songS oF innocencE & experiencE: May 2022

Saturday, May 28, 2022

Breaking Edgar Rice Burroughs News

A few days ago a member of the Facebook group For the Love of All Things EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS * informed me that there was a book of ERB's non-fiction works entitled Edgar Rice Burroughs Tells All. I've spent a fair amount of time over the past 13 years scouring the internet in an attempt to find all of ERB's books, and I hadn't even caught a whiff of this one. Needless to say I hopped on this tip right away, and lo and behold

I ordered a copy from Thrift Books (HERE) immediately, so now that my copy is heading my way I'm willing to give you the lowdown. According to the Thrift Books description, "This book contains the vast majority of his published, public domain non-fiction works." That's hard to believe, as it weighs in at a mere 396 pages, and I know that ERB wrote a lot of non-fiction, but I'll withhold judgement until I have it in my hot little hands.

I'd recommend ordering it from Thrift Books because they are super cool, but if they run out you can also find it at lulu (HERE) and The Usual Suspects as well.

More news as it happens.

* Shout out to Mr. Matthew Moran, who informed me of the existence of this book on April 27, 2022 at 5:37 PM.

MORE 🗞:

6:45 pm, May 4, 2022:

So that was pretty quick.

EVEN MORE 🗞:

On the one hand, this is Edgar Rice Burroughs stuff that I didn't know existed in book form, and that I didn't have the time, patience, or resources to put together on my own, so for that I am most grateful to Jerry L. Schneider for putting all of this material together. I wish he had written an introduction that told how he went about doing this. I suspect that the internet didn't do him a hell of a lot of good, and that he actually had to find physical copies of the newspapers (etc.) that these pieces were printed in--but I'd like to hear about that from him. It'd be an interesting story. I also wouldn't mind it if he'd put some introductory comments before at least some of the pieces...and / or some reflective comments after at least some of the pieces.

On another hand, 34 pages of the book are taken up by ERB's virulent comments about a murder trial. The murderer, one Hickman, was a truly depraved man and certainly deserving of scorn. But to hear ERB constantly (pretty much every page) say how William Edward Hickman wasn't a human being and should be killed just kind of turned my stomach.

Just found out that the 13 columns that comprise the Hickman Story were printed on ERBzine.com (well..."printed"), so now I'm wondering if maybe Jerry L. Schneider actually didn't have to do a hell of a lot of work at all...if maybe he just copied the pieces for this book from ERBzine.com? I don't have it in me to go checking...and I'd still have bought the book even if that was the case, because (1) I like having the book and (2) it'd give me at least a small pain in the ass to try to read almost 400 pages' worth of material on a computer and / or Kindle. But if you want to save some bucks and still read the material, it's worth a shot. You might as well start at https://www.erbzine.com/mag17/1768.html and go from there.

AND FINALLY, THE LAST 🗞 ON THIS TOPIC:

I'm only about halfway through the book as of this writing (May 15, 2022), but I'm already feeling a goodreads review coming on. I've got a few readers over there, and that's gratifying enough to make me want to keep hitting it, at least for some of the books I read. So I'm going to get it started now and then finish it up when I finish the book.

Ahem.

I spent $29.89 at Thrift Books for a copy of the Jerry L. Schneider edited Edgar Rice Burroughs Tells All...a collection of ERB's non-fiction work. If you're familiar with the ERB oeuvre, then I'd imagine that was a surprising sentence. I was pretty familiar with Burroughs works--having read all 84 of his fictional works--and I had no idea that this collection existed until a fellow Burroughs fan told me about it. It includes almost 400 pages of material, and I thought it was a great buy at $29.89...which is pretty much the going price online, though you can cadge a copy for $20 at Barnes & Noble (or for a mere $9.99 if you're one of the 73 people in the USA who owns a working Nook Reader). My love for Thrift Books (and my lack of a Nook Reader) makes the "extra" $9.89 immaterial to me, though.

A couple of warnings about this collection. First, there are several pieces that appear more than once. I haven't kept close track and have no desire to go back to tally things up, but I'd guess that at least four pieces have been repeated three or more times--because they were either printed with slight changes or just because they appeared in different publications. Even given that, though, there is quite a lot of material in these 400 pages, so I don't think that would be a deal-breaker for anybody...though it might indicate that Mr. Jerry L. Schneider could have put his hand on the tiller a bit more often. In fact, the lack of an introduction detailing how these pieces were collected, and the lack of pre- and / or post- article commentary for context also show me that Mr. Schneider could have made this into an even better collection with a little more effort.

Second on the warning list is more germane to the lover of Edgar Rice Burroughs himself, though. While there are plenty of times when his sense of humor (which is particularly given to self-abnegation, which I tend to like--give me a man who can laugh at himself and I'll give you ...well, hell, I don't know; what would you like?) is spot-on, there are also times when his extremely conservative socio-political perspective becomes irksome, or even off-putting. Such was the case for me in the 13 pieces on the William Edward Hickman murder trial. It was clear from the details that Burroughs gave that Hickman was a brutal, vicious murderer, and though as a rule I'm not in favor of the death penalty (for a number of reasons), I was not put off by Burroughs' insistence that Hickman should be put to death. I was put off, however, by the fact that Burroughs repeated this so many times, and by the fact that he justified this by insisting that Hickman was not a human being, and thus "Hickman's Kind" should be exterminated. It was way too close to Nazi propaganda for my comfort. It also is problematic philosophically, in that it denies that human beings are capable of committing atrocities. To me, the only hope that we will refrain from committing atrocities is the knowledge that we are--every one of us--capable of doing so. If you know there's a pothole on the highway, you have a fair chance of being wary enough to avoid it. If you don't know, you might have a wheel torn off. (I'm picturing a pretty big pothole for this one.)

Those warnings aside, however, I'd say that I enjoyed this book mightily, and would think that even non-Burroughs readers might enjoy this little slice of history. It's also kind of fun to see Burroughs shift into Real Estate Salesman mode as he tries to unload some pieces of property via newspaper advertisements disguised as articles. The guy was a huckster, and I say that with love in my heart and a smile on my face. He's like the grinning uncle who tries to sell you an insurance policy at the family reunion...but he's also honestly glad to see you. There's an almost dog-like winsomeness about it all.

To be continued....

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

DDR: The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

Day 1 (DDRD 1,667) May 25, 2022

Didn't really spend a lot of time thinking about it, but this morning I decided that I was long overdue for some Charles Dickens and picked up the first book of my two volume version of The Pickwick Papers. It's been a long time since I read Charles Dickens...even though I went to some trouble and expense to buy a set of his Complete Works, which consists of 36 volumes. Yes, once upon a time I thought it in me to read all of those volumes. And perhaps it's still possible...though I doubt it. But who knows, maybe Pickwick will ignite an unquenchable fire which will consume all of those volumes. Time will tell.

