Updated review with thoughts on the TV series at the bottom.
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If this book doesn’t make you amp up all the security settings on all your social media Updated review with thoughts on the TV series at the bottom.
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If this book doesn’t make you amp up all the security settings on all your social media platforms, nothing will.
Remember Jeanette in “How I Met Your Mother”? The psycho who stalked Ted, justified it by saying “I couldn’t bear the idea of not meeting you!” and because she was hot he thought that was adorable? Joe, the narrator of this supremely disturbing novel, is probably Jeanette’s twin brother.
Joe meets Beck when she comes to buy a few books at the store he works at in Greenwich Village. She’s hot, she likes the same authors… Every bookworm’s fantasy, right? He spies her name from her credit card receipt and next thing you know, he is in full stalker mode. Because it is so damn easy to find everything you need to know about someone in the Internet age, especially someone with a unique name like Guinevere Beck… and especially if said Miss Beck tweets incessantly and has a public Facebook profile…
It’s impossible to say more about the plot without giving the juicy bits away, and as this is a deliciously trashy thriller, I don’t want to ruin it for anyone. Suffice to say, that book basically reads itself. The fast pace, the dark humour: a highly addictive combination, at least for suckers like me! Stuffed with cultural references and daily life details and concerns, this book also feels disturbingly real. This could happen. This might be someone’s diary. This is definitely happening to someone somewhere right now…
I have to say kudos to Kepnes for her incredibly clever use of second person narration: it is not easy to make that narrative style engaging, especially when you are seeing a story from the eyes of a psycho-stalker, but she pulls it off. You can’t hate Joe, or be flat-out horrified by him, even if he is delusional and creepy. Attraction is something that teases everyone’s psycho switch at some point in their lives, so he is bizarrely relatable (for anyone who hasn’t experienced the surreal experience of online dating, that shit turns EVERYONE into a stalker, it’s creepy). I confess I freaked myself out when I realized I was rooting for the guy, and even empathizing with him at times… I hate pretentious hipsters and readers of shitty novels too… But I am not sure that I’d let that sentiment drive me quite as far as Joe goes…
Joe is obviously an unreliable narrator: he is obsessed and delusional – but he seriously made me think about the possibility that crazy people attract each other. We soon find out that his beloved Beck is not exactly a paragon of virtue, and that Joe is not the only person who has an unhealthy attachment to her. The further you get into the book, the more you realize these two psychos might just deserve each other; just like in “Gone Girl”, except I actually liked the characters in “You” and hated everybody’s guts in “Gone Girl”…
4 stars for a very entertaining, creepy read! I will definitely be looking for the sequel!
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I was excited about the TV show, because despite the trickiness of using Kepnes' masterful use of the second person narration for a visual media, this story was basically made to be a fun and suspenseful Netflix binge. Merry Christmas to me!
While I am not sure about the casting for Joe (I imagined him hotter, like an American James Norton or something), I really loved the TV adaptation, which expands on various side characters, but especially develops Beck into something more layered than the aggravating little Brooklynite Joe fell for on the page - and Elizabeth Lail is perfect. So while it's is not strictly a faithful word for word adaptation, it keeps all the good bits (including the green pillow and the red ladle!) and the hip/trashy vibe that made the book so fun. Oh Joe, my lovable psycho, I knew you'd be a blast to watch! Looking forward to season 2....more
When you work as an executive assistant, 80% of what makes the job good and interesting is whether or not you get along with your boss. And I don’t waWhen you work as an executive assistant, 80% of what makes the job good and interesting is whether or not you get along with your boss. And I don’t want to brag, but my boss is ze best! When we started working together, he quickly noticed I always had books kicking around and spent most of my lunch breaks with my nose buried in the pages of my latest read. One day, he handed me some stuff to file, but also a skinny little book.
“It’s one of my favourites: I hope you’ll like it!”
Seriously. Best boss ever.
“The old man who read love stories” is the story of a man named Antonio Jose Bolivar. He lives in a tiny village in Ecuador, and eventually leaves the comfort of his beloved books to hunt a man-killing panther in the Amazonian forest. Such a simple story at first glance – but don’t be fooled by the low page count. This novella is written with the musical elegance that I have come to associate with South American writers: each word is chosen carefully and flows right off the tongue if you should happen to be reading out loud.
Not simply a love letter to books, and their immense power to make life better, it is also a sad, adoring homage to the great South American forests that are being inexorably destroyed. The life and rituals of aboriginal tribes living in the forest are detailed, as are the beautiful fauna and flora to be found there. Contrasted with the crassness and greed of elected officials, poachers, gold diggers and other unsavory characters who can’t respect and appreciate the world they are violating, the murderous ocelot becomes a symbol of a wild part of nature that fights back against the invader, trying to defend its environment against an enemy that can’t possibly be stopped.
It reminded me in many ways of one of my favorite reads, “The man who planted trees” by Jean Giono; both stories are about lonely men who have a love of nature and solitude. But “The old man who read love stories” is much more brutal and raw than Giono’s lyrical tale. Where Elzear Bouffier reforests an entire region, Antonio Jose Bolivar cannot do anything but witness the destruction of the forest he lives in.
