Oracle Night :: Paul Auster

Title: Oracle Night
Author: Paul Auster
Read: May 2009; Madrid
Format: kindle

Oracle Night is yet another one of Auster's lonely-writer, nested-narrative novels.

Suffering from an undetermined illness and recovering from a recent episode, Sidney Orr returns to writing. In his convalescence, he had been filling his days with mundane activities: lunch, errands, etc. However, one day he visits a mysterious stationery store in his Brooklyn neighborhood. There, he purchases a mystical, Portuguese notebook and begins to write after a long drought. The story that Sidney begins to write is complicated and I don't care to recall it. Just know that it begins as an exercise, but then the writing pours out of him and what he creates becomes fuller and darker.

Like much of Auster's writing, Oracle Night concerns itself with the process of writing and the relationship between writer, life, and work.

Auster, to me, is a go-to author when you want to read something substantive, but you don't want to commit a lot of time to it. He's brilliant with mood and meaning; through this he's able to construct layers that are readable and suspenseful, but also challenging. We come to expect this from the author, but Oracle Night took it a little too far, I think. Maybe one layer too many? Maybe we could have dialed back the alienation a bit? Though, maybe that was me. I read this while traveling alone in a foreign city.

Anyway, it was an interesting read. And since it's not much of a time commitment, it's worth picking up. But don't be shocked if you find yourself on the verge of an eye-roll every once in a while.

Captivating and well-paced, with a healthy dose of mystery.

3 out of 5 stars

the no. 1 ladies' detective agency :: alexander mccall smith

Title: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency

Author: Alexander McCall Smith

Publisher: Anchor

Read: June 2009; Madrid, MAD>JFK

Format: Kindle

In sum: The Botswana backdrop and its lively inhabitants are given their first chance to charm you in the pilot of McCall-Smith’s popular mystery series.

I understand why people have latched onto this series. Sort of. The #1 Lady herself, Precious Ramotswe, is a wonderful character, full of sensitivity, warmth and courage. She's experienced loss, heartbreak and abuse. But she not only makes the best of her situation, but is even brave enough to take the risk of opening a Ladies' Detective Agency, her longtime dream.

While business is slow at first, her first cases do allow McCall-Smith to set the geographic and cultural landscape of Mma Ramotswe's Botswana. The mysteries center around adultery, religious zeal, Southern African life, fraud and child abuse. But, the heaviness of these topics is far from dwelled upon. Instead, more time and pages are devoted to painting the scene of Gaborone, telling Prcious' history and developing her lovely and memorable companions. Specifically, her skillful. rigid and hilarious secretary Mma Makutsi breathes incredible life to every scene she is in. Also, the adorable, doting Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni warms the page, even when he doesn't bring excitement.

Great characters and setting aside, I felt the pace of this first installment to be a little too slow for my tastes. What I remember most of the novel is wanting more to happen or, rather, for it to move more quickly. I know it's a little unfair to enjoy the effect of the author's descriptive writing but find its telling tedious, but that's just how it is.

Also unfair: For me, it was hard to observe the Death of This Author and, frankly, I felt funny about this older white man writing in with sing-songy, cartoonish cadence for this Botswanan woman. The whole thing left a vaguely colonialist taste in my mouth, which I recognize to be wholly undeserved, untrue and unfair. Yes, I know he is African. It still felt funny, though.

Sweet. But slow:
2.5 out of 5 stars*


*I keep going back and forth between 2.5 and 3 for this one. The deciding factor? I've had the second book loaded up on my Kindle for months and have not at all been tempted to read it.

gossip girl 1 & 2 :: cecily von ziegesar

Title: Gossip Girl #1: A Novel
Title: Gossip Girl #2: You Know You Love Me
Author: Cecil von Ziegesar
Published: Poppy, 2002
Read: May 2009; Barcelona & Mallou, Spain
Format: Kindle

Before I left for a longish trip this spring, I loaded up my Kindle with what I hoped would keep me entertained on the road. I really like the show, so I thought I'd eat this popular YA series up. I bought the first three, assuming I'd like them at least enough to get through a few short novels.

