Tag: General Fiction Page 42 of 47

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman

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On December 18, 2015

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's SorryMy Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry

by Fredrik Backman, translated by Henning Koch
Hardcover, 370 pg.
Atria Books , 2015
Read: November 20 – 24, 2015

If you don’t like people, they can’t hurt you. Almost-8-year-olds who are often described as “different” learn that very quickly.

That lesson was impressed upon Elsa pretty hard, which has left her with a very small group of people that she likes (but, like most 7 year-olds, she really wants to like people) — although in many, there’s only one person in that circle for Elsa — her grandmother. Elsa’s grandmother was her best friend, her superhero, the most devoted adult in her life.

Elsa doesn’t do that well in school — doesn’t get along with teachers or classmates — but thanks to Wikipedia, knows all sorts of things in very random areas. She’s utterly convinced of the importance of the Harry Potter series and other “quality literature,” like Spider-Man comics.

She used to write letters to Santa every Christmas, not just wish lists but whole letters. They weren’t very much about Christmas, mainly about politics. Because Elsa mostly felt that Santa wasn’t involving himself enough in social questions, and believed he needed to be informed about that, in the midst of the floods of greedy letters that she knew he must be receiving from all the other children every year. Someone had to take a bit of responsibility.

Following her Granny’s death, Elsa is given a series of letters to deliver to various people that her Granny has helped in the past, but who’ve had problems with her since. This eventually involves adventures (things both 7 year-olds and adults would consider adventures) and a lot of personal growth. As she delivers them, Elsa learns a lot about who Granny was before Elsa came along, and finds herself in a much larger world than she’d previously been able of living in.

This is just charmingly written, sweetly told, and it’ll draw you in with the language. Backman and Koch show a delight with language and people that will surely win you over. It’ll make you smile, it’ll make you giggle, it’ll make you melt a little — if your grandmother’s alive, you’ll want to give her a call — if not, you’ll miss her more than usual.

—–

4 Stars

Stepdog by Nicole Galland

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On December 11, 2015

In Dogs, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

Stepdog Stepdog

by Nicole Galland
Trade Paperback, 386 pg.

William Morrow Paperbacks, 2015

Read: December 9 – 10, 2015

I’m going to cut to the chase, if you want to read a blurb for the book, click on the cover or title above and it’ll take you to the proper website.

Let’s start with the positives, shall we? Galland can really put together a sentence. I found much of this charming and entertaining. And I’ll never not appreciate a Roddy Doyle reference (or two).

I wanted to like Cody. She’s a dog, I always want to love the dog. But she wasn’t so much a character as she was a furry obstacle to Rory’s desired lifestyle. I kept thinking about her like Skyler White or Carmela Soprano. But Skyler and Carmela were unjustly disliked by significant portions of the audience because they served as an obstacle to their criminal husbands (which was actually commendable) while being actual characters with their own interests and points of view. Cody actually did nothing but serve as an obstacle to Rory’s selfish interest.

I wanted to like Sarah, too. But see above (except for the canine part).

Maybe it’s too much of a stretch to paint them as the anti-Skyler/Carmela, but that’s where my mind went.

Jay goes from this guy to a supervillain in a novel that didn’t seem to be about that kind of thing at all in a heartbeat. Changing this from a slightly overwritten love story to an underwhelming crime story. The climactic action was way too overblown, the denouement was too quick and tidy.

Stepdog was close to being a perfectly charming read, and settled for being a minor disappointment.

—–

2 Stars

Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart

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On December 3, 2015

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Girl Waits with GunGirl Waits with Gun

by Amy Stewart
Series: The Kopp Sisters, #1

Hardcover, 404 pg.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015
Read: November 27 – 28, 2015

He looked up and said, in a loud, plain voice, “She’s not a regular lady.”

That line is uttered in the final few pages of this novel, but it does a pretty good job of summing up Constance Kopp (and her two sisters, too). Fitting, really, for “of one of the nation’s first female deputy sheriffs.”

