Customer Reviews

A Hole in Texas

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This novella is unusually interesting, because it brings together two themes which are rarely found even apart, let alone together, in American fiction: Particle Physics (the Superconducting Supercollider and the search for the Higgs Boson), and Senior Romance (age 60+). I can recommend it for most readers, even for those of us who are not 70-year-old particle physicists (I am neither, although I do know one or two people who are both). It is an entertaining glimpse into how this esoteric .00001 percent of the world lives - just like the rest of us, which is the whole point.

The book is very light-hearted. Its romance elements are "G" rated, the particle physics is passed-over trippingly, and its two themes are tied together by a non-serious plot involving some nefarious Capitol Hill doings and a 60-year-old Congresswoman with really great legs.

A major character (and romance interest) in the book is a female Chinese particle physicist, and every once in a while, the book inadvertently (I think!) pops up some stereotypes about female Asian/Pacific Islanders - their "youthful" appearance, other things about their appearance, intelligence, attraction to particle physics, etc. It is not a large part of the book, but the author's mild case of "Asiaphilia" seems worth mentioning for the sake of any readers who might be made uncomfortable by this.

Be that as it may, most readers will enjoy this quick and amusing book, which finds the human interest in a rather esoteric occupation!

If in some alternate world I had not read the cover before delving into the text, I would not have know that Wouk wrote this except for the fact that after all these decades his characters continue to exclaim "Ye gods!" and "Gads!" I am a tremendous fan of Wouk -- I will re-read some of his works throughout the rest of my life -- but I think A Hole is not indicative of his tremendous contributions to American literature, and, indeed, culture.

I think the reason is that Mr. Wouk's strength was never his ear for conversations, and this book is very chatty. In particular, the interaction between naive but brilliant scientist Guy Carpenter, and the wealthy and world-wise Congresswoman struck me as distractingly artificial, especially when it lapsed into forced cuteness. More minor instances include rural Texas cab drivers who speak like they're 1940s New Yorkers ("Hey lady . . ."), and a strange appearance by Dustin Hoffman that I think might have been edited out if it came from a lesser pen.

Of course, this wasn't by any means a bad book. The portrayal of the marital tension between the Carpenters was written with great power -- the kind that usually Mr. Wouk's books have in their entirety. Mr. Wouk's keen eye for detail was ever-present. The plot was reasonably engaging, if a bit too neat at places. And I doubt I would otherwise have learned what a Higgs Boson is if I didn't read this.

So this is not a bad book, but I just didn't care for the writing. Having such high expectations after Marjorie Morningstar, the Caine Mutiny, War and Remembrance, and on and on, I was left somewhat disappointed.

A Hole in Texas his first book in a long time, and it is apparent that Mr. Wouk was motivated by/consulting with his scientist son.

As expected from an author of his stature, there is a hefty helping of unusual words and references to literature. But this book also blends in mystery, national security, Hollywood extravagance, politics, and cross-society naiveté.

His theme is that the Chinese have succeeded in finding the theoretical Higgs Particle while the US was "sleeping." The unifying plot element involved placing blame for "killing" the Superconducting Supercollider and the resultant ceding of US dominance in Particle Physics (although there is no guarantee that the Superconducting Supercollider in Texas would have actually "discovered" the Higgs Particle).

What is really done well is the attention to detail that Mr. Wouk gives his characters. For instance, a corporate jet is made available to the lead character and he has to look around the rest room to find the "hidden" toilet. Heck, most literature does not even mention characters visiting the rest room.

Most readers will not have a good set of pre-arranged expectations for a particle physicist, and the book is not terribly long, so the author wisely falls back on middleclass family life as the basic relationship between his main character and the reader. His characters are truly 3-Dimensional -- and several are "retro" (like an aging CongressWoman who converses with her dead husband... and a wife who slouches into a "SuperMom," juggling career and family because she does not believe that her husband can cope with these details). The characters have plenty of realistic flaws but, as in real life, they mostly stumble ahead in spite of themselves.