For now, The Pickwick Papers Volume I has a 6 page Introduction, a 6 page Preface, 5 pages of set-up material, and then 484 pages of story. Volume II has 5 pages of set-up material and 477 pages of story. That's a grand total page count (as I count them, anyway) of 983 pages, which is a pretty hefty number, isn't it? Looks like a 49 day job if I can stick to 20 pages a day, which seems to be my current level of ambition.

And today? Read to page 11...and with the pre-text stuff that makes 28 pages, so that's good. As for the content...well, a bit slow. Of course, this was VERY early Dickens...second book, and the first one (Sketches by Boz) almost doesn't count. So here's hoping that I get into the groove soon. Or that Charles does.

Day 2 (DDRD 1,668) May 26, 2022

Read to page 38, end of Chapter II...and yes, things have kicked in. For one thing, the weirdness that Dickens can't seem to avoid rose up. Check this out:

Some members of the Pickwick Club are taking a coach, and the stranger who has joined up with them points out that they should duck their heads because a low archway is coming up. He then tells them, in his bizarre, truncated syntax, "Terrible place--dangerous work--other day--five children--mother--tall lady, eating sandwiches--forgot the arch--crash--knock--children look round--mother's head off--sandwich in her hand--no mouth to put it in--head of a family off--shocking, shocking!" (13)

Yep, that's the Charles Dickens I know and love all right. When I'd finished Chapter II I went back and re-read the first 12 pages, and lo and behold they weren't nearly as boring as I'd deemed them to be...though they weren't holding any candles to the decapitated mother story. At any rate, I think we're on our way now.

Day 3 (DDRD 1,669) May 27, 2022

Read to page 67, end of Chapter IV. Some pretty funny stuff, but nothing to make me bark yet.

Day 4 (DDRD 1,670) May 28, 2022

Read to page 97 (end of Chapter VI).

Some funny stuff, to be sure...some of it light (the recalcitrant horses hired by The Pickwick Club)...some of it exceedingly dark, such as

But quite a bit of tragic stuff as well, as the story related to the PC members (and written down in a notebook) entitled "The Returned Convict." At some point in that story it occurred to me that this novel seems to bear no resemblance to "The Dickens Nobody Knows" by Dr. Elliot Engel--which is a most excellent lecture, a version of which can be found on The YouTube. Engel spoke about the humorous adventures of a sporting club, however, and The Pickwick Club certainly does not seem to be that. Hmmm. Time will tell.

Day 5 (DDRD 1,671) May 29, 2022

Read to page 130 (end of Chapter VIII). And I am pretty sure that I'll be reading some more, because I have, indeed, fallen into this novel. The humor has really begun to emerge now. As in this bit, wherein the members of The Pickwick Club have gone off to do some early morning bird shooting, and one of the club members accidentally shoots another:

"Mr Tupman had saved the lives of innumerable unoffending birds by receiving a portion of the charge in his left arm." (101 to 102)

I'm not usually a fan of hyperbole, but in this case "innumberable" adds to the humor, thus suits my fancy.

So captivated was I by the pages I read today that I started to think, "Maybe I should just read all of Dickens' novels in a row." To that end, I found a listing of said novels:

The Pickwick Papers (1836)

Oliver Twist (1837)

Nicholas Nickleby (1838)

The Old Curiosity Shop (1840)

Barnaby Rudge (1841)

Martin Chuzzlewit (1843)

Dombey and Son (1846)

David Copperfield (1849)

Bleak House (1852)

Hard Times (1854)

Little Dorritt (1855)

A Tale of Two Cities (1859)

Great Expectations (1860)

Our Mutual Friend (1864)

The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870)

Fifteen of them. So it would take some time, to be sure, but I doubt that it would take more than a year, maybe even less. I've already read four of them (underlined), and definitely would enjoy reading them again. And I've already got copies of all of them on hand in the nice (if a bit worn) Centennial Editions. Speaking of which, if I managed to read all fifteen novels, that would mean I'd finished

Little Dorrit I

Little Dorrit II

Sketches by Boz I

Sketches by Boz II

Nicholas Nickleby I

Nicholas Nickleby II

The Old Curiosity Shop I

The Old Curiosity Shop II

A Tale of Two Cities

Great Expectations

Oliver Twist

The Uncommercial Traveller

Hard Times

The Mystery of Edwin Drood/Master Humphrey’s Clock

Miscellaneous Papers I

Miscellaneous Papers II

David Copperfield I

David Copperfield II

Our Mutual Friend I

Our Mutual Friend II

A Child’s History of England

American Notes/ Pictures from Italy

Pickwick Papers I

Pickwick Papers II

Christmas Stories I

Christmas Stories II

Christmas Books

Bleak House I

Bleak House II

Barnaby Rudge I

Barnaby Rudge II

Dombey & Son I

Dombey & Son II

Martin Chuzzlewit I

Martin Chuzzlewit II

Reprinted Pieces

25.5 of the 36 (there seem to be 37 volumes, however, so I'll have to look into that) volumes (since the majority of the novels occupy two volumes), so you know, might as well finish off the other 10.5 or 11.5 if I get that far, right? Well. We'll see. God knows that my reach usually exceeds my grasp.

I'm also wondering what on 🌍 was behind the order of the Centennial Edition volumes. Of course I will write to the publisher and ask if I can't find an answer to that online. That's what Old Guys do, right?

BTW, the website I found which lists the "37" titles above leads that page with the title Charles Dickens Centennial Edition Complete 36 Volumes Heron 1970, so I don't know what's up with the "37" titles listed. Also, said website proclaims that they have ONE complete set in stock for £225.00, which at the moment = $284.15...so I don't think I'll be taking this set up to Half-Price Books anytime in the near future.

More BTW, found the publisher of The Centennial Edition--Heron Books--and they no longer publish it, so....

ADDENDUM: Read a little more--to page 158, the end of Chapter X.

Day 6 (DDRD 1,672) May 30, 2022

Read to page 180 (end of Chapter XI).

porter's knot (pl. porter's knots)

(obsolete) A double shoulder pad worn with a strap around the forehead, used by hawkers and market porters for supporting burdens on the head. (https://www.wordsense.eu/porter%27s_knot/)

"The spirit which burns within us, is a porter's knot, on which to rest the heavy load of worldly cares and troubles; and when that spirit fails us, the burden is too heavy to be borne. We sink beneath it." (161)

I'm enjoying The Pickwick Papers quite a bit at this point, but I keep thinking back to that Elliot Engel lecture and how not much of what he had to say there about this book seems to be true. For instance, he talked about how Dickens said that he would get reader's to come back for the next published installment of the book by having something happen which would be very tantalizing...and EE gave the example of a character falling from a cliff, then catching hold with his fingernails, and said that this was the invention of "the cliffhanger." Well, nothing like this has happened so far, and the more I read the less likely that kind of event seems to be, so I looked up the etymology of "cliffhanger" and found this on Wikipedia:

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliffhanger)

So pardon my French, but...what the fuck? Did Engel just make that shit up? I guess I'll go back and listen to the lecture just to make sure that my memory is accurate...but I'm pretty sure that it is in this case.

