Russell’s sophomore collection proves provocative and disquieting

Vampires in the Lemon Grove
by Karen Russell

I was introduced to Ms. Russell’s work through her Pulitzer Prize finalist debut novel, Swamplandia! I was immediately seduced by her imaginative use of language, as well as the quirky tale and endearing central character. I came to Vampires in the Lemon Grove, her second story collection, expecting more of the same except, you know, shorter. I don’t know that my expectations were fully met.

Ms. Russell writes beautifully—so no complaints there. She has an idiosyncratic and evocative style, and if you’ll indulge me, here are a few quotes:

• “Marcy McFadden was gone. But Beverly could read the Braille of her mother’s curved spine—it was composed in the unspeakable, skeletal language that she had learned at school.”
• “Beverly once read a science magazine article about bioluminescence, the natural glow emitted by organisms like fireflies and jellyfish, but she knows the dead also give off a strange illumination, a phosphor that can permanently damage the eyes of the living. Necroluminescence—the light of the vanished. A hindsight produced by the departed’s body. Your failings backlit by the death of your loved ones.”
• “It was a terribly embarrassing voice—a weak white grasshopper species that we would have tried to kill, had it belonged to a fellow child.”

Hers is a rare and extraordinary gift. And, yes, she is still telling quirky tales, some of them extremely so. The title story is exactly as advertised. It’s about an elderly vampire living in an Italian lemon grove. Russell has fun exploring the “reality” of pop culture vampire tropes. Even the vampires buy into them, apparently. That first tale is emblematic of the stories in the collection—almost all of them involve some fantastic element or other. And then there’s this: Ms. Russell’s premises can suggest a certain lightness or even humor, but her tales often turn dark.

It was the collection’s second story, “Reeling for the Empire,” that—for lack of a better description—completely freaked me out. I’m not going to describe it at all; it’s better for you to just discover it exactly as the author has presented it. What I will say is that it’s deeply, deeply weird and nightmarish. But also kind of brilliant and… and… What kind of sick mind thinks up this stuff? That is where I began to feel disquieted and also provoked. Ms. Russell’s stories provoked strong reactions from me. I’m not sure they were entirely positive reactions, but I could always appreciate the talent, intelligence, and imagination that Ms. Russell displayed.

I don’t feel like it would be productive to write up summaries of the eight stories that make up this collection. Ultimately, a plot synopsis wouldn’t be very illustrative. It was interesting for me to read this collection virtually back-to-back with George Saunders’ much-vaunted collection, Tenth of December. There were interesting aspects to their work to compare and contrast, which was not surprising as Mr. Saunders is often listed as influencing Ms. Russell. Speaking broadly, reading him was a more joyful experience. But for better or worse, it’s her tales that will probably have the greater staying power. Ms. Russell’s stories disturbed me at the same time as they entertained me. I had confusing emotional responses to her work. I suspect that she would be very pleased to have aroused such reactions.

“More than kisses, letters mingle souls.” –John Donne

Frances and Bernard
by Carlene Bauer

I love letters—both writing and receiving them. It’s a lost art, and an intimate form of communication. Perhaps it is these feelings that make me especially receptive to the epistolary novel. The obvious has only occurred to me recently, but I flat-out love them. Where’d You Go, Bernadette?; The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society; and The Lawgiver were all favorite reads within the last few months. Epistolary novels have an unusual structure. For me, it’s just an exceptionally interesting and non-linear way to tell a story.

The other thing is, our voices come alive in our correspondence. Within the first few pages of Frances and Bernard, I’d fallen in love with both of the titular characters. I could hear their voices so clearly through the letters they wrote. They were funny, intellectual, literate—no wonder these two hit it off immediately when they met at a writers’ colony in 1957. Frances is a novelist, not yet published, and Bernard, a poet, with a bit more of a track record. The book follows their correspondence for just over a decade.

According to the novel’s jacket copy, these two are loosely based upon Flannery O’Connor and Robert Lowell. May I be honest? I don’t know a thing about these literary progenitors. I’m sure an intimate knowledge of O’Connor and Lowell’s history and work would have added untold richness to my read. However, my ignorance detracted nothing as far as I can tell, and made their story feel completely fresh and unexpected to me.

Truthfully, I’m rather surprised by just how much I liked this debut. It should be noted that a significant percentage of Frances and Bernard’s correspondence with each other deals with matters of Catholicism and faith—not my favorite subject matter. For me, this tale was ALL about the two central characters that were so beautifully realized by Carlene Bauer. What is the nature of their connection, and where will it lead? Bernard writes to his best friend:

“You have posited that she may have, your words, a thing for me, but I don’t think she does, and I am fairly sure that I don’t have one for her. I kept looking at her from different angles and examining my response. Various types of affection flared up in her presence, but not romance.”

Don’t expect the typical boy-meets-girl tale. Later he writes to the same friend, “…she knew me when I was at my most Bernard and I knew her when she was at her most Frances.” I ask you, who wouldn’t want to be known like that?

