The Country Doctor, Franz Kafka

   Franz Kafka's novella, "Metamorphosis,"  and short story "The Hunger Artist," has forever placed Kafka as one of my personal top 10 or 20 preferred writer's list for the 20th century. So, when I found "The Country Doctor" by Kafka on feedbooks.com, I of course had to read it. It would seem that it is supposed to be a series of stories. I must hunt down the rest of them and be a bit more diligent in hunting down as much of his work as I possibly can.
   I'm not sure how to look at this story. It's like a backtrack to a very distant age when doctors were largely incapable of doing very much to help people. Their equipment was extremely primitive. For instance, when he listens to the heart of the patient, he must place his head against the chest rather than use any instrument.
   He discovers that the problem with the farmer is that he is infested with worms. There's nothing he can do to help him. Regardless, he is stripped naked and forced to lay with the dying man by the family. He is instructed to save the man or be killed should the man die. Fortunately, he is able to escape through the window with his clothes in hand with the assistance of a powerful team of horses which he had been able to borrow.
   I had no idea what kind of story this was when I started it. But it was definitely a journey into a very strange world. What a loss to literature it was when he died so young. What amazing literature he left behind. He really has very very few peers.

Dark Shanghai, Robert E. Howard

   There are a lot of Robert E. Howard stories on my blog this month. This story follows a sailor, Steve Costigan, who is unusually eager to get himself into trouble. Unlike many of Howard's heroes, this one is particularly stupid. He is so stupid, it becomes half comic, half adventure story.
   He is tricked into thinking that there's a girl who has been kidnapped. So, he goes to rescue her. She fights them tooth and nail. But, at no point does he consider the idea that he's been duped. He believes that he is taking the young woman to her brother.
   As he drags her kicking and screaming to the man he believes is her brother, the truth unravels. The man is not her brother. They are in fact competing thieves for a formula believed to be the equivalent of Ambergris. Ambergis is whale vomit which is used for high end perfumes and is incredibly valuable. 
   So, now that he's aware of having committed a wrong, he does everything he can to fix his mistake. He takes on them all and unkidnaps her. The formula, however, was ripped out of the book she'd hid it in by chance by his partner as a stopper for his bottle of liquor (as the normal stopper was lost). However, upon finishing the bottle, the partner happened across a man who bought it from him for enough money to buy another bottle of booze.
   So, while the characteristics of Howard's main character are somewhat changed into a comical idiot, the fearlessness and adherence to a barbaric code of honour remains hard coded into the character's core. 
   There is definitely some anti-Asian racism in this story. The Chinese characters are referred to as yellow devils. Certainly, the main character thinks nothing about the non-white characters. This is beginning to be a problem for me in how I appreciate Howard as a writer.

The White Stocking, D. H. Lawrence

  

   D. H. Lawrence is one of a few legendary English literature writers of the last century that I have not read anything of. I'm not sure why. I guess I have always had this idea that his writing would be dreadfully boring. This is rather silly I suppose. For what reason I have this impression from him I could not say. Did I see a movie or film adapted from one of his stories or novels and find that boring and used it to forever tarnish my impression of him? I cannot really say. Well, I often see his name on lists of controversial books. Controversial books and writers are often more interesting than the rest. So, I guess I finally found myself motivated to read this short story of his. "The White Stocking" is available in various formats at goodreads.com.
   I think that if I had read this story 10 years ago I might have found it to be boring as expected. But I found some perverse pleasure in reading it. It's the story of a yearling wife who hasn't quite moved on past the other relationships with other men that tempted her before her choice of husband. The other man had decided to send her earrings and the stocking she had lost at a party which had ultimately defined her choice of husband.
   She hadn't quite moved on from that scene and hung onto the fond memories of her with this other man. As her husband discovers that she still has some interest in her former admirer, and she becomes internally cognizant of her lustful desires, and aware of the lustful desires he had had for her, he becomes enraged. On the verge of uncontrollable anger, he strikes her.
   At least for the moment, she is subdued. They fall asleep together in each others arms.
   This story seems to be about how to own your wife when she's thinking of other men. I can't help but wonder that feminists haven't torn this short story to shreds. Where is Lawrence on this? There's the idea that a writer can write a story about something while holding it at arm's length. This is the story free from any judgment. But I think it was an endorsement.
  

