"The Body Artist" A Mixed Review

Okay. Just finished "The Body Artist" by Don DeLillo. The title of this blog says it. Infact, the jury is still out on whether or not I liked this book at all. I'll start with what I like, then what I don't and maybe by the end of this entry, I'll have my answer.

I love DeLillo's prose style. I have often copied it myself (quite by accident, but I have none-the-less.) He is very aggressive, plowing through the plot so quickly that he often skips elements forcing you to fill in chunks of story. And he does it skillfully so that you know what must be filled in. At the same time, he will slow down every day actions so that, suddenly, the subtext in turning on a light switch can tell a life story.

I enjoy the way his narration reads like the inner-diologue of the characters. He uses repetition and dwells on small things the way a character would in his or her mind. It comes across as being very raw, without being clumsy. This style is why DeLillo's "Underworld" id one of my favorite books.

So what does "Underworld" have that "The Body Artist" does not? In short: story. In this novella (it calls itself a novel but is only 120 pages soaking wet) the character called "Mr. Tuttle" is a retarted man with a nack for repeating phrases he hears. The stories main character Lauren is so drawn to him that she feels sexually drawn to him and motherly toward him at the same time. She has long convesations with him (much of what he says has no meaning) and she attempts to teach him. The problem is, we the readers are only shown a very small number of them. We never get to know the character of Mr. Tuttle. DeLillo has forgotten Dotty Frye's first rule; show, not tell.

Also, Lauren really doesn't go through any transition. No one changes. I was never hurt ot touched or moved at all by these characters because I never watched them grow. Therefore, I could never grow with them, closer to them.

So if I have to decide, I can only say this: I'm glad I read it but I won't miss anybody when I put this book on the graveyard of my shelf. And that is the tragedy.

Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides

Sing, muse, of it taking me so long to finish reading this book! Because of my ever tightening schedule, this book took me as long to finish reading as Anna Karenina (and I started it over almost as many time) And all I can say is that it was totally worth it.

Middlesex is the story of a Greek girl who finds out a fourteen that she isn't a girl at all, but a boy. The confusion has to do with the fact that she is a hermaphrodite. In tracing the defecting gene that manifested itself in his body, the narrator tells the story of three generations of the Stephanides family (a family tree with fewer branches than it should have), through war torn Greece during the war with the Turks, into depression era Detroit, WWII, Korea, the sixties and all that decade had to offer, up to the current president who is popular because his name has only one syllable.

The appeal in the book to me was the constant terror I was in. I don't mean a Stephen Kind kind of terror that gives you nightmares about goulish monters. This is an emotional terror. The kind when one sits on the edge of one's seat knowing that he is about to be hurt, hurt because the characters are hurt. Eugenides makes you love this family, and because he is Greek, you know that some of them will die unnaturally and some will go through tremendous emotional distress. And Euginedes certainly delivers, but in a way that the reader is okay with it in the end.

The reader comes out of the book feeling as though he has gone through a journey through the life of this family. He feels he is better for it.

One of the things I have noticed about great books is that I always feel a tinge of melencholy when I close the cover for the last time. I have spent the past few months with these characters and they have become my friends (a statement of my introvertedness I know). I close the book knowing that I will likely never visit these friends again and knowing that I shall miss them. I know that I will think about them from time to time and consider picking the book up again to visit my old friends.

But, alas, a Don DeLillo novel awaits, sitting on my coffee table waiting for me to finish this blog. Stay tuned for that review.

A Short Note on Scott Peterson and Abortion

Well, one of the jurors has been dismissed for doing her own research on the case. THe judge has instructed the jury to start over again in deliberating the double murder trial of Scott Peterson....

I'm sure I'm not the first person to bring this up, but....double murder? Peterson's not only being tried for his wife's murder but also of the murder of her unborn child. That's as it should be. He robbed the child of a life it could have had.

So, where do we draw the line between murder and abortion? If a woman says, "it's my body," and aborts the baby, it's okay. If a man takes the baby's life, it's Murder I. Seriously, people, what's the difference? A dead fetus is a dead fetus! Why the double standard?

Does a mother rob her baby of life any less than a father does? All I ask for is a little consistency. Either start charging mothers for Murder when they rob a child of its life, or drop a charge against Peterson to only one count of Murder. And remember, it might be the woman's body, but its God's child. His own creation into which he alone breathes life.

Oops. I'm talking politics again...and religion.

The United States of Canada?

http://idisk.mac.com/glwebb-public/new_map.jpg Follow that URL to see a map of the proposed division between the "United States of Canada" and "Jesusland." Also, click on the Title line to read an editorial by Howard Gensler of the Philidelphia Daily News. This map is reported to have come from Michael Moore's website.

Read the editorial. You will find it fascinating. I find it disgusting. Well, Blue States, if you really do want to go join Canada, all I have to say is "Good Riddance." We here in "Jesusland" don't want a bunch of whinning sourpusses anyway.

It's no secret that we didn't much like Bill Clinton, but we never talked about moving away or making our states part of Canada. I know it's just a joke but come one! Canada reports that inquiries into immigrating to Canada have tripled since the election. New Zealand reports a similar trend.

