Just In Case We Die discussion
Episode 7: The Book of Daniel
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I am not a student of the finer points of literature, and I must say, for a while, I found myself wondering what I was missing in this book. I had a hard time following the timelines as they seemed to move randomly from past to recent past, to present. I also felt that the random sexual abuse, and/or language seemed at first displaced, but after considering it, I think it must have been carefully placed to give the reader a feeling for just how psychologically broken Daniel and his sister ended up as a result of their experiences.What I really enjoyed about The Book of Daniel, is it piqued my interest in the real events it was based upon. While I did know generally about the Red Scare, I hadn’t really read or learned of how it affected real people, and I spent some time learning about the Rosenbergs. This book illustrates how some people were victimized to feed a national hysteria. I find it a shame that things like this were allowed to occur and even sanctioned by our leaders.
It seems to be a recurring theme in life and literature, when we consider groups of people that have been marginalized and/or persecuted in our young history. At times I marvel that we have learned nothing from the past.
This book was better for me than Blood Meridian, but not as good as Never Let me Go. I feel it’s an important read, to help us to learn from our mistakes as a nation, so we are not doomed to repeat the past.
Looking forward to reading Solitude. I feel in this day and age, the author would not have had to publish under a male name, and having visited Spain, am curious to learn more about the experiences of its citizens. I have read many books representing the experiences of women in many cultures including Japanese, Chinese, many European countries, Iran, and other Muslim countries. Even with the dark moments in our history, we are incredibly fortunate in the US, and it is nice to be reminded of that as we learn what people in other parts of the world experience.
Finished the book day. Had to cheat and switch to the audiobook about 15% in because the writing was too chaotic for me. But listening to the book was great. Disturbing sexual assaults and fantasizing aside, Daniel was an interesting narrator. Maybe it’s just me but it almost read like he had some schizophrenic tendencies, especially in the switching between first and third person. I also am left wanting to know more info about the parents, what really happened, and what mendish thought.
Also while I haven’t started solitude yet (just picked it up from the library), I am really looking forward to reading the recognitions. Art and crime? Count me in
Mod
A couple of things...we will have a guest for our October podcast. For that book, we will be reading and discussing "Solitude" by Victor Catala. If you feel you have something to say about one of the novels we will be featuring, you, too, can be a guest on our podcast by emailing Rodney and I at justincasewediepod@gmail.com.
Our book for November is quite a doozy. We randomly selected The Recognitions by William Gaddis. An almost-1000-page masterwork by one of the godfathers post-modernism, this novel might prove to be our first real test of finishing a novel before we sit down to record. It's another favorite of mine...we'll have to see if Rodney agrees.