In a Steinbeck world it is almost a crime, a sign of weakness to show any sentimentality. Real men just get on with the daily drudgery and focus on the misery of living and dying. But there are real emotions out there and when Jody’s grandfather comes to stay and talk about the good old days of fighting the Indians it shows the lack of respect, failure to appreciate the lack of interest and the love that the young have as the generations fail to see eye to eye.
Throughout this book Jody’s father Carl has been painted as an overbearing, petty destroyer of dreams and he comes out of it badly. The mother seems scared to stand up to him nut will do it occasionally and Billy Buck the farmhand just tries to keep himself on the right side of whomever he is dealing with.
Syeinbeck describes a time and a land where speaking your mind could isolate you from the community forever but biting your lip could eat at your heart until you die.
A great little book and one that could almost be consumed as four distinct short stories.
A review will follow soon…
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Friday, October 05, 2007
book review - The Little Man from Archangel
This little book by the man behind the Maigret detective stories Georges Simenon has a victim and a death but they are not the ones that you expect after the scene is set out. In a tale of discrimination, paranoia and the loneliness of being left completely alone this is on one level a story about trust and on another something a great deal more profound.
The trust story reminds you a bit of that film How to Murder Your Wife starring Jack Lemmon where he plays the role of a cartoonist who enjoys the bachelor life and then draws a fantasy cartoon strip about killing his wife. She sees the cartoon and heads off to sulk but her disappearance and the cartoon sparks a murder trial. No body can be found that but does not stop the prosecution whipping everyone up into a frenzy.
The pace here is a lot more sedate but darker because there is no humour. Jonas Milk, a Jewish immigrant from Russia who runs a second hand bookshop in a French market square goes to bed one night to find his wife has left him. There is a 16 year age gap between them and he was forced into the marriage by her mother against the will of her father and brother, who never come to terms with Milk. She walks out and rather than admit she is off cavorting with another man Milk when asked over his routine morning coffee lies about her travelling to see a friend in Bourges.
He persists in the lies whenever asked by family and friends and sticks to it as he goes through the routine of a morning and afternoon coffee and buying the croissants for his and his wife’s breakfast. The problem is that the family suspect him of foul play and as he sticks to the lie it becomes harder for him to then change his story, which he finally has to do under police questioning. The breakdown of trust with the wife is complete when the police tell him that she was frightened of him, a revelation that crushes him.
But on a more profound level there is a story here about exclusion and the speed to which a community will close its doors to an outsider. You can be living alongside people all of your life but the minute there is even a hint that something is wrong you become different – a Jew, a Russian a jealous old man married to a beautiful young woman.
It is that wall of suspicion that finally drives Milk to break with his routine and close in on himself. The potential release comes when a woman tells Milk where his wife is proving that he did not kill her but by then it is no longer, if it ever has been for him, about her. He chooses to end his life rather than live anymore among people who cannot look him in the eye and so blatantly talk about him behind his back. The memories of abandonment that come back to haunt him from his childhood experiences emigrating from Russia return to haunt him and remind him of how he is alone.
The power of the book is wrapped up in the final stages when the emphasis switches from the wife to the husband and he emerges as the real victim and ultimately is killed by the community around him. Simenon has a way of describing the cruelty of people too frightened to stand up and speak unless backed by the crowd in a way that any of us who has ever had that experience, even for a fleeting moment in a school playground, can relate to.
This book has as much resonance today than it ever did because bullying continues and the question of how we treat immigrants is as topical as ever.
Version read – Penguin paperback
Lunchtime read: The Red Pony
This book is based in the one location – the ranch but in a way each chapter could have been its own individually written short story – there is not too much overlap. But where Steinbeck does use the past it is subtly and not in a way that wastes precious lines discussing events that have already happened.
The second third of the book, chapters two and three, covers the second horse that Jody is promised as well as an odd appearance by a man who in almost all respects resembles freedom.
