Second "Half" of I The Supreme

In all honesty for the past week I hadn't touched the book, instead choosing to relish the thrill that is being one of the infamous "bad people out there." But, my inner law abiding self has triumphed, and so I will move to being a good person for at least a few days, since i suppose this means I will have to start reading yet another book and for Tuesday. Anyways, here goes...

IT IS WITH REGRET THAT I INFORM ALL WHO READ THIS POSTING THAT I HAVE FINISHED READING THIS BOOK... AND I DO NOT LIKE IT. 

Too bad the blogger program doesn't have handwriting font, I wanted a cheap shot at a similarity with the 

opening of this book... because, like the writing on the wall, THIS BOOK ALMOST KILLED ME. I would sit

and stare at it, knowing i had hundreds of pages to go and I was already behind and it wouldn't read itself...

and then i would crack a beer and watch Kitchen Nightmares instead. I had mentioned the enormity of my task to my

girlfriend's dad, who is an english teacher at UBC and is also named Jon, and he suggested that if worst came to worst i might

want to skip a section in the middle and read the ending and try to piece it together. Given the name-based credibility

he had, i figured i'd try. So i skipped a section and came upon the page where The Supreme, I believe (damn missing punctuation)

is telling of how Solomon used to sleep with concubines and torture them and hold their eyeballs etc. (which rather reminded me of Facundo, but i've said enough about that book as well)

So... I sense a theme amongst dictators...

I continued to read and came upon the section where the Supreme talks about Pilar the Black. He is a slave/servant from what i understand,

yet El Supremo speaks with a kind of respect for his abilities, and clearly this man is at least as intimately involved

in his life as is Patino. It also made me think of the bad treatment Patino would get near the very end... 

Then there is the relaying of the story where Pilar steals his uniform and goes crazy, and the guards

don't know who to listen to, because they seem to mistake the Supreme for Pilar (with his voice) and Pilar for the supreme.

This is interesting to me because it reminds me of something i spoke of in an earlier blog, or at least meant to. The fascination

of these tin-pot dictatorships with pomp and ceremony and elaborate shoulder-padded uniforms with gold braiding and brass buckles etc.

Its almost as though, without his uniform, The Supreme is nothing. The very title is revealed to be ridiculous as well..

It reminds one of a child who has climbed a hill and declares himself The King of the Castle...and he is certainly The King, regardless of his ability to do the Job compared to the others...

but as soon as he leaves that hill

He is exactly the same as the others...

I apologize for the bizarre formatting... it just happened. I feel doubly-bad because we've all just gone through reading a bizarrely formatter book... and here I am making you do it again. I actually have just here figured it out I think... but i cant seem to get the rest to re-format. Anyways, your patience is appreciated, and i promise a more punctual, and I HOPE I HOPE I HOPE more interesting entry next week.

ps. Sorry Jon, I really wanted to love this book... if only to ingratiate myself to you so that at the next "Men named Jon meeting" you might talk me up.