Ellison, Ralph T. Invisible Man. New York Knopf Doubleday, 1995. (Paperback)

The narrator, unnamed, starts giving the impression that all his life to that time had been in the shadow of African American history, making him an “invisible man”. His grandfather told him to “overcome em with yeses,  undermine ‘em with grins, agree em to death and destruction.`     He tells Norton, a white philanthropist, about the incestuous “fieldnigger” family of the Truebloods. Norton has his own problems and they visit The Golden Day, a black brothel for war veterans, to normalise their behaviour. To his dismay, the narrator sees black doctors, teachers, lawyers and businessmen, the black bourgeoisie he aspires to. Further he is expelled from college.

He finds work in the optic paints factory, but is injured in an explosion. In hospital he Overhears talk that he is to be given a lobotomy and he discharges himself. Returning to Harlem he is asked to be the spokesman for a group being evicted from their homes. He is mythified as a stud by one of the white “sisters. Eventually he becomes disillusioned with the group, becoming something of a “Don Quixote” complete with “horse and shield”. Later he takes to wearing dark glasses and is mistaken for Bliss Proteus Rinehart, a numbers man, lover, clergyman and politician. At the end he burns his high school diploma and other letters of recommendation to “free’ himself. His final message – “who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you. Brother Jack, the leader of the Black Brotherhood appoints the narrator “the new Booker T. Washington” and the novel did in fact win The National Book Award. The humour and irony as well as its lyrical style make it one of the great books, commenting on life in the United States.It was first published in 1952.

Carey, Peter. Oscar & Lucinda. London: Faber & Faber, 2011.

Oscar Hopkins follows in his father’s footstep to read for the Anglican ministry    at Oxford University.While there IanWardley-Fish takes him to the racetrack Oscar devises an elaborate betting system and is able money to his mentor the impoverished Anglican minister Hugh Stratton.  Oscar becomes a school teacher, but to save himself from the vice of gambling joins a mission to Australia.

On   the     same  ship   is Lucinda, who  is  returning to 
Australia   after  studying  glass  manufacture.   Lucinda
  inherited a farm in Australia and bought a glass factory
 in Sydney. She ran it with the assistance of Dennis Hasset, who knows about glass,   and  Jimmy  d’Abbs  her  accountant. Lucinda  often visited d’Abbs house to gamble. On the ship Oscar and  Lucinda  spend  the night playing cards.  The next  time they  meet  is in Sydney, where there  association continues, with most  unexpected consequences.

This novel won the Booker Prize in 1988 and three literary prizes the next year. The novel shows the eccentricity and relative integrity of Oscar and Lucinda, who are isolated from so-called respectable society. It is a moving story with many unexpected twists and turns.

Jolley, Elizabeth. Cabin Fever. Scoresby, VIC.: Penguin, 2011,

Vera White is sitting on the 24^th floor of a hotel in New York waiting to present a paper to a conference on the “Perspectives of Moral Insanity”. Vera is a psychiatric nurse and appears to be suffering from some of the conditions being presented to the conference. Her mind flashes back to various significant events in her life. She remembers her parents, her friends at her first hospital, her first lover, and people she worked with while trying to raise her daughter. Her jobs included assisting in a home for new mothers, working in a boarding school and then working as a live-in housekeeper for a 58 year old professor. One comes to admire Vera’s courage, determination , naivety and humour.

The skill of the author in telling the story in fragments of recollection allows the reader to enhance the experience with their own speculation and recollection.  This book won the “Australian Literature Society Gold Medal”

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006.

John Steinbeck had an interest in incidences and history overall. He wrote “The Grapes of Wrath”  after collecting notes from migrant workers.  In fact he travelled from Oklahoma to California working and living alongside migrant workers. The book was published in 1939 and one of the great  films  made from it soon after. The novel caused anger amongst the establishment as it was seen as an expose on capitalist excesses or at least an attack on the “American dream”. 

In the story Tom Joad, Jr is released from prison in Oklahoma, where he was sent for killing a man in self-defence. His family is moving to California since their living  has been ruined by land banks, weather, and machine farming. Returning migrants tell the Joads conditions are even worse in California. However they continue their journey to the west coast. In California the remain ing family, the grandparents died on the journey, go to a Hooterville, i.e. a camp for migrants. When they ask to see a work contractor’s licence he calls the police. Tom is involved in a fight and has to escape. The family eventually find work on a farm by breaking a picket line. Tom is again in trouble, and has to leave. He says he will help oppressed workers elsewhere. The family move on and the novel describes how the people, without money manage to survive.

The book is moving , thought-provoking and written in lyrical style. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and is Steinbeck’s most famous novel. However at almost 500 pages it is only for avid readers.