It’s 1914. Constance, her older sister Norma, and much younger sister, Fleurette, live on a farm in Northern New Jersey. They’re out for a drive into town in a carriage when an automobile slams into the side. Everyone escapes fairly unscathed, but rattled. Well, the ladies are rattled, the driver of the car, Henry Kaufman, and his companions are annoyed that the Kopps had the temerity to be on the road, much less be struck by a car. Constance demands payment for repairs, but Kaufman brushes her off.

But Constance is persistent and begins to annoy Kaufman, who’s notorious for busting a strike the year before (and should be notorious for worse). And when Kaufman gets annoyed bad things happen — a campaign for intimidation begins against the sisters. Soon it becomes a battle of wills — Kaufman’s arrogance and pride vs. Constance’s gumption, stubbornness, and sense of right.

Constance soon learns of more of Kaufman’s crimes and abuses, meeting other victims — who warn her just how bad things can be. While she tries to withstand Kaufman’s assaults, she begins to try to help other victims. At the same time, she befriends the local sheriff, one of the rare lawmen in the area who aren’t beholden to Kaufman and his peers.

There’s a lightness to the writing, but the subject matter is grim — and frequently uncomfortable. Whether it’s the persecution of the sisters, Constance’s investigation into Kaufman’s misdeeds, or Stewart exploring the events that brought the Kopps to their present circumstances, this is a hard world and it takes a certain kind of person to make it. But you wouldn’t know that from the narration, really — just as Constance maintains a proper disposition (or tries to) and manners, so does Stewart.

It would’ve been very easy to turn this into something it’s not. Probably very tempting, too. It could’ve been all about the gender disparity of the time, and a feminist crusade. Or about the economics and labor conditions of the area and time — the strikes and the way they were dealt with by the owners and police. Or any number of other things, really. And it was about those things, but primarily it was a story. A decently told story with well-constructed characters. You give me one of those, and you can throw whatever politics, economic theory, etc. you want into the mix and I’ll read it. I may not buy everything you’re selling, but I’ll listen, and if your story and characters are good enough, I’ll come back. Too many people — particularly with historical fiction, it seems — will do okay with the story, mess up the characters, but nail the agenda. Stewart avoided those pitfalls, and thereby served her audience and any possible point she wanted to better.

Now, while this is a novel, it appears that Stewart has done as much research as she could to make this as non-fiction as possible. I’ve wondered a bit about that approach, does that limit what parts of the story she tells? Which would account for some odd gaps. And if it does limit it — is that a good or a bad thing? Or does that depend on the writer? That’s probably it, for some writers, such a limit would be freeing, while others would find the restriction too much. Stewart, it seems, turns this into a strength — matching with her previous non-fiction publications.

A fun little ride, full of historical nuggets, and a family you’d like to spend some time with. A little action, a little danger, but not a lot of violence. A pleasant mix of historical fiction and mystery. It’ll work for the cozy reader, the historical fiction reader, and people who just like good stories.

—–

3 Stars

Rules for a Knight by Ethan Hawke

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On December 2, 2015

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, YA/MG/Children's Books

Rules for a KnightRules for a Knight

by Ethan Hawke

Hardcover, 169 pg.
Knopf, 2015

Read: November 30, 2015


So the story goes, Ethan Hawke is a descendant of a knight who died at the Battle of Slaughter Bridge in 1483. The night before the battle, this knight, Sir Thomas Lemuel Hawke penned a lengthy letter to his young children so that they’d have something to remember him by, and hopefully learn something from him. Ethan Hawke came into possession of this letter, and after a scholar translated it for him, modernized the language so that he could pass these lessons on to his kids. Given the fact that the “Hawke” surname was once “Hawker”, there’s an ornithological flavor to all of this.

The letter, or manifesto, consists of short lessons on a variety of virtues or characteristics that Sir Thomas wanted to pass along to his son and daughters (which are awfully feminist for the 15th Century): justice, solitude, generosity, discipline, love, humility, and so on. Virtues and ideals that are shared by many Western and Eastern cultures — something akin to what C. S. Lewis would call the Tao. The lessons combine personal vignettes from Sir Thomas’ life and training with fable-like stories (many of which are old and common — like the two dogs/wolves inside each of us fighting for control, you ought to feed the one you want to win).