A very good, quick read that I recommend to all fans of South American literature. Thank you Richard, for sharing your book with me!...more
Ah, Mahaut of Artois! I’ll never understand why you are not better known as one of the greatest villains of literature! You will stop at nothing to deAh, Mahaut of Artois! I’ll never understand why you are not better known as one of the greatest villains of literature! You will stop at nothing to defeat your nephew Robert and put your own lineage closer to the throne of France. Plotting, murder, witchcraft, nothing is too extreme for you!
I am such a huge fan of this series of historical novels about the Capetian line and the beginning of the Hundred Year war. The language is clean yet poetic, the intrigue so deliciously detailed and the characters larger than life. “The Poisoned Crown” has suffered bad reviews, and I disagree with them. I think things get particularly juicy in this installment of the Accursed Kings: it can feel a little slow at time, but keep in mind that Druon is also setting the reader up for the second half of the series… If you think Mahaut is vicious in this one, just wait for book 4!
Marguerite of Bourgogne is dead, so Louis X can finally remarry. He is, however, a deeply incompetent ruler that everyone tries to manipulate to their own ends. Cruel and impulsive, he starts a war with Flanders that puts a strain of the kingdom’s finance and only serves to show what a mess he is making of his father’s legacy. He marries the princess Clémence for his own satisfaction, but also to have a legitimate male heir, so that the daughter he had with Marguerite can be legally pushed away from the throne. But Louis having a son would spoil other people’s plans for the kingdom: Mahaut is especially convinced that her son-in-law, Philippe of Poitiers, would be the perfect man for his brother Louis’ job… In the meantime, our Lombard friend Guiccio Baglioni is desperate to get back to his lover Marie de Cressay, whom he vows to marry regardless of the social gap dividing them.
This installment obviously features a lot of Mahaut and Philippe, who are two of my favorite characters in this historical saga: the dialogue between them is especially clever and funny: they are both keen political minds and every word they say is loaded with meaning. Princess Clémence of Hungary is the kindest, most innocent character in this series: the poor dear has no idea what boat she got herself into… Louis is, of course, still the snivelling and immature little weasel I rolled my eyes at through the first two books. It’s probably a good thing his reign was so short!
“The Poisoned Crown” goes into very detailed historical explanations of the economy, legal systems, social hierarchies, so the reader can really feel the characters’ dilemmas and understand their actions better. I appreciate this attention to detail, but I can see how this would not suit readers who look for something very action-driven.
Regardless, fans of historical fictions owe themselves the pleasure of reading these books! I can’t wait to find a copy of the fourth installement!...more
As I read this lovely book, I was strongly reminded of Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth", which also follows a sad and angry child into a world oAs I read this lovely book, I was strongly reminded of Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth", which also follows a sad and angry child into a world of dark fairy tales where they must defeat a menacing evil to be reunited with their family.
In an England on the cusp of the Second World War, David just lost his mother to a long and painful illness. His only consolation are the books she left him: but he soon begins to hear the books whisper to each other... To David's indignation and anger, his father quickly remarries and his new stepmother Rose gives birth to a baby half-brother. The small family relocates to a new home, an old house right outside of London, where David finds more books in his attic bedroom. From this little room's window, he sees a little sunken garden right behind the house, and what looks to him like a strange, crooked man... David soon learns that the room used to be Rose's great-uncle's, Jonathan. He also loved strange books and scary stories, and one day he disappeared and was never seen again... After a particularly biter fight between himself, his father and Rose, David runs out of the house and to the little garden, where he notices a gap between the rocks of its wall, just large enough to fit through... Lured by what sounds to him like his mother's voice, he squeezes through the gap.
Just like Alice, David finds himself in a world he doesn't understand, confronted by creatures that are just like the ones he's read about in Jonathan's books... but also different, dangerous, merciless. He will embark on a journey to find a way back to his world, and on this journey, he will loose his innocence and illusions.
Connelly writes up the classic fairy tale characters and makes them dark and freaky. I had never read any of his other books before, as I knew him as an author of mysteries, which is not really my literary cup of tea. I'm a Neil Gaiman fangirl, so creepy fairy tales are my thing, and Connelly's fluid prose complements that theme perfectly: reading this book reminds me of being a little girl, tucked up in bed and being told a fantastic bedtime story.
I remember being young, sad, angry and confused and finding the only safe place in the world to be between the pages of books. I remember wishing the stories I read were real so that I could make my way to those worlds and stay there; it seemed a better place than the shitty real world of grief, broken family, bullies and anxieties I felt trapped in.
Well-written books like this one helped me realize how these things pass, how time heals a lot of the pain our formative years are plagued with and that while escape feels good, being trapped in one's own head can be just as scary as anything real.
