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Text: English, French (translation)
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Punk Cabbie Beds Faded Crooner for "God",
By Robert S. Newman "Bob Newman" (Marblehead, Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: King Solomon (Hardcover)
Solomon Rubinstein couldn't make the grade as a pianist, but he did make a splash as the King of Trousers in Paris before World War II. Later, he tried to be a larger kind of king and make up for what the King of the Universe failed to do, that is, help people in distress, save a few lives more or less. Like, he became a philanthropist with a staff of call-answerers who talked people out of killing themselves, even went to see some of the most desperate sorts. One day, he befriended a young, rollingstone, punk taxi driver with a penchant for dictionaries. Gave the dude a job with his outfit. We see the whole setup from this guy's eyes. Soon we run across Mademoiselle Cora, a faded singer from prewar days who ended up as a loo lady in some of Paris' less salubrious public toilets before the blessed King Solomon bailed her out, set her up with an apartment and monthly payment. Better than food stamps, you bet. Jean, the dude, goes to see her, winds up seduced by or seducing her. She's sixty five but not over the hill, he's in his twenties, not the sharpest knife on the shelf, full of weird observations. He's got a blonde chick too; she works in a bookstore. As the story unfolds, we realize that the super-snazzy King Solomon with his gloves and cane loved Mlle. Cora with all his heart "back in them days". As a Jew, he should have fled for his life before the Nazis got to Paris, but no, though he had a visa for Portugal, he stayed put out of love. She found him a hideout, but then left him literally in the dark for four lousy years, while she took up with a rotten gangster who worked for the Gestapo in addition. Never visited her old flame even once. End of war, gangster eats lead as a collaborator, Mlle Cora claims that she saved a Jew, that is, Solomon in the Cellar. Whoa, how about that ? But she does, saying she could have turned him in at any time. They go splitsville. Now, 35 years later, Jean does not love Mlle. Cora, but beds her a few times out of general love of humanity. He hero-worships the old King, who takes on God-like qualities in Jean's eyes. When he finds out the truth, Jean thinks Cora should get together with King Solomon, now 85, and live happily ever after. He plots how to splice the old duo.
Yeah, OK, this is a pleasant story with some excellent characters. Nice ending too. You can say that it's "an exploration of human nature in all its aspects." The French title is "The Anguish of King Solomon" which certainly is more appropriate. But you know, something put me off. That was how Gary writes. He has a good sense of humor, true, but he feels the need to show off. And how he shows off ! Clever remarks, non-sequiturs, and aphorisms---ranging from wise to silly---stud every single page of the novel. Good grief ! (as they always said in "Peanuts"). Did he do this for a joke ? It's overdone. Did he do this because that's his usual style ? Search me, I never read anything else by him. Did it impress the hell out of me ? No, I got really sick of it. People trying to be clever, even if they ARE clever, give me a pain. He comes across as a know-it-all with a good heart. Fair enough, if that's what you like. "To become a walking encyclopedia, all you have to be is an autodidact who specializes in anguish, which is what's called the sum total of all knowledge."p.173 "But tarts seem maternal to me because they're always there to give you the consolation of the church." p.173 "Fascism had its good side because it gave you somthing to be against." p.173 "When you don't have any legitimate enemies you end up barricading yourself in a farm and blazing away at whoever happens by." p.173 And that's only from a single page. I liked Gary's tough humanism, but I have to wonder what it all meant---did he believe in happy endings, did he believe in the goodness of human nature? Was he as cynical as his characters? Because you know, just after he finished this novel, he offed himself.
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