Dirda on Books
Hosted by Michael Dirda
Washington Post Book World Senior Editor
Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2000; 2 p.m. EST
Every Wednesday at 2 p.m. EST, Dirda takes your questions and comments concerning literature, books and the joys of reading.
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 Ph.D. 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."
The transcript of the discussion follows.Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Michael Dirda: Welcome to Dirda on Books. For the next hour I'll answer questions about books, reading, Book World, my columns, what have you. On with the show!
Lenexa, Kans.: Mr. Dirda,
Book World (one back) included comments on Peter De Vries--reminding me of one of my favorite modern novels: The Blood of the Lamb. QUESTION: What's your impression of De Vries in general and The Blood of the Lamb in particular? Thanks.
Michael Dirda: I admire De Vries quite a bit and have collected most of his books. As it happens, though, I've never read Blood of the Lamb, because it sounded a bit of a downer. Isn't this the one based on the death of the author's own daughter?
In general, I think De Vries is currently underrated and on the verge of being forgotten. I see his last half dozen or more recent titles in second hand bookshops all the time, and none is very expensive. This may be the time to start collecting his oeuvre, as only the suppressed early books--e.g. Who Wakes the Bugler?--are really hard to find. (And who knows, they may all be readily available through the Internet).
What I like about De Vries is the humor, the flair for parody, the evocation of that 1950s and '60s where people drank, smoked, committed adultery, and suffered religious angst. He's kind of the comic side of John Cheever.
Has there been a better American comic novelist in the past 50 years?
washington, d.c.: Hello Michael -- Are you still up enough on children's books to recommend some for holiday gifts? If so, what are some of your recommendations for kids ages 5-12? Thanks.
Michael Dirda: That's actually quite a spread. For picture books, you can't go wrong with almost anything by William Joyce, Chris Van Allsburgh, Leo and Diane Dillon, James Marshall, James Stevenson, William Steig. For good readers try the novels of Joan Aiken, Edward Eager, Daniel Pinkwater, John Bellairs, and Philip Pullman. If you need one good Christmas picture book, try Joyce's Santa Calls or Peter Spier's wordless Christmas; for older kids, I'd go for Aiken's Black Hearts in Battersea, Pinkwater's Lizard Music and Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke, or the first volume of the Dark Meterials trilogy, The Golden Compass.
Ciudad Elkin: Hi Mr Dirda, best Thanksgiving wishes to you and yours....
Two or three issues ago in the NYRofB John Ashbury wrote about "a great forgotten American poet" named David Schubert. In the current issue of the NYRofB someone (I apologize, but I forget who) writes about Henry Green's -Party Going.- J.F. Powers has recently been rediscovered, as has Powys and Dawn Powell. What, beyond perhaps a turning of a new century look back at writers who didn't make the canon but maybe should have in some minds, do you think is the cause of these revisitations and reevaluations? What is your opinion of Henry Green? And didn't the BookWorld at one point have a weekly column of forgotten books that should be remembered, and if you did why did it stop, and would you consider starting again (or, if I'm mistaken, for the first time) such an idea? As always, thanks
Michael Dirda: Henry Green is perennially rediscovered: John Updike points to him as perhaps the major influence on his style; Evelyn Waugh revered his early books; and even lowly I have written about his novels several times. (Party-Going is a particular favorite of mine, and I once paid a hundred dollars for a first edition--it has a great description of a beautiful woman taking a bath and then drying her breasts).
I'm not sure that John Cowper Powys and J.F. Powers have really ever been forgotten--it's just that their work may have a limited audience. What one really hopes by these reissues is to expand that audience, but I have come to be dubious about this whole process. Don't get me wrong: I want the books back in print. Still, a Henry Green is never going to appeal to people who want a fast-moving story. You have to read him for his odd prose and vision.
Schubert seems a genuinely minor talent, albeit an attractive one, especially as described by Ashbery (I reviewed his Charles Eliot Norton lectures on poetry, one of which is about Schubert).
Yes, years ago we ran a series called Rediscoveries, written largely by Noel Perrin, who collected his columns in a book called A Reader's Delight (which it is). In some ways, my Readings column performs a similar function, often touching on odd and neglected books worth searching out.
Washington, D.C.: Michael, Do you have a favorite Jane Austen book? Also, is there an Austen biography that you would recommend?
Finally, do you have a favorite book by Charles Dickens?
Michael Dirda: Pride and Prejudice--a very conventional choice, I'm afraid. If my wife and I had had a daughter instead of three sons she would have been named Elizabeth Bennett Dirda. A couple of years back two good lives of Austen appeared, one by David Nokes, the other by Claire Tomalin. A shorter biographical work is David Cecil's A Portrait of Jane Austen.
