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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
A glimpse into the truth behind the Roaring 20s. My review: http://mwgerard.com/review-appointment-in-samarra-by-john-ohara/
I read this as an example of modernism in my Survey of American Lit.
I kept waiting for the bigger story to start happening, and then halfway through the book, I realized "This is it. This is the story. A man throws a drink in another man's face, and it ruins his life. That's all." And, with that settled, I was better able to enjoy the rest of the book, instead of feeling like I was waiting.
I don't know how I feel about it, though. It's strong, snappy writing. I like the way the timespan of the story is just a few days, with flashbacks to the past.
I feel like I need to read through it again to discover why some characters were relevant. I'm still wondering "what was the point?" Besides, or course, for the obvious unavoidable fate.
I anticipate the class discussion on this one.
I kept waiting for the bigger story to start happening, and then halfway through the book, I realized "This is it. This is the story. A man throws a drink in another man's face, and it ruins his life. That's all." And, with that settled, I was better able to enjoy the rest of the book, instead of feeling like I was waiting.
I don't know how I feel about it, though. It's strong, snappy writing. I like the way the timespan of the story is just a few days, with flashbacks to the past.
I feel like I need to read through it again to discover why some characters were relevant. I'm still wondering "what was the point?" Besides, or course, for the obvious unavoidable fate.
I anticipate the class discussion on this one.
John O'Hara is an author that I have never read. At least, none of his novels. I remember regularly reshelving his fiction when I was a page in the late 60's, but I wasn't the slightest bit interested in what he had to say.
A volume of three of his novels crossed my path, so I decided it would accompany me to the beach. This is the first in the volume. I am both intrigued and baffled.
The storyline was quite interesting. The setting - early part of the Depression in middle America - might as well be a foreign country to me which means I got to learn a new "place". The characters were well drawn, but somewhat stereotypical, although the stereotype might be based on O'Hara's writings. I think he is known for his stories about Gibbsville which is where this book takes place.
I am a bit baffled because I am not sure why the book went the direction it went. I did not anticipate the ending at all. Looking back on the story, I am now not sure where I thought we were going, but this was not it.
Apparently, I am not the only reader that ever had trouble with O'Hara. This book was put on the Modern Library list of the top 100 American books and many people did not think this was a good choice. When O'Hara was published, some people were offended by the sexual content, which in this day and age is very tame.
A volume of three of his novels crossed my path, so I decided it would accompany me to the beach. This is the first in the volume. I am both intrigued and baffled.
The storyline was quite interesting. The setting - early part of the Depression in middle America - might as well be a foreign country to me which means I got to learn a new "place". The characters were well drawn, but somewhat stereotypical, although the stereotype might be based on O'Hara's writings. I think he is known for his stories about Gibbsville which is where this book takes place.
I am a bit baffled because I am not sure why the book went the direction it went. I did not anticipate the ending at all. Looking back on the story, I am now not sure where I thought we were going, but this was not it.
Apparently, I am not the only reader that ever had trouble with O'Hara. This book was put on the Modern Library list of the top 100 American books and many people did not think this was a good choice. When O'Hara was published, some people were offended by the sexual content, which in this day and age is very tame.
It is 1930's in Pennsylvania, United States. An era of financial depression for most people. Also an era of "old-fashioned" cultural mores and expectations being challenged on a regular basis. Speakeasies. The Mob. Cadillacs. Liquor. Dance cards. Racial and religious tensions. In the wealthy upper echelon of society (a.k.a. the country club set), socializing was practically a full time job and keeping up appearances was integral to one's success. Men were men, and women, who were supposed to "know their role," kept chipping away at their rights for equal opportunity.
"The smoking room of the Lantenengo Country Club was so crowded it did not seem as though another person could get in, but people moved in and out somehow. The smoking room had become co-educational; originally, when the club was built in 1920, it had been for men only, but during many wedding receptions women had broken the rule against their entertaining; wedding receptions were private parties, and club rules could be broken when the whole club was taken over by one party. So the feminine members had muscled in on the smoking room..."
