So...a funny thing happened on the way to reading John Barth's Chimera. My #1 son told me that he had read a YA novel about an autistic (Asperger's, really, but, you know, close enough for government work) kid, which he really liked, and he suggested that I read it. And I do try to be a full service company when it comes to my kids, so I went online to see what I could see. And there I found Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork. Amazon had it on Kindle for a mere $5.99, which is pretty sweet...but you know, money is always tight here at Brother K Headquarters, so I checked to see if I could find it at the library. And they had it...but only in real book form, no e-book option, and since the library is closed down right now, that wouldn't do me any good, would it? So I thought maybe I'd have a look at Scribd, as I've been flirting with the idea of going back to them for a month or two now (in fact, primarily in terms of looking for John Barth books). They didn't have it, but something else popped up in my search. Something called the Internet Archive. And lo and behold, they not only had Marcelo at the End of the World, but also John Barth's The End of the Road...and also The Sot-Weed Factor, Giles, Goat-Boy, and Lost in the Funhouse, which would take me all the way up to Chimera in the Barth chronological bibliography.
It sounded too good to be true. So I looked into its background. Turns out it is a digital library which was first established on May 12, 1996, and it has ties to Google, MSN, a bunch of universities, some government, and even the Library of Congress. It sounded legit. So I thought I'd give it a go. I set up an account and checked out Marcelo in the Real World. I didn't download it...I'm not a trusting kind of guy...but the whole book was there for me, I didn't have any trouble keeping my place as long as I kept the tab open on my Kindle, and I knocked the book out in less than two days. #1Son was right, by the way...I really liked this book.
Meanwhile, back at The Barth...
I was still reading Chimera. But I was getting a little bogged down in the second novella, and I thought, "Maybe I'll just have a little peak at The End of the Road. So I went back to the Internet Archive and checked it out. Started reading.
There were some obvious parallels to The Floating Opera. The narrator in this one was less likable than Todd Andrews in the first book. But things were going along well enough, I abandoned Chimera and got down to it, and I was chewing through the pages until I ran into a reference to one of the main characters punching his wife in the jaw. Twice in succession. Needless to say, I was appalled. I thought about ditching the book...but ended up deciding to go on.
And then, this:
From page 97 of 198.
And this was not only a repeat of the incident which had bothered me so much, but this time it was the narrator, Jake Horner, doing the punching. That made it worse. And on top of that, the woman (Peggy) then has sex with Jake immediately after he punches her. (Well, not immediately immediately. They get out of the car and go inside first.)
That really made me feel ill. (It's also a prevalent trope in movies and tv shows; what the fuck is up with that? If somebody hits me, I am definitely not going to be in the mood for some sex. Are there that many people out there who are?)
I staggered on. The same character, Jake Horner, was in a heated discussion with Rennie, his wife's friend, with whom he had sex. (Because that's what friends do, right?) And...
From page 127.
I have to admit, if I weren't so close to the end of this book (71 pages--about 35%--to go), I would put it away at this point and never go back. But I am going to try to push myself to finish for one reason: to see if this is where Mr. Barth and I part ways. To tell the truth, I was really jazzed about re-reading The Sot-Weed Factor, which would be my next book, and from what I've read, Giles, Goat Boy sounds very interesting as well (and that would come after TS-WF). I was even interested in finishing Chimera. I think. So...I'm going to try to grind this one out.
Just thought I'd send up a flare.
New as it happens, so watch this space.
⬇️
Nevertheless, I persisted. And...it got worse. This is probably going to be the end of the road for me with respect to Mr. Barth. Or maybe I'll finish Chimera, since I'm halfway through that one, and then decide. But as for The End of the World, this was just an awful book. Near the end I became convinced that this was actually Barth's first novel, and even he realized how bad it was, so he rewrote it (pretty successfully) as The Floating Opera. And then when The Floating Opera was published (1956), he had just enough cachet to get The End of the Road published in 1958. If you like or love Barth and haven't read this one, then do yourself a favor and skip it. Unless you really need to read a scene portraying a woman enduring a botched abortion. And I'm pretty sure that no one needs that. If you don't know Barth, then do not read this book. If you hate Barth, then this is the book for you: it shows him at his worst.
I feel like I need to take a shower.
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