Aug 31 2015

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I gained an incredible amount of depth and nuance from re-reading this book as a minority member of American society with African-American friends and neighbors and co-workers, with firsthand experience now of their culture and struggles, as opposed to my first encounter with To Kill A Mockingbird when I was a 13 year-old member of an Asian majority. Back then I thought this was an amazing book about injustice and prejudice and how to handle oneself with grace: now the pain that underpins the novel is no longer an abstract. To Kill A Mockingbird is an impassioned plea for social justice, self-reflection and kindness, and I’m almost afraid to read Go Set A Watchman now (tho I’m sure my Ingress bookclub will help carry me through!)

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Aug 28 2015

Pack Of Strays by Dana Cameron

After the verve and uniqueness of the first book, this installment of the Fangborn series was a definite let down. Too much happens to Zoe too quickly, with only the sketchiest of explanations: whereas the globe-trotting of Seven Kinds Of Hell felt exotic and fast-paced, everything that happens here just feels rushed and jumbled. While that’s an apt mirror for all the chaos our heroine endures, it doesn’t make for a pleasant, or even very interesting, read. I’ll still give the last novel a try, tho I’m hoping it returns to the form of the first book and isn’t a continuation of this confusing mess.

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Aug 26 2015

Raising Demons by Shirley Jackson

Raising Demons is perfect. There are two other books I can think of that I regularly describe as perfect – Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint and Bertolt Brecht’s Threepenny Opera — and now I have a third. It is possible that if I took out my jeweller’s loupe, I could find an imperfection, an infelicitous word here, an unnecessary phrase there, but I very much doubt it.

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Aug 24 2015

The Annihilation Score by Charles Stross

Charles Stross’ Laundry series began as an unholy mashup of H.P. Lovecraft, The Office, and spy thrillers, told through the eyes of an initially low-level functionary. Bob, as you know, is Bob Howard, a systems administrator who stumbles onto the secret congruencies between higher math and applied magic. Paraphrasing Clarke’s Third Law, in the world of the Laundry sufficiently advanced mathematics are indistinguishable from magic. In fact, working sorcery is a branch of math and computation. For most of human history, this has meant that it was accessible only to a select few, but as both math and computation became first commonplace and then ubiquitous over the course of the twentieth century, sorcery was first institutionalized and then bureaucratized. In the books’ backstory, this parallels the trajectory of intelligence agencies in our timeline.

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Aug 23 2015

Lila by Marilynne Robinson

It is so very difficult for me to review Marilynne Robinson’s works, because I always feel like my own prose is inadequate to describing hers. I cried a lot reading Lila, because I understand what it feels like to fall in love with someone even when you don’t trust love or people or existence, when fear and shame are your mainstays and hope feels like an unattainable luxury, or something you deny yourself because it’s better that way, safer. I cried because this novel mirrored the fierce tenderness I feel every day as a mother, the gratitude I have for the sweetness of my children, the appreciation of every closeness they allow me. I cried because unfailing kindness always makes me cry, and unfailing kindness is the undeniable basis of religion in this book, never mind that it isn’t and will never be my religion, though they do share convictions. Lila wasn’t as good as Gilead, but that is asking too much of any book, that it outdo that masterwork. It is, however, an excellent novel on its own, and one to treasure on its own merits. Now I need to go lie down, I’m so worn out, but in a good way, from the experience.

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Aug 21 2015

In The Woods by Tana French

There was a lot I enjoyed about this book, but I had two very large problems with it, both to do with Rob Ryan. The first is fairly spoilertastic, and less to do with his character than with what I felt was a strange choice on the part of the author. Essentially, you never find out what happened to him as a child. I can perhaps understand this if Tana French intends to eventually tell us what happened in the course of the series, but it makes this installment feel unfinished. There’s also then the issue I had of wanting to be done with Ryan (in fact, the only reason I’m interested in reading the next book is because it purportedly focuses on Cassie) which is the second problem I had, that Ryan is incredibly tiresome.

