That's how far in I am, just the tip. 30pgs. Good to be back though, and apologies for the hiatus.
My initial reaction to this book was pure emotion. Every page so far (IMO) is meant to be a slap in the reader's face. Jarring. From the unflattering character descriptions, to the explicit sex scenes to the syntax and story flow (or lack there of), I think Doctorow is really trying to make the reader uncomfortable, and evaluate where they stand in the world with regards to politics, love, family, etc. By highlighting extremes it makes us wonder aloud if we could be pushed to those outer bounds by some uncontrollable circumstance. It's not about being "liberal" or "conservative" or "communist", its about the environment and people and chance that tip us in one direction or another. Obviously, you can choose to react in several different ways once on that path, but once a train has been set in motion its much harder to change its course.
I think Frank was on the right track in his last post to warn of the dangers of extremist behavior, but to call extreme left immature and extreme right bigots is a wild oversimplification. Not only is there an enormous amount of nuance associated with people's belief systems, but the "left" and "right" are merely constructs that couldn't exist without each other. For example, say I waved a magic wand and all the "right wing" people on the planet disappeared. Would conservative views disappear? No. The remaining "liberals" would have to redefine themselves from the other liberals and half of the population would then be "conservatives" again. So if Frank's theory held true, would the previously slightly immature then become the extreme bigots? I would argue no.
I've never read any Doctorow before, but I must say he is one of the most powerful writers I've encountered in a good while. Great choice Benny, I look forward to the journey.
Favorite Quote so far, page 25 of my copy:
"There are no decent settings for joy or suffering. All our environments are wrong. They embarrass our emotions. They make our emotions into the plastic tiger lilies in the window boxes of Howard Johnson restaurants."
Discuss.
2 comments:
Cam writes:
"For example, say I waved a magic wand and all the "right wing" people on the planet disappeared. Would conservative views disappear? No. The remaining "liberals" would have to redefine themselves from the other liberals and half of the population would then be "conservatives" again."
This reminded me of a similar concept in justice theory. Very briefly it goes something like this: Crime, criminals and moral outcasts will always exist. Even in a society where everyone behaves legally/morally, people and societies find new ways to distinguish those who are immoral from the rest. So in a town where there are no murders, the thieves are the scourge. In a society with no murders and no thefts, the traffic violators are outcasted. Welcome back Cam.
I like your characterization of the syle as jarring, and I agree that the intent is to make the reader uncomfortable. He even revels in the reader's confusion on pages 42-43 of my copy. In this, my most recent favorite quote, he begins by describing the elusivity of the truth regarding what did or did not happen to his parents and ends by criticizing his own presentation of the novel, recognizing the state of confusion he inflicts upon the reader:
"Or maybe my mother and father got away with false passports for crimes they didn't committ. How do you spell comit? Of one thing we are sure. Everything is elusive. God is elusive. Revolutionary morality is elusive. Justice is elusive. Human character. Quarters for the cigarette machine. You've got these two people in the poster, Daniel, now how you going to get them out? And you've got a grandma you mention once or twice, but we don't know anything about her. And some colored man in the basement -- what is that all about? What has that got to do with anything?"
The moment in the volvo outside the HoJo (where Daniel "feels the summons," sees the poster of his parents, recognizes the inescapability of his family, and understands the weight of his sister's "they're still fucking us" comment) rings to me like the most important part of the book thus far. I'm excited to see how this crazy ride develops. I would't (and don't) feel bad if you're lost. I think you're supposed to be. The author puts his own words in the list of all things elusive.
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