Lookin' for Fiction... in all the wrong places
It’s sad to have finished Walker Percy's excellent “The Moviegoer”. Boy was it good. The final third was rich as pie. It’s so hard to find good fiction, given my limitations. Jon Hassler & Richard Russo, although I’ve only read a couple pages of each, look too “dialogue-y”. I like poetry in novels, more Dickens & less Twain. Updike has poetry but often has little to say. Percy’s language was pleasingly ornate while having important things to say. He was the master societal diagnostician and to diagnose the problem gives a sense of confidence it can be resolved. With Updike there’s more a sense of hopelessness. T.C. Boyle is likewise poetic, so perhaps I’ll get his latest although I’m not thrilled about diving into the muck of Kinsey’s life. David Lodge’s “Author, Author” looks promising. I’ve been reading snippets of Tolstoy’s “War & Peace” and though most translations are inimical to poetry Tolstoy says interesting things about human psychology. Marilynne Robinson’s “Gilead” also looks interesting.
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