Thursday, November 11, 2004
New Orleans is still very warm, though much more humid than earlier in the week. Things are still very fun down here. I keep getting out, and I keep meeting new peeps, and I continue to indulge in fine cuisine. I've been doing a lot of reading these past few days. The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk was the first of the two I will report on. The second is Ironweed by William Kennedy.
Ironweed is a novel about Bumms, Hobos and that sort. A drifter who has yet to stop & face his problems head on is the protagonist. I have absolutley no sympathy for a man who runs from every tribulation in his life. There are characters in this novels who are drunks, who can't work, or whatever their problem is. I can sympathize with these hard-luck cases. I can see how these people need a fairer shake than I've given them. But the protagonist is a horrible anti-hero, a real louse of a person. I have trouble getting my head around this choice by the author. Perhaps it is to place your sympathy on the secondary characters, humans who aren't degenerates so much as they are luckless and unable to make it.
The Caine Mutiny was excellent. Just an excellent look at a minesweeper during WWII, the crew and their troubles. Filled with action and written with an enjoyable flair. I will definitely recommend it to others, including my father but i will be leaving my copy in New Orleans with my host in trade for The Source (Michener) and Gorky Park (Martin Cruz Smith). Get your own mutiny!
Ironweed is a novel about Bumms, Hobos and that sort. A drifter who has yet to stop & face his problems head on is the protagonist. I have absolutley no sympathy for a man who runs from every tribulation in his life. There are characters in this novels who are drunks, who can't work, or whatever their problem is. I can sympathize with these hard-luck cases. I can see how these people need a fairer shake than I've given them. But the protagonist is a horrible anti-hero, a real louse of a person. I have trouble getting my head around this choice by the author. Perhaps it is to place your sympathy on the secondary characters, humans who aren't degenerates so much as they are luckless and unable to make it.
The Caine Mutiny was excellent. Just an excellent look at a minesweeper during WWII, the crew and their troubles. Filled with action and written with an enjoyable flair. I will definitely recommend it to others, including my father but i will be leaving my copy in New Orleans with my host in trade for The Source (Michener) and Gorky Park (Martin Cruz Smith). Get your own mutiny!
