Lee's New Direction

Chang-Rae Lee's fifth novel On Such a Full Sea, is a significant departure from his other works which all had a firm footing in realism.  On Such a Full Sea is set in a dystopian future in the United States, based in a city called B-Mor, and focuses on a young woman named Fan.  I was very intrigued by the beginning of the novel, but it lost my interest toward the end.  I have never been a fan of novels bordering on the sci-fi, as this one does.  Nonetheless, Lee's writing is well-crafted, and the oddness of the story drew me in, plus he explores major themes such as individualism versus the common good.  I would recommend starting with Lee's Native Speaker or Aloft, both of which I enjoyed immensely. 

2013 wrap up/2014 preview

The best 10 books I read in 2013 were:

1. My Antonia - Willa Cather 
2. The Grass Harp - Truman Capote 
3. America and Americans - John Steinbeck 
4. The Gift of Asher Lev - Chaim Potok
5. All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy
6. World's Fair - E.L. Doctorow
7. How to Cook a Wolf - MFK Fisher
8. tiny beautiful things - Cheryl Strayed 
9. Rock Springs - Richard Ford
10. Serena - Ron Rash

Honorable mentions: Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie , Ordinary Grace - William Kent Krueger, A Good Man is Hard to Find - Flannery O'Connor, Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry, The Collected Stories of Richard Yates, We Need New Names - NoViolet Bulawayo, A Lost Lady - Willa Cather, O Pioneers! - Willa Cather

Most looking forward to reading in 2014:

1. On Such a Full Sea - Chang-rae Lee
2. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena - Anthony Marra
3. These Were Hard Times - Tim Egan
4. Detroit - Charlie Leduff
5. The Other Side of the Tracks - Tony Cano
6. The Warmth of Other Suns - Isabel Wilkerson
7. Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes
8. The People in the Trees - Hanya Yanagihara
9. Young Man With a Horn - Dorothy Baker
10. Happiness, Like Water - Chinelo Okparanta

First novel of 2014: Tartt-astic!

The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt's third novel, is over 700 pages long.  I never once looked at the page number I was on, or flipped forward to see how many pages were left in a particular chapter, and that is one of the highest complements I can give, especially to such a behemoth book.  This is an engrossing, dizzying, rollicking, heartbreaking book.  I felt like I was along for the (roller coaster) ride of Theo Decker's life, as he comes to reconcile his mother's death and his isolation in the world.  This was a great novel!

Solnit's San Francisco

Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas, is a beautiful "coffee table" book that represents San Francisco in a variety of unique and compelling ways, and includes beautiful maps of the city.  The maps tend to focus on two seemingly dichotomous ideas, such as "death and beauty" which pinpoints the 99 murders in San Francisco in 2008 juxtaposed with the location of the city's cypress trees.  Another map, "poison/palate" highlights many of the "foodie" artisan gourmet food locations such as the Straus Family Creamery and the Alemany Farmers Market along with "poison sites" such as the Mount Diablo mercury mine and the Port of Oakland.  Overall, this is a refreshing and intriguing representation of San Francisco, and highlights its infinite nature.  The best part of book is by far the maps themselves.  I didn't get that much from the narratives accompanying the maps (with some notable exceptions, such as the narrative that discusses the effect of the Great Migration on San Francisco) and the photos did nothing for me.  Solnit has a new book out called Unfathomable City, her take on New Orleans.  Solnit is fascinated by and seems to have a deep understanding of urban landscapes.

Lean In, Breathe Out

Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In:  Women, Work, and the Will to Lead encourages women to try to overcome both the external and internal barriers that prevent women from gaining power and taking advantage of (or better yet, envisioning and creating) leadership opportunities in the workplace.  I thought the most interesting parts of the books were the recent statistics and studies that Sandberg highlights about men and women in the workplace, rather than Sandberg's personal journey from her college days to her now being the COO of Facebook.  Having gone to an MBA program that focuses largely on women's leadership, and having read many books by feminists, I didn't find much of what Sandberg wrote to be new information, though it did confirm and mirror some of my own experiences in the workplace.  The dean of the Mills College MBA program wrote a response article entiled, "Women can move up if men 'lean in'" in which she states, "Sandberg's strategy for change confounds me" because she felt that Sandberg, "continues to place the onus for change on women" as opposed to encouraging men to "lean in" as advocates and allies of women so that they can advance to leadership positions.  I agree with Sands that it is equally, if not more important for men to read Sandberg's manifesto. 