Son of the White Wolf, Robert E. Howard

   This is one of several by Robert E. Howard that I've read over the past little while. This one can be found for free at Australia's version of feedbooks.com. There are many other Howard tales available there. This is another El Borak tale in
   The story follows a shift in power in Turkey as Germany's military begins to fail at the end of WWI and the Brits are taking over. A small time leader decides to begin a mad dash for power. He kills the German authority, kills the old men, women, and young children, and kidnaps the women with the intention of starting a new race in an old Pagan religion.
   Howard was a Texan. To be honest, I have a prejudice against Texans. I see them as a lot of racists and Bible thumpers. Howard, of course, being a favorite of my youth, is Texan. So, he is a bit at odds with my prejudices.
   Speaking of prejudices, my radar is perhaps a bit sensitive. Howard writes that villagers 'crept from their hovels to stare in awe at the first white woman most of them had ever seen.' There is this impression that Howard, much like Edgar Rice Burroughs, felt that the white barbarian was the greatest barbarian. The white barbarian has the brains of a white man, and the ferocity of the 'other races.' He is deadly, but still a gentleman with the ladies, unlike the other races.
   So I worry about this sort of thing that would tarnish my impression of this particular Texan. I have sometimes thought that he wasn't really the racist that so many others are. But love is blind, right? Maybe the fact that I liked him particularly well blinds me to the fact that he might have been a raging promoter of the Aryan super race.
   But, while he has often spoken poorly of the Kurds (in this story and another), he did write of the Arabs who fought beside the hero, El Borak. "A stern chivalry was the foundation of their (Arab) society, just as it was among the frontiersmen of early America. There was no sentimentalism about it. It was real and vital as life itself." So, this passage seems to vindicate him at least in respect to the Arab/Muslims.
   Most of Howard's women are rather weak creatures. But as the tale comes to its conclusion, the woman whom he is supposed to know as a German enemy, he actually knows as a British undercover double agent. Borak gives his respect to her. Howard did have some tough women: Red Sonja, Belit (the pirate captain), and Valeria. They weren't just strong women, they were dominant alpha humans who were not the weak things that the men around them were supposed to rescue.
   In fact, that's sort of one of the reasons why I have always been particularly fond of Howard. His women were not the weaklings that so many other authors portray/portrayed them as. In terms of the charge of racism, this jurist needs to weigh more evidence before a conclusion can be reached.

The Country of the Knife, Robert E. Howard

   I have probably said it before. Robert E. Howard was a favorite of mine when I was a teenager. I must say that I still find his work highly enjoyable. You can find it freely on Feedbooks.org.
   I have read this story before. But it does no harm to read it again. El Borak is another indomitable fighting character. He shares a lot of the characteristics that Howard's Conan has. This story somehow got back onto my Kindle and I didn't bother going for another story. I just decided to reread it.
   The story follows a young man who hears from the lips of a dying friend a message meant for El Borak. So, he sets out for the adventure of a lifetime. Even as he's been caught by El Borak's enemies and he is being hauled to the slave block in a mountain community in some Afghanistan.
   El Borak comes to the rescue and for the message that he wanted to hear from the messenger. Not all goes according to plan. But through a desperate struggle and a great deal of killing, they manage to escape from the clutches of this Afghanistan fort.
  It's not a bad story. Not my favorite series of Howard's. I would never have gone out of my way to reread it.

The King of the City, Keith Laumer

   When I was much younger, Keith Laumer was a favorite of mine. His tales move fast, there's plenty of action, and it's science fiction. An excellent cocktail to hold my interest in those days. I was curious to see how I would like his work at this point in my life. "The King of the City" is a short fiction. I have read it before. You can find it for free at www.gutenberg.org.
   In fact, I feel like I've read it several times before. It's the story set in a world where order has crumbled and a struggle for power in the vacuum is taking place. The main character is a driver who takes a man deep into the city. He has to fight through roadblocks and mafia like characters to get to the heart of the city wherein the city's kingpin exercises his power.
   It turns out that the fare was an admiral in the previous administration's military arm while the driver was also of the military. They are looking for fuel for their ships, and the kingpin has his stash.
   This is a fun little short story.

