I was really looking forward to this book. It was burning a hole in my pocket because I had heard such good things, and was happy when it was picked aI was really looking forward to this book. It was burning a hole in my pocket because I had heard such good things, and was happy when it was picked as a book club pick for one of my groups.
I ended up disappointed for a few reasons. I think it's a decent read, a quick read certainly, but not the five-star read I was hoping for. The basic premise is a bit of a spoiler, better discovered as you read the book, so I will put it all behind a spoiler tag.
(view spoiler)[So Exit West is about refugees, but instead of crossing borders, there are large masses of people moving between countries through magical doors. The doors appear randomly and sometimes get blocked off by authorities once they know what is going on. The author has said he came up with this concept so he didn't have to dwell on the border crossings. The problem is, without the violence and difficulty of border crossings or navigating the legal system or waiting in relocation camps, the stakes are pretty low for refugees. So he removed what he didn't want to include, but lost a lot of the conflict, the danger, the challenge.
It's also weird to have just one random element of magic in a book. It smacks of convenience, and, well, it is. See above. And even so, magic doors! If they're going to be there, they could have been used so much more. The best bit in the entire novel is when these two older men pass through the door and fall in love. It would have been better if the novel had started with the premise of these doors appearing because of the need of the refugees (similar to Room of Requirement) and then morphed into this entirely other thing.
My last disappointment has to do with the relationship between Saeed and Nadia. No matter who talked about this book, they always mention the romance between the two. They describe the novel as a love story, but where's the love? The two end up together because of happenstance and then out of necessity but there is no spark. They don't understand one another or have the same priorities. So when they separate it does not feel like a loss. SO disappointing. A strong romance would have saved everything. (hide spoiler)]...more
I really expected to like this more than I did, with central topics like identity, gender, bodies. There are blurbs on the back from many authors I liI really expected to like this more than I did, with central topics like identity, gender, bodies. There are blurbs on the back from many authors I like - Maggie Nelson, Michelle Tea, Justin Torres. I do struggle with short stories, so your mileage may vary. I'd like to read the next work by this author and see where it goes.
The writing style in these stories makes them difficult to connect to. They describe emotions but the feeling I get as a reader is distance and numb fThe writing style in these stories makes them difficult to connect to. They describe emotions but the feeling I get as a reader is distance and numb feelings. I liked the last story, "Delicately Feeling," best, but had to pick the book back up a few times to get that far.
I am only the second review of this title! I came across it at Red Emma's in Baltimore and bought it because of the strange cover and because I had neI am only the second review of this title! I came across it at Red Emma's in Baltimore and bought it because of the strange cover and because I had never heard of it before. Half the book is made up of short stories, often combining elements of dystopia or the weird, turning known stories on their ear or adding a level of bizarre to what would be normal. I like the style the stories were told, often in mini sections or letters or small parts.
The second half is a novella called "The First Daughter Finds Her Way" which had some good moments and a lot of alphabetical lists. ...more
Fantastic read, I'm so happy I found myself back to Steinbeck after two decades apart. We will be discussing this for a Reading Envy Podcast, June 29 Fantastic read, I'm so happy I found myself back to Steinbeck after two decades apart. We will be discussing this for a Reading Envy Podcast, June 29 at 8 pm EST. (Anyone may participate who has read the book!) More to follow.
ETA: Fixed the date - JUNE 29 not July. I'm time traveling....more
This was a lackluster book with parts that never really cohere. The writing sparkles the most when the author describes the meals created by the centrThis was a lackluster book with parts that never really cohere. The writing sparkles the most when the author describes the meals created by the central character, but this has nothing to do with the story itself (since he is out of work he could have any hobby.) The same passion would have served the central theme of obsession, or helped build the tension, but the writing is less successful to these ends. The timeline is linear until suddenly it isn't, and this was a strange choice that did nothing but feel like a flat tire, with that feeling of something that was smooth forcing the reader to pull over and not at any destination that was promised.
I picked it as one of my Book of the Month selections, and feel like one of the stars is simply for me, actually reading a book I already own, for once. ...more
I was not unsettled or unnerved by these stories, so it is tempting to rate them lower because they did not fulfill what was promised in the blurb andI was not unsettled or unnerved by these stories, so it is tempting to rate them lower because they did not fulfill what was promised in the blurb and title. But what I really liked is how adeptly Walsh captures the ways people really are when they interact.
