The Final Solution: Redux

I read Chabon’s The Final Solution after reading shortbus’s original comments.

I’ll start by noting that I think that I enjoyed the novella more than shortbus did. I read a lot of Sherlock Holmes in my early teens, continuing the great tradition of detective stories that began for me with Encyclopedia Brown. It has been a while since then. It was a little sad to come across the once great detective here referred to only as the “old man”. Both of us are getting older. Also making this the feel good hit of the year, the Final Solution in the title refers not only what is likely to be the final case for Holmes, but also to the Holocaust. The case seems to be almost beside the point. Its solution was not obvious to me, but the solution is not all that satisfying. There is a lot in the story that may appeal to the Homes enthusiast. Chabon himself appears to be a big fan. He wrote a review of a new Holmes collection for the New York Review of Books. The review has nothing to do with the books that are being reviewed, but it provides a nice background for reading Sherlock Holmes. You can read the article here. To be fair, this is Part I of a planned two-part review.

Fortress of Endlessness

Well, I finally finished the Fortress of Endlessness. UG. Like those before me, I went from not being able to put this book down to being downright angry about still having to read the 150+ pages left to go. The book could have easily ended when Dylan gets accepted to S., or even Camden, but perhaps that would have been too pat.

DJ Cayenne is on to something in that the third section of the book is not a “physical journey” — there is the time shift. In addition, Dylan has just made a movie pitch that has resonated with a producer – we can begin to see success coming his way; however, just like there is unfinished business with the movie pitch, there is some unfinished business of Dylan’s childhood he must resolve – in his head or otherwise.

The problems with the movie pitch paralleled my feelings about the book in general in that the best story was told in the first part of the pitch – the creation of the prison band is original and we can cheer on its success. However, by the time the movie’s protagonist comes back time and time again, coming up with a old new idea with each passing decade, the plot line grows ever so thin and tiresome and we question the protagonists, nay Dylan’s, purpose of reinvention and continuation, and beg for a stopping point. Sound familiar? After all, what’s the point?

Perhaps the book is posing a question of reinvention. Can you reinvent yourself? Can you ever completely escape your past? Obviously, Dylan has problems with this, especially from a childhood so vivid. His disappointment and disgust at being “yoked” is far more painful as an adult in that it puts him right back where he started. Clearly, Mingus does not escape the self-fulfilling prophesy of growing up black in the black ghetto (even though he may have had a chance). What about Dylan’s Dad? Does Dylan’s mom successfully reinvent herself after she leaves Brooklyn — how does she let go?

Perhaps, (and I’m reaching here) the author is trying to let us experience via readership what it is like to live first hand with the burdens of Dylan’s youth, but by the end, it was enough drug use/abuse already, enough sophomoric idealization of music (did I say that?), enough fantasy play via a comic hero (you got me there), and enough of the lack of female role models – perhaps that was the problem all along?

Huzzah Huzzah – on to a new read. But first, some much neglected knitting….

[Ed: You can read Dr J’s comments on this book, as well as the rest of the group’s previous discussion here.]

Wake Up, Sir!

I finished Jonathan Ame’s latest book, Wake Up, Sir!, last weekend after frigid temperatures and a broken furnace combined to make it a long week of no sleep. Who says irony is dead?

I first read about this book in several year-end reviews. When I learned that it gave a wink to P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Bertie Wooster characters I couldn’t wait to read it. I read a collection of Wodehouse stories after the tragic events of November ‘04, specifically to leave the country and politics behind, if even for a little while. It saved the day. Wodehouse’s Jeeves is the prototypical English valet who always appears at just the right time to get his master, Bertie out of a tough spot what. Bertie (played by Hugh Laurie in the British TV series and who is now House, MD on Fox), for his part, is the consummate aristocratic bachelor. He doesn’t seem to have any sort of job, is always in pinch for liquid cash, but spends his time getting in an out of scrapes at elite gentlemen’s clubs, country houses, and estates with the other gentry. Good clean fun.