Having promised to look after the red pony that died the ranch hand Billy is reluctant to make a similar promise to Jody when his father lets him take responsibility for a colt that the mare will give birth to. When the birthing time comes the mare is in some trouble and Billy has to perform a deadly caesarean to save the life of the colt. But performing the operation, which kills the mare, leaves him emotionally and physically drained - a high price to pay to keep his promise.
Then an old man turns up who used to live on the land covered by the ranch and he says that he has come to die where he was born. The ranch owner doesn’t like his presence and makes that clear but the old man, armed with a ceremonial dagger, rides off with the oldest horse in the field into the mountains to die and avoid the humiliations that would have been visited on the old horse as well as the old man.
Final chunk tomorrow…
The second third of the book, chapters two and three, covers the second horse that Jody is promised as well as an odd appearance by a man who in almost all respects resembles freedom.
Having promised to look after the red pony that died the ranch hand Billy is reluctant to make a similar promise to Jody when his father lets him take responsibility for a colt that the mare will give birth to. When the birthing time comes the mare is in some trouble and Billy has to perform a deadly caesarean to save the life of the colt. But performing the operation, which kills the mare, leaves him emotionally and physically drained - a high price to pay to keep his promise.
Then an old man turns up who used to live on the land covered by the ranch and he says that he has come to die where he was born. The ranch owner doesn’t like his presence and makes that clear but the old man, armed with a ceremonial dagger, rides off with the oldest horse in the field into the mountains to die and avoid the humiliations that would have been visited on the old horse as well as the old man.
Final chunk tomorrow…
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Jailbird - post IV
The book comes to an end with Starbuck again heading back for prison but this time he is given a friendly send off from those who are grateful for what he has done.
You are left pondering what the message is and it seems to be that even if you try to do something honourable then it goes against you in a society that is so susceptible to corruption and fear of actually sharing its wealth with its own people.
The dream of the secret owner of RAMJAC to spread her wealth among all Americans collapses under administration and legal fees and the cold reality of globalisation.
Bullet points between pages 200 – 241
* Having worked out who Mary Kathleen actually is after his interview with the public head of the RAMJAC he decides to head back to see his old flame in the hidden rail repair sheds in the bowls of the railway station
* Mary has been hit by a taxi and is slowly bleeding to death in one of the unused toilets and she tells Walter what her vision had been of what she wanted to do with RAMJAC, eventually giving the company to the American people
* She tells him how her wealth had meant she could never be happy because she was always haunted with the thought of being captured and having her hands cut off because that is the only way of identifying her ownership of the company
* Walter claims her body and she is buried but by some twist the cemetery worker tells someone he know with the same name and he has the fingerprints checked to see if he is related and it comes out that Starbuck hid the death of the legendary Mrs Jack Graham owner of the RAMJAC corporation
* Things rapidly fall apart and as a result of keeping her death hidden Walter faces jail and says goodbye to everyone for the second time but this time his speech in front of Nixon that cost his best friend his freedom is applauded and this jokes are appreciated – there is life after political death
A review will follow soon…
You are left pondering what the message is and it seems to be that even if you try to do something honourable then it goes against you in a society that is so susceptible to corruption and fear of actually sharing its wealth with its own people.
The dream of the secret owner of RAMJAC to spread her wealth among all Americans collapses under administration and legal fees and the cold reality of globalisation.
Bullet points between pages 200 – 241
* Having worked out who Mary Kathleen actually is after his interview with the public head of the RAMJAC he decides to head back to see his old flame in the hidden rail repair sheds in the bowls of the railway station
* Mary has been hit by a taxi and is slowly bleeding to death in one of the unused toilets and she tells Walter what her vision had been of what she wanted to do with RAMJAC, eventually giving the company to the American people
* She tells him how her wealth had meant she could never be happy because she was always haunted with the thought of being captured and having her hands cut off because that is the only way of identifying her ownership of the company
* Walter claims her body and she is buried but by some twist the cemetery worker tells someone he know with the same name and he has the fingerprints checked to see if he is related and it comes out that Starbuck hid the death of the legendary Mrs Jack Graham owner of the RAMJAC corporation
* Things rapidly fall apart and as a result of keeping her death hidden Walter faces jail and says goodbye to everyone for the second time but this time his speech in front of Nixon that cost his best friend his freedom is applauded and this jokes are appreciated – there is life after political death
A review will follow soon…
book review - Three Men in a Boat
This is a pleasant book by Jerome K. Jerome to read but one that is a bit like a museum piece, a window into a world gone by. The Thames is still there and people still lark about on it in boats but the manners and behaviour of the people in this book have long since been eclipsed by a society populated with people who simply do not care about their environment.
