More Kafka

I think it is safe to assume that my brief foray into the world of Kafka has come to an end. As much as I enjoyed reading The Metamorphosis, I should have just left it there.  The two other Kafka short stories I have read today have not been nearly so enjoyable, or understandable, to me.

In the Penal Colony (1919)

This is a very barbaric story that opens with a "traveller" to a strange land being instructed on the workings of a complex torture device.  Out of courtesy to the readers of this blog I won't go into any more of the very gory details. The story is very compelling; you know something awful is about to happen and like the traveller, who is there as a witness, the reader is utterly powerless to do anything about it. Part of the tension comes from wondering if the traveller will step in to alter events. 

The story is immensely clever, exploring ideas of justice, being morally conflicted and not sure what to do, and some really unpleasant ideas about torture and suffering, but it is just too weird and unpleasant for me.

The Country Doctor (1919)

This is a brief short story that I really did not like. The subject is unpleasant and it is so surreal that I couldn't really grasp what Kafka is trying to say.  The story opens with an old country doctor making a late night flight to the bedside of a sick boy.  He can't find a horse and so it appears his maid is exchanged for the use of two very fast horses.  On arriving at the sick bed, the doctor is unable to treat the boy who has a very macabre wound, and the family of the boy try to prevent the doctor from leaving, he escapes through a window into the freezing night and presumably spends the rest of his life (the symbolism is dense, I couldn't really understand what was happening) riding helplessly around naked on the horses, disillusioned and dejected.

Overall I find Kafka's writing intriguing, but too dark for me.  When his work began to circulate in the first half of the twentieth century I am sure it must have created an enormous stir amongst the progressive literary types.  If you want to experience the brilliance without suffering nightmares or significant confusion, The Metamorphosis is well worth reading.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

I have always wanted to read this, I think partially because so many modern authors cite Kafka as an influence.  I guess I always thought that Kafka was one of those writers that is often quoted and cited as much by reputation as anything else.  And I think I might have assumed that I wouldn't find his writing accessible.  I was wrong, I really enjoyed this novella, or longish short story; it's a weird and wonderful tale.

The Metamorphosis, originally written in German, is a novella in three parts that charts the changing relationship of a young man, Gregor, with his family.  The story opens with him waking up one morning to find he has been transformed into a large, bug-like insect.  Gregor has spent the previous five years working to support his parents and younger sister, in a job he doesn't like.  His transformation forces his family to change.  I think this is the underlying thrust of the story.

The story is told in a very understated, matter of fact, third person narrative, from the perspective of Gregor.  The writing is deceptively simple and this certainly adds to the horror of Gregor's plight.  Gregor does not seem all that alarmed by becoming an insect, certainly not at the beginning.  He is more worried about what his boss will think because he has missed his train.  His passivity is frustrating, but I am sure that is the point.

I loved how Kafka simply, but surely, creates this bug transformation.  It is so real!  Kafka thinks of everything, and absolutely convinces the reader of what it would be like to find oneself trying to survive in your bedroom, at the mercy of your family, as a giant bug.  All the little details, like the mobility challenges, the eating challenges, are recreated in this rather engrossing and disturbing tale.  China Mieville has similar weirdly transformed human-animal, human-machine characters in some of his novels.

In short, I found myself enjoying The Metamorphosis on a couple of levels.  It is both simple and complicated.  The story is plainly and dispassionately told, which increases the impact of what has happened to Gregor one hundred fold.  The themes are complex, and I am sure I have not figured it all out.  I certainly think it is some sort of cautionary tale, that also must relate to the era it was published in (1915), about making oneself a slave to others at the expense of one's own needs.

If you are like I was, and thought that Kafka, might be a bit much, I would encourage you to read this, it doesn't take long, and it is absorbing and entirely original. Reading The Metamorphosis makes me curious about Kafka, he must have been quite an individual, way ahead, or at the very least, outside, of his time and his surrounds. I look forward to learning more about him.

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford

Occasionally I succumb to those lists that tell us what to read.  The Good Soldier (1915) by English author Ford Madox Ford appears in most of those "Best novels.."  or  "100 best English-language novels of the twentieth century" type lists, and I was curious to see what all the fuss was about, because apart from seeing the novel in those lists, I had not heard of it.

The novel is set at the beginning of the twentieth century, before WWI.  It focuses on the friendship between two upper class couples, John and Florence Dowell from the US and Eward and Leonora Ashburnham who are landed gentry in England.  The couples meet in a German health spa.  The novel is told in the first person by the American, John Dowell, and centres around his explanation of the downfall of his friend Edward, the good soldier of the title.

