Chaos Reading discussion

For those in-the-know and those who've stumbled here by accident, feel free to join in the discussion. We'll be reading Molinaro's second book published in 1969. You have the rare opportunity to read a book that currently has 0 ratings and 0 reviews here on GR.
(As a little bit of background, Bill and I are both fond of Molinaro's work and have been meandering our way through her catalog. We decided it might be fun to open up the discussions in case any one else was interested.)

Jump in if and when you're ready!

Thanks Marc!

And in case you overlooked the "topic" link above, this is the book: Sounds of a drunken summer

WTF? Did you two just parachute in with your ready-made discussion of an obscure-ass book?

Whitney wrote: "WTF? Did you two just parachute in with your ready-made discussion of an obscure-ass book?"

Yup. Pop-up discussions—it’s a thing! (I was actually going to DM you last night about this and the fact that this group would make a nice space for reads any of us might like that don’t fit in other groups. I thought what you did with the Night Country discussion worked great. Bill and I have read a couple other Molinaros and discussed via DM.)

I love the idea of pop-up discussions. Glad you didn't DM me, this was way more fun.

I'll see if I can score a copy, a Marc and Bill recommendation is a powerful thing.

Cool! Most people know Molinaro better as a translator (I think best known for translating Herman Hesse).

Whitney wrote: "I'll see if I can score a copy..."

Awesome! Happy to wait a bit. Let me know how the search goes. Last time I looked, there were cheap copies on bookfinder.com.

Bill wrote: "Whitney wrote: "I'll see if I can score a copy..."

Awesome! Happy to wait a bit. Let me know how the search goes. Last time I looked, there were cheap copies on bookfinder.com."

I found one on Abebooks for $15 with shipping. Supposed to be here in a week.

Great!

I'm also making progress on the J.A.W. McCarthy. Will post a note soon to get the ball rolling.

I might hop on the JAW train while we’re waiting for the Molinaro to ship.

The book, it has arrived!

I finished the first chapter. I really like the writing style, it became very natural after a few pages. Is it typical for Molinaro?

I missed your book-arrival announcement!
Will start reading tonight...

Whitney wrote: "I finished the first chapter. I really like the writing style, it became very natural after a few pages. Is it typical for Molinaro?"

Yes, it takes a little getting used to, but that's her style.

I also finished the first chapter. Very languid, then suddenly the intrusion of a (possible?) sexual encounter between an older woman and a younger man. Also her style!

Bill wrote: "Whitney wrote: "Very languid, then suddenly the intrusion of a (possible?) sexual encounter between an older woman and a younger man..."

Not to mention the "arguably incest but at the very least super wrong and creepy" groping of the daughter.

Chapter 2 is mostly taken up by a nice set piece. Sipping martinis under an umbrella on a beach in a thunderstorm? I can do that. Like many of Molinaro's characters, there's a lot of obsessive analysis and speculation. I won't say more until we've all finished the chapter.

I've finished chapter 2. I love being on the beach during rain storms. Maybe don't need the full experience.

Since it's likely just the 3 of us, maybe just put what chapter(s) we're discussing at the top of the post? Then if someone fall behind, they can just wait until they've caught up to read.

The voice here feels slightly more passive and tangential so far… as if these things are happening to the characters (or maybe just the stepfather without him considering himself an active participant). Edging on all kinds of tense unbalances: the accusations of parental abuse (yet we have seen no fear/anger from the daughter herself), the wife’s stepping outside the marital relationship (yet has she confirmed this yet? At least not through chapter 2), the lopsided power dynamics (painter husband largely financially supported by his wife in a way that seems to indicate his position of comfort might be worth being cuckolded or already has been), etc.

Chapter 2: I didn't read the back flap, and was totally surprised by the lightning strike. Did you guys see that coming? I know there was a tiny hint, but.

It's pretty funny that Molinaro keeps referring to Bertram Higgins by his initials (also mine).

Chapter 3: we're still not sure what actually happened the night before. But it's pretty entertaining being not sure, in that Molinaro blackly humorous way.

Chapter 5: I'm still enjoying this, though I note this is the earliest Molinaro I've read. It's good to get the daughter's side of the story, and Molinaro's trademark obsessive gnawing. But I miss the ribald invention of the later stories. And the leopard undershorts.

Bill, I did not expect the lightning strike at all. In fact, I was reluctant to believe what I was reading as if 'ol Birdie were just playing a practical joke when he collapsed on the beach

Chapters 3 and 4
I still enjoy Molinaro very much at the line level---case in point: "That art had protected their daughter from seeing life. A stilled life."

Very much enjoying the way she moves from one character to the other giving us a kind of stream-of-conscious speculation/paranoia on the part of father, mother, and daughter. And we get a lot of info about the relationship dynamics at work here!

Bertram Higgins is actually the name of an Australian poet (https://search.informit.org/doi/10.33...). I haven't the slightest idea if Molinaro knew him, but given the brief bio in that link, it seems likely. And was such a specific name that it didn't feel made out of whole cloth.

I wouldn't have guessed there actually was a B.H. Wonder if he was a surfer, and played guitar?

There's a lot of stuck-in-one's-own-head conjecture in this book. And a kind of wonderful tension created by this (as each character seems to want something from another character that they're not really getting). Maybe they should all take up surfing and guitar playing...

Marc wrote: "There's a lot of stuck-in-one's-own-head conjecture in this book."

Molinaro executes that very well, through most of her work that I've read. My problem is I have to engage with one or two people who are similarly stuck, and after awhile it's just too much. I need more older woman-younger man sex, or something.

I really appreciated this one, thanks for calling Molinaro to my attention. I liked how she seemed to be skimming the surface of the three characters' thought while still revealing the turmoil below the surface.

One mundane question, what were the second set of footsteps the husband heard the night before Bertram was struck by lightning? Also, having a character literally stuck by lighting as a catalyst to a book's plot (such as it was) is kinda genius. Especially when the lightning strike is presented in such a detached way.

Glad it worked for you, Whitney. When you're ready for more, I do recommend the two collections Marc and I buddy read recently: Thirteen: Stories and Nightschool for Saints, Second Floor, Ring Bell: 11 Short Stories. See my reviews for tasty quotes.

I'm guessing the husband heard the wife or the daughter sneaking in with Bertram? On the other hand, I don't think we even know that that was Bertram?

Bill wrote: "I'm guessing the husband heard the wife or the daughter sneaking in with Bertram? On the other hand, I don't think we even know that that was Bertram?"

We know the daughter didn't sneak in with Bertram, as she only had sex with him the one time, after which he avoided any intimacy with her. The husband thought it was Bertram going up with the wife, but her absence of thought on the issue makes that unlikely. And, no, we don't know that it was Bertram.

Sorry, disappeared into a hectic few weeks of family and work stuff...

Very glad to hear you enjoyed Molinaro, Whitney. Don't have a good explanation for what he heard other than the fact he drinks a lot and it's hard to say how much we can trust any of his accounts...

This is pretty similar to how most of our family vacations go... :p

We definitely get more older woman-younger man sex in the short stories!

I have jumped the gun and acquired Positions with White Roses. Have you read that one, Bill?

I've read Positions with White Roses years ago, happy to look at it again. As I recall, it's a bit different from her other books (fewer typographic irregularities, for one thing).

Great. No rush to start and I am open to a different Molinaro, as well.