The anecdotes are the sort that you aged uncle might share with you as he prepares for a snooze after a heavy Christmas lunch and the outcome of this book is similar. This is a pleasant experience but you are not going to be asked major questions as a reader, not going to be left dwelling on the content and mulling it over. That is not to say it is a waste of time but it is a bit like a hot bath at the end of a cold trudge home through the misty rain and should be seen as such.
Even as Jerome is describing the trip down the Thames with his two companions and his rather aggressive dog Jerome gets lost in the past. The banks of the river are described in terms of what happened there with Kings and Queens and the years of the Tudors rather than what is going on now. It is almost as if he realises, and the steam launches are a symbol of this, that the very journey he is describing is also a historical act.
The humour is pleasant and there are moments when each character gets a chance to have a comic moment with the dog also getting more than his fair share of the spotlight. Harris getting drunk and fighting with swans, George being the one to tempt them to throw in the towel and Jerome quite happy to share previous experiences of mishaps on the water.
Perhaps one of the reasons why this is seen as a classic is because it is a view of the world that is forever captured in print. A time when people actually cared for each other and enjoyed their environment without feeling the need to spray can it, burn it or leave rubbish all over it.
A pleasant read that does not demand too much of the reader. It deserves to be read because it is referred to so much by so many people but my suspicion is that it will not be a book you will return to that often.
Version read – Penguin paperback
Reviewing somewhat differently
Having trawled around the blogosphere and seen what else is out there I am mighty tempted to change the way I write book reviews. I have tended to stick to a formulaic arrangement that is a bit like some of the reviews I occasionally have to knock out on computer products. However it feels too restrictive so from now, until things change again, I’m going to go for something a bit more straightforward.
Lunchtime read: The Red Pony
Whenever you pick up a Steinbeck you start to fell that you might have read it somewhere before. That is not to say it might be unoriginal but it is a result of the way he is able to describe human emotions so well. The story of a boy fearing his father but wanting his approval is as old as the hills and add to that the idea that an adult can let you down and you have basic emotions that mix to make a compelling story.
The first third of the book deals with setting the scene and Jody is a single child who lives with his mother, father and the farm hand Billy. He lives by a strict code set down by his father who lives, as to do they all, a strict life based on the hours that a farmer has to keep.
One day the father and Billy come home from a trip to the town with a surprise for Jody, a young red pony. The boy dotes on it everyday and keeps it in prime condition. But one day he is going to school and concerned that after a week of rain, when he has left the pony indoors, the animal will get left out in the rain if the weather turns.
Billy assures him that it will not rain and then promises to take him in if it does. He fails on both counts and the pony is soaked and becomes ill.
Despite the best efforts of Billy and Jody, who nurses the horse most nights, the pony becomes worse and finally wanders off and stumbles and dies in a field leaving Billy feeling awful and Jody distraught.
Where will the story go from here – in some sense it is already a powerful short story – but you sense that there is more disappointment and heartbreak to come for the young boy.
More tomorrow…
The first third of the book deals with setting the scene and Jody is a single child who lives with his mother, father and the farm hand Billy. He lives by a strict code set down by his father who lives, as to do they all, a strict life based on the hours that a farmer has to keep.
One day the father and Billy come home from a trip to the town with a surprise for Jody, a young red pony. The boy dotes on it everyday and keeps it in prime condition. But one day he is going to school and concerned that after a week of rain, when he has left the pony indoors, the animal will get left out in the rain if the weather turns.
Billy assures him that it will not rain and then promises to take him in if it does. He fails on both counts and the pony is soaked and becomes ill.
