Sifting Through the Madness for the Word, the Line, the Way by Charles Bukowski

 Today I finished reading the above book by Charles Bukowski. Though long, it is a terrific book, and I am increasingly considering him my favorite writer. There are some hilarious and harrowing depictions of poverty in the book, such as not having toilet paper, and trying to hide empties. He also has a very firm, identifiable tone of voice which I love. Recommended!

Pearl

 This week I also watched Pearl, which is the prequel to the film X. The movie centers on a very special woman who dreams of being a star, but who has homicidal tendencies. I especially liked the opening scenes, which had a certain technocolor vibrancy, but the whole thing is terrific. Recommended!

Hereditary and Midsomer

 This week I watched two recent films by writer/direector Ari Aster: Hereditary and Midsomer. They both deal with rites and rituals, and the first is an outright horror movie. Both are very interesting, and absorb you into their worlds. Check them out!

The Reckoning by John Grisham

Although in many ways an ordeal, John Grisham's The Reckoning, while kind of corny and bawdy, is a great book that I got a lot out of. Grisham claims that the book comes from daily conversations or "tall tales" with other attorneys by the water cooler. Some of this is reflected in the outrageous events of the book, but the book also does an excellent job of depicting the hardships of warfare and the secrecy of The South. The dialogue is good, and the characters well depicted. Definitely a long, but great, read. Recommended! Merry Christmas!

Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill

 Over the course of the last month, I read Mary Gaitskill's Bad Behavior, which I would consider her most famous book. Although my first Gaitskill book was Don't Cry, this book has more of her themes of abuse in a relationship. Although I haven't read much by her (I plan to), I did read Romantic Weekend, and I would be surprised if I didn't consider it the best. Great, unnerving stuff about the darker parts of us all. Recommended!

Mason and Dixon

 Despite some initial reluctance (he is so accomplished as a person!), I am starting to warm up to Thomas Pynchon as a writer! The Crying of Lot 49, Gravity's Rainbow, and Slow Learner are all three challenging yet fascinating books! His grasp of language and punctuation is quite expert! However, after my latest attempt to read one of his books, Mason and Dixon, I fear I am revisiting my belief that he is a flawed writer. For 300-350 pages or so, the book is typically bizarre, unintelligible, yet highly readable Pynchon. However, at around this point, the book clearly becomes incomprehensible and overly difficult gibberish. Although initially seeming to be a fun book in the vein of Kurt Vonnegut, it proves to be similar to a book by James Joyce or John Barth. In a very unique case for this blog, I would not recommend it, but the experience of reading Mason and Dixon (even if only in part) is a singular and unforgettable one!

The Camino series by John Grisham

 I recently read Camino Island and Camino Winds by John Grisham, which comprise his Camino series. In many ways, these books are both beautifully and realistically written, with many startling and wrenching plot twists to keep you involved from beginning to end. However, unlike The Rooster Bar and Skipping Christmas, the plots often involve offputting and frankly sleazy events on the parts of the characters that are regrettable and difficult to read. Much of this involves the sex lives of the characters, who often are publishers and hack writers who jump into bed with each other at a moment's notice and who chronicle these events in their own books for their own sick pleasure. These moments are bizarre and upsetting, and make these books difficult to read. The characters are also criminal, greedy, profane, and murderous, which makes them additionally difficult to relate to. For this reason, these are definitely some tough, tough books. Interestingly, there is also a fictitious drug mentioned in Camino Winds mentioned in the context of one of the character's books, and I have seen fictitious drugs and drugs in general mentioned in a number of other works of fiction lately. Is this a reference to a previous book, such as Brave New World, or is it a recent fad in publishing lately to refer to fictitious drugs? Whatever the reason, it seems regrettable that such a theme be explored so routinely in publishing, with drugs and drug abuse in and of itself being a debatable topic in the field of entertainment. By and large, however, I did enjoy the realism and excitement offered in these books and regard them as worth reading. However, I may need to take a break from John Grisham in the near future.