My (decidedly one-sided) Love Affair with Tom Robbins

I don't think I've been able to read any Tom Robbins while writing on The Avid Readr, but I've been lucky enough to have read six before then. I learned many things from Robbins' hilarious, addicting, rowdy, dirty, creative, philosophical books, and from the first novel of his I read, Still Life with Woodpecker, to the most recent, Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, I can't say which of them I like best. I do know which ones I like least, though I'm not saying I didn't love them all. Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas, though a Tom Robbins novel through and through, is not as great as, say, Fierce Invalids or Jitterbug Perfume. Like Skinny Legs and All, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas wasn't 100% consuming (maybe just 90%, haha).

The novel puts the reader in the role of Gwendolyn Mati, a Filipina working as a broker when the stock market crashes on the eve of Easter weekend. She is prissy, grossed out by all things sexual, obsessed with money, disappointed by her father, a little unsatisfied with her altruistic boyfriend-- and now she has to come to terms with a seriously negative outlook concerning her career and future financial status. Along comes Larry Diamond, a creepy, seemingly crazy, sexually obsessed ex-financial worker, sweeping Gwen off her feet in a whirlwind of amphibian, astrological, sexual, and philosophical craziness all to help show her a way out of the mess that her life has become. Because to top it off, her good friend (though Gwen would hate to admit it) Q-Jo, an obese tarot card reader, has also gone missing--last seen with Larry Diamond!

I have to say, Gwen is not a likable character, at least not when looking at her "values," for she is very greedy and not unwilling to participate in immoral, even illegal, behavior. But she definitely is witty and funny and has room to grow, which she does (though a little slowly). I definitely found myself rooting for her. Maybe this happens because Robbins, as I said earlier, puts the reader in her shoes, doing this through the use of the second person point-of-view ("you"). Though it was a little unsettling for the first page or so, it quickly caught on and made me like the novel that much more. It's frustrating (in the best way possible) that she doesn't always make the choices I, as a reader, expected/wanted, but I still managed to get into her head and like her in spite of her shortcomings.

The novel, as it concerns the stock market, sometimes talks about business and investments, which was a little boring but mainly surprising, as Robbins tends to stick with the metaphysical, mythical, fantastic, and/or philosophical. It also took a little (half way through the novel) for the reader to even begin to understand the character Larry Diamond, but once he was really introduced the novel took a completely "Robbins" turn and tribal religion, psychedelics, transcendental consciousness, etc. made its giddy way into the novel. I love Robbins! I watched a couple of his reviews before starting this book, something I surprisingly hadn't yet done, considering I call myself such a fan. He said that, when hearing that a critic said "Robbins need to decide between being silly or serious" (indirect quote) he said "I'll decide when God decides." Though some may find his books frustrating, I don't understand why silliness and seriousness must be incompatible, especially when authors like Robbins prove just how great the combination can be. Plus, Robbins' silliness is far from juvenile. His frequent metaphors may call on the "silly," but they are deadly precise, enlightening, and, I believe, never superfluous. And his subject matter, in Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas as in the rest, though hidden under (scarily accurate) connections of all sorts of wild ideas, facts, and observations, is far from shallow. His writing is close to genius, and he is one of those authors that really engages with his medium, the English language, and explores its every possibility.

I'll soon post some quotes from both Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas and Sirens of Titan. I've been as happy as a worm in an old bookcase! I recently went through a very "dry" period right before finishing Sodom and Gomorrah, where I couldn't read for days on end and felt like there was no book in the world to tempt me (a very, very, very alien feeling for me the I still cannot explain), but I am back in my element! Reading three really good books back to back was awesome. And now I'm stuck in between so many great books I could read next!

1-Don De Lillo's Underworld - ~800 pages long, this epic work hailed as "masterpiece" swept me off my feet with the first line:
"He speaks in your voice, American, and there's a shine in his eye that's halfway hopeful."

2-Number9dream, by David Mitchell- Cloud Atlas and Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet are enough to make another Mitchell book a good idea. The great reviews don't help!

3-Wild Sheep Chase, by dear Haruki Murakami. Reviews make it out to be one of his better works, so I'm surprised I haven't even started it before…happy, though, because that means I can read it now!

4- John Steinbeck's East of Eden. Need I say more? I read it once before many years ago but the copy got lost over the years, so I recently re-bought it. Calls for a re-reading.

5-The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart--I bought this book on my Kindle and never finished it, but also never forgot it. It's a little slow and a little sad, but cute and funny (not the strongest adjectives, but it's not the strongest book). Memorable, though. It'd be nice to re-start it and actually finish it before getting to the more intense options listed above.

Anyways, I'm off to make a choice and start reading!!! Sayonara!