The state of horror 200 years ago

The Monk

By Matthew Lewis

Published in 1796

A Classic Flashback 

 

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

In the middle of The Monk: A Romance is hidden this interesting comment...

"An author, whether good or bad, or between both, is an animal whom everybody is privileged to attack; For though all are not able to write books, all conceive themselves able to judge them."

Ouch!

Matthew Lewis, even at the age of 19 when he wrote this classic Gothic romance in 1796, was able to accurately predict the reaction to his first novel. It was both praised and reviled by the critics. It was certainly controversial for its viewpoint of the church and only a little less so for passages that were considered erotic at the time. In most cases, they would only elicit a bit of amusement in today's' jaundiced eyes.

Yet The Monk does have its moments. The primary plot involves a monk who is seduced by a woman who entered his monastery disguised as a boy. He sinks into debauchery that include rape, torture and murder. These passages evoke the same kind of dread and horror that the reader would feel today. Lewis is best when writing about the more evil characters. The monk Ambrosia and his she-devil in crime Mathilda are fully developed villains.

But he is less interested in more mentally healthy protagonists. There is a romantic sub-plot involving the sweet and innocent Agnes, but his heroes and heroines tend to be...well...dull. I couldn't help thinking his heroes needed a few lap dances to get the sanctimonious ice out of their veins and his heroines could learn a little by watching a couple episodes of Desperate Housewives.

But overall, this was a fun read even if the dialogue tends to be overwrought to the point of silliness...which just goes to show that Gothic romances haven't changed much in the last 200 years.

Et tu, Mr. Grooms?

Julius Caesar

by William Shakespeare

Classic Flashback #6

Note: I dedicate this humorous review to Mr. Grooms, my 10th grade English teacher who not only taught me how to appreciate Shakespeare but introduced me to the writings of John LeCarre, John Hershey, and Shirley Jackson. But he gets minus points for making me read Silas Marner.

 I read William Shakespeare's  classic play Julius Caesar  in high school as required reading, so my review is delivered in the viewpoint of the ancient high school me...

Our high school English teacher made us read Julius Caesar. I thought I would hate it but it was pretty cool. Lots of fights, knives, and cool speeches. Even the dudes in the local gang thought it was pretty cool. So I decided to read more Shakespeare and chose Romeo and Juliet. Not so cool. Lots of cuddling and no sex. Shakespeare just copied West Side Story which had better fights and cooler dancing. So I told my teacher I wanted a Shakespeare play that had more sex and violence. All he said was go read King Lear.

Southern Gothic Existentialism?

Wise Blood

By Flannery O'Connor

 

Classic Flashback #4

In my humble and arguably cynical opinion, The two best novels about the American religious experience are Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis and Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood. Lewis' book is a satiric look at the merging of fundamental Christianity and Capitalism. It's meaning is pretty straight forward. Wise Blood is quite a bit more devious and is a deeper, more individualistic look at the complex working of its character's spiritual conflicts. Its main protagonist Hazel Motes looks like a preacher but he prides himself on his nihilistic attitude. He moves to the big city and preaches "The Church of Christ Without Christ" but he is confused and searching as much as anyone else and doesn't always know what he is searching for. As Lily Sabbath says of Hazel; “I like his eyes. They don’t look like they see what he’s looking at but they keep on looking” Hazel is a southern Søren Kierkegaard who never heard of a leap of faith. O'Connor's sly novel reads like a sumafabitch yet is about a lot more than any first reading tells you. Every character , minor or major serves a purpose. It is meant to be read again and again (This is my fourth reading) and every time will give you another outlook on the eccentric and oddly charismatic charm of Hazel and the other resident of this Southern Gothic classic. If there is a case for "Southern Gothic Existentialism", then Wise Blood makes it. I recommend Wise Blood right up with Elmer Gantry, The Great Gatsby and An American Tragedy as candidates for the great American novel of the 20th century.

Banana-mania!

Kitchen

By Banana Yoshimoto

 

Classic Flashback #3

This review was originally written in January of 2012. I dedicate this repost to my wife Jeanne, who passed on in 2013, as a testament to her sense of humor and her long-lasting tolerance of mine.

I think I'm in love with another woman.

You can tell my wife. I'm sure she understands. As a former instructor of world literature, she can understand how a reader can become totally infatuated by a writer's virtuosity and their ability to transcend culture when they poke at the universal longings and fears in all of us. She will know that readers can immerse themselves in language and equate that wonderful turn of a phrase with the qualities of the author. She will definitely understand this having had a long-time infatuation with Tom Wolfe.

Of course, maybe I should be a little jealous since she once had a cup of coffee with Wolfe. I would be lucky to get even a peek at Banana Yoshimoto in a noodle shop.

