Accordian Crimes by Annie Proulx

I'm a big fan of Proulx's Shipping News and short stories, but this novel is tough to read. If it were marketed as a loose collection of short stories I would not be in the least bit disappointed. Don't look for plot in this novel - there is none. It's a series of character sketches.</p><p>The theme is immigrant America, and she follows Italians, Mexicans, Germans, Cajuns, Scandinavians, Poles, etc.etc., all connected very loosely by the same accordian. Very loosely. I was expecting something more like "The Red Violin". This is not even close.

Terrible things happen to every immigrant. No one leads a happy life in this book. I usually love novels like that ("Hell at the Breech"), but in this case the lack of any plot spoils it for me. Terrible story follows terrible story and I start to wonder what her message is - or if there is one.

She is at master at character and scene though. Every page had an image or characterization that I admired.

Algonkian class update

Things are going well, although we are in the thrid week and have yet to submit any actual writing in the exercises. This week, we actually have to write fiction! Interestingly, we had to come up with three real-life story lines to play with during the class. Not sure exactly where we are going with this, but it looks like we will use one or more of them as raw material to write the exercises around. Anyway, I am having fun so far.

First place GWA contest for March

A little bit of good news. My short story "Zephyr" got first place in the March GWA contest. There still seem to be plenty of entries - I even beat Bobbie Christmas this time! So far this year that is two firsts and one third place. Not too bad.

Algonkian class starts

Finally! I have been looking forward to this class forever. Looks good so far, and I can't wait for things to get ramped up. There's an interesting mix of other students, of all ages and all experience levels.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Finally got a chance to read this, since it came out in paperback. Boy, has he made a lot of money, not only for himself, but for his agent, editor, publisher, and all the hanger-on authors trying to ride his coattails. I say, "Good for him."

Laurie loved the details in this thriller, and he has certainly done his research. He has the thriller genre mastered. The mystery, though, borders on lying to the reader, something I dislike intensely. Brown intentionally obscures or hides facts from the reader to keep the mystery of who the "teacher" is. Some people love that, some people feel cheated.

As far as the grail mysteries and the big controversy surrounding the book, remember this is a novel. It's fiction. Get a grip!

GWA Annual contest - no joy!

Word is (unofficial) that I did not win, place, or even show in the GWA annual contest. Bummer. The stories I submitted were: Broken Keys , Christmas at Grandma's, Flip Flop Flap, From Dogs to Cats, One Man's Church, Tuning Hammer, and Within a twilight Cave. That's some of my best stuff, I think. I'll be very interested to see what did win, and compare my own work to the winners.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

I first read this novel over thirty years ago as well, but I didn't remember it as well as the other Hemingway books. Perhaps I confused it with the movie, which I remember as being pretty different. What strikes me now is that Hemingway abandoned his "minimalist" approach in this novel. It's large compared to his other novels, and I would have cut large chunks out - of course, I am not a writer of the talent and stature of Ernest Hemingway. What do I know? It could be about any war, and I honestly think it would be stronger if it were about "any" war, in the sense that a lot of the details about the Spanish Civil War could be omitted or made generic. The inclusion, near the end, of new characters while the "message" is being taken to headquarters is ripe for deletion. We know there is no chance the attack will be canceled, and the entire scene with the crazy general seems like Hemingway is just engaging in a little revenge against people he once knew.

The dialog is also tiresome. Why painfully represent the Spanish language that way? It's silly, at least to me. What's the point, really?

The return of Pablo near the end is also very unsatisfying. After all he had done, and after coming close to being killed by the others twice, he shows back up and is not shot on sight? Not believable.

Also interesting is the fact that the plot drives this novel forward. Not the characters. We want to find out what is going to happen. Will they survive? Will the bridge get blown up? Will the lovers be together afterwards? It's not a modern thriller, but there is little that would characterize this as a modern literary novel either. It's simply a good story.