Bonfire of the Vanities (Part 2)

Rating:
Summary: Like the literary equivalent of the Cheesecake Factory
Review: ... this book has all the trappings of class while never surrendering its large-scale consumer appeal as "fiction." BOTV has several dimensions - on one level, it's a satirical look at the dog-eat-dog world of upper-crust 1980s NYC, where power, greed and rabid statusmongering are the rule. Even if you just stay on that level, Bonfire is a great read - alternately very funny and sobering, though the prevailing dismal view of human nature may depress you.

On another level, BOTV has something to say about American society, human nature and, I think, the nature of desires themselves. Even the most hard-nosed conservative will wince at Wolfe's unrelentingly cynical view of black "civil rights leaders" who invariably turn out to be corrupt (interestingly, BOTV has not a single positive black character - unless you count Lamb, who's dead). And even liberals like me cringe at his description of made-for-TV "mass demonstrations" orchestrated by know-nothing urbanites.

Political sensibilities aside however, BOTV shows that even those who seem one-dimensionally "bad" to their antagonists often have at least a glimmer of decency. It's also a poignant commentary on what desires are real and which ones are products of the lives we lead; the hope for love versus the longing for exotic and dapper clothes, for instance. If you wanna think about it, this book can do us all a lot of good.

... and heck, if you don't, it's still a good way to kill some time.

Rating:
Summary: A Modern Classic
Review: Although several reviewers have claimed that elements of this novel have dated the essence of this novel will always be relevant. True this was written pre-internet, pre-Clinton, pre 9/11 but the vanities that drive the chattering classes, so perfectly satirised by the author, are an inherent characteristic of moneyed urban dwellors anywhere on this planet. The spiralling nature of the plot complements the authors heady character descriptions and set-pieces.

I know several people who have read and hated this novel because of its ultimately bleak portrayal of humanity. I however found it marvellously uplifting (not to mention hilarious) and view the book more as a dark fable on the perils of ambition in a capitalist society. The reader should note that most of the novel's characters would be regarded as successful in their respective professional lives and that each of those characters have lost a little bit of their soul to get where they are. What Wolfe allows us to ponder is : Is this what it takes to get to the top?

Rating:
Summary: Fast paced narrative
Review: Best description of this book is that of bridge between the genre novels and literature. It is not very good literature nor is it as bad (some might say less interesting) as genre novels. The characters and character descriptions are overstated and could very well have been written by anyone after reading 10-15 crime thrillers. The redeeming feature of this book is the work Tom Wolfe put into collecting a lot of information about a particular period in a particular city, varying from inner-city housing projects, jail cells, attorney's offices and high society life.

The story is that of a fundamentally decent white male getting caught up in a minor traffic accident and getting exploited by the society around him. A criticism I have is that the characters who donot belong to the traditionally wealthy (means non WASP men according to the author) are portrayed as upstarts resentful of old wealth and wanting to bring them down to their level. For some reason there is not a single character in this book who want to rise up and be equal to the traditionally wealthy by honorable means.

Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece of Popular Writing
Review: Hands down one of the most enteratining novels that I have ever read, and definitely the best rendering of modern New York City in fiction! This paperback was so ubiquitous I waited 10 years to reluctantly read it, and only because it was one of the only books on the shelf where I was staying. Boy, was I rewarded with this compulsively readable, suspenseful, razor-sharp story. For social satire to be so fiendishly plotted is a real treat and this story will have you racing to its inexorable conclusion. Along the way Wolfe manages to poke his pen into virtually every corner of the city, nailing every character-type in this rollicking comedy. WARNING--Never watch the insulting Brian DePalma movie, surely the worst transfer of a novel to film EVER. Read this peerless novel instead.


Rating:
Summary: Impressively Accurate and Gripping
Review: I can understand how this book was such a milestone. True genius, in the journalistic style--for portraying so well the status and money-obsessed nature of New York, which still holds true today. Wolfe does a terrific, and I mean really terrific, job at describing the city's political climate and how easily people can be taken advantage of once power and money are thrown into the mix.
Each character's intense need to better his or her own situation is at the center of how each of them relate to the story. In that, the story is essentially a description of how five New Yorkers cross paths and manage to further and better their personal situations, at the expense of a rich Wall Street trader's criminal mistake and inward feelings of guilt. Even though Sherman McCoy's character is portrayed as your typical snooty financial industry professional, the way in which he is brought down is dismaying in itself. He is used as a scapegoat for the ills of the White Establishment by a crooked, black political figure (using the hypocrisy of the church to better himself); used as "the Great White Defendant" by an insecure, self-critical assistant DA to make his career as a trial lawyer; used as centerpiece of a tabloid story to build a shallow, alcoholic reporter's journalist career; used to displace blame by a promiscuous, sleek money-hungry trophy wife... The Bonfire shows the lengths people will go to in order to get ahead and the lack of underlying trust for others, irregardless of money and status. The book is a lesson in city life, opportunism, greed, and a fundamental lesson in our very nature and how we operate, in the strict, economic sense of the term.
In another vein, the plot takes some movie-like twists and turns that dont necessarily work well in writing. Overall, an amazing piece of work, but seems very well suited to the screen more than anything else...I still have to rent the movie!!! Overall, a gripping and very accurate rendition of the city lives we all dream of living.