News as it happens.

Oh. In other news (not the kind that happens), Mr. Pickwick has happened upon another story, this time in manuscript form, thus we are given "A Madman's Manuscript," which tells the story of a guy who goes crazy and does crazy things. It seems out of place here in a "comedic" novel, and I wonder what motivated Dickens to splice it in here. It has absolutely nothing to do with the plot line. Reminds me of the bit in Don Quixote when they find a manuscript in a trunk and then spend a hundred pages or so on that before they get back to the story. I guess it's a way of creating a mini-anthology, but I don't get it.

News: I found Elliot Engel's "The Dickens Nobody Knows" online * and listened to it, and 35 minutes in EE tells the cliffhanger story (man falls off cliff, clings to it with his exceedingly long fingernails) referring to Chapter III of The Pickwick Papers as the source of this story. Well, here's how Chapter III of that novel actually ends:

‘They are not worth your notice,’ said the dismal man.

‘You are right, sir,’ replied Mr. Pickwick, ‘they are not. I am

ashamed to have been betrayed into this warmth of feeling. Draw your chair up to the table, Sir.’

The dismal man readily complied; a circle was again formed round

the table, and harmony once more prevailed. Some lingering irritability appeared to find a resting-place in Mr. Winkle’s bosom, occasioned possibly by the temporary abstraction of his coat—though it is scarcely reasonable to suppose that so slight a circumstance can have excited even a passing feeling of anger in a Pickwickian’s breast. With this exception, their good-humour was completely restored; and the evening concluded with the conviviality with which it had begun.

No damn cat. No damn cradle.

Which leaves me wondering what else Eliott Engel made up. Did Dickens really invent the paperback book? Did he really invent "procrastinated suspense"? Was The Pickwick Papers really the bestselling book of 1836 AND 1837? I can't say with certitude, but my brief internet walkabouts indicate that the answers are No, no, and no. Which is very disappointing. There was a time when I loved Eliott Engel's Dickens lecture so much that I played it for my students, thinking it would get them excited about reading Charles Dickens. (It didn't work, by the way.) Now I'm thinking that he's as full of shit as a Christmas turkey, as one of my co-workers at the wire harness factory once said.

Sigh.

In other news, I read a bit more: to page 192.

I found this bit relevant, topical, and amusing...in a That is So Fucking Sad kind of way:

...the Eatanswill people, like the people of many other small towns, considered themselves of the utmost and most mighty importance, and that every man in Eatanswill, conscious of the weight that attached to his example, felt himself bound to unite, heart and soul, with one of the two great parties that divided the town--the Blues and the Buffs. Now the Blues lost no opportunity of opposing the Buffs, and the Buffs lost no opportunity of opposing the Blues; and the consequence was, that whenever the Buffs and Blues met together at public meeting, town-hall, fair, or market, disputes and high words arose between them. With these dissensions it is almost superfluous to say that everything in Eatanswill was made a party question. If the Buffs proposed to new skylight the market-place, the Blues got up public meetings, and denounced the proceeding; if the Blues proposed the erection of an additional pump in the High Street, the Buffs rose as one man and stood aghast at the enormity. There were Blue shops and Buff shops, Blue inns and Buff inns--there was a Blue aisle and a Buff aisle in the very church itself.

Of course it was essentially and indispensably necessary that each of these powerful parties should have its chosen organ and representative: and, accordingly, there were two newspapers in the town--the Eatanswill GAZETTE and the Eatanswill INDEPENDENT; the former advocating Blue principles, and the latter conducted on grounds decidedly Buff. Fine newspapers they were. Such leading articles, and such spirited attacks!--'Our worthless contemporary, the GAZETTE'--'That disgraceful and dastardly journal, the INDEPENDENT'--'That false and scurrilous print, the INDEPENDENT'-- 'That vile and slanderous calumniator, the GAZETTE;' these, and other spirit-stirring denunciations, were strewn plentifully over the columns of each, in every number, and excited feelings of the most intense delight and indignation in the bosoms of the townspeople.

I mean...talk about ripped from today's headlines, right?

But Dickens always levies his social criticisms, no matter how scathing, with a bit of humor, so shortly after that bit there was this:

"Don't ask any questions. It's always best on these occasions to do what the mob do."

"But suppose there are two mobs?" suggested Mr. Snodgrass.

"Shout with the largest," replied Mr Pickwick. (192)

Yep. God bless us every one.

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=W-7KTpudOpU.

Day 7 (DDRD 1,673) May 31, 2022

Read to page 220. And we have yet another "found" anecdote: "The Bagman's Story." I really don't understand this constant diversion from the main plot line. Not that these diversions aren't diverting...but they kill the momentum of the plot (such as it is), which doesn't make good writerly sense to me. But who am I to argue with Charles Dickens? Nobody. Just like Odysseus.

Day 8 (DDRD 1,674) June 1, 2022

Read to page 255.

Chapter 14 includes a conversation with a chair, in which the chair reveals vital information to a man which enables him to discredit a widow's suitor, and usurp his place. So Not a Dream, Not a Hoax, Not an Imaginary Story. You've got to love Dickens, don't you?

Day 9 (DDRD 1,675) June 2, 2022

Read to page 295, end of Chapter XVIII. Well past the halfway point now and less than 200 pages left to go. It's going quite well now...as you can no doubt tell by the fact that I'm averaging 35 pages a day. And that's despite the fact that I powered down a Hard Case Crime novel (The Next Time I Die) so that I could do a review of the advance copy.

Shortly after the start of Chapter XVII, we get yet another short tale: "The Parish Clerk. A Tale of True Love." It was okay-ish...though the ending left me cold...but once again I just have to wonder why we keep making these detours from the main road. Maybe Dickens was just using up some stuff that he had lying around the office. It doesn't spoil the novel, but it doesn't enhance it, either.

ADDENDUM: Read to page 315. 169 pages to go in Volume I. I'm thinking I'll be finished in less than a week, given the rate I've been going at it.

Day 10 (DDRD 1,676) June 3, 2022

Read to page 345. And guess what? Another story. And another grim story. Have to admit that I wouldn't mind if CD had left these things out. Not that they're bad, just that I'm enjoying the novel and don't want to be distracted from it.

Anyway, this one is a ghost story, and when the ghost tells of the misfortune that brought him to this spot, he says

Which is actually a distilled version of Bleak House, which Dickens would get around to writing 16 years later.

Day 11 (DDRD 1,677) June 4, 2022

Read to page 373, the end of Chapter XXII. And I'm pretty sure I'll read at least a bit more later today, so I'll probably go under 100 pages n the near. Funny, I've had this set of Dickens for years...since sometime around April of 2015, as best I can figure...without reading a word of it, and now after 11 days of pretty casual reading, I'm finishing off my first volume. Also, that what I once thought was impossible... namely reading the whole of Dickens (assuming this complete edition is indeed complete)...now seems quite possible indeed.

