Jordan Harper’s Everybody Knows comes recommended by many lists and all of them promise this is both an Important novel and an Enjoyable one, and I’m not convinced its either.
Sure there are some stark descriptions of LA and the madness of the traffic and the absurdity of the people and what they wear/eat/consume/do. Descriptions that are well written and evocative and spectacular in ways that mirror their subject matter AND YET.
Continue readingFiled under American literature, Book I'll Forget I Read, Fiction, Mystery
I probably read The Mists of Avalon 26 times when I was a teenager. Between it and Gone With the Wind its hard to say which I read more, but in both I found something of the epic (and the romance). (While I haven’t tried to reread The Mists of Avalon, I did attempt to read GWTW again in my twenties and was aghast at the racism and had to stop. A post for another time is the particular feeling of re-reading a book from childhood only to discover you have so changed).
So when I saw the description of Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword as an epic to rival that of The Mists, I eagerly picked it up – undaunted or swayed by the mighty thousand pages. And I did enjoy the first 700 enough that I kept going. But eventually the slog got me. The epic quest too much for this failed knight. The weight of the journey too much to bear. Etc repeat.
Continue readingFiled under Book I'll Forget I Read, Worst Books
If you, like me, are struggling to stop listening to All the Politics Podcasts because none of them make you feel anything other than deep worry for the world and sadness and whatcanyoudoanyway, then let me offer you the suggestion of murder mystery audiobooks.
There are two types of audiobooks: those you need to listen to closely and carefully – say literary fiction and those that you can have on in the background while you clean, make lunches, drive. If you are aiming to replace podcasts – that perfect medium for doing something else while listening – then you need the second category. The books that have enough plot and enough repetition of that plot that if you stop paying attention for a few minutes, say to take the clothes out of the dryer, you haven’t missed some crucial piece of character development.
And here is where the Cormoran Strike mysteries shine. Lots of repetition of key plot points as the two detectives, Cormoran and Robin, discuss their investigations, crushingly slow development of their romantic relationship, near endless reminders that Cormoran has an amputated leg and likes greasy food.
What does not work as well is the muddling of the murder investigations themselves. Lots of characters involved – in one of the books, Ink Black Heart, there are eight or so characters who have both internet names and real world names and you have to try to match each to each while only paying Half Attention. It doesn’t work very well. So you really have to accept that you’ll always be a little unsure of who is who in the murder investigation, or maybe actually read the books.
Having finished all six I can’t claim these are the best murder mysteries out there – probably hovering more like average – but I will say I am very glad to have purged my life of endless speculation about the 2024 election and reporting of polls that don’t matter anyway. So if you have another series to recommend, let me know.
Filed under Book I'll Forget I Read, Mystery
I have tried a couple of times to read Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead but each time gave up with boredom (despite it being routinely included on best-of-all-time lists). So what made me think I’d fine the second book set in the town of Gilead and focused on religion to be more captivating, I’m not sure. But I was! More captivated that is. Still not going to run away with any prizes for being enthralling or Utterly Engrossing, but definitely a winner here in the slow burn of character development and theme.
The book follows Jack and Glory, siblings returned home to care for their dying father – a retired minister. I guess Jack didn’t really come home to care for him, or Glory either, both sort of find their lives falling apart and return home, conveniently to care for the dying dad. For Jack it’s a return after a long exile/absence and for his father this is something of a chance to redeem Jack (who’s soul he has been Very Worried About).
Unfolding over many scenes of making tea, or standing in a garden, or rocking on a porch bench, Glory and Jack reconnect and cautiously share and build trust. It asks readers to figure out where the limit of familial bond might be, how we carry/negotiate/give up/fail/rebuild familial expectations, and when – if ever – we might be allowed to start our lives again when they Go Wrong.
If you are tired, sleepy, exhausted, even a bit likely to doze, I’d say make this a Morning Book as you will almost certainly fall asleep within a paragraph as the lyrical writing and slowwww pace are very… lulling. But if you’ve got your 8 hours and a cup of coffee, you could do much worse for a book to read and contemplate What It All Means.
Literary Vice 