Dirda on Books – Transcript Michael Dirda Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, June 16, 1999

Michael Dirda The Washington Post

Michael Dirda's name appears weekly in The Post's Book World section. If he's not reviewing a fat literary biography or an ambitious new novel, he's likely to be writing a lighthearted essay about the joys and burdens of living in a house filled with way too many books. Although he holds a PhD in comparative literature from Cornell, Dirda is still smart enough to be an unabashed fan of "The Simpsons," noting that "the show's genius derives from its details." He also loves P.G. Wodehouse, intellectual history, children's books and locked-room mysteries – just the sort of range you'd expect from a Pulitzer Prize winner for distinguished criticism.

These days, Dirda says he spends inordinate amounts of time mourning his lost youth and daydreaming ("my only real pastime"). Otherwise he just reads books and writes about them, with occasional visits to secondhand bookstores in search of treasures. He claims that the happiest hours of his week are spent sitting in front of a computer working on his reviews and Readings columns. "Do not imagine that I regard my taste for literary artifacts as anything but shameless and vulgar," Dirda says, "I have sunk so low as to covet Edward Gorey coffee mugs. I yearn for a bust of Dante to place on a bookcase."

Washington, D.C.: Hey there, Michael. What do you think of full-page ads for sex videotapes running on the back page of Book World? Is this what the bankruptcy of Crown Books hath wrought? I thought the prominently placed ad -- something you usually find in the classifieds of most magazines -- was shockingly inappropriate.

Michael Dirda: Well, you see the same ad in other book sections, and every reader knows about the Joy of Texts. In fact, I do think the ads look a little out of place--though my colleagues and I keep wondering why we weren't sent review copies. Book sections are not so awash in ads that we can refuse any without good reasons.

washington, dc: Can you cite any authors worth reading who have used Washington DC -or environs-in their fiction in a prominent way, excluding political novelists such as Allen Drury?

Michael Dirda: My colleague Henry Allen's novel Fools Mercy; James Grady's thriller Six Days of the Condor (in part); the street-smart, gritty contemporary thrillers of George Pelecanos, Gore Vidal's Washington DC, Henry Adams's Democracy, some of the thrillers of the late, lamented Ross Thomas, Chris Buckley's THank you for Smoking, and many others. That's a start anyhow.

Springfield MO: With respect to the shootings and general violence, do you think books carry the same responsibility or have the same effect as TV or movies?

Michael Dirda: Basically, I'm a free speech person when it comes to writing (and other art forms too). I think parents should exercise some direction over the reading of their children, and shield/deny them pornography and certain kinds of violent fiction, but beyond that an author should tell his story as he or she sees fit. Once you start imposing dictates on what art can and cannot represent, you never know where the regulation will end. Censorship doesn't ever work for long or very well.

Annandale, VA: Neal Stephenson's new book, Cryptonomicon, has made a big time appearance in all the bookstores, and since he's someone I wasn't familiar with, I've started reading his earlier work. Right now, I'm in the midst of "Snow Crash", loving every word of it, and since it's Wednesday, I naturally wondered what your thoughts were about Stephenson and about cyberpunk SF in general.

Michael Dirda: Haven't read Stephenson yet, though we've reviewed all his books. Cyberpunk, per se, was a movement of the '80s and early '90s--I don't think William Gibson or Bruce Sterling would still call themselves cyberpunks. Neuromancer is an exciting, innovative novel--though not quite that original (the plot derives from a Robert Heinlein story, called "Gulf," the backdrop from Philip K. Dick, the action from spaghetti westerns). Sterling's big novel Schismatrix has a lot of stuff in it, but the book is rather feeble as a novel. He's better in his Shaper short stories. Still the cyberpunks shook up science fiction and made it hot for a decade--nowadays the field seems to be waiting for the next big thing. The younger writers, like Jonathan Lethem or Liz Hand, seem to be transcending the genre (to use a phrase I hate).