A few examples:
"He is not keen to relax. He is keen to get on. He is already late for his next stage of relaxation, for the beach, where we have an appointment to meet with some friends of his at a strict hour. He is worrying that we will be late, that they will be anxious, that they, that he, will not be able to relax. He takes out his phone to check the time. We must be on time for the deckchair, the towel." -from Vagues, or as I refer to it, the Oyster Restaurant story
"Some women take power in a country by souveniring." - from Vertigo
"At the end of the jetty, on my side of the estuary, a band is playing. Only children are dancing. The adults stare at the band as though music is something they had forgotten. It must be dispiriting to perform like this, afternoon after afternoon. One man nods the tune to his partner. She fails to pick it up. There are stalls selling snacks, and other things, but no urgency in the queue for anything. Everyone has enough money, more than enough money for food, and no one is hungry." -from Drowning
So basically I felt the stories showed great insight but there is something that makes them fade quickly from my mind. ...more
This is the third collection of poetry I have read by this poet the others are Sea Change and Ex Nihilo and I continue to find a lot of truth and resoThis is the third collection of poetry I have read by this poet the others are Sea Change and Ex Nihilo and I continue to find a lot of truth and resonance in her work. Terra Incognita deals with racial themes - are we post-racial, what is it to be "mixed race," what is the legacy of a past riddled in racism.
I saved this one a few years before reading it, not sure why, but happily finally read it during National Poetry Month.
My favorites:
blood root
oltremare
taciturn city "...I scatter myself wildly into the night, unrepentant of the things I did...."
my religion is the sea "...my blood lines are a mix of what has been washed away and what was once considered a stain."......more
I saw Pádraig Ó Tuama speak last night, and purchased two books of his poetry. This collection is largely the result of his work with the Corrymeela CI saw Pádraig Ó Tuama speak last night, and purchased two books of his poetry. This collection is largely the result of his work with the Corrymeela Community in Northern Ireland, working with reconciliation through storytelling and conversation. Some of the poems use the words he heard from others, while some are on related topics.
Many of his poems rhyme, which is not always easy on the page, but the way he reads them, it comes across more like a chant or a prayer. Some phrases are repeated to give them a chance to really be heard. I recommend a visiting his website to see/hear some of them in performance.
One of the best known is Shaking Hands, capturing the moment when Queen Elizabeth II and Martin McGuinness, Sinn Féin’s deputy first minister, met and shook hands. It seems like a simple thing, but the English monarch had not made a state visit to Ireland in 100 years.
My personal favorite is Ikon, a five-part poem that was composed to accompany an art exhibit.
iii "a priest prepares his teaching opens up his teaching books and casts his looks toward heaven. all the while, apocalypse is looming, like vessels booming underneath his skin..."
iv "...a breeze of harsh reality is the thing that blew and changed my tune, and I present you now with failing love amidst the ruin of my truthing."
This is part of my ongoing reading for 2017 National Poetry Month!...more
This book of poems I liked even more than Padraig's other volume, Sorry for Your Troubles. They are more personal, focusing on struggling with his ownThis book of poems I liked even more than Padraig's other volume, Sorry for Your Troubles. They are more personal, focusing on struggling with his own identity within society, within religion, and also confronting issues like suicide of a dear friend, faith, and acceptance of others across the board. Some of these poems can be found in audio or video form on the poet's website, and I'd highly recommend them... sometimes the rhyming nature and repeated phrases can seem overly simplistic on the page but they turn into heartfelt statements spoken aloud. I also love his occasional use of Gaelic, or "Irish."
Some favorites:
"The beginning of wisdom was when I learnt the difference between believing the truth and telling the truth about belief."
Northeast morning roads of home "...listening to the city's starlit skies, speaking their own silence to the sad and sinking storm inside your ribs..."
A reading from the book of exile chapter four "...we are loving things that we can never bear we attempt belief in things that we can not explain and we rest uneasy in this sometimesseemingcruelgame...."
Creed (listen in its entirety with a bit of a track beneath on YouTube)
Ar eagla na heagla (Irish for 'just in case') "...There is your destination And your fear of where you're not."...more
I finally sat down and read an ARC I had of this, far after it came out, whoops. I remember starting it in December and setting it aside for a rainy dI finally sat down and read an ARC I had of this, far after it came out, whoops. I remember starting it in December and setting it aside for a rainy day, because I was enjoying it, and then kind of letting it linger. If I had been buying it for myself I would have purchased the audio, partly because Neil is the storytelling voice in my head, partly because I can't figure out how to pronounce half the place and god names on my own.
