Tag: satire

The Love Song of Jonny Valentine by Teddy Wayne

Posted July 26, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Humour / 0 Comments

Title: The Love Song of Jonny Valentine (Goodreads)
Author: Teddy Wayne
Published: Free Press, 2013
Pages: 304
Genres: Humour
My Copy: Library Book

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Eleven year old pop sensation Jonny Valentine knows that people love him. The singer’s voice, hairdo and image, carefully packaged together by his LA label and manager/mother are what they really love. But within this mass marketing machine, the real Jonny is hidden somewhere. This is the story of Jonny Valentine, a vulnerable boy perplexed but his budding sexuality, his celebrity heartthrob status, the tight control his mother has over him and his absent father.

This book has been on my radar for a while now and I’m not really sure how it got there, I didn’t know many people who had read it. In fact I only discovered two people in my book blogger RSS that had read this book (Jennifer from The Relentless Reader & Kristin from My Little Heart Melodies) when I added the novel to Goodreads as ‘Currently Reading’. Having said I knew that this was a satirical look at Justin Beiber and that was enough to convince me to read it. While this is in fact true, I didn’t expect what I got; not only was it a humorous look at celebrity heartthrobs, it also has some really interesting things to say about growing up in that position.

The Love Song of Jonny Valentine follows the pop star on a tour for his second album, everything part of his professional career has been carefully planned out by his label and his manager, Jane, who is also his mother. The label and his mother don’t often see eye to eye, most of the time you get the impression that Jane is looking out for her son but then you also think she is too controlling. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; I wouldn’t want an eleven year old celebrity looking at what has been said about them on the internet. The label works to slowly push Jonny’s mother out and replace her with someone more experience (I say that loosely) in the hopes to have more control of his image and career. Sex sells, the label knows this but Jane does not want to resort to that method until Jonny has at least gone through puberty.

Then you have Jonny’s life outside of performing, his tutoring, vocal lessons, exercise and meal plans and video games. Constantly in a bus with other members of his crew (manager, vocal coach, tutor, bodyguard, and road crew) you get a sense of a lonely boy without any real friends his own age. His new support act are closer to his age and when he hangs out with them he soon finds himself getting into trouble. His hormones are starting to take over his body and this also leads him astray; since his mother is too busy being his manager he often spends his nights and afternoons alone playing video games and thinking about sex.

There is also the absent father, one night while sneaking some internet time, Jonny Valentine finds his father searching from him on a few of his fan forums. Feeling reluctant Jonny sets up a Gmail account and emails him asking for proof that he is really is his father. Without going into too much about what happens in the novel there are so many incredibly funny moments within this book. The fact that a newly setup Gmail account gets so much spam made me chuckle, since Google claim to have strong protection against spammers. This is one of many things that just tickled my fancy in the novel, it kind of reminds me of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk with the comedic look at celebrity life (again I say that loosely) and in the style.

One of the most entertaining books I’ve read so far this year, I’m surprised that this novel hasn’t received more coverage. The cover alone makes this book worth buying, look at it; it’s so shiny and distracting. Not only is this novel jammed with humour and entertainment, its thought provoking and will get you thinking about celebrities in ways you’ve never expected. I hope more people go out and read The Love Song of Jonny Valentine because it’s well worth it, I really need to find some more books like this, if you have any suggestions.

Tampa by Alissa Nutting

Posted July 15, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Contemporary / 0 Comments

Title: Tampa (Goodreads)
Author: Alissa Nutting
Published: Allen & Unwin, 2013
Pages: 272
Genres: Contemporary
My Copy: ARC from Netgalley, ARC from Publisher

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Suburban middle grade teacher Celeste Prices is undeniably beautiful, everyone can see that. Her husband is rich, hardworking, determined and most people think they are the perfect couple. That’s because no one knows Celesta’s secret, her singular sexual obsession for fourteen year old boys. After all this is the real reason she became a teacher and is working at Jefferson Jr. High.

There are three main reasons people will try to avoid this book. Firstly the protagonist is not likeable, how could she be? Secondly, the sad truth is I found a lot of people tend to avoid Juvenalian satire; I’m not entirely sure why but maybe they don’t appreciate it or they forget to remember it is not an indication of the satirist persona. Lastly and probably most importantly, this book is disturbing; probably the most disconcerting book I’ve ever read (American Psycho held this place for a long time) and I found myself having to put it down just to recover.

