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January 21
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Robert
read and liked
Holli's
review of Sophie's Choice:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. |
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May 28
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Robert
gave
to:
The Master and Margarita (Paperback)
by Mikhail Bulgakov
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Robert said:
"It is difficult to read the Master and Margarita without an uncomfortable awareness of one’s lack of understanding and ability to viscerally relate to the 1920’s Soviet Russia Bulgakov was enthusiastically eviscerating, and therefore easy (and ma...more
It is difficult to read the Master and Margarita without an uncomfortable awareness of one’s lack of understanding and ability to viscerally relate to the 1920’s Soviet Russia Bulgakov was enthusiastically eviscerating, and therefore easy (and maybe more enjoyable) to read it from a purely acontextual, Formalistic point of view. That being said, it is precisely those times where Bulgakov allows himself to overtly attack his enemies and speechify slightly on the stultifying nature of bureaucratic involvement in literature and creation which are least involving and intoxicating. And whatever else, The Master and Margarita is intoxicating and best enjoyed through a full surrender to its experience and the multiple, intersecting, complimenting, and possibly contradictory worlds it creates and presents.
Although the realities of the Master and Margarita as, in part, an anti-Stalinist statement, are undeniable, it is truly limiting to read it primarily as such. Maybe the most fruitful thing to keep in mind as a reader about the act of the book’s creation (as, has been said time and again, it is on one level a book about itself) and its historical context is that Bulgakov surely knew that there was absolutely no way that even a word of such a nutty, anarchic, stubborn, and anti-dogmatic book would ever be published while the Stalinist system survived. But he wrote it anyway. As readers we get to chew over the question, as is also explored and played with in the narrative, "Why?"
We expect Russian authors of certain generations to be moralists, and Bulgakov certainly falls within that sphere, but he is obstinate in both his determination to shrug at and even playfully celebrate behavior that would certainly have been viewed contemporarily as immoral, as well as to unflinchingly and determinedly state that there are, if not behaviors, than certainly states or stances, which are worthy of both redemption and praise, as well as damnation and ridicule. His Satan, in the form of Woland, is not really all that evil, and is more in partnership with Bulgakov’s Jesus, in the form of Yeshua, than he is in opposition, which the linear, moralistic (and in the novel, inaccurate) Matthew of the gospels, cannot grasp, but the uncompromising and obsessed artist (the Master) and lover of authenticity over doctrinaire comfort (Margarita) can.
In the end it is probably best to recognize one’s limitations as a contemporary, post-Soviet reader, give it a nod, and move on and simply enjoy the ride as an inspired, gleeful, and sometimes sophomoric attack on cowardice, inauthenticity, mediocrity, dogma (be it of the state or the spirit) and bourgeois comfort-seeking and morality while celebrating passion, love, lack of compromise, creativity, and the unfettered seeking of truth even while knowing that it is unlikely that such a search will result in definitive answers.
Regarding the translation: I originally read the Mirra Ginsburg translation, but at the strong recommendation of an Ukranian friend just read the Michael Glenny translation, which she said was better and more definitive. Although, as I am unable to read Russian, I can’t speak to the comparatively definitive nature of the two, after having compared several passages I can certainly say that the Glenny translation is more poetic and elicitous of Bulgakov’s gleefully whacked out vision.