Dickens? Probably Bleak House or Great Expectations or Pickwick Papers.
Lenexa, Kans.: Mr. Dirda,
You're right about The Blood of the Lamb. It was as heartbreaking as it gets. Re Cheever, I read Wapshot Chronicle, Wapshot Scandal, and the collected short stories within the last year. In addition to The Swimmer, I would especially recommend the two short stories: The Cure and The Hartleys. QUESTION: I believe De Vries, like Shawn, was one of those Salinger was still in touch with. Are you aware of others? Thanks.
Michael Dirda: Thanks for the follow-up. Didn't know about De Vries and Salinger, though this seems likely since they came to the New Yorker about the same time. My favorite Cheever story is The Country Husband, the one where the guy is nearly killed in an airplane accident and then almost takes up with the babysitter, loses his job and dreams, in the final last sentence, about "kings in golden armor riding elephants over the mountains."
Ashburn, VA: Re: Christmas books for kids. Noel Streatfeild's "Shoes" books (Dancing Shoes, Theatre Shoes, Ballet Shoes are the only ones in print at the moment) are magical. The Narnia books, the Oz books, Alcott and LM Montgomery. Frances Hodgeson Burnett. Richard Peck's books about Blossom Culp. The Laura Ingalls Wilder books.
Younger kids: Lovely large colorful story books. There's a new one out called "Auntie Claus" Also, "The Big Bazooley".
Michael Dirda: THanks.
Sterling VA: Michael,
RE: Children's books. For 3-6 graders, Chronicles of Narnia, 6 grade + The Hobbit.
Michael Dirda: Thanks. I love the Hobbit, have mixed feelings about Narnia--see my recent review of Philip Pullman's Amber Spyglass.
Haverhill, MA: Michael,
First: Off the top of your head, what do I read next?
Also, what are your thoughts on Susan Sontag winning the National Book Award. Was she deserving? How many award recipients truly are?
Michael Dirda: I admire Sontag immensely, but not as a novelist. Prizes are always a crap shoot and seldom go to the right people for the right book--but there are exceptions.
You should read a classic next. A nice Victorian novel, ideal for long autumn and winter evenings: How about The Woman in White or Le Fanu's Uncle Silas or Anthony Trollope's The Way WE Live NOw?
Ashburn, VA: Oh! I forgot to ask earlier. My husband wants a good biography of Mark Twain. Any recommendations?
Michael Dirda: I don't think there is a really standard biography of Twain. But you might start with Justin Kaplan's Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain (I think that's right, but not quite sure). Also, Charles Neider rather cavalierly put together an enjoyable book called The Autobiography of Mark Twain, drawing on the writer's various comments on his childhood and writing life.
Spring Valley, CA: Michael, I wonder if you've read any Annie Dillard. I kind of forgot about her after Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, but was recently moved to read her latest, For the Time Being, a sort of attempt to justify some of the evils of our time. If nothing else, I'd like it for the sharp language.
Michael Dirda: Never read much Dillard, alas, but what I have did seem good. I have, however, read her husband's terrific biography, Emerson: A Mind on Fire.
Fairfax: Michael,
my nephew is getting up towards reading age. What have you found effective for instilling JOY in reading to a youngster? Not just books, but library trips, etc?
Michael Dirda: This sort of thing is impossible to predict and your best bet is to talk with his parents: What does your nephew like to do? Then build on this. Check out the picture book recommendations on one of the earlier replies this afternoon.
Ballston: Hi,
What do you think of Michener? I am starting to read Iberia right now... any other good bets? I have never read him before... any good books on his life, and, where was he from?
thanks...
Michael Dirda: There is a biography, but I can't recall its title or author. The early books tend to be the most highly regarded: Tales of the South Pacific, in particular. Iberia is a very good portrait of Spain. You do learn a lot form Michener, but not everyone can put up with his verbiage.
Reston, VA: Mike,
Do you read SF, if so, who's your favorite SF author?
Michael Dirda: All the time.
Jack Vance. The Dying Earth. The Star King.
Berkeley, CA: Michael
I just finished In the Heart of the Sea, the story of the disastrous whaleship Essex. While I enjoyed the book, I'm quite surprised that it won the National Book Award. (I know, we shouldn't place too much value on these awards.) About a month ago, I read and loved Lansing's riveting book on the Endurance. Any suggestions on other exciting real-life adventure tales? Can you recommend one about Scott's Antarctic expedition?
