This is a fine postwar novel in the tradition of others that expressed dehumanization and even nihilism after the catastrophic death and destruction of World War II. Unlike many others (such as The Sheltering Sky, The Stranger), in this one … Continue reading
I have many questions about basic facts of the universe, from “What is sleep for?” to “How do Mirrors Work?” It’s a long list. I’ve attempted to find answers to these questions over the years, unsuccessfully. Usually it’s because I … Continue reading
I signed up for a writer’s conference in Portland, OR, a town I’ve always been fond of. When I lived in Seattle, I often used to take the Amtrak down to Portland for the PDX Jazz Festival and enjoyed the … Continue reading
This is the kind of airport novel I used to read when I traveled a lot. Since then I’ve learned how to read literature with characters who develop self-awareness over time and stories that illuminate the human condition. I’m afraid … Continue reading
This is supposedly more accessible than Gravity’s Rainbow, the ponderous postmodern exercise for which Pynchon won the National Book Award in 1974, although the Pynchon style is the same. This is a lighthearted detective story, with the PI, Doc Sportello trying … Continue reading
Fine writing is the main attraction of this novel, set in Japan and China immediately after WW II. Individual scenes and character gestures are sometimes done with such elegance and grace that the prose verges on poetry. “Until this, war … Continue reading
I’m sketching for my new novel. I have 20 pages of notes, not really an “outline,” as in Roman numerals and all that, but I start out with a blank document divided into three sections, or “acts,” which are, Beginning, … Continue reading
I went into the hospital “for some tests,” as we say. In the ER, I gritted my teeth against abdominal pain as I listened to the moaning and crying around me and smelled the odors of sickness. I endured. Hospitals … Continue reading
This book was recommended to me as an example of how to show characters’ emotions effectively, something I struggle with. It’s the story of a woman whose husband abruptly abandons her for a younger woman, leaving her adrift and with … Continue reading
It’s been a hundred years since Einstein published his General Relativity (Gravity) theory. How time flies when your space-time is curved! Many summary articles have appeared, in The New York Times, Science News, and The Economist, to name just a … Continue reading