Mr. Wouk takes it upon himself to educate readers on cutting edge science, mostly using traditional two person dialog (S. Holmes and Dr. Watson style) but mixing in letters and e-mails for added precision. He also finds time to chastise the US Congress for shortsightedness and lack of collective memory. A Hole in Texas is not written to be an action movie and -- I am glad to report -- in the end, most characters emerge happier.

Liberal Americans will read this book if they like to be entertained while improving their vocabulary and getting a better understanding of their world. Conservative Americans will read this book if they like to be entertained while gaining a better idea of the power structure in the Congress as it relates to Science funding. Non-Americans will read this book if they like to be entertained while identifying some peculiar American quirks and seeing how Big American Science relates to science in the rest of the world. Literature buffs should probably re-read The Caine Mutiny.

For the record, the existance of the Higgs Particle is still merely theoretical. Physicists are still pondering whether such a contrived mathematical device might actually exist, and the energy required to "create" it in a laboratory is probably out of our reach for the near future. The approach used by the Chinese in this book (Atmospheric monitoring for Cosmic Ray interactions) is probably our best bet near-term for science to detect any ultra-massive particles like the Higgs and/or microscopic Black Holes, either of which would inform science tremendously as to the role of gravitation among the other 3 known forces of nature.

Another reviewer is disappointed in this "lightweight book with a nice
plot". The backdrop of declining American science and ignoble
politicos may indeed seem to be an odd and unimportant couple (compared
to, for example, WWII), and in part old hat. I disagree, and welcome
this short novel with interesting characters in Washington, Waxahachie
and JPL. Insiders will enjoy references to ApJ, Physics Today,
Terrestrial Planet Finder, in addition to the SSC. I hope the required
"science talk" will not bore the broader audience. I fear that the
required "political talk" is not as well-informed as the science talk,
but then everybody expects venial politicians: the comic relief for the
novel. (I'm reminded of a movie rating: "mild peril".) A short
fast-paced romp -- no car chases or murders [other than the SSC] -- "a
nice plot" that did not disappoint me.

I have read Cain Mutiny and seen the movie, so I know Herman Wouk, and have read quite a bit about particle physics, so I was unprepared for the tedium of this effort. Caine Mutiny is a classic, a fat book about the maturity and obedience in the military. This is a thin book about nothing at all. It's take on Washington is nether fresh, accurate nor funny. The physics described is too watered down to be interesting, and yet drags on and on with the pitifully transparent device of the professor lecturing to a congresswoman. All the characters are 2D schmaltzombies.

The whole question is, which subplot, is least competently told - the googoo flirtation between the scientist and the congresswoman, the irrationally jealous wife who takes the baby and runs home to mother, or the political scandal that ends in a congressional hearing as credible as a court scene on Star Trek.

It reads like a high-school student immitation of Wouk.

If you have to read it, get it out from the library. That way you won't be tempted to re-read it in five years after you have forgotten how bad it is.

It was my first year in a Shanghai high school that I read Herman Wouk's "Winds of War." I was fascinated by the stories of Victor "Pug" Henry and his family with the backdrop of World War II. Mr. Wouk skillfully weaved fictional characters with historical figures and facts. It was my first glimpse of the contemporary western history and civilization.

What a coincidence it was, on the 60th anniversary of D day, at a local Barnes and Noble bookstore, that I saw Mr. Wouk's new book prominently displayed at the entrance. As I was having a hard time finishing two other volumes ("Hope" and "Glory") that Mr. Wouk wrote after "Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance," I picked it up with some skepticism. But, two pages into the book, I decided to give it a chance. And a cup of Starbuck's Latte and 20 pages later, I bought the book and finished it in two days.

This is not a book that will ever win any Pulitzer or Nobel. Yet, like Dan Brown has done his homework in history, religion, and art, in his bestselling "Da Vinci Code," Mr. Wouk has done his. This time, both in science and in history. Not about Hitler or the middle east conflict in this book, Mr. Wouk proposed a new adversary of the United States: the emerging superpower of China. Did the Chinese find Higgs boson after U. S. abruptly pulled the plug of this largest basic science research project?

