fuzzy_patters reading list 2009

I just finished Cormac McCarthy's The Border Trilogy to kick off my 2009 reading. Between the birth of my third child and work, I have not had much time to read so far this year, but I can finally list three novels that I have completed.

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy

By the way, the Border Trilogy was excellent, and I highly recommend it. It is one of those rare literary experiences that you miss when it's over. I need to pick up some more McCarthy soon.

I think you've done a TON of reading so far, what with the new baby and all. My 2009 list in comparison is quite pitiful so far, but I'm working on it.

So what do you plan on reading next?

I finished The Story of Edgar Sawtelle a few weeks back. I didn't think there was enough of a pay-off at the end. It disappointed me.

I also read a piece of literary fiction that I won through a LT reader giveaway, Metacomet's War. Parts of it were surprisingly good, but it could have used better editing.

Currently, I am about half through Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. I will post my thoughts when I have finished it, but I have enjoyed it so far. It makes me wonder what it would be like to live in 18th century England. The change in our cultural mores over 250 years are incredible. Children are commonly born out of wedlock today, but it was a major scandal that could destroy your life in Fielding's time.

I just finished reading Tom Jones, which I loved. My review follows:

It took me two tries to finish Tom Jones, but I am glad I did. When I first attempted it, I must not have been in the correct mood for it because I enjoyed it immensely in my second attempt.

The novel follows Jones through his torment of not being able to have the woman he loves. The problem lies not with her but with eighteenth century British society. Her father will only consent for her to marry a man of fortune and consents to have her instead marry Blifil. The exact relationships between these characters are complicated, and I will not go into details about them so as not to spoil the novel for those who have not read it.

Also of interest are the chapters that Fielding uses to preface each of the eighteen books that make up the novel. Some of these chapters are rather dry and all could be skipped without affecting the reader's enjoyment of the novel, as Fielding notes. However, I did find them to be worth reading both for Fielding's more serious notes about the writing process and literary criticism as well as his more humorous contributions.

The greatest strength of this novel is Fielding's unique ability to describe the exact qualities of each character. Fielding truly knew people. Despite the fact that this novel was written over 250 years ago, Fielding's characters are motivated by the motivations and act in the same ways that people would act today.

Since Cormac McCarthy is one of my favorite writer, I chose his first novel, The Orchard Keeper, as my next selection for 2009. I really loved it. McCarthy's writing is like going through a dream where everything is shrouded in a dense fog that slowly lifts to unveil each scene. The book is about a young boy and his friendship with a man who runs whiskey in the 1930s. The influence of Faulkner is obvious, yet McCarthy's tale is both true and original.

For my next selection, I will choose something from my to be read pile first thing tomorrow morning. My pile includes some Vonnegut, Dostoevsky, and more McCarthy, so I am sure to find something interesting.

I finished Kurt Vonnegut's Deadeye Dick last night. It was humorous and enjoyable but was not a novel that moved me. It was chock full of dark humor, wit, and satire, which is typical of Vonnegut. It just didn't really make any observations about our society that I found to be particularly new. We have a violent, war-driven society. Ho-hum. I give it 4/5 stars. I save the fifth star for books that are most memorable. While I enjoyed Deadeye Dick, I don't think I will remember much of it six months from now.

My star ratings for this year:

The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy- 5 stars
Metacomet's War by David Kerr Chivers- 3 stars
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski- 3 stars
Tom jones by Edgar Sawtelle- 4.5 stars
Deadeye Dick by Kurt Vonnegut- 4 stars

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (5 stars)- This was my second foray into Dostoevsky, and I wasn't dissapointed. Dostoevsky had a remarkable ability to capture people just as they are. His characters secret motivations are displayed for all to see in a way that is more real than any other author that I have read. Reading Dostoevsky is like looking into a mirror. Every character is so human as to be a reflection of ourselves.

I continued my 2009 reading list with All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. Through this book, I have found a new appreciation for the generation that had to fight World War I and the hell they went through after reading this book. Remarque's book follows Paul Baumer's career as a World War I soldier with all of the horror that one would expect from trench warfare as well as all of the camaraderie the men developed through their common struggle. You get a sense of wasted youth and the stark nihilism of a meaningless war. This one will stick with me for awhile.