Falls Church, VA: Any novel suggestions set in the Puget Sound region -Seattle, coastal Washington-? I'm looking for a book that captures the "feeling" of the great Northwest.

I'll be spending September there and would like to read a novel -either new or old- before I go.

Michael Dirda: Hmmmm. That's a toughie. There are, I think, a couple of Richard Hoyt thrillers set there, also a mystery by Richard Hugo. But then again, they might take place in Oregon. There are a lot of writers up in the northwest, but I can't think of too many novels.

Washington, D.C.: Last week you spoke admiringly of James Clavell's "King Rat," a book I have recently read. I enjoyed it immensely until the end. Did I miss something? What do you -- and other readers online today -- think of it?

Michael Dirda: I read the novel years ago, but as I recall the last pages are a kind of prose poem, focused on the rats in the camp. I t seemed to me a fairly clear commentary on the book--i.e. the rats equalling the prisoners. But then I was 13 or so when I read this and could have missed any number of subtleties. Perhaps other readers have thoughts about this?

Albany,New York: I was truly astounded a few weeks ago when you said that Patrick O'Brian was a novelist and C.S. Forester just a story teller. I think that Forester is both a story teller and a novelist--and as a craftsman far superior to O'Brian who buries his story in detail that weighs down his narrative and bores the poor reader. No question in my mind that Forester knows what to do to keep the reader involved. Comments, Michael?

Michael Dirda: Well, I do write this stuff as fast as I can, so I may have leapt a little too readily for the novelist/storyteller contrast. But O'Brian is clearly after more than just a good nautical yarn--his books possess a quite Proustian flavor at times (he said grandiosely). Forester I haven't reread in years, but I doubt his ambitions were for much more than good Saturday Evening Post fare, though I do recall the nervous tics of Capt HH and his own self-doubts. How about we make both of them novelists, of different sorts, and call Rafael Sabatini (of Captain Blood fame) a storyteller?

Asheboro, NC: What's your World's Number One, Flat Out, All Time Great book for re-reading. Mine's been Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday. Turn to any page and you are thrown into the lives of some of the most memorable characters you'll ever want to meet

Michael Dirda: Gosh, if I say the Bible will that sound too pretentious or religious? It's a book with everything you could ever ask for in a book. Among smaller books I favor Thoreau's Walden, The Life of Henry Brulard by Stendhal, The Unquiet Grave by Cyril Connolly, and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

oakton, va: Last week a reader wanted suggestions on WWII novels. I would add: Norman Mailer's "The Naked & the Dead," James Jones's "The Thin Red Line."

Michael Dirda: Those are good additions.

Montpellier, France: What is your opinion of Cees Nooteboom's oeuvre? I particularly enjoyed "The Following Story" and was pleased to see that Antonia S. Byatt lists Nooteboom among her favorite writers.

Michael Dirda: I'm a great admirer of Nooteboom too. I reviewed, with much enthusiasm, The Following Story for Book World. Also like In the Dutch Mountains. Do you know Nooteboom's recent travel book about Spain? The man is an amazingly cosmopolitan writer, having lived in Japan, Spain, Ibiza, Germany etc. Speaks several languages perfectly. I once had lunch with him and he dazzled everyone at the table with his charm. He mixes myth, fairy tale, love story, with wondferul balance.

Washington, D.C.: Hi Michael. I'm interested in learning more about poetry, and I was wondering if there was a book you'd suggest about the history of poetry, especially with an emphasis on form, and formal changes. I'd especially like a book like that written by a poet, and not necessarily a scholar. Something like that. Any ideas? Thanks.

Michael Dirda: Robert Pinsky, Edward Hirsch, Kenneth Koch and Mary Kinzie--all fine poets--have recently brought out little guides to reading and understanding poetry. Check these out at your local bookstore. I reviewed the Koch and thought it very engaging. The best book on reading poetry remains William Empson's Seven Types of Ambiguity, followed by Randall Jarrell's essays (of which there is a new selected edition,just out).

washington dc: what's your take on the new Hannibal Lecter installment? Worth packing it for the beach next weekend?

