And this one is full of the most recent books I've read. These aren't all in the last week (like the movies) but they are all after the completion of the dissertation. I've also included some links to sites about the authors, books, etc. From oldest forward, again:
1. Kadare, Ismail. The File on H. It's about a pair of Irish Homer scholars who go to a tiny, remote village in Albania, along the Serbian line, to research epic poems still being told in the oral tradition. Their visit is assumed to be a spy mission by the "federal" and local governments. Hilarity is supposed to ensue. This one is supposed to be "part spy novel, part comedy of errors" according to the back of the book and I've seen rave reviews of the author--along the lines of "thank god he's finally translated into English for the wider market, he's a genius . . . " Unfortunately the comedy part doesn't come off as particularly funny when it could, I think. Maybe with a different writer. It's like when a comedy skit is really funny on paper but the actors bomb. And it's not even really a bomb in the book. It's readable, you have a vague interest in what happens but it doesn't come off as even remotely funny. But the frustrating part is that you can see how it could be funny. Maybe it may be a cultural/language thing? The author is Albanian. I'll give the author another try but wouldn't recommend this particular book.
2. Meloy, Maile. Liars and Saints. She's one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists. I really like this one. I read it in one sitting. An easy read with multiple narrators about several generations of a Catholic family in California and all of the mishaps that befall them. It's both funny and tragic and, I think, honest about families and their dysfunctions. The characters are all mostly likable despite some severe flaws which I think is hard to accomplish.
3. McCall Smith, Alexander. Dream Angus. (part of Canongate's myth series) This is another easy read and I read this one in one sitting as well. It's about the Irish/Scottish dream "god" Angus. The book is more or less short stories strung together with the common character of Angus, although he appears in different forms and as different characters, if that makes sense. I like the last story a lot despite my want to dislike part of the content--I'd have to give away the end. They remind me of sort of sweet bedtime stories, which is appropriate for the subject matter. Interestingly, this book does not appear on his website--which is mainly focused on his Ladies Detective Agency Books and other series.
4. Maugham, W. Somerset. The Painted Veil. I'd hoped the book would fill in some of the character in the boring movie. I disliked the movie because it seemed as if some of the character development was lacking but I thought I saw how it could be a good movie and moving story if those things were filled in. I hoped the book would do that. I was wrong. I didn't finish reading it because I knew the story from the movie and the novel wasn't adding anything. Of the two, I'd say watch the movie because it will take less time and it is at least pretty. But, I'd really advise skipping both.
5. Mosher, Howard Frank. Stranger in the Kingdom. Yick! Don't read it! This one is supposed to be about "the unforgettable story of a brutal murder in a small town and the devastating events that follow." First problem is that none of that is true for the first two thirds of the book except the small town part. No one is murdered until that far into the narrative--literally page 266 of 421. Additionally, the author really just wants to show off his knowledge of SAT words. Really, I think he bought the learn vocabulary cds they recommend for the SAT or GRE. The narrator is another problem, I guess it is supposed to be an adult looking back on the summer in his childhood when these events happened but we're never really told that in so many words and the narration switches from the vocab-heavy to sounding like a child. Way inconsistent. I stopped reading it after I learned who died. And, on page 297 where I stopped reading, there were no real "events that follow" of consequence. I'm not sure who wrote the blurb on the back of the book but he/she is either a complete moron or did not read the book at all.
6. Mason, Bobbie Ann. Atomic Romance. This one was a disappointment. I'd read "Shiloh" and liked it. But I just couldn't get into this one. I think I gave it 50 pages or so and I still didn't care about the main character at all. It's about this guy who is pretty smart but works a blue collar job at the nuclear plant. He has a dog, his mother is in a nursing home, his sister is across the country, his best friend is an alcoholic, he won't call the woman he most recently dated but he desperately wants to. Could be interesting. But it isn't.
7. Meloy, Maile. Family Daughter. At first this one made me very angry. I almost stopped reading after 20 pages because it is about the same family in Liars and Saints but some very crucial character elements (like whether certain of them are alive or not) are changed. I thought the author had broken her own rules. Nope. It's worth the read. It turns out (this isn't a huge spoiler or anything) that in Family Daughter one of the characters, Abby, is writing a novel vaguely (ok, a LOT) like her family, she publishes it and that novel is Liars and Saints. She goofs in that in Family, Abby changes the characters names so as to not really anger her family and to be able to claim it as pure fiction but Liars uses the same names as Family. What I think is interesting is that I found myself liking the characters as they are in Liars more than the "real" ones in Family. I wonder if Family were read first, if the characters in Liars would be less likable . . . She's got one more book, Half in Love (short stories) and I think I'll read that too.
8. Palahniuk, Chuck. Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey. I've been halfway reading this one for a little while now. It's ok. Typical Palahniuk. The narration is interesting in that it's the story of Rant after he's died as told by family, friends, acquaintances, etc. Nothing special but not terrible either.
9. Pessl, Marisha. Special Topics in Calamity Physics. (side note: her name is a link to her myspace page, she's annoyingly pretty to be so young and talented. The title is a link to its own website with additional info--I haven't looked at this yet because it promises spoilers). I'm in the process of reading this one now--about 100 pages in to the 500 or so. It's good but not in a "I want to stay up all night to finish it way" so it's taking me a little while to read. It's about a college (Harvard) student with an academic father and a dead mother who tells the story of her senior year in high school during which a teacher died horribly. It's geek-fun. The parts and chapters are set up like a syllabus but the content of each is only vaguely connected to the titles so it's not annoying in a "look at all of the books I've read and can twist the plot of my story to fit" way. And the narrator is smart and likable, referencing other texts in her descriptions in a fun snarky way. But she's also just a little geek trying to not get hurt when making friends at a new school (she and her dad move every 4-6 months or so). It's good but it makes me want to re-read The Secret History by Donna Tartt.
10. Gaiman, Neil. Stardust. I liked the movie preview so I wanted to read the book. That and Tracy and Rachel like him (and I like what I've read of the Sandman series). I'm liking it so far although it lead to a terrible dream in which Joel dies of a 105 temperature and I'm left to care for a strange baby that shows up . . . . This is the dream that results from a day in which I watch Die Hard and Harper and read parts of Special Topics and Stardust and a fashion magazine . . . my poor brain is confused.
Ok, so that catches me up. I'll post more on the unfinished novels as I read. Next on the list is The Once and Future King as promised to Joel and The Confederacy of Dunces as promised to my dad.
No comments:
Post a Comment