David Schwinghammer's Blog - Posts Tagged "joyce-carol-oates"
CARTHAGE
I’ve always enjoyed Joyce Carol Oates’s short stories, but the only novel I remember reading was FOXFIRE, about a girl gang. I know how versatile she is, so I thought I’d give her another trial.
CARTHAGE starts out sounding like a “48 Hours” episode. A girl goes missing in the woods, and her sister’s fiancé, a soldier suffering from PTS, is the principal suspect. But this is Joyce Carol Oates, so I knew there was a twist coming. It took 100 pages but it finally did.
As a reader you have to be wondering if Cressida Mayfield was really murdered or is still alive. This is a book about sibling rivalry. Cressida considers herself the ugly duckling of the family, and Juliet Mayfield is prom queen beautiful with a personality to match, but Cressida is the smart one, and she likes to pretend she doesn’t care what people think of her. Secretly she plays tricks on her older sister, messing up her computer, then fixing it for her to cover up her duplicity.
Then there’s Brett Kincaid, the soldier with PTS, who also has a heart of gold, which proves to be his undoing in more than one way. Cressida crushes on him because he rescued her when she wandered into a bad part of town. There’s more than a suggestion that Brett Kincaid wasn’t blown up by the Taliban. Oates includes what sounds like something out of the Vietnam War, with soldiers taking “trophies” like ears, fingers and toes. Brett balked at that and went to his superiors.
He returns a changed man who doesn’t want to saddle Juliet with his problems; they break up and Cressida makes her play at a time when Brett is drunk and confused as to what actually happened. He’s also having flashbacks to what went on in Afghanistan, and it gets all confused with the Cressida incident. There’s blood in his truck and he has scratches on his face. He confesses.
Zeno Mayfield is the father of the two girls; he’s a former mayor of Carthage, a real take charge kind of guy. What happened to his daughter changes him. His wife resorts to community service, going so far as to forgive Brett and visit him in prison.
The second half of the novel could be a different book, concentrating on a covert prison reform project carried out by an old liberal professor, who’s written several best sellers on various societal pitfalls. He has a young intern assistant, who takes care of the mundane stuff for him, like drive his car, pay his bills, do research etc.
I was expecting a humdinger of a climax, but the book just sort of fades away, with a lot of loose ends, like what happened to the old professor who seemed to have a special fondness for the young intern.
CARTHAGE starts out sounding like a “48 Hours” episode. A girl goes missing in the woods, and her sister’s fiancé, a soldier suffering from PTS, is the principal suspect. But this is Joyce Carol Oates, so I knew there was a twist coming. It took 100 pages but it finally did.
As a reader you have to be wondering if Cressida Mayfield was really murdered or is still alive. This is a book about sibling rivalry. Cressida considers herself the ugly duckling of the family, and Juliet Mayfield is prom queen beautiful with a personality to match, but Cressida is the smart one, and she likes to pretend she doesn’t care what people think of her. Secretly she plays tricks on her older sister, messing up her computer, then fixing it for her to cover up her duplicity.
Then there’s Brett Kincaid, the soldier with PTS, who also has a heart of gold, which proves to be his undoing in more than one way. Cressida crushes on him because he rescued her when she wandered into a bad part of town. There’s more than a suggestion that Brett Kincaid wasn’t blown up by the Taliban. Oates includes what sounds like something out of the Vietnam War, with soldiers taking “trophies” like ears, fingers and toes. Brett balked at that and went to his superiors.
He returns a changed man who doesn’t want to saddle Juliet with his problems; they break up and Cressida makes her play at a time when Brett is drunk and confused as to what actually happened. He’s also having flashbacks to what went on in Afghanistan, and it gets all confused with the Cressida incident. There’s blood in his truck and he has scratches on his face. He confesses.
Zeno Mayfield is the father of the two girls; he’s a former mayor of Carthage, a real take charge kind of guy. What happened to his daughter changes him. His wife resorts to community service, going so far as to forgive Brett and visit him in prison.
