The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving

I've only ever heard this story as a legend or told though television movies. I was quite surprised that rather than a straightforward tale of horror, Sleepy Hollow is a satire on country life and superstition. I really enjoyed the subtle wit and rationality, and loved the wink and the nod ending. In the popularization of Irving's story, so much has been lost!

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce

Disclosure: I read this immediately on the coattails of Ulysses and suspect that my relief at the termination of Ulysses may have clouded my feelings for Portrait.

In all, I rather enjoyed this short novel. The life of Stephen Daedalus, which is said to parallel Joyce, is documented from his youth to his development as an artist. I felt like the novel immersed the reader in the trappings of Irish life - boarding school, Catholicism (and a near-Jesuit recruitment), interactions with classmates, Irish nationalism, disaffection, aesthetics.... Relationships with family and friends both play prominent roles in this novel. While perhaps not the vaunted literary masterpiece that Ulysses is reputed to be, Portrait was infinitely more enjoyable.

Ulysses - Joyce

This novel has been, since I was in high school, the only book that I've picked up and not completed. I would hear about how Joyce is one of the greatest novelists of all time, and how Ulysses is his masterpiece, and pick it up again - to no avail. Well, I can say that no longer. I've plodded through this book much to my detriment, but I can now finally say that I've completed it.

So why didn't I like it?

Something about Ulysses just didn't draw me in. Maybe it's too intellectual? (A bit of self-deprecation never hurt anyone, especially when panning a novel with a rabid fanbase.) Honestly, I was just bored. My experience with Ulysses was similar to that of Wuthering Heights. I TRIED to like it, to appreciate it, to look for it's merit. I WANTED to like it. The snob in me wants to be able to talk about its finer points with my "literary" friends. But I just didn't like it. End of story.

I think the primary problem was that I didn't like Bloom. I realize this is blasphemy and am ready to take my lashes. I thought he was boring. I found that I didn't care what he was doing/thinking/feeling. His fantasies, his wife, the funeral... I didn't even get a Every Man feeling from him like I did from Babbit. I could step back and appreciate the literary structure, the storytelling diversity, the Irish focus. And I actually enjoyed reading about Stephen. But every Bloom page flip was painful to me, and I probably spent nearly as much time checking to see how much I had left as I did reading the novel.

I'm sure the Bloom fanatics out there will merely dismiss me as an uneducated buffoon, and I'll gladly listen to any arguments in Ulysses's favor, but for now, I'm just glad that I'm done.

Babbitt - Sinclair Lewis

This novel was incredible. A description of 'normal' American life in the era of prohibition touching on capitalism, conservatism, romance, and societal position, Babbitt satirically portrays the lives of characters in an up-and-coming mid-sized town (Zenith). Babbitt describes the details of normalcy without embitterment, yet highlights the lack of satisfaction that even the most successful 'normal' people feel with the lack of passion and freedom in their lives. George Babbitt has an incident, a break with his life, but as soon as he's ready to accept that the consequences of rebellion are too great for him, he is accepted back into the fold without a ripple. The description of Babbitt was truly an Everyman description, and I felt after reading the novel not only did I truly understand Babbitt, but that maybe I'd misjudged other 'normal' people. This novel is interesting in that in most novels where people break out of their societal bounds, they escape permanently for better or worse. Although meant satirically, George Babbitt's re-fusion with society (albeit with his rebellion by supporting his son's life) actually depicts a more realistic (although less dramatic) result. By providing a fair critique of normalcy without over-sensationalization, Babbitt cleverly makes rebellion comfortable and commonplace.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne

I admit, I've never previously read this classic. Jules Verne is more about worlds than about characters. He uses his narration to describe scientific wonders rather than plot development, and some of the major events (ie squid attack) seem a bit contrived. As a novel, I wasn't very impressed. But as a scientist and a would-be adventurer, I was charmed by this book. I was endlessly impressed by the scientific knowledge presented in a book written in the mid-to-late 1800s. Although I'm not a historian of scientific discovery, I'm under the impression that despite the high accuracy of the marine descriptions presented, some were known at the time and some were Verne's vision. Very impressive. I read this book and wanted to explore - to discover things on my own. It gave me a wanderlust, and despite the ambiguity of Captain Nemo and the lack of substance to Ned, Conseil, and the Professor, I would recommend it.

Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace

I've seen this somewhat cerebral novel described as 'difficult' by a number of reviewers. Other than the length (which I rather enjoyed), I didn't find Infinite Jest difficult or even challenging in the 'challenging to follow' sense (although DFW's vocabulary puts mine to shame). Rather, the central themes (addiction/competition/family/commerialization/etc/etc) and characters (both ETA and Ennett House) were well-developed, perhaps due to the obvious time and care devoted to each separately as well as the connections between them. The writing was both deep and amusing, and I found Inifinite Jest to be a page-turner, especially near the end when I became inpatient for the answers to my questions. (What caused Hal's illness? What happened with Pemulis/the Entertainment/Orin? Was Joelle actually disfigured with acid? Why exactly did James Incandenza stick his head in a microwave and demap himself? Will Gately survive/stay clean?) The ending was incredibly unsatisfying at first - abrupt and jarring not because it left all these questions unanswered (but with equally weighty support for multiple explanations) but because of the unexpectedness of the timing of the ending. This feeling was perhaps heightened for me because I read IJ on the Kindle and didn't have that physical feel of being near the end of a long book to warn me of its imminent termination. Upon reflection, I actually quite like the ending - much like the novel often describes how The Mad Stork's films constantly made viewers cognizant of the film itself rather than the plot or characters, IJ's ending (and frequent footnotes) makes you aware of of DFW's opus as a novel. What exactly was he trying to say with his abrupt finale?

