The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
This is a special friend's favorite book, so reading this was neat in and of itself. Thankfully, this was also an enjoyable and heartening read.
Set in New York during the times of world war II, this story follows immigrant comic-book artist Joe Kavalier and his savvy business partner and best friend Sam Clay as they take the world by storm through their best-selling comic books. While they are, admittedly, limited (they don't have many other skills, friends, or opportunities) we fall in love with this duo. This is, I think, partly because their journey is so entertaining, and partly because we measure people not by talent, but by their growth rate (c.f David Brooks Life Report). The book raises the conflicts between a) making art vs selling it and b) "high" art vs "low" art. They make their money selling "trash", as their bosses call it, but Joe becomes frustrated and wants to make a comic he considers to be "high" art. At one point, his partner Sam explicitly states that comic books are a lower form of art, but changes his mind when he sees the brilliance Joe creates. As someone who enjoys both Great Books ("high art") and contemporary rap music ("low art"), and sees genius in both, this was confirming, (or at the very least, fodder for rationalization).
Utilitarian Jeremy Bentham wrote that, as long as people get the same benefit and enjoyment, pushpin is as good as poetry. For example, Mozart = Mos Def, Hemingway = Harry Potter, etc. While i agree on the enjoyment part, I'm a bit hesitant to admit the that pushpin is -- always -- just as beneficial as poetry.
Wuthering Heights
This was awful. Not awful in the juicy, Twilight sort of way -- it was actually very well-written, it's a classic for a reason -- but awful because it's deliberately and decidedly painful. It follows inherently contemptuous and spiteful characters as they drown in their own depravity. Ripe with tones of religious self-righteousness, as well as subtle criticisms of those tones, this book is a big train wreck-- it's the 18th century, more "high-brow"(?), version of the MTV show, The Real World.
A confession: While it pains me to say this, I kinda sorta liked it. Going through a tough week at the time, I enjoyed reading about the misery of others in such a comical and exaggerated -- yet seemingly real -- way. I'd be curious to hear what someone else thought of this book, especially if they think it's worth reading.
The Brothers Karamazov
In a recent Charlie Rose interview, David Brooks remarked that novelists, in addition to defining the generation, used to set the morals of the day. In Russia, you were either a Tolstoy or Dostoyeski person, and this said something about you and what you believed in. I'm not sure which I am yet, though, I must say, this was a beautiful book.
It's a 800 page murder-mystery, character study, and religious & intellectual inquiry. The hero, a young monk named Aloysha, is the messenger, confidant, and moral compass of the story. Even if he's a bit parochial in his views, his religious thirst for life and ability to forgive is something I desire to emulate.
(SPOILER ALERT)
Notice the differences between Tolstoy and Dostoyeski's works. In War & Peace, Pierre marries the women he's loved since the beginning of the story. In The Brothers Karamazov, there is a bitter love triangle right until the very end, in which love is characterized as, unexpectedly, but not apologetically, arbitrary and whimsical, and driven by sex and circumstance. In Tolstoy, Pieerre is sullen and gloomy his entire life until he undergoes immeasurable suffering, which, in reviving his spirit and soul, creates a hero out of him. Whether there is a God or not, War or Peace, he decidedly, and perhaps too easily, loves life: its conversations, its patterns, its flaws, and neither asks nor expects anything more. Dostoyeski, on the contrary, ends with Alyosha, our hero, finding solace solely in suffering mandated by God. Pierre's hasty and sudden contentment and security, as well as Alyosha's questionable rationalizations and unwavering faith both leave us with the burning question: are these characters worthy heroes, lucky fools, or, perhaps, both?
Books for Next Month
Emile by Rosseau // A Sentimental Education by Flaubert // Paidea: The Ideas of Greek Culture // Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Freire // and one of John Dewey's works
Next month is my "Education" theme (more info forthcoming). If any of these catch your interest, I invite you to read one of these and join the conversation.
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