Skip to main content

Siberia, part 3, finished

Again, witty, informative, bizarre at times.
Frazier wrote a New Yorker story in which Wile E. Coyote sues Acme for defective products.  It's very funny (at least to this Roadrunner cartoon lover) and that dry sense of humor comes out frequently. I also like that Frazier admits to falling into foul moods for no particular reason.  His description of sitting on a train and willing it to start on its journey is right on target. Many times on an airplane I've sat in dread as the plane sits, and then felt pure joy when it pulled back from the jetway.  We are going!

This section ends with Frazier reaching the Pacific Ocean--success.  He gets on the satellite phone to call his wife and sees an email message from her:  We're safe.  Confused, he calls.  It is September 12, 2001. He lives in New Jersey, and his wife describes on the phone the destruction of the World Trade Center.

Frazier hangs up; the Russians have just heard the news as well. They bring him small gifts, are kind and considerate. He is moved to tears.

The "blunt irony" (his phrase.)  People warned him that he was endangering his life with the trip through Siberia.  He'd be robbed, maybe murdered.  Yet nothing had happened to him.  Thousands that stayed in "safe" New York, on the other hand, had died--including 13 from his New Jersey home.

Going to take a break from Frazier and read Slaughter-House Five next.  Love it at 20; wonder what I'll think now.  Surprised how short it is--especially after 500 pages of Siberia.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Oppenheimer . . . film

 Solid opening 30 minutes (we're treating this like a mini-series).  O's involvement with left-wing causes . . . rift with Einstein (O thinks of him as over-the-hill and Einstein knows it.)  First splitting of atom.  Lawrence Lab in Berkeley--Lawrence practical applied physics . . . not O's strength.  Main actor is from Peaky Blinders.

The Master Chapter 2

February 1895 (Alice died in 1892) Money problems, jealousy of Wilde; time spent with Lord Wolseley1; off to Ireland to lick his wounds; Irish unrest--Irish landlords boycott all social events; much time spent with manservant Hammond (homosexual attraction again); fancy dress ball, appalling to James, who is only happy in company of Hammond, though Hammond remains a servant and no more; little girl alone on the grounds--inspiration for Turn of the Screw?; conflict with Webster who alludes to Wilde's successful play and HJ's failure; Wolseley was an  Anglo-Irish  officer in the  British Army . He became one of the most influential and admired British generals after a series of successes in Canada, West Africa, and Egypt, followed by a central role in modernizing the British Army in promoting efficiency. He served in Burma, the  Crimean War , the  Indian Mutiny , China, Canada and widely throughout Africa—including his  Ashanti  campaign (18...