A couple of weeks ago (August 30), I approvingly quoted a passage from Christopher Buckley's 2008 comic novel, Supreme Courtship. It went pretty much downhill from there, the improbable plot mechanically controlling the descent. The TV judge is installed on the court, the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee takes her place on TV (as the President of the United States in a drama based on "West Wing" titled "POTUS"), POTUS's subsequent popularity fuels his run for president against the president who nominated the TV judge, in the meantime the requisite number of states ratify a constitutional amendment limiting presidents to a single term, the incumbent wins and is sued by POTUS, the Supreme Court takes the case, and the TV judge casts the deciding vote in favor of the incumbent. Wow, what a plot <ugh>.
I'm not sure I'll read another "comic novel" by Christopher Buckley. But I still highly recommend his memoir, Losing Mum and Pup, in which Buckley reports his father's reaction to reading one of his son's novels, "Doesn't do it for me."
Now I think I know why. From the Buckley family, in the way of fiction, I think I prefer William F.'s novels about Blackford Oakes, the Yale CIA officer.
Privately from Joe:
ReplyDeleteWow based on your review, it appears that plot is all over the place. I had to read a couple times to follow...When you read a book and you start thinking this book stinks do you bail out or do you usually plow through? Seems like some books, or movies for that matter, challenge you to get to the end.
Well, if a book "stinks," I'm sure not going to continue reading it. Buckley's writing is good, line by line, and he can be (is) funny. The writing kept me in the game even though I realized that the story was trivial. I'd just rather not do trivial, even if the writing is terrific.
For example, I started reading The Wed Nurse's Tale recently (first published novel of the manager of the UNC-Chapel Hill student bookstore, so good on her!), and it, too, is well written. But after fewer than 20 pages, I saw that it just didn't seem to be saying anything I cared to pursue (and I found the story rather ho-hum and predictable—in fact, I guess I'm wondering how she managed to get it published...). [My wife] managed to read the whole thing and reported that, strangely, the story turns "gothic" toward the end. That IS strange, and I don't LIKE "gothic," besides.
I don't always mind a "strange" turn; the book Perfume—and the movie based on it—take a decidedly strange turn at the end. But it works fabulously well, and I felt enthralled by both book and movie, which I watched only a few nights ago. A young Shakespearean actor plays the murderer (subtitle is "The Story of a Murderer"), and Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman have important roles. The director (Tom Tykwer) directed "The International," with Naomi Watts and Clive Owen, which I thought was extremely well-done also.
We're currently "wasting" our time watching Season One of "Desperate Housewives," if you can believe that!