Despite the best efforts of Billy and Jody, who nurses the horse most nights, the pony becomes worse and finally wanders off and stumbles and dies in a field leaving Billy feeling awful and Jody distraught.
Where will the story go from here – in some sense it is already a powerful short story – but you sense that there is more disappointment and heartbreak to come for the young boy.
More tomorrow…
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Jailbird - post III
A colleague from another magazine that works next to mine wandered over and picked up my library copy of Jailbird and commented that Vonnegut was a tight writer but weird. That didn’t seem to bother him so I recommended this book promising it would match both of those requirements.
The comment about tightness is particularly apt because things do fall into place and the same sort of feeling of time travel you get in Slaughterhouse 5 is here but based on memory rather than alien intervention. There is only one place where the reader realises what is happening long before Vonnegut tells you but then he pulls the authority over the story back with a twist that you did not see coming.
Bullet points between pages 130 – 202
* Things go from odd to odder for Walter Starbuck as he greets his old friend, the one he put in prison, who thanks him for the opportunity to discover that life is meant to be a trial
* But their discussion is interrupted by a mad bag lady who identifies Walter and then starts trying to talk to him – you realise that is his second great love from his communist activist days – and he finally recognises her as Mary Kathleen
* He hugs her and she drags him to a secret area in central station and then up to the top of the Chrysler building where for some reason Walter decides to tell the owner of the American harp company that he has some stolen clarinet parts to sell
* While waiting for the police, which he doesn’t know are coming, he tells his old flame about all the nice people he has met since he left prison ranging from the prison guard to his old friend who he had helped put in jail
* He is then whisked off to jail and dumped in the basement in a padded cell where he goes through the motions of having a breakdown before one of the best lawyers in the city comes to spring him
* The reasons why the lawyer has come is because the bag lady turns out to be one of the richest women in America the secret force behind the RAMJAC corporation which has been mentioned throughout the book owning everything from Sesame Street to MacDonald’s
* In the car are all of the people that Starbuck has mentioned to the bag lady and they are dragged off to the public face of RAMJAC to be told that because they are virtuous people they are to be given executive jobs in the company
More tomorrow…
The comment about tightness is particularly apt because things do fall into place and the same sort of feeling of time travel you get in Slaughterhouse 5 is here but based on memory rather than alien intervention. There is only one place where the reader realises what is happening long before Vonnegut tells you but then he pulls the authority over the story back with a twist that you did not see coming.
Bullet points between pages 130 – 202
* Things go from odd to odder for Walter Starbuck as he greets his old friend, the one he put in prison, who thanks him for the opportunity to discover that life is meant to be a trial
* But their discussion is interrupted by a mad bag lady who identifies Walter and then starts trying to talk to him – you realise that is his second great love from his communist activist days – and he finally recognises her as Mary Kathleen
* He hugs her and she drags him to a secret area in central station and then up to the top of the Chrysler building where for some reason Walter decides to tell the owner of the American harp company that he has some stolen clarinet parts to sell
* While waiting for the police, which he doesn’t know are coming, he tells his old flame about all the nice people he has met since he left prison ranging from the prison guard to his old friend who he had helped put in jail
* He is then whisked off to jail and dumped in the basement in a padded cell where he goes through the motions of having a breakdown before one of the best lawyers in the city comes to spring him
* The reasons why the lawyer has come is because the bag lady turns out to be one of the richest women in America the secret force behind the RAMJAC corporation which has been mentioned throughout the book owning everything from Sesame Street to MacDonald’s
* In the car are all of the people that Starbuck has mentioned to the bag lady and they are dragged off to the public face of RAMJAC to be told that because they are virtuous people they are to be given executive jobs in the company
More tomorrow…
Lunchtime read: The Steppe and Other Stories
The story, and the collection of short stories, ends with the steppe again the main backdrop to a terrific storm that darkens the sky and turns the normal in a lightning illuminated horror show. Just like the storms that Joseph Conrad describes out at sea the sky turns black long before the rain comes. At the end of the storm Yegorushka has gone through some sort of illness but also changed in terms of becoming more grown up and is able to start his new life – he has no choice – far away from home.
