Mr. James > Recent Status Updates

What I wouldn't give for a conversation with Mr. Holmes. We could obsess over details all day. 'But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave mental exaltation.' - Sherlock Holmes, The Sign of Four, Arthur Conan Doyle

That was delightful, illuminating, and hilarious. My full review will take some time; I'm including my own version of the gods, and I want to dig deeper into Salman Rushdie's history. It's fascinating.

Manslaughter: The story shifts from a murder trial to the lives of two witnesses. Oates returns to her favorite subject: a woman faced with domineering men. The true nature of the men (husband, lover, father) is ambiguous. They can appear reassuring, loving, insidious, protective, malicious, indifferent, and obsessive. It has a lot to do with perspective and how it changes over time.

Golden Gloves: I'm from Philly, so this scratched a boxing (Adrian!) itch. A young boxer overcomes his birth defect to pursue his dream of becoming a professional boxer; but despite all his training and sacrifice, hiss career abruptly ends. After which, the story grows darker, and to quote Ray from the movie Field of Dreams, "It would kill some people to come that close to their dream and not touch it."

Raven's Wing horse racing "career" comes to an end, and betting man Billy is on the scene. Billy's marriage to Linda is strained and questionable. Raven's Wing injury and Billy's Marriage are metaphorically connected. Billy has fallen in love with the one that stands on four legs. (This is an abbreviated reflection. The full version will be in the anthology review.)

Gabriel saves Satin from a fire. Brilliant. For your viewing pleasure, we also have a pilgrimage to Mecca with billboard advertising. Your friend collapses next to you, dropping dead from starvation. Raising the question, if I had worn the proper footwear would he have died? This section has been my favorite; it's filled with humor and horror. "What a great book," I say, "I've never been so confused and captivated."

Our Wall is dystopian fiction: my favorite kind. Does The Wall protect, hinder, or solidify your status as another cog in the machine? When The Day of Grace comes, certain citizens are allowed to scale The Wall without hindrance or conflict. But is freedom ensured when you "escape"? Or are you just entering another (perhaps worse) form of enslavement? (Word count exceeded. The first part was deleted.)

My Warszawa: 1980 by Joyce Carol Oates. A nonlinear visit to Warsaw. Religion, devotion, choice, and heritage are tested beyond the familiar. A Jewish writer, Judith, returns to Poland and is confronted with the past of Hitler's occupation in 1944. Her Jewish blood betrays and resurrects her. It's 1980; what, if anything, has changed since the war? (I'll expand on this in the full review.)

This book has been on "need to read" pile for years. Rushdie just published Knife, so I remembered, Read The Verses! It's not like I expected. It's better. I thought it would be something scandalous. Hardly. It's Islamic satire, and I laugh frequently. It's poking fun at organized religion, adorable. I reckon this will be a 5 star review. It's a kaleidoscope of images and characters.