Not Really About Romance

Bare with my folks..this blog is in beta format and I am learning as I am going.  Glad you are on the journey with me...

Okay so I'm reading a book called "Pym" by Mat Johnson. Its not romance and usually I avoid straight literature type books like the plague. Boring. Nihilistic. Blah. I figure if I want that I'll watch the news!

But every now and then I take a look at books that smart literary types say I should be reading just for kicks and giggles, you understand. This one appealed to me because it sounded quirky, weird and interesting.  Kinda fantastical, even.  In a nutshell, a Black professor of English literature gets fired at his all white college and becomes convinced  a work of fiction:"The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym" by Edgar Allen Poe was a true account of a real voyage. In Poe's book, Pym lands on a island of Black people (actually they are more like monsters) who have never seen white people before.  Pym's friends are killed and Pym barely escapes with his life.

Our professor decides to go on an expedition to find this island.  The novel is an account, told from his point-of-view about what happens when he does. I will probably not finish reading it. Why.

1. I hard a hard time accepting the the Black professor in the college would get fired.  The reason given was that he would not join the college's Diversity Committee. Sorry.  I worked for a college for seven  years and this did not fly. He was well published and taught courses in Black literature. Not only would the college have given him tenure, they probably would have made him head of the English Department. But this was a small thing to swallow in comparison to the rest of the book...

2. The character is crazy, and rather pathetic.  He's been pining for a woman who walked out on him years ago.  He actually hires her and her husband to go with him on his quirky expedition. I don't find the theme of unrequited love interesting.  Lots of great poetry has been written about this theme, but I wouldn't call this book great poetry. Its well written, but that's about all.

3. He looks down upon his best friend. The best friend is described on more than one occasion as "fat,"  and "plump."  He's always eating Little Debbie snack cakes. The best friend likes Thomas Kincade (called "Karvel" in the book) a detail used to show that he has no taste and little intelligence, compared to our black professor friend. Actually he sneers at just about every other black Black person in the book. Got tired of reading it.

Also there is a "perfect"stereotypical  homosexual couple in the book used as contrast to our black professor's own ridiculous longing. 

This book was very well reviewed elsewhere (heck, what do I know ?) and I guess I am the only one in God's creation that didn't like it and won't finish it. I am really glad this was a library book and
I didn't fork over my hard earned dollars for it.

So, do you like "quirky" books?  Has any quirky book worked for you recently, and why? Or, have you read this book and really love it and wanna tell me to go you-know-where?  Let me know!