New series, new collaborator, new genre for the New Year!

The Blood Gospel
by James Rollins & Rebecca Cantrell

It's no secret to readers of my reviews that I'm a huge fan of James Rollins' novels, and have been ever since Subterranean was first published. In the years since, in addition to penning the wildly popular Sigma Force series and several excellent stand alone thrillers, he has written seven fantasy novels under the name James Clemens as well as two young adult adventures. I love that he isn't content to write the same type of story over and over. Not only has he expanded his own literary horizons, he's very much expanded my own.

The Blood Gospel is yet another new direction for Mr. Rollins. Well, two new directions, actually. For the first time, he's sharing authoring responsibilities with Rebecca Cantrell, a writer well-respected for her own historic mystery series. And while The Blood Gospel is as much a fast-paced thriller as anything Mr. Rollins has written to date, it also falls firmly in the territory of a new genre: horror.

The novel opens with a brief prologue set in the past--AD 73 in Masada, Israel--where readers are witness to events leading to the tragedy for which the historic site is known. However, we are also witness to a far more inexplicable drama... After just a few pages, the action shifts to present-day Israel, at the dig of American archaeologist Erin Granger. Her own promising work is interrupted by an earthquake--and is further interrupted when Israeli and American soldiers arrive to escort her to Masada. The quake has unearthed something and her expertise is required. Along on the journey is a mysterious figure. "He was no soldier. He was a priest. He wore black pants, overhung by an ankle-length hooded cassock, along with black leather gloves, dark sunglasses, and the familiar white collar of the Roman Catholic clergy." You've just been introduced to Father Rhun Korza. He's not the first priest to appear in Rollins' fiction, but I'm telling you right now that he's the most interesting.

At Masada, this is what Erin finds:

"A macabre sculpture hung on the wall, like a blasphemous crucifixion. She moved past the corner of the sarcophagus. With each step, a growing horror rose in her.

It wasn't a sculpture.

On the wall hung the desiccated corpse of a small girl, maybe eight years old, dressed in a tattered, stained robe. A handful of blackened arrows pinned her in place, a good yard off the floor. They pierced her chest, neck, shoulder, and thigh."

What can I say? These authors can paint a tableau, and sometimes the details are haunting. I don't know if it was Mr. Rollins or Ms. Cantrell who supplied the detail of the doll, but that is the beauty of collaboration. It's hard to say who did what (I couldn't tell), but hopefully the work is stronger when two talents bring their a-game.

I'm not going into any detail about the plot of this novel. What I can tell you is that the third primary character is an American soldier named Jordan Stone. The novel is the first of the new "Order of the Sanguines" series. These three diverse characters find themselves on an urgent quest for an artifact called the Blood Gospel. "It is the Gospel. Written by Christ's own hand. In his own blood."

So, let's talk about religion. You may have heard, it's a hot-button topic for some. I'll be VERY curious to see the popular response to this novel. Me, I'm a secular Jew. I'm not going to lie. This got kind of New Testament for me. BUT this is not--emphatically-- Christian fiction. I wouldn't call it excessive, but there's foul language within the text. Even more noteworthy, there's some fairly steamy erotic content. (Well done, too!) So, this is NOT Christian fiction, but it has a fair amount of religion, some of which might be considered blasphemous by certain segments. Rollins tries to look at faith from different angles. At one point, Erin asks, "Why me?" and is told:

"I have followed your work, Dr. Granger. You are skeptical of religion, but steeped in biblical knowledge. As a result, you see things that nonreligious scholars could miss. Likewise, you question things that religious scholars might not. It was that rare combination that made you perfectly suited to bring the Gospel back to the world."

Suffice it to say, there is significant opposition to our heroes' quest. Some of it is worldly and some of it is otherworldly. There's a big word that I'm not saying, but it won't take you long to discover the supernatural elements to the tale. Readers have seen a lot of this in recent years, but James Rollins is putting his own twist on the familiar.

Mr. Rollins and Ms. Cantrell are off to a strong start with this series. This book introduces some truly intriguing characters with complex backgrounds and motivations. And it features a plot that surprised me at every turn. More importantly, there's a complete story arc to Book One, with a conclusion. That's not to say that there aren't bigger picture questions left unanswered for future books--and one flat-out jaw-dropper in the final chapter. (Seriously, DO NOT PEEK.) You've gotta love the jaw-dropper! Um, when is Book Two out?

Hollywood, Jews, & Hollywood Jews

The Lawgiver
by Herman Wouk

Ninety-seven-year-old Herman Wouk (or a fictionalized version of him) is minding his own business. And his business, as you know, is writing novels. He’s finally tackling the ambitious project he’s wanted to write for decades, the story of Moses. It is a huge coincidence, therefore, when a hot Hollywood producer finagles a meeting insisting that he’s the only man for the job of writing a Moses screenplay.

