About the New Canon

About 50 years ago, a group of scholarly blokes at the most acclaimed universities in the United States sat down and decided what books were to be considered literature and what books were just . . . well books. They didn't have any literary value and were not even considered "literature". The books in this Canon are said to be those literary works which have defined American culture and thus are the only ones fit to be taught. This blog is a rebellion against this old-fashioned idea. We are trying to express that these books are incredibly limited. They are essentially a list of books written by dead Eurpopean men. Women authors, minority authors and books that fall into categories other than so-called realistic fiction are few and far between on this list, but nonetheless they were judged to be ideal books against which all other books are to be measured. We want to create here a list of great reads that aren't necessarily written by someone who could not imagine what life would be like for our generation. The value of the books included on the Canon cannot be ignored, but by limiting ourselves to a strict list of valuable books, we eliminate the voices of our current generation.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The Feast of Love: A Novel by Charles Baxter




Title
The Feast of Love: A Novel


Author
Charles Baxter


Copyright
2000


Ah, now this is one of those really beautiful books that I love. This is a book about love, in all its forms: beautiful, painful, perfect, doomed and the way that the lives of the characters in this book are shaped by it. As a writer, I admire Baxter's mastery of the voices in this text, each voice is clear, distinct, the personalities of the characters he creates honest and unique. This was a book that nearly had me in tears several times.

The premise of this book is decievingly simple. Charlie, our original narrator is an insomniac and he often goes for walks when he has difficulty sleeping. On one of these walks, he encounters his friend and one of the main characters in the book, Bradley. Bradley says that he should collect stories about love, so that's what Charlie does. First we have the story of Bradley's failed marriage to Kathryn and then we hear Kathryn's side of the story and how she was busy falling in love with another woman. His second wife Diana marries him while in love with another man and eventually leaves him for that man. We encounter Chloe (pronounced clow-AY, not CLOW-ee as you would expect) and her delirious and beautiful romance with recovering drug-addict Oscar. We meet Ethel and Harry an elderly Jewish couple who are at a loss at how to save their prodigal son. These voices weave together elegantly, and despite the sadness of many of the stories, the novel leaves you feeling satisfied, if a bit lonely. If you don't believe in love, I think the book could make a believer out of you.

The biggest theme in this book is obviously love, but it is all the different stages meanings and directions of love. Falling in love, falling out of love, being in love for fifty years, losing the one you love most, and finding the one you're meant to be with. It is sentimental and sweet, but honest. The characters are often flawed and desperate, but Baxter loves his creations and it comes through in this book.

Go buy the book, read the book, love the book. I haven't seen the movie yet, but just reading how they changed the characters around, I'm pushing the book first.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)