I really loved this book. It is a beautiful story about growing up, about how painful it can be, but also about how rewarding it can be to recognize your anger, jealousy and hatred for what they are and letting them go. It was a perfect read for the slow, snowy week between Christmas and New Years, and I recommend it to anyone who has ever found comfort in a good book....more
Paris, noir murder investigation, time-travel, archaeology. Gimme, gimme, gimme!!! I do so love it when a writer takes all my favorite things and putsParis, noir murder investigation, time-travel, archaeology. Gimme, gimme, gimme!!! I do so love it when a writer takes all my favorite things and puts them into a book I can devour excitedly. A part of me is always a bit frustrated I wasn’t there early enough to write it myself, but what can you do? I opt to simply enjoy the ride.
In 2266, a nano-robot apocalypse has forced humans off their home planet; Verity Auger is an archaeologist who digs up evidence of the past civilisation from an eerily deserted Paris. After one of her research expeditions goes wrong, she is recruited by a secret agency who wants to send her back to Paris. Like way, way back… Her storyline is intertwined with Wendell Lloyd’s, a jazz musician/private detective who works in 1959’s Paris. But then again, it’s not quite the 1959’s Paris we know from our history books… In this slightly off City of Lights, Lloyd investigates what seems at first like a suicide, but the deeper he digs, the more he realizes there is much more to this case than anyone could have anticipated.
It’s impossible to summarize the plot more than this without giving it away, and this book is simply too awesome to spoil. Alastair Reynolds is an astrophysicist, and it shows: the sciency bits are well-written and make sense. But don’t make the mistake of thinking this is dry just because the author is a big nerd: his prose is evocative and lush. I was pleasantly surprised and very excited by the style of “Century Rain”; it’s a real pleasure to read a gorgeously written book that doesn’t underestimate the reader’s intelligence! I could see the story unfold before my eyes and many scenes kept me on the edge of my seat, manically turning the pages. Of course, this book requires patience. No exposition is given about Verity's world until very, very late, so you just have to roll with a few weird words without fully knowing what they mean for quite a while, but that turns out to be part of the perfect pacing! And when the explanations do happen, they are as disturbing as they are familiar - and well worth the wait!
Strong and realistic female characters in sci-fi are not exactly a dime-a-dozen, but here we have Verity. Very intelligent, driven, stubborn – but also too dedicated to her job to find enough time for her marriage or children. Her mind is sharp, but she has a very short fuse and her impulsive reactions have a way of complicating things… I liked her just as much as she annoyed me, which is really perfect. You know early on that her storyline will inevitably cross Lloyd’s, and I couldn’t wait to see how the disillusioned jazz-loving detective would deal with the hot-tempered archaeologist.
This book really impressed me and I can't recommend it enough and not just to sci-fi fans: everyone who loves a good story and great writing needs to get a copy of this genre-bending book! 5 stars and a well-earned spot on my "favorite" shelf!...more
My copy of “A Fine Balance” was a birthday present from my husband. He read it when he was an undergrad, more than ten years ago, and he told me he stMy copy of “A Fine Balance” was a birthday present from my husband. He read it when he was an undergrad, more than ten years ago, and he told me he still thought about the book to this day. Jason has never been one for simple or lightweight books (we are talking about a guy who brought “Gravity’s Rainbow” with him as a vacation read…), so if he liked it that much, I knew I was in for some work. He has always been more than willing to read my favorite books, and I have always been happy to return the courtesy, so I cracked open this 700 pages beast and dove in.
What struck me immediately about “A Fine Balance” was that it is constructed like one of those novels from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, that are now considered classics: it is about ordinary people and what makes their lives extraordinary. The opening quote by Balzac set the tone just right: you are not in for rainbows and puppies, ladies and gentlemen. This is India in the 70’s: violent, corrupt, merciless.
The characterization is simply masterful. The first impression by which we judge the characters we encounter erodes slowly as their story unfolds. That is exactly what writing with compassion means: peeling the coarse layers off your character to show your readers something that they can care about and root for. As Mistry says it himself at some point, the patchwork quilt of these characters’ lives is built slowly before your eyes until you see the complete and complex picture.
The society described in this book is more brutal than anything Dickens and Hugo wrote about (sorry dudes… I still love you!): the sexism, the cast system, the cruelty of people and of life in general can be overwhelming. I read this book in short sittings because sometimes the deluge of hardships that befall the characters was too upsetting. But please, don’t make the mistake of thinking this is simple misery-porn, because it really isn’t. It’s just a realistic depiction of a very rough time and place to live in.
We begin by following the stories of a middle-aged woman trying to keep her head above the water and retain a very hard-earned independence, and a man and his nephew whom she hires to do some tailoring for her. They are joined by a young student, far from his home and desperate to get away from the student hostel. The book is about their daily struggle in a harsh city, to keep their heads above the water and to live with dignity. The paths they walk are described in such vivid details that it makes summarizing the book very tricky. This is about a year in four people’s lives, and how knowing each other and helping each other changed them.