I gave the series a solid shot by reading the first two installments. Plot-wise, they're pretty thin and I've conflated them in my mind. Basically, an omniscient, anonymous blogger called 'Gossip Girl' exposes the privileged world of Upper East Side Manhattan teens. They're precocious, beautiful and smart. Also, they go to fancy schools and have too much freedom.

This stuff is established:
- Blair Waldorf is bulimic, obsessed with Yale and mad at Serena - I don't remember why
- Serena van der Woodsen is beautiful, oblivious and effortlessly good at everything interesting
- Everyone thinks that Nate is perfect looking, but he is usually stoned and seems like a pretty bad boyfriend (to Blair)
- Vanessa Abrams is a misfit, shaves her head and makes films
- Dan Humphrey is awkwardly intense about Serena and writes her embarassing poetry
- Jenny Humphrey is busty and makes questionable decisions

I didn't finish the prequel (It Had to Be You: The Gossip Girl Prequel), but not because the books were boring or terrible or anything. It's that the show isn't just more entertaining, it's actually much better in every important way: plot, character development, dialogue, setting, etc. I feel like the books don't do anything better than the show does. So really, what's the point, you know?

Some YA books are so clever, well-written or deliciously addictive that they appeal to a wider audience than originally intended. The GG books, or at least these first two, don't fall into that camp. Not a big deal. They weren't intended for me anyway.

Entertaining, but maybe not worth it. Especially if you are a fan of the show. Or if you're older than 15.
3 out of 5 stars.

prep :: curtis sittenfeld

Title: Prep
Author: Curtis Sittenfeld
Publisher: Random House, 2005
Read: May 2009; NYC, Paris, Barcelona
Format: trade paperback

Nutshell: Ambitious in a big-fish-small-pond kind of way, Lee Fiora leaves her middle-class family behind in South Bend, Indiana to attend Ault, a prestigious New England prep school. There, she is confronted with the standard set of teen-angst problems: fitting in, socio-economic differences, crushes, dating and academics. We follow her 4 years at Ault and watch how she stumbles through situations that should change her, but do not.

I rarely meet a book that I absolutely don't like. The predictable and tiresome Prep, though, is an exception to this rule. Here are 5 reasons why:

1. It's character-driven, but I found Lee completely unlikeable.

2. Her unwarranted low self-esteem never eases up. She doesn't ever grow out of it, nor does she seem to want to.

3. The situations she gets into are believable enough, I guess. But the fact that she never learns from them is not. Hello? Lee? Where is your dignity?

4. The most relatable character is Lee's father, who calls her out for what she is: a whiny brat. I resented relating to this middle aged man.

5. I'm not sure what Sittenfeld wants readers to feel about Lee. But I don't think this confusion is some kind of clever or nuanced device. I think that she tries to earn sympathy for Lee through forced empathy - by way of first person perspective - and fails.

It's not like the novel was a total and complete waste of time. Sittenfeld's writing is earnest, emotional and engaging enough. Also, for me, it felt new to read a prep school story told from a girl's point of view. Of course, the girl in question is far from a strong female character and I guess that's ultimately disappointing, too. Prep seems like a wasted opportunity to showcase the evolution of a confused girl into a dignified young woman. In the end, though, it just furthers the stereotype of girls as insipid, whiny and cripplingly insecure.

Overdramatic and angsty. And not in that good way, either.
2 out of 5 stars.

The Brooklyn Follies :: Paul Auster

Title: The Brooklyn Follies
Author: Paul Auster
Read: Nassau, the Bahamas, NYC
Format: kindle

Nathan Glass thinks he's dying so he moves to NY. He reacquaints himself with his estranged, but beloved, nephew Tom. Tom was a promisingly intelligent young man, but has lost his way as well. In the course of rediscovering their relationship, Nathan and Tom figure out how to survive and rebuild with the help of Tom's little niece Lucy, an outrageous book dealer, and a neighborhood woman.

I liked Brooklyn Follies fine, though I can see why fans of the author might not. While Nathan is a classic Auster protagonist - lonely and somehow infirm - there is a lightness and hope (that might be too strong a word) to the novel that is unusual to his work. Purists might find it a stilted departure, but I found it nice. That being said, I wasn't especially moved by it and it was kind of forgettable.

A worthwhile read if you want something quick, but not empty.

3 out of 5 stars