A rye look at suicide
Jefferson Chase looks at John Barth’s The Floating Opera and a day in the life of a would-be suicide case
Born on Marylandâs Eastern Shore in 1930, John Barth is one of contemporary American fictionâs most influential, if not most well-known
writers, a forerunner of postmodern novelists like Thomas Pynchon and Don DeLillo. And what, you might well want to ask, is postmodernism?
To quote Barth himself, itâs âtying your necktie while simultaneously explaining the step-by-step procedure of necktietying and chatting about the history of male neckwear.â Such self-reflection makes it a natural fit for the most reflective of all alcoholic beverages.
Case in point Barthâs first novel, The Floating Opera, which was shortlisted for the National Book Award in 1956. The Floating Opera begins with the protagonist and narrator introducing himself and his favorite drink:
Todd Andrews thenâ¦Iâm 54 years old (does this surprise you?); Iâm six feet tall but weigh only 145. I look like what I think Gregory Peck, the movie actor, will look like when heâs 54, except that I keep my hair cut short enough not to have to comb it, and I donât shave every dayâ¦Iâm interested in any number of things, and enthusiastic about nothing. I wear rather expensive clothing. I smoke Robert Burns cigars. My drink is Sherbrook rye and ginger ale. I read often and unsystematicallyâthat is I have my own system but itâs unorthodox. I am in no hurry. In short, I live my lifeâ¦in much the same manner as I am writing this first chapter of The Floating Opera.
Iâve never sampled Sherbrook rye.....
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By Jefferson Chase
Section : Whisky Literature
Page number : 51
