Rabbit Redux by John Updike

 (Book Review)

And so I continue onto the next book in John Updike’s Rabbit series. This next book, Rabbit Redux, is one of those rare examples of a sequel that is arguably more famous than its predecessor because it works both as the continuation of the troubled domestic life of Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, the former high school basketball star who never was able to settle into life once he left his basketball glories behind, and as a time piece from the 60s. In this next book, Rabbit ends up living together in a house with Jill, a teenage hippy who has run away from her rich parents, and Skeeter, a pseudo Black revolutionary.

I never experienced the 60s myself. Although my ex-girlfriend was fond of saying to me, “You know more about the 60s than most people I know who lived through it.” And (if I can say this without sounding arrogant) my conversations with baby-boomers have led me to believe that’s probably true. At least as far as big news events or historical facts go. But I don’t have a sense of what it was like to actually be alive at the time.

I think there are two fallacies we often fall into when we try and picture the past. One (as I mentioned in my review of the first Rabbit book) is the tendency to assume previous generations were never alive as vibrantly as we are, or didn't experience the full range of emotion of modern civilized man.

The opposite fallacy is to romanticize the past, and think that is when the excitement really happened. I often find myself thinking, “My generation has been raised on cable TV, video games, computers and the internet. These days everyone just sits in front of the TV at home. But back in the day people actually used to have lives. They would actually go out and do exciting stuff in their free time.”

What was most interesting to me about “Rabbit Redux” is the portrayal of how boring suburban life was even back in the 60s. The demonstrations and inner city riots are all stuff that happens on the TV, and might as well be in another country. Rabbit and his family waste just as much time sitting around the TV as people do today. There was just less on back then.

Of course the changing times are represented by Jill and Skeeter and the new community they form in Rabbit’s house. But neither of these characters really came alive for me as well as the characters in the original Rabbit story. In the hands of a less skilled writer, they would easily have become walking 60s stereo-types. It’s hard for anyone to write about the 60s without resorting to stereo-typed characters, and apparently it was just as hard at the time. I think John Updike manages to avoid this trap, but just barely.

The thing about the 60s, like any decade, is that the scope of human experience is broad enough that you can write about it in several different ways and have them all be correct. For instance Jill is portrayed as a spoiled rich kid who likes to repeat revolutionary slogans she doesn't really understand and still expects people to clean up after her like her parents’ maids used to. Skeeter comes off almost just as scatterbrained, plus sex crazed and egotistical. And I’m sure there were people like that back then. I've met a lot of scatterbrained people at protests these days myself. (Maybe people say that about me when I’m not around). But there were also a lot of intelligent, articulate people in the movement who made a lot of sacrifices. It just depends what you want to highlight.

I remember a Calvin Professor once talking about how brave John Updike was because he supported the Vietnam War during a time when intellectuals were supposed to be anti-War. That kind of bravery doesn't really impress me, but to each his own I guess. At least both sides look equally stupid in “Rabbit Redux”. The pro-war jingoism of Rabbit and his father doesn't come off any better than the anti-war slogans.

Also, by the second book I’m definitely coming around to Phil’s contention that John Updike writes the worst sex scenes in literature. It could be because now Phil has planted the idea in my brain. Or it could be because this book is a lot more sexually explicit than its predecessor. A lot more.

In particular the sexual descriptions of the teenage Jill made me feel like I was reading some sort of male fantasy about sexual teenage girls often found in Japanese literature. Shoko once said of Murakami Haruki’s “Norwegian Wood” that the women characters didn't seem like real woman, but rather what the male fantasy of a woman was like. I couldn't help but feel that Jill seemed like a middle-aged man’s fantasy about what a free love hippy was like. She was so incredibly eager to get into bed with the middle-aged Rabbit, and wouldn't take no for an answer.

Addendum: Once again Navis and I are one the same page. He recently reviewed this book in his blog as well.

Useless Wikipedia Fact
The book "Bambi" was translated from German into English by Whittaker Chambers, who needed to supplement his income while working at a Communist newspaper. The story was made into an animated film by Walt Disney Productions . The company took the liberty of changing the species into a white-tailed deer, and of putting him into an American forest. Additionally, the tone of the story was significantly lightened; the original book was much darker and more brutal.

Link of the Day
Yet another one for the history buffs:
This video of the Japanese Student Movement contains fighting between police and protesters concerning Narita airport in the early 70s.

The farmers opposed Narita Airport because it forced them to give up their ancestral farming land. The students sympathized with the farmers, and were also upset because the proposed airport was supposed to be large enough to land American Airforce planes during the Vietnam War. This was the only time during the Japanese Student movement that an alliance was formed between the students and the farmers, and the students were able to enjoy public support.

