Myra, Myra, Myra…
So where do we begin? Alex noted that while her narrative is not trustworthy, it may be better classified as unstable. As we’ve seen thus far she dances back and forth between her vain ramblings, her storyline, and hard observations. In a way this is an original in gonzo journalism, though laudibly from a fictitious character.
There is great irony in Myra’s righteous goal of displaying the truth, while she is busy exaggerating and whimsically interpreting herself. Surely Vidal had a lot of fun with this depiction, being smart to entertain and speak both above and below the audience at times. The framing of the novel is loose and fast, but much of the rhetoric and allusions are hard to follow. Even for the 1968 audience, a great deal of the satirical commentary came in the way of pot shots aimed at an audience he thought unknowing and simple. The audience is oddly captivated while reading this, at times they are reading about themselves. There is great attention given to the workings of cinema, age, sexuality, sex, the self, and reality, to name a few. So far I rather like this book, Vidal is pretty out of control and the narrative is sharp and poignant.
Vidal was a very peculiar guy, no? While reading Beloved I marveled at how long the manuscript must have taken. While reading this I can nearly laugh out loud about what the writing process must have been. Vidal bragged it took him a month. I imagine he locked himself into a room and wrote for hours in stalkings smoking cigarettes with a loop of static grade black and white commercials in the background. I don’t think it’s impossible he secured silicone breasts to himself with electrical tape for best marveling.
September 18, 2008 at 5:15 pm |
“The audience is oddly captivated while reading this, at times they are reading about themselves. There is great attention given to the workings of cinema, age, sexuality, sex, the self, and reality, to name a few.”
It’s weird because reading this in the future, the sixties opened up a lot of new ideas of what life was supposed to be, at the same time there are crazy ideas that basically can be sumned up as “LOL hippies.” So it’s interesting to see some one take pot shots at things in the thick of it.
September 19, 2008 at 2:25 am |
Great comment about the amazing breasts today Brandon. HAHA. anyways, I couldn’t help but wonder if not only is that statue just something that Myra loves, but rather, it is Mrya in all of the so-called Hollywood glory. It’s almost as if the image is showing Myra holding the actual Buck Loner cowboy hat and wearing the boots, knowing that they are out of reach for any man, especially since it’s a statue. hm…..
September 20, 2008 at 1:57 am |
“The audience is oddly captivated while reading this, at times they are reading about themselves. ”
I like this observation because it is very true. In a way, by talking to us as a reader Vidal plays into human narcsism. We are like Myra, we want attention and as long as we get it, whether it be good or bad, we’ll keep plodding along reading to see what happens next and how we will next be addressed.
September 21, 2008 at 2:30 pm |
“unstable”, Amen. I like how you made that connection to gonzo journalism. Through Myra’s narrative we are getting a skewed version of the time period by seeing the world through Myra’s eyes.