A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Despite the fact that I have stated many times a book longer than two hundred pages suffer from sufficient editing, I love Dave Egger's A heartbreaking work of Staggering Genius, and its 416 pages. In fact, I wouldn't mind it being longer. Luckily, this time (my first time reading the book in its original language) I was the happy owner of a second edition that has a postscript; Mistakes We Knew We Were Making is a must-read too. (At least for those among us who enjoyed the first fifty pages of the book.)

The more I write, the more I know about how hard it is to piece something together which is well-crafted and interesting. AHWOSG is both, and plenty more. The memoir starts when Dave Eggers is 21; both his parents die of cancer, within months of each other, and Dave gets custody of his younger brother Toph, who's 8. They quickly move from Chicago to San Francisco, where we follow their struggles; finding a place to live, schools, jobs, not to mention structure and meaning.

The book is full of thoughts and questions important to me, and I would guess for many in my (or any) generation, about how difficult it can be when one feels conflicted; about being original and authentic, about feeling like we have experienced something no one else can understand, but still crave the security of being part of a group, one of many, or at least find someone who understands.

The way he writes about death (in all its aspects), his relationship with the opposite sex, his role as a young "parent", the way he sees his role in the world; written with insight, honesty, mixed with both criticism, and self-criticism, it puts me on the spot as well. The way he describes sorrow and fear; how it becomes a part of his life, and then his everyday, help to make my own reactions transparent. Somehow his story, in many ways very different from my own, make me feel like we are not alone in dealing with the things we find hardest. On top of all this it is one of the funniest books I know.

(I have serious trouble choosing favourites, but) AHWOSG is my favourite book. I was pretty sure about this the first time I read it, and it turns out that the second read is even better. Though my interest in the book can be explained by the literary qualities (for someone who writes it is definitively an interesting read), on a more personal note I just feel like the book has a lot of heart. I think it shines through every part of the story, making it unforgettable, and though the title is not chosen without (what I see as) a touch of Eggers' warm sense of humor, the book lives up to its title.

Blinking Lights and Other Revelations; like Things the Grandchildren Should Know

During the last weeks of writing, Eels have accompanied me many hours. He is a new acquaintance; one of the many artists I've probably heard of when I was younger, but never bothered listening to because too many others already had. I am the first to admit that being anti-everything when I was young (let's pretend it's something I've grown out of) made me lose out.

However, when I finally did make friends with Eels surprisingly it was first through literature, and not music.

Eels, or Mr. E, is also known as Mark Oliver Everett, and his life has been a turbulent one. To sum it up (you'll have to read the book for the gory details); death, schizophrenia, suicide, cancer, depression and plane crashes.
But it's not all bad! On the cover of his autobiography, Things The Grandchildren Should Know, it reads; "ROCK MUSIC! DEATH! CRAZY PEOPLE! LOVE!" And it's true, it's all there. Though the language is not the most eloquent, precise, nor playful I've had the pleasure of reading, the book is nothing less than a pageturner, and I have no problem strongly recommending it. What it lacks in language, the story, and also the structure, makes up for in abundance.

Mr. E's life story, and his take on life, is truly inspiring, and after finishing the book I was left with a strong curiosity about the music behind the man behind the book. As my first listen into Eels musical universe I chose the double album Blinking Lights and Other Revelations. His dark but humorous approach is as present in his lyrics as in the book, and listening to the music after reading about the making of it, it is obvious that the playfulness of the process is ubiquitous. Like it is with most things; the more I know about Mr. E 'the person' (open, curious, passionate, but also completely human with all his faults), the more I like Eels 'the music'.

Having both read the book and accompanied myself with his voice for many hours, Eels quickly came to feel like an old friend. When I hear the first notes of Blinking Lights (For Me) I cannot but tap my feet, and soon enough I am humming along to Railroad Man. Checkout Blues is as dark as the title reflects, still it's easy to sing along;

everyone is scared of me and I'm scared of me to
never know just what I'm gonna do

Dust of Ages makes me think of both eternity and the uncomfortable atmosphere in the house where only the son and the father who never talks are home (true story). I'm Going To Stop Pretending That I Didn't Break Your Heart is packed with self-knowledge discovered "too late", but still seems to bring a cleansing feeling;

you see i never thought enough of myself to realize
that losing me could mean something like the tears in your eyes

Ugly Love is to hoping that this (his) kind of love can be enough. And Hey Man (Now You're Really Living), and the song titled the same as the book; Things The Grandchildren Should Know, wraps it up nicely: By now, not only do I feel hopeful for Mr. E, I feel hopeful for myself and everyone else too.

Knowing Mr. E's life story makes the already so eloquent, precise, and playful lyrics (if not the best author, he sure got the song writing down) even better. Knowing where the darker lyrics come from help to make them more moving, the catharsis more complete. And when Mr. E is hopeful, after all he has lived through, why shouldn't we all be?

So in the end I'd like to say
That I'm a very thankful man
I tried to make the most of my situations
And enjoy what I had
I knew true love and I knew passion
And the difference between the two
And I had some regrets
But if I had to do it all again
Well, it's something I'd like to do
- Things The Grandchildren Should Know