What I'm Reading Now

This will be a recurring feature depending on what I'm reading now, says Captain Obvious. Anyway, I started this blog in order to share my love of books and things bookish. Its the feel of the pages, the age of the book, the type of binding, the smell... ah, we teeter on the edge of book porn. On to the current pages I'm turning...

The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto - Mr. Shorto is one of my very favorite nonfiction writers. His "Descarte's Bones" is a marvel of a book and this effort is almost as good. Here the subject is New York, but not when it was New York, rather when it was New Amsterdam and the center of a "new world". Mr. Shorto points out that scholarship on the Dutch period of American settlement has been, up to now, rather slim, and very biased. It does seem as though most books on early American history start with the sale of Manhattan from the Dutch to the English, with a mention of the Dutch purchasing it from the Indians for about 24 dollars in "trinkets". This story gets told often because it is amusing to elementary school children. However, as the author points out it is also wildly inaccurate and incredibly pejorative Mr. Shorto also does a great job of fleshing out the players of the time including the ambitious Peter Minuit, the severe Peter Stuyvesant and the erstwhile hero, Adrian Van der Donck. The fact that you've never heard of Van der Donck  tell you how he made out. Good stuff if you have any taste for history.

The Book of Guys by Garrison Keillor -  Mr. Prairie Home Companion is a polarizing figure, people either love him or hate him, and I'm a fan. With that personal bias out of the way, this is a damn funny book. Its a collection of articles, radio commentary, and short stories Mr. Keillor has written themed around "things guy". The story about his night at the campfire with the guys is hilarious. There are a series of events similar to the "Blazing Saddles" campfire scene and we will leave it there. The author also makes some sharp observations about the behavior of men and women, some funny, and some funny-sad. The kind of book you can pick up and read a few pages at a time.

A Long Argument by Ernst Mawr - Mr. Mawr is one of the staunch defenders of evolution and things Darwin. He has written longer and better books, but this one ain't shabby. In it, he sums up for the layperson, or the mildly interested, his major arguments about the things Darwin got right. One of the reasons he is an interesting writer is that he is not an extremist and does not gloss over the ideas of Darwin that are still inconclusive or proved in the years since Darwin's death to be just plain wrong. The point he makes and in my view, it's a damn good one, is don't get distracted by Darwin's imperfection, he's only human. Rather, try to grasp how much about which he was right.

Five Not-so-Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman - Most folks know Mr. Feynman;  if they can name any scientists at all, or more specifically, any physicists at all, they name him. It is amazing to me though, how few people who have heard of him have actually read anything by him. He's a bit like Einstein or Darwin, people quote them and talk about their work all the time, but these same people, for the most part, have not read a single word they've written. Okay, that's my elitist bitch for the day. Thank you for listening. Anyway, Dr. Feynman actually explains some principles of Physics in a way that I can understand, and that is one hell of an accomplishment, let me tell you. Plus, he's really funny. And the world of funny, world famous physicists is small, trust me.

The First World War by John Keegan - Mr. Keegan is very well known military historian who writes about military history from the "battle" perspective. To understand the war, one must understand who the different officers in the field were, why the troops moved as they did, and how artillery and other factors (like airplanes and the weather) influence outcomes. What differentiates Mr. Keegan from the horde of historians in this particular school is the good job he does relating these matters to the larger geopolitical landscape. Mr. Keegan's book on the Civil War is in my pile of "next in line" books, so I'll let you know if that is a consistent quality or not when I get to it.

Lee and His Men at Gettysburg by Clifford Dowdey - The Civil War is a passionate interest of mine, and Mr. Dowdey is one of the classic historians of the conflict. So far, there isn't much in this one I haven't encountered elsewhere, except for the detail of the relationships between General Lee and his men. I have not done enough footnote checking to know how accurate Mr. Dowdey's information is, and I do not know if I will make the time. Of particular interest is Lee's relationship with "Jeb" Stuart. It's the author's hypothesis that Lee lost the battle and perhaps the whole war by putting too much faith in the wrong man, as Stuart was too vain and too independent to closely follow orders. Don't know if I buy it. I'm not much of a "one thing was responsible for this" guy when it comes to major events in history.

Silver Bears, Columbus, and The Dark Guys by Derek Haas - This is a three volume set of short novels known as the "Assassin Trilogy". This is basically check your brains at the door, rock-em sock-em pulp action stuff. The main character is sort of a cross between Adam Hall's Quiller (the organism leaves the window open and the air-conditioning off so it can adjust to the desert heat) and Barry Eisler's John Rain (I like my violence quick and dirty). Mr. Haas writes well, and these are quick and entertaining reads if you like action yarns where the body count piles up. If not, well, aren't you a daisy? Just skip these books.

