I recently
finished reading Let The Great World Spin.
It’s a big, ambitious novel that is also pretty fantastic. (By way of
comparison, Franzen writes big, ambitious novels that are exhausting as often they
are fantastic.)
The novel is
set in the early 1970s. But it wasn’t until the 100 or 150 page mark that I
realized Colum McCann wasn’t mentioning (m)any
brand names. The novel is clearly a product of exhaustive research, but McCann
manages not to bludgeon or otherwise punish the reader with everything he
knows. As Jonathan Lethem noted an interview with Hazlitt, “I also
had to throw out a lot of what I learned—novels are quite intolerant of
information; you actually can’t stick too much in or you’ve started to do
something else.”
Now details aren’t the same as
information, but I basically stopped reading The Ice Storm by Rick Moody after a half-dozen pages because of
this passage:
He headed for the Williamses’ bathroom. One last look.
A survey of the medicine cabinet. He wanted to see if there was a diaphragm in
there at all, to see how deep the slight ran. He wanted evidence.
Where would Janey have gone? To the A & P to find
something to go with turkey leftovers? To purchase beauty aids in preparation
for the Halfords’ party that evening? Maybe she had gone to his house, to rifle
his own medicine cabinet?
Hood set the bottle of vodka on the speckled, beige,
faux-marbleized countertop and poured some more ambrosia. Then he began to
peruse the remedies on the other side of that mirror: Cover Girl Thick Lash
mascara, Revlon Ultima pancake, Max Factor lipstick (chocolate), Helena
Rubinstein Brush-on Peel-off Mask, Kotex tampons, Bonne Bell Ten-0-Six lotion,
Clairol Balsam Color (blond, although she frosted her hair). Summer’s Eve
disposable douche, Spring Breeze. Valium, Seconal, tetracycline, the first of
these in a renewable prescription.
No diaphragm case.
In a tiny space at one end of the top shelf, Jim
Williams apparently kept a few things. The Dry Look, Old Spice deodorant,
Noxzema Shave Cream, Water Pik teeth-cleaning system. Vicks VapoRub.
It was an L-shaped bathing suite. Hood drained his
glass and ducked into the alcove where the toilet and shower were shrouded in
darkness. On top of the toilet, Janey had piled Clairol Herbal Essence shampoo,
Clairol conditioner, and Tegrin medicated shampoo.
It’s only 240 words, but that medicine cabinet suffocates the novel before it has a chance. Here are the brands mentioned above as a list:
- Cover Girl Thick Lash mascara
- Revlon Ultima pancake
- Max Factor lipstick (chocolate)
- Helena Rubinstein Brush-on
Peel-off Mask
- Kotex tampons
- Bonne Bell Ten-0-Six lotion
- Clairol Balsam Color
- Summer’s Eve disposable douche,
Spring Breeze
- The Dry Look
- Old Spice deodorant
- Noxzema Shave Cream
- Water Pik teeth-cleaning system
- Vicks VapoRub
- Clairol Herbal Essence shampoo
- Clairol conditioner
- Tegrin medicated shampoo
