Next on the menu...

...The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. First published in 1920, this novel won Wharton the Pulitzer Prize in 1921 (the first Pulitzer for a novel awarded to a woman). It was recently named, by New York Magazine critic Sam Anderson "the single greatest New York novel." While I've never been interested in the sub-genre of the "New York novel" (in fact I didn't know the category existed until I decided to read this book) I'm up for something interesting based in the Big Apple. I wonder if Bushnell's Sex and the City is considered a "New York novel," and even more importantly I wonder what Sam Anderson thinks about it.

Centered around the lives of the upper middle class in New York in the 1870's this novel focuses on Newland Archer and May Welland and their impending marriage. We shall see what happens to this young couple in the pages of Wharton's book. The Age of Innocence, after my brief research, certainly has a lot to live up to.

Perhaps as a staged reading?

I remember where I've encountered Spoon River Anthology before. I was taking a voice class in college, not a singing voice, but rather a speaking voice class. One of the texts we drew monologues from was Spoon River Anthology, and that is certainly why, throughout reading this piece I kept thinking about hearing the eulogies rather than reading them. I do believe that this work would be far better served if one were able to hear the pieces rather than read them, as I think more emotion, humor and hubris would be accessible.

That being said, several sections of the piece truly moved me. Before I delve into those, however I have to acknowledge that I am struggling with what to call this novel? collection of poetry? collection of soliloquies? I really am unsure as to how to categorize Masters' work. There is very little to be said about a through-line in this collection, save of course the proximity of all of the characters to each other, all being from one location. I guess I'll have to settle for collection, I'm just not sure of what Spoon River Anthology is a collection. (I think that last sentence is grammatically incorrect, however by typing it I discovered what the work is... an ANTHOLOGY, yikes I'm getting slow in my middle age)

Onto the sections of the anthology that truly affected me. There is some very beautiful sentiment and verse in this collection and here I offer a smattering of what prompted me to highlight (on the Kindle of course).

"Memorize some bit of verse of truth or beauty. It may serve a turn in your life." This is so true. I recall Masters having a young man recite a bit of poetry to his love whilst they lay looking at the stars, and I agree, having a few appropriate snippets of verse committed to memory has never failed to serve one well. I have a few pieces in my memory and I certainly wish I had more.

"The feeling that I was not worthy of her finished me." This line moved me. It is from Albert Schirding's self eulogy and is just so beautiful. The musings of a man who strove to meet the expectations of his children and simply stated how his failure to do so drove him to his grave. To love someone so much that you simply feel unworthy is a blessing and quite obviously a curse.

This part struck home for me as it is how I feel about my love. "To love is to find your own soul through the soul of the beloved one." I needn't say more as it is so eloquently phrased by Masters.

The Widow McFarlane piece spoke to me as well. She was a weaver (as am I) and spoke of how the loom is a metaphor for life. That as we weave we never see the pattern that we are weaving, as the loom hides it from us. As we travel through life, we never see what is right in front of us as it is veiled by our living. It is only after we have lived that we can look back, take the cloth off of the loom, and either celebrate our travels, or suffer our consequences.

I also found the juxtaposition of religions in Masters' work to be interesting. He mentions Christianity, Hinduism and Judaism, and while he only mentions them each briefly I think it's commendable that he manages to get some of the major world religions into this piece. Well done, I must say.

Finally, "Immortality is not a gift, immortality is an achievement; and only those who strive mighitly shall possess it." This is one that I long to hear read aloud. To imagine the force behind these words is something that is causing me to want to produce a staged reading of this anthology. This gem speaks volumes. Is he referring to reproduction. I've always thought that those who choose to have children are in fact trying to immortalize themselves through their children and their children's children. To strive for immortality mightily may well be something that we can all do, however, one must ask oneself, at what cost.

Spoon River Anthology is a collection I will most likely revisit later in life. Being nearly half way through my existence on this earth I feel that in my twilight years I will find solace and a deeper connection with the musings of these citizens. This book is certainly one that I will remember in twenty or thirty years and look forward to reading through again. Perhaps I will stage it at that point, with more of life's experiences from which to draw.

