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The Hours
The Hours by Michael Cunningham is the second book I've read by him,
the other being Home at the End of the World, both of which were very good, but quite different.
Home at the End of the World fits in with several other novels I have read recently that are about
relationships between people written in an intelligent way, and frequently about the way people
mistreat each other. These novels, like The Corrections, while conventional in scope, are written
intelligently and with passion for the characters, and are frequently really depressing. The Hours
is quite different from this. While the ways in which the characters relate to each other is similar to that of
The Home at the End of The World, there is an over arching scheme to the novel that places it
squarely in the post modern cannon. I think this novel clearly deserves to be considered in league with
Excellently, Excellently and Powers as masterpiece. Excellently written and flawlessly executed, I highly
recomend this novel to anyone who enjoys post modern fiction.
The Company
The Company, by Robert Littell, is about the CIA, a subject that has been much used on TV these days. The book tries to encompass
the entire history of the CIA via vignettes starring several main characters who appear throughout the history
of, and subsequently rise through the ranks of the CIA. It reminds me of Mailer's
Harlot's Ghost in scope, but not in depth. Mailer tried to get into the heads of these agents, Littell
merely tries to describe the action. Both books fail. Mailer gets too in depth, and finally get's bogged down
in his own ideas. He never finishes the story. Littell does not delve deep enough, and as such, his characters come out heros,
even if their actions are less than heroic. This is especially apparent when he presents characters that
are beyond any admiration, such as William Casey. And he paints a particularly befuddles portrait of Reagan.
These biases are significantly awkward in the face of Littell's seeming praise for the Agency in general.
He would have been better served, and would have created a more exciting spy thriller if he had stuck to one historical period.
Of special note is the section that takes place in Afghanistan in the 80's, with it the author's post 9/11 foresight
regarding what we were doing in Afghanistan, and how it cam back to bite us in the ass.
bobbisquick
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