The Death of the Heart

 

For years I've been reading books from the writer Elizabeth Taylor (not the actress) but I've heard people dismiss her as an Elizabeth Bowen want to be. I was curious so I read Bowen's most famous book.  It is good but I like Taylor more. My favorite book of hers A Wreath of Roses is kind of like a Hitchcock movie. I did like this book though and plan to read more by Bowen.  It is about an orphan who is sent to live with her half brother Thomas.  She takes to Eddie who is a flirt. Thomas' wife Anna has read her diary and the teenager has a breakdown. I love reading women's literature from the 1940s through the 1960s. Virago Modern classics and New York Review Book Classics publish a ton of good stuff from that genre. 

The Tunnel

 

This was all right.  It's an existentialist novel about obsessive love.  The narrator of this piece is an artist.  He obsesses about a woman and even when the feelings are mutual it isn't good enough.  I don't think that he is really in love with the woman.  He lives to obsess.  It drives him to murder the object of his affection.  Graham Greene and Albert Camus acclaimed this novel.  Indeed the author does remind me of the unlikeable narrator of "The Stranger" in many ways.  I love South American authors.  I need to investigate them more. 

Cat's Eye

 

People act like The Handmaid's Tale is the only book that Margaret Atwood has written.  She's written lots of books and is not a one-trick pony.  This book was good.  It's also Atwood's most autobiographical book.  A painter Elaine Risley reflects on her life.  The first part of the book is more or less an intellectual version of Mean Girls.  We meet the queen bee of the group Cordelia.  What I liked about the book is that Cordelia is more than a one-note character.  She may be snobby in the book but there are parts later in the book where she collapses like a real human does.  The second part of the book goes over Elaine's relationships with men, marriage, her art career, and college.  I thought it was well written but I enjoyed the first half more.  

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds

 

This is a pretty good play about an abusive mother and the damaging effect she has on her two daughters.  One of which is an ambitious kid working on a science experiment at the moment.  What the mother does at the end of the play angered me.  I actually like what Paul Zindel did more after this play.  He went on to write a bunch of prize-winning young adult books.  When I was a teenager I wasn't really into young adult but I loved these books.  They were quirky and did a successful job at getting into the minds of teenagers.  This play succeeds on that level too and I am anxious to watch the Paul Newman movie.  

Sacred Families

 I read this book years ago and reread it again. "Gaspard de la Nuit" is one of my favorite stories of all time.  It's about a mother having to deal with her strange teenager whose favorite pastime is whistling a tune to himself.  He entertains himself wandering the street whistling this.   But there's more than one of him around.  This book was actually better the second time around I read it. "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" was just ok.  The second story "Green Atom Number Five" made more of an impression on me the second time around.  It's about a dentist who dabbles in art.  Their property starts disappearing.  There aren't many reviews for this book online which is a shame.  I really need to read Jose Donoso's other works.  He has something unique to say.