So why read it? Tampa is a well written debut novel and arguably one of the most talked about novels at the moment. The reason it’s talked about is the subject it satirises; let’s face it, this is a topic that is often never talked about because of its disturbing nature. A female sexual predator is something I’ve never read in a book but this seems to works in Alissa Nutting’s favour. I have to take a moment to talk about the subject matter because this is important. Young teenage boys all seem to have similar fantasies; an older woman, normally a teacher or a babysitter. It’s a common sexual desire for a boy with their budding sexuality; the experienced, already developed older woman, but they don’t realise just how destructive that can be on them. They have no idea how to separate their emotions from the sexual act and this is a slippery slope that can only lead to being hurt. Not to mention the emotional and psychological damage it can do to them.

Then you have the discussion of sexual addiction being covered in this novel as well. Celeste Prices acts with sociopathic meticulousness; lying and manipulating everyone in order to get what she desires. Not just the people around her; she deludes herself as well, always trying to justify her actions. I think it was interesting how Alissa Nutting was able to look at the problems with this fantasy young boys have and how damaging it can be and at the same time have the reader think about sex addiction and how it effects the person.

Tampa is written in the first person perspective of Celeste Prices so as a reader we get to see her trying to justify her actions to herself and the reader. Though as the reader we can see how off her justification is and maybe even remember times in our own life were we have tried justifying making stupid mistakes with similar lies. The thoughts and the desire that Celeste has to the fourteen year old boys is disgusting and are sure to make you feel sick, which is the reason I couldn’t read this book in one sitting.

In fact every time I put down the book, I worried that if I showed my wife any sort of affection that she might get the wrong idea. I found out later that she was worried that if she showed any affection, I might associate it with the book. So I’m glad it was short and I didn’t have to spend too much time reading it. I’m sure my poor wife got sick of me wanting to discuss this subject matter with her, it’s not an easy topic but this novel makes you want to talk about it with someone. She tells me a similar thing happened in Glee where one of the teenage boys was molested by his babysitter when he was young and his classmates thought it wasn’t that bad as it’s every boy’s fantasy.

The fact that you can’t help wanting to talk about this novel and the themes would make this book the perfect choice for a book club which scares me a lot. I hope and pray that this never becomes the next book club book at my local book club. I love the Mary Who? Book club and this is the best indie bookstore in Townsville but I am normally the only male and most of the other people are slightly older than me. This would be the most awkward book to discuss and because I have so much I can say about this novel it would feel really weird, so I hope that it never becomes the next pick for book club.

This has been compared to Lolita and I can see why, the sexual predator and the satirical nature, but personally I think this comparison might do more harm than good. Being compared to a masterpiece like Lolita would put so much pressure on this book and I don’t think it lives up to the beauty of Vladimir Nabokov’s writing. I get why it is compared but I think it tackles different topics and they both should be analysed separately. Having said that it might be a good book to partner with Lolita if your book club has that kind of structure set up.

Lastly I want to quickly talk about the covers because I think they are worth mentioning. In the UK and Australasia the cover is a pink shirt with a button hole. I love this cover, it is very suggestive and makes people look twice and it really suits the book. Apparently, in America, the black cover that I thought looked boring in comparison, is made from black velvet, which might give the same suggestive tones when you pick up the book rather than looking at it. Interesting choices and I think both seem to work really well but I prefer the buttonhole cover.

I should warn people that this book contains graphical sex scenes which are ghastly and off putting, so this book is never going to be an easy read but this is a topic that needs to be discussed more and the book does this really well. I really enjoyed having read this book, but not really while reading it. I’m surprised how much I wanted to talk about the subject, so I think Alissa Nutting achieved what she set out to achieve. I hope people read it soon; I look forward to discussing the book with others.

Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs

Posted June 14, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Classic / 5 Comments

Title: Naked Lunch (Goodreads)
Author: William S. Burroughs
Published: Grove Press, 1959
Pages: 289
Genres: Classic
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

In a complex and disturbing string of events, William Lee finds himself fleeing from the police. While on the run, this drug addict finds himself journeying across the United States and into Mexico. His travels lead him into the underground world of both drug and homosexual culture. The coun
ter story revolves around the use of mind control by the government and psychiatrists to manipulate and direct the public.