Well, Mr. Wouk wants nothing to do with this. Meetings are refused until a rabbi intervenes. Ultimately, it is revealed that the epic film’s funding—through unconventional sources—rests upon Wouk’s participation. Under duress, he agrees to act as a consultant to the film, with final script approval. A screenwriter for this all-but-unwritable film must be found. Enter Margo Solovei, a young, independent film auteur who has eschewed her orthodox Jewish upbringing. And it is actually Margo who is at the novel’s heart, as she pursues this project while dealing with producers, directors, actors, Herman Wouk, and any number of people tying her to her roots.

I doubt I can express how much I loved this novel! Oh, how I laughed! It’s true that I am Jewish, and that I have worked in the film industry, so it’s possible that the tale “spoke” to me more than it might to some, but Wouk’s satire is dead on. Not just of an industry, but of human nature. I guess nearly a century of life gives a man some perspective. Also, as the Booklist reviewer astutely pointed out, there are subtle reflections of Wouk’s classic 1955 coming of age novel, Marjorie Morningstar, adding an additional layer of pleasure for fans such as myself. It’s really quite amazing the various themes and commentaries that Mr. Wouk manages to work into this slender novel. It’s playful as hell, but still whip smart.

Oh, yeah, I should mention that this is an epistolary novel, always a fun and inventive way to tell a tale. It’s comprised of letters, emails, faxes, IMs, Skypes, transcripts, voicemails, and so forth. Through the correspondence of the characters’ personal and professional lives, a web of connections is formed. And in the end, The Lawgiver is a romantic comedy. I rooted for lovers to find their way. I rooted for unsavory characters to get their comeuppance. And I rooted for Mr. Wouk, who has proved that at 97 he is as sharp as he ever was. I was moved by the novel’s epilogue, and I shall be waiting with anticipation for his next two novels.

Matt Richtel knows how to hook readers...

The Cloud
by Matt Richtel

…The openings of his novels are always grabbers. In The Cloud, protagonist Nat Idle is waiting to catch a late-night train when an enormous drunken man staggers into him. They both crash to the ground, with Nat very nearly thrown to the tracks in front of an oncoming train. A near-death experience instead becomes a nasty crack on the head, and a kind passerby rushes to assist. The drunk takes off, with a paper falling from his pocket as he exits. Nat’s ready to write the incident off, grateful to have gotten off relatively lightly—until he picks up the paper the man dropped. His name is on it. This was no accident.

That is merely the beginning of another of Idle’s investigative adventures. For a medical journalist and blogger, he does seem to become embroiled in some dark stuff. This story involves a technology designed to help kids learn to multi-task that may be causing a far more serious side effect. And yet, as intense of the plots of these novels are, at their heart they are character-driven, and none more so than this latest installment. Character absolutely drives plot, but in this case, prior knowledge of the character from his debut in Hooked or Devil’s Plaything would be helpful. Nat sustains a head injury in that opening scene. It affects him. He’s not himself, and I think that will be appreciated more by readers acquainted with the character. Nat’s funny, friendly, flawed, and fallible. He’ll go after a story like no one’s business. But in The Cloud, he’s altered. And he’s something of an unreliable narrator, which makes an already convoluted mystery that much more mysterious.

Mr. Richtel, incidentally, is also a journalist. By day, he writes about technology for the New York Times. He, in fact, won a Pulitzer Prize for doing so a few years ago. My point is, the man can write. His prose has an effortless readability, a sense of fun, and frequently rises above what one expects to find in a thriller. The novel moves swiftly, as events take place over the course of just a few virtually sleepless days. Furthermore, by the time all is revealed, the elegance and intricacy of the novel’s plot will become apparent. Oh, I had suspicions along the way. Some were right, many were wrong. But once I knew the truth, it was all so clear. The clues were salted everywhere.

Richtel didn’t learn about character development, pacing, and plot on the day job. I’m not sure where he learned the tools of his trade, because in this novel especially, he eschews literary convention while at the same time embracing certain genre tropes, for instance a beautiful and mysterious woman straight out of a detective noir. Tropes are tropes for a reason, and Richtel has his fun. But it’s where he diverges from convention, notably with this novel’s conclusion, that things get really interesting. I can’t discuss the choices made without spoilers, so I’ll simply say that Mr. Richtel wrapped up his mystery in a way that was unexpected, unconventional, sophisticated, and satisfying.

And aside from solving the mystery, Mr. Richtel has taken his protagonist into uncharted territory. The tale comes to a complete conclusion with no annoying cliff-hangers, but Nat evolves so much (and so believably) in this novel that I’m now consumed with knowing what the next chapter in his life will bring.

NOTE: For local San Francisco readers, Matt will be appearing along with novelist Sophie Littlefield at the SF in SF literary series on Saturday, February 9, 2013 at 7:00pm.  Please join me there!

What DID Susan read in 2012?