There are moments of simple but beautiful happiness and humanity in the bleak landscape of these people’s lives: their compassion and kindness make their lives easier to bear, and the strange family they become to each other brings them much needed solace – because every moment of reprieve is quickly followed by another shock that rattles their world. Whether it is a friend’s death, the threat of eviction or the judgement of family, the characters must keep on going to re-establish the delicate equilibrium of their lives in a corrupt society, where intolerance and fear prevail, and the weight of money means more than human lives.
We take so many things in our lives for granted, but this book is a vivid reminder of how quickly and how easily everything can be turned upside down. Pick it up for it’s gorgeous, powerful prose and to help you restore your faith that there are good people out there, and everyone has a story just as complex as yours – they will share it if you only bother asking. 5 very heartfelt stars: Jason was right, I am not about to forget this book....more
My first ever book won in a giveaway! I am so pleased, especially considering that the synopsis to “Ninth City Burning” hits some themes I can’t get eMy first ever book won in a giveaway! I am so pleased, especially considering that the synopsis to “Ninth City Burning” hits some themes I can’t get enough of: post-apocalyptic tale and resisting an alien invasion. However, J. Patrick Black’s first book suffers from a first book problem: every good idea ever, jam-packed into one book.
For the first 150 or so pages, we are evolving in a world we can assume to be Earth several hundred years in the future, but we don’t really know why or who it got to the state it is until one of the characters gets a convenient explanation. Once we do figure it out, a lot of things start making a lot more sense, but it can be jarring, and keeping up for over a hundred pages without explanation behind the world building is a little irritating.
That being said, since this is apparently the first book of a trilogy, the idea that it is one massive introduction makes a little more sense. The story blends sci-fi and fantasy elements nicely, and when the action gets going, the book is very gripping and hard to put down. Getting to that point simply requires a lot of patience, but it is rewarding because the world-building is complex and impressive. Things also get really fun and awesome after the halfway point.
We meet Jax, Naomi and her sister Rae, Torro and Kizabel (and a few others, but those are really the most interesting ones). They live on Earth, five hundred years after an invasion attempt by aliens – an invasion that backfired when the aliens accidentally triggered unknown powers in some humans, a power called thelemity, which is sort of like magic but also like the Force in Star Wars. This power allowed humans to fight back and the war to defend our planet has been going on for centuries, but it has been at a stalemate for a long time. All our characters lead very different lives on this post-apocalyptic Earth, but their paths will soon cross as the invader readies itself for an attack of unprecedented magnitude.
Multiple POVs is tough: giving everyone a distinct voice requires a lot of skills, and while it sometimes works brilliantly, there are passages here and there where it lack credibility, specifically with the chapters narrated by Naomi, who sound way older than she is supposed to be. But I just loved Kizabel’s chapters: I have a soft spot for mad scientists and she is spunky and mouthy, just my type!
3 ½ stars, because it took so long to really get going, but it has excellent world-building, engaging characters and because J. Patrick Black is clearly a Star Wars fan and he speculates people will still listen to the Clash ever after the apocalypse, and I am so on board with that!...more
"The Vegetarian" is a disturbingly surreal and fascinating read. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it because some elements of it are brilliant, "The Vegetarian" is a disturbingly surreal and fascinating read. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it because some elements of it are brilliant, some are revolting and others just confused me. It's a great read, but it is unlike any other book I have ever read and it did not go where I expected at all.
A submissive young woman starts having violent, bloody dreams, which make the idea of consuming meat completely unbearable. This causes a great disturbance in her placid marriage, a disturbance which soon radiates through her entire family. The story is told in alternative points of view, first by her husband, then her brother-in-law and her sister, showing the impact of her metamorphosis on their respective lives. It also forces them to examine their own priorities and expectations.
A lot of thought is given to sexual desire, normality, cruelty, morality and sanity. The prose is bizarrely sensual and evocative: Han Kang wrote this novel in Korean, so I have no idea if the English translation lives up to the original text, but the quality of the writing make "The Vegetarian" a hard book to put down.
The story takes place in Seoul, where the societal norms are still very patriarchal, conformist and traditionalist, and some of the events can be really upsetting when viewed through a North American cultural lens. For example, the idea of a simple individual choice, such as the renouncing of animal products, would not be shocking in the least in my neck of the woods. But I have lived my entire life in Canada, where individuality is praised and encouraged.
Some reviewers have made interesting points about this choice being the only one that has ever really been hers, and it becomes clear really quickly that her act is one of defiance and independence unlike any she has ever displayed before. I definitely see it, but I also find it interesting that we never have her voice telling us the story: what she does is always seen and interpreted by someone else. Yeong-hye's choice is perceived as mental illness by her family, and her mental stability slowly dissolves as the book goes on, her disgust of meat slowly tuning into a fascination with plants and trees.
This short novel is pretty haunting, the prose clean but also very sharp. Pick it up if you are not afraid of uncomfortable reads that give you no simple answers or interpretations. 3 and a half stars rounded down to 3, because I can't see myself re-reading it....more
I loved Blake Crouch’s exploration of the question: what if at a specific junction in your life, you had made a What a clever, thought-provoking book!