Hawke’s wife, Ryan, provided the illustrations for this book. I wouldn’t say they’re dazzling, but they’re nice — and fit the material well.

This is a nice book, one that serves its purposes well. Short chapters, well (if somewhat heavy-handed) written. It’s not a must-read, but it’d be a good use of anyone’s time — particularly something for dads to read to young children.

—–

3 Stars

If I Fall, If I Die by Michael Christie

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On October 27, 2015

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

If I Fall, If I DieIf I Fall, If I Die

by Michael Christie

Paperback, 323 pg.
Hogarth, 2015
Read: October 20 – 23, 2015

When he was a toddler, Will and his mother, Diane, moved into a house in rural Canada (somewhere north of Toronto, I think) and never left. I don’t mean that didn’t move to a different residence, I mean they didn’t leave. Diane was a filmmaker — some sort of arty, documentary/montage-type thing — with some psychological issues that got more and more intense until sometime after Will’s birth. By the time he was 2(ish), these issues had pushed her to the breaking point, and she had to retreat to a home that she’d bought with her brother before his death years previous. Diane has some sort of panic disorder and a pretty strong case of agoraphobia — so strong that Will ends up exhibiting most of the symptoms without, you know, actually being agoraphobic.

About 10 years later, Will hears a strange noise in the front yard, and before he knows what’s happening, he’s outside, investigating. Sorry, that’s Outside. Where danger lurks, bad things happen, and people shouldn’t be. He meets a kid about his own age, is mystified by him and drawn to him — mostly because he seems brave, but also, because he’s someone his own age. Within a few weeks, Will is sneaking outside for short jaunts — walking around the neighborhood, looking for his friend. Soon, he convinces his mother to enroll him in school, where he tunes out the teacher, but makes a couple of friends.

From this point on, the book diverges — on the one hand, we get Will’s continued socialization, growth, and maturation. As well as a better understanding of what happened to his mother.

On the other hand, Will and his school-friend, Jonah find themselves adventuring. Jonah’s a very smart kid, on the verge of falling through the societal tracks (like most of the local Indians) with criminal brothers, and a knack for looking graceful on a skateboard. He teaches Will to skate, and how to be less awkward. The two also enact some real Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn escapades, while hunting for Will’s first Outside-friend — which brings them into contact with all sorts of nefarious individuals.

The latter of these two paths is slightly less interesting, and is executed less convincingly — although it’s clearly the more exciting and eventful. It also seems like that it’s Christie’s focus, it’s the core of the story he seems to want to tell. Sadly, it’s not the one I wanted to read (as much), especially because all of it was pretty predictable. I’m not saying it’s not worth reading, but it just didn’t do as much for me as the other stories. Titus, in particular, the homeless man they befriend (for lack of a better word) is pretty entertaining with his frequent Dogberryisms.

Will gets braver and braver, and a little wiser until he comes to the realization that something bad is always going to happen — to you, to someone you love, to someone you know, to someone you read about in the newspaper — it’s just a question of how you live until then. The question is, armed with this understanding: how will he live? Can he help his mother?

Will, Diane, Jonah — are all richly drawn characters (which isn’t too surprising, given the focus on the first two). Many of the supporting characters are about as well drawn — Will’s first school friend, Angela, was great, but I could’ve used more of her (the story didn’t require more of her, we didn’t need more of her). The villains were a bit sketchy, but there were as fully developed as the needed to be to serve their purpose (see again, Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn comparison).

The writing was insightful, and while I wouldn’t want to hold up Diane as a test case for agoraphobia, I really felt like I understood her. I felt the same about Will — I particularly liked the way that his becoming acclimatized to the Outside wasn’t a straight line, or easy growth — but it came in fits and starts, with many steps backward (some brought on by his own insecurities, some by his mother’s). His perspective (especially early on), vocabulary, worldview, and social awkwardness (the nicest way I can put it) all fit someone who’s been locked away from the world and only interacted with a loving, doting mother; television; and delivery men.

Whatever the flaws, this was a really good book, and one I’m very glad it came across my path. Michael Christie is a name I will keep an eye out for in the future.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the nice folks over at Blogging for Books for this review. Not sure they got their money’s worth, but I hope so.

