1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Having read a couple of other books by Murakami that I liked  (The Wind Up Bird Chronicle. and After Dark) I had expectations that this well-known novel would be interesting. I was rather disappointed as it proved to be long (not necessarily a problem in itself) and boring. The novel uses twin narratives to follow the two main characters, Aomame (a  young fitness trainer/assassin) and Tengo Kanawa (drop-out math genius who teaches in a cram school). There is a link between the two, of course, which is revealed half way through the book. The plot, such as it is, revolves around Tengo ghost-writing a book called Air Chysalis, which relates to a kind of parallel universe (not exactly parallel, but something like that). Both protagonists find themselves drawn into this universe. Well, nothing much happens after that...  I have  a high tolerance for books that are not plot driven and that have confusing elements, but this just goes nowhere, and takes a long time to do so.


For a review of the book from the NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/books/1q84-by-haruki-murakami-review.html?_r=0

THE LACUNA, by Barbara Kingsolver

The Lacuna, written by Barbara Kingsolver in 2009,  is an interesting  bio piece about a fictional Mexican-American writer named Harrison Shepherd, who moves back and forth between Mexico and America during different phases of his life. His American "flapper" mother is a kind of flighty gold-digger who drags the young Harrison with her to Mexico at age 10. He comes of age in the household of the great Mexican muralist painter Diego Garcia. Lev Trotsky comes to hide out from Stalin in his friend Diego's home, and ends up getting assassinated. The communist connection comes to haunt Harrison years later, after he returns to the US and becomes a best-selling author of historcal fiction set in Mexico. The country becomes crazed by the "red scare" and McCarthyism, with dire consequences.  Things deteriorate from there and the story takes an unexpected turn. The story is narrated by Shepherd's secretary, pieced together from his diaries. It's a vivid story with some lovely writing, particularly in the Mexican parts.

For a review of the book from the NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/books/review/Schillinger-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY, by Michael Chabon

Michael Chabon's 2004 Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is a wonderful, tragic yet humorous and spirited story of an unlikely team of creative geniuses (a loner Jewish kid from Brooklyn and his immigrant cousin from Prague) who find themselves in the midst of a pop culture movement - comic books - at the right time in history. The story runs from 1939 to 1954, from the heady pre-war golden days of the superhero comics, to the genre's decline in the postwar suburban culture. The narrative of the pair, Sammy and Joseph is sometimes told together and sometimes separately, as their lives and that of their loved ones take interesting turns. Steeped in the "colorful" comic book subculture, the book is rich with NYC late 30s-early 50s culture, reminiscent of Doctorow's treatment. The book also brings another great novel that is immersed in comic book culture, Jonathan Lethem's Fortress of Solitude. It's a beautifully written book from an important contemporary writer of great strength.

For a review of the book from NY Times (and a link to an interview with Chabon and chapter one of the book), click here: http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/09/24/reviews/000924.24kalfust.html

 

CLOUD ATLAS, by David Mitchell

Cloud Atlas is an amazing multi-voiced novel that spreads across several centuries and explores the mysterious connections that spread across time and space, ranging from 1840s Polynesia, to 1930s Belgium, dystopian 2045 Seoul, more remote future dystopian Hawaii, early 21st century Scotland, etc.. The novel is an unusually constructed set of six individual stories with subtle thematic links. Each story is told in a completely different style, with different narration. The book is structured so that each story is not told as a complete whole, but rather told in pieces, forcing the reader to struggle to understand the connections among them and to wait for the resolution of each story.  The effect is like an interesting verbal puzzle with growing connections and profound implications. It's a wonderfully written book and a triumph of the kind of polyphonic writing that is hard to get right but very enjoyable to read.

For a review of the book from NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/29/books/history-is-a-nightmare.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm


Cloud Atlas was recently made into a film (amazing idea in itself) starring Tom Hanks and Halle Berry in multiple key roles. It's a very strong effort that of course takes liberties with the plots to an extent but keeps the themes intact. It's visually stunning and strongly acted, and although 3 hours long, flies along at breakneck speed.

For a review of the film by NY Times , click here: http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/movies/cloud-atlas-from-lana-and-andy-wachowski-and-tom-tykwer.html?_r=0

 

AMERICAN GODS, by Neil Gaiman

If you want to catagorize American Gods in terms of genre, you'd probably say, like the Guardian reviewer, that it is a fantasy. No doubt this is true, but it has little in common with the kind of pop fantasy series like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter that mention of the genre generally brings to mind. In fact, it reminds me more of the often dark magical realism of the S. American writers like Garcia Marques or even Murakami. American Gods is Gaiman's multiple prize-winning effort to get under the skin of the American psyche by exploring its mythical underbelly. Part road-trip and part hallucination, the novel traces the journey of one "Shadow Moon", a noir type antihero caught up in a magical and harrowing battle between the old imported gods of the old country and "new" gods of materialistic modern America.  To call the narrative bizarre would be an understatement, yet it is riveting and beautifully written.

For a review of the book from the Guardian, click here http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/19/american-gods-neil-gaiman-book-club

 

 

BLACK DOGS by Ian McEwan

Black Dogs is an engaging book that very intensely examines conflicts of world views and personalities non-chronologically across five decades. The most interesting thing about it is the complex narrative structure, as the story is told from the perspective of three people. The main narrator learns the story of his mother-in-law Jean shortly before her death, from various perspectives. Along with some interpolated stories along the way, a portrait is composed of Jean and her struggle to live a life with integrity. Central to her journey is the incident that gave rise to the book's title, during which she encountered two black dogs during a hike with her husband. The book is philosophical without being abstract, with strong characterization and vivid writing. The only other book I had read by McEwan is the booker-award winning novel Amsterdam, but I much preferred Black Dogs.

For an interesting overview of McEwan's writing byThe New Yorker, click here: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/02/23/090223fa_fact_zalewski

 

HALLUCINATING FOUCAULT, by Patricia Dunker

Hallucinating Foucault is the  Dillions Prize winning first novel by Patricia Dunker. It's a strange story of obsession, madness, and insight, mostly set in France in the late 20th century. The protagonist is an English doctoral student doing research on a fictional homosexual, iconoclastic French contemporary novelist named Paul Michael. The writer is purported to have had an intense intellectual relationship with Michael Foucault, which plays into the plot. The main plot involves the unnamed grad student going on a "rescue mission" to find and free Paul Michael, who had been locked up in an asylum for a decade because of his bizzare and violent schizophrenic behaviour. He is able to spend some time with him and learns much about the writer, himself, life, etc. It's well written, intellectually challenging and unpredictable. Filled with interesting, even bizarre characters, the book is a very strong piece of writing, particularly for a first novel.

For a review of the book from NY Times, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/02/16/reviews/970216.16lincolt.html