I loved Blake Crouch’s exploration of the question: what if at a specific junction in your life, you had made a life (and perhaps world) altering decision? We all wonder about that from time to time and while I am a firm believer of “everything happens for a reason”, I admit it’s hard not to be tempted by the rabbit-hole that this question is.
Jason Dessen is thrown head first down that rabbit-hole, and you get to take the plunge with him and go “What the fuck is going on?!?!” for about 350 pages when you crack “Dark Matter” open. Jason is a brilliant scientist, who gave up research when his girlfriend Daniela got pregnant and happily settled in his new life as a husband, father, and professor of undergrad physics. Life is good, quiet, unambitious. Then one evening, as Jason is headed back home after sharing drinks with his old college roommate and former lab partner, a masked man kidnaps him and knocks him out. When he comes to, his life is not the one he remembers. His house is different, his family are nowhere to be found, he is being treated like the King of Science by colleagues he doesn’t know for having conducted an experiment he doesn’t understand…
It’s impossible to go into more details without spoiling it, but I must say this book threw a lot of curve balls at me. While I saw a few things coming, I was also stunned by many other twists and turns. I plowed through this book, deeply resenting my short commute to work because I wasn’t able to read more. I can already see this as an awesome, fast-paced sci-fi movie. Hopefully starring an artfully aged Jake Gyllenhaal…
This novel is the kind of book that bends your mind into a pretzel in a way that would make Philip K. Dick proud. The main trope is nothing new in the realm of science-fiction, but the execution is what makes it stand out: the science exposition is not too complicated, so that dumb people such as myself can still understand what’s going on, but they sound like they make enough sense to be plausible (I’d be curious what an actual physicist would think, but alas, I don’t have one kicking around to check the science-y bits). And most importantly, you feel emotionally connected to Crouch’s characters, something that doesn’t happen all that often either with sci-fi or with thrillers. Granted, my husband being a geeky Jason might have made the story tug at my heart strings a little harder than intended by the author, but I’ve read a few other reviews, and I am clearly not the only one who cared deeply about Jason and wanted him to figure out what in the Hell was going on.
I docked half a star because honestly, that thing Crouch does where he needs a new line for every single sentence when the tension is mounting drove me insane. I think an editor should have pointed this out to him: about 40 pages per copy could have been saved had he not been so trigger-happy with the “return” key. But besides that annoying editing madness, this was an excellent, fast-paced read that made both my brain and my heart freak out. Highly recommended!!...more
I really enjoyed the first three books of the Millenium series. They were not perfect books, but they were fun, edgy, wonderfully convoluted and superI really enjoyed the first three books of the Millenium series. They were not perfect books, but they were fun, edgy, wonderfully convoluted and super satisfying reads. Then I read about how Stieg Larrson’s estate (controlled by his estranged father and brother) screwed his life partner Eva Gabrielsson out of the books’ rights on the basis that she and Larrson were never married, and were now publishing a sequel… well, I smelled a particularly icky cash cow. And that pissed me off, because I love Lisbeth and Mikael and I wanted to read more of their stories, but my moral compass made it quite clear that there was no way I was giving a single penny to people who were such callous, money-grabbing jerkfaces.
Then my colleague bought a copy, and offered to let me borrow it when she was done… Morbid curiosity got the best of me, and I borrowed it… I am guilty of loving the characters too much to resist reading this book. It makes me feel a little gross given my ethical issues with how continuing this series was handled. But I had been reading a lot of heavy stuff, I needed a bit of mindless fun to get me psyched about diving back into my pile of dystopian/horror/sci-fi/weird ass stuff. So I hid in a corner and read the damn thing.
First off, do not read the French translation: it is atrocious. I’m giving Langercrantz’s the benefit of the doubt: maybe it’s the translator’s fault. But there is always the possibility that they were working with bad original material too… Who knows? Also bear in mind that this book was not based on any of Larrson’s notes for future Lisbeth books. SIGHS. Now on to the actual story.
Electronic security and high-level hacking is fun and interesting, but it doesn’t have the same weight as the issues tackled in the original trilogy, where human trafficking, deep government cover-ups and investment fraud on a grand scale were part of the intrigue (with some sexual violence and serial killing sprinkled on top). That means that the whole story feels a lot more superficial and nowhere near as epic in scope as the first three books. Also, I’m not sure, but I get the feeling that Langercrantz was trying to veer what should have been a good old fashioned crime thriller straight into sci-fi… And since he’s not Philip K. Dick, that kind of… doesn’t work… Leave the AI stuff to people who actually know what they are talking about, buddy.
That’s not to say nothing interesting happens in this book: the character of August is a brilliant idea, and I do enjoy the idea of someone fucking with the NSA. I’m not sure the USA’s reaction to their most secure agency’s network being hacked in is realistic in any way (Americans are very trigger happy: I would have expected them to just nuke Sweden if anything like this ever happened). I was thrilled that we finally had some more info about Lisbeth’s sister: Larrson had dangled that juicy element in front of his readers’ noses without ever exploring it, and I had been lusting after development on that topic for ages. Langercrantz handled that particular angle very well and I was fascinated with Camilla’s story.
