Louis Bayard's The Pale Blue Eye, first: It's really rare these days to read something so special. A couple weeks ago, I took a few days off and went away to sit by a pool, read, recharge and do a little of my own writing. Louis was the man I took with me. He was a splendid traveling companion! His story, a murder(s) mystery, has more twists than a twizzler, and a lot more flavor. I want to compare him to Donna Morrissey, in that both of these writers are dazzling in their skill and their ability to transport us to a different time and place through dialogue. Their characters are complex and sympathetic. And maybe most importantly, they're actually telling an interesting story about human relationships. One of the biggest problems I have with some of the hip, young writers these days--the McSweeny's crowd, for instance--is that while they're oftentimes striking wordsmiths, they just as oftentimes, have nothing to say. They're just talking to hear the clever way words flow from them. They entertain me for about 5 minutes, then bore the bejesus out of me with their preciousness. Maybe they'll be great writers when they grow up.
Before I get to the next book, I need to vent about something. I saw a piece the other morning about GPS systems, and decided that I think that they're the next step in dumbing down and isolating us.
Think about it...where's the adventure in a road trip if you don't get lost? It tests our relationships ("You idiot! I told you we should have turned left!" "Yeh, well the last time you said that, we ended up in a cornfield." "Ok, but we got a bunch of free corn and had sex in the backseat." "True. Hm....."). And what about the great little restaurants you visit, because you stopped and asked directions from a flesh'n'blood person? You'd never have come across that place with your nose in a gps screen...AND you'd have missed that deer drinking from the pond at the side of the road, too. Naw, I say steer clear of gps systems. Just think of all the places Christopher Columbus, Magellan and Balboa would've missed if they took the most direct route to their discoveries.
Ok, next book: Talk Talk by T.C. Boyle. This book, which just came out, made me so nervous, I couldn't stop reading it! I was furious with the pig-headedness of the protagonists, terrified of the seething rage of the antagonist, riveted by the inner dialogues of all the diverse characters and can't wait to read more by this scary and brilliant guy. If you've ever felt like you got the raw end of a deal (and who hasn't?) and want to take matters into your own hands, this fast and clever read is an excellent release for those feelings. Not pleasant, but not to be missed.
And last, for this morning, but far from least, what about this horror in the Middle East? I have an idea: what if all of us, everywhere, who don't want this to be happening, step up one day and say to the governments involved and the terrorists involved, "STOP!!! Cut it the hell out!!! We are not going to vote for you, support you, or be afraid of your crazy asses any longer. We are family, neighbors, friends, people just trying to make our existence a nice one. We may not agree with each other, we may have radically different lifestyles, but we can live side by side and learn to tolerate these differences. We don't even have to like each other, but we will tolerate each other!" Think about it. There are so many more of "us" than there are of "them." We could do this. All we need are leaders (real leaders, not politicians) in all the countries to get together and organize a big sit-in or peaceful protest on a huge, world-wide scale, and we could do it. Yes, it's incredibly idealistic and not so simple to pull off...but what are the alternatives? Just look at the devastation. And it's not just the Middle East. These injustices in the name of ego and greed are going on all over the world. Have been forever, really. But they're perpetrated by a few on millions and that just don't make sense, do it?
What's the world coming to, you ask?
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~Fischlipps
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