As I have mentioned before, I have fallen behind in my book reviews. Despite slacking off a bit in my reading, I have read three books and failed to post a review. In an effort to remain disciplined, I have decided to post a review of each of the books despite having read them some time back.
Back in February I read Jonathan Carroll’s latest novel White Apples and enjoyed it. So when I saw
The Wooden Sea on sale at half-priced books, I picked it up. I have to say if you liked White Apples I think you would like The Wooden Sea. Both are at their roots about relationships, about their characters. What makes the books unique, however, is a large dose of imagination; surrealism you might even say. The plots are full of twists and turns that take you beyond reality, as we know it and to fantastic but interesting alternative viewpoints on life.
Dueling Book Reviews
Two views on Don DeLillo’s new book Cosmopolis
– John Updike in The New Yorker:
In a land of chunky, garish, anxiousto-please books, Don DeLillo?s thirteenth novel, ?Cosmopolis? (Scribner; $25), is physically cool, as sleek and silver-touched and palely pure as a white stretch limo, which is in fact the action?s main venue.
– Laura Miller in the New York Observer:
His newest novel, Cosmopolis, alas, is all what happened? Is the book supposed to be serious? Funny? A parody of Mr. DeLillo?s own writing, with its pompous pronouncements (“Money has lost its narrative quality the way painting did ?. Money is talking to itself”), the apocalyptic posturing, surreal crowd scenes and brainy, numbed-out yet studly protagonist? It?s distressingly hard to tell. Nevertheless, this is a deeply silly book, and it?s hard to imagine that that could be intentional.
I almost picked this book up in my most recent wanderings at Barnes and Noble but I just couldn’t take the plot seriously. Instead I picked up The Afterword.
Conservatism and Foreign Policy: books
Given my discussion of conservatism and foreign policy, I thought you might like to check out a few books that are in my library that touch on this subject. This of course no where near an inclusive list, just some books I skimmed through and re-read while thinking on this subject.
Promised Land, Crusader State : The American Encounter with the World Since 1776 .:
Taking up the torch of George Kennan, Pulitzer Prize winner Walter McDougall proposes nothing less than to cleanse the vocabulary of our post-Cold War debate on America’s place in world affairs. Looking back over two centuries, he draws a striking contrast between America as a Promised Land, a vision inspired by the “Old Testament” of our diplomatic wisdom through the nineteenth century, and the contrary vision of America as a Crusader State, which inspired the “New Testament” of our foreign policy beginning at the time of the Spanish-American War and reaching its fulfillment in Vietnam. To this day, these two visions and these two testaments battle for control of the way America sees its role in the world.
The Irony of Virtue: Ethics and American Power:
Ernest Lefever presents a lively march through the second half of our century. As an acute participant-observer who cares deeply about peace, freedom, and human dignity, Lefever selected the 40 most influential essays out of some 500 published pieces. These essays reveal Lefever’s transformation from a liberal pacifist to a humane realist.
Idealism Without Illusions/U.S. Foreign Policy in the 1990’s:
“George Weigel brings scholarship, spiritual values, and wit to the work of thinking about American foreign policy in the post-Cold War world America has helped to make. He points to difficult problems and shows the way toward intelligent solutions. Above all, he reminds us that ideas and values–including religious values–count and that American leadership can work to change the world for the better.”
–Michael Barone
Around the Cragged Hill: A Personal and Poltical Philosophy:
Winner of the National Book Award and two Pulitzer Prizes, diplomat and scholar Kennan now steps forth with a compelling, provocative testament for our times–a brilliant look at the problems facing America today. A New York Times bestseller in hardcover.
Abraham Lincoln
In my continuing run through the Penguin Lives Series, I have just finished Abraham Lincoln. What stuck me as I was reading was the similarities between Lincoln and Churchill. Like Churchill, Lincoln’s was a hero not because he never failed but because at a crucial moment in history his character made all the difference.
This particular Penguin Life is interesting because Thomas Keneally, a novelist living in Australia, tells it in straight narrative form. Keneally is most famous for his novel Schindler’s Ark that inspired the film Schindler’s List. It is interesting to read a novelist’s take on Lincoln’s life. Obviously Lincoln’s life and times were complex and controversial and so it must have been difficult to tell the story in less than two hundred pages. That Keneally attempts it at all is one of the reasons I like the Penguin Lives series in the first place. Massive biographies and studies of Lincoln, the Civil War, and nineteenth century politics can be quite daunting. A short but fast paced overview of this towering figure is of great value.
That said Keneally came up a bit short in parts.
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
“A boy. A tiger. And the vast Pacific Ocean. This is a novel of such rare and wondrous storytelling that it may, as one of the characters claims, make you believe in God. Can a reader reasonably ask for anything more?”
