Stranger than Fiction? Or Just Coincidence?

You know you have been away from your blog too long when someone who says they don't read it mentions that you haven't posted lately.  So, thanks Jason - I hope you see this and know that you were my inspiration to rededicate myself to this blog.

As to my extended neglect of this blog site, I really have no excuse other than I have been actively working on my 2012 list of resolutions. Suffice it to say that 2012 has been very, very good to me.... more on that to come. Now back to the blog.

When I was more actively blogging, I found myself living a somewhat anecdotally driven life. Every experience was examined from the prism of "will this make a good story?" or "how can I spin this to be more entertaining?" This past week, something occurred that jarred me out of my staid existence. Something even stranger than the start of the zombie apocalypse in Miami earlier this summer.

My personal email address is glennrhunt@*****.com. Since my first name is more commonly spelled with one n, there are times when someone I know will send an email to glenrhunt@*****.com, who incidentally lives in California. When it is obvious that I have received something intended for him, or vice verse, we just forward it along to the correct glen(n). Besides the fact that we both work in the technology industry, we are obviously both very kind and caring individuals. Hahahah!

The story gets even better. Last week, my veterinarian sent a reminder that it was time to schedule my pet's 6 month checkup, but it was sent to Glen with one n. He forwarded it to me and I replied, "Roxy and I thank you for this reminder." His response: "You are not going to believe this, but my pet's name is Rocky."

How weird is that?  I think I need to meet this doppelganger. I wonder what else we have in common?

BTW - While I was away, this blog limped across the 5000 page view milestone. I am so happy that you like me, you really, really like me. I have a lot to share in the coming weeks. I hope you will stick around and see me to my next milestone. Ciao for now!

From the Lists: #43 A Dance to the Music of Time - First Movement

Anthony Powell

There have been several occasions as I work my way through the list of the 100 best English novels of the 20th century in which I have loudly complained of multiple works being listed as a single installment. The Alexandria Quartet and Parade's End, each consisting of four separate novels readily come to mind. However, with that said, #43 A Dance to the Music of Time wins the "Are you serious?" award since a single entry on the list consists of 12 relatively short novels that dip into the life of Nicholas Jenkins during various points between 1914 and 1971.

The books are presented as movements. Therefore, rather than trying to write an all encompassing review of the entire epic, which would probably consist of "12 books! It was just a blur," I think that I will briefly touch upon each novel within a movement, the time in which it occurs, and any other random connections I make while reading them.

The First Movement:
A Question of Upbringing (1951)

We are introduced to middle class Nick and his friends during various stages of their college educations post WWI, as well as Nick's ne'er do well Uncle Giles. His college acquaintances are from all social classes: the rich Stringham, the handsome Templer, and the rather socially awkward (aspergers-y perhaps?) Widmerpool play the central roles. Oddly, other than Uncle Giles, there is very little exposition about Nick's family, while there is quite a bit concerning the families of his friends. As the first novel draws to an end, the group grows apart and comes back together in an unexpected way. The writing is crisp and the characters are interesting. It is a "college days" novel about how friendships evolve over time and in retrospect take on a different meaning.

A Buyer's Market (1952)
We rejoin Nick and his circle of friends in London a few years out of university in the 1920's as they are pursuing both business and romantic interests. This installment begins with Nick perusing an auction of Mr. Deacon's belongings who was a distant and rather eccentric family friend, following his death by somewhat "less than respectable" circumstances. From there, we move with Nick through London's Spring social circuit of balls and lawn parties into the seedier side of London's artistic and politically active communities.

Like Nick's, accidental return to Stingham's orbit and finding himself socializing in the same circles as the awkward Widmerpool, I had an odd little coincidence of my own while reading this installment. During a meditation class in which connections with people in our lives is examined, this passage coincidentally repeated something our teacher wanted us to learn, but without all the commas:

I used to imagine life divided into separate compartments, consisting, for example, of such dual abstractions as pleasure and pain, love and hate, friendship and enmity, and more material classifications like work and play....That illusion - as such a point of view was closely related to another belief: that existence fans out indefinitely into new areas of experience, and that almost every additional acquaintance offers some supplementary world with its own hazards and enchantments. As time goes on, of course, these supposedly different worlds, in fact, draw closer, if not to each other, then to some pattern common to all: so that, at last, diversity between them, if in truth existent, seems to be almost imperceptible except in a few crude and exterior ways.... In other words, nearly all the inhabitants of these outwardly disconnected empires turn out at last to be tenaciously interrelated; love and hate, friendship and enmity too, becoming themselves much less clearly defined, more often than not, showing signs of possessing characteristics that could claim, to say the least, not a little in common.

