it affected me the way 'open mic night' affects me, on those nights when everyone who gets the urge to perform is in the throes of a marijuana giggle-it affected me the way 'open mic night' affects me, on those nights when everyone who gets the urge to perform is in the throes of a marijuana giggle-fit, and has never read (or written) a poem before, and there are always, always ever-so-many people in the audience who give standing ovations at those sorts of open mic nights, and so this is not necessarily a bad review, in the strictest sense of the term....more
The individual sentences crackled and sang but the story never came alive for me. I’m sorry to say so. I alternated between feeling lost and feeling bThe individual sentences crackled and sang but the story never came alive for me. I’m sorry to say so. I alternated between feeling lost and feeling bored....more
Sometimes the book made me feel like it was trying to slowly suffocate me. At other times it felt like it was coming for my throat with a knife. In itSometimes the book made me feel like it was trying to slowly suffocate me. At other times it felt like it was coming for my throat with a knife. In its less confrontational spaces, it just made me hyperventilate but in a dispirited way. Its characters are sadly stuck in a fictional nightmare where love is impossible and redemption unheard of. Maybe it's a mark of this novel's goodness that I wanted better things to happen to its characters....more
I'm so grateful to Edwin Frank for writing this book. And I'm grateful to Alex Ross, in a way, too, for writing his book about 20th century music--a bI'm so grateful to Edwin Frank for writing this book. And I'm grateful to Alex Ross, in a way, too, for writing his book about 20th century music--a book I also loved--and that Frank cites in the opening pages of Stranger than Fiction as giving him the template he needed to write his book about 20th century fiction. This book isn't a stab at creating a canon; it isn't prescriptive; it isn't trying to build a theory of literature. It isn't even a history, per se, although it covers a certain time period in a sometime-chronological manner. What it is: Amazing. Never condescending, never pandering. It's like a conversation with the friend I always wanted to know, the one who loves language as much as I do and who has thought a great deal more than I have, though, about how literary language works. I've only read about 1/3 of the books discussed here by Frank (maybe another 1/3 are in my bookshelves, aspirationally acquired, and waiting for me to pick them up one day), but it didn't matter that I hadn't read every book Frank wants to tell me more about, because everything he wrote about every book made me understand better why literature is meaningful, and how writers learn from one another, and how their works relate to and enrich one another. I loved the erudition. This book exhilarated me. ...more
As a worshipper of Joy Williams’s novels and her more traditional short stories I was expecting to love it, but no. Need I go on? Probably not but herAs a worshipper of Joy Williams’s novels and her more traditional short stories I was expecting to love it, but no. Need I go on? Probably not but here I go. This book made me feel stupid. Which is a very difficult thing to do because I hold my intellect in high regard, I mean, stupidly high regard, like if some asked me to describe myself in 5 words or less I’d probably start with ‘smart.’ Or maybe I’d be feeling a little humble at the moment and I’d say it as the 4th word but in my soul it’s fundamental. Ok once I re-established my high regard for my brain and read on then the book just felt like sloppy seconds, bits of thought and leftover trash that Joy Williams found on her hard drive. I worshipped you! How can this book be? Ok I will probably erase this in a few minutes I am so ashamed by both my lack of humility before my literary god as well as my inability to see the greatness in this book....more
One of those too-rare books that manages to be absolutely absurd and deeply moving at the same time. I loved it, not only for its story, or its wild lOne of those too-rare books that manages to be absolutely absurd and deeply moving at the same time. I loved it, not only for its story, or its wild leaps of imagination, but also for the way it leaves it up to you what level in the story you choose to suspend your disbelief. I realized by the end that I am absolutely in love with the sort of book that gives you this choice, to decide for yourself what is ‘really real in the real world’ (is the geography accurate to Tokyo?) or ‘fictionally real’ (is the threat real or a prank?) or ‘real to the character, who is sincere but delusional’ (do they really believe what they’re telling one another? Are all of them lying? Some of them?) and to top it off there is a frame story where you need to decide if the narrator himself is a wiseacre, trying to scare some random children with his oddly imagined tale…yeah. If you pick this up I recommend going along for the ride and letting the story wash over you without trying too hard to solve its narrative puzzle because the puzzle’s not really the point....more
I was overwhelmed by its relentless wittiness. Reading it is like being in a steam room, or on a roller coaster, wow, this is so exhilaratingly good, I was overwhelmed by its relentless wittiness. Reading it is like being in a steam room, or on a roller coaster, wow, this is so exhilaratingly good, and exactly where I want to be, but eventually my mood changes to ‘get me outta here’...more
I was intrigued and then all at once I was bored. The dissociative out-of-body feeling that both of the main characters experience was also a trait usI was intrigued and then all at once I was bored. The dissociative out-of-body feeling that both of the main characters experience was also a trait used by Murakami in My Annihilation to explain the main character’s ability to endure or inflict pain so it felt repetitive and like a crutch or placeholder rather than a useful explanation of each character’s violent urges. Also both protags had horrific childhoods, full of abuse, and for once I’d love to read a splashy thriller where the protagonist was just a regular joe with a happy home life as a child. The tension dropped for me considerably after the baby was no longer in the picture as the likeliest next ice pick victim and I’m left to ponder why I felt more upset about the bunny’s fate than any human character’s fate. It’s my 4th Murakami book so I guess he’s doing something that interests me. I think it’s these novels’ straightforward simplicity, a recurring strength in all the books I’ve read, as well as what I perceive as the author’s complete willingness to write implausibly if it’s the fastest way to serve his purpose. I admire that....more
In 2019 people in publishing kept telling me “motherhood is big right now.” Since then the shelf of published books exploring the existential terror oIn 2019 people in publishing kept telling me “motherhood is big right now.” Since then the shelf of published books exploring the existential terror of those immediate post-natal days has grown long and I can’t help but compare this novel to the many others I’ve read lately and that is to say, now that there is so much to choose from, it seems I personally go for the ones that are bordering on “the surreal horror of early motherhood,” vs. “the real horror of early motherhood.”
Also it’s impossible for me to imagine a book on this subject that I’d love more than Reproduction by Louisa Hall, who has graciously blurbed this book.
Now that I’ve stated my biases, let me add that this is a beautifully written book. It’s what I’d call “poetic realism” and some of the writing is so perfect for its intended meanings. I’m fond of this sentence, for example: “The apartment has thrown up on itself.” I know that feeling, bro. ...more
What is a pygmy hippopotamus doing in this story other than to raise the quirk factor? The initial poo-spray scene when the protagonist is first introWhat is a pygmy hippopotamus doing in this story other than to raise the quirk factor? The initial poo-spray scene when the protagonist is first introduced to the hippo is so ridiculous that it made me instantly invest less in the novel and its characters. At once I had far less patience with all the many other inexplicably quirky choices in the novel, choices that seemed to be made just to provide extra quirky-ness. It was too much. I liked the writing, I liked the tone, I liked the substance of the story, I liked the idea of two girls having a relationship like the one described in the novel...but all of these good things about the novel were continually undermined by arbitrary choices that made not-much-sense other than to provide a level of cuteness that felt superficial. It didn't work for me, at any rate....more
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