Oh, there was a fun and interesting incident in which Pickwick gets lost in his hotel. Goes to show how a great writer can make pretty much anything an exciting read.

ADDENDUM: Read to page 384--just a page into Chapter XXIV.

Some most excellent stuff along the way here. Such as this:

"...his complexion exhibited that peculiarly mottled combination of colours which is only to be seen in gentleman of his profession, and in underdone roast beef." (374)

And this:

"If ever you gets to up’ards o’ fifty, and feels disposed to go a marryin’ anybody—no matter who—just you shut yourself up in your own room, if you’ve got one, and pison yourself off hand. Hangin’s wulgar, so don’t you have nothin’ to say to that. Pison yourself, Samivel, my boy, pison yourself, and you’ll be glad on it arterwards.” (377)

In checking up on that quote, I happened to find the Project Gutemberg version of The Pickwick Papers (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/47534/47534-h/47534-h.htm), which has the same illustrations that my version has, but also additional ones, some of which are in color. This one--

--reminds me a bit of Frank Kings Gasoline Alley comic strip:

...one of the greatest strips of all time, in me 'umble.

And yes, now less than 100 pages to go in Volume I. If I keep at my current average pages per day pace, I'll be finishing up in another 3 days--which would make a total reading time of two weeks for Volume I. Not too shabby.

Day 12 (DDRD 1,678) June 5, 2022

Read to page 425, to the end of Chapter XXV. Which leaves only four chapters in Volume I. And a mere 59 pages, which should be pretty easy to knock out in two days. I feel like Dickens has really slipped into his groove at this point. He writes with perspicacity and insight, but frequently tinged with humor.

Day 13 (DDRD 1,679) June 6, 2022

Read to page 484. Yes, I finished Volume I today. Two things:

Thing One:

In a way, I think this sentence sums up the heart of Dickens:

"Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days...." (447)

Because on the one hand (as I see it), there's the sincere joy in the holiday, the true Christmas spirit...but on the other hand, there's the recognition that it's all really bullshit. To me, this is the equivalent of Noam Chomsky's concept of Necessary Illusions. (Or John Lennon's Whatever Gets You Through the Night.)

Thing Two:

The final chapter was yet another inserted story. This was one was actually pretty good, though, as usual, it had very little to do with the main story. On the other hand...check this out. In this story, a grumpy ass old guy is visited on Christmas Eve by a goblin who shows him scenes which convince the ga old guy that he's wasting his life, so when he wakes up the next day he's a changed man. He leaves his town and goes elsewhere so that he can live a different life. Mmm-hmm.

Day 14 (DDRD 1,680) June 7, 2022

Started Volume II today.

Read to page 23. Oddly enough, I found it a little hard getting traction. It makes no sense at all--I'm not starting a new book, I'm just resuming (with Chapter XXX) a book I've been reading every day for the past two weeks. But I suppose it's psychological. I probably should push myself a bit and read some more today, just to get back on the horse... but to be honest, I don't feel like it, so I probably won't.

Day 15 (DDRD 1,681) June 8, 2022

Read to page 53, and today felt much more comfortable than yesterday. One of the characters introduced in today's reading was a surgeon named Dr. Slasher. That kind of stuff used to annoy me, but it doesn't anymore. In fact, I find it kind of amusing. Also, having lived a bit longer since my last reading of Dickens, I realize that quite often there actually are people whose names correspond to their professions ...presumably by accident, but perhaps not.

Day 16 (DDRD 1,682) June 9, 2022

Read to page 90. The Pickwick Trial has begun. The presiding judge is a tremendously fat man (described as being a head and a stomach, and so small that only his eyes and the top of his wig show above the bench) who sleeps through most of the testimonies. The advocates on either side of the trial are chums, and the prosecution is given to making much of nothing...as when he insists that a note from Pickwick to his landlady which referring to a warming pan is actually a romantic communique. Again I'm reminded of the trial which forms the primary focus of Bleak House. Dickens obviously spent some hard time in the courts. Maybe Eliot Engels' information about Dickens being a court reporter was actually true. (Though at this point it's hard to believe that anything Eliot Engels said about Dickens was true.)

You know...these CENTENNIAL EDITION Heron Books books seem to be very shoddy in construction. Check out the binding on The Pickwick Papers Volume II:

And it's hardly an anomaly. In fact, though I haven't examined them yet, as I recall just about every one of the books in this collection show

similar types of damage. (In fact, yesterday I was exploring a consignment store and found some volumes of this series, and every one of those books had damage on the spine of like ilk.) I'm still grateful that I have all of this Dickens ready to hand, but it would have been nice if they'd been put together with a little more care. I mean...I have regular hardback books bought off of the shelf which don't deteriorate in this way. Shouldn't a Centennial Edition of the complete works of Charles Dickens hold up at least as well as them?

Day 17 (DDRD 1,683) June 10, 2022

Read to page 111. The Trial had some pretty funny moments--most of them courtesy of Sam Weller, who is clearly smarter than the judge and lawyers, and plays them masterfully.

Day 18 (DDRD 1,684) June 11, 2022

Read to page 140. And yet another side story. This one actually had some peripheral connection to the main storyline: Pickwick is in Bath, and the story was about the founding of Bath.

Day 19 (DDRD 1,685) June 12, 2022

Read to page 165 (end of Chapter XXXVIII).

Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress was Dickens' second novel. I know a little bit about the story from this and that, but I've never read it before. I'm already starting to look forward to making its acquaintance, though. Which does not mean that I'm ready for Pickwick to end. Just the opposite, actually. I'm enjoying it so much... and knowing that this is Dickens' first time out just makes me even more anxious to read one of his better known works.

Day 20 (DDRD 1,686) June 13, 2022

Read to page 191. I'm also working my way through the 6th Nancy Drew book, The Secret of Red Gate Farm, and The Possessed: Adventures With Russian Books and the People Who Read Them by Elif Batuman, who is a delightful writer. Not to mention the three books I'm reading with Jacqueline every day, and the other three books I'm reading with Joe every day. And the huge Isaac Asimov autobiography (volume 1). And the comic books.

Hmmm.

Day 21 (DDRD 1,687) June 14, 2022

Read to page 222 (in honor of Pete Dixon, of course). Pickwick is in jail. Debtor's Prison, more specifically. This book is pretty much the opposite of a Sporting Club. Did you even read the Cliff's Notes for this, Dr. Eliot Engel? Sheesh.

I'm sorry to say that this book is really falling apart. Check this out:

And I'm not in the least bit rough with this tome. It just kind of melts in your hands as you read. What a shame. I mean, they look pretty nice until you start reading them.

Day 22 (DDRD 1,688) June 15, 2022

Read to page 253. Oh, wow. Only 224 pages to go. And I've averaged 34.5 pages per day, which would mean that if I keep to that pace, I only have about a week left to go. That's pretty exciting, ennit?

