Looking back over the past month, I was surprised to realize that I gave more negative reviews than positive ones, and that both my favorite and least favorite book were Pulitzer Prize winners.
Best Pick of the Month: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Waoby Junot Diaz -- I know you've heard the rave reviews already, but if you haven't picked this one up yet, you've been missing out! Possibly the best book I've read in a long, long while.
Worst Pick of the Month: Gileadby Marilynne Robinson -- Beautifully written, horribly boring. Twenty years from now, college freshman will suffer through it in their Intro to Modern Lit classes.
I'll be participating in J. Kaye's challenge to read 100 books in 2009. I don't know if I'll make it, but it's worth a shot! Here's the original post if you would like to join.
I'll keep a running list of the books I've read or plan to read through the year. There are always more books I want to read than I have time for, so if the list goes over 100 at some point (which it probably will), I'm not going to worry about whittling it down until closer to the end of the contest, in case I miraculously make it over the threshold. Bold titles are books I've started. Those I complete will be linked to my review. Wish me luck!
One last challenge... This one is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. The goal is to review every book read in 2009. I won't be re-listing the books I read here, but I will be linking to my reviews on my 100 Books in 2009 challenge page. Wish me luck and happy reviewing in 2009!
I decided, since I was new to the blogosphere, I would limit myself to only one challenge. I changed my mind, sort of. Most of my books come from the library (being a poor college kid and all), so I might as well jump in and try this one as well. I'm committing to read at least 50 books from my local library this year. (libraries, actually, since I have multiple residences) To sign up for this challenge yourself, visit J. Kaye's Book Blog here. To read reviews by other bloggers participating in the challenge, click here.
There has been a lot of discussion lately about the need to support independent bookstores, and I agree with the arguments. I, however, have never been to an indie bookstore. I rarely enter a bookstore at all, preferring to fuel my addiction through amazon.com and the closest library.
Lately I have been feeling some indie guilt, but I live in rural Missouri, and I don't know where any indie bookstores are! (In fact, the closest chain bookstore I know of is at the mall, an hour away). So, I searched the web and came upon this nifty site, Indie Bound.
Turns out, indie bookstores do exist in Missouri, but they aren't in any locations that I tend to frequent. There are 6 indies within 100 miles of my university residence, but the closest one is still an hour away. My parent's house has even fewer options, with only 2 stores within 100 miles, although one is in a city I've actually been to once or twice. So, it looks like my book buying habits are not in for a change anytime soon!
Does anyone else have this problem? Do you go out of your way to shop at the indies?
I dragged myself and my sister to the library today to pick up a few books. As always, I had written down the titles and locations of the books by searching the catalog online first and planned to be in and out in 15 minutes. Of course, we were there for over an hour and only left as soon as we did because the library has been closing early during the holidays.
My sister ended up with two books, and I managed to find seven, only two of which, The Keep by Jennifer Egan and A Separate Peace by John Knowles, were actually on my original list. I also browsed around and picked up: Shadow of the SilkRoad by Colin Thubron, Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong by Pierre Bayard, Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper, American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
I feel that I'm being overly ambitious considering I have a job and I return to school in two weeks. I do tend to check out more books than I actually read because I like to have a variety of choices at all times, but these are all such compelling choices I'm going to have a hard time choosing. I'm leaning toward A Thousand Splendid Suns because I enjoyed The Kite Runner so much, but I'm also really curious about American Wife, and The Keep, and... well you get the picture.
The other issue is that I have all these beautiful, shiny library books in front of me, and several Christmas presents as well, but with 2009 only a few days away, I feel as though I should wait so they will count toward my total in the challenge. I know I won't get very far in the next few days because they're going to be busy, but still, I feel like someone set a steaming cup of coffee in front of me and told me not to drink it.
Thinking back on it, I should have gotten The Darwin Awards Next Evolution by Wendy Northcutt. I put it back because I already had several choices picked out. It's a book I never would have finished, I eventually get bored with stories of people doing stupid things, but it would have been the perfect tide-me-over for the next couple of days.
Don't forget to enter the raffle to win a brand-new copy of The Time Traveler's Wife!
"I was struck by the way the light fell that afternoon. I have paid a good deal of attention to light, but no one could begin to do it justice. There was the feeling of a weight of light--pressing the damp out of the grass and pressing the smell of sour old sap out of the boards on the porch floor and burdening even the trees a little as a late snow would do. It was the kind of light that rests on your shoulders the way a cat lies on your lap. So familiar." I'm a little embarrassed to say that I gave up on this one. I know it won a Pulitzer, and the last Pulitzer Prize-winner I read was amazing, click here to see my review of Oscar Wao, but I just couldn't do it. I made it to page 76, but I kept falling asleep on the couch.
