Nymph

This book conjures up such rich descriptions of times and people that I just couldn't help but to add another drawing of yet another favorite character. The nymph Lalo. This is my response to "sexual, deviant characters" as posted by Jane..

Immortality, perfume, and beets...can't forget the beets!

Jane here. I'd have to agree with the Garcia hermanas, Tom Robbins manages to come up with themes that seem completely unrelated and and tie them all together in a nearly indescribable way. As I begin to tear into the last 30 pages, however, I realize more and more that, though Tommy has been shining a very bright light on the concept of immortality, the book as a whole seems to be more about the evolution of humans - sometimes even the evolution of the world. I think it was so important for him to have an "immortal" character (Alobar) so that he could depict human evolution over the past 1000 years in his robbins-esque way. Based on other books I've read of his, I've noticed that he loves to present very important, deep, insightful philosophical matters by following the lives of eccentric, nearly-magical, sexual, deviant characters. Making his books incredibly funny and entertaining yet important and slightly life changing.

As per Kimmy's comments on how he describes things - I couldn't agree more. "So out there and perfect at the same time" is exactly how I view his descriptions as well. I was cracking up when he described Alobar's finger as "water-logged" (after spending the night inside Kudra) or Alma "hiccuping the mushroom scent of his spurt." (May I add that this is the 2nd time we've read of a man's biznass smelling of mushrooms -- think Greek couple on a boat) I can't help but wonder if he has to think long and hard before coming up with such brilliance, or if these ideas just come pouring out of him one after the other.

Anyway, reading Tom Robbins always feels like a breath of fresh air for me, and I'll be sad when the book is over. Can't wait to talk about it over wine though!

Questions/Comments

I'm assuming the last person that commented was my darling Christiny Beanie. I couldn't agree more with your post. The central question of the book is definitely immortaliy, both the implications and downsides of the legendary ideal. The way that Robbins seeks it is wholly in line with the complexity of the idea: circularly, jaggedly, and everything but headon, which I don't believe actually exists. That is to say that he creates images and discussions to conjur up a sensation that deceives us into feeling like we've gotten straight to the heart of the matter. I don't believe this is possible, nor is his deception a negative thing. It is simply the most real the topic can feel.
I also am really enjoying his mismatching of adjectives and nouns that somehow is perfectly descriptive. Sexual images are paired with ugly and mundane words like mud and mushrooms. This seems to take away from the glamour of sex and bring it back to its place in daily life. I would love to hear other people's reactions to his descriptions. They just seems so out there and perfect at the same time.

two pages left

The easiest question is "What are you reading?" The hardest question is "Whats it about?" Maybe Im just not good at explaining a plot but people just nod their heads politely and the conversation ends. Maybe because its just plain HARD to talk like Tom Robbins. Conveying his ideas are like describing what love is. I describe that the book deals with the real idea of immortality and how to achieve it and also... perfume... that links three very different parties together. Thats not really the plot. Its just the simplest way I can put it but you can't get into Robbins' head until you open up the book for yourself.

Speaking of which, what a NUT. Don't get me wrong, I love nutcases, especially genius ones.
Reading this book, I am more sucked into the authors head than I am in the storyline. I can compare him to Mark Ryden in a way; you can paint a pretty picture but I am still sitting here wondering what on earth it all means.

Wake me up before you go-go!

I would first like to comment on how well the last meeting went. Not only did we talk about the book (wow!), but our discussion really illuminated aspects of Cloudstreet that I was struggling with. As always, having people to bounce ideas off of really helps, especially when dealing with concepts that I am having a hard time even putting into words.

One of the many ideas that had a hard time making it from my mind to my mouth was narrator or point of view. In a way, it seemed like the narrator was biased and had an opinion of all the characters. On the other hand, the narrator also seemed omnipresent. I'm not trying to say that this is an outrageous way for an author to write a novel, but there is something about the voice in Cloudstreet that seems distinct in the sense that the narrator is himself a character in the story. The discussion of the narrator brought several things to light and possibilities that hadn't even crossed my mind.

The other aspect of the novel I struggled greatly with was the simple difference between an Australian style (to be honest, I'm not sure if Winton or Cloudstreet are true representatives of an Aussie literary style. Cam?) and what I can only call American writing, although I am uncomfortable putting everything written in the U.S. into one category. Some of the differences I noticed included the lack of quotation marks, gratuitous sex scenes, and, of course, the lingo. Those were definitely the biggest hinderences for me, but of the three the quotation marks, or lack thereof, were the most difficult for me to deal with. The lingo seemed tough at first, but I was able to decipher certain terms as I worked my way through the book. For some reason, it was not quite being sure when people were speaking that tripped me up a couple of times. In some ways, though, the lack of quotes almost turns the novel from being actual action into something being replayed in someone's mind, which the author may have intended.

Well moving forward, I can't wait to start Jitterbug Perfume. It seems like one of those books that everyone has read and loved and I can't wait to join the club. I know that several people in Stacks have read it, so feel free to jot down some notes or tips. Also, feel free to write reviews.