A Final Thought 2

Rather than repeat everything Frank said, I will simply concur.

I do have a couple of thoughts on the book before we begin the new month, though...

First, the title of the book- "Fortress of Solitude". I actually hadn't realized what that was until a friend of mine saw the book on my coffee table. "You're reading a book about Superman?" he asked. I had only purchased the book recently and wasn't more than a couple of pages in. Interestingly enough, the ONLY part of the book that even mentions Superman's "Fortress of Solitude" is on pg.65. Lethem is describing the devotion toward comic books held by Dylan and Mingus....

"Spiderman's girlfriend, Gwen, had been killed by the Goblin, it wasn't funny in the least. That's why Spider-Man was so depressed all the time...DC Comics, Marvel Comics' antithesis, presented a laughable, flattened reality--Superman and Batman were jokes, ruined by television. In truth, Superman in his Fortress of Solitude reminded you all too much of Abraham in his high studio, brooding over nothing."

...This comparison between Abraham and Superman is interesting, but the point I want to make has to do with the statement "...brooding over nothing." Dylan eventually assumes the role of a Superman--flying powers, fighting the crime of Brooklyn, constantly refusing to accept life, always "brooding" over something. And in the end, it was all for nothing. The "crime" he was fighting were kids Mingus knew, the depressing songs he connected with and wrote about were just that--depressing songs. Dylan was constantly trying to fix what wasn't broken. Real life was right in front of him--true friendship, a father who loved him, a girlfriend who loved him. It's a lesson we can all use. Don't neglect the small moments that are happening all the time! They are the things that will truly define us as human, they are what make our lives matter.

Second, I think the flying and invisibility was entirely contrived. A projection of Dylan's depression and attitude toward life. In the end, the ring may have actually had SOME power--in Dylan's mind it was the destruction of Robert Woodfolk. But I don't think any of the special powers ACTUALLY happened.

Last of all, I have a lot of ideas about Dylan's mom and the role she plays. Lethem inserts classic Oedipus complex ideas throughout the story. She also is interesting if viewed as a comic book character--at first the hero who beats up the bad guy, but the powers of evil overcome her, and she is unable to deal with the pressures of being a hero. She runs away.

Well, I know this post is entirely too long, but hopefully some of it makes sense. The book was great. I think I will pick up a few more Lethem titles in the future. If you enjoyed this, I would again strongly recommend "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay", by Michael Chabon.

-Nick

A Final Thought

Since today is the last day of the month, I thought it would be fitting to say one final thing about Fortress of Solitude. I really enjoyed it. It was a story I never would have been exposed to if we didn't read it, and although there were some uncomfortable parts, I appreciate how real it seemed to be. Except the flying and invisibility.

I hope everyone has had a chance to finish reading it. If not, keep going and finish it. It's a great story about growing up, and as you've heard a lot of us comment throughout the book, it shares a lot of the feelings and experiences we all had growing up. It also opens us up to a perspective that none of us really had. Race, drug culture, extreme poverty.

Great book, Cameron.

I'm looking forward to Smurf's book. I've read a couple chapters so far and it is extremely interesting. I'll be interested in everyone's thoughts on this book. It isn't light reading like Fortress, but hopefully less pages will inspire everyone to get more involved. It's very politically and religiously charged, which we can handle. That one of the greatest attributes of our group of friends - tolerance and acceptance.

It's been a great month. I've really loved keeping in better touch with everyone. This has been a fabulous idea Jimmy. Props. Let's all be more involved in March!

Salt Lake Board of Realtors awards

Hey guys I was just named one of the two finalists for sales team of the year on the Salt Lake Board! This is pretty exciting for me. You can check it out at http://www.slrealtors.com/newsletter.html

Next Book

Alright, I know that most of us haven't finished the first book yet but it sounds like we are all reading it. March is about to start up and Smurf had a book he wants us to read. I think we do his book for sure but we only agree to read his if he promises to read some of the other books that are recommended! Anyways, I just finished "The Audacity of Hope" and "Be like Mike" (Michael Jordan's book) and I must say that they were both great reads. Obama has some good thoughts but some bad ideas on the economy that scare me extensively. Oh well! I am trying to finish Cam's book on time so we'll see. Anyways, what do you guys think?

Off Topic -- The Ironman @Google and Espana

I just booked Cal Ripken Jr. for a talk at Google on April 17th. If anyone is in the New York area and wants to come meet Cal, please let me know.

To be honest, I can probably only sneak in 2 or 3 ppl so I hope you're ALL not in the New York area.





I've been in Spain and Portugal for the last week, but I'm hoping to finish the book this week. If you've never been to either of those places, go. Immediately. Sevilla, might be one of the most charming cities on the plant, and the southern tip of Portugal (pictured) is pretty intense.

Anyway, just got to the dude on dude action. I had not anticipated that. Future recommends will be vetted for "uncomfortable topics." However, I do think its good to feel uncomfortable when reading a novel. Not to say that every book need have explicit taboo sex with minors, but to be sure we all grew up in a pretty sheltered existence. This is apparent with Frank's comment that Jamal Griffen is the "only black person I know." For a lot of us, he was the only "black kid" around for a good part of our lives. In retrospect, that's pretty weird/sad/amazing. Sumee Oh, Asian. John Worsencroft (sp?), Jew. Vigil, Mexican. The fact that we could boil down entire races, cultures, continents to one or two people, is astounding to me. If the book does anything at all, I hope it opens up some minds of an existence other than your own.

We don't leave in a "colorblind" world, no matter how hard we try to convince ourselves. We all harbor (myself definitely included) thoughts we never let pass through our lips. Reading, listening, learning, interacting with things/people/places outside of ourselves is the first step towards making these thoughts/ideas change into things we can talk about.