The NYTimes asked a bunch of people to name the top 10 books of the 21st century and I thought hmm what are my top 10 and there it was in my head. FroThe NYTimes asked a bunch of people to name the top 10 books of the 21st century and I thought hmm what are my top 10 and there it was in my head. Frontier. One of the most glorious confusing joyful reads of my entire life. Thank you Karen Gernant for translating these amazing words and making this novel available to me in my native language.
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
I enjoyed this first novel of Dorothy B. Hughes in a "Man Who was Thursday" sort of way, and not a "Postman Always Rings Twice" sort of way. Meaning tI enjoyed this first novel of Dorothy B. Hughes in a "Man Who was Thursday" sort of way, and not a "Postman Always Rings Twice" sort of way. Meaning that it was entertaining as long as I kept it on the level of absurd shenanigans instead of thinking of it as noir, a category Hughes is lumped into and that might be more apt for her other novels. The people and scenes and images in my head that this novel evoked moved and acted like John Sayles as a cop in "Brother From Another Planet." As in, not at all realistically, and yet, fascinatingly....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
Vol. 2 took about the same time to read ("read" being a stretch--most of the panels have no words) and I'm still intrigued and irritable in equal measVol. 2 took about the same time to read ("read" being a stretch--most of the panels have no words) and I'm still intrigued and irritable in equal measure which is about where the first volume in the series left me. I'm absolutely fascinated, though, at how a manga with so many word-free panels in a row, depicting no more than, maybe, a single eye, or a pair of lips, or something equally simple and context-free, can still advance the story, and give me such unsettling feelings. ...more
I'm still up in the air about whether I thought this was effective or not. It -is- creepy. I'm definitely hooked (about to start vol. 2 after I type tI'm still up in the air about whether I thought this was effective or not. It -is- creepy. I'm definitely hooked (about to start vol. 2 after I type this). But--what happened? There were a lot of 'huh?' moments for me, like, what's up with the cousin coming over all the time? and: how could the mom not be able to tell a sleeping cat from a dead cat? ... and I'm not yet trusting the material enough to know whether these weirdnesses are deliberate on the part of the author or just clunky narration. One thing is sure, I was lulled into what seemed an only-slightly-strange family scenario and then all at once it was...something else....more
There are no queer people at the end of the world. Maybe that's a good thing.There are no queer people at the end of the world. Maybe that's a good thing....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
Yeah I just finished and my brain is full of tiny twinky stars. The only thing I’m likely to write next in this review space is going to sound like blYeah I just finished and my brain is full of tiny twinky stars. The only thing I’m likely to write next in this review space is going to sound like blurb garbage, you know, like: “STUNNINGLY ORIGINAL.” Here is a coherent thought I’m thinking, though: this is one of those rare books where there are at least two conversations going on in every sentence. I know what I mean....more
reading this novel was like playing with the slime that comes in a little bucket and you squish it for fun. Later it evolved into a feeling more like reading this novel was like playing with the slime that comes in a little bucket and you squish it for fun. Later it evolved into a feeling more like I was being gently bludgeoned....more
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