The field of astrophysics has daunting theories and concepts, Mr. Wouk smoothly explains, through his scientist characters from Stanford, the JPL, and the California Institute of Technology, the ideas of super colliders and accelerators, cosmic rays and particles, and the significance, if any, of finding Higgs boson. Like his other books, Mr. Wouk's familiarity and comfort in describing lives of Washington's inner circle carries the story with authenticity and flavor. The references and mixtures of historical and contemporary characters, such as President Reagan, President Clinton, Deng Xiaoping, Professor Chien-Shiung Wu, Peter Jennings, and Dustin Hoffman, have made the tale ever so much more convincing. At the same time, descriptions of "wet autumn leaves," a "mildewed" old book "smelled of a Georgetown house," and a naughty cat who loves to sneak out of the house, all established the atmosphere and details of environment where the story takes place.

Being 89 years old, Mr. Wouk still writes with sharp observations and causes thriller-like adrenaline for his readers. His characters are still full of romance, as Byron and Natalie once were in "Winds of War." Sitting outside on the patio, feeling the cool evening breeze that carries a whiff of sweetness from the blooming Asian lilies, and with a glass of freshly made sangria, this book will provide you with some delicious summer reading.

The legendary sportswriter Red Smith once remarked that writing was not difficult: "All you do is sit down in front of a typewriter and open up a vein." Imagine for a moment the accomplishments of Herman Wouk. Apparently not content to rest on a duly deserved reputation for such works as THE CAINE MUTINY and THE WINDS OF WAR, to name just two of his novels, he continues to publish at the age of 88. Lest anyone believe that he is living on his past, A HOLE IN TEXAS, his most recent effort, is a lively and entertaining novel, enjoyable and easy to read.

The hole in A HOLE IN TEXAS is the aborted excavation in the Lone Star State of the Superconducting Super Collider, a scientific project of mammoth proportion that would have allowed physicists to locate a minuscule particle known as the Higgs boson. In 1993, perhaps for political but certainly for budgetary considerations, the U.S. Congress pulled the plug on the Collider and hundreds of scientists in Texas were left in a deep hole.

Guy Carpenter, the main character of the novel, is one of those scientists. A middle-aged physicist with a young wife and child, he was able to move from the defunct Texas project to work at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab on the terrestrial Planet Finder. This project, the son of the Hubble Telescope, is also facing potential funding problems. Good science does not come cheap and the change purses of taxpayers are no longer easily opened to fund scientific projects.

Carpenter and the scientific community are stunned one day to hear the Chinese government announce that they have discovered and isolated the Higgs boson. The significance of this discovery is that the Chinese now have the ability to produce the Boson Bomb, a weapon that dwarfs atomic or hydrogen bombs in destructive magnitude. A special news bulletin by Peter Jennings, interrupting a nationally televised sporting event, demonstrates the importance of the news of the Chinese discovery.

With the Higgs boson as his vehicle, Herman Wouk takes the reader on a paradoxical and often humorous journey that pokes fun at modern media and politicians. One of Carpenter's allies in the response to the Chinese announcement is Representative Myra Kadane. The Congresswoman succeeded her late husband in office. Her house committee has the task of investigating not only why the Super Collider was shut down prematurely but also why the Chinese accomplished what American scientists could not. As the investigation commences, Guy Carpenter offers his scientific insight in exchange for a glimpse into the opulent life of the rich and powerful in Washington and in Hollywood. Carpenter is the major beneficiary of this trade.

The plot thickens with the news that one of the Chinese scientists working on the Higgs boson project was a fellow grad student with Carpenter at Cornell. Not surprisingly, this information when discovered by the media adds the final ingredient, sex, to national crises. Every element is now in place for a media frenzy.

Granted, A HOLE IN TEXAS is not a classic novel and is not to be confused with THE CAINE MUTINY. But you will enjoy the skewering of politicians, media moguls and a few Hollywood types and attorneys thrown in for good measure. At 88 years of age Herman Wouk has written an entertaining novel. Perhaps like the legendary artist Grandma Moses, he can continue to work at his trade well into his 90s.