1. Rules of Civility – Amor Towles ★★★★★
2. The Night Swimmer – Matt Bondurant ★★★
3. The Odds – Stewart O’Nan ★★★★★
4. Bet Me – Jennifer Crusie ★★★
5. Stories I Only Tell My Friends – Rob Lowe ★★★★★
6. Sleeping Beauty – Elle Lothlorien ★★★★
7. Stay Awake: Stories – Dan Chaon ★★★★
8. Love and Shame and Love – Peter Orner★ ★★★★
9. The Spy Who Jumped Through the Screen – Thomas Caplan ★★
10. Hope: A Tragedy – Shalom Auslander ★★★★
11. The Borrower – ★★★
12. The Orphan Master’s Son – Adam Johnson ★★★★★
13. The Roswell Conspiracy – Boyd Morrison ★★★★★
14. Gideon’s Corpse – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child ★★★
15. The Secret Adversary – Agatha Christie ★★★★
16. 150 Pounds – ★★★★
17. The Flame Alphabet – Ben Marcus ★★★
18. Horizon – Sophie Littlefield ★★★★★
19. Bloodland – Alan Glynn ★★★★★
20. Defending Jacob – William Landay ★★★★★
21. Starters – Lissa Price ★★★★★
22. The Secret of the Sands – ★★★
23. Back to Zero – ★★★
24. Entangled – ★★★
25. The Snow Child – Eowyn Ivey★★★★★
26. Ragnarok – A.S. Byatt ★★★
27. Beat the Reaper – Josh Bazell ★★★★★
28. Wild Thing – Josh Bazell ★★★★★
29. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins ★★★★★
30. Catch Me – Lisa Gardner ★★★★★
31. The Eden Prophesy – Graham Brown ★★★★★
32. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Jonathan Safran Foer ★★★★★
33. How to Cook Like a Man – Daniel Duane ★★★★
34. The Technologists – Matthew Pearl ★★★
35. The Rook – Daniel O’Malley ★★★★★
36. The Help – Kathryn Stockett ★★★★
37. The Starboard Sea – Amber Dermot ★★★
38. The Dressmaker – Kate Alcott ★★★★
39. River Monsters: True Tales of the Ones That Didn’t Get Away – Jeremy Wade ★★★★
40. Clawback – Mike Cooper ★★★★★
41. The Salmon of Doubt – Douglas Adams ★★★★
42. The Mirage – Matt Ruff ★★★★
43. The Games – Ted Kosmatka ★★★
44. This is How – Augusten Burroughs ★★★★
45. Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins ★★★★★
46. The Good Father – Noah Hawley ★★★★★
47. The Vanishers – Heidi Julavits ★★★★
48. How to Eat a Cupcake – Meg Donohue ★★★★
49. The Lifeboat – Charlotte Rogan ★★★★
50. The Thief – Fuminori Nakamura ★★★★
51. Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins ★★★★★
52. Angelmaker – Nick Harkaway ★★★★★
53. The Professionals – Owen Laukannen ★★★★★
54. The Importance of Being Earnest – Oscar Wilde ★★★★★
55. Edge of Dark Water – Joe Lansdale ★★★★★
56. Love is Murder – ITW ★★
57. The Philanthropist’s Danse – Paul ★★★★★
58. Oath of Office – Michael Palmer ★★★★
59. The Gilly Salt Sisters – Tiffany Baker ★★★
60. Gods Without Men – Hari Kunzru ★★★★★
61. The Return of the Ancients – Greig Beck ★★
62. An Economist Gets Lunch – Tyler Cowen ★★★★★
63. The Innocent – David Baldacci ★★★★
64. Wife 22 – Melanie Gideon ★★★★★
65. The New Republic – Lionel Shriver ★★★★
66. Lunatics – Dave Barry & Alan Zweibel ★★★★
67. Don’t Turn Around – Michelle Gagnon ★★★★★
68. The Fault in Our Stars – John Greene ★★★★★
69. Sorry Please Thank You – Charles Yu ★★★★
70. Overseas – Beatriz Williams ★★★★
71. White Lies – Jeremy Bates ★★
72. Guilt By Degrees – Marcia Clark ★★★★★
73. The Age of Miracles – Karen Walker Thompson ★★★★★
74. Discretion – Alison Leotta ★★★★★
75. The Deep Zone – James Tabor ★★★★
76. The Columbus Affair – Steve Berry ★★★
77. How to Talk to a Widower – Jonathan Tropper ★★★★
78. Fool Moon – Jim Butcher ★★★★
79. In One Person – John Irving ★★★★★
80. The Chemistry of Tears – Peter Carey ★★★★★
81. The Third Gate – Lincoln Child ★★★★★
82. Canada – Richard Ford ★★★★★
83. Bloodline – James Rollins ★★★★★
84. Strindberg’s Star –Jan Wallentin ★★
85. They Eat Puppies, Don’t They? – Christopher Buckley ★★★★★
86. The 500 – Matthew Quirk ★★★★
87. Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn ★★★★★
88. The Long Earth – Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter ★★★★★
89. Don’t Ever Get Old – Daniel Friedman ★★★★★
90. ParaNorman – Elizabeth Cody Kimmel ★★★
91. The Conviction – Robert Dugoni ★★★★
92. The Maze Runner – James Dashner ★★★
93. Beautiful Ruins – Jess Walter ★★★★★
94. The Key – Simon Toyne ★★★★
95. SecondWorld – Jeremy Robinson ★★★★
96. A Bad Day for Mercy – Sophie Littlefield ★★★★★
97. Alif the Unseen – G. Willow Wilson ★★★
98. Ice Fire – David Lyons ★★★
99. Beneath the Dark Ice – Greig Beck ★★★★
100. The Dangerous Animals Club – Stephen Tobolowsky ★★★★
101. Shunning Sarah – Julie Kramer ★★★★
102. 15 Seconds – Andrew Gross ★★★★
103. Harry Lipkin, Private Eye – Barry Fantoni ★★
104. Gold – Chris Cleave ★★★
105. The Next Best Thing – Jennifer Weiner ★★★★★
106. On the Island – Tracey Garvis Graves ★★★★★
107. Some Kind of Fairy Tale – Graham Joyce ★★★★