Wake Up, Sir! is just like that. Only the main character, Alan Blair, is an American. And from New Jersey. And Jewish. All of Alan’s Brooks Brothers’ sport coats come from second hand shops, and he drives a Chevy Caprice. Alan has a temporary influx of wealth from a law suit (slip and fall) that allows him to do what we would all do in that situation – hire a personal valet, who just happens to be named Jeeves. Jeeves is also an American. Oh, Jeeves may not actually exist. Alan Blair is an unreliable narrator in that he is a (mostly) unrepentant drunk and may have mental problems as well. He suspects, from time to time, that he has been tricked and is actually in an institution and not in an artist’s colony. That may be some sort of tip off.

The book follows 4 or 5 days of Alan Blair and Jeeves getting into various situations, punctuated by some serious drinking bouts. Blair is a failing writer who is struggling to write his next novel while grappling with the Jewish Question and the Homosexual Question (his concepts – not mine), along with the various alcohol related setbacks. In other words, it doesn’t really go anywhere.

Wake Up, Sir! is a quick read. It is slapstick-y in places and drags a little in others. The novel suffers in the inevitable comparison to the Wodehouse characters. Alan and Jeeves banter is not always as lively and snappy as Jeeves and Wooster, which would be tough to do. Also, I have no idea why the boxing pictures on the author’s web site (see above) involve men without pants.

Tournament of Books

Hey, it’s tournament time. The Morning Press’s Tournament of Books started yesterday. If you didn’t get your picks in yet, it’s too late to get in on the huge pot. Yesterday’s winner was The Plot Against America. Today’s winner: The Inner Circle (read Nitro’s thoughts on Inner Circle here.)

Happy Mardi Gras

Sadly, I will spend this Mardi Gras in a city that does not consider Mardi Gras a Holiday. I’ll spend my Fat Tuesday humpin’ it for The Man. Mardi Gras is a great excuse to throw out a link or two to Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole — the book that far and away captures the Crescent City better than other. FYI: for those planning ahead, Mardi Gras Day is February 28 next year.

Birds Without Wings

Birds without Wings by Louis de Bernieres is one of those books that halfway through it – I debated about whether to stop reading it and move on or not. I did manage to slug through it and now feel like I devoted way too much time to a cumbersome book that should have been condensed to half it’s size.

The book took place from 1905 to about 1930 in a small village in what at the time was the Ottoman Empire. The book piqued my interest in the first place, because I do not know a lot about Turkey and thought that an epic story set in a small Turkish village would be interesting and enjoyable. And in that aspect – it was satisfying because of the many colorful characters. There was ” The Dog” who was the crazy man of the village who had been tortured by being forced to bite down on a red-hot iron rod that had been forced into this mouth; Philothei, one of the main characters, who was so beautiful that she had to veil herself so as not to drive the men crazy and Ibrahim the Goatherd who begins the book a hero and ends the book tragically. The half of the book that described the characters and their day to day living was a good read, and it was certainly interesting to see how this town had Muslims, Christians and Armenians, and until WWI and the Turkish independence – they all lived happily together.

Where I thought the book totally went off course was the second plot which focused on Mustafa Kemal who became the first leader of independent Turkey. While it was informative and necessary to the plot to understand how Turkey evolved from the Ottoman empire to an independent nation, it was extremely complex and the author went into excruciating detail about battles during WWI, battles during the Greek/Turk war and all of the varying politics going on in Europe and Russia. I couldn’t keep up with who was allied with whom nor did I care.

I believe that the author should have narrowed down the scope of the book to a story about a village and not have tried to bring all the early 20th centurty politics and war into the story. One very interesting fact that I learned though – when Mustafa Kemal became leader of Turkey, he proclaimed it a secular, Muslim nation and expelled all the Christians (from the entire country) to Greece! In turn, he invited all the Muslim Greeks to return to Turkey. But rather than this having a uniting effect, it actually pushed the country into depression, because the Christians were the merchants and businesspeople of the country – interesting historic fact.

