Queneau is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors. I didn't like "The Flight of Icarus" quite as much as "Witchgrass" and "Peirot Mon Ami," but it is still clever and interesting and explores some interesting literary concepts. It's about a character (Icarus) who escapes from a novel and the author's subsequent attempt to track him down. It would be easy to pass the whole thing off as farce but that would be doing Queneau a serious injustice. The book is mostly dialogue and I think would do well if performed by actors. I wonder if it ever has been... Now I have a hankering to get back into theater and adapt (ever so lightly) this novel for the stage.
July 2006 Archives
Sometimes while I am reading a book where the protagonist anti-hero is depressed and disconnected and slow-to-act I feel like I take on his properties. So while this was a powerful book, I'm glad it's over. There's only so much about dying babies I can handle.
"See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this (expletive) and it's over," Bush told Blair as he chewed on a buttered roll. It's been all over the news, caught during an impromptu moment when the microphones were supposed to be off. I, personally, am shocked at his language. Shocked and offended. I expect better from the leader of our nation. The president, without regard to who might be listening, made the cardinal sin of language: he misused the word "irony."
Oh, have we learned nothing from the Alanis Morissette scandal of 1995? As I go through the president's statement over and over in my head I can't help but think the word he should have used instead was the simpler, more direct "thing." Yes, let's look at a revised version of the sentence:
"See the thing is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this (expletive) and it's over."
Perfect.
Now, I admit, it's possible (and, in fact, actual) that I am missing the full context of the conversation. Depending on what was said immediately before Bush's overheard statement his use of the word irony may have been entirely appropriate. Let's imagine some of the scenarios.
Imagined Scenario Number 1, Dramatic Irony:
Blair: Can you believe everyone else at the G8 summit thinks asking Syria to encourage Hezbollah's actions will stop the violence?
Bush: See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this (expletive) and it's over.
Blair: Exactly! You are correct to point out the dramatic irony in a situation where people say one thing and we, as observers, recognize that the exact opposite is true.
Imagined Scenario Number 2, Verbal Irony:
Blair: Dude, I totally think we should end this cycle of violence by having Syria encourage Hezbollah's actions, lol.
Bush: See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this (expletive) and it's over.
Blair: Exactly! You are correct to point out my use of verbal irony in saying something with an intended meaning contrasting to the literal meaning of my words.
Imagined Scenario Number 3, Situational Irony:
Blair: And to think, for years we thought that the answer to peace in the Middle East was to have Syria nurture Hezbollah.
Bush: See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this (expletive) and it's over.
Blair: Exactly! You are correct to point out the situational irony in this reversal of logical cause/effect relationships and justifiable expectations.
Blogging is totally 2005.
Like many of IBS's books, this one tells the story of a man wracked with feelings of doubt and guilt, a man who stumbles forward through his life, and a man who never really answers any questions for himself. The book (like "Enemies: A Love Story" and "The Slave") is very sad on the surface, but on a deeper level there is hope. Though the protagonist cannot find goodness in the world or in himself, the reader sees through the despair and knows that there is goodness in the protagonist. Singer is telling and retelling a story about the self-doubt of the holy man, and even if the character never sees it himself, it makes me feel good to know how clearly it is there. Perhaps there is hope for us sinners yet.
For somebody who minored in playwriting I've managed to miss reading a lot of the American theater classics, including anything by Tennessee Williams. Since my girlfriend is teaching "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in her Intro Lit course I decided to go ahead and rectify this gap. Surprisingly (or perhaps not surprisingly) it's good. That's all I have to say on the subject. I'm also in the midst of reading "Moby Dick" but decided I needed a break. There may be a few more books before I actually finish that whale.
