McTeague by Frank Norris

This story had me from the first page. Somehow, the introduction of a clumsy, not-so-bright dentist in a San Francisco setting spelled magic. And the story was indeed, magical.

McTeague lived in a flat and ran a dentistry business in a small shop on Polk Street. It is here where he met his future wife, Trina. The detail that Norris uses to describe McTeague's feelings, the struggles between his will and his desires, stirred within me a kind of familiarity. The author used this technique throughout the book, and I was moved by every character as a result. McTeague's wife, Trina, had a propensity to greed, and though considered a negative characteristic, it is what stirred within me a kind of pity. I hoped that she would change, for the sake of both she and her new husband. They seemed so cute, in a way, and it was the unwillingness to deal with certain character flaws that eventually led them to their undoing.

Generally, I don't care for sudden setting shifts in a book. Personally, they confuse me--tend to annoy me, really. In this book, there is one very clear setting shift that occurs toward the end, but Norris effectively maintained my interest in the plot. It was, though dramatic, quite believable, and eventually the author brings the story to a thought-provoking close in this new setting.

The book was written in 1899, so the language is a bit different than today's. It was refreshing. Though most of Norris's characters were anything but upper-classed, even their conversations exuded a kind of intelligence that is absent in the average modern English conversation. Reading this kind of novel not only entertains the reader but educates them in conversation, as well.

I loved this book. I rarely use the statement, "I couldn't put it down," but it was true for me in this case. This book is a magical gem.

9.5/10
Enjoy San Francisco through the reading,
Steve

Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs by Jim Derogatis

Lester Bangs was a rock n' roll music critic for various publications throughout the seventies. He wrote primarily for 'Creem,' a magazine still in print today, though far from anything that it was at its inception.

Bangs's life was short-lived--he overdosed in his thirties. His struggle with alcohol and drugs was a product of a pretty screwed-up childhood. His mother was a Jehovah's Witness fanatic, constantly seeing to it that Lester was somehow involved in church activities, forever referencing all things JW, and putting down the world and its excesses. Lester, even as a child, saw through the phony rantings of church ministers and members, and held a grudge, yeah, despised all things JW for the remainder of his life.

He had an extraordinary talent for writing, particularly about music, musicians, and fans, and it wasn't long after Lester entered the world of writing, that he found himself sought out by many small but hopeful magazines, including The Rolling Stone and Creem. Though he is considered to have had a fairly successful career, Lester seemed to forever struggle to keep up. His confusion about women and relationships in general haunted him, and this was, in part, a reason for his passion for alcohol and drugs.

I enjoyed this book, though I felt that more could have been said about his personal life, feelings, etc. A bunch of the book was dedicated to names and places, and that's necessary, to be sure, but the few times that his personal life was referenced left me wanting for more.

7/10
Read with pleasure,
Steve

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain

The last time I read Twain I was probably around twelve years old, though I can't be sure. What I am sure of is that it had no effect on me. After just finishing Finn, I can understand why it had no effect on me--the language requires an understanding of the setting and time period.

The setting takes place along the Mississippi River. Unless the reader understands the complexities and difficulties involved in this setting, they cannot appreciate so many of the actions of the characters throughout most of the story. The time period is referred to as antebellum, that is, before the war (in this case, the Civil War).

In this work, Twain depicts a young boy and a black adult, named Jim, making their way along the river, hoping to get Jim to Ohio, a free state. The first one third of the story of their journey takes the reader on a number of adventures, including a finding by the two characters of a "floating house" in which Jim finds a dead man. He doesn't allow Huck to look at the dead man.

The second one-third of the story centers around two characters who become known as the duke and the king, titles which belong to neither, but to which they attribute many activities and rights. Huck and Jim both experience quite a handful of activities with these two characters.

The last one-third of the book centers around the escape of Jim.

I read this book in about five sittings, the last being about three hours long. As with so many other books, I found it much more interesting during the times in which I was disturbed by nothing and was in a hurry for nothing. I found myself re-reading much of the dialogue, especially between Jim and Huckleberry. But this did not bother me much; the story rolled along quite easily, and the reading was smooth, despite the frequent change in style of dialogue.

Not only does this story entertain, but it educates as well. It's quite amazing that so many who lived during this time, though fraught with difficulties, including disease and the simple provisions of life, saw these as mere facts of life, and determined to survive. This story, written in 1884, gives us a rather clear picture of the difficulties of life, not only along the Mississippi, but throughout the country. It provides us with a perspective of life that we won't find in modern literature.

I enjoyed the story. I enjoyed the language. I enjoyed the experiences that I visualized through the writings of a young boy named Huckleberry.

And yes, we find out in the end why Jim didn't allow Huck to see the dead man that they discovered in the floating house.

7.5/10
Read it in solitude,
Steve

Eats, Shoots & Leaves, by Lynne Truss

This book is about punctuation. However, the reader is entertained; something that might seem unusual in a book about this particular subject. The author does a good job of relating stories about despicable usages of the comma, the period, the apostrophe, the dash, and more. And most of these stories are rather entertaining. I love some her quotes about the general necessity for correct punctuation, like this:

Taking our previous analogies for punctuation, what happens when it isn't used? Well, if punctuation is the stitching of language, language comes apart, obviously, and all the buttons fall off.