Next on the agenda....

...Spoon River Anthology, by Edgar Lee Masters. Originally published in 1915 this collection of poems explores the inhabitants of a small town through their own thoughts and reflections. Each poem is written almost like a self-eulogizing account of the speakers life. I'm about a quarter of the way through the collection and am finding most of the pieces to contain maxims upon which one might form a life philosophy.

The format, while not exactly alike, reminds of Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio which I read about a year ago. While in Anderson's collection the tales were intertwining and not told by the character him or her self, the collection of short stories (almost) is similar to Masters' collection of poems here. I am curious to see what further gems I will find in this collection. Some are sounding familiar and I'm not quite sure when I've browsed through this book before, but I am sure it will come to me in time.

An excellent commentary on the successes and failures of the human race...

Gulliver's Travels was an extremely well crafted book. Swift broke his novel into four distinct and exciting journeys, each exploring a different subset of humanity through clear and image laden narrative. I enjoyed Swift's internal commentary on contemporary travel novels and appreciated his staying away from describing the sea journeys in too much detail. In fact, his style was one which embraced brevity and still managed to paint a vivid image in the reader's imagination.

Several passages really spoke to me. The Liliputians had an excellent means for governing their people for "whoever can there bring sufficient proof, that he has strictly observed the laws of his country for seventy-three moons, has a claim to certain privileges, according to his quality or condition of life, with a proportionable sum of money out of a fund appropriated for that use." An excellent idea. If you get to a particular age and have not made any offenses against the laws of the land, you ought to be rewarded both in recognition and finance. Swift goes on to indicate that the Liliputians thought it unfortunate to say the least that in English society (as carries over to American society as well) "laws were enforced only by penalties, without any mention of reward." I know one should be intrinsically motivated to do good and to follow established rules and norms, but wouldn't a bit of compensation be motivation to continue to do one's best each and every day? I'm just pondering the thought.

I also found of the explorations of the sciences on the floating island to be very interesting. The attention of these natives to the "how" of things blinded them to the problems at hand. Swift was certainly making a comment on the shortsightedness of humankind when it comes to getting bogged down in the details.

What I appreciated most was his affection for the horses during his final adventure. Gulliver became so in touch with nature and with his natural surroundings that he could hardly bear to return to society as he once knew it. His reverence for this species of horse was touching and it was indeed the one travel that I wished he would not have to conclude. I wanted to know how he might spend his final days with this gentle and kind species. I did however have some issue with his using the Yahoo's for many things that I could hardly stomach. Using the skins of a species to close to one's own for sails and using the tallow to weatherproof a sailing vessel, that just seemed a bit too much to me. But, I suppose Gulliver began to think of himself as an Houyhnhnm at least akin to the Houyhnhnm in his thoughts and actions and therefore took no issue with the treatment of the Yahoos. Perhaps because Gulliver was so drawn into an existence ruled solely by reason he was incapable of treating the Yahoos in any other manner as reason dictates that one should be treated as one acts.

Overall Gulliver's Travels was a great tale, full of social commentary and interesting juxtapositions of ideas. I am eager to read more of Swift, however I am trying yet again to choose something from a century closer to my own.

And the next selection is...

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. First published in 1726, the brief research I did into this novel came from Wikipedia which indicates that it is a satirical novel meant to explore human nature through the genre of the traveler's tale popular in the 18th century. Swift was an Irish clergyman who was a writer of satire and essays as well as political pamphlets.

I really don't know very much about this novel despite it's recent adaptation into a film starring Jack Black who I find humorous especially as part of the rock duo Tenacious D. I know that, as a child, I recall bits of a film that reminds me of what I believe the story to be about, but I cannot be sure. I guess I'll just have to read on to find out.

