Huxley Week

Did you know (and I bet you didn't) that all of Huxley's essays are available in a six-volume set, dutifully called, Complete Essays. I took the liberty of reading the first of these volumes, and I have to say, it's not for the casual fan. The first volume encompasses the years 1920-1925 and all the essays are more or less in the range of two to three pages in length. The book is split into four parts: art, music, politics, and travel. The first two sections are by far the longest, and for me, the most painful. I am not disinterested in either subject, but Huxley is deeply devoted to covering the contemporary scene in such a way that it makes for often trying reading, 80 years after the fact. And I am going to take back the first half of my "I am not disinterested" statement. I am, after all, disinterested in classical music, which is the only sort of music Huxley cares to talk about. He speaks of jazz with contempt.


The last portions of the book are more enjoyable, but it is still difficult to recommend them. Huxley has always been clever with his words (what else would he be clever with?) but there is little modern-day relevance to these writings. He has no insight into World War One, though it is somewhat interesting to read of the "uneasy peace" that he describes, knowing that World War Two is coming down the pike. The articles included in Complete Essays Vol 1were mostly pieces for Vanity Fair, a now defunct magazine called On the Margins, or the Westminster Gazette and the lack of substantial length really prevents Huxley from getting a good grip on a subject. The travel essays are reprinted from an early book of his called Along the Road.


It is an expensive and time-consuming book, recommended only for those who have a fanatical obsession with reading Huxley, such as I have had over the last few months.

Whispers

Well, I finished another book by Dean Koontz. Whispers, according the afterword, is the first book that Koontz did not write in "total obscurity". Evidently it sold fairly well and allowed Koontz to go on to the prominent position on bestseller lists he now enjoys. I have no idea why this book would breakthrough. It is exactly like his previous efforts: scant characterization and very little suspense, and a wealth of bad writing. Also, its longer than a normal Koontz book, coming in around 500 pages. It's actually a little stupider than usual--you can guess what the big plot twist is around page 100, while the main characters don't suspect it until 400 or so. It also suffers from his inability to write any kind of satisfying ending. Just like earlier novels, the villain is killed and two pages later the book is over. There is very little to recommend this book, and I believe my familiarity with Koontz is now truly starting to breed contempt.

Dark Tower Con't

The Drawing of the Three continues Stephen King's Dark Tower series. If the first book served as our introduction to the Gunslinger, this volume lets us meet the supporting characters, the three that are "drawn" into the gunslinger's world from our own. The opening of the book is startling, as events happen quite quickly and irrevocably. However, soon after the events of the first few pages, the book settles into a pattern that is fairy predicable. Drawing of the Three isn't really a dull book, but it feels like a placeholder until King can start in the bulk of the story. I don't mind a lot of build up in a novel, but I wonder if maybe the first two books of the series should have been combined.

That said, the new characters aren't bad. I'm just a little disappointed that this series hasn't gotten off the ground much yet. Perhaps my expectations are set too high, but supposedly this series is King's masterpiece, and I'm impatient for the narrative to take shape. I'd feel much more at ease recommending some of his stand alone books over the Dark Tower at this juncture.

Clearance Granted

Photo not available in the rather limited search I'm willing to undertake.

Peter Benchley's Q Clearance is a shockingly entertaining book. In this volume he shows himself to be a much for versatile and funny writer than I ever would have suspected from reading his more famous novels, particularly Jaws. Evidently, Benchley worked for a time as a speechwriter to President Lyndon Johnson, and draws on that experience to fashion a plot regarding a mid-level bureaucrat in the White House who suddenly finds himself getting a lot more attention from the president than he ever bargained for.

I'm sure that part of the reason I enjoyed the book so much is because it takes place in the political world of Washington and is pretty insidery--there is some humor that maybe wouldn't be as funny to someone unfamiliar with the bizarre workings of the political process. Still, Benchley's main character, Tim Burnham is likable though vaguely incompetent and morally cloudy. Benchley's language is sharp and clever, and he is spot-on observant of the vanity and self-importance of Washington culture. Where did this side of Benchley come from? His prior novels were often filled with wooden dialog and unbelievable plots. This is the sort of novel he should have been writing throughout his career. It is certainly a diamond in what is often a rough bibliography. The ending is bit soft; the loose ends are not tied up with quite the satisfaction you might like, but the book is still a winner. Q Clearance is of course now out of print, but definitely worth a few bucks if you come across it in a used bookstore.

Still Playing Catch-Up

Apparently I am incapable of ever just writing a few posts to get caught up and will be perpetually trying to remember the plots of these books well after I finished them. Anyway, I'm not going to say much here. This was originally written under the Owen West pseudonym and I found out after I bought it that is actually a novelization of an early eighties horror film. Yeah, that's right, this is a book that's based on the movie. You can definitely tell when you read it. I guess Dean Koontz was pretty hard up in 1981.

Get Ready for Craziness, Arizona!

The following article is from Congress Daily and says that AZ House Appropriations Committee Chairman Russell "Four Fingered" Pearce may be running for Congress!! As a lover of right-wing extremists, I am more than a little pleased with this announcement. Imagine, Jeff Flake wasn't crazy enough for his taste! This will be one to watch.

POLITICAL ROUNDUP

Immigration Foe Pearce Explores Bid Against Flake

Republican state Rep. Russell Pearce has announced the formation of a committee to explore a bid for the seat held by Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., the Associated Press reported. Pearce, author of several Arizona immigration laws, said he agrees with Flake about 80 percent of the time, but that he sharply disagrees with him on immigration, particularly on Flake's support for comprehensive immigration legislation this year. "What needs to be done is resources, enforce the law. We don't need immigration reform. That's just the code word for amnesty," Pearce said. Flake said if Pearce challenges him next year, he looks forward to what he is sure will be a "spirited campaign."

New Series

I've started a new series, Stephen King's Dark Tower books. The first of the books, The Gunslinger, is by far the thinnest of the volumes. It's just over 300 pages, whereas the last editions are over twice that size. It differs substantially from King's other writing, in that we know virtually nothing of the main character's inner life. We observe his action and are usually given no explanations or motivations: sometimes the gunslinger acts with kindness, other times with sudden brutality. The world he inhabits is clearly some variation of our own, but the book offers no clues to whether this is some kind of post-apocalyptic future or weird dream or alternate reality. King more or less pulls this off in this volume, but I think he's going to have to be more forthcoming rather quickly if he hopes to hold my attention over subsequent books. The gunslinger chases the man in black. Why, and what he'll do when and if he catches him, remain something of a mystery.

I am partial to the style of writing. It's more modern and less sentimental that King's usual novels. According to my edition's afterword, it took 12 years to write the first book, which came out in 1981. If I have my facts straight, the last volume appeared only a year or two ago. I'm looking forward to working through a series that I expect will be more rewarding than the Left Behind novels that I recently completed.