Reading through my lost decade: Pulitzer Update

I was born in the early 1980s, and although my, perhaps, most vivid childhood memories occurred in the 90's, I somehow still hold this notion that I am a child of the 80s. I realized that if this had truly been the case, I would have been more enthralled with Madonna than New Kids on the Block, I would have had the shame of photographic evidence of hair dos gone wrong much worse than I currently have, and I'd probably have a more astute and first-hand understanding of the Clinton (and possibly Reagan) years. I have come to terms with not being a true 80s child - but I still had a yearning to learn about this "lost decade" that bumbled and bounced all around me while I was more preoccupied with Cabbage Patch kids.

From BN.com

I decided that I would be more systematic in my reading of the Pulitzer fiction list - previously I was selecting books at random avoiding those books with more than 600 pages and/or those housed in that strange and abandoned Western fiction section of my library. I decided to read through the 1980s. I assumed (quite correctly, I must admit) that if I were to read the prized novels of a decade, I might come to understand and perhaps appreciate those lost years of mine.

I had already read a couple of the books from the 80s - A Confederacy of Dunces and Ironweed - and the funny thing was that by forcing myself to read a decade it also meant I had to overcome most of the items on the "avoid" list I mentioned earlier - one of the books was more than 1,000 pages, another was 800 pages and  housed in Western fiction, and most annoying of all, I had to endure more Rabbit Angstrom (whom I loathed, and yes, I know he's just a fictional character).

From bn.com

If I had to pick my top 3 from the 1980s it would be the Executioner's Song (the chilling 1,000+ page tome that, at the end, I still wanted more), Beloved (astounding!), and of course, A Confederacy of Dunces.

But I didn't read through the 1980s merely to pick favorites. I wanted to learn something. To extrapolate. And what I found was that life in the 80s was very similar to post-2008 life today. You had a recession, you had ever increasing gas prices, you had a tense political situation at home and abroad, you had frugality, you had questions about the country's biggest issues... In fact, I must say I was a bit shocked to read dialogue in Rabbit is Rich that could be repeated verbatim today without one person knowing it was written 30 years ago - people wanting cars with excellent gas mileage, social security won't be around by the time I'm ready to collect it, and how Carter had no clue what he was doing.

Incredible.

From BN.com

In the Executioner's Song I learned about the drawn out and oft-debated topic of capital punishment. In Breathing Lessons I found a rather bleak view of the institution of marriage. Foreign Affairs brought me the story of expatriates unwittingly desiring home. Beloved and The Color Purple both examined the life of African Americans although in different centuries (19th and 20th, respectively), and while I admit that The Color Purple is everything The Help wished it were, Beloved just blew my mind. Toni Morrison most definitely deserved every prize she received, especially the Nobel for Literature. Ironweed examined the life of the undesirables in our society and how they got there. And in a way, A Confederacy of Dunces does the same thing, but in a much more humorous and entertaining fashion. Rabbit, was Rabbit. And as much as I dislike the character, I have much respect for John Updike for writing such interesting stories about such deplorable characters. Lonesome Dove read like a beautiful movie and a Summons to Memphis showed the result of blaming parents for our problems.

My plan was successful. I finished reading the last book from the 1980s and I was already making connections and drawing conclusions about this decade.

And now, as I continue on my journey of reading all of the Pulitze prize winners (I am now finished with 43 of 85), I think I will start reading the 1950s. My mom was born exactly 30 years before me, and I'm wondering now if she feels the same was as I do about being a child of the 50s. Was she more accurately a child of the 60s? Either way, I'm going to read about that decade next. And I will most definitely update you on what I find.