Books I've Read in 2014:
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The first novel of the year was A House - Boat on the River Styx by John Kendrick Bangs, published in 1895. It's a fantasy novel based upon the premise that a group of famous, but now deceased literary figures, gather together at a men's club afloat on the river Styx. In Greek mythology The Styx is a river that formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld (also called Hades). The group on the house boat includes William Shakespeare, Sir Francis Bacon, Sir Walter Raleigh, Baron Munchhausen, Noah, Adam, Napoleon, and Homer.
The book has no real plot but is instead made up of encounters between these literary figures, which elicit conversations or arguments centered around several topics. There are running jokes that weave their way through the story and help to tie it together. The main joke being that Shakespeare never wrote his own plays, the actual authors of course are present to to testify to this truth, and there's Baron Von Munchhausen who tells many unbelievable but totally amusing stories.
The novel is 171 pages long and at times I struggled to finish it. The premise wore thin and many a conversation was a little too precious and not so deep. It reminded me of watching Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, which asks the viewer to pat themselves on the back for their knowledge of history and literature and for getting all the jokes. I think if Bangs had chosen to explore more serious ideas, along with the jokes, this vintage novel would have been a much better read. If you have an ebook reader A House - Boat on the River Styx can be downloaded for free.