108. The Prisoner of Heaven – Carlos Ruiz Zafon ★★★★★
109. Shadow of Night – Deborah Harkness ★
110. Medusa’s Glance and Vampire’s Kiss:The Science of Monsters – ★★★★
111. Kill Decision – Daniel Suarez ★★★
112. Spiral – Paul McEuen ★★★★★
113. Albert of Adelaide – Howard L. Anderson ★★★★★
114. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Frye – Rachel Joyce ★★★★★
115. John Saturnal’s Feast – Lawrence Norfolk ★★
116. The Fear Index – Robert Harris ★★
117. One Last Thing Before I Go – Jonathan Tropper ★★★★
118. The Pidgeon Pie Mystery – Julia Stuart ★★★
119. The Dog Stars – Peter Weller ★★★★★
120. Liar & Spy – Rebecca Stead ★★★★
121. The Last Dragonslayer – Jasper Fforde ★★★★★
122. Where’d You Go, Bernadette? – Maria Semple ★★★★★
123. The Survivor – Gregg Hurwitz ★★★★
124. Telegraph Avenue – Michael Chabon ★★★★★
125. The Passage – Justin Cronin ★★★★★
126. What in God’s Name? – Simon Rich ★★★★
127. The House at Tyneford – Natasha Solomons ★★★
128. Power Play – Joseph Finder ★★★★
129. The Cove – Ron Rash ★★★★
130. The Map of the Sky – Felix J. Palma ★★★★★
131. NW – Zadie Smith ★★★
132. Breed – Chase Novak ★★★★
133. Hanging by a Thread – Sophie Littlefield ★★★
134. How Literature Saved my Life – David Shields ★★★★
135. This is How You Lose Her – Junot Diaz ★★★★★
136. The Woman Who Died a Lot – Jasper Fforde ★★★★★
137. The Satanic Verses – Salman Rushdie ★★★★
138. Siri For Dummies – Marc Saltzman ★★★★
139. The Yellow Birds – Kevin Powers ★★★★★
140. Joseph Anton – Salman Rushdie ★★★★
141. The Twelve – Justin Cronin ★★★★★
142. Run – Blake Crouch ★★★
143. American on Purpose – Craig Ferguson ★★★★
144. The Cat Behind the Hat – Caroline M. Smith ★★★★★
145. Sailor Twain: The Mermaid on the Hudson – Mark Siegel ★★★★
146. The Blood Gospels – James Rollins & Rebecca Cantrell ★★★★★
147. The Casual Vacancy – J.K. Rowling ★★★
148. The Sign of the Four – Arthur Conan Doyle ★★★★★
149. Goldberg Variations – Susan Isaacs ★★★★
150. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore – Robin Sloan ★★★★★
151. The Middlesteins – Jami Attenberg ★★★★
152. Red Rain – R. L. Stein ★★
153. The Secret Keeper – Kate Morton ★★★★
154. Mrs. Queen Takes the Train – William Keuhn ★★★★
155. A Working Theory of Love – Scott Hutchins ★★★★
156. Back to Blood – Tom Wolfe ★★★★★
157. The Racketeer – John Grisham ★★★★
158. Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality – Jacob Tomsky ★★★★
159. Nine Stories – J.D. Salinger ★★★★★
160. The Round House – Louise Erdrich ★★★★★
161. Flight Behavior – Barbara Kingsolver ★★★★
162. Alice in Wonderland – Elle Lothlorien ★★★★
163. Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story – Christopher Moore ★★★★★
164. Peaches for Father Francis – JoAnne Harris ★★★★
165. I Saw Zombies Eating Santa Claus – S.G. Browne ★★★★
166. The Lawgiver – Herman Wouk ★★★★★
167. Sweet Tooth – Ian McEwan ★★★★★
168. Life Among Giants – Bill Roerbach ★★★★★
169. Far From the Trees – Andrew Solomon ★★★★★
170. Big Brother – Lionel Shriver ★★★★★
171. The Beginners Goodbye – Anne Tyler ★★★★
172. Battle Royale – Koushun Takami ★★★
173. Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm – Philip Pullman ★★★★★
174. Mannheim Rex – Robert Pobi ★★★
175. A Hologram for the King – Dave Eggers ★★★★★
176. Warm Bodies – Isaac Marion ★★★★★
177. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk – Ben Fountain ★★★★★
178. Nano – Robin Cook ★★
179. Behind the Beautiful Forevers – Katherine Boo ★★★★★
180. Home – Toni Morrison ★★★★★
181. The Newlyweds – Nell Freudenberger ★★★★★
182. Arcadia – Lauren Groff ★★★★★
183. Two Graves – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child ★★★★★
184. Dear Life: Stories – Alice Munro ★★★★★
185. Tell The Wolves I’m Home – Carol Rivka Brunt ★★★★★
186. Colin Fischer – Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz ★★★★★
187. Dangerous Waters – Toni Anderson ★★
188. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Annie Barrows & Mary Ann Shaffer ★★★★★
189. The Orchardist – Amanda Coplin ★★★★★
190. The Innocent – Taylor Stevens ★★★★
191. One Shot – Lee Child ★★★★
192. A Thousand Pardons – Jonathan Dee ★★★★
193. Divergent – Veronica Roth ★★★★★
194. Little Known Facts – Christine Sneed ★★★★
195. Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) – Jenny Lawson ★★★★
196. Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See – Juliann Garey ★★★★
197. Cover of Snow – Jenny Milchman ★★★
198. Risky Business – Nora Roberts ★★★
199. Blessed Are Those Who Thirst – Anne Holt ★★★★
200. The Death of Bees – Lisa O’Donnell ★★★★★
201. Extinction—Mark Alpert ★★★★
202. Half-Blood Blues – Esi Edugyan ★★★★


