Tag: American literature
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Alexander’s Bridge
Review: A five star performance again from Cather. Reminded me a lot of Henry James in The Ambassadors or the The Bostonians, men and women trying to be men and women but hidebound by manners and etiquette. This is the difference between good writing and great writing. The only criticism I would make is that… Read more
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A Farewell to Arms
Review: Fuck am I stoned. Right off me tits. This was an excellent book. Intense prose in a jerky, staccato delivery. The action moves very quickly but then stalls and dies in Book V. There’s denouement and denou-disappointment, which this was. Illustrates the futility of war and armies especially in the Great War. If you… Read more
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Vanity Fair
Review: Too long. Way too fucking long.1 Some good prose, but comic opera characters with no basis in reality. Made it 70% of the way through then skipped every two chapters. Missed nothing. Jos Sedley dies at the end. Nobody cares. Published in serial form in 19 monthly installments. No wonder it is so long:… Read more
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The Troll Garden
Review: A glorious selection of seven short stories. Capturing the sense of silence and emptiness on the Great Plains, like you are there. “A Wagner Matinee” is amazing and also very tragic. In the true sense of that word. “The Inconceivable Silence of the Plains” Last trains and slow sunsets, snow and frozen fields. First… Read more
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Light in August
Review: Clearly a classic work of American literature. Wonderful imagery and work painting. You can feel the oppressive heat and hear the insects. “Too many notes” the annecdotal comment of the King to Mozart on hearing his compositions. In this case – too many words. It goes around and weaves back and then goes out… Read more
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The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories
Review: I have always had a pretty low opinion of Hemingway, macho douchebags like him piss me off and I love that Wallace Stevens punched his drunk ass out in Key west. Are you ready for the however pivot? (Here it is) However, this was brilliant. Top shelf. Amazing, gripping, heartfelt, totally absorbing. No wonder… Read more
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Catch-22
Review: An excellent, important novel that I did not enjoy one bit. I don’t think one is supposed to like it very much, like Ulysses or some really dark Dickens. Like reading a 500 page prose version of Mad Magazine. Satire is nice in small pieces, cartoons in Mad, or an Onion article. But to… Read more
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Slaughterhouse Five
Review: A brilliantly executed and skillfully written book. An anti-war manifesto if ever there was one. Funny, sad, disturbing, and throughout the book is a consistent moral statement. Most of the time we look at war as an historical event but forget the deeply disturbing personal stories that make it up. I award this book… Read more
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The Catcher in the Rye
Review: A very unusual, very interesting read. I always thought it was a book about baseball. Poignant, often very depressing, it brought back some vivid memories of my drunken history. I could feel, almost literally feel, the deep down to the bone exhaustion after drinking misadventures. **Shiver** If you asked me what the book is… Read more
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Tender is the Night
Review: An excellent novel. Not quite on the same level as Gatsby or Paradise, but very good. A lot of the narrative involving alcohol reminded me perfectly of myself. Settings were beautiful, Nice, Cannes, Zurich. I had a hard time liking any of the characters, though. They were interesting and yet not fully likeable, like… Read more