I have mixed feelings about this book, that I think are partially influenced by my high expectations going in that were not fully realised.  The subject matter of the book reminds me alot of Somerset Maugham novels, which I love, all of the, behind the acceptable social veneer of "happy couples."  Maugham goes in for alot of the transatlantic comparisons of social mores in the first part of twentieth century too.  Maybe reminiscent of F Scott Fitzgerald also.

Structurally the book is very unusual and I would say ground breaking for its time.  The narrator is unreliable (trust me, this is not much of a spoiler, because it is very subtle compared to the unreliable narrators that have been used since), and the story is told in out of sequence flashbacks.  It is all very clever, and I found myself engaged and eager to arrive at the end, as there is a growing tension in the narration; from the outset the reader is made aware that there is something inconsistent in the storytelling.

The novel is packed with clever symbolism. A motif of the heart is used repeatedly to good effect.  The story begins at the German health spa because two of the partners have "heart" difficulties.  There is lots of talk of weak hearts etc, and that is what this story is really all about.  The characters all lack personal insight into their own hearts and for this reader at least, seemed quite heartless.

But you know, clever and "stylistically perfect" as I have heard the novel lauded, does not necessarily equal an enjoyable or "I love it" reading experience does it?  I did not love it.  Mostly because all of the characters are so unlikeable and joyless.  And I am sure that is the point.  I am sure Madox Ford is writing about some sort of self-absorption of the upper classes in England leading up to WWI.  As a study in relationships, or relationships between married couples, I would much rather read Somerset Maugham.  The Dowells and the Ashburnhams are equally awful and his depiction of the women in the story seems unusually harsh. But that is part of the plotting cleverness as it is all tied up in the narration and form of the story.  Even so, the female characters are either painted as domineering and cold, or soulless and wanton.  And again I think this is the point, our narrator is very sympathetic to Edward, the good soldier, and perhaps is speaking to the sadness of his plight.  Well this female reader was left fairly unmoved by the male characters feeling sorry for themselves, and behaving badly none the less.

I would love to know if others have read this and what they think.  It is a classic book, I was just left a bit disappointed. It is however the sort of book I would consider rereading, because there is so much to the structure, I am sure some of the subtleties were missed by me, the first time round.

Jack London "The Call of the Wild"

What a surprise package this book turned out to be.  I absolutely loved it.  The Call of the Wild is about Buck, a large domesticated dog who lives a very comfortable life in California.  A disreputable servant of his master, sells him into servitude to pay a gambling debt.  Poor Buck is taken to work as a sled dog in the Yukon territory of Canada during the Klondike Gold Rush at the end of the nineteenth century.  Buck's life as a working dog is fraught with danger and hardship but he adjusts to life in the harness, in the frozen wilderness, and starts to experience yearnings to be free in the wild as his ancestors once were.

I was completely captivated by Buck and his experiences from the first page to the last.  Jack London takes us inside Buck and his metamorphosis from domesticated dog to wild hunter.  The action sequences in the novel (and there are many) are brilliantly told.  It is really edge of your seat stuff.  The language is simple, beautiful and evocative.   The fights, the ceaseless toil and the flights through the forest in pursuit of prey, are incredible.  I can see all of it as I write this now.  Jack London's writing is magic; you don't even notice the writing.  The reader is effortlessly transported to the frozen north and can hear every gnashing of teeth and cracking of the whip.  The writing is tight, not a word wasted.  It is so real.  Yes I haven't gone mad, this tale, told from the point of view of a dog is very real.  And not only is it real but as the reader I cared so much about this dog.  I don't even like dogs that much for goodness sake, but Buck well and truly found his way into my heart.

The novel is quite violent in parts.  The dogs are subjected to vicious cruelty by some of the humans in the story. There is also an ongoing struggle for supremacy amongst the dogs themselves.  It all works and adds to the tension, but I think children would find it all a bit much.

The themes explored in the book include loyalty, bravery and love.  In many way these themes are amplified because we see them enacted through Buck.  Then there is the "call of the wild" itself.  The idea that we carry buried deep inside, something elemental and essential from our ancestors that links us to nature, exploring new frontiers and a kill or be killed way of life.  But yes I know I am going on. I can't really explain why The Call of the Wild works so well, and why the trials of Buck moved me, except to suggest that it is a simple adventure story brilliantly told.

George Orwell "Animal Farm"

I have to say as clever as this book is, it is not at all my cup of tea. Animal Farm is a novella that falls under the category of an allegorical dystopia. What this means is that is describes a fictitious landscape that is the opposite of a utopia and it does this through symbolism not literally. George Orwell wrote Animal Farm in 1945 as a commentary and warning on the rise of the Stalinist regime in Russia. In Animal Farm the farm animals rise up in revolution against the human owners and run the farm themselves. All the original good intentions of the revolution are obliterated by the animal leaders' corruption, greed and brutality.

