A Few Good Reads

Alabama author and Auburn University graduate Rheta Grimsley Johnson's recent weekly column included her contention that book reviews are difficult to write well and therefore probably should never be written. Although I have much respect for Ms. Johnson as a writer (also love her ex-husband's comic strip "Arlo and Janis"), I am going to ignore her advice and write a little about some of the books I've read lately. Who knows? Maybe you will be interested enough to read a few of these selections for yourself.

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger.
I first read this book when I was a senior in high school. I remember this vividly because it was on a "restricted" list, and I had to have a signed note from my parents in order to check it out of the school library. The book is still widely banned in public school libraries across the U.S. I decided to re-read it a few weeks ago when the news reported that J.D. Salinger had passed away.

The book tells the story of Holden Caulfield, a teen-aged prep school student who attempts to come to grips with a culture and society that he views as "phony". The story is narrated by Caulfield as he recounts the last few days prior to his nervous breakdown. The book is admittedly crude at times, but also very funny as it paints a pretty good picture of the "establishment." I found Caulfield's view of children and his quest to protect their innocence to be very touching.

It's interesting to me that J.D. Salinger lived the rest of his life as a recluse after the book became widely successful. He published a few more stories after wards, but no more major books. This kind of reminds me of Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird). It makes me wonder if they only had one really good story in them--or is it something associated with the unwanted attention success sometimes brings?

In Cold Blood, By Truman Capote
I started reading Truman Capote's writing last year after visiting Monroeville, Alabama's annual writer's workshop and theater presentation of "To Kill a Mockingbird." Harper Lee and Truman Capote were cousins, and it is said that Capote was the inspiration for that story's character "Dill."

In Cold Blood is widely considered to be Capote's finest work. A "non-fiction novel", it recounts the grisly murder of a farm family in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959, and the subsequent capture, trial, and execution of the killers. It is one of those books that you "can't put down" until you finish. Once you finish, rent the movie "Capote" on DVD. It recounts the story of his writing the book and will add even more appreciation for the book.

I consider Truman Capote to be one of America's finest writers--the man could write a sentence and turn a phrase with the best of them. It's a shame that his literary success didn't lead to a happier personal life.

Mi Moto Fidel, by Christopher P. Baker
This is the story of the author's tour of Cuba in 1996 on a motorcycle. Baker is a travel guide writer, and his journey through Cuba was allowed under the pretense of writing a travel guide to Cuba.

The book is interesting only if you are interested in the people and politics of Cuba. Baker admits that he was a kind of American socialist before the trip, with a deep admiration for Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and the "liberation" of Cuba. The Cuba he discovers is not the utopia he imagined, and by the end of the story he begins to question his political ideals. One distraction from the story is the author's quest to bed almost any willing Cuban woman he encounters.

To be continued...