Considered one of the most important novels of the twentieth century, William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch is a bizarre cut up narrative protesting the death penalty. You got that the book was trying to do that from the synopsis right? Naked Lunch is a non-linear narrative that does make it really difficult to summarise the plot. Burroughs is famously known for his cut-up narrative; which is a literary technique that can be traced back to the Dadaists in the 1920s. For more information about Burroughs and cut-up check out my post called William S. Burroughs & Surrealist Writing Methods.

The book looks into two key groups; the drug and homosexual subcultures. The two unite early in the novel by the narrator but are never mutually exclusive. At the start of the book William Lee believes he will be punished more harshly for his involvement in homosexual activities than using and selling illegal drugs, which is really sad to think that people are being still victimised over their sexuality and drugs have just become socially acceptable.

Then the subplot largely focuses on the way in which psychotherapy combines with the government to institute mind control. Dr Benway experiments on ways to manipulate the minds of his patients in order to further his research. With no ethical consideration, he often changes his patient’s sexual identity and then tries to cure them. He also creates a mental controlling device for the towns as a way to use the population for his sadistic experiments and put them through psychological torture. Many of these experimental towns are based on the utopian idea and Burroughs like to explore the problems with the idea in a rather sinister way.

So how is this novel a protest to the death penalty? Well that would be in the same way Jonathan Swift’s Modest Proposal ideals with economics. William S. Burroughs uses Juvenalian satire to highlight the barbaric, disgusting and anachronism of capital punishment. While the sex in Naked Lunch can be considered as mutual satisfaction sometimes, it is also used as a metaphor (especially in the more violent sexual acts) for defeating an enemy, self serving idol worshipping and capital punishment. The results of these metaphors are often confusing, shocking, taboo and sickening. Sex is a powerful tool with this novel and while it does look at sex and relationships in a positive way (rarely), the majority is used to symbolise the dark and cynical themes within the book.

William Lee is obviously William S. Burroughs alter ego and the book can be read as a semi-autobiographical novel through a serious drug addiction but like Infinite Jest there is so much more going on. This book did remind me a lot of Infinite Jest; not just with how it dealt with drug addiction but the way it used very dark themes to look at other social issues. William S. Burroughs had a similar experience to the narrator, taking trips around the world in order to avoid being arrested. Even the addition and sexual experimentation is similar to the authors own experiences, as part of his attempts to separate himself from mainstream culture. William S. Burroughs is a fascinating man and I’m interested to learn/blog more about him.

I’m not sure what the difference between the original and restored text but I did read the restored edition. While this was a really weird and somewhat difficult book to get though there is so many interesting themes to explore that I feel very satisfied by completing this novel. It is disturbing and some of it will make you feel sick to your stomach and I can understand why people hate this book. This is a really intense novel that will drain you emotionally and mentally. The book is full of violent and graphic sex, so it will never be for everyone but I can see why it is an important novel, not just because of the obscenity trial but also for all the themes.

I’ve not read many Beat novels in my life, I think On the Road was the only other one but I do like the gritty and surreal approach both books take. I’m not sure if this is a major theme for all beat novels but if so, I will have to read more. I doubt I’ll ever return to Naked Lunch simply because of how disturbing some of the scenes are but I know I can be completely satisfied with having read this one and judging by this review, I can also take comfort in the fact I was able to pick it apart and understand some of the themes.

Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh

Posted May 11, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Classic / 4 Comments

Title: Decline and Fall (Goodreads)
Author: Evelyn Waugh
Published: Penguin, 1928
Pages: 216
Genres: Classic
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Paul Pennyfeather finds himself taking a job at a public school called Llanabba after being expelled from Oxford for indecent behaviour. He takes up some private tutoring to get close to the student’s mother, Margot Beste-Chetwynde. Their relationship forms and they are soon engaged; all the while Paul is still unaware that the main source of her income is a number of high class brothels in South America. Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall is a black comedy satirising British society in the 1920s.

This is my first Evelyn Waugh novel; why did I pick this over Brideshead Revisited? Simple answer is a friend loves this book and I thought I would see if I trust her taste in literature; since they are more of a genre reader. Decline and Fall gets its name from Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a book that traces the trajectory of the Roman Empire, and Western civilisation as a whole. There are some who also attributes the title to Oswald Spengler’s The Decline of the West, a philosophical book that rejects the Euro-centric view of history. Both books are important to remember as both look at western civilisation and reject the idea that it is the be all and end all.

