Years ago I had read a book called Towing Jehovah, an incredibly funny book about the death of god. The story goes that god dies and his body falls into the Atlantic Ocean. The vatican wants the death hushed up (can you imagine the anarchy). The atheists want the body destroyed because it meant that he actually existed. So a sea captain is hired to take a tug boat out, retrieve god, and drag him to the Arctic for interment. The author James Morrow mixed just the right amount of humor and satire and seriousness to make it a fantastic book. I don't recommend it out to people (for fear of offending them) but I loved it. So when I was in a book store and found City of Truth by the same author I had to pick it up. This is actually a novella but I would think it would read fast even as a novel.
The story follows Jack Sperry who lives in Veritas (latin for truth). In Veritas no one can lie. The population has been "brainburned" to be incapable of lying. The process, which is described, does not sound fun but it makes citizens sick if they ever think of lying. This makes conversation a little more interesting when married couples tell each other that they are interested with sleeping with other people or two people at work must be truthful about how much they hate each other. Morrow creates a fantastic disutopia. And I love a disutopia story.
When Jack finds out that his son has a incurable disease he sets out to find a group of Dissemblers (liars) who can teach him to lie to his son about his impending death. This is where the novel goes a bit strange. Jack is taken to Satirev (veritas spelled backwards) which the dissemblers have created as a city where lies are possible. I guess I was hoping for the wonderful traveling bands from Fahrenheit 451 where the people memorize poems and stories to keep them alive. Instead Satirev is a fantastic place where pigs fly and snow is hot (the lies used in the brainburning process). I was hoping to see artists and poets and actors who have banded together to create an artist paradise.
The ending is sweet and tender and the disutopian society that Morrow creates is fantastic. Much of the earlier dialogue is painful but funny in it's truth. I love where Jack is asked to create a reference letter where he discusses the candidates flatulence problem and his toady nature. The conversation between him and his wife are blunt, hurtful, and strangely funny. And the images of the brainburn will live in my mind for a long time. A fascinating idea of a society. I wish he would have spent more time there.
I finished that over lunch. I spent most of today working on a company database so it required almost no thought. So in order to make the day a bit more enjoyable, I listened to the first half of The Graveyard Book from Neil Gaiman. Neil, on his book tour, recorded himself reading each chapter from the book. These are now available for free on his website at www.neilgaiman.com/p/cool_stuff/video_clips/the_graveyard_book_tour. If you have not read Neil Gaiman you need to. And if you have read him but never heard him read, you need to listen to these. Not only does he have a beautiful voice, but he does the voices of the characters. I'm hoping he records the audiobook for this book. I'll buy it. The Graveyard Book tells the story of Nobody Owens, a young boy who ends up growing up in a graveyard, cared for by ghosts.
The two shows I watched were both episodes of How It's Made which I have become a huge fan of. Both Jeff and I watch it whenever we catch it. I'm always fascinated by what types of things are handcrafted and what are made by robots and machines. Today we watched how crayons, kayaks, carbon fiber cellos, and braille typewriters are created. I'm not sure I'll get into a kayak again, but I will definitely have more respect for the amazing amount of work that goes into a cello. Crayons were a lot of fun. Almost all the work is done by machine although they sense when crayons are bad (loose wrapper, broken).
The last thing I did before going up to my library to write was to watch the newest version of Pride and Prejudice. Now before I get arguments, yes I still agree that there is only one movie version of Mr. Darcy. This young man certainly played a passable Darcy. He had the smoldering looks and the haughty glare down perfectly but he was still no Colin Firth. I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed the film. My only real flaw was the ending although I understand that the British version had a different ending and one I would have liked more. I normally hate movies of books I've loved. And I truly love the book. It lists as one of the few books that I have read four times and counting. I'm sure I'll read it many more times.
Keira Knightley was a good Elizabeth Bennett. There were several scenes that really made the movie for me. A scene where Elizabeth and Darcy hold hands for dancing early and film and then he walks away flexing his fingers was beautiful. A scene at the ball in Bingley's home is wonderful as Elizabeth walks towards the camera and we can see Darcy step through the scene and pause to watch her. They remind me of my favorite scene in the BBC version. It is a simple scene where Elizabeth is talking with Georgiana. She has just saved her from an incredibly embarrassing moment. She looks up and meets Darcy's eye. There is so much said in that glance. Those are the kinds of scenes that make these movies so perfect. I once wrote a paper about all the implied things that simply aren't said in Jane Austin novels. The time was so prim and proper that emotions and ideas must be passed in more subtle ways. A gentle touch of the hand. A lingering look. Wonderful stories and a surprisingly good movie.
It's been a productive day for me. Now to listen to the last of the Graveyard Book, try to write something worthwhile, and maybe play some Wii with Jeff.
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