Emile Zola - The Flood (1880)
Novella – read via the Kindle app for the iPhone, May 2011
- 3 nods out of 5 -
The Flood is a brief story – not quite a novel, not really a novella, but perhaps more than a short story – that recounts the downfall of a happy and content French farmer. Printed in its original French as L’Inondation, the story’s beginning finds the seventy year old Louis surrounded by a full and supportive family, consisting of his brother and sister, his children and grandchildren; yet disaster strikes when the nearby river, the Garonne, floods.
The fairytale descends into a nightmare as the flood destroys hundreds of houses in the village. The waters keep rising during this pain-filled night as Louis watches all of his loved ones, one by one, succumbing to their awful fates; Zola taking a somewhat morbid fascination in the demise of the Roubien family.
Zola is a noted writer, and perhaps The Flood is not the best example of his skill and craft. However, its final image, of Louis weeping at the sight of the bodies of his granddaughter and husband-to-be is an enduring and haunting one. A reminder that in this life anything we hold can be lost in a moment.
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Monday, 27 June 2011
The Raven - Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe - The Raven (1845)
Poem – read as an app on the iPhone, May 2011
- 4 nods out of 5 -
The Worm’s first introduction to The Raven – perhaps like many others of a recent generation – was via The Simpsons Halloween Special of the early 1990s. Insanity strikes the cartoon yellowness of Homer as the sniping bird of Bart looms into his chambers in a surprisingly well directed segment.
The poem’s origins, however, lays well before the television age. Written by the very much esteemed Edgar Allan Poe in the 1840s, the poem has been a stable of school classes for decades upon decades. It narrates the titular raven descending upon an abandoned lover, his cries of ‘Nevermore’ slowly driving the lover insane.
Poe crafts this fall into madness with a wonderful pattern of prose and rhyme; the poem – like all good poems should do – rolls off both the tongue and the eye. As the poem’s climax displays:
‘And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!’
The Raven is a popular classic and will continue to be so, remaining in the consciousness of, chiefly, the American nation (as parodies and tributes such as The Simpsons episode show). Read in one sitting, and read for scot-free upon the internet, there can be no excuse for ignoring Poe’s creation. Go out and Google The Raven today.
Read it today right here:
http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html
Poem – read as an app on the iPhone, May 2011
- 4 nods out of 5 -
The Worm’s first introduction to The Raven – perhaps like many others of a recent generation – was via The Simpsons Halloween Special of the early 1990s. Insanity strikes the cartoon yellowness of Homer as the sniping bird of Bart looms into his chambers in a surprisingly well directed segment.
The poem’s origins, however, lays well before the television age. Written by the very much esteemed Edgar Allan Poe in the 1840s, the poem has been a stable of school classes for decades upon decades. It narrates the titular raven descending upon an abandoned lover, his cries of ‘Nevermore’ slowly driving the lover insane.
Poe crafts this fall into madness with a wonderful pattern of prose and rhyme; the poem – like all good poems should do – rolls off both the tongue and the eye. As the poem’s climax displays:
‘And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!’
The Raven is a popular classic and will continue to be so, remaining in the consciousness of, chiefly, the American nation (as parodies and tributes such as The Simpsons episode show). Read in one sitting, and read for scot-free upon the internet, there can be no excuse for ignoring Poe’s creation. Go out and Google The Raven today.
Read it today right here:
http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Postwar - Tony Judt
Tony Judt – Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 (2005)
History – 850 pages – my copy (paperback; 2010) bought from Plymouth Waterstone’s, March 2011
- 5 nods out of 5 -
History books are odd things. They attempt to make coherent a large span of time, processing decades into pages. Tony Judt’s book covers seventy years, as well as a continent of peoples, ideas and beliefs. A hefty challenge, indeed!
Postwar does what it says on the tin, a history of Europe since 1945. The author splits this period into four sections: Post-War 1945-1953, Prosperity and Its Discontents 1953-1971, Recessional 1971-1989, ending on After the Fall 1989-2005. As these titles illustrate, post war Europe has had its share of ups and downs, towing back and forth between east and west, between capitalism and communism, between the pursuit of richness and the continuing poor masses.
Out of the ruins of the Second World War, Europe rediscovers itself. This continent of differences and contrasts becomes closer in alliance and union, creating vast wealth in the process. Yet it is also the continent of the Cold War, of poverty in the east and of racial hatred in the Balkans. The defining ideologies of the first half of the twentieth century gives way to post war aspirations: all conquering consumerism. Perhaps the conclusion to such aspirations is being played out in 2011, with the lurching credit crisis no closer to resolution.