Here Nick is still a naive observer of his world rather than an active participant. However, he has begun to draw parallels between the friends he admires and some of the less pallatable characteristics of his Uncle Giles.

The Acceptance World (1955)

A pattern is emerging in the series. Each book begins with a meeting between Nick and his Uncle Giles. These meetings have a way of setting the theme for each installment. In The Acceptance World, the time frame has jumped into the early 1930s. Nick has published his first book, has a stable job at a publishing house, has loved and lost and loved again, but is still an observer of his world - only a more mature and slightly more cynical observer. Some plot points from the previous novel, such as the details surrounding that "old queen," Mr. Deacon's death are expanded upon. Also several of the artistic set from the previous novel have moved on to become established in the respectable world, while some of the old Edwardian artistic set cling to former glories and try to remain relevant as the modernist movement takes root.

Characters introduced in the first novel who appeared destined for greatness are now struggling with alcoholism, divorce, and a general discontent, while those seemingly destined for the dust bin have found their way into middle class success. The characters have all grown in unexpected ways. The college loser is moving up, while the privileged are in slow decline. Of the three novels in the first movement, I thought this was the weakest; however, I think it sets the characters up nicely to transition into the coming war years.

I need a break from Nick and his gang. I am jumping ahead to the next book on the list, which is an adventure set in the back woods of Georgia. Is that a banjo I hear in the distance?????

A little snark is required to end this post: Should the list be renamed as the 120 Best English Novels of the 20th Century? I am still feeling as if I have been just a bit bamboozled. And there is another multi-novel entry coming up which will push it to 123 Best novels - hmph! I better get back to it - time is wasting and I am not getting any younger.

From the Lists: #44 Point Counter Point by Aldous Huxley

Aldous Huxley

Sometimes working through the list is an academic slog. The books are too cerebral, too experimental, or too outside of my sphere of experience to fully appreciate them. Then along comes #44 Point Counter Point (1928) by Aldous Huxley in which the clouds part and the sun returns.

Where Conrad's Nostromo was often described as the War and Peace of central American banana republics, Point Counter Point would be considered the equivalent for London's post WWI privileged arts community. The central character, John Bidlake, is a once famous Victorian artist who is now more known for his sexual exploits than for his art. His children, their spouses, lovers, acquaintances, and employees form the novel's intoxicatingly diverse world.

What I found most intriguing while reading this work was Huxley's ability to create and interweave a cast of characters whose lives are both distant from and seemingly immediate to my own experience. And, while I will most likely never live on an estate or be the head of a national socialist party or a famous artist on the party circuit, I could easily equate each character within the novel with someone I know in my life.

The connections between the characters in the novel are maintained through either blood relation to John Bidlake, marriage to a Bidlake sibling, employment by the family, and those people who are by nature drawn into the orbits of the famous. Huxley simply drops the reader into the thoughts and conversations of his characters. Like in life, tidbits of information are hinted at, implied, or casually dropped with maliciously gossipy intent during intimate dinners, tea, or cocktail parties. The upper classes prove their "modernity" through casual sexuality and general acceptance of loose morals. Rebelling against the publicly displayed Victorian morals of the middle classes, the rich and privileged flaunt their desire for excitement through late night drinking, carousing, and casual affairs - always searching for the next thrill.

Of course it is not all fun and games - otherwise this novel would become just another moralistic story of excess. Rather, Huxley perfectly balances the tawdry with the respectable, the unorthodox with the traditional, the Victorian moralist with the Jazz age flapper, the conformist with the anarchist, and the love match with the socially advantageous marriage in order to create a world recognizable by readers of all social strata.

