by ELG Gray

Portnoy’s Complaint

Pager turner: 6/10
Heart tugger: 5/10
Thought provoker: 6/10
Overall: 3 stars

Portnoy’s Complaint is funny. And a relief! It isn’t (I don’t think) a book that I would put on the top 100 list of the 20th century (it came 52nd), but it is enjoyable and I appreciate it for its unconventional and ballsy approach to writing.

Alex Portnoy is the narrator, and frankly, the book is a massive diatribe. He is a 33-year-old Jewish man in New Jersey/New York living in the ’60s and obsessed with sex. His life – his overbearing parents, scorning of God whilst maintaining Jewish customs, everything – fulfills all stereotypes. But he still has a few good adventures as he recounts his life stories and rails against his misfortunes and his psyche. And did I mention he was obsessed with sex? Let’s just say there were a few moments reading on the morning train that I was concerned about what other passengers might think of me if they were reading over my shoulder.

If you are put off by a little bit of explicitness, definitely don’t pick this up. And imagine how it must have been received in its day! It caused a tremendous stir, and I can’t but respect him and his publishers for putting it to press. If you are able to push past some obscenities and offensive words to catch the humor (and a bit of irony) of Alex screeching in all caps, ‘LET’S PUT THE ID BACK IN YID’, then definitely give this book a go.

Subtlety is not Roth’s strength; by the end I definitely felt I had ‘gotten it’ about 5 times over. But he does manage to capture Alex’s great frustration and outrage as he sits, fuming, on the psychologist’s sofa. I was outraged with him, if occasionally somewhat more amused and embarrassed by his anecdotes than he was.

I suspect this book is on the list because it was so unprecedented when published. A trailblazer, of sorts, in socially accepted digs at religion, americana, and sex. And it is done in good humor, or so at least I choose to read it. But, given that after all it really is a massive rant I don’t quite think I can give it more than a solid 3.

12.12.13

by ELG Gray

Vernon God Little

Page turner: 4/10
Heart tugger: 3/10
Thought provoker: 6/10
Overall: 2 stars

I got frustrated and read the last chapter of Vernon God Little when I was about half way through the book.

I got a serious telling off at work: ‘…who *does* that!?’

But I just couldn’t help it! What at first seems edgy and full of well-deployed vernacular just gets tedious. Everything everything is ‘fucken’ this and ‘fucken that’ and ‘up your asshole’ ‘shit shit shit’. Vernon, the teenage boy whose story you read, also has something of a bum/butt/ass/anal obsession going on. The book is a satire on the worst parts of American culture; so anything ‘obsessive’ is understandable in the characters, but I have my limits of understanding. So, I wanted to know if the story was really going to go anywhere, or if it would be an annoying, whiny, book. The good news was that I actually liked the ending. It’s sharp.

Having read the pretty good ending, I read the few chapters before that. They were alright. Shed a lot of light on the plot and in so doing, also were a lot more fluid that the jilted curse-word-narrated style of the rest of the book. As it happens, the book is about a high-school shooting in Texas. The teenage Vernon is the childhood friend of the murder (indelicately named Jesus), and is heavily implicated as a second shooter in the massacre. The book features homophobia, xenophobia, obesity, reality TV, gun ownership, and the death penalty for minors. And it is set in Texas. And of course his mother is a weirdo.

In the end, I did read the book. Just a bit see-saw like. At the end of it I do respect Pierre for ‘going for the jugular’ and for managing to tell a story with such harsh language. But I really just felt it lacked finesse, which to me, is what a satire should really be able to say is its forte. The story is simultaneously out-there and predictable; to the point where it became nearly impossible to empathize. And, given the subject matter, for all of the occasionally humorous quips – it wasn’t fun.

I can see potential in a daring author, but I’m not sure the execution (pardon the pun – but I can’t resist) worked this time.

11.09.13

by ELG Gray

The Great Gatsby

Page turner: 7/10
Heart tugger: 8/10
Thought provoker: 8/10
Overall: 4 stars

I really, really liked The Great Gatsby.

Also: Liking it was a pleasant surprise.

I – like most other teenagers in America- read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald in high school, and I remember feeling broadly ambivalent about it. But I think at the time I was looking for a happy ending, and my frustration and disappointment in the characters in the book meant my teenage self equated that with not liking the book. Whereas perhaps I should have realized that a book that could Make me feel disappointed might actually have something going for it. And actually, reading it now a decade and a half later (ish), I would quite happily read it again.

The thing is that this book is stunning. The language is descriptive, evocative, and meaningful without being overly descriptive. Which is particularly impressive given the opulence of the setting. After all, it takes place amid the extremely privileged crowds of New York and Long Island in 1922. Readers float along with the narrator, Nick Carraway, as he at first interprets his roaring life amongst the likes of the great Jay Gatsby as, potentially, the American Dream.

“There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam.”

I liken my experience of this book to that of my recollection of dreams: occasionally vivid but often overwhelming and blurry. And when I wake up I have an intense feeling of some emotion, without being quite sure how I got it. Yes, reading Gatsby is like having a dream, waking up, going back to sleep, and then having a bit of a nightmare.

I love Nick’s restraint, even as the dream-turns-nightmare. In the telling of events he states truth more often than his interpretation of it, so that when he does express his disapproval you feel it (and a warmness for him) all the more. But the way he paints a picture of the room as he enters it really what is outstanding – I don’t think I can now ever forget the white statuesque stances of Daisy and Miss Baker when he first visits them.

The Great Gatsby is a beautiful book. It is well worth overcoming your teenage impressions and giving it a re-read, and I can see why it is so high up the Modern Library’s list (though I am not-yet sure about being 2nd). I apologize to my 10th (11th?) grade English teacher. I am also horrified I can’t remember which year I read it. I might even open it again soon – at which point I reserve the right to give it 5 stars.