The airport ended up being built in the end, but several people, both police and students, were killed in the fighting in the meantime. Watching this video, it's easy to see how.

This video was originally part of a larger documentary on the 20th century produced by NHK (the Japanese version of the BBC or PBS). Given that, I've always thought it was strange that they include "The Who" soundtrack at the end when the Molotov cocktails are being thrown. I know it's cliche to have 60s music against footage of protests, but it seems like they're trying to make the violence look fun.

Rabbit Redux by John Updike: Book Review (Scripted)

Rabbit, Run by John Updike

 (Book Review)

I decided to take a stab at another John Updike book. As I mentioned before, the last one was hard for me to identify with. This one is about a guy around my age, so I thought I’d identify with it a lot more. But I was wrong.

The great thing about books is that they act as a miniature time machine. They let us see what people were like in previous ages. And most of the time we find that people stay the same more often than they change.

I think every generation on some subconscious level, at the point where feeling is stronger than thought, believe that they were the first generation to ever truly be young, and every older person sprung out of the womb as fully formed adults. Which is why books act as a great window on the past. For example, the book that I thought best described high school life or a boys dormitory was “A Separate Peace”, which was written during my grandparent’s time.

But then every once and a while you run across a book that reminds you of how much things have changed. Like this book, “Rabbit, Run”, about a 26 year old man who is having a mid-life crisis. He is stuck in a job he doesn’t like, with a wife he’s sick of and a kid he’s indifferent to. And he gets the urge to just run away from it all.

On the other hand.....Brett and I have observed that most of our Calvin friends get what we call the “3 year itch.” Most people we know graduate from college, get a job, and then after 3 years begin to get sick of it and want to move on. I’m a perfect example. I spent 3 years in Oita, and then decided I wanted to move to another part of Japan, spent another 2 years and then decided I was sick of Japan and couldn’t wait to get back home.

Of course, being single and without any family to support I could just pick up and move when I felt like it. And I think generally people are getting married and having children later than in the 1950s (when “Rabbit, Run” was written), but there are plenty of young parents still around. In fact my brother’s one of them. And if I had gone right when I went left I might have ended up in the same situation myself.

So, does the “3 year itch” still apply when you’ve got a wife and kid? Do you get the urge to leave them all behind and just go somewhere new? I certainly hope not, but I guess it wouldn’t surprise me if it was true for some people.

Phil and I recently discussed this book when he was visiting a couple weeks ago. Phil believes that John Updike in general, and this book in particular, is responsible for some of the worst sex scenes in English literature. I’m going to have to respectfully disagree. It would have been terrible if John Updike’s purpose was to arouse, but I think his purpose is a much more cynical view of sex. I don’t think any of the characters ever engage in sex for the sake of sex in this book. They always have an ulterior agenda they are trying to work out.

And while I’m on the subject...I think Tom Wolfe was unfairly maligned for “the worst sex scene” in “I am Charlotte Simmons.” That was obviously not supposed to be a piece of erotica either. It read terrible because it was supposed to convey a terrible experience.

Addendum: A few further thoughts...
One thing I really liked about this book was the full characters. Every character in this book, even the supporting characters, are fully developed and 3-dimensional. During the course of the story we get to see things from everyone's perspective, and sympathize with all the characters. I particularly liked the portrayal of Reverand Eccles, who has the thankless job of trying to bring Rabbit back into the fold. He's a full character with struggles and problems of his own, not simply a plot device.
Also looks like I'm not the only one reading this book. Navis recently posted the same book on his book reviews. How's that for coincidence?

Useless Wikipedia Fact
Lyndon Johnson, while using the White House bathroom, was known to insist that others accompany him and continue to discuss official matters or take dictation. At other times Johnson relieved himself in the White House garden. Johnson was known to habitually relieve himself outdoors

Link of the Day
Dean put up his own post on the couch burning, complete with a history of the couch, and pictures (including one of yours truly)

Rabbit, Run by John Updike: Book Review (Scripted)

Seek My Face by John Updike

 (Book Review)
John Updike was one of those many authors I encountered briefly in a college literature course, was moderately intrigued by, meant to read more of, and than never did.

This winter however I came across Updike again while reading “On Writing Short Stories”.
In that anthology was an Updike short story “A&P”, which I really enjoyed. (And if you missed it the first time I linked to it, the whole thing is available here on-line).

“A&P” was about a 19 year old kid working at a small town grocery store, and I thought that, not only was it pretty funny, it was pretty insightful as well. Reading it I thought, “Yeah, that’s exactly the kind of thing that would be going through a 19 year old’s head.”

Once I got back to the USA, my first library trip I looked for an Updike book, and found “Seek My Face,” one of his newer ones. This was a little harder to get into for me than “A&P” was.