Meanwhile...

Mr. Pickwick is still in prison, and the tone of this book has darkened immensely. Check this out:

"...if I lay dead at the bottom of the deepest mine in the world; tight screwed down and soldered in my coffin; rotting in the dark and filthy ditch that drags its slime along, beneath the foundations of this prison; I could not be more forgotten or unheeded than I am here. I am a dead man; dead to society, without the pity they bestow on those whose souls have passed to judgment. Friends to see me! My God! I have sunk, from the prime of life into old age, in this place, and there is not one to raise his hand above my bed when I lie dead upon it, and say, 'It is a blessing he is gone'" (226)

And if that isn't grim enough, then how about this:

"...we still leave unblotted in the leaves of our statute book, for the reverence and admiration of succeeding ages, the just and wholesome law which declares that the sturdy felon shall be fed and clothed, and that the penniless debtor shall be left to die of starvation and nakedness. This is no fiction. Not a week passes over our head, but, in every one of our prisons for debt, some of these men must inevitably expire in the slow agonies of want, if they were not relieved by their fellow-prisoners." (227 - 228)

This one also has some stink on it, as Dickens turns his Sarcasm Ray on. Shows you where his heart was pretty much from the beginning of his writing career, I'd say.

Which is just one of the reasons I love Charles Dickens.

And today, without any provocation on my part (other than opening the book to read), this happened:

I suspect that this will affect the re-sale price.

Fucking Heron Books.

Day 23 (DDRD 1,689) June 16, 2022

Read to page 287 (end of Chapter XLV...and there are only LVII chapters in the book, so yes, The End Is Night).

Pickwick is still in prison. Two things hit me:

(1) Because he has money, Pickwick is able to live in relative comfort in the prison. He has a furnished room, eats well, and has alcohol to drink. Meanwhile there are poor people who are literally starving to death...like Job Trotter, whose emaciated state is described in vivid terms.

(2) Pickwick goes out of his way to help people who he sees are suffering...even one (Mr. Jingle) who has done him wrong. The same is true of Sam Weller, who helps the aforementioned Job Trotter when he sees what a terrible state the fellow is in.

In reference to (2), Pickwick hears that one of his fellow prisoners is in bad shape and goes to visit him. He gets there just in time to see him die. Of this fellow prisoner, Dickens tells us that

"...he had grown so like death in life, that they knew not when he died." (266)

Day 24 (DDRD 1,690) June 17, 2022

Read to page 331 (end of Chapter XLVIII). Pickwick is finally out of debtors' prison, and immediately the tone shifts back to light comical. It's a bit disorienting. I suppose you could say that varying the tone so drastically allows The Reader to resist the impulse to succumb to sadness and despair, and I suppose that is Dickens' intent. But I kind of get the feeling that it's more Dickens inability to control himself from plunging into the depths, and then his realization that he has got to get back to the comic novel he is writing. As if his intention was to just write a light-hearted bit of a thing, but he then veers off course and goes into the serious stuff. It's kind of like when Sparks tries to write a "pop" song. They start off quite well, then end up with something like "Pineapple," which I'm guessing very few people are going to be willing to put up with on more than an occasional basis. (Of course I love the song dearly, and it's playing in my head even as we speak. If you'd like to join me, try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSAO65FD5Rw. No, no, thank YOU.

ADDENDUM: Just kidding. Read to page 352 (end of Chapter 49). Unfortunately that last chapter was yet another Side Story which had absolutely no relationship to the main story.

Day 25 (DDRD 1,691) June 18, 2022

Read to page 380. Which means less than 100 pages to go. Which means maybe 3 days to go.

Day 26 (DDRD 1,692) June 19, 2022

Read to page 419. Which leaves 58 pages...which is probably too much to do in a day. I'd intended to read a little bit more today so that I could finish the book off tomorrow, but hey, Father's Day and three kids, so the math didn't work out. But who knows, I might feel like doing 58 pages tomorrow.

News as it happens.

Day 27 (DDRD 1,693) June 20, 2022

Read to page 441. Don't intent do stop there, but had to pull up for a bit since I was awakened around 3:30 and am not able to focus very well right now.

However...

Joe has re-appeared in the story, and since his name is almost always preceded or followed by the word "fat," I started wondering how many times the word appeared in the novel. Well, this is the 21st century, so I didn't have to wonder long. A quick trip to The Gutenberg Project and a Control F followed by f a t space (to eliminate father, fatal, fate, etc.) yielded 158 hits, most of which were connected with Joe. That seems a bit excessive, doesn't it? Like maybe even obsessive.

Just sayin', sir.

Day 28 (DDRD 1,694) June 21, 2022

Read to page 477, aka The End.

All in all, this was a good book. It had some truly funny moments, some touching moments, and it addressed a social problem (debtor prisons) with seriousness and vigor. And to think that this was Dickens' very first novel...it's pretty astounding. I am quite happy to think that tomorrow I shall begin reading his second: Oliver Twist.

Be there or be ▢.

DDR Day 1 to 1,000: 13,449 pages read

DDR Day 1001 to Day 2000:
(1) Leviathan 63 days, 729 pages
(2) Stalingrad 27 days, 982 pages
(3) Life and Fate 26 days, 880 pages
(4) The Second World War 34 + 32 + 40 + 43 + 31 + 32 days = 212 days, 4,379 pages
(5) Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming 10 days, 572 pages
(6) The Great Bridge 25 days, 636 pages

(7) The Path Between the Seas 29 days, 698 pages
(8) Blake: Prophet Against Empire, 23 days, 523 pages
(9) Jerusalem 61 days, 1,266 pages
(10) Voice of the Fire 9 days, 320 pages
(11) The Fountainhead 15 days, 720 pages
(12) The Pacific Trilogy: Pacific Crucible 23 days, 640 pages

(13) The Pacific Trilogy: The Conquering Tide 28 days, 656 pages

(14) The Pacific Trilogy: Twilight of the Gods 31 days, 944 pages

(15) Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence 13 days, 304 pages

(16) Toward Jazz 18 days, 224 pages

(17) The Worlds of Jazz 13 days, 279 pages

(18) To Be or Not...to Bop 14 days, 571 pages

(19) Kind of Blue 4 days, 224 pages

(20) Kind of Blue: Miles Davis and his Masterpiece: 5 days, 256 pages

(21) Miles: The Autobiography 16 days, 445 pages

(21) A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album: 8 days, 287 pages

(22) Ascension: John Coltrane and His Quest 8 days, 304 pages

(23) Living With Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings 11 days 325 pages

2nd 1K Total: 17,164 pages; Grand Total: 30,613

(24) The Pickwick Papers 28 days, 983 pages

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

That Was Now, This is Then.

In an interview with Robert G. O'Meally in 1976, Ralph Ellison said

"...you certainly can't challenge the United States that way, because there are too many violent people who want to do nothing but kill blacks! There is a tradition for that. Our parents knew it. They weren't afraid. They were afraid of getting the white folks afraid!"

