Drifting away...

A small, yet surprisingly opinionated group, met at The Forge's back bar for fellowship, libations and literary discussion of Russell Banks' Continental Drift.  We were not a bit shy about expressing our views tonight.  Such a surprise that Continental Drift would generate such enthusiasm.

Collectively we were all over the spectrum about Continental Drift.  Some found the author out of touch in his presentation of characters, had a hard time suspending disbelief based upon the events and behaviors, and/or found the characters unbelievable.  Others found the desperate behaviors. such as Bob Dubois displayed, unforgivable yet believable.

We all agreed that Continental Drift was a dated read.  Perhaps thirty rears ago this type of immigration event seemed shocking.  Have these kinds of stories become commonplace?  When we learn of refugees arriving in Europe from the war-torn Middle East, at our own southern border,  in other places around the globe, we shake our heads and wonder...

Banks maybe took on a lot with Continental Drift.  Poverty, desperation, greed, immigration, voodoo, hunger, fear, prejudice are all big themes.  Did Banks accomplish what he wanted with Continental Drift?

Gentlemen, Gentlemen...it's time

Informed Readers:

The Apes did something special this holiday season.  Two of our oft absent brothers from outside the border of Colorado came to visit.  We welcomed Jeff and John back into the fold.  Brother Clark dished up his infamous Latvian stew, Brother Phil brought his roe appetizers, others contributed with dessert, thanks counselor, and a fine selection of beverages.  The meal was superb, ambiance compelling for discussion, and the renewal of fellowship was refreshing.  It's always special at Clark's.

Amor Towles' A Gentleman in Moscow was the pick for December and was universally acknowledged for it's prose, characters and story.  Towles has been to Fort Collins and some Apes have heard him present.  We did read Rules of Civility some years previous.  I'll await the official review and will insert here.

Until then, here are this reviewer's thoughts.  Towles captured the voice of the great Russian novelists when he needed to.  Like Tolstoy, Pushkin, Chekov, Bulgakov. and others, the landscape is as much a character as the people.   I especially liked how Towles used the hotel as the setting.  The Soviet Union was the largest country in the world and we have as a setting the four walls of a hotel that seems to expand like a Harry Potter Charmed Tent.  Need another room, I create that space.  Nice technique.

Early in Gentleman, Towles notes "...a gentleman should turn to a mirror with a sense of distrust.  For rather than being tools of self-discovery, mirrors tended to be tools of self-deceit."  What do you see when you look in the mirror?

The Count, ever demonstrating proper manners, attempts to impart some of his aristocratic worldly experience to a youthful Nina.  In one such scene about pleases and thank yous, Nina is baffled about his concept.  She observes, "...I will be sure to say please and thank you whenever  ask for things.  But I have np intention pf thanking people for tings I never asked for in the first place."  How much does this narrative inform us about Nina?  The new Russian rulers?  The newly democratic Russian people?

Having recently finished The Zhivago Affair about the history of the publishing of Dr. Zhivago and how the CIA used Pasternak's work as a propaganda tool, I learned some things about publishing in the Stalin era.  Towles reminds us that writing had to be approved.  "Back in '22, how boldly he had predicted to Sasha that these four (presumably Mindich, Mayakovsky, Gorky and Mandelstam) would come together to forge a new poetry (Socialist Realism?) for Russia.  Improbably, perhaps.  But in the end, that is exactly what they had done.  They had created the poetry of silence."  And silence by writers became the reaction to political dogma. Or sentencing to the gulag.  Or the revolver to the head.

I loved how Osip is enamored with The Maltese Falcon as a mirror to the corrupt West.  Osip had the Count serve dinner and watch the Maltese Falcon time and time again.  The quest for the falcon vs Russian Fatalism.  Osip praises the removal of the old world and replacing with new Socialism.

The end of Book 4 has The Count dwelling on whether Katerina can respond to queries about her travels with the words, "Does it matter?" What is Towles saying to us?

Why do all of Towles chapter headings start with an A?

***Hal replied to this query in this manner -
As you’ve probably noted, all of the book’s chapters are titled with words beginning in A. Why is that so? To be perfectly honest, I don’t have a good answer. Early in the drafting of the novel, I had the instinct that I should follow the rule, and I trusted that instinct. One reader has suggested that it was my own version of playing “Zut”; another has suggested it was a tribute to the first letters in the names Alexander and Amor; a third has suggested it was because the book is about new beginnings. All of these answers strike me as excellent!

Hearts of Men Report

Gentle Readers..my hand has been akimbo from my wrist and brain.  Apologies, please.  Butler's Hearts of Men kept being mentioned in the fringes of book reviews.  I like to give emerging authors a chance.  Butler used the Boy Scouts as a backdrop for his novel.

I suppose my generation might have been the last to actively embrace scouting during the 60s.  What butler does is to address issues such as PTSD, harassment, gender stereotypes wrapped nicely in coming-of-age stories over multiple generations.

Butler can certainly come across a bit preachy, but in this age of institutional harassment perhaps the messages are worth paying attention to.