From the Prairie to the City

Over the last year, the Willa Cather I have come to know and love is the Cather who writes of the Nebraska prairie.  Interestingly, some of her works that take place in different environments are my least favorites (I'm thinking of Death Comes for the Archbishop and Shadows on the Rock, neither of which I even finished).  Uncle Valentine and Other Stories:  Willa Cather's Uncollected Short Fiction, 1915-1929, falls somewhere in between for me.  In these seven stories, Cather set her stories in the urban landscape (NYC and Pittsburgh).  While collectively it is a good read, I didn't find any of the stories to be stand outs or particularly memorable.  That said, My Antonia and Cather's books set in rural places are some of the best works of fiction that I have ever read!

The Point is the Point

One of my favorite places in this vast and varied world is Point Reyes National Seashore.  I feel alive and expansive in this land of serenity and beauty.  Curious to know more about this majestic place, so close to my house yet so far away, I purchased An Island in Time:  50 Years of Point Reyes National Seashore, by John Hart, which highlights some of the major issues that have defined Point Reyes over the last 50 years, such as dairy farming, the animals that inhabit Point Reyes, and its very creation.  This is somewhat of a "coffee table" book in that it has lots of glossy photos, but it also has a good deal of information as well.  I wasn't riveted by Hart's writing, but it did provide a good overview of Point Reyes and some of the controversies and debates about the land over the years.  I'm interested in pairing this with The Solemn Land, a much older work written by local Point Reyes historian Jack Mason. 

Texas Trilogy

With Cities of the Plain, McCarthy concluded his Border Trilogy.  In this third work, McCarthy brings together his two protagonists in the earlier works, John Grady Cole and Billy Parham.  John and Billy are in early adulthood as ranch hands in New Mexico in the 1950s.  It is interesting to learn their fates, but this was my least favorite of the three books in the trilogy.  Trying to read as many books as I can before the end of the year, thus the relatively short posts!

The Grass is Always Greener, with Capote

The Grass Harp is classic Capote - wit, quirky characters, tender moments amidst hilarious ones, and immensely fabulous storytelling.  I really don't think it gets much better than this!  Read it.  Period.

Detroit City

This summer, I plan to take a trip to Michigan, starting in Detroit.  I've heard so many things about this city - its violence, its 80,000 abandoned buildings, its lawlessness, its failed public schools, but also its possibility, rebirth, and redevelopment.  Is Detroit rising from the ashes once again?  I took to reading Mark Binelli's account of the city, entitled Detroit City is the Place to Be:  The Afterlife of an American Metropolis.  Binelli's ethnographic and journalistic focus makes for an interesting account, with lots of interviews of locals from various backgrounds.  His writing is punchy and smart, if a bit longwinded.  For example, he writes, "It's an almost classically structured tale of humble origins transcended by entrepreneurial moxie and much diligent toil, all eventually brought low by tragic flaws (hubris, greed, long-simmering prejudices come home to roost)."  The book included some staggering facts such as the fact that recently, Michigan had the highest unemployment rate of any State, and one study identified nearly half of all adults as functionally illiterate.  This book provides a great starting point for understanding some of the history of Detroit, its current challenges, and its future.

Almost to the end of my Yates era

 Now that I have finished A Good School, I'm just one book away from having read all of Richard Yates.  Yates' novels and short stories are never uplifting, but always intriguing.  A Good School focuses on one year at a New England all-male prep school just at the start of WWII.  Focusing largely on the relationships between the students, Yates captures the angst and awkwardness of teenage boys as they strive to fit in, make friends, discover their passions.  As expected, there are fist fights, love affairs, hazing, sports, friendship, rivalries, and a few heartbreaking moments of isolation and loneliness.  Yates also explores the relationships between the male professors and administrative staff and their wives or lovers.  This wasn't my favorite from Yates, as it wasn't as rich in exploring the intimacies of relationships as some of his other novels (such as Revolutionary Road or The Easter Parade, but I would still say that A Good School is a "good" read. 