—–

4 Stars

Whirligig by Magnus Macintyre

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On October 15, 2015

In General Fiction/Literature

WhirligigWhirligig

by Magnus Macintyre

Paperback, 301 pg.
Marble Arch Press, 2015
Read: October 13 – 14, 2015

This is the story of a self-centered, shallow, city-dwelling fat man who takes an opportunity to reinvent himself and travels to a small town in Scotland to be the voice of a proposed wind farm. Which, of course, he knows nothing about. So, our fat man, Claypole, spends the next week bouncing around from here to there in this community, finding himself in one embarrassing/catastrophic situation after another. I think this is where we’re supposed to find humor — it never struck me as funny. These all just seemed like a guy acting without thought and finding himself being taken care of like some sort of bumbling Candide.

As anyone who’s read this setup knows, once this particular Englishman went up this proverbial hill, he developed an understanding of this community, learned some important life lessons, and whatnot before he came down the proverbial mountain.

I couldn’t tell, really, how sincere we’re to take the “green” portions of this story — there are a couple of true believers, and a cartoonish doubter or two — but the rest, their interest in/commitment to the cause seems pretty shallow. Now, that’s the characters, not the author, I grant you. But when the central plot revolves around the establishment of an environmentally friendly source of power, I expect a bit more than that.

Those people that do actually end up liking Claypole — I don’t get it. Particularly those who take a seemingly instant liking to him. He’s such an offensive buffoon that it’s hard to understand. I guess I can understand those who grow to like him when they see the man behind the awkwardness.

The people of this small town are sketchy, outside of one family, they’re fairly generic stock characters. And that family? I can’t buy them either, a little more fleshing out and I probably could’ve believed them. But pretty much, they’re just a collection of characteristics, tics, and odd wardrobes.

Whirligig has very sweet ending, and it was not exactly the one a reader would expect, but pleasant, and – like “crap telly” (Claypole’s words) had taught him, one that tied everything up nicely.

Not funny enough, not “green” enough, and I couldn’t connect the way I wanted to with anyone. Near miss after near miss after near miss takes me to a 2 1/2 Star rating.

—–

2 1/2 Stars

How to Write a Novel by Melanie Sumner

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On October 7, 2015

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

How to Write a NovelHow to Write a Novel

by Melanie Sumner
Paperback, 287 pg.
Vintage, 2015
Read: September 28, 2015

Aristotle — but you can call her Aris — Thibodeau is a 12 1/2 year-old would-be novelist. Under the guidance of her English teacher, school librarian and English-professor mother, she’s trying to write a novel in the next 30 days. Once it’s sold, she figures she’ll be able to make enough money so her mom can quit her job, still take care of her brother with his counseling/medication and find a husband. Aris does have a candidate in mind for her step-dad, but is open to someone else. We get to see precious little of her writing, but we do get to follow her on her journey through the novel writing process, and the family turmoil and drama surrounding it. Actually, as I write that, I have a hard time believing everything that happened outside of her novel took less than 30 days.

There’s a strong self-awareness to the narration — from Aris stopping the action to describe something she’s lacking in her novel, and then providing it in the narration to the sections of the book being labeled “Rising Action,” “Denouement,” etc. Typically, it works, but there were a couple of instances where it seemed forced or overdone.

There are two really strong points to this novel. Sumner can write a sentence that just sings I grabbed three examples from the opening pages — we get voice, humor, and a crystal-clear idea of the character she’s describing (and the one doing the describing):

Diane is forty-three now, short and either curvy or chubby, depending on her mood, with a button nose and blondish bangs that are always falling in her face.

Then he grinned. Papa was old before braces came out, so his teeth are slightly crooked, just enough to make him look like he can tell a good joke.

. . . ladies in the South don’t shake hands. Instead, they fold their cool fingers over yours and press ever so gently, leaning in close until you smell breath mints and the eau de toilette behind each ear. Then they say something awful. A few days after Joe [Aris’ father] died, Grandma and knelt beside Diane’s [Aris’ mother] bed and folded her fingers over her hand. After looking into her eyes for a moment, she whispered, “Why didn’t he ever have a better job?”