Absolutely reprehensable! You liberals have shown yourselves to be a bunch of ten year old boys, who when they get behind in the ball game are instantly ready to take their ball and go home. Well, welcome to democracy. You don't always get to win, and if losing really makes you want to leave, then take your socialist policies and your welfare cases with you. Go have your socialized healthcare. Take Hollywood. And we'll just keep the pioneering never die attitude and spirit that made this a great country in the first place.

I say what I want because I have a Mandate

I know that it has been a little while since I posted and I desperately hope that I didn't lose everyone during my absence. Between going on vacation, the world series and the election, I have been either out of town or watching TV for the past few weeks.

I have some really sneaky stuff in the works. Some of you will be delighted, some of you will think me a villian, but all of you will want to tune in to see what it is.

Also, I am almost finished with the Pulitzer prize winning novel "Middlesex" and when I am finished I will promptly post my review.

Welcome home to Adam Williams from the desert. We are all very glad you are home safe. Especially your wife, who we all agree is too good for you. Can't wait for the paintball game to ensue!!!

Clips for "The Accuser"

Jordan Lundy, who shot and edited my film "The Accuser" has put some clips of it on the web. Check out little portions of our movie by going here: http://www.redearthdesign.com/gallery/jordan. These are meant to display Jordan's visual skill so they are not dialogue laden scenes but you get an idea.

"I'm a Scientist, I Don't Believe in Anything"

The Title of this Blog is now one of my favorite movie lines in history thanks to "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra."

For those of you who love the old creature feature horror films of the 50's, beware. For those of you who find those old movies to be like a train wreck from which you just can't divert your eyes, get ready. This irreverent parady of those old movies will have you rolling in the floor. The characters will delight, complete with the apple pie white scientist and his wife, space aliens (that strangely look just like humans and speak English), an evil scientist, a mutant, a half girl half animal, and oh....the lost skeleton himself, as they all try to find that most elusive element, atmospherion.

I hope you can fathom the terrible danger, but hey, "I guess if I didn't like danger, I wouldn't have married a man who studies rocks."

"I sleep now."

Sooner Born and Sooner Bred, I Will Vote what Switzer Said"

Former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer, held to be a god with a little "g," went public with his endorsement for Democratic Senatorial Candidate Brad Carson today. I guess that's okay. He can endorse who he chooses to.

What concerns me is that KFOR TV Channel 9 reports that, "his endorsement of Brad Henry (Oklahoma's Democratic Governor) two years ago was instrumental in getting him elected." It's okay that he endorsed Brad Henry. I probably would have voted for Brad Henry had I lived in Oklahoma at the time. However, it concerns me greatly that the endorsement of a washed-up football coach can be instrumental in an election.

I have doubts that he actually influenced that many people to vote for Brad Henry but, at the same time, I fear that this might be possible. Americans really are that shallow. "Any man who can beat Nebraska that many times can choose my Senator any day. After all, he knows option football, surely he knows how to run a Governor. Heck I'll vote for Switzer in the upcoming Emperor of the Universe election." Ah, yes, Susan Sarandon, Tom Hanks, Cheryl Crow and Barry Switzer. These are the best and the brightest. Shining stars in a dark sky. These are our countries most brilliant political minds and I shall follow them even to the ends of the earth.

"I Pronounce you; Man and Man"

In the comments section of "I'm a Christian, Leave Me Alone," a random blog user posed the question, "does gay marraige make your marraige any less valid?" For my response to the question: read the comments section of that post.

Some of you will be outraged. Some of you, delighted. Some of you will think that I'm a liberal, others will think I'm a bigot. But all will find it thought provoking, thought it be brief.

Who Do I Vote For When I Hate All These People?

It's not the presidential race that I'm worried about. To me, that's a no-brainer. I knew who I was going to vote for in Nov '04 when I voted for him four years ago. But my Senate Race here in Oklahoma has me in a cold sweat. The race got tricky for me when last week I saw a commercial trashing Democratic Candidate Brad Carson. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of Brad Carson's by any means, but the problem came at the end of the commercial with one simple phrase; "I'm Tom Coburn and I approved this message." So what's the problem?

Let me set the stage. During the Republican Primaries, Coburn made it his war cry that no matter what the other candidates did, he refused to resort to negative campaigning. He produced commercials about his positive campaign strategy saying things like, "The experts say I can't win without making negative campaign ads, but I refuse to be negative." (this is a paraphrase by the way but very close to the exact quote).

I know, you're saying, "A politician lied and you're surprised?" No, I'm not surprised, but fed up. check out the candidates websites: http://www.coburnforsenate.com and http://www.bradcarson.com . The top several stories on each of their "news" sections are have titles beginning with the other candidate's name. On some point in our history, politicians stopped trying to prove that they were right for the job and just starting to say, "Hey, atleast I'm better than the other guy." We as voters have only to chose the lesser of two evils, rather than the best for the job. "I will vote for this guy, because he will destroy out country less."

Thankfully, this election will be over in a month. Then we will get a good seven month break before the campaigns for 2008 start.

cheers