A Childhood Classic (but not my childhood)

Sometimes I am really amazed at some classic novels that I simply never read when I was growing up.  It's never too late though!  I found L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables to be smartly written and thoroughly winsome.  Anne, an "outspoken morsel of neglected humanity," is an orphan who comes to live with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert on bucolic Prince Edward Island.  The Cuthberts original set out to raise a boy, but are surprised to discover a girl waiting for them at the train station.  Anne's boundless optimism, imagination, and love for words and honest expression are infectious to both the reader and the characters who populate the novel. 

Crossing into McCarthy Territory

The Crossing is the second book of McCarthy's Border Trilogy.  Set in New Mexico just before WWII, brothers Billy and Boyd Parham come of age amidst the lonesome landscape of the New Mexico border.  Billy, just sixteen years old, is a young, self-sufficient cowboy, who sets out to return a trapped wolf to the mountains of Mexico.  He returns to find his parents killed and the family horses taken, and pursues the horse thieves with his brother.  This gritty, intelligent novel explores brotherhood and what it means to be completely alone in the world.  Its bleak and beautiful, violent and vibrant.  I still can't say that I love McCarthy, but he does write with such distinctive voice and confidence that I find myself wanting to read more of his work. 

A Writer to Watch

We Need New Names is the first novel from NoViolet Bulawayo, who was born and raised in Zimbabwe and is currently a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University.  As I was reading the novel, certain other works came to mind, such as Dave Eggers' What is the What and Americanah by Chimananda Ngozi Adichie, which also explore the theme of being an immigrant from Africa and navigating two different worlds and assimilating into an unknown culture in which the reality doesn't match up with the expectations.  Bulawayo has a voice entirely her own and she brings her characters to life in this unflinching, spirited, witty novel that introduces us to 10-year-old Darling and her band of friends, who we first meet stealing guavas from the wealthy neighborhood called Budapest.  Darling is eventually given the opportunity to live with an aunt in America, and ends up in Michigan amidst snow, isolation, and low paying jobs.  An interesting read indeed.

Call the Doctor(ow)

World's Fair is an engaging, smartly written novel with some beautiful passages.  Set in the Bronx in the 1930s, we meet Edgar when he is 9 years old, and the novel culminates with the World's Fair in 1939.  The book explores Edgar's relationship with his older brother, and also centers around his parents' marriage.  The novel is rich with memorable scenes, such as the one in which Edgar, his brother, and their friends build an igloo in the backyard.  I also loved the simple description of a delicious snack provided by Joe the Sweet Potato Man - "It was not only something to eat but something to warm my hands against as if I had plucked a tiny hearth from an elf's house."  Probably my favorite Doctorow work so far, slightly above Homer and Langley and Billy Bathgate. 

Deceipt and Dressage

In her debut novel, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls, Anton DiSclafani explores the intimacies of a close knit family and its unraveling.  Set on the cusp of the Great Depression, protagonist Thea Atwell is sent away to a girls' riding camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but the reason why isn't revealed until the end of the book.  Having grown up on an idyllic citrus farm with her twin brother, loving parents, and the freedom to ride horses, Thea's parents decide to send her off to the camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where Thea continues along her path of self exploration, and discovers a world much larger than the one she grew up in.  The mystery of what happened kept me engaged - this is the kind of book you will want to read quickly, and its engrossing along the way to the climax. 

