The Sot-Weed Factor
by John Barth
Read May-June 2007
Copy purchased from Salvation Army thrift store, Minneapolis
Essay written July 6th, 2007
This is going to have to be added to the list of really long books that somehow miraculously were able to keep my attention for the whole thing. This list includes: Infinite Jest, Giants In The Earth, and The Tin Drum.
If I had more ambition to read a rigorous history of the state of Maryland, that would have made this all more complete to me. As it was, I got kind of lost in the larger plot of Coode, Nicholson, Andros, Baltimore, and all those people. The Papist/Anglican, loyalist/insurgent political aspects were lost on me. Context is big.
Nevertheless, this was a romp. I enjoyed it immensely. I won't go so far as to say I was sorry to see it end, because after 800 pages of anything I'm ready for a change. But it certainly kept me entertained, and what more can you ask? It even left me with some nice images and memories. Maybe, just maybe -- dare I even think it? -- I even learned something about history.
My copy of Gravity's Rainbow (and yes, this is the second essay written today in which I reference the infamous GR) has this on the back: "Heller. Barth. Vonnegut. And now... THOMAS PYNCHON" and also "Catch-22. The Sot-Weed Factor. Slaughterhouse 5. And now... GRAVITY'S RAINBOW." Obviously, Heller is Joseph and Vonnegut is Kurt. But when I read GR I was like: "Who in the flaming hootie-hoo is Barth?" I did my research, found out, discovered the libraries don't have any copies of Sot-Weed, and was pleased to discover this copy in paperback at the Salvation Army thrift store about three years ago for maybe fifty cents. Good deal. It took me a while to get around to it, but I finally did and I'm glad.
Spectacular. I would feel bad recommending it to anybody else though, because of the length. Also, unless you've read your share of Shakespeare, the language can be kind of difficult. Compared to Shakespeare this was a breeze. Compared to Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, this was hard.
Speaking of the Baroque Cycle -- of which I've only read the first book, Quicksilver -- I have this observation. If they made a movie out of this, it would have authentic sounding music from the period for the soundtrack. Whatever they had then. Pre-Bach. Minstrels and lyres and things. If they made a movie out of the Baroque Cycle, it would have incongruous rock music for the soundtrack. Sot-Weed felt timeless and real, whereas Quicksilver felt like a plastic twenty-first century approximation of the seventeenth century. For me. That's how I felt. And Quicksilver didn't hold my interest for its 900 pages or whatever it was. I didn't care about the characters or the plot. Ebenezer Cooke and Henry Burlingame and Bertrand and Joan and Anna all endeared themselves to me. And how could one not love The Traveling Whore O' Dorset?
back to books
|