Oil! - Upton Sinclair (1927)
Because P.T. Anderson's excellent 2007 film, There Will be Blood (one of my absolute favorites of all time), is loosely based on this 1927 Upton Sinclair novel, I was pretty stoked to tackle Oil!. When I realized early on exactly how loose of an adaptation it was, I lost interest pretty quickly. There Will be Blood is a brilliant, stark, intense satire on American religion and the oil industry in the early 1900s and a character study on a truly evil oil tycoon (superbly played by Daniel Day-Lewis, duh). Oil! unsurprisingly and satirically touches on the scandalous nature of U.S. politics and the oil industry at the time, and blatantly champions the socialist banner. While I appreciate Sinclair's perceptive and insanely descriptive writing style, and tragic endings are usually my jam, but the density of the material turned into a total bore and Sinclair's preachiness is a bit overwhelming. When you get down to it, the novel and the film are really nothing alike, and the plot, pacing, mood and characters in There Will be Blood make it the far more superior experience.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson (1971)
I've been planning on reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson's most famous work, for several years, and I definitely wouldn't say it was a disappointment. It is a novel with autobiographical tendencies (I get the feeling that only the names used are false, the drug-induced fantasies are exagerated, and that's it). It is sometimes difficult to sort through what is real vs. what is surreal. Despite the lack of anly real narrative, the plot is pretty fun: Raul Duke (Thompson) and Dr. Gonzo (his attorney) take two trips to Las Vegas on journalist duty, but instead get lost in a haze of substance enhanced insanity. The drug imagery is pretty interesting and usually funny, and a hefty portion of the dialogue and Thompson's style and way with words were entertaining and gave me a good chuckle. But, that's pretty much all I got out of Fear and Loathing (which is fine), even though I know that there's supposed to be some grand statement on the American Dream hidden underneath all of the druggy talk. Perhaps my capability to relate with anything in this book is hindered by the fact that it's the first and only thing I've ever read of Thompson's. C'est la vie.
The Neon Bible - John Kennedy Toole (1989)
John Kennedy Toole, most notable for his authorship of A Confederacy of Dunces, died far too young and tragically. It also is unfortunate that there are only two novels posthumously published by this talented writer. I read A Confederacy of Dunces earlier in the year and my mind was completely blown. It it is one of the best works of fiction I've read in my entire life. The Neon Bible was published nine years later, though it was written at a considerably earlier time in Toole's life: AT THE AGE OF 16. That fact definitely has a little to due with how impressed I am with this short novel. However, The Neon Bible is not just good for a 16 year-old. It is a southern gothic tale of growivg up in the American south in the 1940s, facing such adversities as poverty, ultra conservative Christianity, an uncaring father, the second World War and insanity, to name a few. While A Confederacy of Dunces was painstakingly detailed and utterly hilarious, The Neon Bible is dark and subtle. Toole's language and imagery is simple in the most charming and appropriate ways, and the meandering pace and tone of the story is pulled off exceedingly well. And, unlike most books I read, this one's ending was slightly unexpected and absolutely fantastic. I wish there could be more published works by John Kennedy Toole, but the two novels we have of his will most definitely suffice.
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