It's pretty good, and Neil Gaiman's voice comes through in what seem to be pretty straight-forward retellings of Norse mythology. I had encountered some of the characters before, but not the stories themselves. I'm not overly familiar with Norse mythology so I'm not sure if Thor is usually portrayed as a bit of a dumbass, kind of a bro-guy, but he certainly is here. And I was surprised to see the gods tricked by giants, it kind of changes what a god is, of course that's for me and my judeo-christian upbringing. I know it must be shocking to have these realizations but this is why I wanted to read more mythology this year. I feel like most literary types have a basis in mythology that I either did not receive or did not retain!
Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy my way!...more
I have read everything Scott McClanahan has published, and enjoyed Crapalachia: A Biography of a Place and Hill William. Most of his writings feel likI have read everything Scott McClanahan has published, and enjoyed Crapalachia: A Biography of a Place and Hill William. Most of his writings feel like memoir but are labeled as fiction, and I can only assume this comes from a connection to the long tradition of the accomplished telling of tall tales that perpetuates throughout the West Virginia zone of Appalachia.
The Sarah Book is no different in that sense, although instead of moving throughout a host of characters in a family or in a community, it is very much focused on Scott and Sarah, who are getting divorced. Scott is the narrator and is crass, frustrating, and pretty pitiful, but somehow in the writing it is easy to be on his side anyway. Whether it is Scott the narrator or Scott the actual person/author, he is able to speak so honestly, it manages to work. The writing itself feels like the author playing with the reader, or himself (haha, pretty sure he would approve of that.) For instance, within the story of how he met Sarah, he deliberately uses a cliche, acknowledged he is using a cliche, mocks himself for using a cliche, but yet it feels like they are the only words he has that can come close to understanding what has just occurred. And as the reader, I give him a pass. ...more
I have had this book on my shelf since 2012, when I first started collecting books to read for an Around the USA challenge that I planned at that timeI have had this book on my shelf since 2012, when I first started collecting books to read for an Around the USA challenge that I planned at that time to finish in a year. Five years later I'm still working on it (I get easily distracted) but after discussing another novel by Kent Haruf on Reading Envy, I felt compelled to move this one up the list.
The story moves between different characters, and the chapters are named after the characters being followed. It is always very clear where you are! The pace is slow, but the town is a small town, and the people live small lives. It would be easy to dismiss the book, and them, if you aren't willing to pay attention.
There are small beautiful parts in the writing that I really enjoyed, it was almost as if the author saw through the eyes of his characters and decided to look around for a minute. And by the end, I was completely emotionally invested in the characters, wanting them to find happiness.
ETA: This sinks into you, and I ended up adding a star for the full five....more
First of all, I would like to award myself a medal for FINALLY making it through one of the anthologies on my VanderMeer shelf. It is one of the slimmFirst of all, I would like to award myself a medal for FINALLY making it through one of the anthologies on my VanderMeer shelf. It is one of the slimmer collections but I have been saying I will do this for several years! It took one of my reading groups declaring February the month of revolution, and I decided this was as good of a time as any to work through these stories.
There is a wide range of stories here, wide in theme and in time period, some old enough to give tastes of "old school" speculative fiction and some much more contemporary feeling. Some were already old friends like the Tiptree, and some were complete discoveries of both author and story. I appreciate that the VanderMeers do not always pick the top 20 female authors' top 20 stories of speculative fiction, and that instead there is a wide range of expected and surprise. I also definitely noticed the threads joining the stories together, and how naturally they flowed from one to the next.
My favorites:
"The Forbidden Words of Margaret A." by L. Timmel Duchamp
"The Mothers of Shark Island" by Kit Reed
"The Screwfly Solution" By James Tiptree Jr.
"The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet" by Vandana Singh
"Stable Strategies for Middle Management" by Eileen Gunn (I laughed, out loud, several times with this one)
"Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time" by Catherynne M. Valente, even with the difficult subject matter
I enjoyed reading a story by Leonora Carrington even if it didn't rank in my favorites, because I have another short story collection of hers that I'm looking forward to reading later this year. Other favorite authors that I was happy to read more of, even if those stories were also not my favorites, include Octavia Butler, Angela Carter, Nalo Hopkinson, and Ursula K. LeGuin.
This is not the cheeriest book, but takes a look at the daily lives of people living in a small town where most of the people of working age work at CThis is not the cheeriest book, but takes a look at the daily lives of people living in a small town where most of the people of working age work at Chernobyl. When the disaster occurs, they aren't given any information and have to figure out what to do. I liked the older female characters a lot (they have attitudes) and was not surprised to see them moving back home despite not feeling well and not living long.
