Book Reports

By Riley Sager

Please don't bother with this one. I got this book through Book of the Month and was intrigued by the idea, but the author doesn't explore the idea of "final girls" and society's interest in beautiful young women as victims to a satisfying degree, and when he does, it's clumsy. The book is well paced and the twists are laid out often enough to keep you reading so I can understand why people like it. But the writing is overbearing and the final reveal is not satisfying. It's littered with clumsy, distracting, and irrelevant metaphors in each paragraph and a lot of them are not even appropriate. And the descriptions are repetitive. I get it, the main character's boyfriend is a public defender. That doesn't mean his life and everything about him is defined by it. The characters in this book don't act like real people or even act consistently at all, and the only likable one is one that we never meet (Lisa, whose death triggers the events of the book). To Sager's credit, that makes them all suspicious and leaves open a lot of possibilities which is what compelled me to keep reading, but that's ruined by the ending which is a real stretch. It was sort of nice to see that this book attempts to explore feminist themes, and at the end the women mostly come together and support each other through everything they've gone through. But that's undermined by the way we actually see them interact throughout the rest of the book. The more I think about this book the less I like it.

P.S. I have to say having read the book I’m suspicious of the (male) author’s decision to use a gender neutral pseudonym in writing a book about women

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg

This is the post that led to me reading Annihilation. It’s being made into a movie! By the Ex Machina guy! With Oscar Isaac AGAIN!!

by Jeff VanderMeer

Annihilation is the first in a trilogy about the mysterious Area X; cut off from the rest of civilization for decades, nature is taking over the landscape and hiding the area’s many secrets. An expedition of four women is sent to investigate, and they realize very quickly that all is not as they’ve been told. For one thing, there’s a mysterious underground tower that’s not marked on any map and what they find there will quickly divide the group as they try not to be contaminated by Area X itself. None of the characters have names, they’re identified only by their professions; there’s the psychologist and leader who uses hypnosis to control the group, the meek anthropologist, the surveyor with military training, and the biologist, who narrates the story but quickly proves that she can’t be trusted.

When I first heard the description, I thought Annihilation was going to be a typical sci-fi adventure. But the most distinguishing feature of the book is its spooky tone and it reads more like a horror-mystery. Even though the narrator never mentions any, I imagine thick fog blanketing the ground throughout the novel. Area X is known to have a psychological and perhaps biological influence over people, so the biologist is never sure if she can trust her senses or her memories. Compounding on that, as the reader I never knew if she was holding back information so there’s a overarching sense of uncertainty throughout, and it is never fully resolved. 

Some readers I’m sure will be very frustrated by the book’s ending, which answers the biologist’s questions but leaves many mysteries unresolved. It’s a fair complaint and if you’re looking for concrete answers you will not be satisfied (although I hold out hope that at least a few more questions will be answered in the rest of the trilogy). But I simply put I just wasn’t bothered. The mechanics of what, exactly, is affecting people is not as interesting as why they’ve come, who they are, and how they respond in the face of it. This is a vague novel to be sure, but it’s also haunting and gripping and I devoured it in a day.

CBR 4

by Jonathan Franzen

I picked up Purity because I heard that it had a great female character, and in that regard I was not let down. I would actually argue that there are two. From what I know of his other books (which I’ve never read, but The Corrections is in that ever-growing pile of books-I-own-and-will-definitely-maybe-someday-read), Franzen is incredibly talented at filling his books with fully realized characters. Purity features a main cast of five very complex characters who you get to know very well and I really wish that I hadn’t.

Pip Tyler is a recent college graduate struggling with her loans in Oakland when she gets recruited to join a hacker collective in Bolivia called “the Sunshine Project” led by the enigmatic Andreas Wolf. As you can see already, Franzen is very hip to the zeitgeist and is totally capturing Our Time. It’s all very edgy and with-it. After Bolivia she winds up working at an online investigative newspaper led by Tom Aberrant (yes really), who has a mysterious connection to Wolf. The novel switches between the perspectives of Pip, Andreas, Tom, and Tom’s girlfriend/coworker Leila with varying success. Tom is a respectable and interesting enough character, but most of the chapter is spent examining his toxic relationship with his ex-wife which is not even interesting. If Franzen’s goal was for the reader to feel as trapped and abused as Tom, it worked. And the Andreas chapters are spent either blaming his (mentally ill) mother for not loving him enough and causing him to pursue unsatisfying sexual relationships (usually with teenage girls), or pondering the connection between the German socialist experiment and the internet surveillance state. Suffice to say it was insufferable. 

Franzen is trying to tell two stories at once. One is an intimate portrait of families and how we spend our lives trying to avoid making the same mistakes as our parents. It’s in these close relationships that the book is the most successful, breaking down unhealthy relationships and how we should expect better for ourselves. But he’s also trying to make Big Statements about the State of Modern Society and frankly I found them incredibly boring, especially because they’re mostly delivered by an insufferable character who uses these statements as a way of bolstering his own ego. He makes smaller points about activism through Pip and Tom that work much better, but Andreas is so insufferable that any points he tries to make about activism fall flat. And maybe that was intentional on Franzen’s part, but that doesn’t make those chapters any less of a slog. There is eventually a good payoff to the inclusion of the Andreas character but it came way too late in the game for me. Maybe more empathetic readers will feel sympathy for Andreas, who admittedly is still a very real-seeming character, but I just could not get there.

