Despite Mother Nature's best efforts to frustrate us—what with below average temps, copious snow, and lots of overcast days—we've managed to negotiate another winter here in Hog Heaven without kicking the dog or beating the wife. Of course, we don't have a dog and the wife hits back. And, alas, winter likely isn't over. Only meteorological winter (Dec. 1 thru March 1). But, let's not put too fine a point on things. The worst of winter is surely behind us, and we can choose to be optimistic.
As depressing as the depths of winter can be, it does offer a ready excuse to stay inside and read by the fire. And, read we did. Besides the stuff required by our editor at Publishers Weekly, we also found time for another overlooked (by us) classic, a mystery set in Seoul's notorious red-light district as the Vietnam War was winding down, and a psychological novel set in post-World War II Jerusalem.
The classic, although lots of literary scholars and high-brow critics wouldn't agree with that assessment, is Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. Lots of my contemporaries were reading this—and Rand's masterpiece Atlas Shrugged—when I was an undergraduate, but I wasn't tempted. I wouldn't have liked it then anyway. I wasn't ready.
Published in 1943 to mixed reviews, The Fountainhead is the story of architect-hero Howard Roark who steadfastly refuses to compromise either his sense of self or his architectural principles—essentially that form follows function—in order to please others. An early reflection of Rand's philosophical principles, the novel celebrates individualism, self-reliance, and reason.
Ignored by literary scholars, the novel spread through word-of-mouth and eventually became an international best-seller and spawned a 1949 film version. Rand's books, which also endorse laissez-faire capitalism and limited government, continue to sell some 800,000 copies annually, and Atlas Shrugged topped a 1999 Modern Library readers' poll of 100 Best Novels. The Fountainhead also made the list.
QUOTABLE
"'A house can have integrity, just like a person and just as seldom.'"
"'The shortest distance between two points is not a straight line—it's a middle man.'"
"It's so much easier to pass judgment on a man than on an idea."
"'I don't work with collectives. I don't consult, I don't cooperate, I don't collaborate.'"
"'There is no substitute for competence.'"
"'Every form of happiness is private.'"
"A leash is only a rope with a noose at both ends."
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The mystery is Jade Lady Burning, a first novel by retired career soldier Martin Limon. Limon's heroes are a couple of cynical Army investigators, Ernie Bascom and George Sueno, assigned to the U.S. 8th Army Headquarters in Seoul, South Korea. When a local prostitute is found dead, suspicion falls on her GI boyfriend. The boyfriend is soon arrested, and despite the absence of evidence against him, Eighth Army and the South Korean police are quick to close the case. Not so Bascom and Sueno who risk life and limb to find out what really happened to the "Jade Lady."
I can't remember now why I read this one, but it does feature a couple of engaging anti-heroes in Bascom and Sueno.
QUOTABLE
"A woman just didn't have all that much appeal to him if he couldn't lather her down and chase her around the latrine."
"[Lieutenant Leibowitz was] your typical infantry officer. All spit and polish. No brains."
"It's [fast dancing] intended to make men look ridiculous."
"'Every girl in this country [South Korea] has been sexually abused.'"
"A GI with a clipboard can do no wrong.'"
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The psychological character study is Olivia Manning's School for Love. I read this one while waiting for New York Review of Books Classics to bring out a new edition of Manning's better known Balkan Trilogy.
Set in chaotic Jerusalem at the end of World War II, School for Love examines the interplay among a menagerie of misplaced Europeans: Ethel Bohun, who runs a local boarding house; her tenants (Felix, a teenage orphan waiting to return to England; the penurious Mr. Jewel; and Mrs. Ellis, a pretty young war widow); and her cook (Frau Leszno, a Polish widower).
As the story unfolds, several threads emerge: Miss Bohun, hypocrite, petty tyrant, and founding member of the apocalyptic "Ever-Ready Group of Wise Virgins," schemes for secular advantage while waiting for the Second Coming; young Felix, adrift following the sudden death of his beloved mother, develops a school boy crush on the pregnant widow, Mrs. Ellis; and Frau Leszno, whose deceased husband first owned the boarding house, is unceremoniously disenfranchised by Miss Bohun.
The characters share a house, but they also share a sense of being adrift in a cruel world. What they need is an anchor. And what makes a better anchor than love? Of course, they're looking for love in all the wrong places. And, that's something we can relate to.
QUOTABLE
"'Women aren't made to get on together.'"
"'I don't know as love always goes to the most deserving.'"
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This month (March), I'll be reading lots of manuscripts as one of the judges for Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. See here for details: http://www.amazon.com/b?node=332264011
This is my third time around, and I'm looking forward to some interesting fictional debuts. I'm also expecting some late nights and bleary eyes too.
Monday, March 1, 2010
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