Daniel Boone, Backwoodsman, C. H. Forbes-Lindsay

   I really enjoyed a lot of the old fashioned cowboy-style/frontiersmen type movies that were very popular about 50+ years ago. I have probably watched hundreds of them. Now, normally when I read a book and then watch a film, I can often lament that there are certain aspects of the book which are inevitably left out of the films. That is true for Daniel Boone, Backwoodsman as well. The difference is that I appreciate being left out of the loop. You can pick up the book for free, courtesy of that great repository of public domain works, Archive.org in a variety of formats.
   I don't take well to racism. I feel this to be especially true about Native Americans, for whom I feel a great sense of respect. In the movies, when I see them, I don't see their ugly faces. I don't think their faces are ugly at all. I have a great deal of respect for their faces, even if they are the enemy of the given protagonist in the film; even if they do some bad deeds. I just don't get the idea that they're ugly. I'm left to my own view or aesthetic sensibilities. In the books, however, one gets into the mind of the writer and the characters. Those are ugly Indians. They're dirty. They're redskins. It really bothers me a lot. Maybe I'll give some more western style books a try in the future. But so far, the few that I have read are similar in how disrespectful they are to those whom we ought to view as our adopted ancestors.
   This book is a story about a famous individual. According to Wikipedia, he was a real man. How much of these stories are made up, embellished, or perhaps fairly accurate, no one can really know. Most likely it's a mix of all those. In any case, it's a book about how he fought in Kentucky for the settlers of the land.
   The way that they treated the Native Americans, and the way that Native Americans were often played as pawns in the games of white men, and summarily destroyed for trying to reclaim what had been their territory, is painful to read. It is of little consolation that, at the end of the struggle for dominance over that land, Daniel Boone himself was dispossessed by land speculators and swindlers. Sadly, though, those dispossessed Native Americans have yet to recover, and are the most ill treated minorities in America.
   I don't think I really recommend it. Though, it's an easy and quick read.

The River Sumida, Kafu Nagai

   In my previous entry about Japanese literature I mentioned that I generally detest romance in stories that I read. I mentioned that I found the finish to be quite lovely and poetic. Well, if that was a flourish at the end, this story is a romance largely from beginning to end. Further, I enjoyed the sweet sorrow, romance, and poetry of the novella. "The River Sumida" can be found freely, courtesy of Archive.org.
   Both stories follow the life of a young boy who grows up to become a young man. However, "When I was a Boy in Japan" ends in a happy picturesque moment: a unity of affection between two good and happy middle class people. "The River Sumida" leaves with scant hope for Chokichi, the main character.
   He lives a happy enough life. His mother takes care of him. They are poor, but they manage. That is, until his childhood love gets turned over to a geisha house. Geisha aren't really prostitutes, are they? Or is that naive? I have heard some say that they are not. But surely that is an unrealistic distinction. Perhaps they are not supposed to, but they do. In any case, the house swallows her up.
   This causes Chokichi a great deal of depression. He largely gives up on school. He skips much of it as he tries to deal with his crippling depression. He watches a play in which he sees himself, the young man, who loses the one he loves to a geisha house. The young man dies in the play, and it ends in a kind of sad farewell between the play's two characters. So, seeing that play, he decides to follow in the character's footsteps.
   One cold day during an early Spring rain he attempts to throw his life away. His uncle, left behind to guard the house as his mother goes to try to save him, ends up nosing around in the boy's room, and discovers a half written letter, sees the unhappy fate of love between the two, and swears to himself to help his nephew better in the future. However, it is unclear whether or not the boy will survive. Survival is for those who have the will for it, not those who have discarded the will.
   Therefore, the two tales are in fact contrasts with one another. While the first was enjoyable, "The River Sumida" is rich in metaphor, visualizations, descriptions, and poetic nuance. If some reader of my blog exists, then I would recommend reading this one without reservation.

When I was a Boy in Japan, Sakae Shioya

  

   "When I was a Boy in Japan", by Sakae Shioya, is available freely at Gutenberg.org. This is the third Japanese book I've read in a very short period of time. There are neither Wikipedia articles about Sakae Shioya nor the novella-length autobiography.
   It is a charming series of stories about a fairly well off middle class boy growing up perhaps at around the beginning of the 20th century.
   My favorite part is actually the romantic finish. I am someone who generally labors through the romantic interludes that sometimes, in my opinion, detracts from the stories. But in this case, I really loved it. After some time being separated from his adopted cousin, they had fallen in love before love involved lust: a kind of purer stage perhaps. In any case, after a long time apart, he takes her to see a lovely view.
   Shioya writes,

   "Why, Fujiama!" she exclaimed. "Oh, how lovely! Could you see that every day from here?"
   "Not in rainy weather... But she wanted to see you today, as everybody else did, and waited there from morning."