But ultimately, mostly because of the poor writing quality and slightly silly Marvel comics references, I kept wondering why I should care about this piece of glorified fanfic… This simply doesn’t have the scope of the original trilogy, nor is it as engaging: Lisbeth is still a bad ass, but not the one I had come to love through “Dragon Tattoo” all the way to “Hornet’s Nest”. Langercrantz clearly has a lot of respect for the original material he was charged with developing further upon, but he doesn’t have enough talent to really do it justice, sadly. 2 stars for a valiant (but ultimately unsuccessful) effort. It’s a fluffy page-turner, but don’t expect more than that!...more
“When Free Speech Turns Into an Orwellian Nightmare” or “PC Culture in Academia”…
I’ve had some first and second-hand experience of that phenomenon. We“When Free Speech Turns Into an Orwellian Nightmare” or “PC Culture in Academia”…
I’ve had some first and second-hand experience of that phenomenon. Well-meaning but utterly mis-guided people who find everything offensive, try to hush up people who disagree with them without seeing the enormous irony of using censorship tactics to keep those who think differently quiet. I have seen moral crusaders drag the names of people whose only fault was having a dark sense of humour through the mud, and use concepts like “safe space” and “trigger warning” to get people they didn’t like fired. Petty dictatorships established over the most trivial things blown out of proportion…
“The Human Stain” could be a real story, and it is my understanding that a very similar case actually happened right around the time that Roth published this novel. And because it hit so close to something I have seen happen in front of my own, disbelieving, flabbergasted eyes, it made me cringe a lot.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved this book. But it was a painful reminder of the weird, broken system of academia that I once held in such high regards. It is also interesting to think that this novel doesn’t take place that long ago: 1998 is still less than 20 years ago, and evangelistic political correctness has only gotten more hardline since.
Moving on to the actual book.
Coleman Silk, the highly respected dean of faculty at Athena College resigns in disgrace after allegations of racism are brought up against him by two black students who felt offended by a remark he made when they were not attending his class. By way of coping with this humiliating experience and with the death of his wife, he launches himself into an affair with an almost illiterate woman half his age. He befriends a writer living in his neck of the woods, and this new buddy will soon find out a secret that Silk has been hiding almost his entire life, and that make the accusations held against him even more absurd and devastating than it seemed at first.
Spoilers from this point on.
Can I just say that I am very late on the bandwagon: this is my first Philip Roth novel, and I am completely blown away by his sophisticated characterization. There are people I have known for ages, but I don’t know them half as well as I now know Coleman Silk. And it’s not just the main character that is portrayed with such details and humanity: the deeply damaged Les Farley and the incredibly self-important Delphine Roux are also rendered vividly. The prose is powerful and gripping: yes, he uses big words, but that’s not a problem for me at all. I love big words! The carefully assembled clockwork of the non-linear narrative structure unveils these people and what you think you know about them dissolves as you explore their roots, their motivations. These characters feel so very real and they will linger in my thoughts for a long time.
This book forces the reader to think not simply about race, but about identity, how our actions shape that identity, and whether or not how other people perceives us ends up defining us. We find out relatively early that Coleman Silk is a black man, who has been passing as white almost his entire life. Only a handful of people have known; most of the world doesn’t see the secret hidden in plain sight, and he has built a fictitious Jewish background for himself that people accept without any questions. The already absurd accusations of racism held against him would be even more absurd if people knew the truth about him, but how can he come out now, after a career, marriage, family – an entire life where it was always taken for granted by everyone that he was white?
Coleman’s nemesis, Delphine, is a much more complex and fascinating creation than I had expected, and as much as I can’t stand her, I loved reading about her. Roth painted such a painfully realistic portrait of a specific group: the highly-sheltered intellectual elite, who have never existed outside of an academic setting and who are not equipped to handle the “outside” world.
And of course, there are the Farleys: Lester, whose PTSD from his two turns in Viet-Nam is so out of control that he can’t tell reality from delusion anymore, and Faunia – the woman life decided to beat up on… Abuse, bad luck and then more abuse is what that woman had to endure, it has made her hard, calcified. She has seen and lived stuff that nobody should ever have to see and live. Coleman is probably originally attracted to her because of her damage, but the ultimate revelation that Faunia isn’t fooled was very touching. Deep down inside, don’t we want the world to see us for what we truly are? And she sees him.
