Anything but gone tomorrow.

Although Mr. CR would beg to differ, I'm really not a hard girl to please when it comes to movies.* I have two criteria that are crucial to my enjoyment of a film: that movies be the right length (meaning, unless they have a spectacularly complex story or otherwise merit it, they not be longer than 90 minutes--VERY FEW movies need to be longer than 90 minutes), and that I think about the movie the next day. If I give the movie a bit of thought the next day, that counts as a movie I've enjoyed.

To some extent, these criteria work with books too. Very few books need to be longer than 250 pages long, and if I think about them as I go about my life, well then, I've enjoyed that book. One novel I've read this summer that I've particularly enjoyed (and I know I enjoyed it because I've thought about it a lot since reading it) was P. F. Kluge's Gone Tomorrow. I actually finished this one a month ago but have been sitting on it until I had time to write a "really good post" about it.

Yeah, well, I guess I'm figuring out that's not going to happen. (Either on the time or quality scale.) The story's set on a small liberal arts college campus in Ohio, where the author George Canaris has taught most of his life, where he's pushed into early retirement, and where he dies. When the book opens, a new faculty member that he chose as his literary executor is going through his house, looking for the novel George had supposedly been working on for thirty years. (Canaris had published a few early books to wide critical acclaim, been offered the faculty post at the college, and then never wrote anything again.)

The novel's told primarily in flashbacks, illuminating George's life at the college and his work on "the Beast," as he came to refer to the book that all his fans were waiting so patiently for. In a way, this novel's a dream for anyone who has ever wished they could get to know an author (any author they love) over the course of their life, because that's exactly what happens here. You get to know George. And, at least in my case, you really like him.

So. What happens? Did George actually write one last novel? Will it be found? Will it be as well-received as his early works? You'll just have to read this one to find out. In the meantime, I'll just leave you with my favorite bit from the book, and one which sums up my life's philosophy as well as any other:

"I had not prepared what I was going to say. I was winging it. And that felt right. What occurred to me was a paradox: that even as good writing and its inevitable counterpart, good reading became more marginal, those of us who read and wrote believed in it more passionately. When fiction was central--when even a U.S. president might read a novel--you could take and leave books, as you liked. When it became endangered, when the very act of writing was like sticking a message in a bottle and tossing it into the ocean, then reading, too, was a matter of life and death. We were a club, all of us, a freemasonry, and an underground."

I love everything about that paragraph. And I loved this book. Along with Tom Drury, P.F. Kluge counts as one of those authors I can't believe I'd never read before.

*Although my unreasonable dislike of Tom Hanks means we can't see any movie with him in it. Other than that I'm flexible.

Comments

[Rachael]

That sounds fantastic--I'm adding it to my holds list. More importantly, I'm glad I'm not the only person who can't sit through a Tom Hanks movie.

[Citizen Reader]

Rachael,
Do let me know what you think of it. I thought it was a great novel.

I'm in a real pickle this summer because I also make it a point to see every movie Ewan McGregor is in--and this summer, he's in "Angels and Demons"--which stars Tom Hanks. D'oh! I think my TH antipathy might actually overpower my love for EM, which surprises me.

[Brian]

I agree with Rachael, on my interest in the novel based on your post and my shared dislike of all things Hanks. It's been downhill since Big. Do NOT see Angels and Demons. Please. If you feel some pull to see it, calmly find a copy of Shallow Grave and sit quietly and watch it until the feeling subsides. Or did you see that classically British depressing Ewan movie where he lives on a boat with Tilda Swinton?

I may wait for the paperback of the novel. I've come to trust your recs!

[Citizen Reader]

Brian!!
Oh my god, it's like we're sharing a movie brain. Big is the last movie in which I enjoyed Tom Hanks (I was also a Bosom Buddies fan, I'll admit). "Shallow Grave"!! One of the best movies ever. Wow, Ewan McGregor and Christopher Eccleston in the same frame, that's a lot of weird greatness to take in.

I have seen the weird boat movie with Tilda Swinton (who I also love), even though I had to beg my library to get it through interlibrary loan. I haven't quite recovered yet from "The Pillow Book" and "Velvet Goldmine"--but I still owe Ewan for the greatness of "Brassed Off," "Little Voice," and "Moulin Rouge." Plus this:

http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/2009/06/desserts.html

I think you'd really like this Kluge book, Brian. Let me know if you get it and what you think.

[Jessica]

I'm going to look for this one, but I also thought I'd say that I have an unreasonable dislike for Robin Williams and Kirk Douglas.

[katharine]

LOVED this book and have been recommending it to all my "writer" type friends for months. I loved George's cigarette smoking secretary (can't remember her name) that is one sassy and smart lady. I remember the plot of this book so well, especially the scene at the alumni fundraiser where George goes off. Glad you liked it, did you pick anything else by Kluge?

[Citizen Reader]

Jessica,
I'm with you on Robin Williams (Mrs. Doubtfire--what the hell were he and Pierce Brosnan THINKING?) but I must admit I have a soft spot for Kirk Douglas for "Spartacus."

Katharine!
Oh, you're so awesome. George's secretary was the best---but God, what was her name? Ruth? Now I have to get the book back and look it up. I've not read any other books by Kluge yet--have you?