I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: SUPERCHUNK-“watery hands” (1997).

Even though I enjoy the manic energy of early Superchunk, I find myself really enjoying the later, more “sophisticated” songs.

“Watery Hands” continues this more “sweet” sound that Superchunk has been exploring.  It also includes a cool break that offers a little bass solo as well as even more keyboards (so it seems that the keyboard experiment pleased them).

Meanwhile, the final song, the “watery wurlitzer mix” of water hands is a goofy track, probably the first throwaway track on a Superchunk EP.  And yet, having said that it’s a catchy and silly little ditty, heavy on the wurlitzer and oddball keyboard sounds, which all but eliminates the original, except for faint traces of guitar that pop up here and there.

The middle track “With Bells On” is a decent mid-tempo song.  Nothing terribly exciting but even unexciting Superchunk is usually pretty good.

[READ: October 9, 2010] “The Saviors”

William T. Vollmann was the next writer in the New Yorker’s 1999 20 Under 40 collection.

I have heard a lot about Vollmann.  And I have read a few articles by him.  But I’m sort of daunted by his output.  And this is the first piece of his fiction of that I’ve read.

I don’t know if this is representative of his work, although from what I understand it kind of is.  This is historical fiction loaded down with details (some details which I have to assume he’s made up).  This story compares the lives of Fanya Kaplan and Nadezhda Konstantinova Krupskaya.  (As with so many Russian based stories, those names are hard to keep straight as the story goes along).

In the first paragraph we learn that Fanya Kaplan tried to assassinate Lenin on August 30, 1918.  She was captured and later executed on September 3.  In the second paragraph, we learn that Nadezhda Konstantinova Krupskaya was Lenin’s wife.

While the bulk of the story is a straight ahead narrative of these women’s lives, woven throughout the story are mentions of Hebrew letters.  The second example of this comes inconspicuously enough: “Were it not for her nearly accidental marriage…she would surely have remained as hidden to history as the silent letter aleph.”

It is this mystical use of Hebrew characters that makes this more than just two biographical sketches.  In fact, after a second read (which I deemed necessary as I felt I really missed a lot the first time), I feel like the story is constructed with a specific narrator in mind.  That he (for indeed it is in first person) seems to be writing a kind of academic paper using these women’s lives as a basis for this Hebrew characters idea (although such a thing is never stated nor is it concluded in the story).

But the narrator’s tone if very present and is quite judgmental of…what, exactly?  History maybe.  The treatment of these women?  Something.

As the story proceeds, and the assassination attempt happens we learn that Krupskaya wants to spare Kaplan’s life and wishes very much to speak to her in prison.  She won’t say why, but she feels a sort of connection to the woman.  It somewhat upsets Lenin–and it greatly upsets Stalin–but Lenin wants to do something nice for his wife (she has never asked him for anything).  This proves difficult, since she is already dead, but Lenin agrees to try to work something out.

The story ends with Krupskaya’s death, but the paragraphs leading to it are a fascinating array of betrayal and attempts at deeper understanding.

I’m not certain that I would want to read more Vollmann after this.  I enjoyed this story on a second read, but I’m not certain that his is the style for me.  (Not to mention all of his books appear to be at least 700 pages!)