Blah, Blah, Blah Books II

Going on:

Okay, so the rest of the books on this list are all books I would whole-heartedly recommend. They are worth the time and effort and each one moved/impressed/awed/amused/intrigued me in its own right.

I’ve still sort of ranked them in a countdown-to-my-favorite like order, but that’s kind of silly since they are such different works, and all notable in their respective genres.

KAFKA ON THE SHORE by Haruki Murakami
I want to read more of his stuff. The book was wildly fantastic and wholly unpredictable. This book was early on in our year, and thinking back I have myriad vivid images that remain, all jumbled up together in my brain: the precocious Kafka, the special library, the cat killer, the cat-whisperer, random sex scenes, the house in the woods, the left-behind time-warping soldiers, the alternate universe of past and regret and memories and desires. This book is unlike any other book you have read (unless you’re already into Murakami). Start it, let go of linear expectations, and enjoy the view.

MOTHER NIGHT by Kurt Vonnegut
I felt horrible when Vonnegut died and I realized I’d never actually read any of his work. I have two of his books on my shelf (not MOTHER NIGHT) but they’d just never made it to my bedside table. So I was really glad when this made it into the rotation. And it’s a pretty easy read, but deceptively straightforward. Vonnegut writes with such a removed quality that it forces the reader to do a lot of the work themselves. Which is a good thing. He is so unsentimental, so hands off, so objective in his story-telling, that you almost wonder if he has a point of view at all. And then, somewhere along the way, you realize that this IS the point. Especially with this book. Who are we. What do we stand up for. What do we allow to happen: to the world, to us, to our loved ones. When do we take a stand. When do we just sit down and let life take us where it will. What are the consequences of that. This is a book that you read in a short time, and then think about for a long time.

ON BEAUTY by Zadie Smith
I was blown away by Zadie Smith’s first book: WHITE TEETH. Her ability to maintain intersecting plots, the vividness with which she wrote her characters, and her attention to detail are remarkable. Those factors are all at work in this one as well, but there is something more elusive to it, deeper, and more subversive, that at once makes it less immediately impressive and ultimately more satisfying. Identity, race, gender, class—all of these play into a story that is both recognizable and totally unique (incidentally, it is based on HOWARD’S END, which I haven’t read). Synchronistic timing had an effect on my read of this one too, for better and for worse. At the time I was reading and/or watching films with stories about middle aged men who cheat on their wives with much younger women. And when it happened here too, I was just like, “Come on! Can’t you all figure out another way to fuck up your lives!? Do you have to be so predictable?” But then, the way the emotional impact of these choices is depicted--impact on children, wife and offending party--is so moving and specific, that it doesn't seem like the same old thing at all.

WEIGHT by Jeanette Winterson
Short and sweet, this is a little slip of a book with some of the most stunning prose I have read in a long time. I think Jeanette Winterson is wonderful; no one had to sell me on that. This one is much more straight-forward than some of her other work, but no less intriguing. I don’t know my mythology well; somehow we missed that lesson in school—which is a shame as it marks a big gaping hole in my cultural literacy—indeed, I should catch up on that on my own. But that did not in any way hinder my enjoyment of this book. The humor and humanity that she brings to this myth are refreshing, her depictions of Atlas and Heracles are relevant and honest, and the image of Laika the Russian dog floating through space will stay with me for a long time.

Speaking of long time—this is taking longer than I expected. The countdown of the final three will happen later this week—tomorrow I’m up to NY to see THE RECEPTIONIST and DORIS TO DARLEEN and to catch up with friends, do a little holiday shopping, and maybe see a Macy’s window or two. More when I return.