Mar
04
Originally, Aksonov, began working on Generations of Winter as a PBS miniseries about the Stalinist period. Apparently the miniseries fell through and the treatment became a novel – a very long novel with three volumes. It was eventually made into a Russian television series as well. The translation of Generations of Winter available widely is, in fact, the first two volumes of the series. The last isn’t widely available and I’ve not read it.
The novel tells the story of the Gradov family. Nicolas, a doctor, and his wife Mary, who is Georgian, have three children who eventually find spouses and have different experiences with Stalin’s government. At the outset they are enthusiastic about the revolution. Over the years they are, variously, imprisoned, rewarded, tortured, and deceived. This is, needless to say, transformative. Stalin appears in the novel – in one episode his is treated for constipation lasting weeks. The horror is unleashed by Dr. Gradov. Lenin appears as a squirrel.
The novel is good I think. I read in translation so cannot say anything about the writing. I’ve not read the last volume, however, and have not heard good things about it. On the whole I’d recommend it – but hope to read the final volume before saying anything more than that.
Mar
03
Roberto Bolaño’s Nazi Literature is an invented encyclopedia of writers – Nazi writers as the title suggests. They are a varied group of odd misfits and nearly mainstream characters. Bolaño’s writing was about writing, writers, poets and also violence and politics. The writing, even in translation, is often funny and usually vivid. As always, reading his work, I wish I didn’t require a translation.
Roberto Bolaño was a poet. Because of this the dry academic tone of the ‘encyclopedia’ increases the satirical tone of the entries. These strange far-right political writers are taken seriously with all of their strange ideas and the odd details of their lives. But it would be wrong to interpret this as a sign that for Bolaño the simple fact that they (theoretically) were writers held some attraction. They were not elevated by vocations. Instead the reader is left with the feeling that these writers are hacks – that the posturing and maneuvering and political goals of these writers cheapens their writing. None of the descriptions made me wish to see the imagined work of any of these imagined writers.
Bolaño, in slight disguise, ‘appears’ in the final section in the search for a writer turned assassin named Hoffman. The tone is different here and the reader, even after laughing at earlier descriptions of these Nazi writers, is forced to take seriously Hoffman and his actions. For Bolaño, it seems, politics and art are connected and seriously so. Nazi writers are not simple crackpots to be catalogued. The violence in ideas can become actual and real.
Bottom Line: Recommended
Mar
02
Christopher McDougall writes news. He’s been a news writer for the AP – covering Lisbon and the former Portuguese colonies in Africa. He’s written for Outside magazine, The New York Times magazine, and Men’s Health. I’m sure he’s really great at news writing and magazine article writing. Frequently when I read a book length offering from a writer used to writing news stories or articles I can see how great an article the book would have been. I think I’ve even posted about this difficulty here. Born to Run would have been a great article – actually it would have been three great articles. One about persistence hunting, which didn’t get enough coverage in the book, and gathering cultures and their running habits and stride. Another about ultra-long distance running as a sport. And, finally, a long article about McDougall’s search for the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico’s Copper Canyon. As a collection of chapters it was all very interesting – I was especially taken with the persistence hunting – but as a book it seemed a little disjointed at times. Sure – it’s all about long distance, barefoot, and indigenous tribal running . But three articles would have been nice.
On the plus side it made me want to run. On the downside this did not last as long as I would have liked. I did attempt some barefoot running but it made my legs sore. I’m sure I’m doing it wrong. The squirrels are safe!
Bottom Line: Recommended with some slight reservations.
Mar
01
This novel is narrated by a dog. For many people that’s all I need write about it – narrated by a dog. It’s enough to say. It’s also about car racing. That’s enough for a lot of people as well. But you have to admit that a writer who sets out to write a novel about car racing narrated by a dog has got … something. Years ago I took a writing seminar and one of my class-mates wrote a short story narrated by a pillow. That was … something.
Whoever wrote the jacket blurb and promotional material was on their game though. At least it convinced me to overlook the dog and the car racing and that’s saying a lot. The dog was sometimes very funny. But, sadly, he wasn’t given artistic control of the novel. The plot was an agonizing train wreck with, bizarrely, a happy ending for everyone but the dog. Well sort of for the dog. Well it was completely unbelievable – reincarnation on top of dogs and Nascar was just too much. Dogs are supposed to be soothing friends. Nascar is boring. It was quite a feat to make a novel combining those two things so anxiety filled.
Bottom Line: Not recommended unless you really like dogs AND nascar AND reincarnation.
Feb
28
The Doctor’s Wife is based on the life of Hanaoka Seishu, a Japanese physician, who developed and used general anesthesia in 1804. This was nearly forty years earlier than Dr. Crawford D. Long, credited with the first use of general anesthesia, did the same in the West. Hanaoka Seishu is believed to have experimented on his wife and mother while developing the drugs he later used in surgery. Sawako uses this very interesting story to examine the relationships between women in traditional Japanese families.
The novel follows Kae, the daughter of an upper class family who is, surprisingly, married to the son of the local doctor. The unusual marriage is brought about through a combination of Kae’s family’s difficulty in finding a suitable husband and her own infatuation with her potential groom’s mother. She is married and lives with her new family without meeting her husband who is away studying medicine. Initially she becomes close to her mother-in-law and is happy working with and for the family and their concerns. When her husband returns she’s faced with a dramatic change. The two women begin to compete for the young doctor’s attention and eventually to be used by him as guinea pigs as he develops his anesthesia. Kae, who ‘wins’ is blinded in the process.
The novel is considered Sawako’s finest but it may suffer in translation. It is quite an interesting read both for the early medical information and the look at very traditional marriage and family practices of that time. It is not a beautiful novel – at least in translation – however.
Bottom Line: Recommended
Read in February – am behind and am catching up!