The novel is the story of an old woman who was a famous artist, and was also married to some famous artists during her life. She is being interviewed by a much younger woman for a magazine article, and during the course of the interview the older woman recalls all the stories of her life.

Obviously this was a lot harder for me to identify with than “A&P” for a number of reasons. And for that matter I wonder how easy it was for Updike to write. I suppose that’s the job of an author, the ability to write from another persons perspective. But (and you can call me sexist if you want) somewhere in my gut I believe that woman can write from a man’s perspective, but men can’t accurately write from a woman’s perspective. I don’t have any logical reason for that, it’s just one of my prejudices. Maybe because I can’t understand women, I assume all men can’t understand women. I’m always suspicious of men writing about the thoughts and feelings of woman characters. I had the same problem with “I am Charlotte Simons”. If there are any women reading this weblog, I’d be interested in your perspective.

As the book moves through the years, there’s a lot of art history mixed in with the fictional story. As someone who knows nothing about art, I had a hard time telling where the fictional world of the novel ended, and where the real art history began. Someone who is into art might get a lot more out of this book than I did.

Because most of this book is just a conversation between two women, the narrative doesn’t feel like it has a lot of forward force. Rather, as the older woman looks back on her life, it’s much more of an introspective book. Nothing good or bad about that, but you should be warned going in. It’s not a gripping page turner by any means.

I say “page-turner” but I actually did this as an audio book. I’m not sure I would have had the patience to stick with this if I had been reading it in print. But then that’s the beauty of audio books: great for taking on those books you wouldn’t otherwise read.

Useless Wikipedia Fact
Tony Blair, and U.S. President James Polk are among famous politicians who have worn mullets.

Link of the Day
This was in my inbox last week:
This was linked to on mediamouse.org . It's pretty much the greatest
thing ever.
The Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army of Oakland, California
shuts down a military recruiting station.
http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/06/1827497.php
This picture's my favorite.
http://www.indybay.org/uploads/14-gettingclowned.jpg

Seek My Face by John Updike: Book Review (Scripted)

On Writing Short Stories by Tom Bailey

 (Book Review)

Short stories aren't really my cup of tea. I'm more of a novel/epic type guy. And I especially don’t usually like the kind of short stories that are typically assigned in a high school English class. They always seem to be about nothing, and full of pretentious literary prose.

Maybe this is just the philistine in me talking, but I tend to think that the best prose writer is one that gets out of the way so you forget that they’re even there as you read the story. What I really hate is when you get the impression the author is saying to you: “Look at that! Did you see that beautiful sentence I just wrote? And here comes another one. Look at me write!”

There were definitely some short stories in this collection, which gave me bad flashbacks to 10th grade English class. On the other hand, there were some I really enjoyed. Which makes it really hard to review an anthology without reviewing every story in it.

Among the stories I enjoyed were:
“Everything that Rises Must Converge” by Flannery O’Connor (Complete text online here)
“Bullet in the Brain” by Tobias Wolff (on line here)
“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin
and “A & P” by John Updike

Of these, the last one, “A&P”, I especially enjoyed. If you come across this story in an anthology somewhere, I recommend it. I really thought it was funny. (Or, actually, the whole thing is online here.) Amazing what you can find online these days isn't it?

There were also a few stories that I enjoyed inspite of the pretentious prose just because I thought the subject matter, the story itself, held my attention. In this category I would put:
“Heat” by Joyce Carol Oates (online here)
and
“Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway (again, online).

(I've always hated Hemingway’s style. I know that the fault is probably mine and not his. One of these days I’m going to sit down and try and read a lot of Hemingway and see if I can’t gain an appreciation for him.)

The front half of the book contains essays analyzing the short stories, and the second half contains the stories themselves. You’re supposed to read the back half first, but the editor doesn't tell you that. I was almost finished with the first half before I realized that all of these essays were written on the assumption I had already read the stories.

Link of the Day
Media Mouse has an article on "Racist Quotes by Ann Coulter Draw Attention in Advance of Speech in Grand Rapids". Ann Coulter is scheduled to give a keynote address to Kent County Republicans on March 16, and apparently there is a protest planned.

Generally I do NOT agree with protesting ideologues like Coulter. I figure they have a right to say whatever they want to say. You can debate them if you like, but it's kind of stupid to protest them.

If, for example, a government figure with blood on his hands was to give a speech at a Grand Rapids institution (like, I don't know, Bush speaking at Calvin for example), that would be a protest I could get behind.

Nevertheless, the fact that Kent County Republicans have invited someone as extreme as Ann Coulter to speak is not to their credit, and I hope people will take note of this.

Video Version