A slightly surreal graphic novel about a man who is isolated for an extended period repairing a wall on a giant tower whose history, purpose and organA slightly surreal graphic novel about a man who is isolated for an extended period repairing a wall on a giant tower whose history, purpose and organization he does not fully understand. After failing to get spare parts or a visit from the inspector he embarks on a journey where he finds an entire system and set of processes revolving around it in strange ways. Mostly beautiful black and white etchings with some powerfully interspersed color. Will read more in this series....more
The Last Day of a Condemned Man is really short story length (and in fact many short stories are longer), it is an intense first person account of a mThe Last Day of a Condemned Man is really short story length (and in fact many short stories are longer), it is an intense first person account of a man's journey from being sentenced to death to the guillotine, with about half of it going step-by-step through his final hours. We never learn his crime. Virtually no other characters have names. In some ways it feels like an intense psychological novel but in other ways it feels like a polemic against the death penalty.
Victor Hugo's preface (written three years after the novel) was interesting as was a short imaginary dialogue of people critical of it. This edition had another short story that I started but was not interested in so did not finish....more
Remarkably thin. In some Amélie Nothomb novellas "remarkably thin" can be thought of as a positive, amazing how thin and intense it is. There is a bitRemarkably thin. In some Amélie Nothomb novellas "remarkably thin" can be thought of as a positive, amazing how thin and intense it is. There is a bit of that here but much more that is merely, well, thin.
It starts out in a gripping manner with a twenty-eight year old man facing a firing squad and thinking back to the beginning of his life. But it never fills the promise of this start because it goes back and tells his life, through his eyes, with nothing resembling any sort of inevitability for ending up before the firing squad.
A few of the scenes are amusing, especially at the man's grandfather's country estate which is a mixture of old style wealth and current poverty along with literary genius and madness. But the more adult scenes of school and romance way too short to be engaging. And none of it fits together in terms of characters or pacing.
Note, it appears that this is largely the true story of Amélie Nothomb's father....more
This is the third installment in The Dispatcher series but can be read as a standalone. A relatively short audiobook original, the concept is a weird This is the third installment in The Dispatcher series but can be read as a standalone. A relatively short audiobook original, the concept is a weird change where when people are murdered they come back to life, naked and in a safe place. Dispatchers are professional killers who kill people to save them, for example if surgery has gone wrong. It reads like a hard boiled detective novel set in this slightly alternative present--in fact the pandemic setting with masks, no handshakes, and people hospitalized on ventilators made it feel like the ancient past. A perfectly fine way to spend a few long car rides with children....more
Until August was published posthumously by Gabriel García Márquez’s sons against his wishes. A few of the reviews I have seen (but not read) lament thUntil August was published posthumously by Gabriel García Márquez’s sons against his wishes. A few of the reviews I have seen (but not read) lament this and think it was better that it was never published. I strongly disagree. I thought it was an excellent novella—not just for completists and, in fact, could be a good entry point for people that have not read García Márquez before.
It is about a woman in her late forties who goes every August to a Caribbean island to visit the grave of her mother. In the first chapter of the novel she has a passionate one night stand that ends awkwardly. Each subsequent chapter takes place in a subsequent year with her repeating the trip and having more one night stands, or coming near to them. You learn more about her relationship with her husband and a little about her children and the ways in which they are all changed by the passage of time and how her relationship with her husband is changed by these (almost) annual nights of passion. The book ends with a sort-of twist as she learns more about her mother and makes changes.
Overall, Until August is very much recognizable García Márquez at the intersection of love and passion, focused on the passage of time, with lots of heat and sweat in the background. It is also compact and accessible....more
I had a hard time getting into this book (I tried about a decade ago and stopped, read all of it this time). I would love to love a book of psychologiI had a hard time getting into this book (I tried about a decade ago and stopped, read all of it this time). I would love to love a book of psychological horror set in a New England town but I just didn't. Maybe it wasn't clear and engaging enough because of the relatively immature narrator and indirect way of telling the story? Maybe the way the plot unfolded and you learned more about why the sisters were holed up in a mansion several years after an arsenic poisoning? Whatever it is I just did not like reading this....more
This is a short and somewhat trashy hard-boiled novella about a younger woman who is working as an accountant who gets recruited by a smart and ruthleThis is a short and somewhat trashy hard-boiled novella about a younger woman who is working as an accountant who gets recruited by a smart and ruthless older woman to work with her on a variety of low- and mid-level crimes in the seedy world of Las Vegan in the 1930s or 1940s (?). It has lots of old school noir language, mistrust, violence and sex. The plot is decently riveting but is really more about the atmosphere than anything else....more
I was really looking forward to this Spanish picaresque novella from the 1550s (novella is almost an overstatement, in the Norton edition it is only 4I was really looking forward to this Spanish picaresque novella from the 1550s (novella is almost an overstatement, in the Norton edition it is only 40 pages long). It was described as a precursor to Don Quixote, Candide, David Copperfield, and more. Instead it was a relatively thin period piece, something of historical interest for learning about 16th century Spain (including harsh condemnations of the church, which got it banned) and the history of literature. It has some interesting humor and insight but nothing that comes close to any of Cervantes Exemplary Novels, which is a collection of similar length novellas written just 60 years later.
