Reading Railroad

Pursuant to a previous post, here is the latest rundown of what I have been reading (boy, I love not having cable TV!).


Something in the Air
Marc Fisher
Read: Mar. 2007
Non-Fiction

Well-researched history of modern radio (that is, since the advent of TV). It had been said that TV would kill radio, and while the old radio dramas and comedies went visual, that led radio to evolve into a music delivery medium. Interestingly, at first no one thought that playing records would catch on (at first, radio music was played by live bands) but they were, um, proved wrong. Much of the book describes how radio has off and on evolved into a creative medium, beloved by its listeners and, inevitably, fell prey to consultants, researchers, and bland programming, turning people away in droves. Always, radio's pioneers have been those who listened to folks like Jean Shepherd or Cousin Brucie "with their transistor radios under their pillows at night." Freeform rock radio of the 1960s and early 70s gave way to the automated stations of the late 70s, 80s, and 90s. It seems incomplete in parts; L.A.'s KMET is mentioned once in passing, and they were a big influence on freeform rock radio. Still, an interesting and educational read--sure to get make anyone who has ever really loved radio peeved and nostalgic.

Then We Came to the End
Joshua Ferris
Read: Mar. 2007
Fiction

A wonderful first novel, detailing the lives of the denizens of a successful ad agency in the dot-com boom time and its aftermath of layoffs and paranoia. It took me a while to get into the rhythm of the book's language and to realize that the narrative voice is the plural "us", that is, the collective whole of the ad agency. It's a technique that has been much-remarked on in reviews, and as a narrative technique is works extremely well. The characters are realistic and funny, and the ridiculousness of office life is well-expressed. I highly recommend this book and can't wait for Ferris' next book.

The Black Dahlia
James Ellroy
Read: Mar. 2007
Fiction

I read this shortly after seeing the OK-but-not-great Brian DePalma movie and was eager to figure out just what was going on. The book was good, but the "hard-boiled" vernacular got a bit grating. I have no idea if people actually talked that way in the 1940s, but, if so, perhaps it's the first time I was glad I lived in the time I now live in. Anyway, it has a lot more psychological depth than other mystery thrillers and the new Afterword by the author explains the genesis of the story. All in all, not a bad book, but I’m not eager to seek out more Ellroy.

Boomsday
Christopher Buckley
Read: Apr. 2007
Fiction

Boomsday, the latest satirical novel from scion of William F. Buckley, is a return to form after his disappointing Florence of Arabia. Boomsday is about a 30-year-old blogger named Cassandra Devine, who is teed off about the impending insolvency [sic] of Social Security caused by the looming senescence of the Baby Boom generation. Thus, her Swift-ian "Modest Proposal" is to give tax breaks to elderly Boomers who kill themselves (or "transition," as it is euphemistically called). While I don’t grant the premise of the novel, it is a very funny political satire and shows that Buckley's wit has not dulled one whit, lampooning as he does the political process, thinly veiled political figures on the left and right, generational politics, the religious right, and electioneering. Boomsday is up there with Buckley's earlier Thank You for Smoking and Little Green Men, my two favorites of his.

After the death of Kurt Vonnegut, I embarked on a reread of his novels in order:

Player Piano
Kurt Vonnegut
Read: Apr. 2007
Fiction

A reread of Vonnegut's first (1952) novel (I first read it circa. 1986). As a first novel, it's a great work, but pales in comparison to Vonnegut's later novels. It is set in the not-too-distant future in the Upstate New York city of Ilium (Troy, anyone?). In this dystopian future, most of the work is done by machines, and the machines tell everyone what they are best suited for. IQ tests are everything (students panic over them like they were SATs) and those who have substandard IQs are relegated to either the Army or a variety of demeaning public works positions. Engineers and managers sit atop the socioeconomic pyramid and yet must play by the silly rules of corporate life--asskissing and not saying the wrong thing and "toeing the line," lest they be perceived as a "saboteur." In Ilium, Dr. Paul Proteus sits atop the pyramid, but begins to question the whole system and falls in with a group of saboteurs who seek to foment revolution, destroy the machines, and restore dignity to mankind. Being Vonnegut's first novel, it lacks his trademark humor and narrative voice (the tone is very dry and matter-of-fact throughout), but is still very sarcastic and funny, especially his depiction of a corporate retreat. Although the basic plot of Player Piano has been done to death over the years (many "Twilight Zone" episodes, for example, would concern themselves with successful careerpersons who question the validity of the rat race, but Vonnegut's vision still holds up, methinks. I would have to describe Player Piano as a very good novel, but only a somewhat good Vonnegut novel. In his collection of essays, Palm Sunday, Vonnegut himself graded all his novels and gave Player Piano a B. I would concur.

The Sirens of Titan
Kurt Vonnegut
Read: Apr. 2007
Fiction

A reread of Vonnegut's second (1959) novel (I first read it circa. 1986) and Sirens of Titan is the first truly great Vonnegut book. Winston Niles Rumfoord, a wealthy Newporter, blasts off in a private spaceship (shades of Richard Branson, methinks) and encounters a chrono-synclasic infundibula, a space-time phenomenon that causes him (and his dog) to travel through space as a wave function, materializing at regular intervals on Earth, Mars, Mercury, and Titan, one of the moons of Saturn. Rumfoord uses his newfound ability (and his ability to see the future) to control the fates of humans--in particular, he uses his resources to kidnap thousands of humans, take them to Mars, and brainwash them into training as the Army of Mars and launching an ill-fated invasion of Earth. One of Rumfoord's pawns is Malachi Constant, a billionaire, a buffoon, and the luckiest human on Earth. However, it turns out that Rumfoord himself (indeed, all of humanity) have themselves been the unwitting pawns of a super race of beings from the planet Tralfamadore (of whom more in Slaughterhouse-Five). The Sirens of Titan, only Vonnegut's second novel, features the narrative voice we all know and love. The plot is full of twists and turns and it's virtually impossible to tell were it's going. It's also insanely funny, as well as moving, heartbreaking, and full of Vonnegut's takes on the follies (and virtues) of mankind. One of Vonnegut's best books. In Palm Sunday, he rated it an A. I rate in A+.

Mother Night
Kurt Vonnegut
Read: Apr. 2007
Fiction

A second reread of Vonnegut's third (1961) novel (I first read it circa. 1986 and again in the late 1990s when the movie version came out). It is somewhat unusual in the Vonnegut canon in that is has absolutely no science or science-fiction elements. Mother Night is subtitled "The Confessions of Howard W. Campbell, Jr.," a playwright who emigrated to Germany between the wars. When World War II breaks out, he is recruited by an American military officer to spy on the Nazi regime and send coded messages via a pro-Nazi radio program. Campbell does not sympathize with the Nazis; he has no particular political leanings whatsoever, and is content to maintain loyalty solely to he and his wife Helga's "nation of two"--until she disappears during the war and is presumed dead. He goes along with the Government's plan. Unfortunately, after the war, no one knew he was actually an American spy and he is vilified by the world as a former Nazi. Campbell returns to the U.S. in seeming anonymity, until he is sought out and exposed by some new "friends"--neo-Nazis who have, to his chagrin, taken him to be their role model. The moral of the book, stated at the outset, is "We are what we pretend to be, so we had better be careful about what we pretend to be." What is the nature of morality and personal responsibility--and are good intentions ever enough? Campbell says at one point (and this should be tattooed on the forehead of anyone in talk radio today): "I had hoped, as a broadcaster, to be merely ludicrous, but this is a hard world to be ludicrous in, with so many human beings so reluctant to laugh, so incapable of thought, so eager to believe and snarl and hate." It's a short but brilliant novel. In Palm Sunday, Vonnegut rated it an A. I agree. There was a movie made of it in 1996 starring Nick Nolte which, as I recall, was pretty faithful to the book.