Story Collections (7)
Re-reads (11)
Young Adult (15)
Non-Fiction (17)

★ = 1
★★ = 11
★★★ = 31
★★★★ = 68
★★★★★ = 91

Top 10 Books of 2012

 

Let me take this opportunity to offer a belated "Happy New Year!" to my tens of followers. I hope that 2013 is off to a good start for all.

Yes, I have been a bad blogger again. Life has been challenging. Blogging is time-consuming. And that's all I'm going to say about that. I thank you all for sticking with me, and I'll try to do better moving forward. That's what new year's resolutions are for, right?

One of my favorite things about the end of the old year and the beginning of the new one are all the top 10 lists. I have participated by posting a top 10 lists of my favorite books each year. This year was among the very hardest to narrow down due to the sheer number of books I read in 2012. In the end, these were my choices. It is my habit and tradition to only rank my #1 book. All others are listed in the order in which they were read.

1. Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon

The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson

Gods Without Men by Hari Kunzru

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

In One Person by John Irving

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers

Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rivka Brunt

*****

I have to tell you, I have spent the past several days crafting a fantastic blog post. I wrote a paragraph or more on why each book was selected. It had live links to the books, the authors, video I shot, and lots of cover art. I saved it dozens of times along the way, and I was almost finished. It would have been posted tonight. And then it just... disappeared. And only the tinest bit of it was recoverable. I don't know why. I'm fairly sick about it. And I don't have the energy to recreate the effort. So, I'm afraid all you get this year is a list. :-(

Suffice it to say, I cannot recommend these 10 books highly enough.

In brighter news, my next post will list all 202 books I read in 2012.

“Which story do you prefer?” A film review from a literary perspective

Wow, this has been an exciting fall for literary adaptations! I read Yann Martel’s Life of Pi a decade ago and thought it was fantastic storytelling. I cheered when it won the Man Booker Prize. So, I was quite excited to attend an advance screening recently with several members of my book group. I remembered the novel quite well in broad strokes, but not the fine detail. I didn’t refresh my memory before watching the film, but was curious enough to reread Life of Pi in its entirety before writing this review. The film is very true to the novel in spirit and tone, but there are small changes, additions (generally positive), and elisions (some noteworthy).

The film opens similarly to the novel. The idea is the same, but the execution is slightly different. Different mediums require different storytelling tools. For instance, I believe most film-goers will readily recognize The Writer (portrayed by actor Rafe Spall, who replaced a distractingly famous Toby Maguire) as a stand-in for author Martel. In the novel, it is Martel himself, in direct address to readers, who fulfills this role, effectively blurring the line between fact and fiction. It is established that this story is being related to The Writer by an older Pi. From there, readers are introduced to a young Piscine Molitor Patel and the world he inhabits. It’s a charmed childhood, being raised at the Pondicherry Zoo amongst a loving family and exotic animals—an Indian “We Bought a Zoo.” These scenes are as lush and colorful as any Bollywood musical.