On a side note, it has been nearly a year since I began this journey and I have stayed faithful, almost, to my pledge to read nothing but items from the canon. The only two books I have picked up that are not part of the canon were gifts and I have not completed either title. One of these titles is Tinkers written by Paul Harding, winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize. This was a gift from my brother who lives in Georgetown, MA the same locale as Harding. The other is Must You Go by Antonia Fraser, a memoir based on her journals and her life with playwright Harold Pinter, an idol of mine. This was also a gift from my brother. I have only picked up these titles when the Kindle has been occupied and I have had no other access to a canon approved book. So, over the next few weeks I'll be spending some time reflecting on this project and what I have learned so far, and more importantly what I want to change about my chronicles of this adventure. Stay tuned.

Finished with Notes...

I finished up Notes From Underground last night and honestly I just found the whole thing to be an exercise in complaining. It seems that despite the main characters ability to self analyze he just never seemed to solve any problems. The entire novel went from one complaint to the next with little substance in between.

One aspect I found particularly interesting was the references to bugs, insects, beetles etc. Each reference likened a bug to a person whom the narrator found repugnant or a situation that he found unbearable. What I found most interesting is that, to my recollection, he never referred to himself as a bug.

The final scenes of the story, with the narrator unburdening himself to his prostitute where telling. I enjoyed the full circle element of the exploration in self pity. He finally recognized his inability to cope with his day to day existence, however just as soon as he could, he explained away his actions as those of deception and once again began to live in a sort of alter existence, one where all the world had it's issues except for the narrator himself.

Interesting journey through the mind of an individual living in poverty and trying to keep up with the Jones' so to speak. I'm not sure that my next choice of novels will bring me any relief from depression but I am hopeful. I certainly cannot, after Steinbeck and Dostoevsky get much deeper into the mire, that's for sure.

Up next, something a little less depressing?

That was my attempt at a bit of slight of hand. Up next is actually more depression but instead of from the United States, I've chosen a Russian vintage for this bout of moroseness. Notes from Underground, by Fydor Dostoevsky was first published in 1964. I'm nearly through this novel and while depressing I'm finding it to be an interesting exploration of self analysis, at least on the part of the main character. According to the introduction in the Dutton Paperback edition I am reading, Dostoevsky wrote this novel while his wife and brother were dying and while he himself was battling a serious illness. Not to mention he was living in communist Russia, so that must have been a trial in and of itself.

I'll have more to report before too long....

Fantastic...

Grapes of Wrath was a terrific book, depressing, but terrific. I found the union references quite timely considering what is happening in Wisconsin right now, and believe that those who are currently working as union members should understand what individuals experienced during the economic depression depicted in this novel.

An area I found especially interesting was the attitude of the Californians to the "Okies" who moved into their state as migrant workers. I find it interesting that the attitude toward migrants is much the same as it is today. Pay them as little as possible to ensure a strong profit and hold no responsibility to their well being.

The government camp described in the novel is something I am very much interested in learning more about. I am curious if these camps really existed during this time period and if they ran as they are depicted. I see these camps as a sort of commune, less the shared development of some sort of cottage industry that would keep them self-sufficient. I will look into the existence of these camps and hopefully learn more about their role in the salvation of those migrants that moved to California to survive.

I really enjoyed Grapes of Wrath. Tackling the entire book in a little less than two weeks even with a full work load is not something I usually do, but I found that I could not easily put it down. I especially liked how nearly every other chapter painted a picture of the every day Americans the Joad family may have encountered on their journey west. Steinbeck created strident images of these individuals and did so with honesty and empathy. I believe these people really did exist and probably still do. These interludes also propelled me to read on to find out what trauma would next affront the family.

All that being said, I have to find a book to read that isn't so depressing. I am still mulling over the final scenes of Grapes of Wrath with discomfort, which was probably Steinbeck's intention. I can't get the image of the family huddled in the barn clinging to a shred of hope out of my mind, not to mention the smile that spread across Rose of Sharon's face as she nursed a full grown man. Steinbeck's ability to paint a picture is fantastic and those images are still (unfortunately) burned into my mind.

While I am looking for a more upbeat, less sullen novel, I will tackle some Dostoeevsky. While I am fully aware that I will not escape a depression with Notes from Underground, it is at least short and will give me an opportunity to regroup and find a book that will lift my spirits.