Julian and Caroline English, Luther and Irma Fliegler, Al Grecco (you'll love the back story on how he got his name), Harry Reilly, Helene Holman, and Ed Charney are the integral characters in Appointment in Samarra; each one wrestling with his or her human traits and flaws within the scope of society living. Author John O'Hara takes the time to develop his characters, often going into great detail so the reader feels as though he/she is right there observing in person:
"Reilly [the witty Irishman] told stories in paragraphs. While he was speaking he would lean forward with an arm on his knee, like a picture you have seen of a cowboy. When he came to the end of the paragraph he would look quickly over his shoulder, as though he expected to be arrested before finishing the story; he would finger his tie and close his mouth tight, and then he would turn back to his audience and go into the next paragraph:'...So Pat said...' "
"She [Constance Walker] was known on the stag line as a girl who would give you a dance; she was at Smith, and was a good student. She had a lovely figure, especially her breasts, and she was a passionate little thing who wasn't homely but was plain and, if she only knew it, didn't look well without her glasses. She was so eager to please that when a young man would cut in on her, he got the full benefit of her breasts and the rest of her body. The young men were fond of saying, before leaving to cut in on Constance: 'Guess I'll go get a work-out.' "
Reminders of simpler times was another facet I loved about this story:
"Such a pretty day. Bright; and there were icicles, actually icicles, hanging in the middle of the windows. With the holly wreath and the curtains they make you think of a Christmas card. It was quiet outside. Gibbsville, the whole world, was resting after the snow. He heard a sound that could mean only one thing; one of the Harley kids next door had a new Flexible Flyer for Christmas, and was trying it out belly-bumpers down the Harley driveway..."
This is one of my favorite paragraphs. I felt like O'Hara tapped in to and articulated something we all do but never stop to think about:
"Your home is the center of many zones. The first zone is your home, the second can be the homes around you, which you know only less well than you do your home. In the second zone you know where the rain-pipes have stained the shingles on the houses, you know where the doorbell button is, how much of a bedpost can be seen in an upstairs window; the length of slack taken up in the porch-swing chains; the crack in the sidewalk; the oil spots from the drip-pans in the driveway; the lump of coal, which you remember from the time it was not swept away, and its metamorphosis from day to day as it is crushed and crushed into smaller lumps and into dust and then all that is left of it is a black blot, and you are glad one day that it has been crushed and it no longer is there to accuse you of worry about your neighbor's slovenliness. And so on."
There are many literary elements that truly feed me and irony is one of my favorites. This little tale, at the beginning of the book, introduces the reader to the mood of the story of Julian English and friends:
"Death Speaks"
There was a merchant in Baghdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the market-place I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture; now, lend me your horse and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me. The merchant lent him his horse and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the market-place and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning? That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.
~ by W. Somerset Maugham
Appointment in Samarra will appeal to readers who love The Great Gatsby, depression-era fiction, and classic literary fiction.
"The smoking room of the Lantenengo Country Club was so crowded it did not seem as though another person could get in, but people moved in and out somehow. The smoking room had become co-educational; originally, when the club was built in 1920, it had been for men only, but during many wedding receptions women had broken the rule against their entertaining; wedding receptions were private parties, and club rules could be broken when the whole club was taken over by one party. So the feminine members had muscled in on the smoking room..."
Julian and Caroline English, Luther and Irma Fliegler, Al Grecco (you'll love the back story on how he got his name), Harry Reilly, Helene Holman, and Ed Charney are the integral characters in Appointment in Samarra; each one wrestling with his or her human traits and flaws within the scope of society living. Author John O'Hara takes the time to develop his characters, often going into great detail so the reader feels as though he/she is right there observing in person:
"Reilly [the witty Irishman] told stories in paragraphs. While he was speaking he would lean forward with an arm on his knee, like a picture you have seen of a cowboy. When he came to the end of the paragraph he would look quickly over his shoulder, as though he expected to be arrested before finishing the story; he would finger his tie and close his mouth tight, and then he would turn back to his audience and go into the next paragraph:'...So Pat said...' "
"She [Constance Walker] was known on the stag line as a girl who would give you a dance; she was at Smith, and was a good student. She had a lovely figure, especially her breasts, and she was a passionate little thing who wasn't homely but was plain and, if she only knew it, didn't look well without her glasses. She was so eager to please that when a young man would cut in on her, he got the full benefit of her breasts and the rest of her body. The young men were fond of saying, before leaving to cut in on Constance: 'Guess I'll go get a work-out.' "
Reminders of simpler times was another facet I loved about this story:
"Such a pretty day. Bright; and there were icicles, actually icicles, hanging in the middle of the windows. With the holly wreath and the curtains they make you think of a Christmas card. It was quiet outside. Gibbsville, the whole world, was resting after the snow. He heard a sound that could mean only one thing; one of the Harley kids next door had a new Flexible Flyer for Christmas, and was trying it out belly-bumpers down the Harley driveway..."
This is one of my favorite paragraphs. I felt like O'Hara tapped in to and articulated something we all do but never stop to think about:
"Your home is the center of many zones. The first zone is your home, the second can be the homes around you, which you know only less well than you do your home. In the second zone you know where the rain-pipes have stained the shingles on the houses, you know where the doorbell button is, how much of a bedpost can be seen in an upstairs window; the length of slack taken up in the porch-swing chains; the crack in the sidewalk; the oil spots from the drip-pans in the driveway; the lump of coal, which you remember from the time it was not swept away, and its metamorphosis from day to day as it is crushed and crushed into smaller lumps and into dust and then all that is left of it is a black blot, and you are glad one day that it has been crushed and it no longer is there to accuse you of worry about your neighbor's slovenliness. And so on."