Boyle, T. Coraghessan. Drop City. London: Bloomsbury, 2004. (Paperback)

T. Coraghessan Boyle often presents the idea that civilisation is a primitive struggle of survival of the fittest. However in Drop City Boyles writing is satirical and also comical as characters resist acknowledging their ineptitude. Drop City is a commune on a ranch in Sonoma County, California in the 1960’s.  Norm Sender espouses “Voluntary Primitivism”. Star comes from another commune and tells how life lit her up day and night.  In fact there are few to look after the ranch and drug and alcohol abuse are widespread. Drop City is a haven for the self-interested. Star’s boyfriend supports free sex at the moment he chooses and looks for exotic meals cooked by others.

Drop City is juxtaposed  with the lifestyle of  Sess  Harder, a trapper in Alaska , who grows his own crops and keeps stores for winter. Sess is wooing Pamela McCoon, an Anchorage native, who is culling the locals to find the fittest “survivor”. Norm is facing eviction in California and so moves to land owned by his uncle in Alaska, where Sess has settled. Some of the commune move with Norm. In fact the goals of all participants is to live a life in harmony with nature. Boyle depicts idealists  with their heads in the clouds. However there is gentler comedy here than Boyle’s usual satire.

Hesse, Hermann.  Steppenwolf. London: Penguin. 2011

Steppenwolf is one of Hermann Hesse’s most famous novels. It is close to his real life apart from the surrealism. The hallucinations are probably a good way of describing his thoughts, since he had been visiting psychiatrists for years. One might even say his own life was even more  extreme than the story in the novel, and the story is toned down for public acceptance. Even then, the novel caused an uproar in his country for asking questions about normal bourgeois existence. However in 1946 Hesse was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

When Harry Haller disappears from his  apartment, the landlord’s nephew finds a manuscript telling about a Steppenwolf. This is Hallers story. After being chased out of his house by his mad wife, and not able to do his profession, Haller sees himself as a steppenwolf, half a man living up to bourgeois expectations and half a wolf from the steps, following his basic instincts and desires. When rambling around the city at night Haller buys a “Treatise on the Steppenwolf” from a hawker. Haller realises he is made up of many selves.

After visiting a Professor and his wife, representing the bourgeois, Haller is feeling depressed and visits the Black Eagle Tavern, as his wolf self. He meets a young woman named Hermine, who makes gentle fun of his preoccupation with Motzart and Indian myths,and the fact he cannot even dance. He meets her again for dinner, and she tells him she will make him love her enough to kill her, since she is not happy with her life. Since Haller had contemplated suicide he did not find this strange. Hermine teaches him to dance then introduces    Haller to the most beautiful girl in the club. The story continues becoming more hallucinatory towards the end.

Coelho, Paulo. The Alchemist. New York: Harper Collins, 2008. (Paperback)

In  Andalusa,  Spain, a shepherd boy sleeps in an   abandoned church with a sycamore tree growing inside. He continues his journey to sell his wool but  stops in Tarifa  to  ask a fortune teller about a recurring dream. A child transports him to the pyramids where he says there is hidden treasure. The fortune teller tells him to follow his dreams.

After many adventures including meeting an alchemist who gives him gold to return to Spain, he realises his fortune was in Spain all the time. This is a fable with several messages. The   writing   style   lyrical,    and  the  novel  provokes   is

 thoughtfulness   and  reflection. Santiago  has  become   a  modern classic, and the author is one of the most widely read in South America. It is a story for teenagers as well as adults.

Carey, Peter.  The Tax Inspector. Scoresby VIC, 2005.

In “The Tax Inspector” Maria Takis, who is pregnant, is sent to audit the accounts of the Catchprice family’s car sales business. The four day inspection reveals more about the lives of the family than accounting records, a past of resentment , child molestation, sexual perversions, discarded ambitions, corruption, violence, deception and illusions. Catchprice Motors represents a microcosm of life not only in Sydney, but of many cities in the world. This gives the novel universal appeal.

At the end of the four days horrific things have happened and the  establishment is in rubble. However, to show that the future can start afresh,  a mother stands in the middle of the rubble holding her new baby. This surrealist novel is witty and written in lyrical style.

  

Steinbeck, John. The Pearl. London: Penguin, 2011.

This is one of John Steinbecks later novels. He has used an incident taken from his notes made in Mexico. However the protagonist is a family man in the novel, to give the story wider appeal.  It has also been called a parable, and presents a clear message to all.