Note, the Norton edition is an excellent translation by the amazing Ilan Stavans. It comes with some "Contexts" which are other Spanish works from the period, several of which were interesting (and several of which I skipped) and also "Criticism" that I mostly skipped because it was mostly pretty literary theoretical or highly obscure (e.g., an essay about translations of the work into Russian)....more
I read this out of some vague sense of responsibility that I should eventually read it. And I confess I did not like young Werther or the writing. A pI read this out of some vague sense of responsibility that I should eventually read it. And I confess I did not like young Werther or the writing. A privileged youth he spends his time reading Homer and pining over a woman he knows is engaged, eventually killing himself over the entire affair. It is told in the form of letters and an extended note from the editor to the reader (which is also fictional), which was the part I liked best because it was an interesting way of doing a frame narrative after the main narrative rather than before it.
I'm sure some people connect with this book, I'm not passing judgment on its literary merit. But to me it felt like a literary artifact that may have influenced many books since but I would rather read the best of the books it influenced (e.g., by Kafka and Mann) than their progenitor....more
Brilliant from beginning to end, even the notorious extended flashback to the adventure story set in the American West. The first Sherlock Holmes bookBrilliant from beginning to end, even the notorious extended flashback to the adventure story set in the American West. The first Sherlock Holmes book introduces Watson, depicts his first meeting with Holmes, and sets them off on a classic puzzle mystery....more
My daughter and l listened to this very short novella on a 3 hour drive, was the perfect accompaniment--easy to follow, vivid and gripping in parts, tMy daughter and l listened to this very short novella on a 3 hour drive, was the perfect accompaniment--easy to follow, vivid and gripping in parts, the structure of a Greek tragedy--with a certain amount of complex ambiguity with a big helping of obvious cliché as well. I had seen the movie but glad I listened to the audiobook too....more
I love books about reading and readers. And this novella was particularly satisfying, depicting Queen Elizabeth II basically stumbling on reading as aI love books about reading and readers. And this novella was particularly satisfying, depicting Queen Elizabeth II basically stumbling on reading as a serious hobby and increasingly finding herself absorbed in books—even as her aides do their best to keep them away from her because they are worrying about her favoring one activity or neglecting her duties. She is an increasingly intelligent reader who finds that books--and her relationship to a low-level palace staffer--changes her views about the world and ultimately her role in it. A charming, passionate case for reading--and often very funny....more
A short Audible-only novella by Ben Winters (author of the excellent The Last Policeman trilogy). It tells what seems like a fantastic story about a fA short Audible-only novella by Ben Winters (author of the excellent The Last Policeman trilogy). It tells what seems like a fantastic story about a failed actor making a living as a deliveryman who downloads an app with a motivational book by a second-rate has been action star. The book starts to give him advice on how to take control of his own life and become more assertive, all of which spins wildly out of control. Eventually it is all tied together in a non-fantastical and reasonably satisfying conclusion. Well worth what I paid for it (free on Audible) and the short amount of time....more
The “Devil’s Pool” is a short novella written in the pastoral form of beautiful and innocent peasants with simple lives coping with villainy and dangeThe “Devil’s Pool” is a short novella written in the pastoral form of beautiful and innocent peasants with simple lives coping with villainy and danger. It concerns a 28 year old widower going on a short journey with a 16 year old girl and the challenges, both real and possibly supernatural, that they confront. I thought it was fine but lacked any particular depth or richness....more
"Most children have two whole legs and two whole arms but this little six-year-old that Dinesh was carrying had already lost one leg, the right one fr"Most children have two whole legs and two whole arms but this little six-year-old that Dinesh was carrying had already lost one leg, the right one from the lower thigh down, and was now about to lose his right arm." So begins this short, powerful, depressing, moving book. Dinesh is living in camp under heavy shelling from the Sri Lankan government. He seems like a child but based on further context it appears that he is around 18. His family have all been killed and he is living a liminal existence, helping out with the triage, avoiding shells, and not thinking much about anything. A man asks him to marry his daughter, Ganga, which he does without anything beyond a very simple ceremony as a few people look on (with no priest or certificate). Dinesh and Ganga have only limited interactions in a clearing in the jungle that is somewhat more safe from shelling but then the inevitable "brief" part of the title comes to be. Along the way there are tender portraits not just of human suffering but also of animals that Dinesh identifies with, a crow and a gecko. All together one of the more painful descriptions of war and the physical and psychological toll it takes I have read--with nothing resembling glamor or even much respite....more
