | 2:08 am |
| | Monday, June 1st, 2009 | | 2:07 am |
| | Saturday, May 30th, 2009 | | 2:07 am |
| | Friday, May 29th, 2009 | | 2:07 am |
| | Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 | | 2:07 am |
| | Sunday, May 24th, 2009 | | 2:10 am |
| | Saturday, May 23rd, 2009 | | 1:51 pm |
Books
Wow, it's been a while. 8) The Emperor's Children, Claire Messud: Really, really, really, good. The only real flaw in the book is its central tenet of how lives changed due to 9/11, and how banal it seems compared to the utterly excellent writing and development of the characters. The exceptional characterization is what really carries this book, it's fascinating and interesting and most of all Messud avoids softening her characters to make them more likable. This can result in some tough reading at times and wanting to slap around the characters, but makes for a much better book as a result and gives the readers a chance to be truly surprised by the characters without cheapening or weakening the characters despite a massive outside shock that would be wholly unbelievable if it hadn't actually happened in real life. 9) Beloved, Toni Morrison: A ghost story doesn't really begin to describe it. The best book I've read in years. One of the best books I've ever read. That the book contains no atrocities that weren't a part of everyday life in the antebellum south makes it all the more remarkable. If Morrison hadn't written another thing, this would have been worthy of granting her the Nobel. 10) World War Z, Max Brooks: Better than any book about a zombie apocalypse has a right to be. Smarter, wiser, and more self-aware than any other science fiction or horror story in a long, long time. I especially enjoyed the form of the book, examining the story from different points of view that laid out exactly how the world fell. While it's not the best book I've read recently by any means, it was the most amusing. 11) American Lion, Jon Meacham: An excellent biography of a fascinating president. It really is the definitive biography of Andrew Jackson, and gives a great deal of insight to the fascinating nature of the man. It's probably a good thing he didn't exist even 50 years later, though his strong nationalism might have been a check upon the South's craziness. Currently working on The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami. | | 1:09 am |
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