Latest Readings: “The Master” & “The Night Watch”

I’ve taken the past couple of weeks trying to modernize my reading list a bit so I’ve continued mercilessly down the path of reading the previous Booker Prize nominees.

The Master – Colm Toibin

“The Master” is a biographical novel centering on a relatively brief period in the life of the author Henry James. I’ll admit that it wasn’t particularly enthralling as narratives go; I had difficulty sustaining interest in the plot line and found the mildly graphic presentations of homosexual love mildly annoying. From a broader perspective, I will say that I was interested to see James’ approach to writing and how he took bits and pieces of people and news around him and wove them into great works of literature. It did remind me that, like James, I should take better notes on the topics that randomly pop into my head for future writing. I’d give the book a rating of ‘satisfactory’ but it won’t make it onto my ‘recommended reading’ list.

The Night Watch – Sarah Waters

“The Night Watch,” a 2006 Booker Nominee, made be question briefly what exactly the criteria ARE for the Booker Prize. Its representations of homosexual love are patently salacious though happily brief. The book presents in generally reverse-chronological order the lives of four people during World War II. In the first part we’re introduced to the characters as they live in 1947 in London after the end of the War and for parts two and three we’re taken back to 1944 and 1941 respectively. Three of the four main characters are lesbians involved with each other romantically at various times while the fourth is a straight woman sleeping with a married G.I. The primary premise of the book seems to be to compare and contrast the nature of the various types of relationships at issue. In all cases, fidelity seems to be in scarce supply. From a standpoint of readability the text does start out somewhat slowly but builds to quite a crescendo. While it does present a vivid picture of life in London during the war, its graphic depictions of violence and sex will keep it off my ‘recommend to friends’ list.

Current Novel: “The Secret River”, Kate Grenville [175/334]

Daily Robism: There is no more misleading measure of an employee’s performance than the amount of time actually spent working.