We are headed out soon over hill and dale to meet up with my sister’s family for a ski long weekend in Idaho. It should be an adventure to get there in our loaded up car, but there’s a window of clear weather ahead, so we will go for it.
Our dog Stella, my book assistant, will be coming too and will get to see her half-sister Lab dog, Sadie, who my sister has. These dogs like the snow and the cross-country skiing, and it should be a festive time with a full household there.
Perhaps while in Ketchum, Idaho, we will get to visit the memorial and grave of author Ernest Hemingway, who is buried there. Apparently Papa Hemingway, as he was known, loved visiting the town of Ketchum and the area for decades starting in 1939 and he bought a house there with his fourth wife Mary Welsh in 1959.
It was there at his Ketchum home where he worked at a standing desk on the posthumously published works, “A Moveable Feast,” “The Dangerous Summer,” and “Islands in the Stream” … until he died on July 2, 1961, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His house there is private so I don’t think it can be toured. But since I like his books, I plan to bring one or two of them along for the ride and read from them while there. What about you — do you have a favorite Hemingway novel?
And now just a flash about the novel I recently completed. It was Ben Lerner’s book “The Topeka School,” which made the Best Books of 2019 lists at both the New York Times and The Washington Post and I listened to as an audiobook. It was said to be a prequel to Lerner’s prior novels “Leaving the Atocha Station” and “10:04,” the latter of which I thought was quirky and amusing. But unfortunately “The Topeka School” was a bit of a slog to me.
It describes the formative years of a character named Adam Gordon (who’s based on the author), growing up in Topeka, Kansas in the ’80s and ’90s and his parents’ lives who are psychologists at a renown foundation. Adam’s a champion at debate (on the school team and at state competitions) but suffers from migraines due to a childhood concussion.
The chapters of Adam’s adolescence alternate with those of his parents: Jonathan (who has an affair with his wife’s therapist) and Jane (who’s trolled for her bestselling feminist book), and later an older Adam, who looks back on his life and family as a writer living in Brooklyn. There’s also chapters featuring a teenage outsider named Darren, who’s mentally troubled and whose involvement in Adam’s school clique ends disastrously in violence.
What to make of it all? The author has said he wanted to write a family saga that also shined a light on broader social implications about the prehistory of the Trump era. And how masculinity in a red state juxtaposed with his family’s background in psychotherapy and talking about one’s feelings. The book’s themes deal with language and therapy, juxtaposed with bullying, masculinity and violence. At least that’s what I gather from it.
It’s not an easy read because the story to me didn’t have much of an arc. It’s a bit scattered and seemingly episodic into the lives of the Gordon family and lacked to me much suspense or a storyline to egg me on. And like quite a bit of “autofiction,” which is a fictionalized kind of autobiography or memoir, which this novel is, it can sometimes feel like navel-gazing at its most minutia, where everyday lives or inner lives can be described in the most mundane detail … enough to put one right to sleep.
Autofiction these days is very popular, with such authors as Rachel Cusk, Karl Ove Knausgård, Jenny Offill, Ben Lerner and many more … writing about their lives in such fictionalized ways. While I like some of it and think parts can be profound, I can only seem to take it in small doses then have to flee to novels with more of a storyline. There were glimmers for me of interest and brilliance in “The Topeka School” but also parts that felt like a long winter’s nap.
What about you do you like reading autofiction? And have you read Ben Lerner or any of these other authors — and if so, what did you think?
Bon Voyage to you and the dogs! It sounds like the perfect thing for the latter part of February.
I read A Moveable Feast last year and it turned out to be my second favorite Hemingway. My first favorite is For Whom the Bell Tolls.
I have always wondered about Ben Lerner but have yet to read anything by him. It seems I read plenty of autofiction recently but right now I can’t think of any titles.
I recently finished The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates and was completely blown away.
hey Judy: good to know about The Water Dancer. (I sort of miss your great reviews but understand you want to write these days.) I recall you liked Rachel Cusk’s Outline which is autofiction. I too read it and it’s a bit cerebral like Ben Lerner’s. I agree For Whom the Bell Tolls is perhaps Hemingway’s best. Think I’ve read just 4 or 5 of his. Will let you all know about the trip, thanks.