The language is beautiful and stark, but nothing is happening. The premise of the book is an elderly father recording the story of his family for a very young son, who the father knows he will not be able to watch grow up. It's a touching idea, and works well for the beginning, but I would have liked to have read more family stories and less, I'm watching you and your mother blow soap bubbles at the cat. Maybe I should have given it a few dozen more pages, but the New Year is right around the corner, and I wanted to return it to the library and get a fresh stack of books to choose from.
Feel free to explain to me what a terrible mistake I made, that the book actually gets good on page 80, because I really did want to like it, and might pick it up again at some point.
Don't forget to enter the giveaway for The Time Traveler's Wife. The deadline in January 31, 2009.
This Christmas I gave my parents a list with a few gift ideas on it. Of course, they both looked at this rather short list and then went shopping independently, and long story short, I ended up with two brand-new copies of The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.
The good news is this means Literary Menagerie's first book giveaway! The contest is open to anyone 18 years of age or older in United States or with an APO address. The giveaway will run from now until January 31. The winner will be announced on the blog and have 5 days to respond by sending me their shipping information. If I don't hear from you, the prize will go to someone else. Make sure you don't miss your name by following or subscribing to the blog via the handy links on the sidebar!
In addition, if whoever wins this book finishes it before I get to it (it's not at the top of my list at the moment) they will have the option of writing a guest review for Literary Menagerie, if so inclined.
I'm very excited about this, so lets get started! There are several opportunities to enter, so read carefully.
How to enter:
1. For one entry: Leave a comment on this post stating your favorite book--either in 2008, or of all time, and why you enjoy it.
2. For three entries: Blog about this contest and link back to it, then provide the link to your blog entry in the comments here. The sidebar doesn't count!
3. For five entries: Become a follower (of be one already) and make a note of it in the comments on this page.
4. For ten entries: Write a guest blog for Literary Menagerie. Subject to approval. It does not have to be a book review, but it must have to do with books or reading and it must be original (no old blog entries). The entry will be attributed to you and linked to your blog when it goes up, although I can't guarantee that it would go up immediately, depending on the response and my own blogging schedule. If you would like to take this option please e-mail me and we can talk about what you would like to blog about.
5. For eleven additional entries: Encourage those who click from your blog to here to note where they were referred from. For everyone who cites your blog, I will give you an additional entry, up to eleven.
Any questions, post them here or drop me an e-mail! Separate entries do not need separate comments as I will be keeping a running list elsewhere. The winner will be chosen at random. Be sure to differentiate yourself from other entrants if you have a common name!
Good Luck!
End Date: January 31, 2009 Opportunities to enter: 30
"Though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life."
I suppose I'm not really the target audience for this book, but I saw it at the library and was curious. I read the Harry Potter books and enjoyed them and thought Rowling's latest collection might provide some new insight to the world she creates in her best-selling series.
The book contains 5 fairy-tale-like stories with commentary by the late Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore. The only story with any real bearing on the Harry Potter lore will be the familiar "Tale of the Three Brothers" which is also found in the last book of the Harry Potter series. (It might actually appear earlier, I'm not sure)
In addition, the commentary adds little to the world of Harry Potter as anyone familiar with the series will not need an explanation concerning the animosity between the pure-blood and the muggle-born or the difference between an Animagus and someone who has performed a Transfiguration spell. There's nothing wrong with the book, but there's nothing especially interesting about it either.
"Mr. Button's eyes followed her pointing finger, and this is what he saw. Wrapped in a voluminous white blanket, and partly crammed into one of the cribs, there sat an old man apparently about seventy years of age. His sparse hair was almost white, and from his chin dripped a long smoke-colored beard, which waved absurdly back and forth, fanned by the breeze coming in at the window. He looked up at Mr. Button with dim, faded eyes in which lurked a puzzled question."
I don't intend to talk about movies very often on this blog, but because The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I figured I could get away with it.
I saw the movie the day after Christmas with my mother and sister (I'm home for winter break) and enjoyed it. The film was shot beautifully, although the teenage version of Brad Pitt was unconvincing (he still had old eyes; they should have begun using a different actor at that point) I liked the story well enough, although it seemed to lack a depth, and I was curious to read the original short story on which the movie was based.
I found the full text of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" online here, along with the rest of Fitzgerald's short story collection, Tales of the Jazz Age. I have to say I was not impressed. First of all, the "baby" born in the Fitzgerald version is a full-grown man, 5 feet 8 inches tall, to be precise. This is illogical. Of course the whole idea of aging backwards is illogical, but still, a fantasy must abide by the obvious laws of physics, or else explain them away (For example, if everyone in a story has x-ray vision, and then the protagonist says that he doesn't know what's going behind the wall, you have to explain why his x-ray vision isn't working).