PDG

Michael Dirda: All I know is what I read, but most reviewers have been disappointed with the book. Too violent, campy ending, too much about Hannibal's childhood.

chicago, IL: Can you recommend a good literary novel taking place in alaska? Also, have you ever written a book, or published a compilation of your essays?

Michael Dirda: John Hawks's Adventures in the Alaskan Skin Trade (that title may be slightly wrong). Years ago wrote a little manual for the Book of the Month Club called Caring for Your Books. Editors have expressed interest in gathering my essays together, and I hope to do so one of these days. Sooner rather than later.

Washington: Michael

Re the question about local Washington thrillers, a great one I read a short while ago was Death Duty by Stephen Kimball, set in the State Department, with scenes in places such as Dumbarton Oaks, the Tabard Inn, and Prince Georges County. Do you know of any other books he's published?

Michael Dirda: Nope, he's new to me. There are, of course, those Margaret Truman novels--Murder at the XXXX--as well as a slightly disguised Library of Congress in Goodrum's Dewey Decimated. RIchard Conroy has three mysteries set around the SMithsonian.

Asheboro, NC: I've just finished Guterson's East of the Mtns. Although I didn't find it the equal of Snow Falling on Cedars, that might suffice as a suggestion for the Falls Church, Va. inquiry. Unless they want something more contemporary.

Michael Dirda: Ok. That may be too literary for him, though. Other ideas?

Philadelphia, PA: Well, the recent -and too obvious- answer re fiction in a Puget Sound setting would be "Snow Falling on Cedars" by David Gutterson. One of the things I most enjoyed about the book was how it captured the atmosphere of the place. I understand his new book also takes place in the Northwest, though it may be further inland.

Michael Dirda: Yes, of course.

Washington, DC: Hello Michael!

Is it possible to access older reviews of yours on this website? Can't figure it out! I just read and enjoyed J. Winterson's "Written on the Body" and recall your reference to having reviewed her "Sexing the Cherry." Thank you!

Michael Dirda: I think you have to pay to get reviews older than two weeks--you might inquire when you try to access. I did review Sexing the Cherry at length, and later a book of her essays. I think she's a terrific writer at her best, but somewhat self-indulgent of late and she certainly does'nt believe in hiding her light under a bushel. Oranges are not the only Fruit is hilarious; The Passion is my favorite of her books.

Washington, DC: I know you are not an avid moviegoer, but do you ever read novelizations of movies you haven't seen? I ask because the Phantom Menace book is tearing up the charts. And my opinion of novelizations is that they suck.

Michael Dirda: For the most part, they're hackwork undertaken by good novelists to pay the rent (I have some friends who've done novelizations). I wouldn't bother to read one unless I was being paid serious money. A few--such as the E.T. books by William Kotzwinkle--may be a cut above this, however. But really these sorts of books are for kids who can't get enough of the Star Wars universe.

Asheboro, NC: Hells's bells Michael, if they want violence, why don't you send them to Blood Meridian

Michael Dirda: Yes, or almost any of Cormac McCArthy's early novels. I did say that I had no problem with violence in novels--so long as the books are well written. Style redeems all, as does artistic vision. America, after all, is built on violence.

Asheboro, NC: Didn't one of the Thomas Perry Jane Whitefield National Park Series take place in or around Washington?

Michael Dirda: Could be. I've read the two Butcher Boy novels--both first-rate--but never got to the Jane Whitefields. In fact, I'd recommend The Butcher's Boy to the person who was asking about the latest Hannibal Lecter. It's a novel about a professional assassin hunted by both the federal government and the mafia for whom he used to work. Very exciting. For that matter, David Morrell's original Rambo book, First Blood, is also thrilling--and philosophical too, if that doesn't sound absurd.