--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman

Dr. Guy Carpenter is an older man with a young wife and a new baby. He works for NASA, and his life seems happy. But it's all about to change, thanks to a past failed government project. Carpenter once worked on a team in search of the Higgs Boson. When Congress canceled it, the physicists involved went on to other jobs. Wen Mei Li, a Chinese physicist, goes home and eventually leads her country to the discovery of the boson particle. Soon they create the boson bomb. The US government reacts in the typical way -- they hold hearings.

Imagine Guy's surprise when he hears his first love, Wen Mei Li, is returning to America for those hearings. Imagine his wife's surprise since she discovered his old love letters to Wen Mei Li. She's never met her, but she dislikes the Chinese physicist nonetheless, so you can bet the wife with eyes of blue sliver glass won't let him off easy. Guy is summoned by Representative Myra Kadane. She's interested in what he has to say. And Guy is willing to talk because he needs her on his side, especially when he gives her the bad news....

It's mystery, science, and Texas-size humor by Herman Wouk. Readers will be impressed by the scientific and political situations as well as the humor of Guy's predicaments. And let's not forget a special appearance by a famous movie star.

The TimeWarner audio version is read by actor and writer, Jonathan Davis. He does a good job of getting Wouk's humor to the listener. His attempts at the feminine voices add to the story in a positive, humorous way.

The premise was intriguing, and the first few pages sucked me in immediately. It is nice to read something upbeat with decent, nondisfunctional characters and a happy ending for a change. And there were some good points made about our political processes. I put it down with a smile.
That being said, the middle dragged,and the characters, except for the late-appearing female Chinese scientist, were appealing but not really interesting.
As a science fan, I was very disappointed that the book was not better. If it had achieved its potential, perhaps there would be hope to revive the SSC after all....

I have to admit to a certain bias here: I am a longtime Herman Wouk fan, so it comes as a delightful surprise to me that, as he nears his 90th birthday, he should come up with as sparkling an entertainment (in the Graham Greene sense of the word) as "A Hole in Texas." Wouk has to be the most underrated living American novelist, and when most of his contemporaries are six feet under, Wouk has written a very funny book that, while it has some continuity with his other books, is in a very real sense a delightful departure from what has gone before.

Guy Carpenter is a fiftysomething scientist who once worked on a large-scale government project in Texas looking for something called the Higgs boson. After some years and a few billion dollars, Congress shut down the ambitious and expensive project, only to react with panic when it looks like the Chinese might have come discovered the Higgs boson on their own.

All of the arcane physics mumbo-jumbo is explained to the reader using the admirably clear dramatic exposition that Wouk has resorted to before (think of that amusingly improbable scene in "The Winds of War" when Byron Henry described to his new bride how a submarine works), and he makes the machinations of Congress seem utterly ridiculous - although admittedly that's not too hard to do. There's a scene in a Bel-Air party where Dr. Carpenter and his wife are engulfed and almost swallowed alive by Hollywood types that might be the funniest thing Wouk has written since the seder scene in "Marjorie Morningstar." And Dr. Carpenter's problems with his wife - not to mention the complications of a sexy Congresswoman who used to be a movie star and a Chinese scientist who used to be his girlfriend - are made to seem both plausible and amusing.

Wouk's prose style is as clunky and Theodore Dreiser-ish as ever, and if he doesn't say, as Dreiser did, that "It was a truly swell saloon," he does refer to a stripper as a "stripteaser," which I doubt any male under eighty would ever do (at least not while sober). But then Wouk is perhaps the only living author who is capable of using the word "monkeyshines" in a sentence with a straight face (as he did in his last nonfiction work, "The Will To Live On"), so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

The bottom line is that at the age of 89, Herman Wouk is still in the game. This is not a sweeping historical fiction like "The Winds of War" or "War and Remembrance," but it's a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it immensely. You will too.