Recommendation: Two enthusiastic thumbs up for the writing style, character development, and story. I admit that I am often eager to complete a book from the list in order to move on to the next. In this case I wanted to linger in Huxley's world more thoroughly exploring these characters, hanging on their words, existing in their orbits for just a while longer.

Connection: In my meditation class, our teacher often speaks of how all things are connected. In this case, I have a small connection to this novel. One of the plot crises occurs in the Mews at Hyde park, which were once part of the royal stables, but were later converted into fashionable townhomes. Coincidentally, I have been in one of these homes, visiting a friend who lived in London. It is a small world, indeed.

Thought from the bar stool

Here is a thought for amateur bands who play in bars; louder is not always better.  It is just louder.

From the Lists: Manly Men Doing Manly Things Badly

Ernest Hemingway (1928)

After the European obtuseness of Joseph Conrad, Ernest Hemingway's terse masculine prose comes as a welcome relief for reading in the sun. Billed as the "quintessential novel of the lost generation," The Sun Also Rises (1926) is a debauched romp through Paris and Spain by American and English expats and tourists following the first world war.

In Hemingway's world, drunken evenings of bar hopping stretch into brisk mornings spent in cafes over coffee. Every meal is heartily satisfying. People do things. They love and break up. They fight and make up. Grudges are soon forgotten. Large sums of money are spent pursuing pleasures. The weather is sunny, cloudy, or rainy. Sentences are short and declarative. And perhaps in spite of the clipped writing style, Hemingway's world seems more rich and tactile than those of other writers who spend so much of their time setting a mood before anything actually happens. 

The novel is probably most well known for its depiction of the bull fights held during the festival of St. Fermin - including the practice of young men running with the bulls through the streets of Pamplona.  However, the pageantry of the bullfight and festival is simply the backdrop for broken relationships, bankruptcies, betrayals, and apathetic acceptance that occurs among a group of friends as they plan, prepare, and travel from Paris to Pamplona for the festival.

Since this novel is mostly told through either gossipy or drunk dialog, there is very little character exposition that is not tinged by jealousy or colored by feelings of unrealized love. And, much like an extended episode of Seinfeld, none of the characters learn or grow during their exploits. Everyone is pretty much in the same place developmentally as they were at the beginning of the novel. Perhaps that is why I enjoyed it so much. It is reminiscent of my younger days when things happened and people did things, but the copious amounts of alcohol lubricated our conversations and relationships.

On a side note, I do have a few connections with this novel including a visit to Hemingway's home in Key West, Florida. If you find yourself there with a few hours to spare, you should take the tour. It is well worth the money. Also, toward the end of the novel when Jake meets Brett in Madrid, they have a dinner of suckling pig accompanied by several bottles of rioja wine at Botin. I too have eaten this dinner. Yum! Ricisima!

Recommendation: Two thumbs up if you are looking for a fun book with no moral lesson - just guys doing guy stuff.

From the Lists: Joseph Conrad Tag Team

Joseph Conrad

Like the D. H. Lawrence grouping in my last literary blog installment, the next two novels are by Joseph Conrad. Most readers will recognize him as the author of Heart of Darkness (#67), but he also has three other novels on the list: #85 Lord Jim, #47 Nostromo, and #46 The Secret Agent. One can only marvel that someone whose first language was Polish, was so proficient in languages that he landed 4 novels in the 100 best English novels of the 20th century.

Heart of Darkness (1902) is probably the most widely-read of Conrad's works in that it is pretty much required reading in American high schools and colleges. The movie Apocalypse Now (1979) was also loosely based on this novella, thus insuring its longevity. However, Conrad considered Nostromo (1904) to be his masterpiece. The author, a notorious complainer, often wrote while working on the serialized release of the book that this work would lead to his death by exhaustion. As a reader, I too was nearly brought to death by the lack of action within the novel.

