Entries from January 2009
Operation Shylock
Operation Shylock: A Confession, January 2009, 7/10.
Written by Philip Roth. Published by Vintage.
It was difficult to separate fact from fiction in this apparently semi-autographical novel that follows Roth on a bizarre journey from America to Israel via Europe, but I did not find that this detracted from my enjoyment of the novel. The confusion was clearly a tool for the reader to understand the mindsets of the protagonists (Philip Roth and his doppelganger, amongst others) as they struggled to understand what was real and what they were doing with their lives. This can also be said of the general population of Israelis that Roth depicts, and the discussion about contemporary Israeli society and issues was particularly well done.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 7/10, American, Fiction, Nonfiction, Philip Roth
Troubles
Troubles, January 2009, 8/10.
Written by J. G. Farrell. Published by The New York Review Of Books.
Although not quite as strong as the other two novels in the ‘Empire Trilogy’, this was still a very enjoyable book and a satisfying read. While a little too gimmicky for my taste at times (such as interspersing excerpts of newspaper articles throughout the narrative, which I felt added little) the main characters were brilliantly done and the storyline was marvelous, containing serious discussion in a lighthearted format that ironically encouraged the reader to think about the issues more deeply than a more forced style. The novel also gave a taste of all the major emotional groups – unrequited love, politics, war, youth, decay, etc..
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 8/10, British, Fiction, Irish, J. G. Farrell
Ask the Dust, January 2009, 8.5/10.
Written by John Fante, published by Canon Gate.
Stunning! While reading this book I was feeling my skin dry from the desert heat that enfolds L.A., the city in which the novel takes place, and dust in my mouth all along. This is the very tactile, very sensorial stream of consciousness of Arturo Bandini, a struggling writer looking for fame in L.A.. He drifts through the seedy underbelly of the city, and you never get the feeling of a glitsy city, but rather the sour tang of broken dreams. The novel revolves around the ferocious and deranged love affair Arturo has with a beautiful mexican waitress, who in the end disappears, swallowed by the desert, as sooner or later, Bandini let’s us think, will all there rest of the city and its inhabitants.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 8.5/10, American, Fante, Fiction