The second half of the novel could be a different book, concentrating on a covert prison reform project carried out by an old liberal professor, who’s written several best sellers on various societal pitfalls. He has a young intern assistant, who takes care of the mundane stuff for him, like drive his car, pay his bills, do research etc.
I was expecting a humdinger of a climax, but the book just sort of fades away, with a lot of loose ends, like what happened to the old professor who seemed to have a special fondness for the young intern.
Jack of Spades
JACK OF SPADES is an unusual mystery, even for Joyce Carol Oates. It's about an author of best-selling, traditional mysteries, a rung below Stephen King, whom he envies.
But then he begins writing noirish type mysteries that push the envelope. Andrew J. Rush uses a pseudonym to write them, Jack of Spades. He writes them after he's finished working on his Andrew J. Rush novels, well past midnight. He tells no one, not even his wife. They're much easier to write. It's almost as if they write themselves. Worse yet, Jack of Spades begins to talk to Andrew.
Then he gets a summons to appear in court. He's being sued by a woman who claims he's broken into her house and stolen her work, publishing it as his own. His publisher furnishes him with a lawyer, who makes good on his promise “to bury her.” But before the court date, the lawyer tells him not to call C.W. Haider. At this time, Andrew doesn't know why she's suing him. He calls her anyway, and she has a conniption fit.
What makes things easier for Andrew is that C.W. Haider has sued other famous authors: Stephen King, Peter Straub, even John Updike. John Updike? Come on lady! Andrew's lawyer tells him this sort of thing is par for the course; it's surprising he hasn't been sued before. Andrew gets unsolicited manuscripts all the time; he even reads them sometimes, and offers advice. He's asking for it, in other words.
Oates has a reputation for not answering all the questions a reader might have about what's going on in her stories, and that's the case here, too. Is this guy nuts? Does he have a split personality? It seems so. After the case is thrown out of court, he can't help but drive by C.W. Haider's house. Is this the sensible Andrew J. Rush who labors over almost every word, or is it Jack of Spades whose books Andrew barely remembers writing?
To further complicate matters, we learn that Andrew once had a brother who died under suspicious circumstances in a diving accident. Some people thought Andrew was responsible. Jack of Spades even writes about it.
Okay, here's the part that really bugs me. Andrew talks his way into C.W. Haider's house. He has a present for her, MISERY, one of Stephen King's books, with a snarky dedication to C.W. Haider, forged by Andrew or Jack or whomever. He finds all kinds of first editions in her library. Bram Stoker's DRACULA. THE IMP OF THE PERVERSE by Edgar Allen Poe. FRANKENSTEIN. Andrew collects rare books, but he doesn't have anything close to this. He takes some of them. He also finds Haider's old manuscripts and journals. Some of them sound an awful lot like the books she claimed other authors stole from her, and they predate the best sellers. Stephen King's THE SHINING; Peter Straub's GHOSTS; even John Updike's THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, all under different titles but definitely the same ideas. There's even one of Andrew J. Haider's novels there, with a slightly different title.
What are we supposed to believe here, that John Updike stole THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK from an obscure old woman who's only publication was released by a vanity press? Andrew's answer is that she had the ideas but not the talent to make them publishable. That might happen with one book, but not with several different famous authors. Oates leaves this thread hanging.
I do like the theme that we are all plagued by childhood events, if not quite as traumatic as Andrew's, and that we all have a perverse nature like Jack of Spades. Think about it. Do we behave because we're afraid we'll get caught if we don't? Freud had a theory that the personality is made up of the id, the superego, and the ego. Most of us are rotten little kids at heart, but our conscience, the Superego, keeps us under control. But sometimes the Id needs to get what it wants, or we'd be miserable. We fall off our diet. We start smoking again after quitting for a year.
I think it's Andrew's Superego that wins out; he doesn't think he deserves what he has, and that's why Jack of Spades gets stronger and stronger.
