The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

Genre: (Translated) Adult General Fiction

There is no shortage of stories and literature about amnesiacs. For some reason, memory fascinates authors and readers alike. Perhaps, they think it remarkable that the mind can hold—like files in a cabinet—all the events and faces and facts that make one’s identity so dear and unique. Yet, with something as singular as an accident or a knock to the head, all these memories may disappear—and the files burst their box and fly loose.

Ogawa blends this fragility of memory with the subtlety of building relationships, describing the decay of the mind and the budding of communication in the precise and beautiful language of mathematics.

The ornery Professor lives in eighty-minute chunks, his brain a tape recorder erasing itself after every hour and twenty minutes passes. For him, mathematics is a lifeline, a way to claim some semblance of constancy and familiarity in a world that wildly renews itself eighteen times a day. In fact, numbers are all that’s left for the Professor to trust until the Housekeeper becomes his newest caretaker and brings her son along to keep him company.

In simple language, Ogawa teaches some nifty things about math and illuminates the differences and similarities—and the growing closeless—among these three unlikely characters. You will grow attached to one or all of them.

Rating: Leaves a Lasting Impression

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards

Genre: Adult General Fiction

As soon as I finished the first chapter of this book, I thought to myself, “Gee, I bet the folks who make Lifetime movies would love to make an adaptation of this.” Lo and behold, there is one.

The father, Dr. David Henry, delivers his wife’s babies, and, upon discovering his daughter has the signs of Down Syndrome, gives her away to his nurse in order to spare them all grief. Or so he thinks. The courses their lives take are marked by subtle tragedies and misunderstandings that stem from this secret David must harbor from his family. All this—in just the first chapter! Edwards has certainly started her novel at a brisk pace, managing to package and gift-wrap poignancy, urgency, secrets and melodrama in the guise of a book about family and love all in the first twenty or so pages.

Meh, but it goes downhill from there. At the deepest point of the ravine, the characters, whom Edwards desperately tries to paint as struggling and sympathetic, fall flat and unconvincing. Norah, the mother and Dr. Henry’s wife, is insipid and volatile even when I give her allowance for losing her daughter. Paul, the healthy son, is more tolerable as a child than as a rebellious adolescent. Caroline, the nurse who whisks the baby girl away, is strong but stiff. Out of everyone, I actually liked Dr. Henry most, though he basically brought these troubles on everyone. He is conflicted and believable, a human being who wants the best for people he loves and who makes mistakes and wrong decisions like we all would. With even his family growing distant, he has no choice but to immerse himself in his clinical work and his passion for photography.

And this was the most clever thing Edwards did in the whole novel: depicting photography as a metaphor for Dr. David Henry’s internal struggles. It brings to my mind a quotation I rather like— “Life is like photography. We develop from the negatives.”

Rating: Could be better

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Fiction (series, #2)

Usually sequels are lackluster compared to their wildly fast-paced and fresh predecessors. But, Catching Fire proves to be one of the few that defies the sophomore slump effect.

Although the beginning dragged on and on—and I raise my same complaints about Collins’ excessive fixation on minor details again—, the narrative quickly picks up as flickers of subversion and rebellion ripple throughout the Districts. For 75 years, the Capitol has used each District as a mere cogwheel, a tool only useful enough to produce a sheaf of paper here, a basket of fish there, a stack of robes over there. Under the regime of the Capitol, each District traditionally never interacts with another District, except for participation in the annual Games. Now, as they brew with revolt, I was reminded of a principle of Gestalt psychology: that the whole must be greater than the sum of its parts. I am looking forward to reading the final book about what becomes of this new unity.

But, before that, let’s talk about our heroine, Katniss, shall we? In a rather predictable turn of events, she enjoys merely a short-lived victory lifestyle. Thrown into another inferno, Katniss comes across as more vulnerable in Catching Fire, and, for some reason, that endears her to me more and makes her stronger than any of her displays of tough callousness in the first book. I hope to see her character mature more, because Katniss as a 17-year-old is still not only headstrong and defiant but so dumb at times too. She seems so decisive in the Games arena, yet she cannot resolve her love triangle, ultimately dragging both boys into an emotional and life-endangering mess. (However, this surely must be Collins’ aim—to elongate our pain and to preserve the interaction for the final book). I expect more development of Gale’s character and some surprises coming from Peeta, too. As for Finnick—joy! another key male character thrown into the mix. I can see why many of friends gush over this bronzed, athletic, selfless Adonis-Achilles-Hercules heman. If Katniss is not careful, life could get a lot more complicated later. For even in the midst of dangerous uprisings and the prospects of death by the hands of brutes, sweet, sweet adolescence is still marked by dilemmas over boys.