Don’t ya just luuuuv Grandma?

The other strong point (maybe half of a point) is her characters — Aris, Diane, her brother Max — are great. Diane’s student, Charles and his mother are pretty well-drawn. The librarian Ms. Chu wasn’t that fleshed out, but she didn’t need to be, and she was well drawn enough that you want to see more. These are real people, you could build a book around any of them alone. But the rest — and I’m only talking about characters that should be well-drawn — just aren’t. Aris’ grandparents don’t become much more than they were described above. The worst is Aris’s choice for her future step-dad, their current volunteer nanny: Penn MacGuffin*. He’s an accumulation of ticks, quirks, and clichés, but there’s not a person in the middle of that.

The more I think about it, the less I’m sure I like How to Write a Novel as a novel, however frequently clever it is. There are some great scenes, dazzling sentences, charming characters here; it was a pleasure to read. But I’m just not sure there’s much there beyond that.

—
* I’m not going to mention how long it took me to realize what his name meant — let’s just say it was before this moment, and I felt really, really stupid

—–

3 Stars

Reread Project: The Van by Roddy Doyle

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On September 2, 2015

In Authors, Blog Series, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Reread Project, Roddy Doyle

The VanThe Van

by Roddy Doyle
Series: The Barrytown Trilogy, #3

Trade Paperback, 311 pg.
Minerva, 1991
Read: August 25 – , 2015
Jimmy Rabbitte, Sr. started off as a supporting character in The Commitments, moved up to co-star in The Snapper, and finally moves to the forefront in The Van, which is more about him than the other two were about any one person. Which isn’t to say that Jimmy, Jr., Sharon, Veronica, Darren and the twins aren’t here, they’re just in the background — as are most of Jimmy, Sr.’s friends (actually, I think Jr.’s in this far more than he was The Snapper).

Not only is the focus more narrow, the final installment in the trilogy is different in other ways — it’s almost 100 pages longer (depending on the printing) than The Snapper which was about 50 pages longer than The Commitments. Which gives Doyle more space to do things he hadn’t really before. It’s still primarily told through heavily stylized In the first 90 pages, I estimated I’d read more (significantly more) narration than I did in the first two volumes of the trilogy.

It’s not been clear before what Jimmy did for a living, but whatever it was, it was pretty clear the bills were barely paid. They stretched what they had pretty far, but they seemed to manage. Somewhere along the line, pretty sure it was post-Snapper, but I’m not sure, Jimmy lost his job. Unemployment isn’t setting well with him — he can’t support his family, he’s bored, he can’t even go down to the pub to have a few pints with his friends.

Jimmy’s trying to grow — he’s reading the classics. Thinking of taking some classes. But it’s not enough. At some point his friend, Bimbo, also gets laid off. The two spend a lot of time together — having a companion in his unemployment makes the whole thing tolerable for Jimmy — almost like summer vacation from school. Bimbo isn’t quite as accepting of this new reality — he almost applies to work at McDonald’s, but is shamed out of it by Jimmy. Bimbo’s wife is even less satisfied with his job status. Which leads to a reckless move on Bimbo’s part — reckless, yet maybe inspired — he uses some of his last dollars on a Chip Van (minus an engine). In the midst of the U.S.’ current Food Truck craze, this might not seem so risky, but in the early 90s? (then again, what do I know of early 90’s Dublin, other than what I’ve picked up from Doyle’s novels and the movies based on them?)

They’ve just a few weeks until the World Cup games start when they hope they can cash in on the post-game crowds. So Jimmy and Bimbo rush to clean the, learn to cook, design a menu, etc. And now you’ve got yourself a plot — can these two make a go of this? Can they remain friends and co-workers? Will they start a grease fire that destroys the whole of Barrytown?

There was, it seemed to me, a maturing of Jimmy that started back in The Snapper. Not that he wasn’t a good father before, but he kicked it into a higher gear with Sharon during her pregnancy. Here, that seems to manifest itself in a paternal pride — Junior’s having some sort of success out there, is getting married; his other son, Darren, is doing very well in school (better than anyone else in the family, that’s sure). Part of Jimmy’s reaction to it is finding pleasure in someone else’s success for what it means to them. I’m not convinced that the Jimmy of The Commitments or the first part of The Snapper could do that.