The Apes did enjoy the atmosphere in The Forge as a small, yet determined fraction of the group sampled from the proprietor's samples.  The book, overall, received a lukewarm reception, receiving the dreaded "below the mean" rating.

Ah, the Philestines.

Yours,
Doc

Remains

My selection for the Apes October book was “The Remains of the Day” by Kazuo Ishiguro. I was led to this book by looking at lists of award winning novels over the years. This title won the Man Booker award in 1989. The narrative drew me in as Stevens was a man largely defined by his occupation. I seem to be dealing with a similar issue after 41 years of lawyering. His struggles with dealing with the closing of his career resonated with my thinking. Top this off with superb writing and I was all in.

           The group convened at 6pm at the Forge. The joint is getting busy so for a time we shared the back bench with 3 women with laptops. Phil, Clark, Charlie, Glen ,Doc, Elliot and this writer were in attendance. Celebrating Doc’s birthday Clark arrived with pizza from Canino’s. Once settled and well beveraged the discussion began in earnest. All attending except Elliot enjoyed the book. Elliot began the chat after my intro by saying that Stevens was a “ robot working for his master” and added that with an addition of 500 words he could make this a sci-fi novel. Phil began by stating that all the characters did was sit around with other butlers and discuss the best service until the last fucking page. “That’s where it gets good”. Phil later added that the book took a while to get his full attention as he has been reading “24 hour mystery shit. I am pleased an Apes selection caused a change in his direction. 

            Doc, Glen and Clark found “dignity” to be a central theme. Glen compared the characteristic to “quality” in Pirsig’s book on motorcycles and Zen. You know it when you see it. Glen enjoyed the read and the writing he described as “ compressed and beautiful”. Clark talked of decisions that each of us and clearly Stevens made in our lives. “ It could have been a lot different” with other choices. True enough for all of us. Charlie described Stevens as “the top of the lower strata” who spent a lot of time lying on his motor trip. 

             All in all I think the group thought well of the book and would put it in upper half of our readings. I loved the book as a metaphor for our lives as a vessel that we each fill with our choices and behavior. Some good, some bad and much mundane. Give the vessel a swirl and pour out your days. Those describe your life to date and serve as a basis for deciding on the days that remain. Nuff said. ML

Science Fiction Rationale

The Apes had to throw down with some interlopers at The Forge last night.  Seems we were too late for out usual seating area in the back bar.  We were forced to begin our evening huddled around the entrances to the restrooms.  Dear Reader, you may feel out pain.  We did appropriate the over-stuffed comfy chairs and eventually the invaders left.  We reclaimed with exultant voices our usual space and discussion ensued.

A good contingent continued offering out analyses of Aurora.  Most felt the story was OK, the primary gripe heard was that Robinson should have listened to his editor.  I'll offer specific observations in a separate essay, as I often do.  Regarding space exploration we ranged in opinion to "why bother" to exploring is part of the human experience.  Another critique was that Robinson would invest the reader in a plot thread and it would disappear never to be spoken of again.  To wit, the corrosive bacteria the seemed to be eating at the ship was no longer a problem.  The group of "stayers" was never resolved.  Overall I don't think many in the group are fans of the genre.   But no one said they wished they hadn't read Aurora, so that's a plus!

Reasons I Chose “Aurora,” by Kim Stanley Robinson

This was an out of the box pick for me.  Generally speaking I am not a fan of science fiction and it is a genre I rarely read and never go out of my way to look for.

My wife Julie is a big sci-fi fan and she was who picked up Aurora first.  I do trust her literary sensibilities and she certainly knows me, so when she said, “Hey, give this book a try, I think you will really like it if you give it a chance,” I took her up on it.

How right she was: I ended up loving the experience of reading this book and still think of it and various scenes from it very often.  An interesting little side-note: a few months later I read Terranauts, by T.C. Boyle, and found it to be quite pale in comparison and as my long-time Apes know, I am a big Boyle fan, so this speaks pretty highly of Robinson in my book!

The first thing that captured me was the ease with which Robinson creates this mini-earth now 160 years into her voyage.  It feels comfortable and entirely believable as he eases us into the world: a world which is in fact very strange and startling.

Then come the characters.  My favorite was Devi and the way the complexities she deals with are mirrored in the complexities of her character.  The ship is slowly falling apart, the “island phenomenon,” is shrinking people, animals and food sources and nothing is certain about the safe arrival at Tau Ceti.

However, all the human characters are drawn with complexity and subtlety.  Even minor characters are fully human, not just chess pieces in the plot.

I also love his treatment of “Ship,” the “anti-Hal,” onboard computer.  He achieves a great feat of characterization here, and in the process really digs deeply into such questions as, “What is the nature of consciousness?” “What is the nature of learning?” What is the nature of morality and how is it developed?”  These are long-debated philosophical questions that the author casts a fresh light upon through his choice of the relationship between Devi and Ship.

