VonneGUT!

Ed. note: This title should be said with German inflection.

It's been quite awhile! I figured since I won't have much to do this summer that I should get back to blogging. And I know reaing doesn't make for the most exciting blog posts ever but, what can I say? I don't sky dive or paint my toenails with that crackle stuff so reading it is!

After Europe I started my masters which has made me both work hard and be really lazy at the same time. I'm told this is normal. In terms of reading, I've been rather slow. I started Mark Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer but I couldn't get past the middle. I then started The Darling Buds of May by H. E. Bates which I absolutely love but I haven't finished it yet.

I acquired some new Vonnegut this year at a used book store. I started with Hocus Pocus (1990). It's about a man who gets incarcerated for inadvertently aiding a bunch of prisoners escape from the prison where he works as a teacher. The whole book is written from the protagonist's cell. This isn't my favourite book of Vonnegut's but it is filled with great one-liners and the typical gallows humour we've come to expect.

Next I read Jailbird (1979). It starts off very similarly to Hocus Pocus so when I started reading it I was a bit wary that I was going to be reading an early version of the novel I wasn't too crazy about. Boy was I wrong! After every chapter I was enjoying the book more and more. Walter F. Starbuck was a member of Nixon's staff during the Watergate scandal. He starts the novel off in prison but the rest of the story is about his release and the crazy events that make up his first day as a free man. This is definitely one of his bests. I would put it up near Cat's Cradle in terms of wit and humour. Starbuck, like most of Vonnegut's protagonists, isn't really in control of how his life plays out. He adheres to social norms, does what he feels is right at the time, and somehow ends up as President Nixon's special advisor for youth affairs. Who knew? At 65 he gets out of prison--and that's when his life really gets interesting.

Here's a classic Vonnegut thought from Jailbird:

"...we heard a Gypsy violin crying somewhere--sobbing as though its heart would break. And when I hear that violin's lamenting in my memory now, I am able to add this information: Hitler, not yet in power, would soon cause to be killed every Gypsy his soldiers and policemen could catch."

Vonnegut was never shy about expressing his socialist, anti-war views. In Jailbird, Vonnegut's disdain for the fates of Sacco and Vanzetti is the book's main political statement. He writes as passionately and eloquently about politics and social responsibilities as Mark Twain ever did. I remember a couple times having to put the book down and just take a deep sigh at how stupid I suddenly found everyone else to be.

I'm now reading Timequake (1997) which is kicking my ass. Review to come. Watch out peeps.

Frankenstein

I thought I would entertain myself after that wretchedly depressing Graham Greene novel with a little horror. Frankenstein might not have been the ideal choice. The horror movies of today have NOTHING on the Gothic horror novels of the 19th century. It's not about blood and guts, it's not about shock value--it's about life. Frankenstein is a scientist driven by his passions to create life from death. However, he never bothered to think about what would happen once he succeeded. Didn't he realize he would have a giant ugly monster walking around?? What the hell did he think would happen?? If you play God, you have to also play the father; you have to take responsibility for your actions. Frankenstein left his monster to his own devices--left him to figure the world out on his own, without a guide; without a parent.

Since this is a horror novel, the price for Frankenstein's neglect has to be grave. So tons of people are killed and Frankenstein has to feel the losses one by one until he can no longer withstand the tremendous amount of grief and guilt sustained with each one. It's not so much diverting as it is really freaking sad.

"Thus not the tenderness of friendship, nor the beauty of earth, nor of heaven, could redeem my soul from woe; the very accents of love were ineffectual. I was encompassed by a cloud which no beneficial influence could penetrate. The wounded deer dragging its fainting limbs to some untrodden brake, there to gaze upon the arrow which had pierced it, and to die, was but a type of me." -Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

That being said, it's a very well-written novel, and very well paced. And the lessons are laid out pretty clear for the reader: Curiosity killed the cat; be careful what you wish for; with great power comes great responsibility!

Next on the list: Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain. I might at least get a laugh out of this one!

I Heart Huckleberry

I finally finished The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Well, I actually finished it a few weeks ago but just haven't gotten around to blogging about it! Anyway, like I mentioned in my last post about Huck, I really admire the main character, although his good qualities are often hidden away by the funny accent and the overbearing supporting characters. His consistent moral attitude and his desire to do the right thing is truly a wonderful thing to see in someone so young. But he's not your typical hero. He believes himself stupid and unlearned when in fact he quotes history and language books all throughout the novel. He also does what he feels is right in his heart even though he knows society decrees it will eventually lead to his eternal damnation.

I also found it hilarious that the character of Tom Sawyer--Huck's hero--is built up to be this amazing, courageous and inventive kid but who is in fact a young man seeking attention and greatness by inventing ridiculously complicated boneheaded schemes. He's laugh riot!

Another great character is the superstitious but noble ex-slave Jim. And his friendship with Huck is such a beautiful thing to see unravel through their crazy adventures together. This friendship is a great example of Huck following his heart; society dictates that black people at that time were slaves and should be nothing more than that to the white man. But Huck gets to know Jim and comes to appreciate his company so much that when Jim is captured Huck risks everything to try and save him (with the--one could call it "help"?--of Tom Sawyer that is!).

Next on the list: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Not sure this one is gonna end as well as Huck...

The Adventures of Lhiadan Raghnall

I came, I saw, I conquered. And by conquered I mean I completed my first long, serious voice program in France. It was quite an experience. Being away from home was easier than I thought it would be, and coming back was harder than I thought it would be. But, honestly, I'm so happy to be amongst my Montreal friends and family and to be starting my first semester of my Master's program.


While I was away I actually didn't do much reading at all, which was a little shocking to me. But I already blamed this, and I still do, on the lack of a reading routine in Europe. Normally I read in the metro (hence "Metro Reader") and there ain't no metro in Périgord, France.


