Ms. Hen reviews Wonderland

 

Wonderland

Joyce Carol Oates

Vanguard Press

1971

Ms. Hen decided to read this book because she found it at a Little Free Library near where she lives. Sometimes books found there are not the best, but she has read one other book by this author, and knows she is well respected. She was initially intrigued by the title.

This novel is a mass market paperback, and it was printed in 1973. The price on the book says $1.50. Ms. Hen took a long time to read this novel, because the print is so small! But she thinks it was worth it.

This book is about a man named Jesse Vogel, and the different chapters in his life. When he is young, his father murders his entire family, but Jesse survives. He goes to live with his grandfather, but is unhappy, then lives with his aunt and uncle. He is sent to an orphanage, but is adopted by a man named Dr. Pedersen. He moves in with the doctor's family.

Dr. Pedersen is fascinated with stories of strange people who have done amazing things, or have had outlandish things happen to them. He wants Jesse to be a doctor like him. Their family is wealthy, and they eat a lot, and are all obese. Jesse becomes estranged from the Pedersen family, and goes to college in Michigan. He gets married, has children and becomes a well known surgeon. He daughter runs away, and he tries to find her.

This novel is different from other novels Ms. Hen has read. It's about one man's life, but the different chapters in his life, and how he transforms from one version of himself to another. The novel is told mostly through close third person, from Jesse's point of view, but chapters are intertwined from the point of views of the women in his life: his adopted sister, his wife, and his daughter. This novel is a great example of character development, through Jesse's transformations, he sheds his old skins, and becomes someone else, but the old Jesse is always underneath somewhere.

When Jesse goes to live with his grandfather on his farm, he thinks this, "There were two things on the farm that Jesse hated, though: the chicken coop, and one of the barns." Jesse rants about how much he despises the chickens, because they are dumb and disgusting, and they leave their pellets everywhere. Ms. Hen does not appreciate that he hates the chickens so much, but she might agree with him about real chickens. Being a purse, she does not spend much time on farms, she is a city chicken, and she might not get along with her genuine counterparts. She knows that until she does spend time on a farm, she should not judge people who have.

Ms. Hen thinks this novel is a lot of work to read, but it's like living through a person's entire life. She would read, and dive under the surface, and not come up for air for a while. She didn't always like Jesse, but she got to know him, which is the point.