Highlights from pages 115 – 148
Dymov apologies to Yegorushka and the travellers get ready to set off but the sky darkens and the experienced waggoners get ready for a storm. They pass Yegorushka a mat to keep the rain off but the young boy is terrified as the lightning illuminates strange outlines and those who were one minute before within earshot are now drowned out by the thunder and then the rain. By the time they reach the village where his Uncle and Father Christopher are waiting he is very ill. It is the priest rather than is uncle who looks after him and the next day he is well enough to be taken to his aunt’s house to be left to start his new life at school. The young boy chases after his uncle and the priest when they leave but they are gone and he is left alone to wonder what his new life will hold.
The steppe serves as the backdrop to Yegorushka growing up coming into contact with peasants, understanding that he is being separated from his mother and learning about the priorities that those with money have not just his uncle but also the rich merchants who operate in the area.
A review will follow shortly…
Highlights from pages 115 – 148
Dymov apologies to Yegorushka and the travellers get ready to set off but the sky darkens and the experienced waggoners get ready for a storm. They pass Yegorushka a mat to keep the rain off but the young boy is terrified as the lightning illuminates strange outlines and those who were one minute before within earshot are now drowned out by the thunder and then the rain. By the time they reach the village where his Uncle and Father Christopher are waiting he is very ill. It is the priest rather than is uncle who looks after him and the next day he is well enough to be taken to his aunt’s house to be left to start his new life at school. The young boy chases after his uncle and the priest when they leave but they are gone and he is left alone to wonder what his new life will hold.
The steppe serves as the backdrop to Yegorushka growing up coming into contact with peasants, understanding that he is being separated from his mother and learning about the priorities that those with money have not just his uncle but also the rich merchants who operate in the area.
A review will follow shortly…
Jailbird - post II
Without going overboard Vonnegut paints a picture of corruption not just in the Nixon administration but also at the heart of the top tier of American politics and business. As he links in with themes not just of Watergate but also how large corporations are running most of the country he is able to build up a much more subtle indictment of corruption than if he had gone for its hammer and tongs.
Bullet points between pages 40 – 130
* Walter Starbuck is a difficult target for the zealous Christian trying to have one last time converting him to the right path before Starbuck leaves prison and the lead character is finally taken out of his cell by his guard
* As he wanders over to the main gate and freedom he coincides with the arrival of one of the senior government ministers being sent into serve his term for corruption charges
* Starbuck gets in the convicts limousine and heads off into the city and then travels to New York to stay in a hotel he once stayed the night in when he took his first girlfriend out for a meal
* It was a disaster because he had been told to behave like an aristocrat by his mentor Alexander McCone and he blew it by over tipping a violin player and appearing to rub his dates nose in his wealth
* He came clean about what he was doing and they became friends but never married because she ended up with one of his good friends Leland Clewes, who Starbuck had betrayed in the anti-communist witch hunt of the post-way years
* His betrayal of Clewes, who served time in prison and had his political ambitions ruined, lost Starbuck a lot of friends and made it very difficult to get a job or even now have someone to lean on after he came out of prison
* He heads back to New York stays in the hotel where it is so run down they are amazed he has made a reservation and then he wanders into the quarter of the city where his old betrayed friend lives
* He spots Leland Clewes before he in turn is seen and although he could turn and walk away he stays rooted to the spot making a meeting between the two old friends inevitable
More tonight….