That's a wrap for this edition... so what are you reading now?

The Poet's Art - Perfect word choices

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) lived almost his entire life in New Jersey. He was a quintessential American poet. He was a physician which helps to explain the surgical nature of the construction of his poems. Unfortunately, he did not enjoy much fame or renown in his lifetime. He won the Pulitzer Prize posthumously. His status as the mentor, the "grandfather" if you will, of some of the most well known contemporary poets was not common knowledge in his lifetime. The fact remains though, that today he is a widely recognized and appreciated master of American poetry. I come back to him time after time when I'm struggling with syntax or appropriateness of word choice. These are the elements he mastered. His short, clear phrases ring with power and meaning. I attended a course in Modern Poetry early in my college career and the professor started the first minute of the first class by handing out a copy of a Williams poem and asking the class if it was poetry and why. It remains one of my favorites:

                                              The Red Wheelbarrow
                             
                                               so much depends
                                               upon

                                               a red wheel
                                               barrow

                                               glazed with rain
                                               water

                                               beside the white
                                               chickens.

Consider the first four words: so/much/depends/upon... It's imperative to read poetry aloud to really "hear" it. When one reads that there is a staccato rhythm to it, and a seriousness of tone, which the poet turns on it's head with the next phrase: a red wheelbarrow. This is a completely unexpected coupling of thought and image. And lest we fail to conjure up the right picture of a red wheelbarrow, the poet finishes the painting with precise description: glazed with rain water... beside the white chickens. The choice of the word glazed is masterful for both the sound and the meaning, and, of course, the chickens had to be white. It is highly American to write an ode about the necessity of tools that help get basic things done. I mean, truly, how rich is this one sentence?

For me, poetry succeeds when the words on the page create a picture or mental image in the reader's mind that is memorable, suggestive, and powerful. Consider the first two verses of "Fish":

It is the whales that drive
the small fish into the fiords.
I have seen forty or fifty
of them in the water at one time.
I have been in a little boat
when the water was boiling
on all sides of us
from them swimming underneath.

The noise of the herring
can be heard nearly a mile.
So thick in the water, they are,
you can't dip the oars in.
All silver!

Consider the difference between - they are so thick in water, and "so thick in the water, they are" - one is a longitudinal statement you might find in an essay, the other is the replication of the spoken word. You can hear a fisherman saying it just like that. Subtle distinctions in word choice and word order are at the core of what makes Dr. Williams such an interesting poet.

In "The Dance", Williams describes a painting he'd seen by Breughel, "The Kermess". Now, many poets and would-be poets have described works of art to varying degrees of success. Some have been described as wonderful translations of the original painting. I think the word translation is not at all a complement to the poet. Translation is blue collar work. The poet as an artist should not translate a visual work of art in their poetry, they ought to transform it instead. And that is what Williams does as he brings the reader right into the middle of the action (a dance) that can be seen on the canvas.

It is our good fortune that much of WCW's work can be accessed. His poems appear in a multitude of anthologies and collections and his complete works are available as well. If you appreciate language manipulated as a jazzman manipulates musical notes you must expose yourself to this man's work. We close this posting with another of my favorites, and as it always does, WCW's work speaks most loudly for itself:

                                                                       Poem

                                                               As the cat
                                                               climbed over
                                                               the top of

                                                              the jamcloset
                                                              first the right
                                                              forefoot

                                                              carefully
                                                              then the hind
                                                              stepped down

                                                              into the pit of
                                                              the empty
                                                              flowerpot
 

I'm back -favorite short story writers

 I've decided to return to the blogosphere to write about a topic that seems to be at the core of my life... books. This blog will feature the writers and works that have proved important to me over the years. They've either irritated, provoked, entertained, amused, or fascinated me for any variety of reasons, and over time we will see if you agree. Today's topic is some of my favorite short story writers. The short story seems to be losing steam as a popular form, but I grew up on short stories and it has occurred to me that many of them have influenced me, especially during my especially awkward teenage years. So, in no particular order:

 

Arthur Conan Doyle - Amazing how famous this guy became through the invention of one iconic character and one genre of story telling. Yes, he wrote other things, but really, how many can you name? He goes as far as Sherlock Holmes can carry him, and that's pretty far. Is there a more fascinating or engaging character in all of literature? He has become a true cultural icon. The fact remains that Doyle spins some great stories around Holmes and I don't think he would have become the timeless legend he is without high quality stories to support his character development. There will be a future blog about all things Holmes, but for now, "The Final Problem", A Study in Scarlet", "His Last Bow", "The Adventure of the Speckled Band", all from different periods in Doyle's career should support my point.