There are many literary elements that truly feed me and irony is one of my favorites. This little tale, at the beginning of the book, introduces the reader to the mood of the story of Julian English and friends:
"Death Speaks"
There was a merchant in Baghdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the market-place I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture; now, lend me your horse and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me. The merchant lent him his horse and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the market-place and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning? That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.
~ by W. Somerset Maugham
Appointment in Samarra will appeal to readers who love The Great Gatsby, depression-era fiction, and classic literary fiction.
At the risk of sounding like a cliche, this book, to me, felt like the perfect Jazz Age novel. It was lean with a driving beat, reminding me a lot of The Great Gatsby (about as hopeful as Gatsby too), though this one was even less ... ponderous than Gatsby because it doesn't include the memory element.
I really recommend the audiobook version, narrated by Christian Camargo. He's got a great voice for the third person narration and lead character Julian English.
(Increasing to 5 stars, Sept. 4, 2018)
I really recommend the audiobook version, narrated by Christian Camargo. He's got a great voice for the third person narration and lead character Julian English.
(Increasing to 5 stars, Sept. 4, 2018)
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Quick and easy read, compelling story and very well written. I really enjoyed it!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I went back and forth. But this is enough:
"Our story never ends.
You pull the pin out of a hand grenade, and in a few seconds it explodes and men in a small area get killed and wounded. That makes bodies to be buried, hurt men to be treated. It makes widows and fatherless children and bereaved parents. It means pension machinery, and it makes for pacifism in some and for lasting hatred in others. Again, a man out of the danger area sees the carnage the grenade creates, and he shoots himself in the foot. Another man had been standing there just two minutes before the thing went off, and thereafter he believes in God or in a rabbit’s foot. Another man sees human brains for the first time and locks up the picture until one night years later, when he finally comes out with a description of what he saw, and the horror of his description turns his wife away from him . . ."
"Our story never ends.
You pull the pin out of a hand grenade, and in a few seconds it explodes and men in a small area get killed and wounded. That makes bodies to be buried, hurt men to be treated. It makes widows and fatherless children and bereaved parents. It means pension machinery, and it makes for pacifism in some and for lasting hatred in others. Again, a man out of the danger area sees the carnage the grenade creates, and he shoots himself in the foot. Another man had been standing there just two minutes before the thing went off, and thereafter he believes in God or in a rabbit’s foot. Another man sees human brains for the first time and locks up the picture until one night years later, when he finally comes out with a description of what he saw, and the horror of his description turns his wife away from him . . ."
“Cita en Samarra” es la primera novela de John O’Hara, autor de la misma generación que Ernest Hemingway y Francis Scout Fitzgerald, escritores que también se encuentran entre los fans declarados de esta obra que fue escrita en menos de cuatro meses. “Cita en Samarra” se ambienta en un pequeño pueblo de Pensilvania durante las Navidades de 1930 y narra el proceso de autodestrucción al cual se deja arrastrar Julian English, un hombre de treinta años perteneciente a la alta sociedad local y que en apariencia lo tiene todo: una guapa mujer que le quiere y una posición privilegiada totalmente estable. Pero cuando decide tirar la bebida a la cara de un pez gordo al que medio pueblo (incluido el propio Julian English) debe dinero, solamente porque ya no aguanta más sus chistes, los acontecimientos se precipitan y lo que podría ser una anécdota sin importancia se va engrandeciendo como una bola de nieve bajando por una pendiente. Lo curioso es que el incidente que da pie a la novela sucede en una elipsis y sólo vemos el momento previo en el que Julian fantasea con la idea de arrojarle la bebida a la cara del pez gordo local y los momentos posteriores en que todo el mundo cotillea sobre lo que ha sucedido.
Hay mucho de autobiográfico en “Cita en Samarra”: el pueblo ficticio (Gibbsville) es una recreación del pueblo natal de John O’Hara (Pottsville) y el protagonista tiene mucho del propio autor ya que, por ejemplo, los dos son hijos de un médico estricto y distante, decepcionado porque su hijo no siguió su profesión, o porque los dos son bebedores recalcitrantes. Todos los personajes son mezquinos y egoístas en un sentido u otro, es difícil compadecerlos y, aún así, se trata de una novela tan bien construida que nada importa que no nos puedan caer nada bien los personajes. A veces da la sensación que es un libro que John O’Hara escribió para pasar cuentas, con sus conciudadanos pero también consigo mismo, porque no deja de haber cierta dosis de autoflagelación, especialmente en lo que se refiere a la relación con su mujer y su alcoholismo.