I’ve discussed this novel with other readers countless times over the years. It’s beloved by many, but truly hated by a vocal minority. I’ve never understood the vitriol, personally. Martel writes beautifully and accessibly. His story is fast-paced and yet deeply rooted in character. And it explores the boundless subject of faith through an extraordinary tale—a “story to make you believe in God.” But one complaint I’ve heard from readers is frustration over (or lack of interest in) Pi’s religious explorations early in the novel. The young man is a practicing Hindu, Christian, and Muslim. Martel never belabored the point, but those readers will be gratified to see that director Ang Lee has streamlined the beginning of the tale to move more swiftly to the meat of the story.

And that comes about when Pi’s family packs up their lives, their animals, and moves the whole kit and caboodle to Canada by ship. Well, that’s the plan. Something goes wrong in rough seas outside of Manila. The ship goes down in a haunting scene, and now the stage is set. Sixteen-year-old Pi is shipwrecked in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a 450-pound adult Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. It’s survival of the fittest on the high seas, and things get Darwinian fast. Soon enough, it’s Pi and Richard Parker in it together.

When I first heard the premise of this novel, somehow I thought Richard Parker would be some kind of cute, anthropomorphized tiger, and oversized puddy tat. He was not. He was a terrifying predator, and he stayed a terrifying predator, throughout Pi’s ordeal. This was much the same in the movie (although not quite to the degree as in the novel, a change commented upon by Martel in the Hollywood Reporter). Richard Parker was scary in the book, but he was terrifying on the screen. I flinched as he snarled and lunged in 3D.

From here, both novel and film take on an episodic or picaresque quality. The film is delightfully dream-like from its opening frames. (An early scene of the swimming pool from which Pi derives his name enchanted me!) But as the days at sea pass, and the ribs of both animals become plainly visible, the film shifts from dream-like to hallucinatory. Episodes and encounters become increasingly extraordinary. Sitting in the audience, I could clearly discern who had read the novel and who had not by the gasps and exclamations. (Among my friends, the film was enjoyed equally by those who had read the book and those who had not.)

Yes, there are episodes that are missing from the film, one of which is quite notable. Fans may miss it. And, yet, I can understand the choices made. Cuts were judicious. As noted earlier there are a few small shifts and changes. But this is a very faithful adaptation of Martel’s novel, and I suspect it will please most fans of the original. What is lost is more than made up for by how Ang Lee has brought Martel’s fantastic vision to life.

The cinematography and design of this film is exquisitely beautiful. I’m not a huge fan of 3D technology, but once in a while it seems to really augment a film. Such is the case here—all the better to experience a small boat on the vast ocean. And while we’re on the subject of technology, the CGI work on the tiger is seamless. None of us could detect where the real tiger ended and the computer-generated beast began. I have heard that young Suraj Sharma never once filmed with the live animal. For safety, their scenes were filmed separately. And I don’t know how much footage was of a real cat. All I can say is that the illusion is extraordinarily believable. That a first-time actor could give such a convincing performance playing opposite an imaginary tiger is doubly impressive. The success of the film lies firmly on Sharma’s moving portrayal of 16-year-old Pi, but the supporting performances were equally strong. It was Spall’s response to Pi’s story at the end of the film that actually gave me chills.

I’ve been circumspect about revealing specifics of the plot. I’ll leave all the surprises of Pi’s voyage intact for those new to the tale. And readers of the novel can see for themselves what made the cut. About the ending… Those who have read the novel know what to expect. Now film-goers can join the debate we’ve been having for the past decade. In the end, it truly is all about faith. Which story do you prefer?

President Barack Obama's note to Yann Martel after reading Life of Pi.

Get out the vote!

Last week, I received this email from novelist Ayelet Waldman:

To win this election, we have to do whatever it takes to convince swing state voters to turn out and vote for Obama.

To that end, I'm hosting a call party

Sunday November 4th

4 pm

Please join me. You bring your cell phone, I'll supply the treats.

Ayelet

I don't know how I got this invitation from Ayelet. I mean, I don't know if she sent this to everyone on her mailing list, or just folks in the Bay Area, or people she sort-of knew, or what. But I got it, and it was welcome.

I know this is a book blog and not a political blog, so see how I integrate the literary and the political on this important day...

The fact is, Ayelet Waldman and her husband Michael Chabon live over in Berkeley, right across San Francisco Bay from me. It's a pretty safe assumption, on both of our parts, that we share a similar left-leaning ideology. And both Ayelet and Michael have been extremely public and outspoken in their support of the President, so I don't think I'm outing anyone. I was pretty sure they'd visited the White House at some point, but it turns out there are far more connections than just that. A quick Google search informs me that Ayelet and Barak Obama were at Harvard Law together. She was hugely active in his 2004 campaign, and attended the 2004 Democratic Convention as an Obama delegate. She, Michael, and their kids also attended his historic inauguration in DC. (And as a native Washingtonian, I still remember my bitterness at not being able to fly home for the occasion.) As for Michael, he went one step further--he wrote Mr. Obama a significant cameo appearance in his most recent novel, Telegraph Avenue (which I rave about here).