I am a romantic in some ways. But too often the romance I find in books is tedious. But I found it to be that poetic romance that I have always had a fondness for.
   I enjoyed this fluffy piece.

The Makioka Sisters, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

   Jun'ichirō Tanizaki wrote a short story that intrigued me last year called "The Thief." A Wikipedia.org article on Tanizaki writes, "Some of his works present a shocking world of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions." So, that was what I was expecting and wanting. However, this is not at all shocking or erotic. The other thing Wikipedia writes about him as a writer, "Others (tales), less sensational, subtly portray the dynamics of family life in the context of the rapid changes in 20th-century Japanese society." The Makioka Sisters certainly fit that description.
   This story is a drama. I don't like dramas for the most part. I didn't particularly like this one, but at the same time it wasn't onerous. There is a certain staccato to the style of this book. It is a translation. So, I cannot know that the original wasn't written in a particularly lovely style rather than this kind of practical almost bare bones approach.
   The story is about four sisters. They used to belong to a wealthy family, but the family had lost most of their fortune and some of their reputation. They struggle to find a husband for Yukiko, who is at the center of the story. However, the attention is not entirely on her.
   I'm not really sure what to say. Do I recommend it? It's kind of interesting to get inside of a foreign family drama that is not melodramatic. At times I felt excitement as they endured catastrophic natural disasters, and WWII. 
   The writer never gets very far into the personalities or thoughts of any of the characters. But the dynamic shifting of external cultural influences, economic changes, and those types of social changes in Japan seem to be genuine and without much embellishment. I don't know if I would recommend reading it. But I will not recommend against it. It was enjoyable. But I will be surprised if I remember it a few months from now.

The Dancing Girl of Izu and Other Stories, Yasunari Kawabata

  

When I found this book on my Kindle, I think I was looking for something out of the ordinary. Japanese are pretty good at 'out of the ordinary,' so I thought I would give it a try. How it got onto my Kindle is a bit of a mystery. I don't recall when or why I added it. I know I added a six or so Japanese stories at some point. But I don't know why this one or any of those got selected, as the addition was made some time ago. A little bit of Wiki trivia: Yasunari Kawabata won the Nobel prize for literature. So, obviously, some important people like the writer enough to give him buckets filled with money.
   The book is rather short. "The Dancing Girl of Izu" is the only novella length story with the other stories being short.
   The settings are charming. The characters give a bit of a view into a foreign time and place. "The Dancing Girl of Tsu" is about a student who falls in love with a very young girl. She is a dancing girl. So, as the student and the entertainment group, containing the dancing girl he is interested in, are all going the same way, they decide to go together.
   Despite what I said about the girl being underage, the student isn't some kind of pedophile. He sees her, quite by accident, nude, and realizes that she is much younger than he had thought. While still secretly longing for her, he did not really pursue her any further. Though, he was quite shy and maybe his interest in her was obvious.
   There are a few funny quotes that show the Japanese attitude towards women. Women, at least from the perspective of the women themselves, are polluters. So, when they talk about bathing in a river, the women wait for the men to go first, or, as the woman says, "The water will get all cloudy if we put our hands in. You'd think it was too dirty after us women." I'm not completely sure why she says this. Another variation on this idea comes when they eat when the women invite the student to eat with them. The woman, I'm not sure which, says, "Won't you at least have a bite with us? It's not very appetizing now that we women have put in our chopsticks, but maybe this could be the makings of a funny story."
   The story ends when they part. I kind of regret that. I wish he had continued with the group, and the group was sad to see him go. It was a charming story.
   Most of the stories are semi-autobiographical. Partly fiction and partly true stories of Kawabata recalling his life. A few stories stand out in my memory. The first is the story about his grandfather's slow death. He has to help him in his last months of life. He cannot urinate. Eating is a problem for him. It must have been a very difficult time for a middle school boy. The other one is about a boy who is called on for many funerals. He goes through many personal funerals: his parents, his sister. And so he learns a certain behavior pattern at funerals, and for this reason, he is called upon by many families to attend the funerals of their relatives. Myself, I have been to just one.