Bullet points between pages 40 – 130
* Walter Starbuck is a difficult target for the zealous Christian trying to have one last time converting him to the right path before Starbuck leaves prison and the lead character is finally taken out of his cell by his guard
* As he wanders over to the main gate and freedom he coincides with the arrival of one of the senior government ministers being sent into serve his term for corruption charges
* Starbuck gets in the convicts limousine and heads off into the city and then travels to New York to stay in a hotel he once stayed the night in when he took his first girlfriend out for a meal
* It was a disaster because he had been told to behave like an aristocrat by his mentor Alexander McCone and he blew it by over tipping a violin player and appearing to rub his dates nose in his wealth
* He came clean about what he was doing and they became friends but never married because she ended up with one of his good friends Leland Clewes, who Starbuck had betrayed in the anti-communist witch hunt of the post-way years
* His betrayal of Clewes, who served time in prison and had his political ambitions ruined, lost Starbuck a lot of friends and made it very difficult to get a job or even now have someone to lean on after he came out of prison
* He heads back to New York stays in the hotel where it is so run down they are amazed he has made a reservation and then he wanders into the quarter of the city where his old betrayed friend lives
* He spots Leland Clewes before he in turn is seen and although he could turn and walk away he stays rooted to the spot making a meeting between the two old friends inevitable
More tonight….
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Vonnegut would no doubt have enjoyed this
I sense that Kurt Vonnegut would have had great fun with the Black Water stuff going on at the moment. The idea of shady operators leading their own private war is something that could easily feature in Jailbird.
The big private corporation working closely in and around the government seems to be
as live and well as it ever was.
Sorry for the lack of a Jailbird post will do that tomorrow morning...
The big private corporation working closely in and around the government seems to be
as live and well as it ever was.
Sorry for the lack of a Jailbird post will do that tomorrow morning...
Lunchtime read: The Steppe and Other Stories
Yegorushka starts the process of growing up before he even gets to school as he is confronted by injustice, jealously and has to come to terms with the fact he is different from the others around him because he is a ‘gentleman’ and not one of the peasantry.
Highlights of The Steppe between pages 75 – 115
As the travellers head along the road they start to talk about the past and the old man, who has been reasonably kind to Yegorushka, reveals that his wife and children were burnt to death but despite that the wool traders loved to dwell in the better days of the past
Last chunk tomorrow…
Highlights of The Steppe between pages 75 – 115
As the travellers head along the road they start to talk about the past and the old man, who has been reasonably kind to Yegorushka, reveals that his wife and children were burnt to death but despite that the wool traders loved to dwell in the better days of the past
“The Russian loves recalling life, but he does not love living.”Yegorushka listens along with the others as the old man Panteley tells them about how he was accompanying merchants who were about to be killed when either the Lord or bystanders intervened to save them. Then a love struck man wanders across their camp and afterwards those who are depressed turn on each other and Yegorushka springs to the defence of those being attacked by Dymov, who seems intent on causing trouble to ease his own boredom and depression. As he loses his temper it becomes clear not only does the young man not know how to relate to Dymov but he is also pretty naive about the cruelty of life.
Last chunk tomorrow…
The cost of the Playstation generation
t is a sad indication of the declining position books have in the lives of most young people that school libraries are becoming almost obsolete through a lack of use. A storuy in the Gudrain today, which I cannot find a link to, sets out a sad picture of no one using school libraries and money to support them drying up. I remember spending many happy hours in the school library, some occasionally reading books, and it would be a real shame if these quiet temples of learning are lost. There is such little chance for people to find the sort of mood a library produces with the quiet and peace that to lose them would definitely not help children in both learning and behaviour.
Jailbird - post I
Before starting this the only other Vonnegut book I had encountered was Slaughterhouse 5 and this starts in a similar way with a prologue that seems to be providing you with the motivation for the story and the background. It is enjoyable to read and written with feeling, particularly the bits about the strikers being shot, but all the time you are trying to work out what it has to do with prison or, after you turn the first page of the novel, how it relates to the Nixon era.
The same strange feeling of not knowing what was coming next was felt with Slaughterhouse 5 so there is a bit more comfort there that this is going to be fine and the references made in the prologue will become important.
