345. The Apes of God

The Apes of God
Wyndham Lewis
1930
Around 625 pages

Wow, does this guy seem like a tool, particularly with the early 2000s Jared Padalecki haircut. He's like a less well known James Joyce, and while it's a toss up which one makes me want to walk into the sea more, at least you can complain about JJ with other people. I've never met anybody I can talk to about Lewis except my therapist and he no longer takes my calls.

Dan Boleyn takes on the London art world, supported by his patron Horace Zagreus. Lewis satirizes the personalities of the art scene, which I suppose would be hilarious if you knew the mannerisms of Osbert, Edith, and Sacheverell Sitwell. 

Long and boring, and unfortunately, there are many more Lewis books to go.

RATING: *----

Interesting Facts:

Lewis wrote 40 books, and was a dick to his wife and kids.

UP NEXT: Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham

344. Her Privates We

Her Privates We
Frederic Manning
1930
Around 240 pages

And we are back to talking about how sucky the trenches were in World War I. I can't wait until we are talking about how sucky a different war is.

Bourne is a private in the Battle of Somme. He's pretty much a blank slate so he can stand in for the average soldier, which makes him super boring as a character. I did like that Manning began each chapter with a Shakespeare quote. It would have been so much fun to find the perfect line for each section (hey, you're a nerd too if you are reading this blog). 

He still managed to inject the novel with the usual dose of misogyny. I believe he writes something along the lines of "women have the intuition of an egg." Sort of a drive by. Anyway, an accurate portrayal of trench warfare, which I am starting to think, was sucky.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Title is from the following exchange in Hamlet:

"Guildenstern: On Fortune's cap we are not the very button.

Hamlet: Nor the soles of her shoe?

Rosencrantz: Neither, my lord.

Hamlet: Then you live about her waist, or in the middle of her favours?

Guildenstern: Faith, her privates we.

Hamlet: In the secret parts of fortune? O, most true; she is a strumpet."

UP NEXT: The Apes of God by Wyndham Lewis. Why is the List so obsessed with this guy? My library claims he doesn't exist.

343. Vile Bodies

Vile Bodies
Evelyn Waugh
1930
Around 255 pages

 

Artists that party together are really fascinated with themselves. I don't particularly like reading about the Bright Young Things, or the Beat generation, or any other clique of cool kids that hang. I prefer writers that keep their own company until they end up sticking their heads in the oven. So I'm kind of over Evelyn Waugh, but the Listmakers are not, and will not be for quite some time.

Adam, an aspiring novelist, is planning on marrying Nina, only he needs some money first. His manuscript is impounded for obscenity by customs officials, and he is repeatedly duped out of money. It seems to vacillate between comic to bleak, with much of the dialogue taking place on the telephone. How modern.

I don't find Waugh to be a particularly compelling writer, and the point of view he took on was a little weird. He seemed to lack sympathy for his characters, which made me not care about them at all. Everybody was a brat. Skippable.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

David Bowie cited this novel as a major influence for his song "Aladdin Sane."

A film adaptation was released in 2013, directed by Stephen Fry.

UP NEXT: Her Privates We by Frederic Manning. 

342. The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon
Dashiell Hammett
1930
Around 215 pages

Another crossover episode! Obviously, The Maltese Falcon is on the 1001 Movie List, but honestly, I never really understood the plot of that movie, so I wasn't going into the novel with too many spoilers. You get exactly what you expect with this book, which is pretty a fun ride.

Every cliche from the genre is present in this novel, from cool, double-crossing dames to fat cigar chomping tough guys. It's impossible for me not to picture Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, he's perfect for the role.

The plot is completely convoluted and ridiculous, but it doesn't have delusions of grandeur like another incoherent narratives on this List. A fun break from some of the more serious works on the List.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts: 

Hammett said of his main character: "Spade has no original. He is a dream man in the sense that he is what most of the private detectives I worked with would like to have been, and, in their cockier moments, thought they approached."

UP NEXT: Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh. I'm over him.

341. Look Homeward, Angel

Look Homeward, Angel
Thomas Wolfe
1929
Around 540 pages

You can tell that Thomas Wolfe has a flair for drama simply by the title of this novel. But I was sold by his author's note, which includes this banger: "Fiction is not fact, but fiction is fact selected and understood, fiction is fact arranged and charged with purpose." The writing is powerful, but it's about as sickeningly racist as you would expect from a 1929 novel. 

Oliver and Eliza Gant have a marriage that would make Thomas Hardy proud. Oliver is an abusive alcoholic and Eliza is the long suffering baby making machine. The story follows the life of their son Eugene, who is clearly a stand in for Wolfe. Eugene is a sensitive young man, who is desperate to escape his life without entirely knowing what he is escaping to.

Obviously, a 1929 novel is going to feeling old-fashioned, but this felt like something that would have popped up during the pre War era, like something Zola or Balzac would come up with. I thought it was too sprawling and could have been delivered in a neater, shorter package.

This our last novel from the 1920s! Share your favorite in the comments section!

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Altamont is the fictionalization of the town of Asheville.

The novel was written over 20 months.

UP NEXT: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

340. Hebdomeros

Hebdomeros
Giorgio de Chirico
1929
Around 270 pages

My library never heard of Hebdomeros, and there is no adequate ebook copy of this novel floating around the internet. You guys know I won't give up so easily, and will make Hebdomeros my Rosebud if need be (although my last words would probably be "I might be pronouncing it incorrectly, my b"). I did manage to locate it on Amazon for $30. Was it worth such a significant portion of my income?

No. 

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

The American writer Thomas Pynchon refers to Hebdomeros as a "dream novel" in his own debut novel, V. Barf-o-rama.

UP NEXT: Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe. I think a guy once asked me if I like Thomas Wolfe, and I said yes, I loved The Bonfire of the Vanities. Oof.

339. Passing

Passing
Nella Larsen
1929
Around 150 pages

Man, I love a punchy novel. Like Quicksand, there was no padding here. I know some readers think the ending was too abrupt, but I felt it was the perfect length. I just wish she had written more novels.

Irene Redfield is a black woman living in Harlem. She grew up with Clare Kendry, but lost touch when Clare moved in with her maternal aunts. Clare passes as a white woman, and her husband Jack doesn't know of her ancestry. Irene reconnects with Clare and is horrified/fascinated by Clare's life and revolting husband. 

Once again, Larsen offers a brutally honest and necessary perspective. My heart broke for Irene. Larsen has incredible emotional intelligence.  That final scene is going to stick with me for a long time.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to film in 2021.

Translated into Danish, German, French, Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, and Italian.

UP NEXT: Hebdomeros by Giorgio De Chirico. This is a tough one to track down!