I listened to this together with my family in one sitting on a car trip. It is about two Danish sisters helping a Jewish family escape form Denmark toI listened to this together with my family in one sitting on a car trip. It is about two Danish sisters helping a Jewish family escape form Denmark to Sweden. It is well told and although fictional the underlying circumstances are extraordinary (almost all of the Danish Jews escaped, helped by the Danish people). But the story itself feels obvious, predictable, the characters are heroic children and one-dimensional German soldiers and nothing feels particularly complex or exciting or revealing about the way it is told. Is worth being widely read by older children but also feels a little musty and award covered to my taste....more
I am a completist and with this I think I have now completed most everything by Tillie Walden (to date, of course, there will be much more). This is aI am a completist and with this I think I have now completed most everything by Tillie Walden (to date, of course, there will be much more). This is a collection of her early works (three of which were previously published standalone):
The End of Summer: I read and reviewed this before and found it "The artwork is fascinating, it is set in a castle that is as interesting as any of the characters, but the story is too slight, surreal, and makes too little sense to really carry it beyond the interest of looking at the pictures." I re-read it and mostly felt the same thing but felt a little more charitable because of something I had read Walden write about her not knowing what it meant, without expecting to find a conventional story I was more free to enjoy the artwork and weirdness of it all.
i love this part: This was my favorite in the collection, a depiction of a relationship, some of its joys and tensions, and a breakup followed by sharing a playlist. The two women are depicted as larger than the cities they stride through, the world is almost reduced to them together, and the combination of black ink plus what looks like purple watercolor matches the mood perfectly.
A City Inside: What looks like it begins and ends with a therapy session most of it is exploring her own deepest thoughts which are depicted as largely being alone in a somewhat surreal city/world. More comprehensible than The End of Summer but not quite as visually interesting.
Finally, the book includes a set of comics Walden did from age 16-20, mostly not complete stories but fragments, exercises, assignments and the like, mostly a lot of fun--much of which we've seen more of in her subsequent books....more
I’ve been looking forward to this book for years and when I finally read (or actually listened to it), I ended up disappointed. It was light-hearted aI’ve been looking forward to this book for years and when I finally read (or actually listened to it), I ended up disappointed. It was light-hearted and fun, a lot of it was amusing, but it also felt like one incident after another without clearly drawn enough characters (except maybe the dog), anything to really drive the plot, or contrasts and tensions. Mostly I felt myself thinking about all the respects in which P.G. Wodehouse was better. Maybe one day I’ll re-read it (this time on paper) to see if I missed something....more
"More than a person, I’m a convenience store worker." The quirky, endearing, and completely off balance protagonist of Convenience Store Woman reaches"More than a person, I’m a convenience store worker." The quirky, endearing, and completely off balance protagonist of Convenience Store Woman reaches this conclusion, rejecting the love of a man ("Now, however, it felt like he’d downgraded me from store worker to female of the human species")--and the chance t0 have children with him--for her love of the convenience store ("Do you think a convenience store and a human can have sex together?")
The protagonist starts working in the convenience store when she was in college, works there for nearly two decades, watches managers come and go while fastidiously orienting everything in her life around the rules, regulations and rhythms of the store. She briefly starts to break out of all of this with a relationship but then is drawn back into it, unable to know how to behave or think absent initiating what she sees around her from employees and managers in the store, following the rule book as a guide to everything.
I listened to it on Audible, a very short novella, I was charmed and amused from beginning to end, in some ways it felt like an extended antithesis to Bartleby the Scrivener, but a little like Bartleby, I confess I was not entirely sure what the point was beyond a compelling exploration of a very strange psyche that did not shed much light more broadly. But maybe that is just the limitations of my own understanding....more
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