Bullet points from the prologue and pages 1 - 40
* The prologue talks about all manner of things but mainly concentrates the story of the McCone family, which owned a steel plant and decided to put out strikers and leave them to starve rather than reemploy them after the strike had broken
* The strikers come to demonstrate and the McCone family have hired sharp shooters to shoot and sure enough 14 demonstrators are gunned down and the youngest son in the steel magnate's family Alexander becomes a stuttering wreck and leaves the family firm
* He has no friends with his wife and daughter living apart from him so he plays with the cook and driver's son who he decides should follow in his footsteps and become a Harvard man - there is a fair amount of stuff about the virtues, or lack of them, of being a Harvard graduate
* That chess playing boy grows up to have a role in the Nixon administration and end up being sent to prison along with a host of the presidents other political team for embezzlement and other crimes that spilt out from the Watergate affair
* The main book starts with the character of Walter Starbuck about to leave prison to try and pick up the pieces of his life with a son who hates him and a wife that died just a couple of weeks before he started his three year prison term
* Although it is for crimes commit ed by the Nixon administration he is behind bars he only came to the attention of the president once and was largely an non-entity that smoked and churned out memos and reports no one read from a basement room
* While he waits for the guard, Jimmy Carter's cousin to come and release him, one of the other inmates who has found religion comes to try and convert him and points out to the bitter and cynical Starbuck that he has no friends whatsoever so why not be friends with Jesus
That has hardly done justice top what is a clever, passionate and intricately weaved introduction but it should at least tempt you to pick this up and have a read. More tomorrow...
The same strange feeling of not knowing what was coming next was felt with Slaughterhouse 5 so there is a bit more comfort there that this is going to be fine and the references made in the prologue will become important.
Bullet points from the prologue and pages 1 - 40
* The prologue talks about all manner of things but mainly concentrates the story of the McCone family, which owned a steel plant and decided to put out strikers and leave them to starve rather than reemploy them after the strike had broken
* The strikers come to demonstrate and the McCone family have hired sharp shooters to shoot and sure enough 14 demonstrators are gunned down and the youngest son in the steel magnate's family Alexander becomes a stuttering wreck and leaves the family firm
* He has no friends with his wife and daughter living apart from him so he plays with the cook and driver's son who he decides should follow in his footsteps and become a Harvard man - there is a fair amount of stuff about the virtues, or lack of them, of being a Harvard graduate
* That chess playing boy grows up to have a role in the Nixon administration and end up being sent to prison along with a host of the presidents other political team for embezzlement and other crimes that spilt out from the Watergate affair
* The main book starts with the character of Walter Starbuck about to leave prison to try and pick up the pieces of his life with a son who hates him and a wife that died just a couple of weeks before he started his three year prison term
* Although it is for crimes commit ed by the Nixon administration he is behind bars he only came to the attention of the president once and was largely an non-entity that smoked and churned out memos and reports no one read from a basement room
* While he waits for the guard, Jimmy Carter's cousin to come and release him, one of the other inmates who has found religion comes to try and convert him and points out to the bitter and cynical Starbuck that he has no friends whatsoever so why not be friends with Jesus
That has hardly done justice top what is a clever, passionate and intricately weaved introduction but it should at least tempt you to pick this up and have a read. More tomorrow...
Monday, October 01, 2007
Lunchtime read: The Steppe and Other Stories
There are some passages that paint a picture of the steppe with its wide horizon, sounds of wild birds and roads so wide that they seem to be have been made for giants. The advantage of putting the story in a well described landscape is that is suddenly comes alive and it is easier to visualise Yegorushka as he trundles through the countryside.
Highlights from The Steppe pages 49 – 75
Yegorushka starts dreaming about the merchant Varlamov and Countess Dranitsky who are both rich and seem to be figures in a world that is well beyond his reach. He is then transferred away from his uncle to the wagons carrying wool and he starts to meet a motley crew of characters including an old man who recommends he gets some education and a young troublemaker called Dymov who is a practical joker.
Hard at this stage to see where the story is going but more tomorrow…
Highlights from The Steppe pages 49 – 75
Yegorushka starts dreaming about the merchant Varlamov and Countess Dranitsky who are both rich and seem to be figures in a world that is well beyond his reach. He is then transferred away from his uncle to the wagons carrying wool and he starts to meet a motley crew of characters including an old man who recommends he gets some education and a young troublemaker called Dymov who is a practical joker.
Hard at this stage to see where the story is going but more tomorrow…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