In classic Sci-Fi mode, he also creates a complex world that is a microcosm of the larger world we all inhabit and brings into the world all the classic human conflicts and battles that afflict the mother ship, creating a sharp and often insightful human commentary in the process.

While not the most talented with language we have read, (more like at or above the mean) he also has some real moments of nice prose and powerful scenes.  The initial explorations of the new planet, Freya’s “walkabout,” the final scene where Ship disintegrates into the sun – these and others are powerfully drawn and sharply written.

A brief note about the “walkabout.” The book just before “Aurora,” was a bit of a departure for Robinson, a story about a Neolithic young man named Loon and his coming of age 30,000 years ago.  This novel, “Shaman,” and the obvious research Robinson did to write it strongly influenced numerous elements of “Aurora,” none so strongly as Freya’s walkabout and the lives of the arctic tundra people aboard the ship.

All in all gentlemen, an entertaining and well written novel, with, I am hopeful, many points of discussion.  Were that I could join you, but alas, not possible.

Hope this finds all of you healthy, happy and well.

All my best - JK

Atonement

A hearty gaggle of Apes met at The Forge in the back room for nectar and discussion.  Clark brought along prospect Elliot.  Fresh faces are always welcome.  The beer was cold and consumed with conviviality .  The Forge does this fusion thing on some Monday nights.  I wonder if I hurt the barkeep's feelings last month by being a bit critical of his concoction. His twenty-something vision did not agree with these aging tastebuds.  He took a fine beer, installed an in-line filter of some sort and added "things" to it.  Fruit it was, I think.  Whatever was added gave an unpleasant bite to the beer.  I said I didn't like it.  This past Monday he took the new choice off the board when I took a seat at the bar.  He actually put a towel over it.  He looked away as I saw him do it.  Hmmm...

Atonement?  A fine novel  The Apes commented, "That McEwan can write a little".  Themes noted include: advantages and disadvantages of a strong imagination and the limits imposed, England's Upstairs/Downstairs class distinctions, how the context of WWII blanketed life and probably still does for many, a gruesome description of the retreat to Dunkirk puts war on an individual soldier level, the closing of the novel with the performance of the play that was interrupted at the opening was a nice device, we are all atoning for something, does love conquer all?, what about the perpetrator who gets away with the deceit?  McEwan did a wonderful job finding the voice of a 13 year-old girl.

I was reminded of how Chris Bohjalian nails Emily Shepard's voice in Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands.  For anyone who has spent time with teens, the reactions to the events in Atonement are not surprising.  It casts doubt upon the reliability, believability  of witnesses.  Briony sees two events happening to her older sister and with a dearth of experience draws conclusions that have profound repercussions to Cecilia, the sister, as well as Robbie, the victim.  Visiting cousins, the older brother's friend, an absent father and an ill mother all contribute to the travesty here.

The Apes read McEwan's Saturday many years ago.  Atonement is a very different work, a page turner indeed.

Might some of the Apes add their comments?

The Woman at Otowi Crossing

The small but spirited summer crew attended July's meeting to keep the record intact.  Not sure what that record is, but it's worth noting we drank fine draft beer, talked stuff and enjoyed each other's company.

I have given up on waiting for Charlie to forward his comments, so here goes my observations.

Waters isn't a literary powerhouse.  However, the story of Edith Warner, who had a cafe/teahouse in the vicinity of Los Alamos around the time of the Manhattan Project mostly flowed.  Helen Chalmer, the fictionalized heroine of The Woman at Otowi Crossing, led a multi-faceted life.  She served the indigenous native population-Hispanics who lived in the area for hundreds of years dating back to Spanish land grants, Native Americans, represented as subsistence farmers and gatherers, part-time cooks, maintenance personnel, as well as railroad crews and passengers, the few tourists who stumbled upon the region of Northern New Mexico and of course nuclear scientists developing the atomic bomb during the course of World War II.

Waters lampoons carpetbagger politicians who think they have the answers for a long ignored region of a remotely isolated backwater state.  Smalll town politics was evident.

Some characters seemed shallow and Marquez, Castanada and John Nichols did Magical Realism better. Being a New Mexico guy, I know these places.  A sense of uniqueness came over me as I read The Woman at Otowi Crossing.  You'll have to hunt for this, as I don't expect it to be in your local independent bookstore, but they can get it for you.

Yours truly,
Doc

House of Names

Colm Toibin has taken one of the stories from Greek mythology and woven an interesting novel.  Shakespearean before Shakespeare, this tale of glory, deceit, revenge, ruthlessness, murder has been retold under many titles again and again.

The dust jacket tells us The House of Names is the story of Clytemnestra, wife of King Agamemnon.  She plots the demise of the king for sacrificing their child to the gods for favorable outcomes in an upcoming war.  Once one gets past the naming conventions in the story...Iphigenia, Aegisthus, Electra, Orestes, Mycenea, etc. the story is masterfully told and depending on your exposure to Greek mythology, you may remember elements of it.  House of Names gives you detail, dialog.  Compared to Pan, this is accessible mythology.