Such an array of ideas, events and conflicts could easily throw many a historian into despair. Thankfully for the reader, Judt is just the person to tackle the job. Confident and in control, Judt is never afraid to add his own personal opinion on topics ranging from soviet politics to modern architecture to pop music. The author keeps the book ticking nicely, with perfect selection of the major events. The central divide in the book, that of the eastern bloc, gives way to a centralising European theme by the end; though Judt refrains from endorsing a happy European future by pointing out the vast differences between all those who dwell on the continent.
Judt’s Postwar has set the bar as a premier read on modern European history written in the English language. Understandably, it is a large book – fitting in such a wealth of history, it has to be – and like all memorable journeys, it is worth the read.
History – 850 pages – my copy (paperback; 2010) bought from Plymouth Waterstone’s, March 2011
- 5 nods out of 5 -
History books are odd things. They attempt to make coherent a large span of time, processing decades into pages. Tony Judt’s book covers seventy years, as well as a continent of peoples, ideas and beliefs. A hefty challenge, indeed!
Postwar does what it says on the tin, a history of Europe since 1945. The author splits this period into four sections: Post-War 1945-1953, Prosperity and Its Discontents 1953-1971, Recessional 1971-1989, ending on After the Fall 1989-2005. As these titles illustrate, post war Europe has had its share of ups and downs, towing back and forth between east and west, between capitalism and communism, between the pursuit of richness and the continuing poor masses.
Out of the ruins of the Second World War, Europe rediscovers itself. This continent of differences and contrasts becomes closer in alliance and union, creating vast wealth in the process. Yet it is also the continent of the Cold War, of poverty in the east and of racial hatred in the Balkans. The defining ideologies of the first half of the twentieth century gives way to post war aspirations: all conquering consumerism. Perhaps the conclusion to such aspirations is being played out in 2011, with the lurching credit crisis no closer to resolution.
Such an array of ideas, events and conflicts could easily throw many a historian into despair. Thankfully for the reader, Judt is just the person to tackle the job. Confident and in control, Judt is never afraid to add his own personal opinion on topics ranging from soviet politics to modern architecture to pop music. The author keeps the book ticking nicely, with perfect selection of the major events. The central divide in the book, that of the eastern bloc, gives way to a centralising European theme by the end; though Judt refrains from endorsing a happy European future by pointing out the vast differences between all those who dwell on the continent.
Judt’s Postwar has set the bar as a premier read on modern European history written in the English language. Understandably, it is a large book – fitting in such a wealth of history, it has to be – and like all memorable journeys, it is worth the read.
Friday, 17 June 2011
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby (1926)
Novel – 190 pages – my copy (paperback; 1974) bought for £2.25 from the Beardie Bookshop on Plymouth Barbican, sometime in 2006
- 4 nods out of 5 -
‘You’ve read all of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s books
Yes, you’re well read it is well known…’
(Bob Dylan, Ballad of a Thin Man, 1965)
The Great Gatsby is hailed as a bona-fide all American classic. It figures in top ten lists of the twentieth century and remains F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most famous creation. But what, apart from the odd film adaptation (with a new Hollywood blockbuster-to-be in the works), does anyone know about Gatsby?
The novel follows the narrator, Nick Carraway, as he becomes involved with his intriguing, mysterious neighbour: Jay Gatsby. Nick charts a love triangle involving Gatsby, the never ending parties and the famed jazz mentality of the age. On the face of it, The Great Gatsby is a novel about nothing in particular. But it has an ace card: it is fantastically written.
It shares many similarities with the Worm’s previous review, William Faulkner’s The Sound & The Fury: both are early twentieth century creations, noting a passing age in an awkward fear of what the future will bring. But Fitzgerald’s characters mean much less to us than the likes of Faulkner’s Compson family; they are throw-aways, mere colour on the larger canvass.
And it is this lack of a striking theme that is The Great Gatsby's downfall. It will continue to strike up notches in the top ten lists, but when compared with the likes of true 5 nodders, it is noticeably dwarfed.
However, credit to Fitzgerald's fantastic control of prose. Many examples could be pulled from the book’s minimal pages. But the best is perhaps that saved for last, the final paragraph of The Great Gatsby:
‘So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.’
Novel – 190 pages – my copy (paperback; 1974) bought for £2.25 from the Beardie Bookshop on Plymouth Barbican, sometime in 2006
- 4 nods out of 5 -
‘You’ve read all of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s books
Yes, you’re well read it is well known…’
(Bob Dylan, Ballad of a Thin Man, 1965)
The Great Gatsby is hailed as a bona-fide all American classic. It figures in top ten lists of the twentieth century and remains F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most famous creation. But what, apart from the odd film adaptation (with a new Hollywood blockbuster-to-be in the works), does anyone know about Gatsby?
The novel follows the narrator, Nick Carraway, as he becomes involved with his intriguing, mysterious neighbour: Jay Gatsby. Nick charts a love triangle involving Gatsby, the never ending parties and the famed jazz mentality of the age. On the face of it, The Great Gatsby is a novel about nothing in particular. But it has an ace card: it is fantastically written.