"My Strength Comes From Louis Armstrong" page 281 in Living With Music by Ralph Ellison

1976.

46 years ago.

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

It's a reasonable percentage.

from Act I of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett:

VLADIMIR: But all four were there. And only one speaks of a thief being saved. Why believe him rather than the others?

ESTRAGON: Who believes him?

VLADIMIR: Everybody. It's the only version they know.

from "Cadillac Flambé" by Ralph Ellison:

Let's face up: when it comes down to it, all you really need is Waiting for Godot.

Monday, May 16, 2022

Tarzan's G-String

Sometimes I think that Edgar Rice Burroughs is a little TOO interested in Tarzan's G-string.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

It's Alright, Ma, It's Just Another Coincidence

I've been to Half-Price Books hundreds of times. I've never seen a copy of The Godfather there. And yes, I would have remembered. I have an astonishing capacity for remembering useless things, like which book I saw where. After watching Episode 5 of The Offer, however, I really had The Godfather on my mind, and went online to make sure that the library had a copy on hand. (They did. 4 book books and 2 ebooks. All available.) I didn't put a Hold on it, though, since I want to finish The Offer series before I try to read the book. And then watch the movie.

But guess what I saw on the shelf at Half-Price Books later that day?

It was quite reasonably priced, too, but I didn't buy it. I'm holding out for a paperback copy. Preferably in the $1 Budget Bin.

Are you listening, Universe?

Nancy Drew...and Shot

Still reading Nancy Drew #5, The Secret at Shadow Ranch (original 1931 version, not to be confused with the pathetic 1965 rewrite in which Nancy is sissified), but had to stop for this bit:

Speaking of the 1965 version of the book, which I'm also reading, not only does Nancy not shoot anything dead in that one, she doesn't even carry. But worse than that, in the rewrite Nancy is just de-powered, made into a girly girl instead of the bad ass she was in the original.

And furthermore...you're halfway through the original Shadow Ranch before there's even much of a hint of a mystery--until then it's just Nancy and her friends hanging out at a ranch and cowboying up, riding horses and shooting wild animals. In the rewrite, the mystery hits you in the face after the first few pages...and it's a really STUPid mystery. The author of the rewrite clearly doesn't think the audience is intelligent enough to wait for it, whereas the original gives you a nice change of pace as you catch a glimpse of Nancy in her Non Sleuthing identity.

If I hadn't been reading the rewrites side by side with the original books, I never would have realized what a huge difference there was between them. It's not just a matter of updating the story...they're almost completely different stories, and in every case thus far (that is, Books 1 through 5) the rewritten versions are vastly inferior. They make Nancy two years older, much more of a girly girl, and, as I may have mentioned previously, gunless. Fuck these rewrites, man. Make Mine 1930s!

Sunday, May 15, 2022

The Offer

Just finished watching the fifth episode (of ten) of The Offer. Unlike some streaming shows, this one, which is on Paramount+, comes out on a weekly basis, with the final episode slated to be released on June 16, 2022.

I'd prefer not to wait that long. In fact, if they'd released this mini-series in one fell swoop...I'd have finished it a couple of weeks ago... all ten hours (or so) of it. And I'm not really one to do the binge. I get pretty restless after an hour or two of watching a show, and end up either not paying much attention or falling asleep.

But I find this to be a very compelling show. In brief, it's the story of the making of The Godfather, from Mario Puzo's wife telling him to write something that would make some money to (presumably) the premiere of the movie. The reviews aren't great: Rotten Tomatoes gave it a score of 48%, IMDb 8.5/10, and Metacritic 49%. Interesting, though, is that the average Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes is 95%, and I think that's pretty indicative of something or other--maybe that snooty film critics don't understand what entertainment is, for one thing.

At any rate, watching this series you have to wonder how The Godfather ever made it to the screen. It had very little going for it, and all kinds of things going against it, including the Mafia and the studio heads at Paramount. And that's one of the things that appeals to me about the series: I'm a sucker for the He Can't Win But He Is Going To Fight Anyway story. (Hello, Rocky!) I'm also a sucker for the story of a writer, and though this isn't precisely that...since that would imply a lot more emphasis on Mario Puzo than is present here...there is certainly some focus on him...and on Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the script and directed the movie. But the primary character here is Albert S. Ruddy (played by Miles Teller), the producer of The Godfather and ...assuming that this series is at least mostly true...the driving force behind the movie. In fact, it seems doubtful that the movie would have been made without him. (And oddly enough, it doesn't look like he did much of anything of note, either as a producer or as an actor--after The Godfather. I guess Eminem was right about the whole One Shot thing.)

Admittedly one of the appeals of the show is seeing various famous actors portrayed: Francis Ford Coppola, Frank Sinatra, Ali MacGraw, Al Pacino (played to perfection by Anthony Ippolito), Marlon Brando, Robert Redford, Talia Shire, James Caan, and Vic Damone. Some of them bear very little (if any) resemblance to the actors they portray, but still do a good job of evoking their spirit.

I'm anxious to get to the end of the series not only because I'm excited about it, but also because I have a burning desire to re-watch The Godfather now--something which I didn't think I'd ever want to do again. And The Godfather II. And maybe even The Godfather III, although, come to think of it, I don't think I've actually seen that one before. But I think I'll be seeing the movie(s) from a different perspective this time around, knowing something about what was going on behind the scenes. Come to think of it, I should probably just go ahead and read the book before I watch the movie, don't you think?

And of course these things keep widening out, so as I did a little internet walkabout I also found out that there's a thing called The Godfather Papers and Other Confessions by Mario Puzo which looks interesting...and a thing called The Godfather Notebook by Francis Ford Coppola that I'd like to stick in me. And before you know it, I've got a class on The Godfather. A pretty substantial class, too...I'd think worth at least a couple of credits. Come to think of it, I'd like to teach that class. We could bring in some music...maybe finish it all up with a nice Italian dinner....

P.S. The Godfather Papers and Other Confessions is available Out There, but not for cheap. However our friends at Internet Archive have a copy if you don't mind renting a room by the hour.

Friday, May 13, 2022

Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Lad and the Lion

The Lad and the Lion isn't Edgar Rice Burroughs at his best...but it's by no means his worst, either.

On the one hand, it seems like a Tarzan riff played with a capo: young boy abandoned, befriends young lion, they live together away from all human beings. So The Lad grows up without language...and yes, he does roar like a lion.

But as in so many Edgar Rice Burroughs books, once he does make contact with humans, The Lad picks up language lickety split. As a matter of fact, he picks up two languages lickety split, but that's beside the point.

Shortly after becoming sonant *, The Lad is deceived by someone who sees him as an enemy, and narrator ERB tells us

"In his unsophistication he had not yet come to realize that most men consider the gift of speech solely as a means of defeating the purposes of truth." (Chapter 16)

It's a thought which pops up more than one in the course of Edgar Rice Burroughs' oeuvre...and I have to admit that it resonates with me. Especially if I've recently been in the presence of a news presentation of any sort. Or if I've been listening to Pink Floyd.