Rating: Exceeded expectations; I want the third book NOW

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

Genre: Adult General Memoir

Rarely can a story be told best through moving simplicity.

There are no lengthy chapters. There are no fancy literary devices or sentence structures. There are no frills. There is only the shining narrative that, through its starkness, speaks volumes about the indomitable human mind and spirit.

At the prime of his life and, arguably, his career, Jean-Dominique Bauby suffers a massive stroke and enters a coma, only to wake up in a new sort of nightmare. “Locked in” save for his left eyelid, he no longer retains any control over speech, movement or even the necessary—eating, excreting—functions one always seems to take for granted in full health. However, whether for boon or bane, Bauby’s mind is preserved, crystal clear in thought and perception. A more easily defeated one would probably curse this awful irony—-total paralysis without any respite offered by ignorant bliss.

But, not Bauby. He breathes life into his memoir. The scenes are simple, the events, maybe even mundane in the words of someone less humorous, passionate, spirited. On one page, a sentence makes me chuckle at its wryness. On the next, I could be moved to tears from its tone of nostalgia.

I could not help thinking of the French term—joie de vivre—when I finished. Bauby is French..how fitting, right? No, but more than that, joie de vivre is the joy of living…yet even this definition seems lacking and wrong in description. Just as the Mona Lisa cannot merely be a painting, an individual such as Bauby cannot be summated into a single state. I must go by its less common meaning. The exultation of spirit. His story captures and elevates the human spirit.

Rating: Leaves a Lasting Impression

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Fiction (series, #1)

Oh my, where do I even start with this one? Not since Twilight have I heard such a unified clamor over a book series (of course, the main difference is that people bonded in hatred over Twilight, but I have heard only good or even glowing comments about The Hunger Games). And on top of that, I’m about two years late starting the book, and the hubbub and hype only seems to grow greater, what with the upcoming movie adaptation and fan-casting and all.

To start off, The Hunger Games is promoted as a fine example of juvenile young adult dystopian literature. If I didn’t hear so much about it, I admit I probably would not pick it up at the bookstore. I’m not extremely interested in stories about fantastical and crappier versions of our world.

With echoes of the psychologically dark Battle Royale, The Hunger Games centers around a gladiator-like arena where 24 helpless and not-so-helpless children are dumped to survive and fight to be the last one standing. I’m not going to explain the lead-up in detail, because Collins, for God-knows-what-reason, loves to rhapsodize about every little thing about the ceremonies, the preparation and the clownish, Oompa-Loompa TV host. I wish she could’ve wasted more breath on the actual Game itself with better descriptions of the locale, the children, the dangers, the fear, the desperation, the madness of having to kill to live. There are so many directions to go, but, alas, none are taken.

Anyhow, the focus of the book is of course Katniss Everdeen, heralded as “a strong female character”. She supports her family, speaks her mind and can kill rabbits and squirrels. She is strong out of circumstance and necessity. Her life is lacking and deprived, yet she fights tooth and nail to cling to it. But, is Katniss really all that? Pay attention to what lucky breaks she receives and how she achieves them. I wouldn’t put her up on a pedestal just yet. But then again, I’m not the one thrown into a forest full of people wanting to kill me. If nothing else, The Hunger Games makes me glad that the Hunger Games don’t exist.

Rating: Exceeded expectations; Beware hype

The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl

The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl

Genre: Adult Historical Mystery/Fiction

A novel set in the esteemed Harvard (or rather, Hahvahd) institution’s locale in the 19th century—kinda dry, right? A mystery hinged on a book club comprised of several bearded scholarly men—*yawn*, where is this even going?

Stuffy, erudite language and rhetoric aside, The Dante Club will dispel any notion of its being an utterly boring book. You want gore? You got it. In the form of chopped up corpses and writhing worms. You want a gripping mystery? Pearl serves it right up with plenty of wild geese chases and red herrings—bon appetit. You want a touch of actually well-researched and logical historical fiction (not the The Other Boleyn Girl stuff)? Yep, and you may actually learn quite a few new things about Dante’s Inferno or the poet Henry Longfellow or how to tell a regular maggot from a live-man-eating maggot. This book can surprise you if you let it.

Rating: Exceeded expectations

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Genre: Young Adult General Fiction

Actually, bits and pieces prelude this novel. For some reason, hipsters love to quote “So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.” It is certainly a lovely quote, but I’m not sure if many actually read the book in its entirety.

For me, Looking for Alaska was equal parts frustrating and provocative. For most of it, I hated the characters. I hated the main character Miles, who went from a friendless loner in tenth grade all of a sudden to a horny, smoking, boozing and vaguely awkward douche in junior year. I hated the drunken and puking mess they all were. I hated these high schoolers’ imaginary invincibility and their constant masturbation of their self-righteous egos and pseudointellects (seriously, who memorizes every country’s population?).

