Subject: books and stuff
Susan_Baskett@mail.pc2k.com
Date: Thu May 29 1997 - 07:22:16 GMT
> i don't think very highly of mailer, either. funny how he managed to
be included in the list by appearing on the
> show himself...he also had some horrid line about how you could rip
out any 100 pages of heller's catch-22 and no
< one would even notice. bellow and updike never moved me either, at
least not in any writing longer than the essay.
> my personal preferences are milan kundera/ivan klima, and toni
morrison.
That comment he made about Catch-22 is unforgiveable! It is an
absolutely brilliant book - After I finished it I thought for a long time
that if I ever had a son I would name him Yossarian (thank God I didn't
have a child around that time!). Yossarian was such an amazing character
- In high school I freaked my English teacher out by writing a paper
comparing Wuthering Heights to Catch-22, asserting that Catch-22 was a
much better book and that Yossarian and Nurse Duckett were a much more
interesting pair than Heathcliff and Catherine. I mentioned that I found
it frustrating that in our society good ole' Heathcliff and Cathy were
the names of the two cat lovers in the cartoon/comic strip "Heathcliff."
I think cats named Yossarian and Nurse Duckett (okay, the Nurse Duckett
might sound a bit odd) would have been much cooler. . . Yossarian was
such a hip cat anyway. And they could have had an interesting sidekick
buddy called Major Major Major Major. . . OK, I'm going way off here. . .
Anyway, Catch-22 is one of my top three favorites: Catcher and The Lords
of Discipline by Pat Conroy are the other two. I'd be interested to know
if any of you read Conroy. I think The Lords of Discipline is one of the
finest books ever but I don't meet many people who have read it. Conroy
created such an incredible character in Will Mclean and I have the utmost
respect for his talent for vivid, breathtaking description. I think he
has a gift, like Salinger, for being able to convey the essence of a
character by describing him/her in only few lines (or even one line). I
remember in L of D he was describing this wealthy, old , alcoholic
southern woman whose beauty had faded and who had basically seen better
days. He simply wrote, "She wore defeat like a piece of cheap jewelry."
I love that line. But I'm going off on another tangent here - so what do
you guys think about Conroy?
And from those three favorite books of mine come my three favorite
characters: Holden, Yossarian and Will Mclean. . . I wonder what that
says about my taste in men. . . ?
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