A Hole in Texas: A Novel

Prior to reading this book, I had only read two of Wouk's novels. I was very impressed. The first – The Caine Mutiny - is well known, if for nothing else, because of the movie it is based on. But the novel surpasses the movie (as so often happens.) It is a straight ahead narrative of a mutiny and the misconceived perceptions people have about other people. Serious and compelling, I greatly enjoyed it. Because of that experience, the second book was a surprise. Don't Stop the Carnival was humorous look at a man who attempts to run away from his nasty life in the big city. Funny, acerbic, touching, lovable off-beat characters – again, a book I enjoyed. Two novels by one author as different in temperament as could be. Yet both showed show more the Wouk's skills as a storyteller who also had the skill to bring very different kinds of people to life.

Two books that indicate Wouk is at home in many different milieus and equally successful. And the setting of a stage for my expectations of continued great things.

A Hole in Texas falls into the same category as Don't Stop the Carnival. It is intended to be a wry look at the collision between politics and science. The "hole" alluded to is the super collider that was almost completed in Texas. The book's primary focus is Guy Carpenter – a physicist who worked on that collider. Events transpire (recent events over which he has no control and past events for which he must bear the blame) which cause him to be brought back to the project. It seems the Chinese have made a significant discovery in that arena. The US reacts in a way very reminiscent to the 60's-space-race paranoia that followed Sputnik. However, it is the 21st Century, so now throw in the power of the media and a little Hollywood megabillion dollar mania, and you have the environment in which the novel functions. We are told the story of how this all goes strangely, while showing us more about Guy and the people around him – their strengths and foibles – and we learn that craziness is not the purview of any one group or any one individual.

I am tempted to add the phrase "and hilarity ensues" because I think that is part of the point. Unfortunately, while Wouk makes several attempts, what ensures is less hilarity and more a shrug of the shoulders and, occasionally, a minor titter. You may have noted that I previously used the phrase "intended to be a wry look". The road to so-so books is paved with such intentions.

You can see this book trying. It is trying to be satirical. It is trying to be funny. It is trying (as it says on the back cover blurb) to be rollicking. But it never gets above try. Part of the problem is that this attempt relies too much on clichés we have all seen. The crazed Hollywood people, the bickering Washington lawmakers, the buried-in-their-studies scientists. Even the infidelities feel contrived. None rise above the clichés to become something more, nor are the clichés used to effectively evoke humor, wryness, the ability to "rollick".

And (giving nothing away) the end seems far too pat and, in today's political environment, implausible. (And the book is from 2004 – it was just as implausible then.) Somewhat happy times for all.

I just didn't buy it.

This is a pleasant enough novel. And Wouk is a good writer – his skills are the only thing that saves the novel. But, shy of a quick read when nothing else peaks your interest, it is a novel that really hasn't got that much worth going after. There is definitely worse out there, but there is also better. show less

Very entertaining satire of Congress, Hollywood, nosy and malicious reporters, and dog-eat-dog Academia which also teaches particle physics in a surprisingly understandable way. I loved it!

What, me reading mundane (non-SF) fiction? Not exactly, since the title's "hole" is the one left by the Superconducting SuperCollider (SSC) project infamously killed by Congress in 1993. The SSC might have found the Higgs boson, the still-missing piece of the Standard Model of particle physics. Now, Wouk's plot asks, what if the present-day Chinese were to discover the Higgs and develop a Boson Bomb?

2026 book #14. 2004. In 1993 Congress defunded the Superconducting Super Collider in Texas. This book picks up the story in 2003, when the Chinese claim to have found the Higgs Boson. Mostly a satire on how the government does big science, mainly in panic. A bit dated but OK.

About 300 pages. I read it in 3 days. Well developed, interesting characters. I liked the technical physics talk. Some good humor and great drama. Perhaps too many attractions of a romantic nature and too much alcohol drinking made main character a bit unbelieveable. I mean could you be a high level physicist in NASA and drink and romance that much and still have time for work?

Herman is Pulitzer Prize winner. He certainly didn’t win it for this book. It seemed like it was written following a model. Combine 3 popular things which each appeal to a diverse range of people to increase book sales. In this case the book combines American politics, quantum physics and an orange cat. The Chinese have discovered the Higgs bosum particle and the Americans are afraid they’re going to make a bomb. The orange cat contributes little to the story line.

Don't waste your time. Go read a good book.

Fiction