It is often hard to believe that anyone in this world speaks the truth. (It's even harder if you've been through two divorces.)

So that.

As for the rest of it, this short novel is actually pretty okay. There's not really much doubt about how things will come out in the end if you've paid any attention to the beginning of the book, but it's still a good little adventure with a satisfying ending. And the occasional bon mot. That's good enough for me.

* Word adapted for use here, as I could think of no good word for this concept.

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Hammer Time

Just saw that the U.S. Senate voted 51 to 49 against The Women's Health Protection Act, which would have codified a woman's right to control what happens to her own body. And it's pretty obvious that the Supreme Court is going to overturn abortion rights.

So men (-8 female Senators and -1 Supreme Court Justice) have once again decided what 167.5 million women can do with their bodies.

So, ladies...clearly neither the Senate nor the Supreme Court gives a shit about you. They don't trust you to make intelligent decisions about your sexuality, your health, or the course of your lives.

Hitting the streets is probably a good idea...but it also might be a waste of time. According to a story in The New York Times, "An estimated 15 million to 26 million people participated in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, making it one of the largest movements in the country's history." * See any downtick in the number of unarmed Black men shot by police?

So I propose another idea. Less it be misconstrued, let me say up front that I am absolutely serious about this.

In Aristophanes' play Lysistrata, the titular heroine convinces her fellow Athenian women to withhold sexual contact with men until they agree to end the Peloponnesian War.

It doesn't take long for the war to end.

Public Domain

LYSISTRATA

There are a lot of things about us women
That sadden me, considering how men
See us as rascals.

* Buchanan, Larry; Bui, Quoctrung; Patel, Jugal K. (July 3, 2020). "Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 3, 2020.

Re: Thinking

Checked in on the news this morning, hoping that (1) Trump was heading for prison, (2) the Senate passed the law to protect a woman's right to choose, and (3) that Ukraine had driven Russia to its knees and that Putin had been ousted.

Needless to say, I didn't get any of those.

What I did get was a paean to the courage and resiliency of the Ukrainian people, and a to me bizarre reference to the courage and resiliency of the Vietnamese people as they fought against the United States. (Not that I disagree, just that it wasn't something I expected to hear this morning on the national news.)

Which, of course, made me think, "How is the Russian Invasion of Ukraine different from the United States' Invasion of Vietnam?

And if I'm in complete sympathy with Ukraine (which I am), then doesn't that mean that I should be in complete sympathy with Vietnam during that war?

I guess I've just never thought about the Vietnam War as being a case of the United States invading South Vietnam. Which might just mean that I've swallowed the American propaganda as completely as some of the Russian people are now swallowing Putin's jizz.

Humbling and demoralizing thoughts.

I'm overdue to get back to reading Noam Chomsky. I should probably start with Rethinking Camelot.

Sunday, May 8, 2022

DDR: Living With Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings (by Ralph Ellison)

Day 1: Jazz Day 72 (DDRD 1,650) May 8, 2022

After finishing Ascension: John Coltrane and His Quest yesterday, I was ready to call it quits on the whole Jazz Thing. I was just so turned off by the last part of that book that I wanted to shake the Jazz dust from my sandals and move on the the next town. But I was still wondering if I had it in me to go back to the Miles Davis autobiography. And I had a couple of books I'd checked out of the library...one of which, Living With Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings by Ralph Ellison (xxxv + 290 pages) was kind of calling to me.

So I thought I'd give it a try, just nibble at a few pages and see what happened.

Well. The book had a long introduction (NOT by Ralph Ellison) which was kind of tedious and boring, but it was peppered with quotes from Ellison's writings, which made it bearable. Like this, for instance: Robert G. O'Meally tells us that Ellison's wife once said of Ralph, "When he can't find the words at the typewriter, he goes upstairs and plays the trumpet." (xxx) Because Ralph Ellison was a musician before he was a writer. In fact, he studied trumpet at Tuskegee Institute...and played trumpet in its orchestra. (Interesting aside: Wikipedia informs me that he got into Tuskegee because they needed a trumpet player.)

So I finished off those xxxv pages and read the first five pages of the book proper. And that clinched it. Ralph is such a charming writer that I was good and hooked after just a few pages, and if I didn't have to go cut the grass I'd have put myself on the sofa for another hour or so and really got my fingers into this book.

Day 2: Jazz Day 73 (DDRD 1,651) May 9, 2022

Read to page 35.

André Hodeir, Dizzy Gillespie & Al Fraser, Ashley Kahn, Eric Nisenson, Miles Davis & Quincy Troupe. Over the past two and a half months, I've read about 3,000 pages of writings on Jazz by some of best known names in the business. It was usually interesting, sometimes tedious, and occasionally infuriating. I was ready to call it a day and move on to another subject area for my Daily Devotional Readings (daily goal of reading ten pages every day, though the average is now more like 20). And then came Ralph Ellison and this book of essays. And even though I'm only 25 pages into the text of the book itself (xxxv page introduction), it's already just overwhelmed me how much a difference the quality of the writer makes when it comes to a non-fiction piece of writing. Ralph Ellison's writing is so far above those other fellows that it's ridiculous. It's like comparing Shakespeare to a well-intentioned high school sophomore writer. It makes me never want to read non-fiction again unless it's written by a writer known for his / her / their fiction.

Just sayin', sir.

Day 3: Jazz Day 74 (DDRD 1,652) May 10, 2022

Read to page 51. As with my previous book, I haven't been going way overboard on the DDR Reading because I've been putting time into Edgar Rice Burroughs Tells All. I'm about a third of the way through that tome, though, so I'd guess it won't take me too many more days to polish it off.

Meanwhile....

The "Remembering Jimmy" chapter gave me yet another example of Ralph Ellison's lovely style, Ellison describes Jimmy Rushing's voice as "jetting from the dance hall like a blue flame in the dark...." (44) Mmm-hmmm. I'd never heard of Jimmy Rushing before, so I had a little look-see. Turns out he was the vocalist for Count Basie's orchestra from 1935 to 1948. Also a really big guy:

Public Domain.

Found a video of Jimmy singing "I Left My Baby," which was a nice, bluesy song. Then found something called Jazz Casual from 1962 when Jimmy was 60, and he was still playing (the piano) and singing with great power. Ralph Ellison had written of the power of Jimmy's voice, saying that he could hear it from a club four blocks away even when the trains were going by. I believe it.

Another thing that hit me in this chapter: it was first published in The Saturday Review on July 12, 1958 (pp. 36-37)...and it mentions the Tulsa Riot of 1921. I'm a fairly well-educated, better-than-average-well-read fellow, and yet I never heard of the Tulsa Riot until I saw it referred to in the first episode of HBO's Watchmen, which premiered October 20, 2019. 61 years later. That says something about our educational system, for sure. About a lot of other things, too.