The characters are mostly very well drawn and honest, although he tries harder than necessary to make sure we Get them and their issues, and it removes some of the nuance that makes weak characters interesting. On the flip side, he over complicates the novel by throwing in connections to economic theory, security, and the digital age which mostly don’t work. Purity is just not as clever as Franzen wants it to be. 

CBR 3

Cannot recommend enough. One of the best female characters I've read since Miranda Grey in "The Collector" 📖👀

By Haruki Murakami

Sputnik Sweetheart is one of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever reluctantly finished. Murakami (and a lot of credit for this goes to the book’s Japanese-to-English translator Philip Gabriel) has a true gift for prose and it’s that single characteristic more than anything else that compelled me to finish the book. I’ve never read one of his books before but from what I know about him, Sputnik Sweetheart is pretty typical of his body of work. It’s narrated by K, a young teacher in Japan with one friend who he’s desperately in love with. Sumire is an aspiring writer who would’ve fit in well with the Beats, and she’s the only person that he’s ever felt a connection with. So when she goes missing while on vacation with her boss (who she’s in love with), K travels all the way to Athens to figure out what happened to her.

The main theme (and consequently the main emotion you’ll feel while reading this) is loneliness and isolation. Loneliness and the search for passion is all the characters think or talk about, and even at a scant 210 pages it weighs you down. It reminded me of the quiet that only comes in the dead of night when you feel like you’re the only person in the world who’s awake. Your mind is foggy and confused and there’s no one to talk to to help you sort it out. It’s to Murakami’s credit that the book is so effective at capturing an emotion, but it’s also why, in the middle of reading, I put it down for two months. I needed to find a respite since the book doesn’t really give you any. It doesn’t help that the pace of the book doesn’t pick up until about two-thirds through.

Sputnik Sweetheart is a beautiful exploration on loneliness (with some interesting detours into the writing process via Sumire), fulfillment, and the rarity of a true human connection. But that heavy kind of loneliness is a rough weight to bear and for most of the book there isn’t enough to K that merits taking that weight on. The book is ultimately saved by Murakami’s gorgeous prose, because he brings enough beauty to the sadness. 

This could be great. The book is very adaptable and reminds me of the Hunger Games in that way.

-The lead is a very stoic and independent teenage girl who has a rich inner life but is able to focus on the very dangerous tasks ahead of her

-Lots of cool supporting characters who get great moments of heroism themselves

-Very visually stimulating

-Annoying teen love story that if toned down (although it’s not as bad as in The Hunger Games and there’s no love triangle) could work beautifully in the film, because it is still important to the story

By Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

A recent article in The Atlantic argues that British children’s stories are better than American ones, because the British often tap into fantasy and paganism in a way that really captures a child’s imagination. The heroes of these stories are not setting out to learn a moral, but are “trickster[s] who triumph through wit and skill.” Well in the case, Good Omens is the story of that British child growing up and viewing religion and fantasy with common sense and a deep understanding of humanity. And that child happens to be the Antichrist, also known as the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness.  

In Good Omens, angels and demons, Heaven and Hell, Revelations, witches, and prophecies are all real. And not just real as in they exist, but depicted with an everyday sort of common sense. Written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, the whole novel has a quintessential wry British humor. The gently mocking tone reminds me a lot of the Edward Eager books I grew up with, with its affection for the book’s flawed characters and the dramatic irony that they act out (almost every character thinks they are either thwarting or acting out a Great Plan, and boy do they have no clue). 

The story follows an angel and demon who have lived on Earth for so long that when the Apocalypse comes, they decide that since Earth is far more interesting than Heaven or Hell, they should save it. Other forces fighting for or against the Apocalypse include the Antichrist, various angels and demons, a witch, the Witchfinder Army, and the four Horsepersons of the Apocalypse. They get themselves into a beautiful mess of things, and as in any good pagan tale, it’s ultimately up to a child to sort all these adults, heavenly beings, and agents of hell out. ”It’s just sense” he says to them.

Pratchett and Gaiman do a beautiful job of telling a story with wit, cynicism, irony, and above all warmth. It’s an incredibly funny and smart view of humanity and what we’ve got ourselves into, and the triumph of good old common sense. 

Good Omens

by Noelle Stevenson, art by Brooke A. Allen

Lumberjanes is the latest piece of YA content to contribute to my bitterness over never getting to go summer camp (The Parent Trap being the original and still most significant). Jo, April, Molly, Mal, and Ripley are cabinmates and best friends at Mis Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types (if that name doesn’t at least put a smile on your face, this comic is not for you) where they keep coming across very mysterious and supernatural events. Using a combination of friendship, guts, cleverness, and gumption, they manage to support each oth---you get the gist.

The target audience and sensibility of the series should be pretty clear already. If you have a young, tenacious, silly, and smart young girl (or boy) in your life get this book in her (or his) hands right away. Each member of the quintet is distinct and this group is diverse in every way possible. Reading the first volume was like watching a great kid’s cartoon.

