Book Notes: "Winesburg, Ohio" by Sherwood Anderson

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I did not know what to think when I began reading Winesburg, Ohio. Hemingway's satire of the novel in The Torrents of Spring had somewhat tainted my first impression of the book. However, on completion I found the book thoughtful, interesting, and, aside from being somewhat vanilla in its description of life in a small American town, insightful. There is a coherence to the various stories that I found in Calvino's Marcolvaldo, despite the work appearing as a collection of short stories based around a protagonist and their relationship to the people, places and happenings in one particular town. I would not be surprised if Calvino was inspired by Anderson. But for the life of me I cannot understand Hemingway's criticism. Yet Anderson had a similar response from Faulkner. I think what makes this work so important is the background story, yet the work speaks to the reader in its own right.



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Book Notes: "The Razor's Edge" by W. Somerset Maugham

The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I watched the movie before reading the book, so my imaginative reconstruction of the characters was compromised. Unlike Hemingway, Maugham puts the narrator, himself, central to the plot. I couldn't help think how clever the movie adaptation was by combining the characters of Larry and the author. Nonetheless, the book is a far better product. I also noted that references to the transmigration of souls and Meister Eckhardt are also titles of works by my favourite composer, John Adams, and I couldn't help but wonder whether Maugham's work influenced Adams' subjects in any way. The Razor's Edge is very much an academic piece, and it will no doubt send me on a journey to discover the various works that play an incidental role in the plot, much like Hemingway's various drinks and foods did the same for me in another space.



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Book Notes: "On Booze" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

On Booze by F. Scott Fitzgerald

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I have read several of these short stories before in other collected stories and on the Esquire "Classics" website. Just brilliant. If ever an author was able to capture a moment in time, even whilst living in that time, then Fitzgerald is the one. It would seem that the self-destructive genius could only be this way in order to display his genius. Such a shame that it takes the destruction of a genius for the rest of us to know that brilliance.



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