Tomcat Uses All Its Lives (Tomcat in Love)

I read Tim O'Brien's critically-acclaimed In The Lake of the Woods about five years ago and really enjoyed it. Nonetheless he was one of those authors I quickly forgot about, so when I recently spotted O'Brien's Tomcat in Love at a seaside book sale, I quickly snapped it up.

First published in 1998, Tomcat in Love is a story of revenge. Narrated in the first-person by the 'pompous, vain, shallow, inconsiderate, untrustworthy, fickle' protagonist, linguistics professor Thomas 'Tomcat' Chippering, the novel explores his quest to seek vengeance on his estranged wife and her new partner.

Hailed as a 'macabre black comedy', the book starts out promising enough. Chippering's point of view is comedically biased, egotistical and obsessive. The reader immediately lured in with the
promise of a journey of avengement.

Yet I felt the narrative quickly lost steam. The plot itself is fairly weak and O'Brien tries to cover this up with farce, but this is not enough to sustain the work. However, O'Brien's command of the English language is superb and his ability to write from the point of view of a linguist is apt--the wordplay throughout the novel is amusing and effective.

I am afraid that Tim O'Brien has once again been pushed to the back of my mind. But that doesn't necessarily mean I've given up on him. Give me another five years and we'll see where I stand.

The Edinburgh Spell? (44 Scotland Street)

As I was nearing the end of Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street, I started to feel a sense of loss--both for the characters and the story, but also for McCall Smith's cozy, inviting writing style. This isn't something that happens to me very often. In fact, the only recent instances I can think of where I felt this sense of longing when approaching the end of a novel is with J.K. Rowling.

I first read McCall Smith last year when I bought a copy of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Almost immediately I felt a deep admiration for the author and his ability to endear his characters to the reader. His talent for transporting the reader was astounding, as well. I have never been to Botswana (although after reading the novel, I certainly wanted to go) but I felt I knew the country, its people, its lifestyle, its tempo after reading the book.

J.K. Rowling shares both these traits. When I approach the end of a Harry Potter book, it feels almost as though I will be losing my close friends for another year or more. (God know what I will do when the series comes to an end). Yet I know all the intricacies of Hogwarts, the teachers, the students, the way of life. It is a great comfort to re-visit these places again and again.

44 Scotland Street first appeared as a serial novel in The Scotsman. It ran every weekday for six months. It is a fast, energetic read simply because each installment has been written to sustain attention and establish the pace. It tells the story of Pat, a 20-year old who is on her second gap year and moves into a flatshare in Edinburgh's bohemian New Town. It is full of eccentric characters, crazy situations and amazing detail and depth.

Both Rowling and McCall Smith call Edinburgh home and I wonder if the city has something to do with their supreme ability to entangle their readers into their tales. Indeed, McCall Smith paints a picture of Edinburgh that is just as enchanting as Botswana (probably even more so because I be there within five hours on the train). I suppose I should just go one weekend and find out what makes the city so inviting for writers and artists. Luckily, Espresso Tales, the second edition of the exploits of 44 Scotland Street is out so maybe I'll save that for the journey.

A Concise, Comforting Look at Heaven (The Five People You Meet in Heaven)

I have always wanted to read Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie but have somehow never gotten around to it (poor excuse, I know). My high school English teacher frequently talked about Albom so when I spotted a copy of his The Five People You Meet in Heaven I decided I owed it to her to give him a try.

Eddie is a lonely war veteran who dies saving a little girl from a falling cart. This novel is a look into his immediate afterlife and the five people he meets there. It theorises the premise that once we pass on, we will all meet our own five people (sometimes loved ones, sometimes strangers) who will explain our lives to us and show us just how connected we all are.

Both the writing and the argument reminded a lot of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones--another book I would highly recommend. The novel itself is fairly short, but it well-structured and beautifully written. Its message certainly resonated with me so I can only imagine how powerful and comforting it is for readers who recently lost loved ones.

This is yet another book that has been made into a film (or rather a TV movie), featuring Jon Voight and Jeff Daniels. But it looks to be quite a good adaptation as Albom wrote the teleplay and it scores quite highly (7.4) on IMDb.

I think I will force myself to 'get around' to Tuesdays with Morrie now. Albom is a gifted writer and his Heaven is one I would be quite comfortable going to one day.

The World According to Hollywood (The World According to Garp)

Why are bad books being made into films? I mean, I know most of what is being made in Hollywood is crap, so I suppose it makes sense to make bad books into even worse movies. But all the publicity and hype over The Da Vinci Code, in particular, has been getting to me over the past couple of weeks.

As I know I've mentioned before (Dan Brown's success is a sore spot for me), I thought very little of this book simply because it could've been so good. All the theory and research were there (because they was stolen from someone else) but the quality of writing and the pathetic attempts at suspense just made it laughable.

I originally wanted to see the film because I thought the cast (Audrey Tatou in particular) could pull it off providing they had a good screenplay. But both critics and friends have agreed that the script is dire and the acting average so Hollywood is not getting my £7.50 this time around.

John Irving's The World According to Garp is an example of Hollywood picking up on a genius book and turning it into a film that may not be critically acclaimed (it has a 6.9 on IMDb) but turned out to be a good way for many of Hollywood's current respected actors to showcase their early talent (Glenn Close, John Lithgow). Too bad it happened almost 25 years ago.

Onto the book...

I had never read John Irving before but I suspect this was the place to start. The World According to Garp is his most famous book so I was expecting something very mainstream and conventional. Instead I was rewarded with a novel I could really only compare to Catch-22 in terms of its sense of adventure and recklessness.

But that is not to say the novel is not accessible. In fact, I think John Irving could be the answer to helping frustrated or reluctant readers enjoy literature.

The mock-biography chronicles the life and times of writer T.S. Garp and his mother, hesitant feminist Jenny Fields. Garp is an 'everyman' and his life is an 'X-rated soap opera' of unexpected twists that border on the unbelievable but keep their feet firmly planted just when the reader needs it most.

Although written nearly 30 years ago, this book has lost none of its original power or social comment. Like Joseph Heller, I doubt John Irving will be quickly forgotten. That is one thing that Dan Brown will never achieve.