I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time, and probably re-reading it. A very impressive book that I recommend to everyone....more
This was so much fun!! When I saw this at the bookstore, I really couldn’t resist the title. I like my funny books to have brains, I’m a history nerd This was so much fun!! When I saw this at the bookstore, I really couldn’t resist the title. I like my funny books to have brains, I’m a history nerd and a huge Shakespeare fan: if you are anything like me, you will love “License to Quill”! This quirky, irreverent, meticulously researched alternate history take us for a wild ride in London, 1604. A perfect setting for intrigue, really: with the Protestant and Catholic conflict, the insurrection attempt of the Gunpowder Plot, mysteriously short lived popes and the deadly plague…
Thomas Walsingham (code name W) has taken over his late cousin Francis’ job as the Crown’s spymaster and from the Ordnance Office (or double-O), he keeps an eye on the kingdom’s affairs, assisted by his frisky secretary Lady Penelope Percy, affectionately known as Penny. He has retired two of his greatest spies, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, years ago. But one day, Will is approached by a certain Mr. Guy Fawkes who wants him to write an anti-monarchist play set in Scotland and prominently featuring a trio of witches. W brings him out of retirement: his mission is to infiltrate Fawkes’ group of insurgents, find out what they are plotting to do and thwart their plan against King James.
This book was refreshingly unpredictable, hilarious, stock full of references to Shakespeare and Marlowe’s plays, as well as the James Bond franchise (the horses’ names are Bentley and Aston… like, for serious), the action scenes are fast-paced and evocative, and the dialogues sharp and witty. Shakespeare’s life has always been the subject of much speculation, and this is definitely the most entertaining version of his life I have ever heard of. The ending felt a bit rushed, which is why I docked one star, but that is really a minor complaint.
This book was a very pleasant surprised, and I will be getting a copy of “The Great Abraham Lincoln Pocket Watch Conspiracy” by Mr. Della Quercia soon!...more
Oh boy, my relationship with this book involves so many mixed feelings… I’m also writing this review on a slight coffee-buzz, so expect silliness.
My fOh boy, my relationship with this book involves so many mixed feelings… I’m also writing this review on a slight coffee-buzz, so expect silliness.
My friend Erika loves Joe Hill and swears up and down that he’s amazing, so I knew I had to check his books out sooner or later. Then my friend Patrick gifted me with a copy of “Heart-Shaped Box” on my wedding day… and proceeded to pester me to know if I’d read it for a couple of months. Are you reading this, Patrick? I actually started reading the book to shut you up!
First off, as a music maniac raised on classic rock, I spent the entire book giggling to myself at the dizzying, messy hodge-podge of musical references littering this book. The title is a Nirvana song (apparently, Courtney Love kept some of Cobain’s hair – and pubes – in the heart-shaped box he refers to in the song), Led Zeppelin’s own Jimmy Page was an avid collector of occult and Aleister Crowley memorabilia (going as far as buying the infamous Boleskine House on the shore of Loch Ness) just like the main character Jude, and the dogs are named after AC/DC band members (I immediately thought of this “Supernatural” episode where Sam and Dean introduce themselves as agent Angus and agent Young to a local police officer when I read the dogs’ names, and then couldn’t stop laughing for 5 minutes)… I’m out-music-nerding you, Joe Hill. I see what you are doing!
This is a quick read, and a nicely creepy ghost story. The moral of said story is: don’t date musicians. Bad things happen to those who date musicians. Jokes aside, this is the story of how a tired, aging rock star and his (almost inappropriately younger) girlfriend get stuck with the murderous ghost of his ex’s stepdad.
I liked the idea of a mentalist setting up a plan to haunt the man he holds to be responsible for his step-daughter’s death: that was the stroke of genius, because the old man uses his hypnotist’s techniques to manipulate Jude and Georgia/Marybeth, brings out the worst of their personality, reminds them of awful things they did or lived through to push them over the edge. Sadly, the over-abundance of clichés keep this from being a truly great ghost story. The older man in the Johnny Cash suit and fedora (I kept picturing him as Leonard Cohen), the dogs that can feel his evil spirit lurking around, the Goth groupie’s awful attitude and the story of childhood molestation… This just feels like elements that have been used a few times too many, and made the story a touch too predictable to keep me on the edge of my seat.
The writing style failed to impress me up until the mid-way point, after which it inexplicably started getting better. Probably because that was when the characters really started getting a sense of purpose? I think that Hill wanted to avoid beating around the bush and just throw the reader head first into his story, but I felt the lack of initial build up and introduction to the characters a big jarring. I think would have also found the story a lot more freaky if the writing had been more evocative and atmospheric: I get that this was Hill’s debut, so I don’t want to judge too harshly but it often felt a bit dry.
I’ve heard good things about his “NOS4A2” and the “Locke and Key” comics, and I still plan on reading them, but “Heart-Shaped Box” just wasn’t super scary to me… Perhaps the target audience was kids who listen to My Chemical Romance (wink, wink) and who think they’re punk? That being said, I think it would make a great corny Hammer horror movie. ...more
I am a pretty voracious and eclectic reader, which is a lot of fun because I never really get bored with my readings. But I find that with time, it maI am a pretty voracious and eclectic reader, which is a lot of fun because I never really get bored with my readings. But I find that with time, it makes finding really original books way harder than it used to be. That’s OK, it doesn’t take any of the joy of reading away, it just means I am not as often surprised as I wish I was when I pick up a new book. I get it, it’s hard not to be derivative in one way or another when there are books about every imaginable subject matter out there: it makes truly out-of-the-box books a rarity.
