Rereading “After the Quake” Monday, Nov 26 2007 

Short stories RC 4:34 am

I just reread this collection of short stories after seeing the Berkeley Rep production of the same name, which is actually a combination of two short stories in this book. I adore Murakami, of course, but short stories are not my favorite genre; I am like the editor in one of the stories who tells the protagonist that short stories are very outdated and he should start writing novels before he completely depletes the resources in his short story universe.

There are a couple of short stories in this collection that I actively dislike: the one about the man with the missing earlobe, for example, I have hated since reading it in Harper’s a million years ago. I think the Mr. Frog Saves Tokyo story is pretty much the best one; that is the main subject of the Berkeley Rep production, so they made a good choice.

There is this one point in the story where a character talks about the denial a person has to sustain to live in an area that could be devastated by an earthquake at any moment, and you could identify all of the newcomers or non-Californians in the audience by a collective shiver. I did not even flinch. I still think earthquakes are better than tornados or hurricanes or living somewhere without good restaurants.

 

Absinthe, election stealing, and newspaper barons Sunday, Nov 18 2007 

History and Novels RC 11:25 pm

I am still totally obsessed with the razzle dazzle,** as discussed in my last post, but am trying to move beyond cocktails to discuss other literary aspects of “1876.”

I adore the Empire series so far, as I am sure I have mentioned before. This is the third in the series. First, there was “Burr,” which is awesome. The chief’s review of this book is forthcoming.

Second, “Lincoln,” which is good in a different way but is much drier and less dishy than “Burr.” Also, I got bored with all the military strategy, but I understand that Gore Vidal, not to mention every other member of the less fair sex, likes that sort of thing.

“1876″ is fun because it takes place in an era I don’t know much about. Also, it reintroduces Charlie Schuyler, the (fictional) narrator of Burr, only now he is kind of a debauched old man. There is a ton of political scheming, and we meet the Sanfords (also fictional), who will turn out to be important in “Washington D.C.” K., if you are getting bored of “Lincoln,” I recommend just skipping ahead to this book. And then we can have an early-American cocktail party — I mean, book club meeting –to discuss.

**I hear that absinthe is accessible over the Internet, even if its legality and historical accuracy are questionable. If anyone wants to explore early American cocktail history with me, we can do further research on the subject.