Brain Pain discussion

This discussion covers Prologue and Part One, pg. 1 – 146


The stage is set, the players are in make-up, the audience is in the lobby – everything’s ready to go. And then, justice rears its ugly head…

Feeling deep in his soul that he is destined to lead the nation, V.P. Nixon searches for the hidden secrets of the Rosenberg case.

So far, this is a great book. Not completely a Brain Pain book, in the sense that the narrative is pretty straightforward prose, but a Brain Pain book in that it asks the reader to engage deeply in the fevered imagination of young Tricky Dick Nixon. Dwight Eisenhower, cast as the current incarnation of Uncle Sam, is a kind of impish, minor god, walking among the simple dirty mortals like young Dick. Liking this very much...

Sounds right up my ally. I just ordered and look forward to joining the fray in it's later stages. My only other exposure to Coover is the Univeral Baseball Association, which makes it impossible for me to view a baseball game the way I did before that exposure.

It's strange, but I'm really interested in Coover's fictional Nixon. I'm kind of rooting for him a bit, which is psychically disturbing for me, given his history...

Just started the book today. Like Martin, I may have to join in later stages of the read...

Amy wrote: "Just started the book today. Like Martin, I may have to join in later stages of the read..."

The discussions stay open indefinitely, so go ahead and post your comments as you finish the sections. No rush...

Does anyone know if there is evidence anywhere that Nixon himself may have read any parts of this book?

I started The Public Burning last night on the heels of finishing Gravity's Rainbow, talk about a shift from benevolent darkness to acidic.

One of the things that I enjoy about authors delving into Spacship Earth's darkness is a storyteller who doesn't hate his bad guys.

It may just be the juxtaposition of Pynchon to Coover, but Robert's story telling initially strikes me as being more acerbic. At the outset, at least, Burning seems more than a little on the bitter side.

Jim wrote: "It's strange, but I'm really interested in Coover's fictional Nixon. I'm kind of rooting for him a bit, which is psychically disturbing for me, given his history..."

Jim,

I've been thinking about your post as I read. I'd like for you to expand on why you find/found yourself rooting for Dick.

I am finding my own perception influenced by Dick's answer to the most important (IMHO) question David Frost asked in his Nixon interviews. Frost asked Nixon to remark on where the president erred during the Watergate kerfuffle.

Essentially, Nixon's response was: I was too nice a guy.

Such a delusional response is so laughable that it not only would fit into a parody such as The Public Burning, but a good editor might question whether the response is a little on the heavy-handed side.

But the response to Frost perfectly bridges the gap between the reality of this world with the reality Coover creates. William Gass, in the intro to the edition I'm reading, quite rightly makes the point that politicians create their own reality, a necessary and often unseemly part of their job.

And, that's what I see in Coover's Nixon. The reality he creates is sometimes actually touching, especially when he describes his pursuit of Pat and their courtship, but veers into the sewer when he talks about the reality he creates in his political world so devoid of any principle in favor of whatever is expedient to the rise of Dick.

I think this is the primary value of the book. In an Aristotilian sense, Coover has selected elements of the world to reorganize them in a meaningful way. The book, in other words, does not exist separately from the world from which the elements are drawn.

And as Aristotle points out in his Poetics, the action, characters, and thought (given the action and characters, what is possible going forward?) yields insightful treasure when applied to The Public Burning. Or so it seems to this readers.

And while there is much amusement to be mined from Coover's narrative, I ultimately find my self shaking my head at its portrayal of our political system which governs our affairs.

And if I can drag Aristotle's Politics into consideration, there may not be a better alternative.

The character,"Nixon", is presented as a loser, who knows he is a loser, and who is perceived as a loser by his peers in the cabinet. He receives little or no respect from his wife, limited respect from his staff and fellow politicians, and Uncle Sam seems to treat him as just another pledge trying to get into the power fraternity. So at the simplest level, the reader can feel some small sympathy for what a loser he is.

As for the real world "Nixon", we can't - nor can Coover - really know what he felt inside. I wouldn't try too hard to mash-up the fictional Dick with the real world Dick, beyond the historical facts on record.

FWIW, when you finish the book you'll find that Tricky Dick got it in the end.....

Jim wrote: "The character,"Nixon", is presented as a loser, who knows he is a loser, and who is perceived as a loser by his peers in the cabinet. He receives little or no respect from his wife, limited respect..."

Thanks, Jim. I get this more sympathetic perspective and think it factors in a part of how Nixon was seen by many in the US during his political career, including by some of his many detractors.

Neither Aristotle, nor I, lay claim to being clairvoyant. But we differ on the fundamental issue of whether The Public Burning is rooted in the "real world."

As for Dick getting his in the end (ha, ha), how could it be otherwise? That would be an improbable probability.

Slogging through...

This is my first really "long form" Coover, having previously read several short story collections, novellas/shorter books, and The Universal Baseball Association.

As always, with any Coover, I love the word play, especially from "Uncle Sam." The golf game chapter was a hoot.

Hoot is right.

Uncle Sam is special. He's there, real as can be, at least for those who can see him, and Dick definitely has a direct line to him.

Doesn't it ring a bell Sam introducing the notion that the facts don't matter so much as the story. And the story of the Rosenberg's is that of sacrifice, specifically scapegoats (the ancient Hebrew tradition of loading a goat with a community's sins then tossing it off a cliff in a cleansing, and maybe confirming?, action).

But the Rosenbergs are a holocaust, too. A burnt offering, same underlying principle.

In some ways, Uncle Sam brings to mind Cormac McCarthy's Judge Holden, which by the bye is (largely?) based on Melville's Confidence Man, himself a projection of a band of scalping filibusters.

The more I read, the more Sam strikes me as a projection, not just of Dick, but also the qualities that many in America project(ed).

In listening to Terry Gross' interview with Jon Stewart today, Uncle Sam on the golf course came to mind, especially his comment that the facts aren't important, it's the story.

"They don't care about the reality of it. They care about symbolism..They wield it like a cudgel," or golf club.

Jim wrote: "It's strange, but I'm really interested in Coover's fictional Nixon. I'm kind of rooting for him a bit, which is psychically disturbing for me, given his history..."
His treatment of Nixon was the highlight for me. I'm not sure how he was able to make him so sympathetic.