In this case, the story seems to inhabit the same world that we live in, so aside from the gimmick of aging backwards, all other physical laws should be maintained (No walking on the ceiling). Herein lies my problem with the story: no woman can give birth to a full-grown man. Not only is he born full-grown, he has also been born with the ability to speak (why?) and a taste for expensive cigars (really?).
The story continues as Mr. Buttons insists on treating a full-grown, talking, cigar-smoking man as a newborn baby, insisting on dressing him up in children's clothes (made-to-order, of course) and giving him a rattle to play with. Benjamin, however, continues to act the age he looks, rather than the age he is, as he ages right back into the cradle. The movie on the other hand gives Benjamin a body that ages backward but a mind that moves forward, just like anyone else, which leads to more interesting situations.
The only thing the story and the movie have in common is the gimmick of a man who ages backward, and for that I'm glad, because at least the movie was enjoyable. Do you agree?
For a more thorough discussion of the movie at Life in the Short Lane, click here.
A preview for those who have not yet seen the movie:
"You live as long as I did in the heart of fuku country, you hear these kinds of tales all the time. Everybody in Santo Domingo has a fuku story knocking around in their family. I have a twelve-daughter uncle in the Cibao who believed that he'd been cursed by an old lover never to have make children. Fuku. I have a tia who believed she'd been denied happiness because she'd laughed at a rival's funeral. Fuku. My parental abuelo believes that diaspora was Trujillo's payback to the pueblo that betrayed him. Fuku.
It's perfectly fine if you don't believe in these 'superstitions.' In fact, it's better than fine--it's perfect. Because no matter what you believe, fuku believes in you."
I don't know how to review this book without sounding like an echo of all the reviews that have come before. I absolutely loved the book, read passages of it to my mother and sister (I'm home for Christmas) and even read out loud to myself to feel the rhythm of it. The writing is like everyday poetry, written to feel bare and natural. The Spanglish didn't bother me, I speak a little Spanish so there were only a few points where I ran across a sentence I couldn't approximate the meaning of.
I have a little experience with Hispanic culture, although I don't know any Dominicans, and I think that is part of what drew me into this book. I am 1/4 Puerto Rican and have visited some of my family there. The writing really reminded me of the easy they switch back and forth between Spanish and English in a single conversation, substituting whenever one language or the other supplies the better word. There's something rich and enticing about mixing languages, especially for someone like me who never got beyond the basics of a second language despite several years of schooling.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao pretends to be about Oscar, a fat, geeky Dominican teenager living in New Jersey, but in reality, it's a story about family and legacy. The book, which is narrated by someone who was once a friend of Oscar and his sister, spends most of its time travelling back and forth through several generations of Oscar's family, which may be cursed by the fuku, or not, it's never entirely clear. The story is laced with references to the Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and even the Sound of Music and contains footnotes on Dominican history and the rule of Trujillo (also known as El Jefe, the Failed Cattle Thief, and FuckFace).
The book doesn't offer a pretty picture of Dominican life and culture, but rather is laced with sex, violence, and misogyny. Most of the characters are hard to relate to or feel sympathy for and at points you wonder why you care what happens to them at all, but yet the book draws you in. Like a train crash, you know its headed for disaster, but you just can't pull yourself away.
"I'm not entirely sure Oscar would have liked this designation. Fuku story. He was a hardcore sci-fi and fantasy man, believed that that was the kind of story we were all living in. He'd ask: What more sci-fi than the Santo Domingo? What more fantasy than the Antilles? But now that I know how it all turns out, I have to ask, in turn: What more fuku?"
If you need a more detailed review, check out the always excellent New York Times Review here.
This is a partial list of books I would like to read, possibly in the near future, which I will update periodically. Feel free to comment on my choices and omissions.
Currently Reading: The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Coming Up Next? Gilead by Marilynne Robinson Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides American Wife by by Curtis Sittenfeld Red Dog Red Dog by Patrick Lane One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Life of Pi by Yann Martel
"The year I turned ninety, I wanted to give myself the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin." It was a beautiful title, and a promising beginning, but that was all. Usually I will give a book 50 pages before passing judgment and casting it aside, but in this case I was already halfway to the end. If it had been a longer book, I would not have finished it.
Memories of My Melancholy Whores follows the story of an old man who decides, on his 90th birthday, that he wants to fuck a young virgin. Instead of having sex, however he "falls in love" with the sleeping child in the whorehouse.