In sum – not worth the time to read 500+ pages.

Semantics Round Up

Believe it or not, this picture was taken directly across the street from this one. What is happening in this town?

My first thought was, “Now here’s a town that really embraces its homeless problem”. Then I got to thinking, if they have homes, are they still hoboes? Or do they have some sort of intrinsic hobo-ness that society will never let them cast off? Or is the Laurel Hill School some kind of temporary group shelter?

The Blessing of a Skinned Knee

I boycotted the State of the Union address last night (because I certainly wouldn’t describe this country as a “union” these days………) and finished my first self-help book of 2005 – The Blessings of a Skinned Knee by Wendy Mogel.

This is a hit book amongst the young, Jewish, family set across America these days. Anyone who has their kid in a JCC nursery program has certainly had a discussion group around this book. The premise of the book is to provide parenting guidance from the perspective of beit din (the ancient court of Jewish law). While I clearly don’t want to bring religion into our blogger site, I am posting this book because it is relevant regardless of your faith or lack thereof.

The book basically covers topics such as: Discovering your unique and Ordinary Child, Teaching your child an attitude of gratitude, the blessing of self-control, bringing moderation and sanctification to your table, etc. etc. I found this book extremely helpful with real tactics to improve the interaction with your children and to modify those behaviors that are driving you crazy. It ain’t so easy bringing up a kid these days and I’m at the point that I will take any advice that I find.

I highly recommend this book for anyone with kids ages 2-8 years old. It reminded me that the way I was brought up (discipline, some fear of the wrath of my parents, etc is okay) and that I’m not always going to make my kids happy.

Anyway – I leave you with a couple quotes that I loved……….

“If your child has a talent to be a baker, do not ask him to be a doctor.” (Hasidic)
“When a person honors the parents, God says, “I consider it as though I lived with them and they honored me.” (Talmud)

I hope I didn’t offend anyone with the religious overtones of the post………..

The Final Solution

Having read and enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time but clearly not having passed my A levels in math, I feel the need to represent the common literate. My vocabulary won’t dazzle and amaze, nor will my words have many syllables, but you can put away your dictionaries when I sign on. With that said, my latest book was Michael Chabon’s The Final Solution.

This is a mystery involving a retired, unnamed Sherlock Holmes, a mute boy, a murder, a missing parrot, and a bunch of people who don’t seem to matter very much. I expected another great tale from this author, and I was disappointed. In the past, I couldn’t put down Chabon’s books until finished. Not only was this one put-downable, it had a simple, predictable ending. The only thing of any interest, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, is the amount of huge, ridiculous, unusable SAT words the author chose to impress his readers. On the plus side, I was curious enough to finish the book, which I won’t do if it’s really bad. Of course, it was only about 75 pages long. Ok. Now DJ Cayenne will proofread.

Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire’s CD Funeral got a lot of hype last year. Pitchfork named it number 1 in its 50 Top Albums of 2004. Heady stuff. Just try and keep my wallet away from something like that — it can’t be done. What does this have to do with books? The CD made a best books of 2004 list. How is that for hype? Anway, after several listens I was on record as saying that I just didn’t get it.

Then, last week a last minute offer to see the band materialized. So I went, and I get it now. It was easily the best show that I have seen in the last year, at least. Possibly a top 5 show ever. I’ve tried a million times to lay off the hyperbole – but this time I mean it. This band was so good live, it may have ruined other live shows for months to come.

The group had 7 people on stage, at least 5 played multiple instruments, which is always cool. Every song was BIG and lavish. Each song was a monument to sincerity. Holden Caulfield would have loved these guys, as there wasn’t a phony in the bunch. Each song was wrung out for maximum emotion and honesty. And I know how cheesy that sounds, but it’s true. The band left nothing on stage on a cold night in the ATL.

Sadly, I caught them towards the end of this tour, so neither you nor I will get a chance to see them for some time. Buy this CD.