'The Day of the Triffids'- John Wyndham 1951

This book was a purchase from a quaint little second-hand bookshop in Yungaburra, whilst on holiday in North Queensland. I thought this novel would be similar to 'War of the Worlds' which I read earlier this year, but surprisingly it had few similarities to H. G. Well's famous alien invasion novel.

Oddly enough 'The Day of the Triffids' had some interesting parallels to 'Windup Girl', in that it deals with the fears of the time. Wyndham writes to the biggest fears of the 50s, the threats of satellite weaponry and the Soviet Union, while 'Windup Girl' dealt with peak oil, genetic modification and threat of global corporations.
Perhaps this explains why I found Windup Girl so frightening, and Day of the Triffids so 'quaint', as by tapping into the fears of the times dystopian novels may lose the menace as they age. I'm not certain of this, but I am certain that dystopias are written with the fears and issues of the time in mind, whether consciously or unconsciously.

The plot of this novel is really a 'love despite all odds' taking place in England after a 'meteor shower' blinds most people, except those who were accidently unable to look outside at that time. The protagonist was in hospital with bandages across his eyes and awakes to a silent world. In addition to the chaos one can expect in a world where most people are suddenly blinded, the strange, aggressive, plants called 'Triffids' which had been appearing over the last few years begin to take advantage of the population's blindness.

'The Day of the Triffids' is not a book with an overly happy ending, but I really enjoyed reading it. It was a great tale, with all the markers of a solid novel. I don't often read books more than once, but I think I may read about the Triffids again in the future.

Love it, Read it,
LR

'The Great Gatsby'- F. Scott Fitzgerald 1925.

'The Great Gatsby' is often referred to as a 'Great American Novel', yet initially after reading it I was still not quite sure I understood why. What follows is an attempt to work through my experience of reading and understanding 'The Great Gatsby', and the concept of a 'Great American Novel'.

As usual my starting point was wikipedia, which defines a 'Great American Novel' as a novel that is an "accurate representative of the zeitgeist in the United States at the time of its writing". 


F Scott Fitzgerald wrote 'The Great Gatsby' between 1922 and 1925, and the story is primarily set in 1922. So to find the zeitgeist of the time, I had to think about the historical context, particularly the social elements prominent during the 1920's. But first I had to find the zeitgeist of Fitzgerald's novel.

Things I learnt about America and American society from 'The Great Gatsby':
- Class divisions will always define you.
- Those with 'old money' from the 'right side of the tracks' will always have the luxury of walking away from unpleasant situations
- People always desire what they cannot have.
- Yet if they obtain the seemingly impossible, it will not fulfil them.

These four lessons of sorts paint a picture of a society stifled and straining against its structures, yet falling into timeworn patterns of constraint, privilege and opportunity. The society of 'The Great Gatsby' is also one of potential transformation through various forms of social mobility, which were previously of negligible importance and are key to social patterns in the 1920's. Two examples in the novel are social status gained, firstly through 'merit' during the Great War, or secondly through income from 'bootlegging' made possible by prohibition. This perceived potential for greater mobility becomes frustrated as the realities of old social constraints and prejudices between classes remain the dominant reality, leading to the 'stifled' feeling evident throughout 'The Great Gatsby'.

My next thought was that perhaps 'The Great Gatsby' is a Great American Novel because of the distinctly American voice of  Fitzgerald. British novels of a similar period (I'm thinking of 'Antigua, Penny, Puce' and 'Cakes and Ale' in particular, though both are 1930's) tend to characterize America as a socially neutral/flat place of opportunity, loud voices and entrepreneurship. Yet 'The Great Gatsby' has a complex setting, with many layers of social constraint and opportunity beyond any simplistic, cartoon-ish notions, which could only have been written by someone who understood and experienced America in the 1920's.

And finally I decided that I would add another element to the criteria for a 'Great American Novel' and that would be the ability to transcend ages, and resonate with readers from any period. 'The Great Gatsby' is currently being made into a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and parts of it were filmed in Sydney. There is a long list of other film, television and even opera adaptations of the story and I think many of the central elements can be seen in contemporary pop culture. The social changes that occurred during the 1920's are definitely still relevant, and ongoing. Though US pop culture loves a 'self made' or 'rags to riches' story (though perhaps not with the obsessive delight of Australians) the reality of contemporary US society is still starkly divided, though perhaps at different levels to the 1920's. Social mobility may still be for many an unattainable dream, just as despite his (ill-gotten) wealth Gatsby was unable to shake his past.    