Decline and Fall satirises a world where the British social institutes (like schools) have lost their integrity and their authority. The church has lost its faith and the aristocracy have declined to the same level as the masses since the educational system teaches nothing worth learning. The situation is both humorous in its approach and also very dystopian. Waugh has a great deal of fun playing with this world but when you reflect on this book and take out all the comedy, it really is quite scary; sure I’m for equality in the social classes but the prediction of a failing education system is not something I look forward to.

There are two major literary techniques within this novel that I feel are worth looking at; first of all there is the humour which, while funny, leaves a lot to the reader’s imagination with the deadpan narrative of the newspaper reporter. For all I know the book really isn’t about the decline of education and society but the way this book is written has set my mind running in that direction, it could have filled in the blanks on its own. The second is the way this book parodies English literature within the book, from a reference to Shakespeare’s Othello to many more. A better English major than I could probably pull this book apart a lot better and tell you every single literary reference within the book.

This book confronts the reader with some difficult moral decisions all the while doing it in a tone that reminds me of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Monty Python. The general decay of society is the major theme throughout this book but you might not even pick up on this if you are only reading this for the humour. There are elements of both Horatian and Juvenalian satire within the book and I like the way Evelyn Waugh writes it so you can read in either form and still get some enjoyment from Decline and Fall.

After reading this novel, I’m keener than ever to check out Brideshead Revisited and some of his other works. This is not a perfect novel, I did find myself a little bored at times and even lost but Decline and Fall has some interesting ideas worth reading about. I can’t help but wonder if reading The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire or The Decline of the West might have a positive effect on this novel. I won’t say this is a great novel but I’m glad to have read and dissected Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall.

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

Posted May 10, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Classic / 0 Comments

Title: Main Street (Goodreads)
Author: Sinclair Lewis
Published: Modern Library, 1920
Pages: 448
Genres: Classic
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Main Street; that primary street in every small town that is exactly the same, full of stores and guaranteed to run into people you know. Carol Kennicott finds herself moving to Gopher Prairie, Minnesota with her new husband. Carol is a liberal, free spirited city girl who finds herself appalled by the backwardness of this small country town. Her disdain for the town’s ugliness and smug conservatism compels her to change it.

I grew up in Gopher Prairie; well not exactly but when I was just starting high school I was moved from Sydney to a small mining town in North Queensland called Charters Towers, so I know what Carol was going through. Sure, it wasn’t the 1910’s but for someone that loves city life (even at a young age) this move was devastating. Main Street is a satirical novel by Sinclair Lewis about the pettiness, back-stabbing and hypocrites that make up a small town. I will admit that I had never heard of this book until I read Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald. Knocking This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald off the number one spot, Main Street became extremely popular becoming one of the major best sellers of its time. Naturally having read about the impact this book had on the Fitzgerald’s and the readers of the time, I looked this book up and immediately added it to my “to read” list.

Carol is the heroine of this novel; enthusiastic and with high hopes for her future, she finds herself in a town that expects her just to play the house wife. Her love of sociology and her degree in English literature appear to be useless to Carol in Gopher Prairie. She feels like an outsider and even when she tries to fit in by throwing a Chinese themed party (where the guests feel bewildered by the strangeness of it all) or joining the woman’s group, the culture shock leaves her unsatisfied. I had to laugh at the woman’s group when they gathered to discuss poetry, Carol felt excited and asked which poets they will discuss. Their reply was ‘all of them’ and she finds herself in a very generic conversation about poets. At the end of the meeting she enquires about other poets which were missed and how they could improve this discussion, in which they decide that one extra meeting devoted to poetry will cover everything.

“I do not admit that Main Street is as beautiful as it should be! I do not admit that dish-washing is enough to satisfy all women!”

Carol struggles to find her identity within this town, she thinks of herself as some sort of artist and intellectual but Gopher Prairie doesn’t appear to give her the stimulation she so desires. She sees the other woman in the town as lacking of intelligence, curiosity or even a personality and never feels like she will be satisfied with all the other women. Living in the small town slowed her path to self-discovery; I feel like in any other circumstance Carol would have discovered her true identity a lot sooner.

