Different Books, Same Design

Well, I'm on the homestretch with Gravity's Rainbow. Really, I am. With only 47 pages to go, I should finish it in the next couple of days. Actually, it's a nice night out, maybe I'll sit on the patio and finish it right now. I can smell the freedom already!

But before I do that, I thought I would share some more book covers with you. Many times I've found the same photo on two different books (three different books on one occasion!), but yesterday I found something new.

These are two very different books; one is a novel by Martin Amis (who wrote my 55th read from the list) and one is a political book about how Stephen Harper is evil. I read Lionel Asbo: State of England a couple of years ago when he was appearing at WordFest, so I was familiar with the cover. When I came across the 2nd book at the library, looking for something else, it jumped out at me.

#67 - "The French Lieutenant's Woman" by John Fowles

Flowery Gibberish or
Literary Brilliance?

Where to begin? As I've said before, I was really surprised at how this novel turned out. My prejudices going in told me this would be a completely different type of book, and one that I wouldn't overly enjoy. Instead, I received the opposite; a well written and thoroughly entertaining, and interesting, read.

The French Lieutenant's Woman is the story of Charles, an aristocratic young man living in South Western England, who is engaged to Ernestina, his rather dull fiancee. One day, Charles and Ernestina, while out for a stroll, spot Sarah Woodruff, a local governess with a tragic and shameful past (it seems at one point she had been 'involved' with a ship-wrecked Lieutenant in the French navy). Of course word got around that she might have slept with said Lieutenant, which led to instant ostracization by the uptight Victorians of the time.

I'll prove a busy actor in their play.

It's been a busy few weeks for me, which is the main reason I haven't posted anything.  Most of the busy, neh, all of the busy is because I am again blogging for WordFest this October.  Well actually, I suppose I will be blogging leading up to the event as well.  But long story short, I've had to divert a lot of my attention to my duties with WordFest.

    

To begin, I've now been presented with a lengthy list of books to read.  Of course with over 70 authors coming, I'm unable to read even a quarter of them, but I would like to get a few of them in, as it always adds to an event when I've read the book being presented.  What this means is that I'll have less time to devote to my list reading.  In addition, I need to prepare and write a series of blog leading up to the event.  This includes author interviews, a look behind the scenes, and perhaps a couple of reviews.


But WordFest still affords some time for The List.  Last year, Lev Grossman, author of this list I've been devoting so much time to, was in attendance at WordFest.  This year, I am happy to report there are two connections to The List.  First off is Richard Ford, author of my 37th read The Sportswriter, who will be talking about his latest book Canada.  Ford will actually be presenting at a pre-WordFest event later this month, and I would love to be able to read his book before then.  Everybody I've talked to who has read it, raves about it.  The second author, who will actually be this year's "Distinguished Author", is Martin Amis, presenting his newest novel, Lionel Asbo: State of England.  Amis was the author of my 55th read, Money.  I was able to read Lionel Asbo last week, a quick read, and enjoyable for the most part, but a book that falls well short of his list entry.


Concerning my list read, which is currently One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I am still reading and actually nearly finished.  It's a great book, but one that I've been forced to go a little slower than I'd like, to allow more time for some WordFest books.  Hopefully I can get a review up this weekend, and start on #61, which is yet to be determined.


You can follow my WordFest blog right here.    

#55 - 'Money' by Martin Amis

I finished Money  by Martin Amis last week, but haven't had a chance to post anything.  It was my 55th book from Time's list, and part of the only father-son combo on the list, as Martin's father Kingsley penned Lucky Jim.

Without a doubt this was a book I enjoyed, and also one I am finding I enjoy more and more, the more I think about it.  It sort of reminds me of reading The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which when I first finished I was fairly neutral about, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it.  Soon I was raving about it to strangers on the street, but am unsure to this day what it was I found so intriguing.  The same thing goes for Money; I'm not sure what was so great about it, but it was a very entertaining read.

Following John Self, a wealthy, slightly self-absorbed, alcoholic, porno/advertising director, the book chronicles a few months in his life, split between New York and London, as he goes through the process of producing a Hollywood movie.   He spends his time doing two things really, spending money, and lots of it, and drinking.  Throughout the movie making process he meets different movie stars, each with their own quirks and idiosyncrasies, as well as a sorted cast of characters.


As I said, there isn't anything that really stand out about this book, so I find it difficult to say why I enjoyed it.  But I think the appeal of the book is in its honesty, which I mean in two different ways.  First off, John Self, while narrating, doesn't really hold anything back. He always tells the reader what he is thinking or what he is doing, regardless of how shameful, embarrassing or shocking it may be.  Secondly, John is an honest character in that he seems real.  There isn't anything particularly extraordinary about him, and he hasn't found himself in any extraordinary circumstances either.  He is just a normal person, living his life.  This 'real person' type comes across quite well and allows the reader to feel as if they are actually just sitting in on or observing someone else's life.  And because we always know what's going on in John's head, we really come to know him quite well.  In the end this is what makes him such a sympathetic character.  As a result, I found myself happy when things were going well for John, worried when they weren't.  I love it when a book enables me to become emotionally vested in the story and/or characters.

But perhaps the best part of the book is the plot twist at the end, which reminded me of "The Sting."  Of course I can't really say why, as that might give too much away.  In fact perhaps I've already said too much.  I suppose you'll have to read the book to know what I'm talking about.



Next up is Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather.  It's one of the oldest books on the list, and while I haven't been able to post this past week, I have been able to read, which means I'm almost finished this one.


And a Happy 4th of July to all my American readers out there!

As if a man were author of himself

As I wind down number 55, Money by Martin Amis, I thought I should comment on something this book had, which I believe to be very unique.  I'm sure I haven't seen this before, and doubtful I'll see it again, at least not from this list.

Several of my previous reads from the list have mentioned other books on the list, and Money joins those ranks after the protagonist reads both Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, as well as mentioning The Catcher in the Rye.  And other books have mentioned authors of books from the list, be they mere mentions or actual characters like Theodore Dreiser was in Ragtime.  Money joins that group as well, when the protagonist meets an author who lives in his neighborhood, a certain Martin Amis.

I'm not sure what I think about having the author of the book as a character in the book.  And it isn't as if Amis is a once off, mentioned only in passing.  Quite the contrary, Amis becomes a rather important character in the book.  There isn't anything wrong with this, and the character is entirely believable and fits the book, it's just such an interesting technique.  Since starting this list two years ago, I've always, for whatever reason, gotten a kick out of these mentions and I think Money has now taken the cake.

One could argue, I guess, that Kurt Vonnegut makes an appearance in Slaughterhouse-Five, as 'Kilgore Trout,' but I don't think an appearance by what could at best be described as an alter-ego, is the same as the Amis cameo in Money.  Not only is the character named Martin Amis, he's also a writer and son of a famous writer.  Of course I really can't speak to whether or not the character is anything like the author when it comes to personality, as I don't really know Martin Amis very well; especially not 1984 Martin Amis.  But in the end, it does not really matter as the book is fiction.


For the record, this is the 11th book I've read so far that mentions another book or author.