Cat's Cradle
Kurt Vonnegut
Read: Apr. 2007
Fiction

A reread of Vonnegut's fourth (1963) novel. Only slightly less freewheeling as The Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle is the first "full-fledged" Vonnegut novel. It is a wild ride that begins with a writer starting to research a biography about Felix Hoenikker, a (fictional) father of the atom bomb and ends with the writer accidentally becoming President of a small island nation in the Caribbean. In between, he is introduced to the odd Hoenikker family (including the vengeful midget son Newt who is obsessed with the children's string game cat's cradle--"Where's the damn cat? Where's the damn cradle?"), learns of Dr. Hoenikker's other doomsday weapon: ice-nine (a type of ice that has a much much higher melting point than regular ice and, if it were to be let loose, would end the world as we know it), and discovers a religion called Bokonism that is founded (overtly, that is) on "foma," or lies. Cat's Cradle is a wickedly sharp satire of human nature, politics, science, and religion. The book was also accepted as Vonnegut Masters thesis in anthropology by the University of Chicago. Definitely one of the best Vonnegut novels. It is also the fist book to include bits of "conceptual continuity" (to use Frank Zappa's phrase; that is, recurring characters (the Rumfoord family from Sirens of Titan) and places (Ilium, NY) from Player Piano.

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Kurt Vonnegut
Read: Apr. 2007
Fiction

A reread of Vonnegut's fifth (1965) novel. Eliot Rosewater is the scion of a rich and powerful family. Eliot's father is a Senator and Rosewater County, Indiana, was named after the family. The Rosewater Foundation was set up to allow successive generations of Rosewaters to live their well-heeled lives. Trouble is, Eliot decides to set himself up in unprepossessing digs in the heart of Rosewater County and use the money to help the down-and-out of his eponymous county. Naturally, his family thinks he's insane and his father seeks to have him committed and a young, ambitious lawyer seeks to also prove that Eliot is insane so a middle-class Rhode Island-based offshoot of the Rosewater family can get the money. Eliot Rosewater isn't the Christ figure he may seem (he is an alcoholic), but his baptismal speech over the birth of twins--"There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind"--sums up Eliot's philosophy. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater also includes more conceptual continuity; Rosewater's favorite author is Kilgore Trout, etc. A bit heavy-handed, perhaps, but this is one of Vonnegut's most acidly satirical novels, dealing as it does with money, greed, hypocrisy, and human nature.

Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut
Read: Apr. 2007
Fiction

A reread of Vonnegut's sixth (1968) novel, the breakthrough book that made his reputation. It has typically been classified as an "antiwar" book (well, only a $^%$# moron would write a pro-war book), and it's easy to get that impression, but the war sections are more or less "telling it like it is," in that much of it comprises Vonnegut's own experiences as a prisoner of war in Dresden during World War II. However, the true protagonist of the book is the hapless Billy Pilgrim who, we are told at the outset, "has become unstuck in time." That is, he experiences the events of his life in random order, zipping back and forth from childhood, to his experiences in WWII, to his life as a successful optometrist in Ilium, NY, to his being kidnapped by aliens from Tralfamadore (them again!) and placed in a human zoo. Slaughterhouse-Five (the title comes from the place where the POWs were housed in Dresden and where Billy Pilgrim--and Vonnegut (his own character makes a couple of cameos)--waited out the Allied bombing) also introduces us to the phrase that led just about every obit of Vonnegut--"So it goes." This refrain occurs whenever someone in the book dies and is meant to reflect the Tralfamadorian philosophy about death and time; that is, they see time all at once, not as a sequence of moments, so a person isn't really dead since they are alive at all the moments in the past. "So it goes" is merely the blase acceptance of death. Slaughterhouse-Five is a wry satire, the culmination of everything Vonnegut has written up to that point (it also has more conceptual continuity, in that Kilgore Trout returns, Eliot Rosewater is a character, and Howard W. Campbell, Jr.--from Mother Night--makes a cameo, as well). There was also a not-bad-from-what-I-recall movie made of it in 1972 directed by George Roy Hill.