So reads the dust jacket of the novel The Life of Pi by Yann Martel . My answer: yes.
To be more accurate I am not sure the book lives up to this haughty claim. And if it does make you believe in God, what kind of God is it and why do you believe? In other words The Life of Pi left me with a lot more questions than answers. Let?s start at the beginning, however, back at the “a boy, a tiger, and the pacific ocean part” let’s focus on the wonderful storytelling.
White Apples by Jonathan Carroll
After having read some brief but serious non-fiction lately (see Churchill post below) I was looking for some interesting fiction to relax with in a comfy chair. I came across a book that promised just that:
White Apples by Jonathan Carrol. This book caught my eye at the bookstore even though I hadn’t read any of Carroll’s previous works. Something about the book blurb just caught my interest:
Vincent Ettrich, a genial philanderer, discovers he has died and come back to life, but he has no idea why, or what the experience was like. Pushed and prodded by strange omens and stranger persons, he gradually learns that he was brought back by his one true love, Isabelle, because she is pregnant with their child-a child who, if raised correctly, will play a crucial role in saving the universe.
But to be brought up right, he must be educated in part by his father. Specifically, he must be taught what Vincent learned on the other side-if only Vincent can remember it. On a father’s love and struggle may depend the future of everything that is.
By turns quirky, romantic, awesome, and irresistible, White Apples is a tale of love, fatherhood, death, and life that will leave you seeing the world with new eyes.
Having read the book I must say that the blurb is a tad over-the-top in its promises (shocking no?) but overall it was an enjoyable, if strange, trip. The plot was a bit hard to follow but the characters are interesting and the prose can be quite good. The first paragraph is one example:
Patience never wants Wonder to enter the house: because Wonder is a wretched guest. It uses all of you but is not careful with what is most fragile or irreplaceable. If it breaks you, it shrugs and moves on. Without asking, Wonder often brings along dubious friends: doubt, jealousy, greed. Together they take over; rearrange the furniture in every one of your rooms for their own comfort. They speak odd languages but make no attempt to translate for you. They cook strange meals in your heart that lead off tastes and smells. When they finally go are you happy or miserable? Patience is always left holding the broom.
There are interesting little nuggets like this spread throughout White Apples. This alone makes it a decent read. But I know what you are thinking: was it a good story? Does it have something important to say?
Those are tough questions. The book functions on at least two levels. The first level is basic love story. The main character Vincent Ettrich realizes that he has found his one true love in Isabelle Neukor. But they are having trouble combining their lives despite the fact that Ettrich has left his wife and child for Isabelle. As the story progresses you realize that Ettrich must face his self-centeredness and that Isabelle must face her doubt and insecurity if their love is to work. Isabelle’s pregnancy is the event that forces them to do just that.
On another level the story is a cosmic battle between the forces of darkness and those of light. This level brings a sense of surrealism to the story. For example: Vincent is dead and Isabelle, who brought him back to life, is caring his baby. This baby is a sort of savior of mankind and as such has supernatural powers as does Ettrich the undead. Ettrich and Isabelle must not only unravel the problems of their own lives, they must untangle the mystery of Ettrich’s death. Within this struggle, the meaning of life is explained. I won’t go into all the details in case you want to read the book yourself but it gets rather metaphysical and hard to follow at times.
Both of these levels work in some way. The story is interesting and there are enough twists and turns to keep the plot moving. The writing is fresh and lively and keeps the reader interested. But the two never really intertwine in such a way as to elevate the book from interesting to insightful. The conversations and thoughts on relationships and life are strong and enjoyable but the overall metaphysical punch is laking. If you are going to try and create an alternate meaning behind the universe you need to have either a unique insight or a really cool concept. White Apples doesn’t quite reach either. It comes off as kind of a neat new age love story without the philosophical meat. I think Publishers Weekly got it about right:
The story is a classic Carroll romp in which personified states of mind achieve independent life, characters interact with quirky incarnations of aspects of themselves, and bizarre metaphors (“When you’re dead they teach you how to make a water sandwich”) are illuminatingly literalized. But Vincent’s puzzlement over his quest and the iconic roles others play in it demands talky explanations that interrupt the spontaneous flow of fantasy and suggest the author has overreached in his stabs at inventive symbolism. The novel boasts its share of the fresh perspectives on life and love that Carroll’s fans have come to expect, but readers may finish it feeling a bit like Vincent, more instructed than entertained.
Overall, I would say if you enjoy thought provoking fiction in the “magic realism” vein, or you just like interesting stories about life and love, then White Apples would be worth your time. But if you are looking for real philosophical or existential insight you will likely be disappointed.