Midpoint-Bonfire

I just passed the more than halfway point of Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities. The book has left me dumbstruck in a number of ways, first of all it is unlike anything i've ever read. Pound for pound it is the hardest book i've ever attempted to read. It's a 700 page (dense long pages with small font) observation of class warfare and general snobbery and general racism. It would appear that Wolfe has extreme disdain for all of these characters, which helps build a level of interest for a reader, and when the protagonist Sherman McCoy spends 20 pages discussing the dining room at the wealthy home he is eating in, it's more of a reflection on greed than a lesson on decoration. Sherman is an extremely interesting character who sees the world differently than any character before him. He posseses certain qualities that make him so hatable you just want to hear him talk to see what horrible things he has to say about the human condition. The man is so slimy he can actually justify cheating on his wife, because he believes that is what he deserves after a long days work on Wall Street. Using hindsight it's obvious to see how such a meltdown could occur on Wall Street if all those firms are populated with people like McCoy. It's not enough that McCoy is an unrepentant philanderer he is also a willing accomplice in a murder. I won't give anymore away, but to say that his racism and xenophobia allows him to commit this crime, he never ceases to surprise me.

Final Blog: 3rd Quarter

Right now i'm reading the near 700 page The Bonfire of the Vanities, and it's going well enough that i'm about one fifth done and I really like the book. The book should take me to the midpoint of fourth quarter at least, after that I'm probably going to end the year with either some Raymond Chandler or James Ellroy, both detective novelists. As of now I've completed all the genre requirements and feel that i've read a diverse amount of books, but all books that were enjoyable except for my poetry book the unbearable Push by Sapphire. My favorite book of this quarter is a tie between The Name is Archer by Ross MacDonald and Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. Both are detective novels, but both are hugely different. The former is a classic, but cut into short stories full of sensational characters, gritty narrative, and pulpy dialogue. The latter is psychological horror full of twists and bone crunching suspense. I loved both of them for different reasons, and reading wise this is probably my best reading quarter as I've read varied books and haven't dropped anything. I've learned that I like to read three different types of books, one being what I like to call "accomplished pulp novels" that aren't just quick violent reads, but also a product of smart writers bending what literature can do. The other kind of books are more modern classics by famous authors like Wolfe, Thompson and others. The other types of books are ones that interest me whether they apply to me or my beliefs, or based on movies I like or have an interest in.

Character Connection between Catcher and Bonfire

Currently I've been reading The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe. The book about 80's me decade corruption, racism, and sexism that was so prevalent for the era. Sherman McCoy is a thirty-ish self proclaimed "Master of the Universe" who works at Pierce & Pierce Investments. He also is one of the biggest jerks ever published, his character is very similar to that of Holden Caulfield the snotty class concerned protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye. McCoy is what Holden Caulfield grows up to be, instead of teen angst Sherman has his mistress. Instead of worrying about the future, Sherman reflects on his past at the ficticious Buckley school. Sherman and Holden both come from the snobby set of the rich and famous in New York City. They might as well be the Dad's of the future Gossip Girl's. Sherman rationalizes when his wife finds out about his mistress that she's the villain because he makes the money and thus he is the savior. He's more devoted to his business than his little girl Campbell (yes everyone is pretentious). Holden is too busy worrying about the world, but we all know his rebellious streak will end and he'll become just another trader of stocks and bonds. Who knows, if he plays his cards right he might become another "Master of the Universe".

Bonfire

The past couple of weeks I've finished Push by Sapphire. A poor, but short book of poetry that was somewhat appealing. Now my next task is Tom Wolfes monumental story about Wall Street greed and Racism (and people say it only works in the Eighties), Bonfire of the Vanities, Wolfes prose appeals to me as it's smart, but not too smart. It has the quick wit of a Thompson novel, minus all the weird antics and paranoia. I really look forward to analyzing the me decade and all of it's atrocities. I plan on reading alot on my flight. After this book I'm going to read Hunter S. Thompsons long lost novel, "The Rum Diary".

Elmore Leonard Books

As of right now I'm juggling two books, Rum Punch and Road Dogs, both by Elmore Leonard. My favorite author of all time responsible for many great books including Out of Sight and Get Shorty, he's famous for his blend of comedy and crime that go so well together. He's a great pulp fiction writer who's actually a well merited writer and also has written some better-than-average western novels. Rum Punch is a book i've already read before, but when I first read it alot went over my head. Reading it with a little more knowledge makes the book all the more enjoyable. I'm still peeved by the fact it was never made into a sequel, because it would work perfectly. The plot consists of a flight attendant Jackie Burke (renamed Jackie Brown for the Quentin Tarantino movie of the same name as it's main character) who gets involved with many characters from many different facets of life: an aging bail bondsman, a weapons dealer, and a bevy of cops and cons who populate what could be either Miami or Los Angeles. Road Dogs, Leonard's most recent offering is a three character book about Jack Foley (a composite of all bank robber stereotypes), Dawn Navarro (a sexy mystic), and Cundo Rey a funny spanish crime boss who are all playing each other for a big score. Each character is from another Leonard novel, Foley being the most famous being that he's from Out of Sight. I'm enjoying both novel's very much.