Kino is a pearl diver in La Paz, in the gulf of California. His sone, Coyolito is bitten by a scorpion. Kino and his wife Juana need money so they can take the baby to the local doctor.They dive for pearls and Juana prays to the Christian god for success. Soon Kino finds “the greatest pearl in the world”. He dreams of a marriage service, a new harpoon, a rifle and schooling for his son. The priest rushes to Kino’s house to remind him about the church. Since Coyolito is getting better the doctor gives him powder to eat, so he can cure him again. The doctor also tricks Kino into telling him where the pearl is. Kino has to contend with criminals sent by the doctor and pearl brokers. Then tragedy strikes. In the end Kino realises his dreams and even the pearl have brought him trouble. The story is moving and haunting. It is easy reading for teenagers or adults

Kennedy, William. Ironweed. London: Simon & Schuster, 2009.

William Kennedy is a former newspaperman, who now teaches at the State University, in Albany.  He has lived there all his life. He knows the streets the residents and the legends. He has placed his
four novels there. Ironweed won the 1984 Pulitzer Prize amongst others.

Francis Phelan works for a few dollars a day, digging graves with his friend Rudy. A long time ago he dropped his son when only 13 days old. He ran away and was involved in one or two other deaths. However he is a protector of others, despite any violence that has happened and he has a strong sense of integrity. He is a survivor, like “ironweed”, not like his companion for 9 years, Helen Archer, “the Helen blossom”  a windblown weed blossom of no value, without any seed, that “withers, and  perishes, and falls, and vanishes”. At the end of the story he sees some things in a different light, after having run so long to escape his guilt.

Hesse, Herman. The Glass Bead Game. London: Random House, 2010.

This is one of Herman Hesse's last novels. Some consider it his greatest. He has refined some of the disturbing features connected to his own life and german society. It is set in the 23rd century.

The League of Journeyers incorporates the contemplative elements of culture into the glass bead game. In Castalia   a society is created which doesn’t waste its time on shallow and frivolous activities. After a musicologist named Lusor Basilensius invents a new language and formulas for the game, whose glass beads resemble an abacus, the game reduces music and mathematics to a common denominator. The game then represents the intellect of literature, music art and mathematics.  

A gifted orphan named Joseph Knecht is taken to play for a music master. When the master plays for him, to put him at ease, Joseph learns the harmony and unity at the heart of all music. He is invited to study at Escholz and  then at 17 goes to Waldzell to study the glass bead game.Joseph meets Plinino Designori  there, an outsider from a wealthy family. Plinio tells him about the shortcomings of the Castalian order. Eventually Joseph becomes the leader of Castalia, for several years, until he decides to leave for the outside world. He believes Castalia can no longer face the intellectual challenges of the world. This novel is satirical, mystical and thought-provoking, but is only for avid readers at a length of 500 pages.

Carey, Peter. His Illegal Self.  London: Faber & Faber, 2009.

Seven year old Che Selkirk lives with his grandmother since his mother is hiding from the law after robbing a bank for her political group. Che is taken by his grandmother and a tall blonde woman, Dial, a student and babysitter to meet his mother. Che thinks Dial is his mother. However the meeting place is changed. Shortly after, Che’s mother is killed planting a bomb. Che briefly meets his father, then in a panic, Dial and Che catch a plane to Australia. They end up in a hippy community in Queensland. The rest of the novel they spend escaping from the authorities. This is a compelling and suspenseful novel. It is fast-paced and has emotional appeal. Peter Carey is a very popular Australian author.

Bombal, Maria Luisa. New Islands. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003. (Paperback)

New Islands is written by Maria Luisa Bombal, from Chile. She is one of South America’s most popular authors. It is a fast paced book in the genre of psychological fiction. It makes us reflect about the nature of our feelings. It is placed over four days.

 Juan Manuel, a lawyer in Buenos Aires, drive to a country estate , la Figura hacienda. They go to look at some new islands that have emerged, and stay at Yolanda and Federico’s hacienda. Yolanda has a wild dream in which  she seduces Juan. The next day she sees Juan but runs away, confusing him. Yolanda is beautiful but strange. When Juan tells her she looks like a seagull, she faints. Yet the novel continues to compare her to birds and gulls and the natural world of the pampa. On the third day Juan at three in the morning. Yolanda is having another nightmare. On the fourth day, he returns to Buenos Aires, but there are unanswered questions for him to ponder.

Desai, Kiran. The Inheritance of Loss. London: Penguin, 2010.

Orphan Sal Mistry is sent from her school at the foot of the Himalayas to live with her grandfather a retired judge. He lives in a dilapidated house a cook and his dog Mutt. Sal criticises  the pretentious Indian ladies who scorn the Nepalese boys wanting independence.

As  for the judges own son, he has been sent to the United States he wanders from job to job and longs for home. The lyrical writing  crafts a mountainous  world of fog, mist and lush vegetation. As for the message, everyone is described as losing something precious.

Fielding, Helen. Bridget Jones’s Diary.  Pan Macmillan, 2001.