It's not the pedophilia that bothers me in this book. I found Nabokov's Lolita irresistible. I just felt no connection with the character, and I did not find his love for the girl at all credible or compelling. He never really speaks to her--he makes up a name for her (Delgadina) rather than attempt to find out what she calls herself. He cannot recognize her with her clothes on (a sure-fire sign he did not spend much time looking at her face) and he does not even have an interesting fantasy version of her to fall in love with.
I kept waiting for the book to be something more, to take me somewhere interesting, but from the first line the story is headed downhill. Perhaps I missed the point, but if Marquez is trying to communicate some truth about old age, maybe I would rather remain unenlightened. I still intend to read either Love in the Time of Cholera or One Hundred Years of Solitude before solidifying an opinion on the author, but I must say my expectations have been lowered.
"In the silence David started talking again, trying to explain at first about the snow and the shock and the scalpel flashing in the harsh light. How he has stood outside himself and watched himself moving in the world. How he had woken up every morning of his life for eighteen years thinking maybe today, maybe this was the day he would put things right."
I actually bought this book as a Christmas present for my mother, but decided I had to read it before I wrapped it up and hid it under the tree. This book is about choices, secrets, moments that alter your life forever. We live everyday, wake up, go to work or school, eat lunch, meet people, but how much of what we do will be forgotten tomorrow? next week? a year from now? The vast majority of the moments we live are mundane. Yet, every once in a while, a day comes along that alters everything, that makes you look back and think:
What if he had gotten me pregnant when we were all hot and heavy back in high school?
What if I had applied to Harvard and Yale instead of playing it safe and staying in state?
What if I took that job in New York that paid crap instead of going into the family business?
What if I had said yes when he proposed? What if I had said no?
The choices that define our lives don't come along very often. For David, one moment, one (wrong?) decision sends his life into a tailspin that he never come to terms with. It weighs him down for over two decades and echoes in his death as his family deals with the aftermath. The Memory Keeper's Daughter explores the impact and unintended consequences a single decision can have. The prose is elegant, almost like poetry and for the first half of the book I was enchanted. The end seemed to drag where the beginning had flown smoothly, but overall I enjoyed the story and the gentle observations it made very much. Edwards offers a stark picture of why the question of "What if?" is never as simple as it seems.
This book has also been made into a Lifetime made-for-TV-movie, which I have not seen, but in looking for a video clip to go along with this post I saw a few scenes from the film. I did not feel that those I watched were an accurateportrayal of the tone or events in the novel, so I chose not to link to them here. If anyone has both read the book and seen the movie, I'd be interested to hear how they compare.
"Everyone has two memories. The one you can tell and the one that is stuck to the underside of that, the dark, tarry smear of what happened."
This quote really embodies the soul of Lillian's story. It's as though we're skating on a frozen lake -- we see Lillian and the other characters as they move through the pages of the story and we hear some of their thoughts. The emotional turmoil and the thoughts too dark or tragic to be voiced, however, are left just under the surface, in the depths of the lake, to be inferred or guessed at by the reader, like looking through a sheet of ice. As in life, there's more to every story.
I read Bloom's short story collection Come to Me last year, and was looking forward to reading one of her novels. I ended up listening to this on audio book on my way home from school last week and fell in love with Bloom's descriptive and poignant writing style all over again.
Lillian immigrates to New York City in the 1920s from Turov, Russia after her family is murdered. She sets herself up as the mistress to a father/son pair and lives comfortably in New York. When she hears that her daughter, Sophie, may have survived and been taken to Siberia by another family, Lillian sets off to find her. Unable to afford the sea voyage home, she maps her route in the opposite direction and plans to cross from Alaska to Russia via the Bering Strait.
What I loved about this book, aside from the beautiful writing, was that as each character exits Lillian's story, we are offered a glimpse into their future. This book is about Lillian's journey, but the people that star in her story also have journeys of their own. Each character has a history and a depth. Bloom has created an entire world around her main character.
To hear Amy Bloom talk about her inspiration and read a passage from Away, play the video below:
I would also like to note that the ending can be interpreted in more than one direction. I have my thoughts, but I will keep them to myself--I don't want to spoil it for you. Overall, a beautiful story and a wonderful read.
Remember reading a review, but don't want to go searching through the archives for it? Every book reviewed at Literary Menagerie will be listed here by author as a quick reference guide, and available through Quick Links on the side bar. I will update this page at the end of each month in conjunction with my Monthly Roundup post. If you find a problem with this list, please shoot me an e-mail! Happy Reading!
Looking back over the past month, I was surprised to realize that I gave more negative reviews than positive ones, and that both my favorite and least favorite book were Pulitzer Prize winners.
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