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No, I'm not that much
of a nerd that I actually just picked this one at random. I am, however,
that much of a geek that I took a book recommendation from Nick Hornby's
book The
Polysyllabic Spree. He went on and on about this book. It would
have almost criminal for me not to go out and buy it. Besides, who
doesn't love 1941 British novels about lonely desperate alcoholics?
No, seriously, who doesn't, cuz I'll track them down and kick their
asses and tell them to put the John Grisham down. Okay, fine, this
isn't a book for everyone. If you're easily depressed or bored or
generally hate pathetic characters who continue to make the same mistakes
again and again, then you won't get through twenty pages of this thing.
I'm sure there's some allegory or parable or something that is being
pushed here, but as I've stated many times before: I'm not bright
enough to figure it out. My take--and I'm sure I'm completely wrong
here--is that our main character, George Bone, represents Great Britain
(get it, G.B?). That would mean, of course, that his obsession, his
albatross, his complete and utter downfall, Netta Longdon, represents
Germany/Hitler. Here we have this honest, but ultimately lazy and
dim, man with no discernable means who spends his days as a hanger-on,
following Netta, the sexy and alluring but ultimately empty, small-time
actress. Hovering around her are other men, who come and go, with
the exception of Peter (Mussolini), who has found the favor of her
ocassional intimate company. Like Hitler, people are attracted more
to the idea of her than herself, and she brutally manipulates those
who come into her orbit. George is constantly giving her money and
letting her leach off of him and all the while she treats him like
complete dirt. In his conscious life, he is in love with her no matter
the many number of soul crushing things she does to him. It isn't
until he goes into one of his "dull moods," in which a shutter
comes down in his head and basically blinds him to the outside world,
that he entertains thoughts of killing her to end his suffering. Meaning,
of course, that on the surface Hitler was an attractive, but abusive
and scary, proposition, that constantly gave signs that something
was rotten in Denmark. But searching Great Britain's subconscious
(represented by George's "dead moods") they and he realized
that the only conclusion was that Netta/Hitler was a force that needed
to be snuffed out. And that's where my hair-brained connection completely
breaks down--or at least I run out of ideas. Bone's story, however,
continues. Netta constantly plays with his emotions, using him over
and over again to get rent and drinks and trips and all sorts of stuff
without giving up so much as a kind word, while at the same time giving
up the booty to that scumbag Peter. The whole thing is absolutely
pathetic. Every time we think that George is going to break away from
Netta's grip, he falls back into old patterns, starts drinking and
gives up his manhood, dignity and ultimately his life. His "dead
moods" are a little gimmicky with the whole amnesia thing, but,
again, I'm sure there's some symbolism there, and it's not supposed
to be a literal thing (I still like my Hitler idea). The book culminates
on the eve of England's involvement in World War II, and George, in
the middle of one of his "dead moods," is completely oblivious
as he is trying to fulfill his destiny. Thus the irony, of course,
as something big is finally happening in George's (and everyone else's)
life and he's missing it all. Poor, dumb bastard.
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