I seem to be on an incredible reading streak these days and I
wanted to share a few thoughts here. I'm often hesitant to write about actual
books on this blog and far more comfortable discussing the experience of
reading. So many times I have thought that I only want to write about books I
have loved fiercely but there are many more books I read and appreciate for
their craft or intention, and I'd love to be able to 'talk' through them.
So, it seems a constant evolution, deciding how I want to write about
books here and I hope you'll bear with me as I experiment.
by Ilie Ruby
For me, a magical read, the kind of book I am drawn to more and
more lately, where the line between what is real and what isn't is
ever-so-slightly blurred. Reality has a strange way of floating through this
book and every line is more beautiful than the last. I was drawn to this story
about mothers, daughters, and the salty ocean that binds them.
A story of first love, with such a distinctly quirky and loveable
voice. This book paid such amazing attention to detail, to every tender or
strange or annoying or magical moment between two people who find one another
and save one another from an often cruel world. I felt safe in Rowell's hands,
in the presence of the purest, most innocent, truest form of love. The
entire book felt like crawling into the space of someone else's giant,
accepting heart. It's a book I will remember always.
by Herman Koch
And from there I fell into such an incredibly different book with
an entirely new set of rules, it's bizarre to tuck it neatly below the other
two. It's hard for me to say that I like this book but equally hard for me to
say I don't like it. Basically, I can't stop thinking about it.
I went into it knowing nothing about the plot and I think, if you
decide to pick it up, I would recommend you go into it the same way. I was
really impressed with the unraveling (like a runaway ball of yarn or even
toilet paper let loose) of this book. I thought it more of an amazing
study of how to write satire, or deal with an unreliable narrator, or write
about chilling events. It's dark, disturbing, cynical, and written in such an
intentionally lighthearted manner interspersed with moments of severe,
aggressive snarling. I don't think it's for everyone, but, then again, with the
success of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl this year, I wonder if there is a broader
appeal for the absolutely despicable character than I
think. The kind of character made all the more haunting and strange and
unsettling for the small moments we connect, empathize, or understand him.
Maybe I'm new to this genre, maybe it is so far out of my comfort zone I don't
know quite how to deal with it, but I found this book to be quite powerful.
What are you reading?
