There's something problematic about watching movies that reference stories before reading those stories. All the way through this one, I kept picturing Marlon Brando whenever Dr. Moreau would speak, and not even the original Brando, but South Park's version of him!
Nevertheless, I was able to enjoy the book and shut out the visual representations of Dr. Moreau long enough to get a good sense of the original story and the horror the audience must have felt along with the protagonist, Edward, in seeing the creatures that inhabit the island. The most horrific thing of course is the transgression of the line between human and animal, and Wells' morality play creates the kind of horror that makes this transgression clear without bashing the reader over the head with it, in part, because Edward Prendick, through whose eyes we see the events on the island is a bit of a prude and unimaginative while being highly superstitious. It's one of those books where they choice of narrator lets the author pull off what might otherwise fail if the action were seen through another character's eyes.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro
I had read so much about the story, I felt like I knew it before I read it.
Nevertheless, there's a good reason why I heard so much about this story - and that's because it's a well constructed and narrated story. I don't want to go through all the plot points, other than to say that I agree with the critics who say that this isn't about the difference between Japanese dignity and English reticence. I think it's more about the individual characters of the story, and to read national characteristics/critique into the story reduces the richness of it to an allegory, which this most definitely is not.
Nevertheless, there's a good reason why I heard so much about this story - and that's because it's a well constructed and narrated story. I don't want to go through all the plot points, other than to say that I agree with the critics who say that this isn't about the difference between Japanese dignity and English reticence. I think it's more about the individual characters of the story, and to read national characteristics/critique into the story reduces the richness of it to an allegory, which this most definitely is not.
A Maggot John Fowles
I'd never even heard of John Fowles before I started reading post WWII Brit lit criticism, and then he popped up all over the place. He's better known for The French Lieutenant's Woman, but I chose this book to read first because it seemed more relevant to my purposes (of course I read this for a reading list, what else do I read anything for? Oh, yeah, and bookclub)
It's a strange story - a combination of epistle, deposition and narration, that tells the story of what is either a science fiction first contact story OR the ramblings of an insane woman. It's nicely ambiguous that way. And it tells the story of one of the founders of the quakers, which was interesting for me, since I knew nothing at all about that sect (though this isn't a big part of the book). The structure of the book contributes to its ambiguity because it does not rely on a single narrative voice.
It's a strange story - a combination of epistle, deposition and narration, that tells the story of what is either a science fiction first contact story OR the ramblings of an insane woman. It's nicely ambiguous that way. And it tells the story of one of the founders of the quakers, which was interesting for me, since I knew nothing at all about that sect (though this isn't a big part of the book). The structure of the book contributes to its ambiguity because it does not rely on a single narrative voice.