Rating:
Summary: Dark, bleak, dirty and dead
Review: I have not bothered to read the last 100 pages of this book because the firtst 450 are just filled with self-serving, hypocritical, lying ogres. Everyone is either living a lie, milking the system, or worse. If you want to read about a corrupt world, where idealism is dead, pickup this book and read away.

Rating:
Summary: brilliant and compelling
Review: I was put off this book for quite some time because of having seen the film, but, finally decided to give it a go (despite having a paperbackl edition with the film characters on the cover...) This book is an example of what a meticulous, fearless and talented writer of prose can come up with in response to the world around him. While being a great 'page-turner' as far as plot goes, Wolfe manages, through a complex web of ironies and double ironies, to examine humanity as a social creature in a certain time and place. He deals so breath-takingly honestly with his characters that many readers might blanche, and want to point fingers at the author, something Wolfe is couragous enough to bear, obviously. He does not set himself up as a prophet - like many modern 'social-awareness' authors - and I am sure does not absolve himself from many of the 'vanities' that are examined in this book. He tries to be honest, deal honestly with his characters and, thus, his readers, which is perhaps so strange in this literary day and age that it is considered reactionary. It is not. It is a novelist. I will certainly be reading more Wolfe, who has now become my favourite living American author.

Rating:
Summary: All fired up and no place to go
Review: It's not often that you could say that a book changed your life, but Tom Wolfe's BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES did just that for me. No, it's not life changing in the way that McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD is, with its glorious food for thought, hysterical passages, and extreme messages, but it did make me think on an entirely new level. I was a college drop-out doing nothing with my life and one day my sister gave me this book. I'm not a big reader but I could not put this book down. I became completely involved with the great characters in this book, young attorney, Larry Kramer, writer Peter Fallow, Reverand Reginald Bacon, and of course, Sherman McCoy. Wolfe wrote in such terrific detail that you feel as if you'd known these characters all your life. I started talking about them in conversations like they were close friends of mine. The story itself is incredible, taking you through the highs and lows of four main characters with Sherman being the tie that binds them all. Now, as for the life-changing part, I knew very little about the stock market, but after seeing the high-life that Sherman led, the luxury car, the Park Ave. Co-Op, and of course his lovely ladies, wife Judy and mistress, Maria Ruskin, I knew thats what I wanted for myself(except for the mistress, of course). So, I took a couple of classes, read a few books and I passed my stockbroker exam on the first try. Wall Street has been great to me--I have a job I love, great friends and surroundings and I met my wife at my firm. In short, I have never been happier and I have Tom Wolfe and his tale of a wealthy financier to thank. Must also recommend the DOGWOOD book by McCrae and another called A MAN IN FULL by the author of BONFIRE.

Rating:
Summary: 80s commentary
Review: The frank story delivered by Wolfe has a powerful message that rings true in today's society, it was just a little long - 700 pages (I often found my self sifting through meaningless paragraphs). Sherman McCoy, who is a rich Wallstreet aristocrat, runs over a Bronx city hoodlum after being threatened. It is a commentary of 1980s society, and can be extended into the present time. Materialism, egotism, hypocrisy...even the middle-class assistant D.A., Kramer, is subject to these human flaws as he uses the case for personal gain and glory, as does the DA in his re-election. McCoy sums up a major point in the book in saying to his lawyer, "Your self -- I don't know how to explain it, but if, God forbid, anything like this ever happens to you, you'll know what I mean. Your self...is other people, all the people you're tied to, and it's only a thread." Of course, if this thread is cut, like it is for McCoy, what becomes of that "self?" Wolfe's story becomes a Greek tragedy on the major flaw of humans -- finding their identity in people, possessions, and power.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of great descriptive writing, not much else.
Review: The subject of The Bonfire of the Vanities is Tom Wolfe's creative and perfectly illustrative descriptive writing. For example, the author refers, in one scene, to a character wearing a "'F--k You' necktie." The main enjoyment in crawling through this 700-page beast, is awaiting each next colorfully described scene.

The marketing for this novel, and the aura that surrounds it, bills Bonfire as capturing the 80s. There were some period elements such as the media-circus of hot lawsuits. It also had scenes, such as the McCoy's offices for bond-trading, that felt 80s. But you can more efficiently immerse into that period by watching Network and Wall Street. Plus, the scenes with aristocrat McCoy and hotshot Assistant D.A. Kramer, were written in a style that reminded me of film from the 50s.

The transformation of Sherman McCoy is not well-developed. When it arrives it comes as a shock.

There is engaging drama and interesting plot, but nothing occurs of great significance. Only at one point, when a character describes an Edgar Allen Poe poem, does the novel rise above the milieu of its multiple intersecting plotlines.

The book is a large investment of your time. Do great descriptions and fun plots make it worth it? I think so, but only minimally so.