Category Archives: Fiction

Gods Behaving Badly: Funny

I almost wish I had more to say about God behaving Badly, but I don’t suppose more needs to be said: the book is funny, and so, enjoyable.

Turns out I do have more to say: a book can be only funny and still be worth reading. While humor usually points out some more “serious” truth (in this case that belief can be powerful), I think humor for its own sake makes this book worthwhile (particularly because the more “serious” message of the book is both obvious and left to the final two pages).

My principal complaint with the novel, then, is not its frivolity, but its insistence on pointing out who each of the Greeks gods are: “Ares, God of War, is busy causing war in the middle east,” or Aphrodite, Goddess of Beauty, is beautiful.” It’s an affront to my intelligence to tell me who each of the Greek gods and goddess are, and even if I didn’t know (and still picked up the book), I’d have been happier looking the list of gods up on an online encyclopedia or (heaven forbid – ha!) in a book.

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Filed under Fiction, Funny

Plainsong: I want to be a cowboy

Reading Plainsong immediately after Hunting and Gathering invites comparisons between the two: both novels begin with seemingly unconnected characters who, as the narrative progresses, become intimately intertwined in the lives of one another; both novels are unexpectedly hopeful, despite plot events that might suggest misery (in Plainsong: a seventeen year old pregnant, a depressed mother who cannot care for her two young boys, a delinquent youth who tortures the same young boys); both novels bring together exceptionally lonely people to suggest that loneliness can be overcome by reaching out to others. Continue reading

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Filed under American literature, Bestseller, Fiction

Hunting and Gathering: Best of 2009

The book actually came out in 2007, but I just read it this week, so it is that it finds its way into the best of 2009. Someone made a movie out of it, too, which is no surprise, as it’s a novel rich in dialogue and feeling. Continue reading

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Filed under Erin's Favourite Books, Fiction

Minus Time: Is it the same as losing time?

I’m writing this while the cat tries to dislodge the only Christmas tree ornament from the potted plant that serves as a Christmas tree. I moved the plant so she couldn’t see the ornament, but she continues to yell at the base of the plant and stand on her back legs trying to reach the ornament that isn’t there anymore. Continue reading

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Filed under Canadian Literature, Fiction