Shutter Island: Reflection

I have just finished Shutter Island, and I'm happy to say It's already in the pantheon of my favorite books. It's masterful craft of horror and thriller was wonderful, but it's the human emotion that makes the book great. It's author Dennis Lehane, is proven in the True Crime genre, and it makes sense he would have success writing a Psychological Mystery. Like his other books it takes place in Boston, this time on a little island brimming with convicts. Teddy Daniels travels there to track down an escaped murderess, who killed all her kids. His real motivation is to kill the man, Andrew Laeddis, that murdered his wife. All the while escaping the eyes of the psycholigists and the rascist warden who rules the island. All the while the book asks you to take a leap of faith and trust Teddy, a clearly traumatized veteran who liberated the death camps in Dachau, and who now may be the key to exposing the island where it appears that experimental surgeries, mass druggings, and manipulation occur. Of course nothing is what it seems, but to tell you would give away the hidden treasures that come from reading this book.

Shutter Island

So far i'm really enjoying my new book, Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. This taut original thriller concerns U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels who is stationed at the Ashecliffe Hospital looking for an escaped murderess. This murderess, Rachel Solando, drowned her kids and then sat down for a meal. "It's as if she's evaporated into thin air" states the Island chief psycholigist ominously. The book makes you feel as if you're trapped on the island with no way out, just like Daniels and his good-cop partner Chuck Aule. The book is meticulously crafted and very scary. You never know what is going to be thrown at you. I can't wait to read this book some more, as it is the very esscence of the classic page turner. There is an obvious reason why this book's about to become a Martin Scorcese picture.

Mystery Books

I've finished the first five stories of The Name is Archer, and they've all been really good. Each one is very simple, but all are very different from the other. Each is set up through a murder, and Detective Archer is sent out to investigate each one. Every murder is intricate and the cast of characters are always interesting. That being said the longer the story, the better the story. Because it allows MacDonald more time to test the reader through puzzles and cover ups. My favorite story so far pertains an artist who is murdered, but not before he can leave his final clue that helps the case get solved. I've come to the conclusion that short stories are really great, I've read so many and by so many great artists such as: Ray Chandler, John Steinbeck, and many, many others. They don't allow you to become to invested in a character which always end up dissapointing and they never let your interest wane. My next book will be Dashiell Hammet's The Thin Man, and after that either A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood, or Push by Sapphire (a prevalent slam poet). I look forward to reading all these stories and my inevitable finishing of The Name is Archer.

The Awesome Archer

Lew Archer is an awesome character. The character is the subject of The Name is Archer by Ross MacDonald, MacDonald being a fifties writer whose work comes from the same place as other novelists Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. The only difference is Archer is better than both Marlowe and Nick and Nora. If he saw the thin man he'd break him in half. And thats the conceit of the novel. Archer walks into trouble and he solves it. Each case is wildly different from what would seem as conventional plots like jilted lover kills partner or motel slaying and yet he spins these routines on there proverbial heads. It's similar in fact to many Coen brother movies, where the main character has no place being where he is, and the rest is a struggle to stray out alive. Nearly everyone either dismisses Archer as a stupid grizzly bear of a man, or asks for his help looking to stab him in the back when the situation gets rough. But Archer is not stupid and you always feel as if he's a step ahead of you. I tried guessing the ending everytime, but I never even came close. The book divided in vignettes shows you the power of a good mystery before CSI came along and turned intrigue into lab work. After reading this it's easy to see why MacDonald was named grand master of the myster writers association of america.

New Year, New Books

I'd like to think 2009 was a great year for me rediscovering my love of reading that included alot of hits (Watchmen earlier this year, Moneyball, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, etc.) and a few misses (my forays into the weird minds of Thomas Pynchon and William S. Burroughs). This year their are alot of books i'd really like to read as well as authors. For poetry i'm probably going to read a collection of Langston Hughes poems because ever since I first read "Harlem" by him a long time ago, he's easily been my favorite poet (it's not a coincidence that tomorrow i'm reading his aforementioned poem to my english class). Although I really think Walt Whitman's vision of America is cool, his poems bore me. Other books i'd like to read are The Tao of Wu by The Rza, Push by Sapphire, Road Dogs and Out of Sight by Elmore Leonard, and maybe Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I'm really starting to love gritty urban novels which is one of the reason's i'd like to read Push, as well as I recently saw the movie "Precious" which was amazing. I'm also interested in reading a good World War II novel, but I don't know any good ones so suggestions would be really appreciated.