158-Pound Marriage,
John Irving … I don’t think I’ve ever made that weight class … maybe when I was
an infant, but as wrestlers go, it’s considered the light middleweight division.
I’m thinking this was one too many too soon John Irving novels … it is fine,
don’t get me wrong, but the machinations between couples swapping spouses didn’t
hold much interest for me. The background, of course, did hold interest. There’s
some World War II history … the Russian occupation of Vienna, etc., there’s
even some of Germany and Poland in the mix, and I had to smile when I
recognized one couple’s daughters’ names (Fiordiligi and Dorabella, right out
of a Mozart opera, Cosi Fan Tutte) …
there’s more wrestling to read about (from his bio: In 1992, John Irving was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of
Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He was a
competitive wrestler for twenty years and a wrestling coach until he was
forty-seven.) … the seemingly blissful swaps between the couples eventually
turns askew about the time one would expect (I doubt the most hedonistic among
us wouldn’t take issue at some point with spouse and/or lover swapping) … It’s
about control and whether or not one couple gets more out of the sexual mix and
match than the other. Severin Winter and Edith are one couple, Utchka and the
nameless narrator are the other couple … there are kids and houses and great
jobs, etc. It’s where the book leaves me a bit unsatisfied, I guess; the couples
are too successful for me to accept them as a broader metaphor for a typical American
marriage.
Utchka’s second birth, from the belly of a cow (you’d have to read the
book), helps to explain her bond to a war torn Europe. After
many of the children (all the men and boys) in her town were killed (some
bayonetted), she found refuge from a Russian officer who provided for her. She
remained loyal to the Russian father figure, even after learning of his head mobster
reputation. She was the more interesting character amongst the quartet, and I
liked what she did at the end of this novel. I also enjoyed the historical
backdrops to the characters in the novel much more than the spouse swapping of
their later years.
I’ll be reading The Cider House
Rules sometime in the New Year … it’s time for a break (for me) from Mr.
Irving. As brilliant as his writing is, I suspect I overindulged reading his
works this past month or so.
The Watts Bears … I saw this segment on HBO’s Real Sports … it’s
about an attempt to improve relations in Los Angeles between the police and the
African-American community. When the area targeted went from 77 homicides in
one year to ZERO homicides the following year, the program proved successful ... and one has to be impressed. The video below is just a tease. Watch the HBO segment. It’s all about Good people
(cops) doing the right thing and making a big difference in how a community perceives
the men and women in uniform there to serve and protect.
What Mr. Stewart said on his show last week makes perfect sense. If you
can’t agree with it, you don’t want to.
David Rawding … his story, The
Climber's Crux is a pushcart award nominee!
Check it out here:
David is yet another
SNHU MFA graduate! Go team!
My son came up with this picture … me and my boyos and two of their
friends from way back in the day (some 20+ years or so), when my hair was still
dark … I’m guessing about 1994 or so …
—Knucks
1994 music … 10,000
Maniacs … Because the night …
Come to my window …
Melissa Etheridge …
Elton John … Can you
feel the love tonight …
