Book: Ulysses, by James Joyce
Genre: Children's bedtime story
Themes: rhyming, sailing, birds, bedtime
Comps: Goodnight Moon, Green Eggs and Ham, Jamberry
Representative quote: "Sinbad the Sailor and Tinbad the Tailor and Jinbad the Jailer and Whinbad the Whaler and Ninbad the Nailer and Finbad the Failer and Binbad the Bailer and Pinbad the Pailer and Minbad the Mailer and Hinbad the Hailer ..."
Page: 607
A venerable work that defies its age, every child should be familiar with the bedtime rhymes of Joyce's Ulysses, rightly one of the classics of the previous century, and likely for many more to come. Bedtime stories are often as flighty and faddish as their intended audience, but Ulysses belongs in a higher echelon, right at the top with Seuss and Boynton, as a timeless classic.
What amazes about this book is how much is loaded into what only amounts to 11 total lines. As economical as he is playful, Joyce packs each sentence with toddler-tickling phrases, such as "Going to dark bed there was a square round Sinbad the Sailor roc's auk's egg in the night of the bed of all the auks of the rocs of Darkinbad the Brightdayler," and "Dinbad the Kailer and Vinbad the Quailer and Linbad the Yailer and Xinbad the Pthailer." Yes, some of these are nonsense words, but when it comes to children, nonsense rarely fails to please.
If there is any sort of flaw--just the slightest hint of blemish--it lies in the confusing name. Why title a book after Greek epic but then pull characters from the Arabian Nights? Both are sailors; both are frequently shipwrecked and lost; both eventually come through richly. The potential parallels are strong, but go unrealized in the text.
I myself was raised on this fine work, as was my father before me and my grandfather before him, and both my children were well steeped in this verse long before they could themselves read. It is my deepest hope that one day I will be able to read the tales of Rinbad the Railer and friends to my grandchildren as well.
Final Rating: 5/5 bookmarks.
Showing posts with label 5 bookmarks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 5 bookmarks. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Monday, April 16, 2018
Fear and Loathing - A Screed on the Inefficiencies Inherent in Beauracracy
Book: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson
Genre: absurdist fiction
Themes: bureaucracy, absurdity, the lurking threat of a controlling state
Comps: Waiting for Godot, Rozencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Representative quote: "Be quiet, be calm, say nothing ... speak only when spoken to: name, rank, and ... affiliation, nothing else ..."
Page: 22
It is a bleak, absurd look that cuts to the heart of the machine that is modern society. Red tape engulfs, nay, smothers, all human impulses for the productive, effective, and simple, leaving only a mad lusting for what can never be achieved.
In a telling moment Raoul makes the mistake of mocking the ineffectiveness of the system, saying, "We haven't done anything yet!"
"There's somebody waiting for you," says a woman who isn't even given a name. She is an anonymous piece of the machinery, like everything else. For his candor Raoul has been threatened with the sinister presence of some man--again unnamed and this time also faceless--who lurks, waiting, in a room that is not even ready yet. The threat of punishment looms real, unabated by any suspicions that in this failed bureaucracy punishment might never actually ever come. The uncertainty is part of what hoists the existential dread to excruciating heights.
The book concludes as it opens, with Raoul standing in line with all the others. Nameless, faceless others, waiting for who knows what, destined to be standing there for who knows how long. Look upon these works, ye mortals, and linger in despair!
Final Rating: 5/5 bookmarks. A compelling, immersive tale from 1971 of an inevitable future that, from this late date in 2018, seems increasingly prescient. Some may say we have already realized that bleak future entirely.
Genre: absurdist fiction
Themes: bureaucracy, absurdity, the lurking threat of a controlling state
Comps: Waiting for Godot, Rozencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Representative quote: "Be quiet, be calm, say nothing ... speak only when spoken to: name, rank, and ... affiliation, nothing else ..."
Page: 22
It is a bleak, absurd look that cuts to the heart of the machine that is modern society. Red tape engulfs, nay, smothers, all human impulses for the productive, effective, and simple, leaving only a mad lusting for what can never be achieved.
In a telling moment Raoul makes the mistake of mocking the ineffectiveness of the system, saying, "We haven't done anything yet!"
"There's somebody waiting for you," says a woman who isn't even given a name. She is an anonymous piece of the machinery, like everything else. For his candor Raoul has been threatened with the sinister presence of some man--again unnamed and this time also faceless--who lurks, waiting, in a room that is not even ready yet. The threat of punishment looms real, unabated by any suspicions that in this failed bureaucracy punishment might never actually ever come. The uncertainty is part of what hoists the existential dread to excruciating heights.
The book concludes as it opens, with Raoul standing in line with all the others. Nameless, faceless others, waiting for who knows what, destined to be standing there for who knows how long. Look upon these works, ye mortals, and linger in despair!
Final Rating: 5/5 bookmarks. A compelling, immersive tale from 1971 of an inevitable future that, from this late date in 2018, seems increasingly prescient. Some may say we have already realized that bleak future entirely.
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