The author's ability to make the subject of punctuation interesting is quite impressive, and I'd advise this as a read for someone interested in the subject, but if you happen to be the average person who has little interest, you might find it less than appealing the moment the book does anything but entertain. When the author gets into the specifics of punctuation, it does tend to dry up a bit.

6.5/10
Read if you want,
Steve

The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni

Picture this: A kid lives in a geodesic dome with his grandmother. He's raised there under her tutelage until her illness coaxes him to expand his horizons. His experiences outside of his dome world bring him to realizations that his grandmother never intended for him to have.

Wow! Sounds strange--and it is! The main character, Sebastian Prendergast, is an interesting subject, to be sure. He's been educated, after all, on the philosophy of one R. Buckminster Fuller, an American architect, author, designer, and inventor.

Jared Whitcomb is Sebastian's introduction to all things new in the "real world." Jared is a chain-smoking teenager who has a dream to start his own punk-rock band, but little does he realize that his dream will soon come true, though not exactly as he planned.

This book held my attention throughout. The characters, believe it or not, were rather convincing. Bognanni does a great job to portray modern life for today's teen without souring the story in the process. 30 years ago I would have balked at some of the language and actions of these characters, but having experienced today's frayed American society, none of this was unbelievable. As I read about a kid smoking in his own home, at the age of 16, it didn't really shock me. And on the other end of the spectrum, a home-schooled kid kept far from the average societal norm isn't at all unbelievable either. The way the two meet is even more possible.

In most books there is a message, be it hidden, muffled, buried, or right out there in your face. With this book, I haven't quite determined what the message is nor how deeply buried. And yet the author still does a great job of keeping the reader reading.

In the end, though I was satisfied that I'd experienced the story, I wondered where the feelings got lost. Sebastian develops a bit of a relationship with a girl in the story, but we're left wondering what happens next. And even Sebastian's relationship with his grandmother sort of hangs out there in the end.

I would certainly recommend this book. You may find something, in the conclusion, that I didn't.

7/10
Reading leaves you thinking,
Steve

Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich

In this book, Erdrich portrays a middle-aged couple who struggle through a marital relationship that is anything but ordinary. Irene, the main character, is the wife of Gil, a famous painter who's made his fortune, almost exclusively, on paintings of his naked wife in various positions. Irene informs the reader in chapter one that her husband made a huge mistake by sneakily reading her diary. Irene decides to start a new diary, one in which she continues to reveal her thoughts, but the old diary takes on a new objective: to cause Gil to believe things that are not true--affairs, etc.

Irene and Gil have three children ranging from primary to teenaged. The first half of the book describes the history of the children, and the second half, through the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the children, reveals the deeper side of them, and it, at times, is rather disturbing.

Though the characters developed rather clearly, the believeability of the relationships was shaky, at best. The clearest example of this was seen in the relationship between Irene and Gil. Their communication reminded me of a poorly written script for a high school play. It was as if Irene and Gil knew that they were characters in a book who were supposed to say things that would get a reaction from Sophomore girls.

Irene and Gil's daughter has quite the hatred for her father, and she makes plans for preparation for a terrible thing to come. We come to know quite a bit about her plans, but this part of the story stops. It just...stops. It's almost as if the writer didn't quite know where to go with it. Yes, after reading the book, we know that things significantly change within the family, but the author spent so much time on the plans of the daugher, the reader just figured that something might come of it.

This book moved a bit slowly for me. It's not that the descriptive writing wasn't good, but I found myself wondering, throughout the story, when I was going to be surprised. I also found myself, too many times, in the position of wondering about the relationships' plausibility. It kept my attention throughout, but I felt a bit cheated in the end.

6/10
Keep your reading expectations high,
Steve

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

It's been over a year since I finished this book, so it's a bit fuzzy, but I'll do my best.

Wroblewski produced a nice story here, it's just a bit long. I almost felt, when I finally finished the book, as if I'd just completed a foot race and was just happy to be done; move on to the next activity. That said, I must admit that some part were very good.

The book, in my opinion, could be broken up into four parts. Part 1 introduced the main character, Edgar. He lives on a small farm with his parents in Wisconsin. Edgar helps his parents with the breeding and raising of a special breed of dog. He's good with them, and he's good at the process, thanks to his good friend, his father. The downside for Edgar; he's mute. Edgar uses signs with the dogs as well as his parents--a twist new to me. I was intrigued with this, at first, but as I continued to read, it got old.

In part 2, we are introduced to Edgar's uncle, Claude. Edgar does not like Claude, and he believes that he may have had something to do with his father's death. The relationship isn't clearly described.

In part 3, Edgar runs away from home, taking three of the dogs with him. Twists and turns leave the reader wondering what it will all come to. I wondered if maybe the ghost that Edgar saw in part 2 might reappear--I hoped that this would happen. The ghost was alluded to just one more time in the book, much to my disappointment.

Part 4 brings Edgar back home. The conclusion is a bit disappointing.

6.5/10
Make sure you set lots of time aside,
Steve
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