I did complete Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene (review to come) and half the short stories in Kurt Vonnegut's Welcome to the Monkey House. Now I'm half-way through The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. It's... good. But it's hard to read sometimes because Twain writes in the southern dialects of his characters Huck, Jim and the many... interesting... characters they meet on the way. I'm not a huge fan of reading phonetically so I can easily lose patience with Huck. Mind you, this is an incredibly smart book and is filled with Twain's usual "nuggets of truth"--the little political speeches given by peripheral characters which profess Twain's own views of things. Some of it is incredibly amusing and for all the crummy grammar and funny accent of little Huck he really is an admirable character and a very decent, intuitive young man. And his friend Jim, a runaway slave, is just awesome.


I shall keep everyone abreast of my reactions to Huck's adventures as they continue. So far my favourite parts of the book are when he cleverly escapes from his dad's cruel clutches, and when the duke recites his version of Hamlet's famous speech "To be or not to be".


Here's a little dialogue between Huck and Jim I thought quite amusing. Jim starts:

"Why, Huck, doan' de French people talk de same way we does?" "No, Jim; you couldn't understand a word they said--not a single word." "Well, now, I be ding-busted! How do dat come?" "I don't know; but it's so. I got some of their jabber out of a book. S'pose a man was to come to you and say Polly-voo-franzy--what would you think?" "I wouldn' think nuffn; I'd take en bust him over de head--dat it, if he warn't white. I wouldn't 'low no nigger to call me dat." "Shucks, it ain't calling you anything. It's only saying, do you know how to talk French." "Well, den, why couldn't he say it?" "Why, he is a-saying it. That's a Frenchman's way of saying it." "Well, it's a blame ridicklous way, en I doan' want to hear no mo' 'bout it. Dey ain' no sense in it." "Looky here, Jim; does a cat talk like we do?" "No, a cat don't." "Well, does a cow?" "No, a cow don't, nuther." "Does a cat talk like a cow, or a cow talk like a cat?" "No, dey don't." "It's natural and right for 'em to talk different from each other, ain't it?" "Course." "And ain't it natural and right for a cat and cow to talk different from us?" "Why, mo' sholy it is." "Well, then, why ain't it natural and right for a Frenchman to talk different from us? You answer me that." "Is a cat a man, Huck?" "No." "Well, den, dey ain't no sense in a cat talkin' like a man. Is a cow a man?--er is a cow a cat?" "No, she ain't either of them." "Well, den, she ain't got no business to talk like either one er the yuther of 'em. Is a Frenchman a man?" "Yes." "Well, den! Dad blame it, why doan' he talk like a man? You answer me dat!"

The Heart of the Matter

I've been very slack in my reading while I've been in Europe. I think this is mostly due to the loss of my reading routine as it relates to public transportation (ie no metro). But I have been steadily getting through one of the books I brought with me which is Graham Greene's novel The Heart of the Matter. Graham Greene actually is one of my favourite authors. An absolute master of words, Greene weaves together the most beautiful lines of prose. His story lines are always extremely well-planned; there is a very steady flow to their development. He explains his characters so well that after only a few lines I feel like I know them inside and out.


My only problem with his novels is that they're kinda depressing. I dislike watching movies and reading books that will depress me so I tend to stay away from drama. I prefer to be entertained!


The Heart of the Matter in particular is a pretty depressive romp of a book. It is about a policeman in a West African colony who is broke and unhappy. He and his wife lost their only child a few years previous and the sting of this loss is ever present. The main character, Scobie, looks at his wife and sees only the damage he feels he has inflicted on her over the years. Mrs. Scobie is actually a more interesting character than her husband gives her credit. But mostly she is just a mother who has lost her child and whatever she was before has been blurred over permanently by the event. The plot itself is all about political intrigue and sexual tension. I'm halfway done now and I think I've been reading so slowly because I'm trying to put off the inevitable shit storm that's going to hit the main character.


I also started The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and I think I'm gonna really love it! I'll finish Greene first though.

Status update: Heart part 2 chapter 3; Huck Finn chapter 7. Continuing Monkey House ever so slowly. I need to ration my Vonnegut!

Welcome to the Monkey House

The only Vonnegut I brought with me on my Europe trip is a book of his short stories called "Welcome to the Monkey House". I'm trying to read it in spurts so I don't run out of Vonnegut too soon (groupie much??). So far the stories range from funny little anecdotal vignettes to full-on heart-racing craziness! One of them, entitled "All the King's Horses", I swear I was so engrossed that I couldn't look up from the page. My heart was beating as if I were right there in the scene!

Vonnegut even includes what he calls a "sickeningly slick love story" into the mix. There aren't really any love stories to be found in Vonnegut's novels that don't end in some kind of tragedy. This story, entitled "The Long Walk to Forever", while refreshingly sweet and simple and with a pretty happy ending, is completely Vonnegutesque. It's nice to see the different sides of this great author through these short stories, even though he swears he only wrote them in order to finance his novels.

Northanger Abbey

I've always loved Jane Austen but this book makes me love her even more. It's such a fun read and it actually goes really fast compared to some of her other novels. As for the heroine; she is nothing like Austen's other ones. Austen actually warns her readers at the beginning that the protagonist will act quite stupidly sometimes. She's just a silly young girl looking for love. It's rather endearing actually! I would recommend this book to anyone, especially someone who's reading Jane Austen for the first time because it kind of eases you into the genre without blowing your mind too much. It actually makes me want to go back and read Sense and Sensibility :)

Status update: Started "The Heart of the Matter" by Graham Greene. So far it's a little depressing, but super well written.