Kitchen is exhibit A in how Ms. Yoshimoto can weave an enchanting spell over her reader. They don't call it "Banana-mania" for nothing. The book is actually two novellas; the title story and Moonlight Shadow. Both hinge on heavy subjects, death, mourning, and the transitory nature of relationships. Yet the author is no pessimist. There is a brilliancy in her characters, a strength that conquers any existential dread. Plus, the author is marvelous at giving us beautiful word images that haunt us long after reading her tale. Her stories are often called minimalist and even simplistic. Yet there is no denying that they are beautiful and easy to relate to. I highly recommend this book to anyone who breathes.

 Did I mention the cute photo of Banana on the book's cover?

The first modern anti-war novel

All Quiet on the Western Front

By Erich Maria Remarque

 

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

 

Classic Flashback #2

Back in 1986, a friend of mine, who was a Vietnam War veteran asked me to go see the movie Platoon with him. As we walked out of the theater, he was unusually quiet but asked me what I thought of the film. I responded that I thought it was excellent but I also admitted that I thought parts were confusing for a war film. "Often I couldn't tell who was shooting at who." I said. He grabbed my arm and said excitedly."THAT IS WHAT IT WAS LIKE!"

Every war has its own uniqueness. It has its unique horrors but also share universal horrors with other wars, not just those of physical destruction but also mental and even spiritual destruction. Erich Maria Remarque's classic war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front has two great achievements. First, it takes us to World War I and allows us to see its unique horrors in the eyes of the combatants. It is an riveting almost documentary style accounting of the combat of war. Second, it addresses the universal horrors for the young men caught in its grip; the lost of innocence, the exploitation, and the suffering, physical, mental and existential. But it is also perhaps the first great ant-war novel. The author takes us into the war through the narration of a young student who, with his closest classmates, volunteer at the urgings of their patriotic and romantic professor. What he experiences is nothing like the visions of his elders and his nations' leaders. Remarque has an astoundingly powerful style that excels in both descriptive observations and the ability to make clear the most harrowing feelings. In one portion of the novel, the men have been bombarded with bombs for days, never seeing their attackers. Then they move forward and meet them face to face...

We have become wild beasts. We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation. It is not against men that we fling our bombs, what do we know of men in this moment when Death is hunting us down, Now, for the first time in three days we can oppose him; we feel a mad anger. No longer do we lie helpless, waiting on the scaffold, we can destroy and kill, to save ourselves, to save ourselves and be avenged.

Remarque does not ignore the power of war in the most quiet moments...

To me the front is a mysterious whirlpool, Thought I am in still waters far away from its centre. I feel the whirl of the vortex sucking me slowly, irresistibly, inescapably into itself

And this may be the most powerful statement describing the lost of innocence during war I've ever read...

We are like forlorn children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial. I believe we are lost.

All Quiet of the Western Front should be required reading for all high school students. Its meaning and power is as strong as it was almost 80 years ago. It is the very definition of a enduring masterpiece.

I arrived at the library...

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler

By Italo Calvino

Rating: 4 & 1/2 out  of 5 stars

I will occasionally be posting reviews that I've written of older classic works. Most of these reviews were previously posted on Goodreads. Some of them are analytical while others are written solely for the purpose of entertaining, like the one below. I will be calling these reviews Classic Flashbacks and they will appear once or twice a month. I hope you enjoy them.

Classic Flashback #1

I arrived at the library with my two books in hand. As I plunked them down on the check-in counter, a thin matronly woman approached.

"Would you like to check these books in?"

"Yes I would but I would also like to..."

"Oh, I see you read If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino."

"Yes I did. Have you read it too?"

"On starting the first few pages, you were put off by what appears to be a artistic gimmick."

"Why yes a little. but..."

"You soon realized that the author was trying to involve you in his dadaist alternate reality by connecting to the only reality the author and reader have in common. The world of words and symbolism."

"Well, I'm not sure I saw it that way. But now that you mention it..."

"The book caused you to not only suspend disbelief but examine your own concepts of what is means to immerse yourself in literature"

"Actually I just want to check these books in..."

"It is unlike anything you have ever read before. Even unlike anything Calvino has written before. But he tells you that in the first three pages. For the unique part of the novel is that Calvino holds nothing back about the mechanics of his literary mind."

"OK, this is getting a little weird."

"It makes you wonder. Is there any reality except for that which we perceive through our imagination?"

"This is getting a lot weird. Would you please.."

"How do you know that we are not actually in a novel this very moment?"

"OK, Stop that"

"Or maybe we are in a review of a novel"

"CUT THAT OUT!"

"Or a figment of someone's web page"

"ARRRGGHH!"

I grabbed a pen off the counter, leaped up, and rammed the pen through her forehead, stabbing her several times. None of the other people seemed to notice except an old man busy in his reading who pointed to the "Quiet" sign and made a hushing sound. After making sure she was quite dead I dragged her into the Mystery section which I felt was as good a place as any to leave a corpse. I had just returned to the counter when another woman came out from the back.

"That's funny. I was sure Mrs. Peachtree was manning the desk. Well, never mind. How can I help you?"

"I would like to return these two books"

"Why of course. Did you want to renew your loan on either book?"

"If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, no. But on Crime and Punishment, yes."