After much thinking I have decided I agree that 'The Great Gatsby' deserves the title of a 'Great American Novel'. Despite this I must say that I found the first half of the book incredibly slow, and the style of the 'unreliable narrator' frustrating at times. However the overall feel of the novel, the themes and issues it raised and the wonderfully entangled climax, make it a memorable read.

Love it, Read it,
LR

'Scoop: A Novel About Journalists' - Evelyn Waugh 1938.

Evelyn Waugh is fast becoming one of my favourite writers. A few months ago I read one of his most famous novels 'Brideshead Revisited' which I highly recommend. The way he uses language is masterful, if writing was ever like music, or dance, it is in Waugh's books. Interestingly enough in the introduction to the Penguin edition of 'Scoop' there was a quote from Waugh himself, which I think illustrates my observation:

"I regard writing not as an investigation of character but as an exercise in the use of language... I have no technical psychological interest. It is drama, speech and events that interest me"

This statement positions Waugh as the antithesis of writers such as Émile Zola who writing is deeply interested in exploring the psychological elements of character, especially in his book I have mentioned previously, Thérèse Raquin. Though I have enjoyed both in their own way, there really is nothing more enjoyable than excellent prose (I think anyway).

But now back to Scoop. It is a great little novel, with a plot based on awkward situations, misunderstandings, miscommunications and social gaffes. The plot revolves around a case of mistaken identity, where a reclusive nature write is mistaken for an up and coming journalist with the same surname. He is sent (reluctantly) to Africa to cover a civil war as it unfolds. There were many genuinely hilarious moments which made me laugh out loud, though when trying to explain them I cannot recreate the humour, so deeply based is it in the way Waugh uses language. My one disclaimer in recommending this book is that it is a reflection of its time, and in quite frequently (and I suspect unintentionally) racist. If you can take the book for what it is (a satire of foreign correspondence and the British press) then I think it can be thoroughly enjoyed.

Once again my studies certainly influenced my enjoyment of this book, the subtitle is "A novel about journalists" and much of the comedy is based around the lies and ridiculous lengths journalists will go to in order to create a story. As I am currently researching media representations of war, this was, entirely coincidentally, the perfect novel for me to read.

Little piece of trivia for you, Evelyn Waugh and I were born on the same date, 28th of October.

Love it, Read it,
LR

'Antigua, Penny, Puce' ‐Robert Graves 1936.

I must admit I judged this book by its cover. While browsing in a secondhand book shop something made me pull out the battered Penguin Classic. I had never heard of Robert Graves, his rather surly image is on the back cover as you can see, and I knew nothing of the story, but I bought it anyway. What I love about this book is its story, the story of the book, as well as the story in the pages of the book. On the inside cover is written in ink "A Happy New Year, Pegg. Just a little something to read on the tram. I hope you enjoy it. The gloves are lovely, many thanks, Love Jacque". From the publication date we can assume if the book was purchased new as a gift that the dedication was written around 1947. There is something so wonderful about that, and as I read the story I imagined 'Pegg' reading it on the tram some 70 years ago.

So, now we come to the story itself. I really enjoyed this novel, it was based around the conflict between a brother and sister, which centers around the contested ownership of a stamp album and a particular stamp which give the novel its title. The story weaves together everything which one would assume was simply mentioned in passing to flesh out a scene, and any potential red herrings are pointed out if they are not relevant later. This makes for an interesting read, where many of the stylistic elements of the novel are referred to or explained as they occur. In this way it is a little similar to 'If on a Winter's Night a Traveller' by Italo Calvino, though certainly it has a much stronger central narrative than Calvino's unusual book (Which I may not review, as I read it some months ago, but I highly recommend).

Overall the characters are vivid and I became quite involved in the dispute, silently cheering on one sibling over the other. This vividness is probably owing to the quite small cast of characters, and a series of supporting characters who reappear as needed throughout the book. This is a technique used very effectively by Émile Zola in 'Thérèse Raquin' which made this novel easily adapted for the stage, and contributed to the claustrophobic feeling of the book. In the case of 'Antigua, Penny, Puce' it reinforced the interlinking nature of the plot and of families and friendships.


The only other thing I will add is that, as an Australian I am always very interested to see how Australians are portrayed in novels, and this book had some interesting character assessments and other references to what Australian people are like. This provided a nice contrast (in my mind) to another book I recently read 'The Getting of Wisdom', which is interesting as an Australian perspective on what Australia was 'really' like in a slightly earlier time period. I am beginning to amass a little list of books from 1900/1940s which use Australians as plot devices, I might share it one day soon. Amusing stuff.

Love it, Read it,
LR