January 2010

Reading List

The Shadow of the Wind :: Carlos Ruiz Zafon (2.5 stars)
A Good Man is Hard to Find & Other Stories :: Flannery O'Connor (4 stars)
The Road :: Cormac McCarthy (4 stars)
The Mysterious Benedict Society :: Trenton Lee Stewart (3 stars)
I Capture the Castle :: Dodie Smith (5 stars) [anything goes book club selection, TG]
The Polysyllabic Spree :: Nick Hornby (4 stars) [essays, 1/6]

Best - I Capture the Castle :: Dodie Smith

Worst - The Shadow of the Wind :: Carlos Ruiz Zafon

As a whole, January was an auspicious start to a promising year of reading. Within the month, though, not so much. After dragging my feet for awhile, I finally finished Carlos Ruiz Zafon's popular novel, The Shadow of the Wind, right after New Year. At its core, it's a mystery about a book-loving boy trying to uncover the truth about what happened to a long-missing, little-known, genius writer. But unlike more successful mysteries, the unraveling doesn't come from clever plotting, but - unsatisfyingly - through Zafon's over-the-top exposition. In general, I had a lot of trouble with the author's prose style (so flowery at times my eyes got tired from rolling). I wondered how much of the 'color' I disliked was a matter of inferior translation. I was happy to hear from a Spanish-reading friend (you know who you are) that it was NOT more effective in its native form. Phew. I hate feeling like I'm missing out just because I'm monolingual.

Anyway, all this said I can sort of see why so many people like the book: it's richly drawn, moderately intriguing, etc etc. But the telling lacks subtlety and refinement and, to me, made the book ultimately put-down-able. Not a total waste, but far from a gem: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

The best read of the month was the latest book club choice, Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle. The eccentric Mortmain family are tried by the issues that plague many a period-novel family: sororal rivalry, near financial ruin, unrequited love, adolescence, etc. But, what sets this novel aside is the refreshing and charming voice of Cassandra Mortmain, who records a year or so of her family's story in journal form. For aspiring writer Cassandra, her diary is both a repository for her thoughts AND a writing exercise. It is a pure joy to read as Cassandra balances innocence and curiosity, precociousness and self-awareness. While the novel's plot is engaging and interesting in and of itself, the true victory of the novel is in Cassandra's evolution as both a writer and a young woman, demonstrated so brilliantly through her charming voice. Sweet, earnest, bright: 5 out of 5 stars. Loved.

Despite my boycott, I found a $4 copy of Cormac McCarthy's The Road this month and figured, why not? It only took a couple of hours to read and I always love to read a book that has been adapted into film. Especially films with Vigo Mortensen. Roarrrr. While I enjoyed both the film and book a lot, it definitely left me feeling all bleaky inside. I'll give the book 4 stars, but I'm a little shy to recommend it. It was so sad it made my body hurt. For some reason, I thought seeing the movie immediately would help even me out. Obviously, it just made me sadder.

What I can unequivocally recommend is A Good Man is Hard to Find & Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor. Prior to this collection, I had never read any O'Connor. Didn't even know she was a woman. The stories are darkly beautiful and precisely written and usually about, you know, damaged people in difficult situations. I know that's what all short stories are about, usually, but it's so rare to see them executed so well. If there are more like this, I'd like to read them all, please.

2010: NEW YEAR, NEW FORMAT!

While I'm proud to announce that I met my reading goal in 2009 (reading #50 at dinner on New Year's Eve, no less), I have to come clean or where I fell short as well. I'd hoped to cleverly blog about every book I read, but sadly I failed (though, I do hold on to a dream that I will back-blog about them). To be fair, I can't blame it all on laziness. Let's just be real: 50 books is a pretty ambitious goal for a 9-5er like myself. Write about them too? Sigh. That is a challenge I could not meet.

So, inspired by a recent read (Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree - thanks for the recommendation, Ant...), I'll instead chronicle my adventures through books in digest form. I'm no Michiko anyway - better (i.e., easier, less time-consuming) for me to veer my efforts away from criticizing, per se, and instead focus on just some broad thoughts. I'll also attempt to update Reading Comprehension at least monthly. I'd like to do it more often though. We'll see how that goes.

