Jerry’s Reviews > Three Wogs > Status Update

Had to reread it about 3 times, but the ending of Childe Roland finally clicked, and the metaphor Theroux employs to convey a kind of defeated epiphany is brilliant. Roland’s ignorance syllogisms, his uninformed yet overly confident deductive reasoning, fail again, and this time, like the blot in his sights, he can’t escape the reality of his hopeless prejudices. So he decides, in defeat, to leave them behind.

Theroux seems to me the best of all worlds; hilarious quips and passages, scathing, clever satire, an absolutely wicked vocabulary, and the occasionally gorgeous chunk of writing as well. Loving this so far.

What Theroux does to my reading speed is similar to what a lack of fiber does to one’s bowels, but unlike the throes of a dyschezic morning, is quite enjoyable, albeit incredibly arduous.

Mrs. Proby definitely got hers, and I’d be lying if I said I felt bad. I say good riddance.

N.b. Theroux’s use of similes is astounding, so unique. E.g: “two eyes glinted menacingly from a face that looked like a pan of failed cornbread.” or “an evangelist who looked like a pair of pliers” also “her eyes blazing like zircons” … just stunning.

Theroux’s keep-a-dictionary-on-hand prose that I’ve heard so much about is actually both very beautiful and at times absolutely hilarious. It is also incredibly scathing, social satirical and surprisingly timeless, in this case, for the worse, picking apart the appearance, temperament and behavior of these 70s English Karens. Great start so far.