But then he begins writing noirish type mysteries that push the envelope. Andrew J. Rush uses a pseudonym to write them, Jack of Spades. He writes them after he's finished working on his Andrew J. Rush novels, well past midnight. He tells no one, not even his wife. They're much easier to write. It's almost as if they write themselves. Worse yet, Jack of Spades begins to talk to Andrew.
Then he gets a summons to appear in court. He's being sued by a woman who claims he's broken into her house and stolen her work, publishing it as his own. His publisher furnishes him with a lawyer, who makes good on his promise “to bury her.” But before the court date, the lawyer tells him not to call C.W. Haider. At this time, Andrew doesn't know why she's suing him. He calls her anyway, and she has a conniption fit.
What makes things easier for Andrew is that C.W. Haider has sued other famous authors: Stephen King, Peter Straub, even John Updike. John Updike? Come on lady! Andrew's lawyer tells him this sort of thing is par for the course; it's surprising he hasn't been sued before. Andrew gets unsolicited manuscripts all the time; he even reads them sometimes, and offers advice. He's asking for it, in other words.
Oates has a reputation for not answering all the questions a reader might have about what's going on in her stories, and that's the case here, too. Is this guy nuts? Does he have a split personality? It seems so. After the case is thrown out of court, he can't help but drive by C.W. Haider's house. Is this the sensible Andrew J. Rush who labors over almost every word, or is it Jack of Spades whose books Andrew barely remembers writing?
To further complicate matters, we learn that Andrew once had a brother who died under suspicious circumstances in a diving accident. Some people thought Andrew was responsible. Jack of Spades even writes about it.
Okay, here's the part that really bugs me. Andrew talks his way into C.W. Haider's house. He has a present for her, MISERY, one of Stephen King's books, with a snarky dedication to C.W. Haider, forged by Andrew or Jack or whomever. He finds all kinds of first editions in her library. Bram Stoker's DRACULA. THE IMP OF THE PERVERSE by Edgar Allen Poe. FRANKENSTEIN. Andrew collects rare books, but he doesn't have anything close to this. He takes some of them. He also finds Haider's old manuscripts and journals. Some of them sound an awful lot like the books she claimed other authors stole from her, and they predate the best sellers. Stephen King's THE SHINING; Peter Straub's GHOSTS; even John Updike's THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, all under different titles but definitely the same ideas. There's even one of Andrew J. Haider's novels there, with a slightly different title.
What are we supposed to believe here, that John Updike stole THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK from an obscure old woman who's only publication was released by a vanity press? Andrew's answer is that she had the ideas but not the talent to make them publishable. That might happen with one book, but not with several different famous authors. Oates leaves this thread hanging.
I do like the theme that we are all plagued by childhood events, if not quite as traumatic as Andrew's, and that we all have a perverse nature like Jack of Spades. Think about it. Do we behave because we're afraid we'll get caught if we don't? Freud had a theory that the personality is made up of the id, the superego, and the ego. Most of us are rotten little kids at heart, but our conscience, the Superego, keeps us under control. But sometimes the Id needs to get what it wants, or we'd be miserable. We fall off our diet. We start smoking again after quitting for a year.
I think it's Andrew's Superego that wins out; he doesn't think he deserves what he has, and that's why Jack of Spades gets stronger and stronger.
Beautiful Days
Joyce Carol Oates has published thirty short story collections since 1963. She is one of our most renowned short story writers and one of our most versatile writers period.
BEAUTIFUL DAYS includes eleven short stories of varying length. Most often you will not be able to finish one in one sitting, but that just may be me. “Big Burnt” is the first one to give me pause. It's about a man who asks a woman, but not necessary “The woman” to accompany him on a speed boat in inclement weather on the way to the inlet “Big Burnt”. She really likes him and wants to impress him; she doesn't complain when he goes too fast. She doesn't know he's contemplating suicide; his wife has left him and his business is in trouble. So . . . will he or won't he?
