A Confederate General from Big Sur (original 1964; udgave 1968)

A sad man spends some time off the grid with his dirtbag friend.

2.5/4 (Okay).

It's not surprising Brautigan wasn't more popular, given that this book was the world's introduction to him. The "story" relies heavily on tropes that had already been worn out by Beat writers by this time. And while his weird style of writing is there, it isn't used with any of the expressive power of his better works.

Also, how can he use the Confederacy as his central metaphor without addressing racism? I know these characters are not supposed to be good people, but seriously, could he at least, like, mention that it exists? ( )

Your opinion of A Confederate General from Big Sur could depend on how delighted you feel about its frequently odd descriptive phrasings. An example from near the end, when I finally admitted to myself that I had tired of this sort of thing: “the waves were breaking like ice cube trays out of a monk’s tooth or something like that. Who knows? I don’t know.”

I don’t know either. And I have easy access to the Pacific’s surf to give it thought.

As a teenager I would have loved that stuff—so different! Of course, if such prose makes you happy, A Confederate General will be enjoyable, breezy reading. Author Richard Brautigan has fun with his usually upbeat characters who despite material shortcomings (see the “Tobacco Road” rite of Lee Mellon) find themselves situated in as beautiful a place as can be desired. If a menace hovers over them all, it’s the idea that they can’t always be as content as their present moments allow, at least if their lives continue along the same course. About this, hints appear toward the end.

Some of my dissatisfactions with this short novel no doubt derive from anticipating that its main character would be a real or made-up live Confederate General. This isn’t exactly the case. Even so, I liked the book. It’s tempting to call it piffle but it’s better than that. Light, appealing, and friendly in tone (with some cruel exceptions apparently meant to be comic), it’s nice company while it lasts. ( )

His first novel, more conventional than some that came after, an absolute delight. ( )

i'm reading fiction!

Lowered my previous rating of four stars down to three. I liked it, but not nearly as much as I did the first time through so many years ago. ( )