Last time I managed that would have been when I was a kid and most of what I read was about half the length of this.
I needed something good for book 100 - but also short because I wanted to actually finish it this year. So a John Fante book was a natural choice.
This is two novellas - more of a novella and a short story really - My Dog Stupid (which clocks in at 138 pages) and The Orgy (which clocks in at 40).
My Dog Stupid - a cantakerous old git adopts a stray dog and loses his kids, in ways at least tangentially related to said adoption of the eponymous canine.
This is an interesting one because I really don't believe any publishing house would touch this with a bargepole if it was written by a contemporary writer. The narrator,. Henry Molise, is a homophobic and more than slightly racist character. Although he's called out on it more than once, he's unrepentant and has no redemption arc.
However, there is a technical name for people who conflate the opinions of a character in a book with the real life opinions of the author. That technical phrase is IDIOT.
If the only characters we're allowed to read about are perfect people with no foibles or flaws, then literature will suffer massively as a result.
Despite his faults, Henry Molise is a funny character. The world is an ugly place through his eyes, a place filled with cynicism and devoid of nearly all hope. He knows he loves the dog far more than he believes he loves his children. The gradual shrinking of his family unit gives scope for a glimpse at the real feelings of the man behind the harshness.It's not necessarily a pleasant sight, but is always entertaining.
Some would try to excuse this story as a product of the time it was written. I say no excuse is needed when the writing is this sharp and incisive and it's so damned good. You can't possibly agree with him on most things and that seems to me to be very much the whole point of the character.
The Orgy - this is a short story about a boy who finds out too much about his father's weekend activities. The title is a clue and slight spoiler. I was wondering if the title was a metaphor for a lot of the story, and in some ways it certainly is.
The narrator's father is a builder who is gifted a gold mine by an ex employee (It's a lot more believable the way it's written in the story). He starts going there every weekend with his friend and workmate. The workmate is hated by his wife because of his atheism. The narrator agrees vehemently with his mother. One weekend, the boy is forced to go along with them.
The ending of this story is quietly devastating and genuinely moving.
All in all this was a great way to finish off this year in books.
No comments:
Post a Comment