The people of Gopher Prairie have grown complacent and comfortable with the familiar. So when Carol tries to make a change, she is met with resistances; not just because she is a woman but also being an outsider. While she is trying to get involved and make the town a better place by proposing they revitalise city hall and turn it into a meeting centre for events and dances, the town is worried she might make young people aware of sexuality while they are still in high school. You have to chuckle at their backwards ideas, I don’t think I ever thought improving the town would ever lead to sexual corruption of the youth.

I really enjoyed this satirical novel; while people thinking this novel wasn’t funny did lead me to write a post about understanding satire, I did think this was humorous. I think this is just me relating to the backwardness of a small town like Gopher Prairie. Times have changed a lot since the 1910’s but in a small town it kind of feels like nothing has changed. Not necessarily an easy book to read, but I really did like the culture clash between the “wholesome” small town and an outsider. Sinclair Lewis got it right when he wrote about just how difficult it is being an outsider in a town where everyone knows everyone.

Understanding Satire

Posted May 5, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 2 Comments

I was reading a review the other day, when I saw them say “being a satire, I expected it to be funny” which, at the time, really annoyed me: I wanted to become that guy who replies with “I don’t think you get it”. The truth of the matter is I was someone that thought satire was a form of comedy for a very long time too. I think it wasn’t until someone called 1984 a satirical novel did I actually think “hang on, maybe I need to look up this word”. So I thought instead maybe this could make a good blog post.

First of all, while satire can be funny, humour is not the essential component. The main purpose of satire (in a literary sense) is to offer a constructive social criticism or to shame society into improving. Using wit, irony and sometimes sarcasm to put a spotlight on issues the author feels need to be looked at; normally social, political or religion topics. This is only a brief explanation of my thoughts on satire; I might have missed something because it is a lot more complex than this anyway.

Satirical literature is often divided into two different categories as well; Horatian and Juvenalian (although not mutually exclusive). Horatian satire looks at some social vice through playful, light-hearted humour or wit. Named after the Roman satirist Horace, this form of satire uses wit, exaggeration and self deprecation to indentify stupidity (rather than major issues) within modern society. This is the type of satire more people think of when they think about satirical books; examples of this type of satire within literature can include Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, The Giver by Lois Lowry and Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.

There is another form of satire named after Roman satirist Juvenal; this is the one that includes books like Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 1984 by George Orwell. Juvenalian satire addresses social evil through scorn, fury and ridicule. This form of satire doesn’t often involve humour (though a book like Catch 22 by Joseph Heller would be included) but more a pessimistic, ironic or sarcastic nature towards moral and social indignation.

So, as you can see, there are two very different types of satire within literature, there is a lot more to look at regarding these types of novels. My hope with this post is that people understand the difference between Horatian and Juvenalian satire. Not only should we remember that satire is not always funny but we need to remember that it is not an indication of the satirist persona. Criticising Mark Twain as racist and calling Huckleberry Finn offensive is to miss the point completely. Jonathan Swift was not really suggesting that Ireland can ease their economical troubles by selling their children as food for the rich in A Modest Proposal (1729) and if you read it any other way what would you think of the author? He does say children are a delicious, nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; do you really think Swift was proposing cannibalism and infanticide?

I’m a big fan of satire, there are times where it is in bad taste or misses the mark but this is not the fault of the literary genre but the delivery of the message. I personally prefer Juvenalian satire in my literature but when it comes to movies and TV I think maybe a combination of both. I would really love to hear other people’s thoughts on satire; am I missing anything? Is there anything you feel needs to be added? Or what novels do you like in both Horatian and Juvenalian satire.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Posted March 30, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Book of the Month, Classic / 9 Comments

Title: Lolita (Goodreads)
Author: Vladimir Nabokov
Published: Penguin, 1955
Pages: 390
Genres: Classic
My Copy: Hardcover

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Lolita is the highly controversial novel of Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged literature professor and his obsession with twelve year-old Dolores Haze. Of whom he becomes a step father as well as being sexually involved. Considered one of the most controversial novels of the twentieth century, Lolita is known not just for the disturbing nature but for the unreliable narration and sophisticated writing style.