I’m not a fan of the cold and snow but your trip still sounds fun to me.
I’ve found a lot of award winners and “best of” lists from smart sources are just too smart for me so I probably wouldn’t love The Topeka School either.
Safe travels!
Thanks Kathy. It took me a long while to adapt to cold & snow but after 10 years I’ve mostly done it. I agree quite a bit of The Topeka School went right by me, or over my head. I was like say whaaa? Ben Lerner is a smart guy but not sure his stories are too accessible all the way through.
Have a great trip! I hope you have fun, as do Sadie and Stella. The Topeka School sounds boring. In my relatively recent mood I would have cast it aside. Lisa Genova’s Every Note Played rescued me from the reading slump; let’s see if the good continues. Of Hemingway I have only read The Old Man and The Sea, when I was a teenager. I have several novels of his on my TBR though.
Hey thanks Carmen! I was just on this when your comment came thru. I almost did cast aside The Topeka School but I made myself finish it, argh. I’m glad you found a good book to get you out of the slump. I have liked Lisa Genova before. Her alzheimer novel (which ironically i forgot the name of?). Ha. Still Alice, yes. I don’t think I’ve ever read Old Man & the Sea but I should. I have read 4 of Hemingway’s … but should read more someday.
Have fun in Idaho. It sounds like it will be a great trip. I’m with you on The Topeka School. I DNF’d it after reading more than half the book, but just got to a point where I couldn’t take the sort of rambling structure. I’m not a fan of autofiction. They almost always feel too self indulgent for my taste and that was particularly true with The Topeka School.
Yeah Susie, I agree. I wasn’t a real fan of the Topeka School. I’m beginning to realize I don’t like autofiction too much either … so I probably shouldn’t read Jenny Offill’s books right? Ben Lerner says he’s critical of himself in these books or he plays with material that he’s ashamed of or such … but to me it gets pretty boring. I’ll need to grab something totally different next.
Autofiction? That’s what they are calling it these days? I do feel it would be easier to fictionalize one’s life if the details were a bit gritty to begin with. Easier to look at it from that perspective instead of laying it all out for the world to gaze upon. I don’t know. Topeka was on my list for so long but it never lured me to the point of actually picking it up.
Your book assistant. Haha. My pup likes it so much when I read. She jumps on top of me or totally obscures my reading view. I think she just likes it when I am sitting down and not going anywhere so she tries to keep me there but I like to think that she reads too.
Ha Ti, I think your Otter Pup is also a book assistant. Either that or she just wants your attention. I don’t think you would’ve liked Topeka … too much was a slog to me, so I think I’m done with autofiction for awhile, though I almost picked up that new Jenny Offill book.
Idaho sounds great. I’ve actually never been there, but I imagine it must be beautiful. Enjoy!
I’ve had several terrific reading experiences in recent years with “autofiction” including Rachel Cusk’s books. When it’s done well it is both entertaining and thought-provoking, so I guess we can count me as a fan.
Thanks Dorothy: we’ve made it to Ketchum and it seems gorgeous here. We will stay a couple more days, having a ball. Glad for your input on autofiction … some of it is quite worthwhile & quite smart. I read Cusk’s first book Outline. Some of Topeka School I think flew right over or by me.
Hope you are enjoying, or did enjoy, your ski trip and that the weather is cooperating and that you are having the festive time with family that you thought you would have.
Favorite Hemingway novel: For Whom The Bell Tolls.
Autofiction: Hadn’t heard of it, but I think I’ll pass. I like slowing down, but not that much. 🙂
Hey Bryan: I like For Whom the Bell Tolls too. Probably Hemingway’s best. We are here still having fun with family in Idaho. Worn out from skiing … we might visit Hemingway’s grave this afternoon. Unfortunately the history museum in town is closed till we leave, argh. As for autofiction, it’s not for everyone. It can be too slow!
I often feel like a bystander while the Emperor of Writing passes by with no clothes on. I want to be bold and point this out, but I hesitate as everyone congratulates the emperor on his wardrobe.
Ha. Deb. I know what you mean. I hesitate a bit too, but then I just say what the heck?!