Michael Dirda: Look forward to our holiday issue in which Annie Proulx chooses some of her favorite cold-weather adventure classics.
silver spring, maryland: On your recommendation, I read Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Just finished No. 3, The Amber Spyglass. What a wonderful book! As good, if not better, than the other two. Thank you so much for mentioning them in this forum. Do you know if Pullman plans on visiting Washington to promote the book (if he hasn't already come and gone)?
Michael Dirda: He came to DC just after The Golden Compass, but his latest tour, alas, doesn't include a stop here.
Albuquerque, N.M.: I recently read and enjoyed Sarah Caudwell's latest and last book, "The Sibyl in Her Grave." I was saddened by the news of her death (in her 50s) and wondered how she died. Have you heard?
Michael Dirda: Cancer, I believe. She is much missed.
Washington, D.C.: So...are you hip to the George Pelecanos series of books? Those are the best character novels I've read for a while, especially since the true main character common to his books is that of Washington, D.C.
Michael Dirda: I am hip to George's books, and they deserve all the readers they can get.
wilton,ct: Mr. Dirda,
I've read some of your book recommendations with great success. I absolutely love French, English and Spanish literature. I found that it's rare to be disappointed by them where as American literature is so uneven. As a critique, do you have a country preference? How do you display your books? I find it irritating when certain persons use their bookcases as display for kitsch with a few books thrown in. Have you ever returned a book because it was so disappointing?
Michael Dirda: Well, I think all national literatures are bound to be uneven, and that you have probably been lucky in only reading the best European literature.
I read all kinds of books, but probably know British and French literature best.
Some of my books are on bookshelves, but the vast majority are packed in cartons, amouldering in my basement. One day, I constantly dream, I will have an elegant library of my own.
Arlington, VA: Another Jane Austen question...
Unfortunately, I've read through her novels and want to wait a bit to re-read them. In the meantime, what other author should I take up who writes with anything close to Austen's wit and subtlety in portraying human interaction?
Michael Dirda: Emily Eden's The Semi-Attached Couple and The Semi-Detached House. The regency romances of Georgette Heyer. Also, Patrick O'Brian's nautical adventure novels, which are often reminiscent of Austen in wit and style.
San Diego, CA: If you haven't seen it, you might find interesting another list, this one in last Sunday's SF Chronicle, of 50 best writers over 50 (in the US), as proposed by a bunch of writers from the western states.
I find myself unable to leave these kind of things alone!
Michael Dirda: Haven't seen it. Will look for it.
Arlington 2.0: This might not be your forte, but I am looking for a some good non-fiction political books. My copies of "Hardball" and "On Liberty" are wearing thin.
Michael Dirda: Do you know the books of Richard Hofstadter? The American Political Tradition, The Age of Reform, The Paranoid Style in American Politics, and my favorite, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. Beautifully written.
Ciudad Elkin: RE: de Vries as possibly the best comic novelist of the past 50 years. What definition of "comic novelist" do you mean? I intend no disrespect of de Vries, who I admire, but how do his novels differ, comically, from Elkin or Pynchon or Gaddis or Heller or Barth or Coover or Berger? What I'm wondering is if you are setting up a distinction between books that are funny only and books that are serious that happen to also be funny.
Michael Dirda: Good point. I suppose I am setting up such a boundary, though De Vries isn't merely a comic novelist. As it happens, nearly all the writers you mention tend to be favorites of mine. And you left off one of the best: Gilbert Sorrentino, especially in Imaginative Qualities of Actual things and Mulloigan Stew.
WDC: Hi Michael,
I'm reading "An Equal Music" by Vikram Seth, and just noticed that there's a quote by you on the back cover. Was this pulled from a review? Do you recommend "A Suitable Boy"?
Michael Dirda: I'm quoted out of context there. I go on to say that I found the book right on the cusp of sentimentality.
Madison, Wis.: Michael --
What with the silly season now upon us, I've gotten interested in reading some political fiction. There's a lot I haven't read -- not even Henry Adams. I want to spend time with stuff that has genuine literary merit, and not a bunch of potboilers. Would you direct me?
Michael Dirda: Read All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren. Gore Vidal's Burr and Lincoln. Robert Graves's I, Claudius.
Stendhal's Charterhouse of Parma.
Lenexa, Kans.: Mr. Dirda,
Just a thought on the Twain inquiry. Harper and Bros. brought out William Dean Howell's My Mark Twain the same year as Clemen's death. It has some very funny anecdotes. You've probably read it. Anyway, it's still available in most bookstores.
Michael Dirda: Yes, it's also reprinted entire in Edmund Wilson's The Shock of Recognition anthology.