Vladimir Nabokov’s masterpiece, Lolita, is one of those books that are worth reading even if it makes you very uncomfortable. The protagonist is the villain who tries so hard to gain the readers sympathy through his sincerity and melancholy. But as the story progress you can even see that he has lost of sympathy for himself and starts referring to himself as maniac who deprived Dolores of her childhood. The novel provides a remarkable perspective into the mind of a man you just want to hate and I will admit it can be a little exciting to watch him go through hell. Nabokov writes a hated character in the hope to knock him around and give him some humility and the reader is left wondering if he will learn from his mistakes.

This has often been described as an erotic novel, even the Great Soviet Encyclopedia called Lolita “an experiment in combining an erotic novel with an instructive novel of manners”. Personally I think of this book as a satirical tragedy with elements of eroticism and remorse. The narrator spends a fair chunk of the book begging the reader to understand that he is not proud of his actions and he is often stricken with guilt at the awareness of robbing Lolita of her childhood. But there is a case to be made at the fact that this is just an exploitation of a weak adult by a corrupt child but this can be problematic and not something I wish to go into great deal about.

The novel as a whole is a very one sided argument, we know how Humbert feels about the entire situation; we hear this to a very sickening degree. He has remorse but his obsession keeps him from ever changing, but one has to wonder what was really going through the mind of Dolores. I have to wonder how she sees the situation or even what she was thinking or feeling throughout the novel. We, as readers, can only surmise since we are forced to absorb Humbert’s feelings.

It is interesting to point out just how two dimensional all the characters are; all except himself and Dolores (Lolita), which he goes into great detail. It reminds me of life; people tend to describe each other in a two dimensional manner unless we are obsessed with or interested in the person. This technique of writing really added to the realistic feeling of this book.

Lolita was a really awkward and sickening novel to read, there aren’t many books out there that have made me sick to my stomach. Lolita pulls off that feeling that horror novels try to achieve yet often get wrong – that feeling of uneasiness for the reader. This is my second read of this novel, so I knew what to expect and I was able to look past the controversial elements and focus on what this book can offer to the literary world.

Apart from the elements of oppression and an authority figure trying to assert their dominance this book explores tragicomedy, unreliable narration, irony and because Vladimir Nabokov is a Russian it could be a metaphor for totalitarianism. There are many themes you can explore within the novel but the one that will stick in most people’s minds is the lasting damage created by child sexual abuse.

Interestingly enough Vladimir Nabokov is a surrealist often linked to Gogol, Dostoevsky, and Kafka which make you wonder about some of the elements of this book even more. With a love of intricate word play and synesthetic detail Lolita turns into a wry observation of western culture. The novel is full of cleaver word play, double entendres, multilingual puns and in the end when you boil done to why people love it, it is just a beautifully written novel.

You may not enjoy reading this book but you might enjoy having read it. I have to admit that I enjoyed this book more the second time around; there is great beauty to be found in this book and while content makes this book difficult to get through it is well worth the effort. I remember one of my first blog posts on literature was called “What Would You Read in an Introduction to Fiction Course” where I listed the books I’d include if I was to create an introduction to Fiction course and Lolita was one of my choices. Having now reread this book, it just validates my choice even more, there is so much to explore in this book that it has been put back on my list of books to reread.

Day of the Oprichnik by Vladimir Sorokin

Posted March 8, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Dystopia / 0 Comments

Title: Day of the Oprichnik (Goodreads)
, 2006
Pages: 191
Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Welcome to new Russia, where the Russian Empire has been restored back to the draconian codes of Ivan the Terrible. Corporal punishment is back and the monarchy is divided once again, but this is the future, the not so distant future for the Russian empire, or is it? Day of the Oprichnik follows a government henchman, an Oprichnik, through a day of grotesque event.

Day of the Oprichnik is a thought provoking Science Fiction novel of the worst possible Russia imagined. But while the book is dark, it also is hilarious and then it has this wonderfully satirical nature about it. Komiaga is the narrator of this gem, an anti-hero and one of the Tsar’s most devoted henchmen. While the humour and satire throughout this book is grotesque, this book is a perfect example of great contemporary Russian literature as well as a political critique.

I will admit I like these types of modern Russian Science Fiction novels, like Super Sad True Love Story, you have this wonderful dystopian backdrop as well as the high tech gadgets like the “mobilov” and then you use this to create delightfully thought provoking plot riddled with satirical elements. These witty and intelligently written books are what I live for.