Toda la novela (salvo algunos flashbacks puntuales que sirven para explicar mejor a los personajes) sucede en apenas 48 horas, las que van de la Nochebuena a la noche del día de San Esteban. Y, aunque sólo sean 48 horas y el protagonista sea Julian English, John O’Hara es capaz de hacernos un retrato minucioso y concienzudo de toda una sociedad y toda una época. Todos los personajes que se cruzan con Julian en la novela tienen su propia novela detrás, de la cual se nos cuenta el argumento en forma de sinopsis pero no los detalles. Incluso las mujeres tienen su vida más allá de los hombres y también sus propios deseos sexuales, por más que la buena sociedad intente encorsetarlas en unos rígidos arquetipos. Ni siquiera los secundarios que salen en una sola escena son simples figurantes sino personas con su propia existencia. Uno tiene la sensación de que John O’Hara podría haber centrado su novela en cualquiera de ellos y le hubiera salido tan rica y compleja como la que se desarrolla alrededor de Julian English.
Estamos en 1930 y, aunque la Gran Depresión está empezando, aún hay lugar para fiestas y bailes constantes, clubes de campo elitistas, alcohol a raudales y una veneración casi fetichista por los automóviles como signo de prosperidad. Y como estamos en 1930, no puede faltar misoginia, racismo, antisemitismo, homofobia y prejuicios de clase. En “Cita en Samarra”, John O’Hara crea todo un mundo, con su jerarquía social férreamente organizada y prácticamente inamovible, una jerarquía no tan distinta a la que también rige la mafia local, que también es retratada en esta novela que es tan rica que parece que nunca pueda llegar a agotarse.
Hay mucho de autobiográfico en “Cita en Samarra”: el pueblo ficticio (Gibbsville) es una recreación del pueblo natal de John O’Hara (Pottsville) y el protagonista tiene mucho del propio autor ya que, por ejemplo, los dos son hijos de un médico estricto y distante, decepcionado porque su hijo no siguió su profesión, o porque los dos son bebedores recalcitrantes. Todos los personajes son mezquinos y egoístas en un sentido u otro, es difícil compadecerlos y, aún así, se trata de una novela tan bien construida que nada importa que no nos puedan caer nada bien los personajes. A veces da la sensación que es un libro que John O’Hara escribió para pasar cuentas, con sus conciudadanos pero también consigo mismo, porque no deja de haber cierta dosis de autoflagelación, especialmente en lo que se refiere a la relación con su mujer y su alcoholismo.
Toda la novela (salvo algunos flashbacks puntuales que sirven para explicar mejor a los personajes) sucede en apenas 48 horas, las que van de la Nochebuena a la noche del día de San Esteban. Y, aunque sólo sean 48 horas y el protagonista sea Julian English, John O’Hara es capaz de hacernos un retrato minucioso y concienzudo de toda una sociedad y toda una época. Todos los personajes que se cruzan con Julian en la novela tienen su propia novela detrás, de la cual se nos cuenta el argumento en forma de sinopsis pero no los detalles. Incluso las mujeres tienen su vida más allá de los hombres y también sus propios deseos sexuales, por más que la buena sociedad intente encorsetarlas en unos rígidos arquetipos. Ni siquiera los secundarios que salen en una sola escena son simples figurantes sino personas con su propia existencia. Uno tiene la sensación de que John O’Hara podría haber centrado su novela en cualquiera de ellos y le hubiera salido tan rica y compleja como la que se desarrolla alrededor de Julian English.
Estamos en 1930 y, aunque la Gran Depresión está empezando, aún hay lugar para fiestas y bailes constantes, clubes de campo elitistas, alcohol a raudales y una veneración casi fetichista por los automóviles como signo de prosperidad. Y como estamos en 1930, no puede faltar misoginia, racismo, antisemitismo, homofobia y prejuicios de clase. En “Cita en Samarra”, John O’Hara crea todo un mundo, con su jerarquía social férreamente organizada y prácticamente inamovible, una jerarquía no tan distinta a la que también rige la mafia local, que también es retratada en esta novela que es tan rica que parece que nunca pueda llegar a agotarse.
One of the best stream of consciousness narrations that I have read to date...I actually felt a part of the small community. Sometimes people become obsessive with the social pressures of a community or a lifestyle they and others have created not seeing beyond the end of their nose. This novel is a warning to all who grew up with the riches of life without truly working for it. Most will languish in their own insecurities with gaping holes of their missing personal identities...oh yeah, and don't piss off the Catholics.