Dropping Acid and Names

Terry Southern (Nile Southern and Josh Alan Friedman, eds.)

Now Dig This: The Unspeakable Writings of Terry Southern, 1950-1995 (2001)

Most of the things that I found striking about the book are not really repeatable in this forum. Let's just say that drugs, sex, and celebrities play a major role.

The book was recommended to me in several different places, mostly on-line, mostly by comedy writers citing their influences. I can see how this is mind-expanding stuff, and it's well-written, it's just not easy for me to relate to it.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as reading should broaden your horizons. And if you're curious about how, for example, William Burroughs, Jean Genet, and Terry Southern eluded the Chicago police during the 1968 "riots," then you're in for a treat. Or if you want to know about some of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of Dr. Strangelove, or if you want some insightful cultural (literary, musical) reviews, this is for you.

Ah, now I know what's been bugging me about the book all along. He's not very self-critical.

Still. Good read.

Hank Cinq

King Henry the Fifth

by William Shakespeare (1599)

What fun. Between the chorus setting the scenes and Henry whipping his outnumbered army into a frenzy, the play is chock-full of memorable lines, stirring words, emotional nutrients and moral fiber.

As I'm putting this down here, I realize there's a bit of a correlation between the chorus constantly apologizing for having inadequate materials on stage and begging the audience to "piece out our imperfections with your thoughts" and Henry asking his outnumbered army to go "once more into the breach, dear friends, once more."

Also, because it's a(n) historical play, the outcome (I'm guessing) was known to the audience, so the play is really all about the spectacle, and it doesn't fall short.

Thumbs up.

Review by Shellie (and John): The Metamorphosis ~ by Franz Kafka

There are some amazing covers for this book – I liked this one. It links to the Amazon US book purchase site for this edition.

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. – Franz Kafka The Metamorphosis

Mini Synopsis:  A novella published in 1915, it is set in Europe in the early 1900’s. The main character, Gregor Samsa wakes one morning to find that he has transformed into a bug. Being the sole support of his aging parents and teenage sister he becomes increasingly worried about their future. They are appalled at his appearance and leave him in his bedroom alone while hoping he disappears.

Shellie’s Thoughts:  John (the husband) and I listened to this audio book while driving. It was unabridged. This will be a joint review.

We both agreed that, while the narration was done with an English accent and was pleasant it was surprisingly upbeat in tone, it felt like a slightly bizarre period piece, telling of woes in that particular time. Where instead of the main character having a terminal disease he turned into a beetle. 

This horrific event espouses the horrors of loss, abandonment, loosing one’s ability to communicate, and station in life, as well as our ability to truly recognize who we are or what we have become.

I felt that although the writing/reading was intriguing, I wanted more. Perhaps it is being so accustomed to drama and hype within modern day reading The Metamorphosis went comparatively limp. We agreed and gave this book 3 Stars. We liked it but it was not what we expected.

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An Austrian/Czech author born – July 3, 1883 died – June 3, 1924. He is purported to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. Sadly, he was not well known until after his death.

For Wikipedia information on Franz Kafka link on his picture.

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Thinking about The Metamorphosis further - apparently there are a number of layered meanings within the story which are not apparent without discussion.

John’s Post Discussion Thoughts: For a book that is widely regarded as a classic, I was a little surprised and was somehow expecting more. I can see how there are different layers to the story, and can well imagine that with repeat reading or with discussion, greater depth becomes apparent.

For example, I just read a view that the most radical metamorphosis in the story was not Gregor himself, but rather how his family reacted to him and to their changed circumstances. Which is a most excellent twist and now seems obvious, but I didn’t get that at the time. Maybe listening while driving was not the best way to experience this story.

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Purchasing links for the audio version of this book from The Book Depository US/Euro/AUD/Canada (please not these are not affiliate, I included them so you can access the version that we listened to.)

Original and slightly different post on ~ Layers of Thought.

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Completed books to date:

1. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
2. Something Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury
3. The Road – Cormac McCarthy
4. Dracula – Bram Stoker – review coming soon
5. The Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka
6. Frankenstein – Mary Shelley

Since July 7, 2009 I have completed 6 books – at an estimated one book per month. I am two behind…I better start reading faster!

Becky's Progress: 35

The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer
These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer.
The Way We Live Now. Anthony Trollope
Devil's Cub. Georgette Heyer.
Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston
Cannery Row. John Steinbeck
Sweet Thursday. John Steinbeck

HERZOG, by Saul Bellow

Woohoo! Knocked out one more title. My review for Herzog is here.

I'd love to hear thoughts, especially from other people who've read any Bellow in the past. I find myself getting very irritated with his books, then loving them in retrospect, and then going on to read more. He just makes you think so hard and feel so much that by the end, it's worth the effort.

This brings me up to 24 books since last April, a number I'd be very proud of if I didn't secretly know I've knocked out most of the short ones and left all the Tomes.

The Breach by Patrick Lee

Here is quick little review of what I just completed off my list. This is at my blog too, though I altered it slightly for this post.  :)

The Breach by Patrick Lee is absolutely not a book I would normally buy, ever. I'm a romance junky and this is all sci-fi-ish and a total guy book, which means it might as well be a classic that was written before my time. However, Fill-in-the-Gaps is all about me broadening my horizons, so when I saw this awesome cover art and a great title, I bought it. I figured I would make myself read it in the name of my Fill-in-the-Gaps list. 'Make' is not the right word, 'couldn't hardly put it down' would be accurate. I finished Lee's book in five days. I would have finished it faster but I had to force myself to put it down. Lee's believable writing along with my dream world is quite a crazy combination. That's a compliment, if you're wondering.

From the very first sentence Lee's writing had me, and by page five I was in love with his character, Travis Chase. All I wanted to do is wrap Travis up and make him all better.... and I didn't even know what he'd done to get where he was. For all I knew, he deserved his circumstance. I didn't care. I knew right then that I would follow Travis Chase to the ends of the fiction world, and I will. When book two comes out, I'm there. Oh and FYI to the ladies who like a strong female character... Chase teams up with a fantastic, kick-ass female character. White-hot embers. That's all I'll say.

Lee's book is one that proves any reader can be won over; any reader can be dragged across the line they've drawn, into areas they have always disliked.

I'm going to go off and pray that my grammar hasn't send any of you over the edge while all of you go buy this book. See you reading pals later   :^)

EDIT: I completely forgot about this. My twitter friend @Susan_Adrian is holding a contest at her blog on this book. If you want to try and win it, go here.

Review-When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris

I'm a huge fan of David Sedaris and find everything he writes to be funny and witty. No exception here. I find his commentary on life to accurate and painfully funny. I could blather on and on about all the bits I found funny, but just go read it and hopefully you'll feel the same.