BETTER LIVING THROUGH PLASTIC EXPLOSIVES, by Zsuzsi Gartner

This collection of short stories by Canadian author Zsuzsi Gartner is very appealing. It perfectly captures the zeitgeist, particularly in suburban, middle-class Vancouver where the stories are mostly set. There is some unevenness in the sense that I liked some stories more than others, but overall it's a very strong collection. Gartner is gifted in her cutting and spot-on language. She plugs into the cultural milieu of contemporary life with seeming ease. There is a sense of irony and, yes, lack of fulfillment in many of the stories, but they are told with such exuberance and humor that the overall effect is very entertaining and thought provoking.

Click here for a review of the book from The Globe and Mail:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/better-living-through-plastic-explosives-by-zsuzsi-gartner/article1986899/

THE COWARDS, by Josef Skvorecky

The Cowards, written in 1958 by the Czech writer Josef Skvorecky, was republished as part of Penguin's Central European Classics in 2010.  It's a highly entertaining satire of Czech politics at the very end of WWII when the Germans were being routed and the townspeople were awaiting the arrival of the Red Army. The narrator, Danny and his gang of friends form a jazz band and all-in-all find the whole war thing an irritating distraction to their music and romancing. They avoid the conflict as much as possible and when they do get involved, become unwitting "heros".  The story of their action and the behavior of the townspeople toward the Soviets is highly ironic and humorous. It's a wonderfully clever, funny book with a lovable protagonist, who reappears in later books, including the hilarious Catch22-like Republic of Whores.

Click here for an intro to and interview with Skvorecky from Paris Review: http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2392/the-art-of-fiction-no-112-josef-skvorecky

THE GIFT OF STONES, by Jim Crace

This interesting book is set in the prehistoric era at the moment of transition between the Stone and Bronze ages. Not having read any other "prehistoric literature", I can't compare the book to works such as Clan of the Cave Bear, etc., What struck me about the book is its vividness, poetic language and quiet tone. The protagonist of this story of cultural clash is a disabled storyteller figure (he has lost one arm and is therefore marginal to the stone-shaper society in which he lives). He sets out on an adventure of discovery, finds a wife, and witnesses the eventual extermination of his society's livelihood by the advent of bronze arrowheads. He ends up becoming the de facto leader of the group into the future. There is much blurring between fact and story as details of the plot are highly questionable as they are multiple versions of "truth" told to us by the protagonist via his daughter's narration. It's a strange read, but it is enjoyable to be immersed into that exotic cultural environment and to look at technological change and its effect. There must surely be some lessons here for modern humans.

Click here to read a review of the book: http://www.enotes.com/gift-stones-salem/gift-stones

THE BLACK BOOK, by Orhan Pamuk

This was the first book I read by the great Turkish contemporary writer Orhan Pamuk (winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature) and it got me hooked. It has been described as a "metaphysical detective story" and is written in a very interesting experimental style - basically using dual narration. It shifts back and forth between the main narrative in which a young lawyer Galip searches for his missing wife Ruya. It so happens that Ruya's half brother Celil is also missing. He is a very popular columnist in an Istanbul newspaper who writes feature items about the city. The other of the twin narratives consists of columns written by Celil which cover a wide range of historical, political, cultural and artistic aspects of Istanbul life. So the story alternates between the story of Galip's search and Celil's columns. The two narratives begin to blend as do the identities of Galip and Celil. The story as told is fascinating and multi-faceted and rich with the atmosphere of Pamuk's beloved Istanbul. It's a great book for readers who don't mind a bit of postmodern dislocation which does not interfere with readability.

Click here for a review of the book from The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/aug/06/shopping.orhanpamuk

THE BAD GIRL by Mario Vargas Llosa

Vargas Llosa is the acclaimed Peruvian writer with an incredible range of works, from light comedy such as the wonderfully entertaining Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, to heavy fictionalized political stories like The Feast of the Goat, and lots of non-fiction. He also recently ran (unsuccesfully) as a candidate for President of Peru, and to top it off,  won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010. The Bad Girl is his most recent novel. It is the story of the on-again-off-again relationship between two expatriate Peruvians as it extends over a number of years and settings. The narrator, Ricardo, cultivates a basically unhealthy relationship with his mysterious lover, who inevitably and repeatedly  messes up his life, cheats him, jilts him, hurts him, etc. as she shape-shifts through a multitude of reconstructed identities.  Richardo's strong masochistic streak seems to match the sado-maso tendancies of his lover. It's a vivid and painful tale of two people who bar their weaknesses openly to the reader - whether they win the reader's sympathy is an open question.

Click here to read a review of the book by NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/books/review/Harrison.html?pagewanted=all

WHEN WE WERE ORPHANS, by Kazuo Ishiguro

Ishiguro, the Japanese-British popular writer, become well-known after his book Remains of the Day won the Booker Prize and was later made into a movie. In When We Were Orphans, he crafts an interesting book that explores a search for identity in the guise of a detective novel. The book starts with the detective narrator, Christopher Banks, returning to Shanghai, where he had grown up in the 1930s, to cover a case. It turns out that he had been sent "back" to England at a young age because his parents had both disappeared "without a trace." The novel shifts into Banks' search for the circumstances of his parents disappearance and indeed, his parent's very identities, as well as his own. The chronology of the story is complex as it shifts back and forth in time and plays on the constructive nature of memory and consciousness. It's a very well written, interesting book.

Click here to read a review of the book by NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/09/24/reviews/000924.24gorra2t.html