Mortality, Hitchcock and the metaphysical; beauty in New York; and democratic adventures in the brave new world of Jackson’s America... all-American and art focused is the best way to sum up my reading over the last few weeks. The books and the case for each, below.
The case: reflecting on art and beauty and reaffirming that I’m lucky to be an only child... Peter Harris is a forty-three year old art dealer searching for the real deal: an artist who creates masterful and beautiful art. Instead his search leads him towards his wife’s beautiful but troubled f***-up of a younger brother. Unsettling from the moment you clock where Peter may be headed, the novel is itself a thing of beauty, filled with the kind of longing and resignation with which you’d rather not identify. The plethora of literary and artistic references Michael Cunningham has loaded into his prose can occasionally grate, but if you make like me, eschew Wikipedia and embrace your ignorance it’s still a compelling read.
The book: Parrot and Olivier in America
The case: My book group didn’t like it (pretty unanimously) but I thought it was wonderful. These things are subjective you say? No, it’s clear that they are wrong. From the celerifere sketch on page 2, I was riveted. Peter Carey was inspired by the writings of French political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville and has created his own guillotine-scarred aristocrat, Olivier de Garmont, loosely based on Tocqueville. As the title suggests, he partners Olivier with Parrot, an English servant with a chequered background in art and printing via Botany Bay and sends them off to America together, unhappily, to witness democracy in action. The result is a cheeky, surprising and colourfully written tale, using language that’s florid in an enticing, entertaining, never (though I must admit that the book group don’t agree with me) boring way.
The book: Point Omega
The case: Don DeLillo’s latest novel is a long, short read: at only 148 pages it took me the better part of a week to finish. It's inspired by, and opens and closes with scenes that take place at, an installation of 24 Hour Psycho, an artwork which slows the Hitchcock film down to run over 24 hours. Part murder mystery, part reflection on the metaphysical, Point Omega requires careful reading. DeLillo decelerates his characters, their thoughts and actions, shepherding them out into a desert location where the days run into each other and life is drawn out. Overall, interesting if not exactly enjoyable.
The case: Don DeLillo’s latest novel is a long, short read: at only 148 pages it took me the better part of a week to finish. It's inspired by, and opens and closes with scenes that take place at, an installation of 24 Hour Psycho, an artwork which slows the Hitchcock film down to run over 24 hours. Part murder mystery, part reflection on the metaphysical, Point Omega requires careful reading. DeLillo decelerates his characters, their thoughts and actions, shepherding them out into a desert location where the days run into each other and life is drawn out. Overall, interesting if not exactly enjoyable.
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