Again, I don’t know if Ms French’s characterization of him is deliberate, if we’re supposed to find him so insufferable, and I do appreciate the fact that, right up until he makes the incredibly poor decisions that destroy his relationship with Cassie, he actually seems about average, if not outright likeable. Yes, he’s under a lot of stress, and yes, he’s reliving his childhood trauma, but I don’t for an instant believe that what he did is more a result of those than of a carefully nurtured flaw in his character whereby his is the most important, if not the only pain that matters to him. And I’d even find his egotism forgivable if he weren’t also so remarkably stupid. There’s one obnoxious passage where he breaks the fourth wall and talks about what a liar he is and how we, the readers, must have been just as hoodwinked as he was, and I just wanted to shout, “No, you useless excuse of a homicide detective, I knew the answer about 40% of the way in because I’m not a fucking moron!” And then just the stupid, stupid thing he does that compromises the entire case, and no, I’m not talking about keeping quiet about his true identity but just common attention to detail. Unbefuckinglievable.

This book would have worked fine as a character study of a deeply flawed individual, but as a police procedural it was horrendous. The saving grace was Cassie, and even then I felt a little uncomfortable at how close she came to being objectified as the “cool girl” (see: Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, which has only improved in my memory) by the sad sack narrator who done her wrong. You’d think for once that my Personal Issues would have me take some sort of satisfaction in what mirrors, at least emotionally, an episode from my own history, but it felt… self-serving, as if Ms French was trying to understand and excuse a toxic personality while simultaneously beatifying his victim. It always bothers me when a book forces an agenda at the expense of the story, and I’m afraid that that’s just what Ms French does with In The Woods.

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Aug 18 2015

Spirits Abroad by Zen Cho

I was initially resistant towards reading this book. If it was bad, I would feel a certain kind of “malu,” the nearly indescribable shade of embarrassment Malaysians feel when one of their own commits a faux pas, akin but not quite the same as the East Asian concept of losing “face.” And if it was good, I would just writhe with jealousy, because this is the kind of thing I’m supposed to be doing but keep finding excuses not to.

But of the two, I’d rather the latter, especially when the writing is as thoughtful and witty as Zen Cho’s. Her short stories transported me back to living in Malaysia, with its rich and unique assortment of supernatural beings. That said, it wasn’t a short story regarding a phenomenon unique to Malaysia that truly gripped me, but The Fish Bowl, the most affecting short story I’ve read in a long time. Su Yin’s pain, and the lengths she’d go to in order to preserve her careful facade, made me hurt for her. The only unsuccessful story in the collection, I felt, was The Earth Spirit’s Favorite Anecdote, which read like not great fanfic ahem.

One thing that bothered me about this collection was the need the author felt to add trigger warnings to her stories. I think it’s considerate of her, but this is a book of supernatural short stories, ffs. Any reader going into this without being prepared for disturbing imagery needs to maaaaybe not read books for grownups.

Anyway, loved this collection, tho some stories were definitely better than others. I wonder how it would read to someone unfamiliar with Malaysia, whether it would have the same resonance. Hmm, maybe I should press it one of the other women in my Ingress book club and find out.

And another after-effect of the book? It’s inspiring me, ever so slightly, to write more, tho at present, I’m still just germinating ideas in my brain. Maybe when the kids are in school :P.

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Aug 16 2015

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

This was over 400 pages, really? It was a total breeze to go through: entertaining without sacrificing meaning, hilarious and suspenseful by turn. I was completely in love with Madeline throughout, even tho she and I differ in one important respect: she adores conflict, but I too often find myself dragged unwillingly into it. I pretty much loved everything about this book, tho I felt it faltered slightly in telling Jane’s real reason for coming to Pirriwee. A comic masterpiece, especially relevant to modern mothers of young children. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

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Aug 15 2015

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

I wasn’t inclined to like the novel itself, but the really cool interactive app made this worthwhile for me. I loved the film posters and publicity photos I uncovered that way (and that creepy diary!) tho the audio clips were more hit and miss. If I never have to encounter the tedious and whiny Love Song Of J Alfred Prufrock again, it won’t be too soon.

