The Writer's Life 11/20 - Kiss & Tell

Born in Austria in 1946, Elfriede Jelinek was awarded the Nobel prize for literature in 2004. I just finished The Piano Teacher, which was published in 1983. The 35-year-old  protagonist, whose dream of a career as a concert pianist was dashed, is a bitter egoist and misanthrope. She and her mother, with whom she lives, look down on all of humanity except great artists, most of them dead. Their relationship is contentious, bizarre. They sleep in the same bed. The husband/father has been institutionalized. Erika is not a virgin, although her few sexual experiences were unsatisfying. She is consumed with longing. During the narrative she visits Vienna's dark corners, which include a peep show, and a park where coupling takes place at night. One of her students, ten years younger, views her as an "...overture to life." She writes him a letter detailing what she wants, and he is appalled by the kinkiness. How will the story end? In violence? Suicide? Promiscuity? Fringe sex? In an asylum?That is the only aspect that kept me reading. In real life, I wouldn't want to meet anyone like the three main characters, all completely full of themselves and contemptuous of others. The tale is told almost completely in prose, quotation marks rarely used. The thoughts are frequently contradictory, much more so than that of most of the human race. Some are indecipherable, although those might have been lost in translation. The actions and depictions are uncompromising, often vile and despicable. According to Wiki, Jelinek studied music, and her own father was institutionalized. She began writing as therapy for anxiety disorder, and has been prolific, producing not only novels but plays, poetry, translations and even an opera libretto. She is a staunch communist. So what is the point to The Piano Teacher? I don't see any correlation to communism or feminism. I see it as a look at the troubled mind of someone who will eventually be put away. That's the only thing that makes sense of the 280-page slog. Anyone who picks the book up expecting erotica will be very disappointed. 89 users at Amazon have rated it, forging to a consensus of 2.6, too high in my opinion. This is the only one of her works I've read, so the following may be an unfair assessment - I wonder if the Noble committee awarded her politics and not her art.

Understandably, there's a lot of partisan bickering concerning the proposed tax cuts. The Dems, of course, are claiming they favor the rich. Sean Hannity has accumulated great wealth as a conservative voice in the media. He lives in Nassau County, whose residents pay the highest taxes in the nation. He says his taxes, if the bill is passed, will be going up significantly. Still, he supports it, although he excoriates the GOP for not having the guts to fight for an across the board slash. He recognizes that relief for all would probably fail in the Senate. In any case, it will come down to the wire. The hope is that two or three Dems up for re-election in states that voted for Trump will support it, which would negate the Republicans who jump ship.

According to an editorial in today's NY Post, NYC paid out $214 million in housing subsidies in 2016. It seems a tale of two cities - those who feed at the government trough and the rest. Such money might might help cover that which will be lost if the state and city levies are no longer deductible on the federal form. Then again, most NYC pols believe taxes aren't high enough.

My thanks to Lou, who bought the season five DVD of Breaking Bad, to the gentleman who purchased a book in Russian that explains American colloquialisms, and to Jeannette, who bought two Elvis soundtracks on vinyl, Clambake and Kissin' Cousins. One included a large, beautiful color photo of Elvis and Priscilla on their wedding day. Jeanette said: "She stole my husband."

Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 

Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story Collection:http:// tinyurl.com/lh2tepa 
Vic's 2nd Novel Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

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