Day 4: Jazz Day 75 (DDRD 1,653) May 11, 2022

Read to page 73.

I keep thinking about the Laughing Barrel. Think I'll write a separate piece on that, but (once again) I'm astounded that I'd never heard of this before.

Day 5: Jazz Day 76 (DDRD 1,654) May 12, 2022

Read to page 100.

Had to get up and about early this morning for a biometric screening, so I took my empty stomach and Living With Music to Labcorp, anticipating that I would have time to knock back a dozen pages or so. But lo and behold, when I texted I Have Arrived (fifteen minutes early, because I am always fifteen minutes early) I almost immediately got a Come On Down return message...even though the office wasn't yet officially open. Went it, checked in, had a seat, opened my book and hadn't even read a sentence before I was called back...and it was still ten minutes before the posted opening time for the office. So. Went in, got measured, weighed, and blood pressured, then sat in the little chair for the blood draw. I put Living With Music on the arm of the chair, and the young Black * woman who was taking care of me asked what I was reading. I told her, and then mentioned that the writer, Ralph Ellison, had also written Invisible Man, thinking that she might have run across that book at some point...it being one of the most famous novels ever written by a Black man. She immediately brightened up and said, "Oh, like that movie?" She was clearly thinking of the Elisabeth Moss film of a couple of years ago. I told her no, then gave her a brief summation (a sentence) of the book. Then she got busy getting my vein to show itself, but a few minutes later she asked me if I knew the singer who had died who had one "iconic" song, and she sang the tune (with just a few words). I tried but couldn't find it. And then she said, "I really need to get back to reading. I haven't read very much lately." After I left, I thought, "You know, last time I was at Half-Price Books I saw a copy if Invisible Man for $1. I should go buy it and give it to that girl." And I really wanted to do that. But I knew it would be creepy weird, so I didn't.

In other news:

"...Ellington and Louis Armstrong were the stewards of our American optimism and guardians against the creeping irrationality which ever plagues our form of society." (80)

I found that to be quite a topical thought...and it surprised me that Ellison saw it as true of his era as well.

And then there was this, said of Mahalia Jackson:

Which reminded me of all of the people I've heard say things like, "Black guys have more athletic ability, that's why they dominate the NFL and the NBA." Which (1) is racist and (2) negates all of the hard work that these guys put into becoming superb athletes. It's about which avenues of success are open to you, folks.

* A relevant detail, I think, not included extemporaneously.

Day 6: Jazz Day 77 (DDRD 1,655) May 13, 2022

Read to page 120.

In his essay on Richard Wright--which, despite a few references to The Blues, had almost nothing to do with music *--Ralph Ellison makes reference to the fact that Black folks are not perceived as individuals by White folks. If a Black person does something wrong, it's indicative of the whole race. At the same time, a Black person is perceived as wrong because of his race. In the White world, the Black person is not allowed any individuality from any direction.

Can you imagine what that does to your psyche? I have to confess that I can't imagine it...having almost never had the experience of having my individuality denied.

* And thus actually has no place in this collection...in fact, nowhere in the essay is Jazz even mentioned!

Day 7: Jazz Day 78 (DDRD 1,656) May 14, 2022

Read to page 147, which was the end of the first fiction selection--an excerpt from Invisible Man. Which had a little bit to do with Jazz, but only if you really pushed up on your toes, extended your arms, and jumped as high as your calf muscles could propel you. And unfortunately (from my perspective), it's fiction and then a few letters and end of story. I was really looking more for the essay thing.

Day 8: Jazz Day 79 (DDRD 1,657) May 15, 2022

Read to page 171. Also read pages 255 to 264, an interview with WKY-TV. Which leaves me with four more pieces of fiction, four letters, and one more interview.

The fiction this time was the Trueblood story from Invisible Man. It's a disturbing story, for sure. Near the end of it, Trueblood talks about singing The Blues. That's the "connection" between the story and music which justifies its inclusion in "Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings." Which is (1) pretty fucking slim and (2) pretty fucking bogus...since The Blues are not Jazz. I don't know why this irritates me so much, but it does...which is probably why I felt the need to take a break partway through and skip over to the WKY-TV interview, just to get a breath of air. I also have the feeling that it's all downhill from here, which isn't a pleasant thought. I started off this book with such great enthusiasm, and now I'm just kind of pushing myself through the second half of it. Counting down the days (about 7 to go, I think...maybe less). And already thinking ahead to What Comes Next. I've pretty much decided that I'm going to gives Miles: The Autobiography one more shot. Primarily because it irks me to leave a book half finished.

Day 9: Jazz Day 80 (DDRD 1,658) May 16, 2022

Read to page 198, which got me through two more fiction pieces, neither of which had a whole hell of a lot to do with Jazz. Two fiction pieces to go. I actually started one of them, but couldn't take it right now. You know, almost 14% of this book is from Invisible Man? That doesn't seem right to me. It's not Ralph Ellison's fault, of course. And it's not that the writing is bad, of course it's not. But this was supposed to be a book of writings on Jazz. If the editor had to include fiction, then it should have been fiction based on Jazz, not fiction with brief asides about music...mostly the Blues at that. Sigh.

Side Note: While in Half-Price Books yesterday I saw a nice hardback copy of Blues People by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka). It was in good shape and the price was more than reasonable...$10, I think. And if this Jazz Writings book hadn't taken a great deal of wind out of my sails, I probably would have gone for it. But I'm ready to move on now, so I left it for the next guy.

Thanks for throwing off my groove, Robert O'Meally (editor).

Day 10: Jazz Day 81 (DDRD 1,659) May 17, 2022

Read to page 220.

Finished "Keep to the Rhythm" and it was just painful. Not really a story, just a set-piece in which two Black preachers deliver a sermon in tandem. Lot's of repeated phrases, lots of imbecilic statements about life, the universe, and everything. No curb appeal for me whatsoever. And, of course, nothing to do with Jazz beyond a few mentions of instruments--the older preacher had a voice like a trombone, the younger like something else, maybe a piccolo. Don't care enough to go back and look. This was definitely the nadir of the book, though...well, at least I hope so, since I still have 50 pages to read. Started the final fiction piece, "Cadillac Flambé," and it at least looks interesting... something about a guy driving a Cadillac onto some important person's lawn and then lighting it on fire. There's a bass involved in some way, so at least there's that. And then there are some letters, the other interview, and outta here. I'm definitely ready to exit, no bear needed.

ADDENDUM: Read a bit of the Letters section. Ran into this

Yeah, Ralph really hated Bebop and anything bordering on Free Jazz territory. And is kind of mean about it. "Poor, evil, lost little." Heh.

Day 11: Jazz Day 82 (DDRD 1,660) May 18, 2022

Read to page 290. The End.

And tomorrow...I'm going back to Miles Davis. We'll see how that goes.

☮📤