John Dies at the End

John Dies at the End
by David Wong
read: 2020

Equal parts funny and disturbing. I didn't see the twist at the end coming despite the introduction foreshadowing it.

Candide

Candide
by Voltaire
read: ~1997
Guardian 1000 Novels

I read this back in high school and enjoyed it, though that was a while ago and I don't remember too much. "All that is very well, but let us cultivate our garden."

The Heart of the Matter

The Heart of the Matter
by Graham Greene
read: 2020
Time 100 Novels, Modern Library #40

The story arc of The Heart of the Matter takes us through the betrayals, compromises, and infidelities of well-meaning Henry Scobie, as he betrays his job, his wife, his integrity, his religion, and his soul. Spoilers ahead.

Two themes stand out to me: one is the misery involved in the human condition. Scobie's daughter dies young. Scobie's wife Louise is unhappy, and when Scobie has an affair he finds his new mistress just as unhappy. Pemberton, a young soldier, commits suicide. A ship is sunk many die, including a young child who survives days of exposure at sea before finally succumbing. If there is a God, is He capriciously cruel?

Pointlessness is the other theme that stands out. Actions rarely have consequences. Wilson is investigating Scobie the whole time, but cannot pin anything on him even though Scobie eventually does help smugglers. Scobie fails to keep his affair secret, and his wife finds out, but it doesn't matter. Scobie is passed over for Commissioner, then gets the job, then doesn't wind up taking it. The one daring chance Scobie takes for Helen, writing her a letter, never reaches her. Scobie takes great pains to plan his suicide so it will be taken as a natural death, but Wilson finds him out. And even that suicide, which Scobie does with the understanding that it will damn his soul forever, may not condemn him in the end. On the book's final page, Louise talks to Father Rank, who tells her, "[D]on't imagine you—or I—know a thing about God's mercy ... The Church knows all the rules. But it doesn't know what goes on in a single human heart."

In light of these two themes, how do we judge Scobie? Does it matter that he tried to reduce the misery of others, at all turns, even at great cost? Does it matter that he failed? Does anything matter?

White Fang

White Fang
by Jack London
read: approximately 1996

See The Call of the Wild.

Giovanni's Room

Giovanni's Room
by James Baldwin
read: 2020
Guardian 1000 Novels

During February, Black History Month, I usually try to read books by African-American authors. An interesting element of Giovanni's Room is that virtually all the characters are white, with Baldwin exploring sexuality, rather than race. Protagonist David struggles with his feelings for the titular Giovanni. Ultimately, it's debatable whether David is gay or bi-sexual, but the larger issue is that he's afraid of his feelings and denies himself happiness. He can't be happy with Giovanni, nor with his fiancee Hella.

The Cider House Rules

The Cider House Rules
by John Irving
read: circa 2002

The Cider House Rules was the first Irving novel I read. There's a lot I remember—child abuse, a spouse lost at war, infidelity (and keeping markers of it), "Good night you princes of Maine, you kings of New England," abortion, ether—but mostly I remember hair.

NW

NW
by Zadie Smith
read: 2020

NW contains three sections, each in a different voice corresponding to a major character, and each in a distinct style, similar to The Sound and the Fury or As I Lay Dying. But I found that style difficult to get into with Faulkner, and I similarly found NW less approachable than Zadie Smith's other work.