No, I am too harsh. Maybe, I’m the one who doesn’t understand. Maybe, underneath all that carefree, happy-go-lucky, who-gives-a-shit attitude, there is a glint of something more. Do I envy them?—maybe, this is the high school life and childhood I could’ve led had I wanted to and been able to.

In the end, Green’s snappy dialogue and eloquent prose is powerful enough to overcome the dregs of teenage angst and hormones. There are well-written parts, but the reader may need to wait patiently.

Rating: A Drunken, Blindsiding Dark Horse

The Universe and the Teacup by K.C. Cole

The Universe and the Teacup by K.C. Cole

Genre: General Educational Nonfiction (mathematics)

Written in the vein of the Malcolm Gladwell and Freakonomics sort, The Universe and the Teacup tries to explain the beauty behind some fundamental mathematics in both everyday and esoteric phenomena. K.C. Cole is skilled at science writing—or, rather, science communication for us laymen. The book is stuffed with more metaphors than an Ian McEwan novel. But, rightly so, however. How else can she reduce complex functions and theorems of physics, astronomy, economics into edible and digestible tidbits? Some of my favorites: “Forty isn’t that old for a tree.” ”The twins, Zanzibar and Bambi; Grandma Agnes and her new sweetheart; Mom and Dad; teenage Abigail; testosterone-pumped Jimbob and Yadayadayadayada are fighting over which movie to watch. This example illustrates the inherent fallacies of the current American voting system of majority rule. kthxbai.”

Overall, I was interested in the material, though I wished that the book went into more detail. There was plenty of hyperbole and non-sequitur quotations but not enough fleshing out of the statistics and the math (hello! The subtitle of the book is “the math of truth and beauty”. Or something like that). I didn’t glean that much new knowledge, except for the last chapter on the importance of symmetries. Going with a rather philosophical bent, Cole maintains that life is a beautiful destruction of born symmetry. I kind of like that image.

Rating: Mind is not Blown; Could be better

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

Genre: Adult Surreal Fiction

If writing styles could be cataloged into a pantry of aromas and tastes, there would certainly be a 'Rushdie' flavor. It would be dried plum. At once salty, sour, sweet with a little punch to add to its vaguely Old World exoticness. Rushdie's command of the lyricism of language is impeccable (and, at times, overwhelming). There are select metaphors and images that are astounding. I've only read his East, West collection of short stories, and I was fooled into thinking that Rushdie wrote in surreal yet simple parable form. No, no, he can certainly spin a tale, able to sustain a yarn (or two or twelve) for over 500 pages.

Not quite total magic realism, Midnight's Children contains undertones of meta-historical fiction. After all, the main character Saleem Sinai is one of the lucky (?) midnight children, born on the cusp of India's independence, and his life reflects the changes in the country. The reader will be introduced to a myriad of colorful characters, locales and tales. The only thing that detracts from this novel could be the double-edged literary style. When I was patient enough to focus, the story was exhilarating and unearthed hidden gems. When I wasn't, the book became a bog of quotation-less dialogue, hashes, dashes, Indian colloquialisms and strangeness.

Rating: Leaves a Lasting Impression

Jun 6th, 2011 4:43pm

The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht

The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht

Genre: Adult General/Surreal Fiction

Tea Obreht (I can never spell her name correctly on the first try) is a young newcomer. I actually read a few of her short stories before so I decided to check out her new novel.

I'd have to say about 75% of it was captivating. The more interesting parts of the novel were the magic realism--the deathless man and the bear hunter and the tiger's wife--, but Obreht sometimes gets so enveloped in the surrealism that it tugs at the narrative's shoelaces. The book is about the daughter of a country doctor, but it turns out the doctor's escapades far surpasses whatever shenanigans she finds herself in.

In the end, I can only remember the deathless man. Why do so many authors use Death as a parable for Life? Rather ironic, methinks.

Rating: Could be better

May 31st, 2011 8:30pm--transferred from ireadanything.tumblr.com

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Genre: General Historical Fiction

A beautiful book about one of the worst and darkest periods in human history, The Book Thief certainly demonstrates the power of books, of words, and, most importantly, of love. At first, I was worried about cliches, but it turns out my concerns were unfounded. The book is eloquently narrated from a personified Death's perspective of the lives of a German neighborhood. So, from the get go, the reader gets a different view of the devastation cast by Hitler during World War II. In the throes of war and human brutality, all victims are ultimately the same, whether they be Jew or German or fugitives or Nazi sympathizers--they are just simply people with fears and hopes and hearts.

Zusak said he wrote this book because he thought that words were powerful and that's how Hitler rose. He's certainly right. Words are powerful. For bad and for good.