I should also mention that the whole team behind the series is made up of women, which is probably why it so deftly captures the lives of smart young girls without needing to say “HEY LOOK THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT SMART YOUNG GIRLS AND ALSO DIVERSITY”. It accepts without question that girls are diverse, smart, and worthy of having their stories told without ever consciously needing to say it; the creators simply accept it to be true.

Hmmm. I should game my 2016 Goodreads challenge by finishing a bunch of half-read books in one go. 

HA!

It’s that time again. This go-round I’m trying to take my time rather than let my eyes jump all the way down the page. I guess that just comes of growing older and maturing, you know? Gotta take the time to really savor the Harry Potter series.

Emily Blunt on her role in The Girl on the Train

This is a great interview by Emily Blunt about roles for women in film and the conflation of “strong” with “violent” but the main takeaway here is that she’s going to play Rachel in The Girl on the Train! I can’t wait, I think she’ll be great in it and this is a highly adaptable book. Megan and Anna have also been cast (Haley Bennett and Rebecca Ferguson). The whole interview is great, but here’s what she had to say about the adaptation.

But you're not doing action for your next role in "The Girl on the Train."

Well, I’m about to play an alcoholic next. So, I guess I’m looking for that. Looking to play Boozebag McGee, in the next one I’m doing.

I love that book. We read it in my book club.

Oh, you did? I love that you have a book club. Yeah, it’s great. And it will be a very down and dirty version of it. And weird. And I really like the director’s take on it. I like that he’s not shying away from damaged women. Because if you think about it, that’s most of what people have responded to. It’s not really the thriller aspect of the book, it’s the representation of three damaged women, who are very real and a lot of women can associate with them. And again, you don’t see that on film. So I guess my main intention when I look for a role, I think it’s something that we don’t usually see in cinema.

When you’re reading the book, you meet Rachel first and you think the book is just about her, but when you realize it’s three women, it’s really exciting.

Frankly I had very little interest in this book when I picked it up. Penguin Random House was pushing it hard at the ALA Convention so I bought into the hype and grabbed a copy. (The ALA Convention, by the way, was definitely not lacking in YA sci fi/fantasy trilogies featuring a plucky heroine and the Penguin Random House exhibit was the last one I went to so I was burnt out to say the least). The description on the jacket turned me off with its emphasis on the romance part of the story, and the writing style seemed like a gimmick. It sounded like just another YA series for tumblr (hypocrisy 100% noted) to work themselves up over. But the fat bright red book kept catching my eye so I picked it up and then didn’t put it down for three days.

Illuminae is a new YA sci fi/dystopian/teen romance novel coming out in October. Kady is a talented young hacker who has a problem with authority (of course) and Ezra is her recently ex boyfriend. Their mining colony gets attacked by a rival corporation and they end up escaping on two different ships, being chased across remote space. This is all just the set-up by the way; the rest of the book has them face military secrets, a deadly airborne virus, and an AI that’s lost its mind. The conceit of the book is that it’s a dossier of files investigating the invasion and the events that followed, so the story is presented through emails, chat logs, transcripts, medical files, etc.

If the plot description sounds like it could be its own trilogy, you’d be right (Kristoff’s own summary does a good job at laying out the many elements and is much more intriguing than the jacket). About a third of the way through the book I finally took a break and questioned how they could possibly maintain the pace for another 400 pages but Kaufman and Kristoff keep bringing up the stakes. Kady’s goals start out small, but as she digs she finds out things that she can’t turn away from, and it’s her bravery and commitment that keeps the story moving along. Kady can’t slow down so we don’t either.

Kaufman and Kristoff capitalize on the popularity of the genre by building on its tropes. There’s a familiar shorthand they use to clue in the reader so that they don’t have to spend a lot of time on exposition (even though the book’s format means that it’s almost all exposition, really) and can keep up the ridiculous pace. It only takes one short chat log between Ezra and his military buddy McNulty to understand their relationship because it feels just like so many army buds we’ve seen before. Same goes for Ann Chau, the weathered and tough captain of the science vessel Hypatia. I don’t mean this as an insult though-they use these tropes to their advantage and make the many, many characters feel familiar and real straight away. It also helps that we’re reading records left by the characters themselves, a strength of the book’s format. And while this has little to do with the quality of the story or its telling, I want to commend Kaufman and Kristoff for populating their world with an incredibly diverse cast-they cross boundaries of age, gender, race, class, occupation, sexual orientation, moral alignment, and even organic existence.

This story is not afraid to enter a bleak pace and buy a home there. You have a philosophizing AI asking questions about life and existence and setting off a chain of horrible events. As things spin out of control so does the story’s format. They really play with the novel form and create some gorgeous typographic pages as the story bottoms out and cycles back to a beautiful message of bravery and sacrifice. I still maintain that no one wants to read sappy teenage declarations of love but it’s easier to swallow when that love is the motivating force of the entire story and drives the characters to incredible feats. The first installment isn’t even out yet and I’m waiting for the second.