Bonn, Germany: Hi,
Some months ago, you were lamenting that people, and book groups, all tend to choose the very same books to read. While I'm not sure that this is really such a bad thing (at least it gives us some common ground for conversation), I'd like to ask you to suggest a biography for our book group. If possible, the book shouldn't be too long or too scholarly (the group turned down the big biography of Virginia Woolf for those reasons), and available in paperback. Can it be done? Many thanks in advance!
Michael Dirda: WHy not check out the titles in this new Penguin series of short lives? Try Nigel Nicolson on Virginia Woolf, for instance.
Bonn, Germany: Re books for kids: one of the first Dirda reviews I remember reading (this must have been around 1984) was of Randall Jarrell's "Animal Family" which I went out and bought and which became an instant favorite. Is "The Bat Poet" just as good?
Michael Dirda: Not as substantial as Animal Family, but just as good, with some lovely poetry along the way. Not to mention the Sendak illustrations.
Rockville, Md.: Hi,
I've noticed that many times a book publisher will include a paragraph about the type used in the printing of a book and its history. What's the story behind this?
Thanks.
Michael Dirda: Colophon is the technical term for this. I don't know its history at the top of my head, though I should.
upper NW: For the Germany book club question: if they can find the biography Zelda, it is a wonderful read. Neither too long nor too scholarly, and utterly interesting.
Michael Dirda: THanks. It's by Nancy Milford, and its about Scott Fitzgerald's wife.
DC: Michael,
Would you ever consider reading the Harry Potter books? Why or why not?
Michael Dirda: I reviewed the first two Harry Potter books, praised the first one a lot, had some reservations about the second, thought both were good reads for kids without being masterpieces.
Somewhere, USA: Michael,
we know you read like a fiend, but does your wife? Did your sons take to reading as you did? If so, was it through your encouragement, or just natural inclination? Would you ever try to outline a reading curriculum for them?
Were your parents avid readers? Did your mother, as mine has, ever accuse you of reading "too much"? I think it's a silly accusation. As long as you are able to carry on with life's obligations and nourish and clothe yourself, the amount of time you spend reading should never be thought of as excessive.
Michael Dirda: My parents never read a book in their adult lives. My father dropped out of school at 16 and used to kick books out of my hands when he saw me reading. He wanted me to be more than just a bookworm. I write about some of the matters you bring up in several essays in my new book, Readings: Essays and Literary Entertainment's (Indiana University Press).
Two of my three sons read quite a bit; my wife reads all the time--her favorite writers are Jane Austen, Dick Francis, Tolstoy and Dorothy Sayers.
San Jose, New Mexico: Whom do you think will be mentioned in the top 10 of fiction writers for the 20th century?
Michael Dirda: James, Proust, Joyce, Mann, Faulkner, Nabokov, Waugh, Borges, Garcia Marquez, Soseki.
DC: I just finished "Lucky Jim," which I found highly amusing and quite enjoyable. Any other Amis (the elder) you would particularly recommend?
Thanks.
Michael Dirda: The Old Devils.
San Jose, New Mexico: How do you think Cormac McCarthy will be regarded as a writer in the 21st century?
Michael Dirda: VEry high. Blood Meridian will be regarded as one of the major works of 20th-century American literature, certainly in the top 20.
upper nw: What do you know of the local reading scene? Reading out loud from one's own work, I mean, not reading others' work and discussing it in a book club setting. I'd love the opportunity to read from my poetry or fiction but just don't know where to get started. Not looking for an open mike night either, but maybe an arranged evening where several writers read at a bookstore or somesuch.
Michael Dirda: Not much, actually. Talk to the people at the Writing Center or Washington Independent Writers or at your favorite library or bookshop.
San Francisco, Calif.: Hi Michael,
A friend recommended Henry James to me and I went to the library and checked out "The Golden Bowl," a novel his book club plans to read. For me, it was simply unreadable. I threw in the towel after 10 pages, totally defeated. Since James is regarded as such a literary icon, I'm willing to recognize the fault probably lies with me. Still. Did I pick the wrong book? And what makes James such a revered figure? Thanks.
Michael Dirda: You chose just about the hardest of all James's novels. Try something easier: Daisy Miller, The Aspern Papers, Washington Square. But James's style isn't for everyone--it's all hesitation, circling and uncertainty.
arlington, va: Did you read a recent James Wood essay in the New Republic about "the big novel?" Do you agree that many of the popular "big books" that come out now from Rushdie, Pynchon, Helpern, Seth, etc. are too plot heavy - relying on ridiculous convergence and coincidences at the expense of characters?
Michael Dirda: I like plot. You need comedy or plot to keep readers going through a long, complex book.
Well, time's up for this week. See you next Wednesday at 2.
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