 

Geoffrey Chaucer- I know, I know, it's barely recognizable as English in the original, but it's worth figuring out how to read it. "The Pardoner's Tale", "The Miller's Tale", "The Nun's Priest's Tale, and of course "The Wife of Bath's Tale", are all classics for a reason.

 

James Thurber- By now, you've figured out that I'm bouncing all over time and place, and so it goes. Thurber is downright funny. I am partial to dogs, but Thurber's collection of dog stories will entertain you regardless of your feelings about animals. And he's no one trick pony, having written plenty of stories that have nothing to do with canine antics.

 

Raymond Carver- reminds me of a painter. His spare use of just the right words strikes the same chord in me as when an artist uses just the right shade of a color, or density of a brushstroke to refine a painting. "Where I'm Calling From", "What we Talk about When we Talk About Love", "A Small, Good Thing", "A Calm Talk" are all masterpieces that demonstrate the power of less is more. 

 

Herman Melville- I know, I know, what the heck is the author of Moby Dick doing in a post about short stories? Well, he wrote, what for my money, is one of the greatest short stories ever written, "Bartleby the Scrivener". It's an amazingly powerful story about passive resistance and the pathology of extreme human behavior. "I would prefer not to", is one of my favorite literary quotes.

 

Edgar Allan Poe- Just say short story, and most people think - Poe. He is truly a master of the craft, with a multitude of stories that are actually famous. To think there are so few people that read, and even less that can rattle off a list of short stories they've read, but almost everyone has heard of "The Telltale Heart", "The Black Cat", or "The Pit and the Pendulum".  Heck, "The Cask of Amontillado" was just referenced on an episode of NCIS for crying out loud. "Murder in the Rue Morgue" is another of my personal favorites. Poe is often credited for inventing the modern detective story, I don't know if that is true, suppose it depends on how one defines "modern".

 

Jack London- An exceptional, naturalistic writer, Mr. London has fallen out of popularity in the last twenty years or so. This may have to do with his personality, as anti-Semitic communists are not on the top of anyone's popular lists in America. However, my view is that the foibles of the person are irrelevant. How does their work stack up on paper? By that measure London is as good or better than anyone in the short story arena. "The White Silence" and "To Build a Fire" are fine examples of his work. When I went to junior high school everyone had to read "To Build a Fire". I have no idea if that is true anymore, but I hope it still is.

 

Kate Chopin- "The Awakening" is one of the most heartrending and brilliant short stories I've ever read. It's a shame her life was so short and we don't have more work from her. What we have is underappreciated and underrated. She is a marvelous writer.

 

The Russians-  There is no way to make a list of great short story writers without Chekhov, Gogol, Gorsky and Turgenev.  Many consider Chekhov the greatest short story writer ever. I certainly admire "The Woman with the White Dog" and "The Black Monk". That said, I think the best Russian short story may be Nikolai Gogol's "The Overcoat". And Turgenev's "The Country Doctor" is a very moving story as well. More about Russian writers in future posts.

 

Collected Short Stories- As hard as it is to write one good short story, imagine writing several that are connected by theme, or a narrative arch, and publishing the result in book length form. Many authors have done this to varying degrees of success. My three favorites are: James Joyce- "The Dubliners" - C'mon now, "Araby", "A Little Cloud", and "The Dead" are three GREAT short stories and they are all part of this one collection. I have a minority opinion that Joyce was more of a genius in the short form that as a novelist. Sherwood Anderson- "Winesburg, Ohio" is a singular work of magnificent quality. "The Untold Lie" may be the great American short story. This collection is as good a view into early 20th century American life as there is. And Ernest Hemingway- "A Movable Feast" is the book many consider the best unified collection of stories ever written. I don't know if I'd go that far, but it is gripping, funny, sad, and provocative. It is a short textbook on human nature and life experience. Hemingway deserves the last word in this blog, as his canon of short stories is as high quality as there is. If you don't believe me try "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" or "The Short, Happy Life of Frances Macomber". or "The Killers". Hollywood has found enough meat in "The Killers" to have made it into a movie several times.

 

That's all for now, except I forgot G.K. Chesterton, whose series of short stories about the ever curious Father Brown, kept me entertained when I was young, and still give me something when I go back to them. 

 

 Some of this will get additional attention in the weeks or months ahead if the Lord is willing and the creek doesn't rise. Coming attractions: The Greatest North American novel, More on Russian writers, the Renaissance, Most Influential Books- part 1.