AudioShocker

As the summer solstice approaches, these longer days seem to be luring me towards posting these columns later and later in the day on Mondays; I'll do what I can once the days begin to shorten again to have them up earlier in the work day, but for now, please accept my apologies, Tuesday's content, for my late-Mondayness nearly infringing upon your solidarity.

As a brief update to last week's discussion of Conan O'Brien's new gig on The Tonight Show: my final night of TV watching (until I get around to purchasing a digital converter and I guess probably an antenna too) I went ahead and spent watching Conan O'Brien again, though my sense (and I've confirmed this with the few friends of mine that have also watched it) is that he's definitely watered down his shtick for the earlier time slot---which is a shame since its still late at night. But, on said last night of watching TV (though the next night I did go over to a friend's house to watch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals on TV--a great game, with my hometown team coming out improbably victorious (enthusiasts and followers of this column will have already known that the biggest crack in the walls of my cultural-elitist firmament is my unabashed love of Pittsburgh sports)), Conan's first guest was Norm MacDonald (here is the whole show on hulu, Norm's the first guest), and it was the first genuinely funny thing on his show up to this point. Though, I'm a sucker for Norm MacDonald (many people are; he's hilarious). I'm sure you'll agree.

Really though, the funnier interview is a classic from Late Night with Conan O'Brien:

Also, further evidence of Norm MacDonald's hilariousness include Screwed, Dirty Work, and his cameo appearances in The Animal (as a concerned member of the mob chasing Rob Schneider) and Deuce Bigalow, European Gigolo (as a Scottish gigolo). Also, his shtick on Comedy Central's roast of Bob Sagat is totally classic.

Clearly, then, I'm not just suddenly jumping on the Norm MacDonald bandwagon. Sometime, way back in the '90s, I saw one of his stand-up specials, and it was the funniest stand-up I'd seen until Dave Chappelle's "Killing 'Em Softly" special. The only other contemporary stand-up to generate as many laughs from me would be Mitch Hedberg.

I give further props to Conan, since it seems like, since Norm doesn't really have anything going on, that he brought him on the show only because Norm is really funny. Way to go, Conan.

Pete Can't Believe He Hasn't Read This Before! #4: Milan Kundera's The Joke

This is Kundera's first book. Interesting because of its history of translation and retranslation (as documented in the "definitive version" which I just recently read). Interesting because Kundera is mostly an interesting writer. Why I never got around to reading it until now? I'm not sure.

To me, Kundera is one of those writers that I can't help but like, even if it's only because certain aspects of his books are so good that they overcome consistent annoying aspects. Which I suppose is why it was rewarding to go back and read his first book, to see where all this started from. One of his newer books, and probably my least favorite of the Kundera novels I've read, Identity, I didn't like because it felt like the characters, rather than occupying any kind of "real" world--or straddling a line between a textual world and a real world (the way both Immortality, and The Unbearable Lightness of Being are successful)--they just felt like Kundera characters living in a Kundera world. Which is still okay, and I'm sure that Kundera enthusiasts may even like that more, since such a book plays into the cult of the author.

The Joke, then, though carrying certain Kundera-signifiers (its being in seven parts, the broad scope of cultural references contained therein, a certain focus on music, its unabashed political stance, etc), was still a bit simpler, and just worried about telling the story its telling; that is, it has no meta-fictional aspect, which becomes such an important part of Kundera's later books. A pretty intense book, with a mostly despicable protagonist that the reader still feels impelled, if not to feel sorry for, than to forgive, since he's seen as being a product of oppression; that he fails in his revenge is the crux of his presumed coming of age--if we take The Joke as a Bildungsroman for an oppressed humanity that has a forcibly extended adolescence.

The comparison, which is probably wildly off-base, that I always like to make is between Kundera and Tom Robbins. Partially to do with the way they interject their own knowledge into the fabric of their novels, and for the generally grand scope of their plots and the way that scope is balanced by an intense focus at the same time on small interpersonal relationships. I don't know though; I don't get too many chances to test out the analogy (which is odd to me, since it seems like if these authors are similar, its like that people that've read the one have read the other, but that's not often the case--which maybe means that I'm wrong in comparing them (oh well)). Also, both authors are the type to kind of be read in phases; I haven't read all of either of their complete works, but tend to pick up a book now and then at a used paperback store, enjoy it (more or less), then think to read more of it, but not for another year or whatever.

Summer of Booklove Bookclub Reminder: Next up is Toby Barlow's Sharp Teeth for July 6th.