About 30 pages into “The Library at Mount Char”, I knew a few things: 1. I was going to like this book very much, 2. I was getting that butterfly-like feeling of excitement that comes from reading something unlike any book read in recent memory, 3. I would eventually have nightmares about David, one of the most memorable characters I have come across in a long, long time.
“The Library at Mount Char” is a gory, mind-bending work of dark urban fantasy. Or maybe horror/sci-fi? It is very hard to pigeon-hole… As I devoured it, it reminded me of my first Neil Gaiman reads, but way bloodier and a bit less lyrical (many reviewers compare it to “American Gods”, and I have to agree, there’s definitely a similarity in broad themes, atmosphere and brilliance). I was thrilled to find so many unexpected twists, unique and creepy characters and fascinating world building. There is dark humour scattered through the blood and guts that are generously spilled through this story, making the violence towards humans and animals a little easier to deal with; but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a bit queasy from time to time.
The story centers around Carolyn, a young woman who used to be what she refers to as a “regular American”. But some unspecified disaster occurred and she was taken in by Father, a god-like creature who has many other aliases and who has apparently been ruling over Earth for millennia. He adopted twelve young children, his Librarians, and teaches each of them a catalog. Carolyn’s is languages, but there are also animals, healing, mathematics, war... They are strictly forbidden from studying another Librarian’s catalog and are harshly and violently punished if they step out line in any way. Dying is not the cruelest thing that can happen to a disobedient Librarian… At some point, Father disappears, leaving his Librarians unable to get back into the Library, so they try and figure out what happened to him and how they can get him – and their home - back.
The more I think about it, the more I see this story as a speculation on the theme of “what if God decided he needed apprentices, and what would his relationship with them be?”. The struggle for the throne seems inevitable, which would be why he wouldn’t give a single one of them the entirety of his knowledge, and why he would prevent them from learning each other’s craft as much as possible; so that no usurper could get rid of him.
The setting is the United States, but it’s very hard to say when this story is supposed to take place. There are plenty of references to small familiar things (Reese’s peanut butter cups, Taco Bell, Listerine), but there’s an entire alternate universe mythology weaved around those familiar elements that gives the entire story a surreal vibe. The kind of vibe that makes normal things one has always taken for granted kinda spooky…
The plot in convoluted, but brilliant. You get thrown head first into the story, without any set-up or exposition, and then, well, you just need to keep reading rabidly because you need to know what the hell is going on. And you’ll want to know it all: the present day actions as well as the flashbacks, giving you a glimpse into all the characters’ often disturbing history. There’s plenty of foreshadowing, but surprise and after surprise makes this one of the most exciting books I have come across in ages. The gallows humour used by Hawkins in the chapter titles alone made me giggle, but really, when you laugh reading “The Library at Mount Char”, it’s kind of like laughing with a mouthful of blood because the next creepy, disgusting bit isn’t far away.
Power corrupts, we’ve all heard that, but some of the characters in this novel have not simply been corrupted: their humanity has been stripped away. As I said above, David freaked the fuck out of me (that being said, I also think this character is pure brilliance!). The very image of a man who walks around caked in blood from head to toe, wearing an army jacket and a lavender tutu makes me cringe; especially when we see time and time again how much pleasure this guy gets out of killing and mangling people… And his relationship with Margaret… *shudders*As for Carolyn, her evolution left me slack-jawed and bug-eyed. She’s shy and bookish, but extremely – and I mean extremely - clever.
Also, I will always love Steve for the following line, which sums up my own decade-long relationship with Buddhism:
“Oh. Are you a Buddhist?” “No. I’m an asshole. But I keep trying.”
Steve is a great “normal guy”, who was dealt a bad hand, had some truly terrible luck and is now doing everything he can to keep his nose clean. He gets tangled up in the Librarian’s schemes to reclaim their home and will make some very interesting friends along the way. As for Erwin, the only other non-Librarian character, he’s your typical military muscle guy, but he also packs a very powerful brain: not a combo one encounters very often, and he is quite aware of that. He uses the stereotype of the big dumb guy to keep his profile low while staying three steps ahead of almost everyone.
The concepts of the “heart coal” and a word for promise that roughly translates as “a bone that cannot be cracked” charmed and surprised me. I finished this book satisfied and moved by the ending, and knew that it had made its way into my favorites list instantly and that I would have to re-read it, knowing what I know now to look for clues and other subtleties I might have missed the first time around.
This is a book for patient people with strong stomachs, who like very weird, fucked up stories. If that’s your cup of tea and if you love the work of Gaiman, Lovecraft, Mieville and Vandemeer, chances are, you will really enjoy “The Library at Mount Char”! It is a wonderful, fresh, weird and very enthralling read that I recommend enthusiastically. And Mr. Hawkins, can you please write more books? Because if this is your debut novel, I really can’t wait to read what you will come up with next! Thankies!...more
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