The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami
September 6, 2011
If you’re reading a book by Murakami and someone asks you what it’s about, say “It’s hard to explain.”
Toru’s wife disappears and he searches for her by sitting in pitch darkness in a dried-up well, where he also accesses a dream world. He is contacted by a mixed-bag of oddballs: a retired military man, a woman who knows things, a psychological tailor and her mute son, a teenage neighbour who works for a wigmaker, not to mention his wife’s evil bother. These characters seem scarred or they have icky monsters deep inside their psyches.
It was too dark for me.
The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
March 31, 2011
This book was nothing more than a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book without the choices. Buchan details too precisely each step his hero takes to elude his would-be capturers.
The plot? Cliché-city! Richard Hannay: an out-of-work soldier. A mysterious American appears, begging for help, fearing for his life. The man is killed and Richard–unable to turn to the police as he is the prime suspect–flees with the American’s coded diary, assuming various disguises to outwit the murderers, a faceless group called Black Stone.
Hannay is an early version of all our spy heros, but one-dimensional, a bit too capable and a mite too lucky. Forgettable.
Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy Sayers
July 15, 2010
I liked it better than the other Dorothy Sayers.
Lord Peter goes undercover at an advertising agency to investigate a suspicious death. He finds he has a knack for copywriting, as well as solving mysteries. My favourite scenes are the ones devoted to the ad agency, its office workers and their work. It’s like Mad Men but more innocent. The murder investigation becomes a hunt for drug dealers. Fun parts: Lord Peter has to bluff his way out when his undercover and real lives clash. Dumb parts: Lord Peter is too perfect: a friendly, flawless Sherlock Holmes. And there’s no Bunter.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
May 7, 2010
At the cusp of the Congo Crisis, an oblivious missionary family arrives in the village of Kilanga.
Nathan Price, the father, is aggressive and unbending, confident he is bringing enlightenment to Africa. The rest of the family is pulled along in his wake: an overshadowed wife and four daughters, each one different. Rachel, the superficial highschooler, Leah, the idealistic and strong twin, Ada, the cynical and crippled twin, and Ruth, the baby. The story follows each family member as they meet Africa (a thriving, cruel, smothering, surviving and liberating entity). Africa erodes Nathan’s power but does it really set his family free?
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
November 6, 2009
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
A recipe book for disaster, this fable tells of Tita, born and raised in the hot comfort of a kitchen. But Tita’s mother denies her the liberty of marrying Pedro. Only through her cooking can Tita express her passion: a love as dangerous as a hot stove. One meal causes her sister’s clothing to spontaneously combust!
I didn’t connect with any of the characters because they were so exaggerated. I didn’t want to care about them because the author seemed to take their fates so lightly. Magic realism? Not sure I like it. Not sure about the recipes in this book either.
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
October 4, 2009
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
It’s literally a book of war stories. But it’s also a book about war stories.
What makes a war story true? The facts? Or the fable? O’Brien says a tall tale can be more true than what actually happened. Maybe because exaggeration better satisfies the need to communicate feelings.
O’Brien blends fiction and truth about the Vietnam war till you learn to hear the stories without caring about specific facts.
This book is about experiencing war. And telling about that experience through stories.
It’s obscene and poetic, violent and emotional. What did the soldiers carry? More than I have.
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
October 4, 2009
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
In one thread of this story, Kafka, a mature 15-year-old, runs away from home to escape a dark prophecy. He is intelligent but troubled. So he hides in a library where he meets a woman who lives in her memories.
The other thread is Nakata, an elderly simpleton, who is neither intelligent, nor troubled. Mr. Nakata can talk to cats. As he searches for a lost cat, he finds himself drawn despite himself into a courageous quest. Can Kafka run from his destiny? Or must he and Nakata act out their destinies to keep the universe from going awry?
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
September 10, 2009
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Sue Trinder was raised in a warren of thieves. Gentleman recruits her in an ambitious scheme to deceive an heiress, but once she replaces the victim’s maid, Sue is plagued with feelings of compassion. Will cold feet prevail?
The book’s atmosphere is like Oliver Twist meets Jane Eyre–complete with pickpockets, madhouses and murderers.
The cast of villains go about duping each other for selfish reasons, but Waters has a knack for making you root for the most fault-ridden humans.
The storytelling was so engrossing that at two points, I actually reacted out loud: “What?” and “Drama, drama!” The plot is twisted and fully enjoyable!
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
August 26, 2009
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
This is a book most people read in high school. I didn’t, but it reminds me of a short story I had to read back then: “The Lottery.”
Atwood’s novel carries the same tones of a heartless society and its desperate victims.
It’s a cautionary tale of a dystopian society where woman are the core–the few fertile ones have become indispensable resources–yet they are without power. Every person is contained in their role and even the captors are enslaved.
Blood red suburbia. People are cloaked and confined. There is no one who trusts in humans.
Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis
July 15, 2009
Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis
“Hey Baby, what’s the story?” says Victor Ward, It Boy of the moment. “Never mind, spare me.”
It’s so cold that frost is creeping along the walls as Victor brushes confetti off the sleeve of his Comme des garçons tux. Later in the script, Victor will be recruited by models-slash-terrorists and eased into senseless violence. For now, he’s oblivious.
“It’s what you don’t know that matters the most.”
As Victor flirts inattentively, from somewhere, an ominously relevant song from the 90s begins to play.
I am faux-freaked out by this book.
It’s the same plot as Zoolander but it’s hardly funny.