I guess my favorite story among the eleven is “Except You Bless Me”. The Narrator is “Ms. Rane” a writing teacher. Her antagonist is Larissa Wikawaaya who has been writing the narrator nasty notes, calling her “hag lady and white bitch.” Larissa has an appointment to speak to the narrator during office hours. Eventually they go over Larissa's latest assignment line by line and Larissa seems to be attentive and cooperative; she needs to pass Composition 101 in order to get into nursing school. When she leaves, she starts to cry. “Ms. Rane” takes her hand and leads her down the stairs. She thinks they've made progress, but Larissa never shows up in class again. Years later the narrator meats Larissa again, but she calls herself Bettina. Helen Raine has an appointment to have blood work done and Larissa/Bettina will draw the blood, but she can't find a vein. Helen feels faint, but Larissa/Bettina treats her like a dentist treats a five-year-old; she finds and a vein and professionally draws three vials of blood. Tit for tat?
Some of Oates' stories are perplexing, as is “Fractal”; a mother is taking her genius son to the fractal museum. Oliver is only nine, but he's already decided he wants to be an architect; he studies blueprints like other kids study comic books. He's looking for hidden spaces. He finds one in his roomsand dares his mother to find him once he has time to hide. She can't. Then he appears as she sits on the bed frustrated. The fractal museum is a weird building. It looks like an entirely different building from different vantage points. I couldn't find the word “fractal” in my trusty dictionary, but Oliver tries to explain it to his mother: “What you think is a straight line . . . actually isn't. There are all these little breaks and creases, that go on forever.” But Ollie is only interested in a sort of challenge, making it through the Sierpinski Triangle Labyrinth where time as well as space has to be navigated, faster than anyone has before. When the mother goes to the ladies room, making her son promise to wait for her before before he enters the maze, things really get weird.
Frustratingly most of these stories just stop. The story means whatever the reader thinks it means.
BEAUTIFUL DAYS includes eleven short stories of varying length. Most often you will not be able to finish one in one sitting, but that just may be me. “Big Burnt” is the first one to give me pause. It's about a man who asks a woman, but not necessary “The woman” to accompany him on a speed boat in inclement weather on the way to the inlet “Big Burnt”. She really likes him and wants to impress him; she doesn't complain when he goes too fast. She doesn't know he's contemplating suicide; his wife has left him and his business is in trouble. So . . . will he or won't he?
I guess my favorite story among the eleven is “Except You Bless Me”. The Narrator is “Ms. Rane” a writing teacher. Her antagonist is Larissa Wikawaaya who has been writing the narrator nasty notes, calling her “hag lady and white bitch.” Larissa has an appointment to speak to the narrator during office hours. Eventually they go over Larissa's latest assignment line by line and Larissa seems to be attentive and cooperative; she needs to pass Composition 101 in order to get into nursing school. When she leaves, she starts to cry. “Ms. Rane” takes her hand and leads her down the stairs. She thinks they've made progress, but Larissa never shows up in class again. Years later the narrator meats Larissa again, but she calls herself Bettina. Helen Raine has an appointment to have blood work done and Larissa/Bettina will draw the blood, but she can't find a vein. Helen feels faint, but Larissa/Bettina treats her like a dentist treats a five-year-old; she finds and a vein and professionally draws three vials of blood. Tit for tat?
Some of Oates' stories are perplexing, as is “Fractal”; a mother is taking her genius son to the fractal museum. Oliver is only nine, but he's already decided he wants to be an architect; he studies blueprints like other kids study comic books. He's looking for hidden spaces. He finds one in his roomsand dares his mother to find him once he has time to hide. She can't. Then he appears as she sits on the bed frustrated. The fractal museum is a weird building. It looks like an entirely different building from different vantage points. I couldn't find the word “fractal” in my trusty dictionary, but Oliver tries to explain it to his mother: “What you think is a straight line . . . actually isn't. There are all these little breaks and creases, that go on forever.” But Ollie is only interested in a sort of challenge, making it through the Sierpinski Triangle Labyrinth where time as well as space has to be navigated, faster than anyone has before. When the mother goes to the ladies room, making her son promise to wait for her before before he enters the maze, things really get weird.
Frustratingly most of these stories just stop. The story means whatever the reader thinks it means.