In other news, I have set a new goal for 2010. I think it's unreasonable to shoot for more than 50 books (I have other things to do, after all). So, rather than bumping up the quantity, I'll be paying more attention to what goes in my to-read stack:

2010 Goals
Read 50 new books (10 re-reads were allowed in 2009, I finished the year with 4)
Tackle 4 white whales (one every three months, ideally)
6 non-novels/stories (non-fiction or essays)
Roald Dahl's oeuvre

the fantastic mr. fox :: roald dahl

Title: The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Author: Roald Dahl
Published: Puffin, 2008
Read: November 2009; NYC
Format: trade paperback

Three greedy, mean-spirited farmers plot to take out the fantastic Mr. Fox the next time he emerges from his fox hole. All the while, beneath their very feet, a grand heist is being pulled off by the wily fox and his fellow hole-dwellers.

I don't have a lot to stay about this one. It's a children's book. There is no subtext, really. It's not written especially beautifully and it's not notably heartwarming. It's just a cute, entertaining adventure with fun characters and a colorful world.

A joyful caper; definitely worth the 30 or so minutes it takes to read.
4 out of 5 stars

Jenny & the Jaws of Life :: Jincy Willett

Title: Jenny the Jaws of Life

Author: Jincy Willett
Read: November 2009; NYC
Format: trade paperback

For years and years, my stance has been firm. I'm not a fan of the short story. Brevity, in my opinion, ends up costing the plot and characters too much. And then, really, what's the point?

Though, reading and loving Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge got me thinking. Sure, those stories - in total - read like a novel, but they're stories nonetheless! Impressed with what these authors are doing with the format these days, I'm making a point to read more - even if it's against my instincts. This effort, plus a couple of full-throated endorsements, brought Jenny & the Jaws of Life to me.

The 13 stories that make up this collection are just perfect. Some are better than others, of course, but both individually and all together they left me in want of absolutely nothing. The characters and their worlds are richly drawn. Willett's writing glides between despair, horror, nonsense and joy - all with elegance and gorgeous wit.

One of my favorites of the set is "Melinda Falling". It was after reading this story that I realized that this book was really special. Willett paces the the story's joy and sadness at a beautiful tempo. At just 15 pages, you get a full sense of Melinda, her husband and the humor and loneliness of their world. Just lovely. Really.

The second title story, "The Jaws of Life," is equally brilliant. Like the collection as a whole, the story balances opposing emotions and challenges moral expectations. It also showcases a frenetic energy similar to Roth's Portnoy's Complaint.

I don't want to give away much more of the stories, because this is just one of those books I really insist everyone read. It was exactly what I needed to read at during a very difficult time in my life. And I'm certain that no matter what time you are in in your life, dear internet, you'll benefit from reading it too.

Beautifully written, poignant, sad, hilarious.

5 out of 5 stars

james and the giant peach :: roald dahl

Title: James and the Giant Peach
Author: Roald Dahl
Published: Puffin, 2008
Read: October 2009; NYC, CT
Format: trade paperback

After a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger, James accidentally sets an amazing voyage in place. He becomes captain of an enormous peach and finds travel companions in a gang of giant insects. Together, they face adventure and embark on lives far more extraordinary than the ones they knew before.

Like most of Dahl's children's books, James and the Giant Peach is a wonderful, comforting joy to read. I have nothing to say by way of criticism and will not theorize about possible messages or subtexts. Instead, I'll relish in one of Dahl's more darling moments:

'...Some of us, of course, are born with more spots than others, but we never change them. The number of spots that a Ladybird has is simply a way of showing which branch of the family she belongs to. I, for example, am a Nine-Spotted Ladybird. I am very lucky. It is a fine thing to be.'

'It is, indeed,' said James, gazing at the beautiful shell with the nine black spots on it.

'On the other hand,' the Ladybird went on, 'some of my less fortunate relatives have no more than two spots altogether on their shells! Can you imagine that? They are called Two-Spotted Ladybirds, and very common and ill-mannered they are, I regret to say. And then, of course, you have the Five-Spotted Ladybirds as well. They are much nicer than the Two-Spotted ones, although I myself find them a trifle too saucy for my taste.'

'But they are all of them loved?' said James.

'Yes,' the Ladybird answered quietly. 'They are all of them loved.'

Perfect. Charming. Sweet:
5 out of 5 stars.