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May 22
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Robert
gave
to:
Shalimar the Clown: A Novel (Hardcover)
by Salman Rushdie
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Robert said:
"A bit of a return to form after the embarrassment of Fury and the mediocrity of The Ground Beneath Her Feet, the clumsily titled Shalimar the Clown serves as a savage valentine to Rushdie’s grandparent’s homeland, as well as serving up a rollicki...more
A bit of a return to form after the embarrassment of Fury and the mediocrity of The Ground Beneath Her Feet, the clumsily titled Shalimar the Clown serves as a savage valentine to Rushdie’s grandparent’s homeland, as well as serving up a rollicking, if somewhat exhausting and pitiless multi-generational romp through the eyes of several nearly allegorical characters. I say “nearly” because Rushdie is too playful and too much of a narrative trickster to settle too assuredly on clear meanings, but through these different sets of eyes he viciously gazes upon cultural myopia, the effects of post-colonialism, questions the usefulness and pertinence of idealism, and insists that love and hate can exist, vibrantly and without contradiction, within the same soul, be it of an individual or a people twisted by forces outside their control. I randomly selected a copy of this book that had been autographed by the hand of the man himself and although it is not near my favorites by him, it is, because of his personal scrawl, one of my prized possessions....less
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May 02
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Robert
gave
to:
Bastard Out of Carolina (Plume Essential Edition)
by Dorothy Allison
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Robert said:
"Bastard Out of Carolina is one of those books about which all of the hooplah surrounding it really baffles me. Allison basically plagiarizes herself by, instead of expanding what was a quite good short story she wrote and published in High Risk: An ...more
Bastard Out of Carolina is one of those books about which all of the hooplah surrounding it really baffles me. Allison basically plagiarizes herself by, instead of expanding what was a quite good short story she wrote and published in High Risk: An Anthology of Forbidden Writings, simply cutting and pasting sections of it throughout the book (I actually went through it and identified the sections because I could scarcely believe a serious author would do something so incredibly lazy). The final product was somehow a finalist for the National Book Award, and I think that had much more to do with the content than with the artistic merit. The book was published during a time when “empowerment novels,” written in a style similar to confessional memoirs, dealing with the taboo subjects of gay identify and childhood sexual abuse were enjoying a minor vogue, and I am convinced that a book written at the same level of artistry, but about different topics would have garnered little respect or notice. It is unfortunate, as the novel starts extremely strongly, with the story of Bone’s mother, Bone’s birth, and her early life tight, elicitous, and strong, but then, as Allison just starts plunking in sections of her previously published short story, writing around stock, clichéd characters (the strong, independent—gasp!—lesbian aunt figure) which you can see coming from a mile away, and relying on moralized speechifying about tolerance, accepting oneself, etc, it simply unravels, and the reader finds that it has no center. The bummer here is that if Allison had proceeded with patience and discipline, with this as a decent first or second draft, this could have been a soulful and affecting novel more powerful than the resulting convincing but two-dimensional screed....less
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Robert
gave
to:
Life of Pi (Paperback)
by Yann Martel
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Robert said:
"An incredibly fun read and really darn close to a superb book. Martel effectively avoids getting trapped by the cleverness of his concept and writes a heck of a yarn and also manages to have a legitimate, creative, and engaging discussion on faith, ...more
An incredibly fun read and really darn close to a superb book. Martel effectively avoids getting trapped by the cleverness of his concept and writes a heck of a yarn and also manages to have a legitimate, creative, and engaging discussion on faith, human nature, and the sustaining power of creativity. Unfortunately it seems like he suffered either a gap in confidence and/or capacity at two points in the book where the tone and flow of the book is disrupted and we the reader are jarred out of the dream he otherwise so effectively summons. The first is forgivable, if not ignorable, while the second, which serves as the last section of the book, serves as an unnecessary coda to make sure we, reader, “get it,” and significantly disrupts the narrative as a whole, using a slapstick bilingual discussion, complete with cutesy font to clarify the non-English speech, as a ham-handed ending to a book that is otherwise mostly graceful and whimsical in the very best ways....less
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Robert
gave
to:
Marley & Me: Love and Life with the World's Worst Dog (Hardcover)
by John Grogan
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Robert said:
"This book was the perfect length to fill a flight from Houston to Boston and, having heard the author interviewed on the radio, I was expecting it to be much better written than it was. Cute, sentimental, and full of “life lessons,” the book is ...more
This book was the perfect length to fill a flight from Houston to Boston and, having heard the author interviewed on the radio, I was expecting it to be much better written than it was. Cute, sentimental, and full of “life lessons,” the book is made tolerable by its humor and the title character’s lovingly destructive nature. I am also compelled to admit that I was grateful for having a window seat as I could turn to it and try to block my shame as I blubbered through the final pages as the plane descended toward Logan and Marley inevitably kicked the bucket and was buried in the backyard. Hey, I’m not proud....less
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April 29
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Robert
marked as to-read:
Freud: Inventor of the Modern Mind (Eminent Lives)
by Peter D. Kramer
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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