Komiaga is one of the elites, enforcing the laws of the land, helping the Czar’s to rule with an iron fist for the sake of the motherland and the Russian Orthodox Church. This is my first Vladimir Sorokin novel and I would like to compare this novel to one of Philip K. Dick’s (The Man in the High Castle to be exact); there is this wonderfully crafted story and you have these philosophical and political ideas that stick with you well after you have finished the book.

The Telegraph named this book one of the best for 2011 and the New York Review called Sorokin “[the] only real prose writer, and resident genius” of late-Soviet fiction”, just to give you an idea of what to expect. Day of the Oprichnik is deliciously complex, full of garish science fiction and hallucinogenic fish. Komiaga’s day might not be a typical one but it’s full of executions, parties, meetings, oracles, and even the Czarina.

I loved every moment of Day of the Oprichnik, even the moments that made me think “WTF” and for all of the people that have read this book, I want to say one word that will mean something to you but not the others, the word that the person who recommended this book to me said when I finished. That word is “caterpillar”. For everyone else; read the book, enjoy the satire, black humour and Science Fiction elements of this book and also find out what I mean.

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Posted November 29, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Book of the Month, Horror / 0 Comments

Title: House of Leaves (Goodreads)
Author: Mark Z. Danielewski
Published: Random House, 2000
Pages: 706
Genres: Horror
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Johnny Truant searches an apartment for his friend and finds an academic study of a documentary film called The Navidson Record. This film investigates the phenomenon of the Navidson’s house where the house is larger inside than the outside. Initially it’s less than an inch difference but it keeps growing. The only problem with all of this is there is no evidence of this documentary ever existing. The book House of Leaves is that academic study (with all the footnotes) mixed with Johnny’s interjections, transcripts from the documentary and anything else.

This debut novel of Mark Z. Danielewski tries to mix a horror novel with some romance and satire but it mainly focuses on just how unreliable a narrator can be. I’ll be honest with you; I struggled to work out if I should review this as a piece of literature or as art, so I’ve done both and you can find my art review. Danielewski has really come up with a unique idea here, it’s almost the literary equivalent of The Blair Witch Project; there is a lot happening on the pages but the reader never gets a full grasp on what is actually happening.

The first 150 pages of this book were quite enjoyable, there were some funny moments and it gave you a real feel for what was going on. But then everything turns completely weird and I found myself raging and sometimes going insane. This is by no means an easy book to read, more of an exploration in the postmodern idea of Post-structuralism. I don’t pretend to understand postmodern literature but it was interest to see what Mark Z. Danielewski does in this book

You’ll either love or hate this genre blending novel; for me, I hated the story. I think my wife got more enjoyment out of watching me rage than I did with reading it. House of Leaves is known as Ergodic literature, which requires the reader to navigate the text in a non-traditional way; this is the first time I’ve seen a book like this. Everyone will have a different interpretation of this novel, so I would love to hear what others thought. Also make sure you check my post about this book as an art form.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain

Posted September 22, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literary Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (Goodreads)
Author: Ben Fountain
Published: Canongate, 2012
Pages: 308
Genres: Literary Fiction
My Copy: Paperback

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Billy Lynn is a 19 year old Iraq War hero on a P.R. tour for the Army. The team “the Bravos” are on a two week “Victory Tour” stateside that was filmed and widely viewed on TV due to acts of valour in Iraq. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is a satirical look at Americans and how they treat and view the war on terror.

I’ve often heard that this book is a satirical book in the vein of Slaughterhouse-Five and Catch 22 and this was the primary reason I read this book. While there were some satirical elements in the book, I found this book a little heartbreaking; in the sense that these soldiers fight for their country and the Americans love them for it, as long as it doesn’t interrupt their football or cost them anything. This was the overall message I got from this book; people will support their troops as long as it takes no effort and doesn’t interrupt their lives.

I wanted to like this book and sure there is a lot to think about in this book but I think leaving me so feeling so bad doesn’t really help with the enjoyment element of this book. There were some literary issues I had, but they could be narrowed down to the fact I’m not an American and I don’t fully understand the American lifestyle.

The entire book really showed the disconnection between the military and civil life in this modern day. Americans wants revenge for 9/11 but they are not willing to sacrifice their Thanksgiving football game. This was a powerful book and while it’s not as funny as Catch 22 it does leave you pondering life like Slaughterhouse-Five did for me. As I’ve stated I’m not expert in American life or politics but this did leave me pondering many aspects of this War on Terror.