Anyway, the book. If you love gory, violent horror movies, you will likely also love Night Film. I don’t, so a lot of the book was wasted on me. I appreciated some of the atmospherics, but a lot of the hysteria, and even McGrath’s ordeal at The Peak, elicited the same annoyed “Jesus, get a grip” reaction I feel when forced to watch schlocky occult horror. I appreciate what Marisha Pessl was trying to do with this book, to explore the line between science and magic in the human brain, and to pace the novel like one of the titular movies. While the latter endeavor was mostly successful depending on how much you buy in to the cultural commodity of underground movies, I felt the first aim relied a bit too much on hand-waving (particularly with the “oh, he’s just crazy, OR IS HE?!?!” treatment of the Spider,) which is a disappointment in an author this meticulous. I get that she was likely being deliberately vague in order to leave room for doubt in the reader’s mind, but it just came out muddled. It was interesting to see her continue to explore the theme of fathers and daughters she’d examined in the superlative Special Topics In Calamity Physics, and I very much enjoyed the almost bittersweet nature of the ending, but I just don’t feel that Night Film worked very well as a book. Fortunately, it was intended as a multimedia experience, which made it better. On its own, though, it’s not the greatest novel.

Also, argh, the italics. Everywhere and for no good reason. It was exhausting. <--- Me sharing my pain, with apologies to you, dear reader.

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Aug 11 2015

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Deeply moral and achingly romantic, this is a book about a woman inadvertently reaching into the past to try to fix problems in her marriage to a man she desperately loves. Rainbow Rowell is a terrific writer of dialog and characters, and though Landline felt a bit shallow in places (by which I don’t mean superficial, just that there was an odd lack of detail and depth despite there being much of emotional substance,) it’s a compulsively readable book. The magical telephone conceit was cute and deftly handled, if clearly requiring a large suspension of disbelief: I considered its use a sort of American magical realism. I also thought Georgie a terrific heroine, even as I had both warm feelings and significant concerns regarding her primary relationships with men.

Firstly, there’s the best friend, Seth. It’s so freaking difficult to find books that celebrate male-female friendships that aren’t bogged down by overt a/o physical romance. It was refreshing to see Georgie stand up for her friendship with Seth, though I thought it a bit wish-fulfillment-y for him to declare his love for her — because ffs, I tell my friends I love them all the time, it’s no big deal. And also, who doesn’t love their close personal friends? They become like family, but ones you choose. Anyway, it felt a little unnatural for the character as he’d been depicted up to that point, but people can surprise you, I suppose.

Latterly, there’s the husband, Neal. I didn’t really like him. I mean, he does a lot for the family, but he’s super passive-aggressive, and it was difficult for me to watch Georgie turn herself inside out for him. It really bothered me that Georgie seemed to be okay with being the only one working on their relationship. As the breadwinner of the family, Georgie deserved a lot more slack, I felt, for working so hard at a job she loved, especially with the opportunity of a lifetime looming before her. I felt that Neal was perfectly justified in heading back to Omaha with the kids, but his silent treatment of her from thereon in was pretty shitty.

And I think this speaks to the pressures that a lot of modern women feel, especially those who are the primary earners in their families. I felt like Georgie was being punished for being ambitious — and while I know that that’s not at all what Ms Rowell was going for with this book, it still bothered me that poor Georgie felt so responsible for so much. Earn the money, achieve your ambitions, parent your kids, be a good daughter and sister: that’s all well and good, but why does she ALSO have to be the main person responsible for the health and happiness of her marriage?

Otherwise, as enjoyable as you’d expect from Rainbow Rowell (tho I still liked Fangirl better.)

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/08/11/landline-by-rainbow-rowell/