[.ca] Insect Dreams: The Half Life of Gregor Samsa (ISBN 1932961097)

franz is spinning in his grave! (2.5 stars):
Yes, it was funny in spots, initially cleverly conceived, crammed with interesting character sketches and re-imaginings of history, and the prose was smooth---but too many notes, Mr. Estrin. He met Wittgenstein, and Roentgen, and Alice Paul, and Ives, and FDR, and Feynman, and Oppenheimer! Yet where's the "so what?" of this story? What (exactly) makes Gregor stand apart from any other, non-cockroach, character who might have fit that particular slot? (The fact that no one seems too upset by his being a giant cockroach only serves my point: that there's really nothing peculiar about the "hero" of "Insect Dreams," nothing that couldn't manifest itself in some random human; say, Forrest Gump. Although this book is far more readable than that film was watchable.) There are so many places where the authorial camera treads in too-slow motion, forcing its readers to wade through pages of what it presents as but really isn't significant and overly charged with emotion. (Not one, but three lengthy descriptions of modern musical performances are what I'm thinking of here, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. And, come on, if you want your character to start visiting the Library of Congress, there are more thought-provoking, or simpler, ways than to fleetingly introduce a pointless love letter.) The links (such as they are) to "the original" Kafka creation are tenuous at best. Perhaps they needn't be there at all, but an author appropriating another author's character has a duty, however small, to the original's memory. Kafka's creations are non-linear, mercurial, at times just plain unfathomable. Estrin takes up the gauntlet---one of the most bizarre and disconsolate literary creatures, full of dramatic potential if you want to pretend he didn't die at the end of Kafka's story---and squashes him flat, into traditional space-time narrative (with a few, overly-constructed and out-of-place exceptions), domesticates him, makes him an actuarial wannabe-philosopher who complains but doesn't act. Not that we need another Kafka, but again, why that particular cockroach? (The one clever bit is the letter exchange between Gregor and Hannah Arendt, where creation gets to rail against creator and even, in a metadramatical gesture, confesses he's tried to burn a copy of "The Trial.") But why, why, why must you butcher the Bard? (p.446 of the hardcover) If you want factual historical information, chase up Estrin's generous bibliography; if you want fictional accounts of approximately the same time period, read Chabon's brilliant "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay;" if you want weird, for the love of god read Kafka. If you want "so what?" I wouldn't look here. Don't get me wrong---this isn't a stupid book. But it will leave you hanging metaphysically.

astonishing book:
Insect Dreams is a great achievement. The language is precise, rich and resonant, the range of characters vast, the intellectual and emotional content constantly challenging, the story fascinating. Couldn't put it down.

Better than Forrest Gump:
This book is a fascinating, entertaining look at world history in the first half of the 20th century. Told from a humorous, objective point of view, all history textbooks should be so compelling. One of this book's strength is that it gives rise to important figures that general history overlooks. I was completely unfamiliar with insurance magnate/composer Charles Ives or physicist Richard Feynman, for example, before reading this book. Estrin paints interesting portraits of both, which I have to assume have basis, though they remain as intriguing as the fictitious characters. The more familiar figures like FDR and Oppenheimer receive warm treatment as well. They come in and out of the observant narrative as quirky as the rest of the characters. A hidden treasure of this book is that it includes Estrin's bibliography. I intend to mine some of those books to learn more about the characters Estrin has introduced so delightfully.

An Imaginative Sequel:
This is not the same Gregor Samsa that Kafka created in his groundbreaking work Metamorphosis. While he starts off being the same roach-person this Gregor Samsa speaks and intermingles with society (sometimes to the point where you forget that he is no longer human). But author Marc Estrin's unique departure from Kafka is refreshing. After flying away from a Viennese circus Gregor lands in America where he subsequently meets and interacts with some of the most notable figures of the early 20th century. Gregor's unique bug-like perspective endears him to those that he becomes close to. But it is also this unique bug-like perspective that focuses clarity into America's moral conscience during that turbulent period. I wanted to give Insect Dreams 5-stars but I did find the book to be a little uneven in flow. Certain parts were drawn out to the point where the book lost momentum that had to be recaptured in later sections. Still, Insect Dreams is an imaginative endeavor that is well worth reading.

An Existential Cockroach:
Twentieth century history is brilliantly reimagined through the eyes of Gregor Samsa, the fabric salesman turned cockroach from Kafka's Metamorphosis. Gregor begins his "half-life" as a circus performer in Vienna, and then, later, when he migrates to the United States, becomes an elevator operator, as he continues his conscious and unconscious musings on humanity and inhumanity. Gregor lives the "American Dream", following an unimaginable career path, becoming one of the 20th century's foremost existentialists, artists, activists, and insurance industry risk assessors, and in doing so, he provides a funny, tragic, and thought provoking critique of Western civilization, particularly the United States. Gregor suffers from an unhealing wound in his back, inflicted when his father, frightened by his new form, threw an apple at him, a metaphor that is implicitly explored throughout the novel. Gregor stumbles upon so many pivitol figures throughout the book, that in that respect, Insect Dreams is reminiscent of Forest Gump, yet that allusion is delightful. Estrin is erudite, so at times one might need to look up a fact or a figure, but the entire experience is worth it.