We will discuss this in book club, so I may find more to say. ...more
Once, I embarked on a project to read all the Man Booker Prize winners, and didn't get very far. I started at the beginning and started making assumptOnce, I embarked on a project to read all the Man Booker Prize winners, and didn't get very far. I started at the beginning and started making assumptions, like all Booker Prize winners are about the empire. It is books like this (winner, 1979) and Hotel du Lac (winner, 1984) that prove me wrong. And since I've read them closely together I can see some similarities - a cast of characters in a specific place that dictates (or allows for) some of the behavior.
I liked it very much, but was distracted with family stress when I read it, and probably won't say more about it until I get a chance to read it again.
ETA: I'm reading from a forthcoming work by Edmund White, and he says this:
"[Fitzgerald] may have been born in grandeur, but her husband was an alcoholic who drank up every penny, was convicted for stealing checks, and lost his job. Eventually she lived with him and their three children on a houseboat on the Thames in a chic part of London; the boat sank twice, and her family was homeless for a while, then given public housing."
I just had no idea this novel was so autobiographical. That adds a bit of richness to it, doesn't it? Cool. 4/18/18...more
Before I read these poems for the first time, I listened to an interview with Layli Long Solder on the On Being Podcast, which helped provide some conBefore I read these poems for the first time, I listened to an interview with Layli Long Solder on the On Being Podcast, which helped provide some context for the poems. Krista Tippett doesn't always get it right, but her questions were often good places to start the discussion.
Layli Long Soldier does not want to be seen as a representative voice, which should be understandable, but if you read reviews of this collection you will see how many people get it wrong. The poems reflect her own experience as a daughter, mother, student, American, and Lakota. She plays with form and sometimes the sentences or fragments in her poems seem to be out of order, so these poems often require more than one read, deeper attention, and an understanding of historical events.
You may read or listen to the poet reading38on the On Being site. ('38' being a poem to and for the 38 Dakota men who were hanged the same week Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.)
(I read this partly for my Borders 2017 project, which includes indigenous groups, and partly for National Poetry Month 2017.)...more
I finished this book almost two weeks ago and needed some time to mull it over. It comes from a decidedly leftist radical standpoint, although the wayI finished this book almost two weeks ago and needed some time to mull it over. It comes from a decidedly leftist radical standpoint, although the way Reece Jones presents ideas and solutions, they come across as matter of fact. And just to clarify, it doesn't bother me because I tend in that direction, however Jones presents all arguments against the status quo rather than providing a balanced view. That's just what the book is, but helpful to know that when starting.
The book is very well researched and includes very recent data about refugees, immigrants, asylum, income, etc. It is clear, and we can all agree, that we have an uptick on people moving between places. Refugees are a narrow group of those people - according to the UN only those fleeing for persecution or conflict can count as refugees; the others are considered "migrants" even if they are attempting to move in order to be able to afford to care for the basic needs of their families.
The first topic is that of whether the border solves the violence or creates it, an interesting thought exercise. Then Jones examines particular borders and recent events - Europe, the Middle East, Africa. The trouble with refugee quotas when more people are trying to leave.
Then there are sections on the history of borders, how borders impact climate, the militarization of police (and particularly, of border patrols, in fact treating a border like a war zone), and wage/rights/protection disparity.
I even had my thinking pushed on national parks, a somewhat arbitrary topic shoved in near the end that has bugged me ever since. (How did we set up pristine protected areas without letting native populations still have access to them?)
The solution Jones suggests starts with opening borders and allowing for free movement, even and especially of the poor. But not a lot of ramifications of doing so is considered. I'd like to see this book and scholarship in dialogue with people who think differently from Jones because it is compelling but one-sided.
Still a great read to start off my year of reading in the borders!...more
This book has lingered on my TBR a few years but I knew the author lived in UAE. Like many people in UAE he was not born there (he was born in Kerala,This book has lingered on my TBR a few years but I knew the author lived in UAE. Like many people in UAE he was not born there (he was born in Kerala, India) and no longer lives there (lives in the United States). But this caught my eye when it won the first Restless Books' prize for New Immigrant Writing.
This is more of a collection of stories and poems and drawings, many are highly absurd or surreal, some fall closer to satire. It reminded me a lot of JG Ballard actually. Nobody comes from UAE, the foods and languages are all from elsewhere, the buildings are impermanent and always being upgraded, and nobody gets to stay.
Jenny (Reading Envy)
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