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The Lestriad
91 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
8 people want to read
About the author
Steve Katz
27 books9 followersSteve Katz (May 14, 1935 – August 4, 2019) was an American writer. He is considered an early post-modern or avant-garde writer for works such as The Exagggerations of Peter Prince (1968), and Saw (1972).
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 23, 2016
I can't say that I have the faintest understanding of what this book means.
I was really engaged in the first part (Michael's perspective of their date) and the last part (Moira's perspective of their date), but the stuff in the middle left me quite confused. I lost track of how many brothers there were, and if one or more were just alternate personalities of one of the others, and . The story of Bill Bond and Vince Mott was told twice, once with Bill as the college superstar who settled down/Vince as the wannabe who went on to great adventures, and then again with the roles reversed. Why?
The unpredictability of the way that the story progressed made it hard for me to follow. That said, I quite liked the nonlinearity and the meta nature of the scenes with the book that Lester read, insofar as it was a nice change of pace from more traditionally told stories. Maybe if I was more familiar with Katz' writing, I would have grasped more.
Favorite Quotes:
"She was a body, Michael thought, and delighted only in things. She wanted to touch and to taste and to be fondled and delighted, to avoid pain, to maintain an income of emotion from which she could purchase ecstasy at any moment" (p. 10).
"He tired of his appetites, of his father's wealth, and of all life's sensations bursting constantly on his lips" (p. 11).
"She had never told him that she had used marijuana. Although his friends had all tried it and many of them turned on regularly, and even his brother used it, he had always stayed away from it as a person sometimes feels afraid to enter a church he doesn't know. Knowing Moira used it disturbed him and made him slightly jealous. He wanted more courage than she had" (p. 16).
"Mike disliked Frickle and was disturbed that so many of his friends took him seriously. He did write a poem from time to time, full of modern cliche, brave with curse words and rhyme" (p. 17).
"Lincoln felt sometimes jealous of her, not when he saw her with someone else; but when he was in bed with her and saw the passion that was produced not only by his action on her, but by her own thirst. He was jealous of the way she contained herself; but could only respect her. She was brave, and with her crotch faced the whole world" (p. 32).
"As he saw his faults in his brother he saw his own weaknesses grotesquely exaggerated in his father. His father sold his sensations cheaply to drink as Lincoln could feel himself selling his own to drugs" (p. 35).
" 'Is it beautiful?' asked Lester, thinking of bougainvillea.
'I think it's fine,' said Moira, speaking of lovemaking. " (p. 53).
"Their stupid lust. ...If she let Michael see it in her eyes he would come to attention, his intellect shaken off as a dog shakes moisture off" (p. 74).
"She wanted to feel herself entered with strength, not lust. Like a tree in the wind. It lifts the dust, fills the sails, there's still more. She wanted a man like abundant winds, whom she couldn't embrace. To attempt more than you were able, she felt, was not to sin" (p. 75).
I was really engaged in the first part (Michael's perspective of their date) and the last part (Moira's perspective of their date), but the stuff in the middle left me quite confused. I lost track of how many brothers there were, and if one or more were just alternate personalities of one of the others, and . The story of Bill Bond and Vince Mott was told twice, once with Bill as the college superstar who settled down/Vince as the wannabe who went on to great adventures, and then again with the roles reversed. Why?
The unpredictability of the way that the story progressed made it hard for me to follow. That said, I quite liked the nonlinearity and the meta nature of the scenes with the book that Lester read, insofar as it was a nice change of pace from more traditionally told stories. Maybe if I was more familiar with Katz' writing, I would have grasped more.
Favorite Quotes:
"She was a body, Michael thought, and delighted only in things. She wanted to touch and to taste and to be fondled and delighted, to avoid pain, to maintain an income of emotion from which she could purchase ecstasy at any moment" (p. 10).
"He tired of his appetites, of his father's wealth, and of all life's sensations bursting constantly on his lips" (p. 11).
"She had never told him that she had used marijuana. Although his friends had all tried it and many of them turned on regularly, and even his brother used it, he had always stayed away from it as a person sometimes feels afraid to enter a church he doesn't know. Knowing Moira used it disturbed him and made him slightly jealous. He wanted more courage than she had" (p. 16).
"Mike disliked Frickle and was disturbed that so many of his friends took him seriously. He did write a poem from time to time, full of modern cliche, brave with curse words and rhyme" (p. 17).
"Lincoln felt sometimes jealous of her, not when he saw her with someone else; but when he was in bed with her and saw the passion that was produced not only by his action on her, but by her own thirst. He was jealous of the way she contained herself; but could only respect her. She was brave, and with her crotch faced the whole world" (p. 32).
"As he saw his faults in his brother he saw his own weaknesses grotesquely exaggerated in his father. His father sold his sensations cheaply to drink as Lincoln could feel himself selling his own to drugs" (p. 35).
" 'Is it beautiful?' asked Lester, thinking of bougainvillea.
'I think it's fine,' said Moira, speaking of lovemaking. " (p. 53).
"Their stupid lust. ...If she let Michael see it in her eyes he would come to attention, his intellect shaken off as a dog shakes moisture off" (p. 74).
"She wanted to feel herself entered with strength, not lust. Like a tree in the wind. It lifts the dust, fills the sails, there's still more. She wanted a man like abundant winds, whom she couldn't embrace. To attempt more than you were able, she felt, was not to sin" (p. 75).
Displaying 1 of 1 review