That’s not to say that he’s Man of the Year material or anything. There are some real (human) flaws to him. He’s petty, he’s jealous, he’s proud — there’s some sort of mid-life crisis that he’s got a half-hearted interest in involving Other Women. As in all good fiction, these just make him someone you can like, someone you can relate to, someone you can get annoyed with — even pity.

There’s some great, great stuff about sports fans here — national pride around The World Cup, the joy in sports, the very real camaraderie that can exist for a few moments around a shared experience. That’s not my typical milieu, but I’ve tasted it a time or two — and I can’t imagine many capture it better than Doyle did here. Even if I didn’t like the rest of the book, I think that part would’ve been worth it.

In the end, this is Doyle’s best work (to date), not the most enjoyable, but the best. It’s impossible after reading this, to ignore Jimmy, Sr.’s brief appearances in The Commitments, to not pull for him earlier than you should in The Snapper, and really to forget him. Just a great character in a world you really don’t want to leave.

—–

4 Stars

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

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On August 17, 2015

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

Go Set a WatchmanGo Set a Watchman

by Harper Lee
Hardcover, 278 pg.

HarperCollins, 2015

Read: August 14 – 15, 2015

Maycomb did not have a paved street until 1935, courtesy of F. D. Roosevelt, and even then it was not exactly a street that was paved. For some reason the President decided that a clearing from the front door of the Maycomb Grammar School to the connecting two ruts adjoining the school property was in need of improvement, it was improved accordingly, resulting in skinned knees and cracked crania for the children and a proclamation from the principal that nobody was to play Pop-the-Whip on the pavement. Thus the seeds of states’ rights were sown in the hearts of Jean Louise’s generation.

I don’t know what to think. I just do not. It’s that simple. I probably shouldn’t even be blogging about this one, but I feel compelled to.*

There are so many things that’d help me know what to think about this; for example: 1. if there wasn’t the cloud of controversy over the publication — did Lee really want it published? Is she of sound enough mind to make that choice now? and so on. 2. If there’d been a third book of hers published, it’d be easier to know which is the aberration — Mockingbird or Watchman (because there is a clear qualitative distinction) — it’d be easier to cut her some slack if we knew this wasn’t her typical work.

Am I glad I read this? I think so. There are phrases, sentences, paragraphs, vignettes, scenes, that I relished. I do think I like the story of Jean Louise here. I think I appreciate Atticus as father, not necessarily Atticus as a man making certain choices. I’m pretty sure I like Jean Louise’s Uncle Jack.

But there’s bits about this novel that just confound me. Some of the speechifying seems so out of place (and I won’t get into what I think of the points of them). A lot of the speechifying makes it seem like an unfinished draft — where Lee could’ve come back, fleshed it out, edited it and made the same points through dialogue, not monologues.

Maybe in time, after weeks/months of thought, a few re-reads, some distance, I’ll have an opinion about the book that I can stand behind. Right now, best I can manage is a shrug.

—–

* And because I’m really close to having blogged about every novel this year, haven’t missed one since February — and I don’t want to break my streak.

—–

? ? ? ? ?

The Most Useless Page Ever?

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On August 15, 2015

In Currently Reading, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

Is there anyone holding this book in their hands that needs to be given this information? Why waste the ink?
Also by Harper Lee
“Oh, To Kill a Mockingbird, huh? Never heard of it. Wonder if it’s any good.”

Obviously, there are people who haven’t heard of the Mockingbird — but none of them are going to be tempted to pick up Go Set a Watchman.

Now, the question is, once the initial furor/money-grab over this new book has died down, are there going to be future printings of Mockingbird printed with an “Also by Harper Lee” page? And if so, will the font size be legible?

At this point, I’ve got a little less than a hundred pages to go in the book, and I have no idea what I think of it. Individual sentences or paragraphs? I have very strong opinions about some of them.

But the novel?

I just don’t know.

Page 42 of 47

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