Two Foers

[dogofthefuture]

I just finished two books by authors with the last name Foer. It's not a coincidence. While searching the library's catalog for one, I saw the other and thought it sounded interesting.

The random one was How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization by Franklin Foer. It certainly kept my interest, tracing the various

Comments

[madbard]

What I liked most about Foer's book were its moments of whimsy; Oskar's frequent flights of fancy were charming and touching. The author also has a talent for conveying sympathy for human pain in a way that's visceral and direct.

However, his choice of scenarios is also designed to maximize human pain, and character's actions are often inexplicable. Why does the grandfather abruptly stop talking? Why is it a given that he has to marry a woman he doesn't love, and then abandon her because she's still haunted by the memory of his one true love? For that matter, why does Oskar always wear white? And what's with the tambourine? There's a lot of nuance that seems arbitrary, or contrived and manipulative.

I am even less pleased with all the tacit politicizing. Oskar more than once goes on his "hybrid cars == good" schpiel. Even worse was the scene where Oskar meets a rich woman, and it's presumed she's guilty just because she's wealthy. ("I know what I am, but I don't like it. My children don't like what they are, but don't know what they are.") The author, like his protagonist, starts with a framework of assuming the reader is a New York liberal, and giving the reader material at which to nod. Maybe that presumption is true given the book's demographic. But political views should be tied to a story, not garnished on top because the author happens to have a pulpit.

Now by contrast I though Haddon's book was vastly more tightly written, and more touching. I tremendously touched by the ending; choked up on the verge of tears. Instead of just making us feel sympathy for a character who's been dumped upon by unfortunate circumstances, Haddon makes us feel admiration for someone who rises above those circumstances, and takes pride in what he's done. I was far more moved by Haddon's character navigating thirty feet of a subway than I was by Oskar's entire quest. Haddon knows the world can be tough, but he also has tremendous hope and respect for human potential. Foer regards people as walking wounded, and believes that the best we can hope for is coming to terms with our pain.

[dogofthefuture]

True enough that there is a lot of pain. At its very core, it's simply a sad story.

I guess I didn't get the amount of politicizing you did. Not saying it's not there, although I honestly don't remember multiple hybrid car lectures. Maybe my eyes just glazed over.

And maybe this one resonates more with me having recently had a fair amount of loss. Give me another year or two and perhaps I won't find it quite as heart-rending.

[madbard]

Well... can't argue with that.

[dogofthefuture]

Well, you could. "Screw your losses! I say this is a bad book!" I would have thought it was funny, too. But I suppose the American Academy of Arguing on the Internet, Interwebs, and Electronic Elsewheres (AAAIIEE) frowns upon that sort of thing.