Books

Still Life With Woodpecker is sort of a love story that takes place inside a pack of Camel cigarettes. It reveals the purpose of the moon, explains the difference between criminals and outlaws, examines the conflict between social activism and romantic individualism, and paints a portrait of contemporary society that includes powerful Arabs, exiled royalty, and pregnant cheerleaders. It also deals with the problem of redheads.

I somehow managed to be both hesitant and curious to read more Tom Robbins after my first experience. It wasn't encouragement, necessarily, that motivated me to read another of his books, but rather a recommendation. Unbeknownst to me at the time, a good friend of mine is a pretty big Tom Robbins fan. She suggested Still Life With Woodpecker. She said reading it would allow me to give Robbins's writing a fair shake. So apparently my opinions now are based around at least one book that is representative of his writing style.

A lot of writers have mastered the art of telling a story about something, anything at all. Tom Robbins seems to have mastered the art of telling a story about nothing at all. The wording there, though odd, is absolutely intended as a compliment. There is a certain flow to this writing that makes it appear to be a full-length novel of poetic verse. His ideas are certainly unique and beautifully abstract.

I love how he writes and I am completely fascinated by the ideas he develops, though somehow at the end of Still Life With Woodpecker I am not in a rush to read the remaining work in his name.

The only reason I would probably find myself reading more of his stuff is to see if the parallel themes and images are used throughout his writing. Many times during "Still Life" I noted commonality to Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates. The most significant was the use of pyramids. I would be curious to see into how many books he can keep pyramids involved, but at the same time I know I would grow more and more disappointed in Robbins for not being able to throw different symbols into the ring.

After "Fierce Invalids" I said I might be interested in reading more stories involving the main character, Switters, but never expected to find another. Switters would have some very engaging conversations with The Woodpecker. The two men seemed to share many ideas and perspectives. It was nice because it was familiar, but again, I was a little disappointed in Robbins for not writing a new character with silly quirks and outlandish interpretations of societal restrictions for me to enjoy. I guess the moral of the story is to be careful of what you wish for.

I seem to have gotten away from my suggestion that you read Still Life With Switters...err Woodpecker should you find yourself curious for a book that will certainly take you on a journey through unfamiliar eyes looking at familiar subjects. I will not try to speculate as to just how many drugs Mr. Robbins has experimented with, but say simply that he seems to have some very bizarre influences in his writing. I am sure there are other authors like Tom Robbins out there somewhere, but I don't know of any.

| Buy it from Amazon | Discuss it |