Revisiting Cormac McCarthy

  

I was originally turned off by McCarthy as the first book I read by him was The Road, a post apocalyptic, disturbing novel.  However, I am on a Texas streak and thought I would give the first of his Border Trilogy books a try, and I am glad I did.  After all, how can a book entitled All the Pretty Horses be too disturbing?!  While not nearly as bleak and unsettling as The Road, this novel still has its fare share of violence, but it also has some quiet moments and exquisite passages as well.  Set in West Texas and Mexico, teenager John Grady Cole sets out with his friend Lacey Rawlins on horseback.  "I just wanted to see the country, I reckon," says Grady.  Complete with knife fights, romance, lightening storms, haciendas, and a general rough and tumble tone, McCarthy infuses this story with grit in a meticulously researched and authentic way.  It seems to me that McCarthy perfectly captures the young cowboy - in his bravado and courage, chivalry and tight lipped manner, and very rarely, his expressions of tenderness (toward horses, friends, women, and children) and even sadness.  One of my favorite scenes is when Grady sets out to propose to a girl and he sits with some children he meets and shares his meal with them, then tells them of his dilemma and they offer him various suggestions as to what he should do.  It's one of the only moments that depicts Grady with a bit of kid-like energy still in him. 

I plan to read the second book.  My favorite passages:

"...they rode at once jaunty and circumspect, like thieves newly loosed in that dark electric, like young thieves in a glowing orchard, loosely jacketed against the cold and ten thousand worlds for the choosing."  

"What is constant in history is greed and foolishness and a love of blood and this is a thing that even God - who knows all that can be known - seems powerless to change."  

Shakespearean Tragedy Amidst the Corn Fields

Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1991.  Her novel takes place in 1979 and centers around the Cook family and their farm in Iowa.  Larry Cook, the patriarch, decides to retire from farming and leave the land to his three daughters.  The youngest and the only one who no longer lives on the farm but instead became a lawyer and lives in Des Moine, expresses her concern about this to her father, and he impulsively decides to cut her out of the deal.  The story focuses largely around the other two sisters, Ginny and Rose, and their struggles in their marriages, with each other, with Rose's cancer, and with the sexual abuse inflicted upon them by their father.  It's a bleak tale, in fact there are very few happy scenes or moments.  Nonetheless, it is a powerful story that moves along quickly, and I understand is a modern day version of King Lear. 

Texas Today

It seems like everywhere I turn, there are articles about Texas.  Erica Grieder's journalistic account of the current state of affairs in Texas, entitled Big, Hot, Cheap, and Right: What America Can Learn from the Strange Genius of Texas, is an accessible book that focuses on some hot topics such as religion, politics, big business, and small government, and also touches upon major Texas industries such as cattle and oil.  What I got out of this book, more than the analysis itself, were some interesting facts about Texas, such as the fact that Houston is the most ethnically diverse metropolitan area in the U.S., Texas has more people living in rural areas than any other state, and San Antonio is considered by many to be a progressive city with a significant number of same-sex households.  Grieder does not shy away from some of the challenges in Texas (poverty, schools with little funding, limited services, etc.), but she also tries to demystify Texas and point out that many of its stereotypes may hold less water than we might think. 

Talking about Texas

Larry McMurtry's Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen:  Reflections at Sixty and Beyond, provides insight into the things that were important to McMurtry, such as place, reading, and book selling.  Having grown up in Archer City, Texas, McMurtry was destined to become a cowboy, but once he discovered books, he went on to Rice University and his whole world opened up.  As McMurtry puts it, "In the end my father's career and my own were not as different as I had once thought.  He cattle ranched in a time he didn't like much, and I word ranched..."  One of my favorite quotes from the book is, "First I try to herd a few desirable words into a sentence, and then I corral them into small pastures called paragraphs, before spreading them across the spacious ranges of a novel."  With humility and honesty, McMurtry writes about his own work as a novelist, his life after a major surgery, and his love for the open space and light of Texas.  Finally, McMurtry pays homage to one of my favorite writes of all time - "The first fictions of any value to come out of the West were usually about the struggle of sensitive, art-minded souls to survive and assert themselves amid the discouragements of necessary practical frontier society.  Willa Cather, for example."  It seems that wide open spaces have been the inspiration for some of my favorite writers.