Bethesda, Maryland: What is your opinion of publishers releasing works of long-dead writers?
How close to authentic can these books be if the writer is dead and has not input into the final work?
The latest in this trend is the book by Ralph Ellison. And they did the same thing with Ernest Hemmingway. I can't read works like this without thinking they never finished it...hence they really didn't write the finished product. Are readers gullible or are publishers riding on the coattails of a respected name.

Michael Dirda: See Book World's review of the Hemingway books coming next week for comment on this issue. Generally, I agree with you--but sometimes we love a writer so much we're happy just to hear his voice again one last time.

Silver Spring, MD: Could you comment on the intellectual vacuum in which the taste range of the Poet Laureate exists? A recent text by the top LC Honcho on the addition of new tastes to help the PL during an anniversary year is beyond camp. The Academy of American Poets still dictates an embarrassingly reactionary aesthetic possibility, no matter the name of the particular camp-follower.

Michael Dirda: Can you clarify this question?

Madison WI: Do you have an opinion about Rene Wellek's History of Criticism?

Michael Dirda: Wellek--once the leading advocate for the study of comparative literature--wrote this multi-volume history over the course of, what?, 40 years? It's an impressive achievement--wide-ranging, thoughtful, thorough. It does, however, cover only modern criticism, i.e. from the late 18th century to the present. ANd it is a little dull at times, since Wellek is so dogged and earnest. But it's a major achievement and a good place to gain a sense of what Johnson or Benjamin or Blackmur thought about literarture. A shorter book is the history of criticism in one volume by Brooks and Wimsatt. Liveliest of all is George Saintsbury's three volume History of Criticism, but it is unreliable for anyone after about 1820 (and sometimes eccentric for figures before then--but then that 's why Saintsbury is fun to read).

Albany, New York: Hi Michael:
Don't want to push this any further than this: Hemingway himelf wrote that any novelist would do well to study C.S. Forester. Please don't put him in the Saturday Evening Post category, although as a youngster I read a lot of those stories and thought they were great!

Michael Dirda: Ok--I'm persuaded that I need to look at C.S. again. I do remember a strange novel by him called The Daughter of the Hawk--a South American dictator entrusts his young daughter to a faithful companion, who eventually falls in love with her and they marry in the end. ANd I've always meant to read his thriller Payment Deferred (grat title). Yes, my hero P.G. Wodehouse appeared in Sat Eve (occasionally) and places like it.

Arlington VA: Have you heard anything about the "new" Ralph Ellison novel coming out? There was apparently a lot of editing and decision making made by persons other than the author -- what do you think about this?

Michael Dirda: Most of the reviews were mixed at best, in part because of the book's structure. My friend Gregory Feeley, who occasionally writes for Book World, did a piece for the New York Times magazine on the book's genesis a few weeks back.

Falls Church, VA: Hi Michael. Last week on the news I saw a story about a 80-year old local man who wrote "This was Tyson's Corner." I want to buy it for Fathers' Day but I can't find it on amazon.com, nor can I remember the author. Can you help?

Michael Dirda: Sorry, can't help.

Bethesda, MD: What do you think of the novels of Peter De Vries? While not stunning on plot, I've always found them incredibly witty and clever about the human spirit. Do you know if anyone has plans to republish his books, now that he's dead?

Michael Dirda: Most of the De Vries oeuvre is easily available in second hand bookshops. In my view, he is an undervalued writer, and bound to be increasingly appreciated. He is very funny, touching, insightful--as you say. I especially liked the novel in which he wrote various chapters in the voices of various writers. The Mackerel Plaza is also a good starting book.

Fairfax, VA: Michael, do you have any thoughts about reforms in education that might get more kids interested in reading, and which might produce more adults who are successful readers?

Michael Dirda: I wrote about this a couple years ago for the Post magazine in an article on multiculturalism. I basically think that kids should be exposed to all kinds of reading matter--magazines, comics, sports programs, fashion guides, as well as serious books. Better to read something or anything rather than nothing. But this is too large a subject for this chat, which is now about to end. Sorry if I didn't get to your question. Try me next week at this same time and day. Till then, keep reading.