Turning 50 in '23 (Part II)
Books (The Bus 3.33)
Welcome aboard The Bus!
The Stop
As previously mentioned,1 1973 was a remarkably fertile year for music, literature and film, and today The Bus is going to look briefly at the year’s literary output. From Iris Murdoch (The Black Prince) and Cormac McCarthy (Child of God) to J. G. Ballard (Crash) and William Goldman (The Princess Bride),2 1973 saw a number of publications that remain staples today. However, for my money, I’d have to say these five books are the ones from ‘73 that should be picked up and devoured today:
Gravity’s Rainbow is Thomas Pynchon’s third - and most famous - novel. The plot is set primarily in Europe at the end of World War II and focuses on the design, production and dispatch of a mysterious V-2 rocket that is connected somehow with the protagonist’s sex life. It’s a strange, violent, obscene, hilarious, surreal, difficult, profane and - in the end - highly satisfying novel of paranoia, conspiracy, war, love, sex, violence, ridiculous British sweets and horror that’s been all rolled up into a very post-structuralist package. One of my favourite novels of all time, it’s highly recommended. And I can’t believe it’s turning 50 ….
The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn chronicles the Soviet forced labour camp system from 1918 to 1956, its title referring to the camps scattered throughout the Soviet Union like islands in a sea. Originally drawn from Solzhenitsyn's own experience as a political prisoner, the book uses other prisoners’ reports, interviews, statements, diaries, and legal documents to bring alive the brutality and inhumanity of the Soviet system. A vital text, it is unfortunately as relevant today as it was when it was published.
The Denial of Death is the American cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker’s masterpiece. Building on the work of Kierkegaard, Freud, Rank and others, Becker investigates the psychological and philosophical implications of how peoples and cultures react to the concept of death. Arguing that most human action - including the creation of religion - is a direct response to either ignore or avoid death’s inevitability, the book is a treasure trove of information - and highly readable.3
Rubyfruit Jungle is Rita Mae Brown’s first novel. Considered one of the first coming-of-age autobiographical lesbian novels,4 the plot focusses on Molly Bolt’s difficult childhood and transition into adulthood. It’s a novel of its time, for certain, but one that broke down barriers and has since become a classic of its time and genre.
Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ‘72 is author Hunter S. Thompson and illustrator Ralph Steadman’s investigation into the 1972 Presidential Campaign that saw Richard Nixon re-elected. A brutally clear-eyed evaluation of the Nixon campaign, the disintegration of the Democratic opposition, and the various forces behind and involved, it is also a highly critical examination of the way mainstream media covers - and influences - campaigns and politics.
The Detour
Today’s Detour is Meet the Fossils (6:20), an eye-opening animated video investigating the plants that became the fossils that we use as fuel in the form of coal and oil. Personally, I was struck by the sheer scale of ancient energy used on yearly - even a daily - basis to power our most mundane existence.
The Recommendation
Today’s Recommendation is Westworld (1973). Written and directed by Michael Crichton and starring Yul Brenner, Richard Benjamin and James Brolin, the film tells the story of a group of adults who visit a state of the art amusement park containing lifelike androids - who begin to malfunction. A story of technological achievement degenerating into chaos, this is the first film directed by Crichton, and a fun one to watch on a rainy afternoon.5 It’s filled with some great effects, too!
The Sounds
Today’s playlist is composed of five tracks from albums released in 1973 - my suggestion is to pick up one of the books and use this as your soundtrack: ‘Dream On’ (Aerosmith, Aerosmith), ‘The Ballad of Billy the Kid’ (Billy Joel, Piano Man), ‘Tequila Sunrise’ (The Eagles, Desperado), ‘Blinded by the Light’ (Bruce Springsteen, Greetings from Asbury Park, N. J.) and ‘The Joker’ (Steve Miller Band, The Joker). Enjoy!
The Thought
Today’s Thought is a cosmic acupuncture reference from Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow:
‘What are the stars but points in the body of God where we insert the healing needles of our terror and longing?’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this Stop - I hope you enjoyed the diversion!
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Until the next Stop …
See The Bus (3.25). There are no official sources for today’s Stop; I just like these books!
Not to mention Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying, Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wind in the Door and Beverly Cleary’s Socks - my all-time least-favourite pet novel as when I read it around the age of 8 or so (thinking it was going to be in the same vein as Henry Huggins or Ramona and Beezus), I was utterly crushed by some of the plot’s sadness. Of course, it all comes right in the end, but that didn’t matter at the time - and I’ve not read it since.
It was also my favourite undergraduate read - thank you, Dr Foley!
I mean, if that description alone isn’t worth picking it up for I don’t know what is. A brilliant piece of auto-fiction that is always welcomed when suggested, I remember the book being on the shelf in my 8th grade classroom back in the early 80s. Too bad that’s not a given today.
Westworld has been remade into a television series (2016-2022) which I’ve not seen, but have heard good things about. More importantly, however, is the Simpsons version of the story, ‘Itchy and Scratchy Land’ (Season 6, Episode 4) - one of my all time favourites.