So, Ayelet, Michael, and me, we're all good, Obama-supporting Democrats. Personally, as a San Franciscan, I always have a sense of frustration that my vote is meaningless, or "doesn't count." I mean, I don't think that anyone is worried about the Democrats winning San Francisco, or California for that matter. I'm just voting with the pack out here. I want to make a difference in Florida and Michigan and Ohio and Nevada! And that's what Ayelet's invitation allowed me to do in a very small way. I was thrilled to be able to accept her invitation--and not just because I was curious to, let's face it, check out the home of these two writers that I so admire.

I have teased on this blog in the past that Ayelet has squinted at me on many occasions and asked, "How do I know you?" I decided to head that off at the pass by marching up her porch on Sunday and announcing, "Hi, Ayelet, I'm Susan Tunis. Thanks for having me over." To my surprise, when I said my name, Ayelet indicated that she knew who I was, and I believed her. ( Don't know what that's about.) But, I have to tell you that she and Michael were the consummate hosts. They were both friendly, casual, and inviting, and people--they'd turned their home into a war room! There were volunteers at computers and on phones everywhere. I'd arrived exactly on time, but when I entered their kitchen (filled, as promised, with all the snacks and beverages anyone could possibly want) there was activity in full swing. It left me wondering if they'd held their call party in shifts? Had they been doing it all day?  All weekend?  All fall?

What I can tell you is that those two are campaigning pros. They weren't on the phone, but circulating constantly: welcoming, training, troubleshooting. "Anyone having trouble getting on the Internet? Michael will help you." At another point, Ayelet told us to take over her house, to spread out, because we had the run of the place. "I don't care. You can go make calls on my bed--don't tell my husband I said that." (I think it's safe to say that Michael Chabon has better things to do than read my blog.) I can further assure you that I did not wander their house. The parts I saw on the first floor were very, very nice, but also felt real--like real people with four kids lived there. It was a nice, warm, friendly house. That was more than enough to satisfy my curiosity.

Actually, I felt kind of shy being in their home. I've had so many interactions with both of them in bookstores and at lit events over the years. And I feel pretty comfortable in that environment, because it's the right time and place to discuss books and be a fan. But on Sunday, I was a guest in their home, and I was there to do an important job--one I felt really strongly about giving my all. Michael was super friendly when he saw me, but I had a phone to my ear, and it just didn't feel like the right time or place to be that geeky girl who loves his books. (I'm a fan of Ayelet's as well, BTW. I've read and enjoyed quite a few of her books, starting way back with the Mommy Track mysteries.) So, I didn't really kibitz with my hosts or the other guests while I was there. Just the most minimal small talk. But everyone was friendly and working towards a common cause. I made as many phone calls as I could over the course of a few hours. I did the best I could to persuade people in Nevada and Ohio to turn out to vote for Obama.

Before I left, I again thanked Ayelet for inviting me. I told her the best part of joining them was all they taught me and that I could now do on my own moving forward. ("Yes, that's sort of the idea.") I only wish that I'd learned earlier! But I have confidence that my newly-acquired political activism skills will get called upon in the future. Now MoveOn.org and Obama for America have all my info. I suspect I'll be called on again. And again. And I'll answer the call, because I do feel strongly about issues and the direction of this country. I'm so lucky to live in a city where almost everyone thinks like I do. We're proud of our "San Francisco values" out here.

I don't know if you share my opinions or if you'll be voting for my guy, but I urge you to get out and vote today. This is the time to let your voice be heard. It's a privilege, and I get excited every time I do it. Please, get out the vote!

And one final thank you to Ayelet Waldman and Michael Chabon for opening their home to all of us in the hope that we could do some collective good. Their generosity and just...awesomeness, it staggers. Go out and buy their books or something. They're amazing people.

Is there hope for the Middlesteins?

The Middlesteins
by Jami Attenberg

Edie Middlestein is a wife, mother, grandmother, lawyer, Jew, retiree, and an addict—not necessarily in that order. Edie is addicted to food, and her story starts not at a certain age, but at a specific weight: “Edie, 62 pounds.” Her life is recounted not in passing years, but in gaining pounds. But the bulk of this tale is relating Edie’s later adulthood. Edie’s children, Robin and Benny, are grown. Even her grandchildren are entering their teen years. At this point, Edie is morbidly obese—well over 300 pounds—sick, and her husband of decades, Richard, has just left her.

In the pages of this brief novel, Jami Attenberg has drawn a detailed character study of a woman and a family in crisis. As you may have gathered, this is a character-driven, rather than plot-driven tale. It’s less a matter of what’s going to happen—because I think we all know what’s going to happen—than whether it’s too late for these people. Is change possible? Is happiness possible?

Attenberg’s characters are finely-drawn, both sympathetic and deeply flawed in almost all cases. The issues with which they deal have the messy complexity of real life, without tidy narrative structures. Is it reprehensible to leave your sick wife? Yes, yes it is. But is it unreasonable to seek happiness? No it is not. These are the sort of issues wrestled with by the members of the dysfunctional Middlestein family.

There are no easy answers, but there insights into human nature along the way. I cared about these people. I hoped for them. In the end, that’s all you can do.