There are some themes in the novella that still have relevance today. The use of fear based politics can sometimes still be seen in our modern western democracies. That said I found this small book hard going. It is was partly the whole suspension of disbelief thing. In this case, the animals working farm machinery on their own and building things etc, was difficult to go along with. Or maybe I just lack the right sort of imagination for this style of book. I will say the ending scenes are powerful. The story becomes more and more disturbing as it goes along, in keeping with the revolutionary dream becoming a nightmare theme. Orwell captures this very well. I am glad I read this twentieth century classic, without really being able to recommend it as an enjoyable read. I can however imagine the enormous stir it would have caused when it was originally published, and it would still be crucial reading for anyone interested in the politics of the era.

W Somerset Maugham "The Razor's Edge"

I have been dipping back into authors of the past. To this end my choices are sometimes guided by my mother's taste in reading, or at least what I know and remember of what she liked. Mum was a voracious and intelligent reader. Maugham's novels were not amongst my mother's favourites (I don't think) although she did like his short stories. But I know this sort of writing is the sort of thing she enjoyed. I have read some of Maugham's short stories myself: "The Luncheon" instantly springs to mind, and they are, withough question,"fabulous darling."

Maugham's writing is all about the characters. "The Razor's Edge" is no exception. The story is interestingly and masterfully told by Maugham himself. Maugham is a character in the story. He crosses paths with the three other main characters who happen to be American: Isabel a delightful but spoiled young woman; Elliot an American ex pat who resides in France and prides himself on mixing with only the best people; and Larry, a young American whose experiences as a fighter pilot during World War I send him on a quest to find meaning in life.

Maugham is an Englishman who was born and spent much of his life in France. As such he is very clear in this novel that he does not pretend to know what it is like to be an American and usually writes from a English or European perspective. One is given the sense that he greatly admires the American spirit and wants to do his American characters justice. We are led to believe that his characters in the novel are based on people he knew personally. The story unfolds ingeniously through the characters voices themselves as he catches up with them from time to time over the years. And for all of that the themes in this novel have less to do with the American character and more to do with individual character. I think in any western culture the equivalents of his main protagonists can be found. And found as much today as at the time the novel takes place in the early decades of the twentieth century.

I really enjoyed this novel and was very surprised to find it so compelling. The plot is thin, it is more about the characters' life choices and subsequent journeys. The times do play a part as events of the first third of the twentieth century leave their mark on the people in the story. Most notably the first world war and then the Wall Street crach in 1929. There are also themes about good and evil. Maugham succeeds in not preaching or making moral judgements yet still at times really gets to the very heart of his characters. Throughout the novel the characters are consistent and entertaining.

First published in 1944 "The Razor's Edge" has alot to offer the present day reader. There is plenty of tension and the themes resonate as much today as they did in the 1940s. I particularly like that Maugham does not take the moral high ground but lets each reader draw what they need from the narrative. And I think there is much to be drawn from it. I look forward to reading other Maughan novels and comparing them to this one which I believe he wrote relatively late in his career.

Patrick Suskind "Perfume"

"Perfume" is thorougly engrossing. It is like a heavy scent that you can't resist smelling over and over but never really sure if you would want to wear it yourself. Like scent, it is a novel that really needs to be experienced rather than merely described.

Perfume connected me to my own sense of smell, and strangely you feel like you are smelling your way through the book in addition to reading it.

Perfume is the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille who is born in Paris in 1738. As a new born baby Grenouille is found abandoned in a pile of rubbish. The story follows Grenouille's life and the troubled relationship he has with his fellow man.

I really dislike reviews that give substantial parts of a plot away in any case. I feel that my enjoyment of the novel "Perfume" partially comes from the fact I knew nothing about it and the Penguin Classic book cover gave very little away about the story within.

In many ways this is a very intimate depiction of a soul who feels thorougly cut off from, and superior to, everyone else in the world. Grenouille is insane; we walk in his shoes and it is very disturbing.

The language is powerful and arresting. It was only after I finished reading this book that I learned that the novel was originally written in German. I can't imagine that anything has been lost in the translation as the story flows beautifully. The narrative builds slowly and crescendos horrifically. I had to reread the ending a couple of times because I initially couldn't take in the full hideous implications of it. With that, it is a thorougly satisfying ending.

Perfume is like a truly grotesque piece of art that you can't take your eyes off. It is original and confronting and really does make you think about your relationship with your own sense of smell. I loved it........I think.