Sergeant Friday Doesn’t Live Here Any More

What Makes Sense?

It makes sense, I guess, that sooner or later I’d be reading “King Rat”, the book that I added a couple of days ago to my “Currently Taking Forever To Finish” list. I haven’t read it before, though I do remember vaguely seeing and liking the movie in 1965 or so. I now see that I’ve forgotten all but the most basic outline of the story, so the novel will more or less be “fresh” to me. I note that the author, James Clavell, is the author of Shogun, a book that became a TV movie that I could never stomach. Maybe it was the lead actor who put me off of that, I don’t know. In any case, I’m not put off of King Rat yet. It seems to be written quite well enough. Maybe Shogun is well written, too, and I just need to stay away from that actor.

Rats Here, Rats There

Anyway, my thought is that King Rat must’ve assured some initial book sales by its title alone. I can imagine some people buying it for that reason alone—some people are big fans of Oddity. I think some people have the same initial attraction toward my blog; they just want to see what it is, even if it turns out not to be any good. I’ve seen a lot of one-time hits on the counter that I suspect were just Lost Travelers.

Next Blog Feature

The Next Blog feature added recently at the top of Blogger’s sites is fun, I guess, introducing a “randomness” factor that’s interesting, but it does rob me of my perspective that Stranger hits were attracted to the blog title. Now, I can no longer presume that. Strangers arrive at my doorstep because they pressed the “randomness” button, not because they were attracted to my blog title on a list. I can only imagine how disorienting it may be for the Random traveler to find me. No more so, perhaps, than I experience when I run across sites apparently devoted to Baby Talk or Intelligent Prostitution or Antique Confederate Belts or Knitting Forever (not real site names, unless by accident). Of course, those sites do seem to stick to a theme. I have not yet mastered that. I’m not certain I’ve even mastered making sense. The suggestion has been made to the contrary, and I feel like I prove it pretty often.

Stay Tuned For The Unconscionable

Anyway, I’ll let you know if the unconscionable concentration camp con man known as King Rat turns into a good guy or if it turns out that he always was a good guy in disguise. The latter doesn’t seem likely, but all things are possible in a story. That’s why I tell you so many stories. I want to see if I can inform you of anything true. I’ve led you to believe that some of the stories are true; but why would I tell you any true stories? Better yet, how could I tell you any true stories? My memory’s too faulty and, besides, Sergeant Friday doesn’t live here any more.

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