It shares many similarities with the Worm’s previous review, William Faulkner’s The Sound & The Fury: both are early twentieth century creations, noting a passing age in an awkward fear of what the future will bring. But Fitzgerald’s characters mean much less to us than the likes of Faulkner’s Compson family; they are throw-aways, mere colour on the larger canvass.
And it is this lack of a striking theme that is The Great Gatsby's downfall. It will continue to strike up notches in the top ten lists, but when compared with the likes of true 5 nodders, it is noticeably dwarfed.
However, credit to Fitzgerald's fantastic control of prose. Many examples could be pulled from the book’s minimal pages. But the best is perhaps that saved for last, the final paragraph of The Great Gatsby:
‘So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.’
Monday, 13 June 2011
The Sound & The Fury - William Faulkner
William Faulkner - The Sound & The Fury (1929)
Novel – 200 pages – my copy (a splendid Norton edition; 1994) bought for £3 from the Beardie Bookshop on Plymouth Barbican in 2008
- 5 nods out of 5 -
The Sound & The Fury is, quite simply, a breath-taking must-read of a novel. Written by William Faulkner in the late 1920s, the book charts the Compson family in the south of America in the early part of the twentieth century. Cut into four parts, the first three are narrated by the brothers of a generation: each unique and different from the other, but all consumed by their obsession with their sister, Caddy.
Faulkner is quoted in stating that the image of the young Caddy climbing the pear tree in her dirty drawers is enough for his literary legacy. Boisterous and bossy, Caddy figures heavily in the novel, yet does not narrate herself. Benjy, the confused first narrator – he of the sound and the fury signifying nothing – feels the loss of Caddy – she who smelled of leaves; whilst her elder brother Quentin feels the loss of her honour. The last of the brothers, Jason – most straightforward and yet perhaps most deceitful of all narrators – strikes at Caddy and her memory at the loss of his own perceived happiness and future.
What happens? Well, ultimately, nothing. But it is the explanation of the family’s loss and inertia that compels the reader. The novel is hailed as a modernist classic, and indeed, it has all the trimmings of Joycean fiction, notably the stream of consciousness (something Faulkner employed to great effect in As I Lay Dying). Yet The Sound & The Fury is much more than this: it is the dying Compson family and the dying American South.
To add icing to the cake is the Norton Edition bonus features (like a well packaged DVD of a classic movie). Compelling articles range from letters between Faulkner and his editor to critical reviews, including Jean Paul Satre and Ralph Ellison: a real treasure trove for the Faulkner enthusiast (and that surely is you, right?).
Groundbreaking, breath-taking and must-read are statements thrown about all too often. The Worm rarely utters such applause. If you do one thing this month, buy a copy of this novel and enter Faulkner’s world.
Novel – 200 pages – my copy (a splendid Norton edition; 1994) bought for £3 from the Beardie Bookshop on Plymouth Barbican in 2008
- 5 nods out of 5 -
The Sound & The Fury is, quite simply, a breath-taking must-read of a novel. Written by William Faulkner in the late 1920s, the book charts the Compson family in the south of America in the early part of the twentieth century. Cut into four parts, the first three are narrated by the brothers of a generation: each unique and different from the other, but all consumed by their obsession with their sister, Caddy.
Faulkner is quoted in stating that the image of the young Caddy climbing the pear tree in her dirty drawers is enough for his literary legacy. Boisterous and bossy, Caddy figures heavily in the novel, yet does not narrate herself. Benjy, the confused first narrator – he of the sound and the fury signifying nothing – feels the loss of Caddy – she who smelled of leaves; whilst her elder brother Quentin feels the loss of her honour. The last of the brothers, Jason – most straightforward and yet perhaps most deceitful of all narrators – strikes at Caddy and her memory at the loss of his own perceived happiness and future.
What happens? Well, ultimately, nothing. But it is the explanation of the family’s loss and inertia that compels the reader. The novel is hailed as a modernist classic, and indeed, it has all the trimmings of Joycean fiction, notably the stream of consciousness (something Faulkner employed to great effect in As I Lay Dying). Yet The Sound & The Fury is much more than this: it is the dying Compson family and the dying American South.
To add icing to the cake is the Norton Edition bonus features (like a well packaged DVD of a classic movie). Compelling articles range from letters between Faulkner and his editor to critical reviews, including Jean Paul Satre and Ralph Ellison: a real treasure trove for the Faulkner enthusiast (and that surely is you, right?).
Groundbreaking, breath-taking and must-read are statements thrown about all too often. The Worm rarely utters such applause. If you do one thing this month, buy a copy of this novel and enter Faulkner’s world.
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