When I am asked to pick one contemporary author whose books are most likely to be called Great Books in a hundred years, the answer is easy. Cormac McCarthy. The best thing about making predictions for 100 years from now, is that there is no chance of having to explain how I could have been so wrong. Child of God is not McCarthy’s best novel, but it is brilliant in its laser–like precision in asking a question. The novel is about a social outcast, a homeless guy who is loved by nobody, … [Read more...] about Child of God
Great Books
The End of Work
I once mentioned to a friend of mine that I was determined to read more Hermann Hesse. He enthusiastically told me that I simply must read Beneath the Wheel, that it was by far his favorite book by what turns out to be one of his favorite authors. I had no idea that Hesse was among anyone’s favorite authors, let alone someone I knew, let alone someone I knew who didn’t dress in all black with black earrings and black fingernail polish. (Truth be told, I have no idea why I … [Read more...] about The End of Work
Faith of the Unchurched
Is it possible to have faith in the existence of God and not know you have faith? At first glance, that question seems a bit odd. Surely you know if you have faith. Right? Graham Greene’s novel A Burnt-Out Case is a fascinating exploration of this question. The protagonist is a world-famous Catholic architect, Querry, who shows up one day at a leper colony in the middle of the jungle in the Congo. Querry unrelentingly insists throughout the novel that he no longer has faith. … [Read more...] about Faith of the Unchurched
The Oddity of Trust
Trust is a strange thing. I started Melville’s The Confidence-Man expecting a novel. I discovered something else. What? I am not sure what it was. There is a story here, if you define story loosely, very loosely. On a Mississippi riverboat, there are a lot of conversations. The whole book is conversations. There is presumably—it is never stated explicitly—one person—presumably the titular character—again, it is never stated—who … [Read more...] about The Oddity of Trust
Watching the World Go By
"An occasion for serious study and reflection."In the late 19th century, Stephen Crane (shortly before he published The Red Badge of Courage) spent a few years writing accounts of New York City, collected by the ever-invaluable Library of America. In “Coney Island’s Failing Days,” we read this: As we walked toward the station the stranger stopped often to observe types which interested him. He did it with an unconscious calm insolence as if the people were bugs. Once a bug … [Read more...] about Watching the World Go By
Shrinking Man
Richard Matheson’s The Incredible Shrinking Man is, as the title might suggest to the perceptive reader, about a man who shrinks. Being written in the 1950’s, the cause of the shrinking was obviously going to be radiation. People were really worried about radiation in the 1950s. (Now we have become more sophisticated and only worry about radiation when it doesn’t involve giving up our cell phones.) So, at one level the book is just another warning about the horrors of the … [Read more...] about Shrinking Man