Bridget Jones begins the year with resolutions to reduce alcohol and tobacco and to “have a functional relationship with a responsible adult”. i.e. finding a man. She is in her thirties and her mother and her friends want to know why she isn’t married. Bridget has to find a suitable man, but first finds herself with the wrong type in her haste.
      
Bridget models herself on the attractive women she sees in the media,  societies glittering surface, yet comments darkly on its superficiality. This is what makes the novel so amusing. However she is desperate to find the answer to her predicament.This engaging novel is written by Helen Fielding is in the genre of social realism and gives chance for reflection about things we take for granted.

Bambal, Maria Luisa.  House of Mist and The Shrouded Woman. Univ. Of Texas, 1995.

This novel first published in 1938 made Maria Luisa Bambal on of the most popular writers in South America. It not only juxtaposes the supernatural realm of death with concrete reality but also put forward a woman’s view of life in Chile. It is relevant to many other countries.

At her funeral Ana Maria sees many people associated with her. In death she doesn’t have the worries of everyday life, and can contemplate her different experiences. She now comprehends the real meaning of her existence.: a passionate lover, a selfish woman, a naive girl, a strict mother and an intuitive human being with mystical doubts about God.

Hospital, Janet Turner. Borderline. London: Harper Collins, 2012.

 Borderline is a thriller. Felicity, the owner of an art gallery and “Gus” Kelly a philanderer are stopped  and  Salvadoran  refugees  are  found. In the confusion, 
  Felicity and Gus find Dolores Marquez hidden inside a beef
carcass.They decide to  smuggle the girl across the border.
Luckily they return home  without any incidents. 
However they get a mysterious call to say Dolores has
 been murdered. Believing this is not true, they begin
 to look for Dolores. They become involved in Salvadoran
 politics.

The  narrator is  Jean-Marc   Seymour,  Felicity’s stepson. He tries to solve the mystery  of  his stepmothers disappearance. Felicity’s  obsession  with  art  and the characters infamous painting’s  makes  the story mystical and thought-provoking. The novelty of  the story is seeing what people will do when put in a very unusual situation or as the author, Janet Turner Hospital puts it in an “insoluble moral dilemma”.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Madrid:451 Editors, 2010 Montague is a fireman. In his future society he burns books as the authorities have decided to make all people happy, books should be banned, as there are always some books that will offend someone. One nigh o n the way home from work Montagues mysterious neighbour, a young woman named Clarisse, asks him what he knows about the reason for bookburning. At work Montague asks his colleagues about the history of bookburning. The next day Clarisse is run over by a car. Montague eventually hides some books. Then reads them to his wife Mildred and their friends. He visits a school teacher named Faber to find out more about books. Eventually Montague is in too deep and must escape the city. This is a science fiction novel. However its ideas are thought-provoking enough to have made the book, and also the film very popular.

Hesse, Hermann. Siddharta, Saarbrzcken, Germany : VDM Verlag Dr. Mueller e.K., 2010

Hermann Hesse worked with prisoners of war from 1914 to 1918. His   experience of life and death, and psychoanalysis lead him to view life from a different perspective.  His father’s folk tales of Estonia and his mother’s birthplace of India must have influenced his writing. In “Siddhartha”, he tells the story of an Indian teenager who leaves home with his friend, Govinda, to join the Samarans, travelling monks. Later he meets Buddha, but by this time he feels his religious teachers are not progressing towards a full understanding of life. He still wonders why each of us is unique. He then experiences life as a rich man, with  a beautiful wife and son. Not yet fulfilled he leaves to continue his search. 40 years after its first publication, in German, Hesse and “Siddhartha” developed a cult following amongst the counter culture in the United States. A book not to be missed by those searching for a new meaning in life.

        

Steinbeck, John. Tortilla Flat. Barcelona, Spain: Robinbook, Ediciones, SL, 2012. 

This  is a funny, wittily written but moving story. It intends to show a deeper message for a wider audience than the character types involved. Danny returns from World War I to find he has inherited two houses in Tortilla Flat (Monterey, California). He gets drunk as he is not ready for any responsibility. However he then rents a room to his friend, Pilon, in one of the houses, even though the rent never comes. Pablo also becomes a tennant, and then a drunk with $7, Jesus Maria Corcoran, also moves in. The Pirate, who has  a hidden treasure, is welcomed into the house.  There is little money and the friends need trickery even to buy a bottle of wine to impress Mrs Morales the neighbour. While the friends have their problems, a sense of loyalty remains. The book is suitable for teenagers  or adults. A detailed  summary of the story can be found in MagillOnLiteraturePlus. As to the message, to put it in Pablo’s words as he he spoke about his favourite parable, “I like it because it hasn’t any meaning you can see, and still it does seem to mean something. I can’t tell what.”