Rating: Leaves a Lasting Impression

May 30th, 2011 5:46pm--transferred from ireadanything.tumblr.com

Shiver by Maggie Steifvater

Shiver by Maggie Steifvater

Genre: Young Adult Supernatural Romance

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this book, Shiver, and it certainly delivered accordingly. A teen--no, a young adult--novel, Shiver chronicles the love-- strife with trials, tribulations, distance and interspecies taboos-- between the human girl Grace and the morphing werewolf boy Sam. The main conflicts lie in Sam's shapeshifting, which is rather interesting in that he changes according to temperature, and the presence of a vicious she-wolf along with the birth of a new and particularly volatile wolf. At one point, Grace rescues Sam and tries to keep him secret by letting him into her bedroom, all the while gazing at his breathtaking amber eyes and whispering sweet nothings--"You're so beautiful and sad"--into his ear.

Hmmmm, any of this sound familiar? A silly teenage girl in love with a supernatural being? A 'emo' boy caught in between his world and hers? "You're so beautiful" and "I'm not afraid of you"?

I wish I could say the language in Shiver was better than Twilight, even if their plots are so similar, but I cannot. Even the characters are pretty much one-dimensional. But, at least Sam and Grace did the deed. Straight to the point in the first book and within a few months of knowing each other. I can give him that much.

Rating: Judge this book by its cover.

May 27th, 2011 12:22am--transferred from ireadanything.tumblr.com

One Day by David Nicholls

One Day by David Nicholls

Genre: Adult General Fiction

The premise of this book is intriguing. Beyond the cliche of yet another love story, One Day follows two people's journeys through twenty years with plain yet plaintive language and humor. Nicholls chooses to paint this couple's saga in a series of vignettes about one particularly important day in each of their lives--July 15th. From foolish college days to woes of middle age, readers grow with Emma and Dexter, both who never seem to lose their individual character along the way. At times, I was frustrated and angry at Dexter's arrogance and fickleness and Emma's poutiness and lovelorn demeanor, and I rooted for their relationship's success in a perverse manner...'surely, two such stupid people deserve to be together'. But, such is life and such are human beings--no one is without flaws. In the course of 400-or-so pages and twenty book-years, I met and bid farewell to many people in Emma and Dexter's respective lives before they realize that they are both better off together. 

Oops, that could be a spoiler. But, I think anyone who reads One Day suspects from the very beginning that Em and Dex will end up in a relationship. Twenty years are a long time, and I think One Day spans two decades to show that little coincidences and general mundaneness make up every person's life and interactions with others. July 15th could be totally arbitrary, but, under the lens of Nicholls's One Day, July 15th becomes immensely significant. 

Rating: Leaves a Lasting Impression

There is No Year by Blake Butler

There is No Year by Blake Butler

Genre: Adult Experimental Fiction

I'm not sure what to say about Butler's There is No Year. There are no words. I am speechless. But, not in the way the 'praise quotes' on the front and back covers mean. This is not a good speechless. There are times when I wonder about the state of contemporary art and literature. This book elevates style way over substance. Perhaps, I could not penetrate the true depth of Butler's prose and critique of a cracking suburban family's lifestyle, but I just felt that he relied too much on gimmicks to complete this novel...if it could even be called as such. Wildly indented lines, gray backgrounds, pixellated "hipster" photos punctuating each 'chapter', gratuitous footnotes (David Foster Wallace, anyone?). Why, why, why? I still don't understand what the general point of the book was. Maybe, the point was that there is none...who knows?

Rating: A Book or a Paperweight?

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin

Genre: Adult General Science Fiction

Ursula Le Guin is one of those names that are famous and familiar on the covers of novels and one of those “go-to” authors on library bookshelves when every title I otherwise want is lost or checked out and I don’t know what else to look for…. However, I’ve only read one other book by her (something related to Earthsea), and still I was uncertain about this one, The Left Hand of Darkness, as it was touted as more science fiction than fantasy fiction.

The thing with sci fi novels (and dystopian novels) is that they force the reader to rely on context to much greater extents than other genres do. I spent half the book figuring out that “Estraven” referred to all persons of a certain ethnicity rather than the name of one character. Strange terms and names abound, and I had to focus on the details to even blow through the plot. That wasn’t very pleasant when I wanted mindless reading for a 4 hour flight home.

Fortunately, at some points, the narrative was gripping. Unfortunately, I liked the back stories of the fictitious universe, where every inhabitant was ambisexual and at once both male and female, far more than I enjoyed the actual unfolding of the plot. The main character, Genly Ai, arrives on this strange world as a political ambassador and quickly becomes embroiled in political treachery and confusion. For me, politics aren’t fun even when I’m 100% mentally checked in.

Rating: Could be better

May 23rd, 2011 8:59pm--Transferred from ireadanything.tumblr.com