Nostromo

As someone who appreciates the art of writing, I feel a little guilty about the above pronunciation, but boiled down to its essence - this novel is a bit like a Central American War and Peace - complete with a long list of characters with complicated histories, but without the war and with very little peace. Imagine your country is in a civil war and you are chasing the action, but you always arrive just a few hours late or you are stranded just a few streets away from the action. In this way, the narrative is quite inventive in that all the action is related through the experiences of people who are recalling events the reader just missed experiencing. Since the events in the novel are all filtered through unreliable narrators motivated by greed, nationalism, jealousy, and love - the reader is left to draw their own conclusions about the action, the characters, and their motivations.

What I did find quite interesting, and somewhat contemporary in the novel is the continued debate about the importance of business in civil society. Conrad proposes through his characters that without commerce, there can be no civilization. That a successful business venture results in roads, railroads, harbors, hospitals, churches, and commerce that would not otherwise exist. Without these arteries of commerce, European style society could not flourish. 100 years later, this idea seems to still be hotly debated. The flip side to this argument is that prosperity also fuels the less noble tendencies of man leading to war, suffering, and needless death and destruction.

The Secret Agent

The second book in this tag team, The Secret Agent (1907), had a bit of resurgence in popularity following the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. However, instead of religious radicals planning and executing an effective attack, this work is loosely based on a bungled attempt by anarchists to initiate a social revolution by bombing the Greenwich observatory in England.

While the author's intent in Nostromo is literary, The Secret Agent is blatant satire. Its characters are caricatures of notable anarchists of the period. The characters personify all the stereotypes of the shiftless anarchist - they are over-weight, under-educated, frequently jailed, or making their livings off of wealthy women or by selling French pornography. Based on the phrenological sentiments of the day, their craniums are all described as lumpy due to the criminal quality of their thoughts and their skin is sallow and oily. Apparently bad intentions make for bad health and unsightly appearance. Let this be a lesson!

As with all good satire, such as The Daily Show, one must be informed on the issue being discussed to understand the humor - hence the prodigious number of footnotes included in this edition. An early 20th century Londoner would no doubt understand the satiric intent of this novel and get the joke, but the ironic skewering of figures who have been largely lost in the sweep of history, tends to lose its humor when read by a contemporary audience.

Recommendation: Of these two novels, it is difficult to choose one over the other as I am unenthusiastic about both. I suffered great frustration in the first and found the second somewhat difficult to read - a bit like being the new guy in a group of friends who communicate using only inside jokes.

Cliches, Metaphors, and Thrills

There are several cliches, metaphors, and similes that come to mind when I think back over the last few weeks.

• Life is not a sprint, but a marathon
• It's not the destination that's important, but the journey
• On your deathbed you will not wish you had spent more time at work
• Money can't buy happiness
• Time flies when you are having a great time
• Everyday above ground is a good day
• Life is like a box of chocolates

You get the idea. But, it seems that I have been on the up side of the roller coaster for the last several months. And, that is not a bad thing. The up side is where the anticipation builds to the point where you can't hold in the excitement any longer. Your heart pounds, your breathing quickens, giggles slip out, and your whole body clenches in anticipation of what is just over the horizon.

At the moment, I am poised in that moment just at the top of the first big rise, at the apogee, where the thrill of what is to come battles with the desire to go back to the safety that lies behind me. However, I bought the ticket and strapped myself in, I have no choice now but to take a deep breath, lift my arms above my head, enjoy the plunge,  and scream in exhilaration - regardless of what lies ahead.

On the up side of this ride, I am finishing up my "double duty." My consultancy gig with my former employer is winding down so I will soon have my evenings free again. I have wrapped my head around the demands of my new job and embraced the challenges it poses. Everyday, I am eager to arrive in the office and do my best to assist people in fulfilling their dreams of publication. While, it will be some time before I have even a yeoman's understanding of the publishing business, I am starting to feel a bit more confident.

As I head over the top of this first hill, I have several huge projects to complete as we continue to rewrite and improve our publication applications. Tucked in among all this work, I have also been asked to join the team heading to New York City for Book Expo America (BEA) in early June. This is the largest publishing event in North America. I will there with our marketing and executive teams rubbing elbows with the players in the industry.

I love the city.
I love creative people.
I love my life.
I love the roller coaster!