I'm not going to go into each character or theme here - although I'm certain I can write nearly an essay on each. Instead, I'm going to tell you what I think happened, which is of course the beauty of the amibiguity. Like the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books I read as a kid, this IJ lets you decide not only how you would like things to turn out, but also gives the reader insight into how he/she thinks about the world and characters - a window into your own psyche. In my IJ Universe 1) Orin is not killed by the AFR, but is permanently injured from kicking the glass (ending his pro-football career) and tormented by the roaches, preventing him from further taking advantage of Subjects. 2) Joelle is actually disfigured by acid (otherwise why would Orin have left her and the Mad Stork have become interested in her), giving her a kind of hideous beauty. 3) Gately survives and is not prosecuted. He stays off drugs and hooks up with JvD. 4) Orin tries to go back to JvD in his new damaged state, and grows as a person (and maybe makes up with Avril) when she won't have him. 4) Pemulis, in his fear and anger at getting kicked out of school, wants revenge on Avril and Hal. It makes sense that he's dose Hal's toothbrush with the DMZ, causing Hal's illness. The timing works out. I don't think Hal saw the Entertainment (although it was made for him). I don't think he took the DMZ himself. Pemulis-mediated revenge would be such a nice cohesive ending. But I don't think Pemulis did it. He's too overcome by the missing stock - trying to talk to Hal, digging in the dumpsters. I think either someone else dosed Hal's toothbrush (although I have no idea who it would be) or that the mold from his childhood was actually the culprit (maybe he actually WAS silent when he thought he was talking to the Mad Stork and it was Hal, not the Mad Stork, that was losing it). How ironic if Avril's fear of dirt/basement ended up destroying her son. I'd like to think that Hal at somepoint will come out of his breakdown, but I doubt it. Instead, his problem may make him into the perfect tennis player (not thinking too much) and he can be a huge success in the show (even better than John Wayne). 5) CT was definitely Mario's father (and Avril's blood relative). This is actually pretty clear in the text, and so isn't much a stretch. 6)Finally, I think the AFR find The Master in Incandenza's coffin, but Remy's betrayal leads to ONAN success and AFR failure. Remy's wife is 'saved' by the very people that poisoned her, and as she no longer needs Remy, he loses his sense of self and ends it.

One person that I just don't 'get', even in my own personal IJ Universe, is Avril. She seems to be this driving cohesive force behind the story - her obsessions, her liasons, her Canadianness. But she doesn't seem to overtly cause any of the problems. Why does Orin break with her? It seems inconsistent for such a functional but OCD woman to be so sexually driven. What role exactly does 'the Moms' play in the events that transpire?

So that's what I think will happen, what will follow next from the given storyline. What does this say about me? I'll leave that to you to interpret.

As with any good piece of literature, Infinite Jest leaves you with more questions than answers, causes you to question your own world view and behaviors, search for your own addictions, address the incongruity of your actions with your belief system (like AA, we all do things that just don't make sense, but 'work'). I leave IJ questioning the value of certain things in my life (and deathly afraid of addictive substances). I highly recommend this novel to anyone who needs some perspective in their lives.

Bones to Ashes: A Novel - Kathy Reichs

Out of curiousity, I decided to read this novel by the forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, who is the scientist that the TV show Bones is loosely based on. I like Bones - I guess I relate to Brennan, or at least would like to. She's a tough, intelligent woman who does important work (with an attractive partner). She's uncompromising about her work and well-rounded in her outside interests (speaks multiple languages, loves jazz). So I wanted to see the type of the novel the real life version (although I'm sure less sensational) would write.

Bones to Ashes was OK, although I can't figure out why it was a best seller. The plot is a bit thin - there's not a lot for the reader to really dig into or try to figure out on their own (always key to mystery novels from my perspective). The science was nearly non-existant - very disappointing. Also, I didn't like Tempe Brennan (the book character). While she's definitely more multidimensional than the TV character (and I realize that the TV character only shares a name with the novel character), she doesn't seem to have a lot of depth. Perhaps if I read all of Reichs's novels, I'd get a sense for her as a person. Maybe jumping in in the middle of a 'series' wasn't the best approach, but I certainly 'get' Sherlock Holmes in every novel.

Overall, Bones to Ashes is mediocre to poor as a stand alone novel, primarily because I really don't care about any of the characters. I don't care that Tempe's husband's getting remarried or that Ryan's daughter is addicted to drugs. I don't care about the cat or the bawdy bird, or even that Evangeline had unnecessarily untreated leprosy (seems a major stretch). Hippo was my favorite, with his doughnuts and anger.

I won't be reading any more of Dr. Reich's works, but it's encouraging to me (as a budding trash-novelist/scientist) that this stuff can get published.