I can hear the screams now. All Quiet on the Western Front is one of those classics I have not read. *urania bows head in shame and rushes off to see if Baron von Kindle can help her*

Nice review! I think I must read the book now.

I thought All Quiet on the Western Front was an amazing book as well, so much better than The Naked and the Dead that we seem to hear so much more about as a book about the experience of war.

Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo is a good anti-war novel written about ten years after "All Quiet....". Much darker and disturbing. In fact it was banded from publication during WW2

Didn't Trumbo remove Johnny Got His Gun voluntarily during WWII? I remember reading a preface in which he explained that he thought it was the right thing to do. It is an excellent book about an injured soldier, but not as powerful as All Quiet on the Western Front.

>11 usnmm2: Wow. Johnny Got His Gun sounds interesting. What nationality was Dalton Trumbo?

12: RidgewayGirl,
Trumbo and his publishers agreed to not print it during the war. Even after that it was a hard book to find. When I had heard of it while I was in High school it took me about four years to find an old 2nd hand copy.

13: urania1,
He was born in Montrose, Colorado in 1905.

I'll have to keep Johnny Got His Gun in mind.

Suttree by Cormac McCarthy (4 stars)

While I didn't find this to be one of McCarthy's best novels, it was decent. McCarthy does a wonderful job of creating a very atmospheric mood to the novel, and you really get a feel for the desolation and hopelessness of the characters living off the river. I just didn't find it to have the payoff of a Blood Meridian.

On Kingdom Mountain by Howard Frank Mosher (3 stars)

The best word to describe this novel is "quirky." Jane Hubbell Kinneson is an eccentric woman who lives alone on the mountain of her forefathers. While ice fishing, on the mountain, Jane is interrupted when a yellow bi-plane crashes into the ice. She hurries to help and meets the pilot, Henry Satterfield, who is there to solve the riddle that his grandfather, a Civil War confederate soldier, has left him about some stolen treasure that he has left on the mountain. The story grows from there as Henry and Jane get to know each other better and are faced with additional mysteries and challenges.

I found this to be an entertaining book. I really enjoyed the Jane character. She was very interesting and definitely had a unique perspective of the world. One of the major shortcomings of the book was that it seemed a bit restrained. I felt like Mosher's creativity was great in coming up with the original idea for the story, but he always seemed to be holding something back in the actual storytelling. If you read this book, take it for what it is. It's an entertaining time waster on a weekend afternoon.

The World According to Garp by John Irving (4 stars)

I received this book as a Christmas gift, and I actually expected it to be my first book on my 2010 list. Unfortunately, I finished it before the new year so I guess I will have to post it here.

I found this to be a complicated book. Is it about the gulf between men and women in our society? Is it about writing and the writing process? Is it about death and the propensity of people to worry and obsess over it? The book has been said to be about feminism. As one of the testimonials on the back cover says, the book is "the best book about women ever written by a man." I think that entirely misses the point. Irving hints at the book's true subject with the final line, "But in the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases." This book is about death and the fear of death. Garp spends the entire book fretting about the potential dangers that might befall his family, and his mother, who inspires a generation of feminists, spends the early part of the book worrying that being tied down to men would spell the death of her ability to live her life the way she wants to live it. As one chapter begins, "If Garp could have been granted one vast naive wish, it would have been that he could make the world safe. For children and for grownups. The world struck Garp as unnecessarily perilous for both."

Overall, I liked the novel. It's main flaw was that Irving stresses the complexity of characters so much through his novelist, Garp, but some of his characters seem very black and white and their complexity is never explained. What made Kenny Truckenmiller into the desperate figure he became? What caused the insecurities of Michael Milton? It seemed that Irving believed that everyone was complex and no one is black and white, except for conservative hillbillies and horny college students. His inability to explain these characters better served to detract from one of the major themes of the novel.

However, despite that flaw, it was well written, although preachy at times. Irving definitely knows how to hook a reader, and I found that I couldn't put it down. The complexity of the themes and overall purpose of the novel did leave me thinking about it a bit after I finished reading it. Irving clearly has a special talent as a story teller and this book deserves to still be read over thirty years after it was originally printed.

In thoroughly enjoyed your comments on The World According to Garp. Your description was enough of a nudge for me to put in on my 'To-Read-in-2010' list. Thanks!