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THE STRANGER
by Albert Camus
Halfway through this book I realized it was the inspiration for a Cure song, which of course ruined the second half and lent an irritating jangly guitar riff for the journey. The idea that Robert Smith had read this book in high school and written a song about it (to be distributed in musical starter kits at "goth" camp), and that I was forced to internalize that stupid song for the duration of my life and have it ruin a book that I thought would make me a more interesting, well rounded person in 2002, just sucked so bad.
AUSTERLITZ
by W.G. Sebald
Sebald died in December of 2001, leaving behind what may have been the first relevant literary notion of the 21st century: ...unlike birds...who keep building the same nest over thousands of years, we tend to forge ahead with our projects far beyond any reasonable bounds. Someone, he added, ought to draw up a catalogue of types of buildings listed in order of size, and it would be immediately obvious that domestic buildings of less than normal size--the little cottage in the fields, the hermitage, the lockkeeper's lodge, the pavilion for viewing the landscape, the children's playhouse in the garden--are those that offer us at least a semblance of peace, whereas no one in his right mind could truthfully say that he liked a vast edifice...At the most we gaze at it in wonder, a kind of wonder which in itself is a form of dawning horror, for somehow we know by instinct that outsize buildings cast the shadow of their own destruction before them and are designed from the first with an eye to their later existence as ruins.
A spooky novel about a man recounting his life (and preoccupation with architectural history) to an anonymous narrator, .
Photography, Austerlitz other preoccupation, is generously exhibited. He describes his marginal childhood enjoyment of soccer, and the opposite page is a deserted photograph of a soccer team and "that's me in the bottom right hand corner." The photography is what makes the novel work. To exhume a repressed Childhood, Austerlitz scrutinizes the colorless photographs of his life. And he really scrutinizes photographs, finding details that, to most of us, who consume thousands of images a day, would be all but invisible. Reading it will inspire you to throw away every snapshot you've ever taken and begin documenting the inanimate details of your life, like the coils on your stove, or the plastic poopatrooper that's been lying on the ledge outside your window for as long as you can remember.
I have to admit, clumps of pages went straight through my head and out the door. It's like the movie Wings of Desire, for every ten minutes of old men choking out German history, you get 3 minutes of Columbo talking about how much fun it is to drink coffee. And you remember the part about the coffee.
THE ROTTERS CLUB
By Jonathan Coe
A coming of age novel set in Birmingham in the early 70s. There are, I think, three main characters, the most main of whom is Benjamin Trotter. He's this guy, nearly indistinguishable from his friends who all seem to want to become musicians and journalists. By the end of the novel, they all become journalists. But I really am not certain of this. The problem may have been the fact that their names were so unmemorable: Phillip, Doug, Ben. They also had overlapping interests.
The only thing I got out of this book, was that there was a lot of terrorism in England in the 70s. (What with the Tory Party and the IRA) Pubs blew up and there were class wars. So, knowing that pubs blew up, it stands to reason that some of the characters in the book would blow up as well. They do...and it is a momentarily thrilling way to kick off (if novels can be kicked off on page 113) a novel that is otherwise about listening to Henry Cow and challenging your parents' politics by writing subversive articles in the high school paper.
One of the characters, writes a story in the school paper about Eric Clapton's music being racist. The article catches the attention of NME (somehow) and he is invited to come to London and meet the editor. He goes to London, gets lost, ends up going to see the Clash, meets a punk rock woman in her twenties, goes back to her place and they do it all night long. This is a stupid thing to put in a novel. It never happened to anyone, not even Cameron Crowe. Not even the Clash. Again, I have to ask. Why in the hell is the Clash so intriguing to writers? Why is this band used to lend depth to retro-characters? It's just a band.....man. They weren't even that good. Pioneers Shmioneers.
After millions of pages, these kids make it through high school. Their parents have affairs and become divided by picket lines. Benjamin gets a girlfriend.
The point of the book: Birmingham, in the 1970s was teeming with politically correct high school students who liked the Sex Pistols.
All right, I can't stand it. One of the characters gets his head blown off and it lands in his fiancé's lap just as he is about to propose to her.
A GOOD SCHOOL
by Richard Yates
I read this right after finishing The Rotters Club and it turned out to be the same novel. It is, however, bolder, more succinct, and brilliant. Whereas Jonathan Coe attempted to create "edgy" characters by having them enjoy contrived hobbies --punk rock-- Yates' characters live in legitimate chaos. The central character, who when he is not being humiliated or molested, finds sanctuary as an editor for the school newspaper.
Yates wrote this book in the 70s to take place in the 40s, and the book is timeless. Unlike Coe's novel which is already dated as a mid nineties contemplation of the early 70s. Yate's characters are perverse, angry, ruthless and doomed. (World War 2 is waiting for them after graduation.) They are the most uniquely cruel prep school students ever created. (Though the Chocolate War kids are pretty close) And every bit of psychotic behavior is resolved or explained by the end of the book.
Yates did not waste a word, nor add an unnecessary detail. And he was brave enough to explore some of the more uncomfortable realities of adolescent friendships.
Also, like Coe's kids, he who finds true love....explodes.
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