A stunning and beautiful book from a great writer who has the long received the bizarre criticism that his books are a little too smart and ironic, toA stunning and beautiful book from a great writer who has the long received the bizarre criticism that his books are a little too smart and ironic, too infatuated with post modern satire to reach the heart. He has also been frequently compared to Pynchon, Morrison, Ellison, and Heller, and I suspect he will very much continue to get those comparisons as many elements of what makes those authors great are present in Whitehead, stark examination of race and his ability to use the absurd and darkly comic to illustrate our country in ways that more realistic fiction may miss. Using parodies of slave narratives that doesn't blink away from the horror and implications of America's original sin, alternative history and riffs on Gulliver's travels to illustrate the complicated history of slavery, all the while providing a thrilling novel with beautiful language and arresting imagery. Due to Oprah's attention and the subject matter I suspect this will be one of his best know works, don't neglect his others but this is definitely one of his best and clear headed and deserves the attention. ...more
Ishiguro decides to write a fantasy novel. Anyone expecting Martin, Tolkein, or Malory will be confused, as this book uses the furniture of fantasy(KnIshiguro decides to write a fantasy novel. Anyone expecting Martin, Tolkein, or Malory will be confused, as this book uses the furniture of fantasy(Knights, dragons, quests, monsters,and magic) but its muse is closer to Beckett and Kafka. It is also one of the best novels I've read in awhile....more
David Mitchell seems to be moving back to the mosaic narrative of his earliest book after a more straight forward historical novel (including referencDavid Mitchell seems to be moving back to the mosaic narrative of his earliest book after a more straight forward historical novel (including references that make it seem like all his books are part of the same reality), or maybe he is trying to write his version of the TV show Lost (everything connected, battling immortals, all the characters making cameos in the narrative of others), or maybe writing a literary fantasy in the vein of Tim Powers and Neil Gaiman (before he was kidnapped by the internet). Or to quote the man himself (via an author character describing his book), “…think Solaris meets Noam Chomsky via the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. Add a dash of Twin Peaks.” There are bits of all of this going on here, and he mostly pulls it off. His prose has been overly fussy and distracting and turned me off on occasion, but here it is very clear headed and readable. The book suffers somewhat when the messiness of the characters’ lives interact with the supernatural subplot, I sometimes found myself impatient to return to the more realistic parts. The least essential part is the long part most focused on this psychic war subplot. The best parts are the extended riff on Martin Amis in the author character’s narrative and the apocalyptic ending filled with sadness but also lingering bits of hope and humanity. All the more disturbing for being so believable....more
I was a little worried for a while reading this book, the seemingly overly precious title (which when explained in the book is a pretty effective metaI was a little worried for a while reading this book, the seemingly overly precious title (which when explained in the book is a pretty effective metaphor), the heavy leaning on past masters such as Heller and Marquez (despite the interplay of the text with Tolstoy I didn’t see much of him in these pages), the really awkward POV switches where we suddenly get the future story of an incidental character, and the whole baggage of an outsider writing on a conflict that he wasn’t personally connected to. These concerns disappeared as I read the book though, the unbearable tragedy, humanity, sadness, and brutality of this novel were impossible to deny whatever rickety framework the author presented it in, and thankfully delivered with enough humor and wonder to ease the sourness and bleakness. The ending may attempt a bit of crowd pleasing note and tries to pull off as happy as an ending as possible, but for a debut novel this a very impressive work, a work that shines light on the dead and departed of a totally ignored conflict, a witnessing that alone makes this book worthwhile. This book is filled with humanity and humor but be warned it contain horrifying scenes of torture and general bleakness of a cruel war so this is not one for the fainthearted, but is beautiful enough to deserve reading. ...more
Jay Kristoff had a charming debut with Stormdancer, but one I had some reservations with both morally (falling on some outdated fantasy tropes) and wiJay Kristoff had a charming debut with Stormdancer, but one I had some reservations with both morally (falling on some outdated fantasy tropes) and with its actual execution. The world he created resembled Hunger Games, The Last Unicorn, Miyazaki, and Kurosawa, but the novel had some logic and pacing issues that kept me from fully loving it, but was intrigued and entertained enough to continue. In a trilogy the second volume really only needs to be a decent bridging volume to succeed, but there is another way to tackle one. Kristoff thankfully went the latter route. This book betters the previous volume in every measure, creating a book more complex, gripping, brutal, tense, violent, realistic the handling of its themes, and morally probing. The action scenes are terrifically paced, the atmosphere is grim but captivating, and the new characters and plots lines all succeed. This book is so brutal in fact any lingering suspicions that this is a YA series disappear. But, the grim is undercut by strong characters and the thoughtfulness and maturity of the author’s performance, no grittiness for grittiness sake. The amount Kristoff learned between these two volumes is pretty impressive. The only problem (besides the demon subplot which still feels tacked on and unnecessary), is how he is going to better this for the finale. It is going to be tough but I will be there to see him try. ...more
Pynchon presents a book somewhere between his lighter cartoony romps (Crying of Lot 49, Vineland, and Inherent Vice) and his more epic works. A strangPynchon presents a book somewhere between his lighter cartoony romps (Crying of Lot 49, Vineland, and Inherent Vice) and his more epic works. A strangely accessible work that parodies some recent crime fiction and cyberpunk, but is still recognizably Pynchon and shows off his obsessions with paranoia, secret worlds, and the fading of promise. He fixes on the dot com crash, the internet and 9-11 as the moments where an irreversible change occurred in our world and I find him profound as ever if a little goofy in the virtual reality parts. The cultural references were strange in this one I could have been convinced a Gen x writer wrote this or maybe William Gibson. The conspiracies surrounding 9/11 made me fear for a second that Pynchon was handing us a “truther” manifesto, but as usual resolution and clear political agenda are not Pynchon’s game, and every clue and hint is another sign in his labyrinth of elusive meaning and shadows. A book easier to digest than most of his work and one as filled with little shards of dissonance to ponder over. ...more
A beautiful book that exist in the strange ground between Howard Zinn”s People’s History and Borges’s Brief History of Infamy. It featured the rage anA beautiful book that exist in the strange ground between Howard Zinn”s People’s History and Borges’s Brief History of Infamy. It featured the rage and the unpeeling of the veneer of nostalgia and romance of history of the former and the irony, pocket novels, morbid humor of the latter. This is not a scholarly or popular history though the author does show his research, but more in the realm of epic poem and Borges, a savage and beautiful book. I can’t wait for the rest of the trilogy....more
Noir and crime novels used to mean something. It used to mean damaged people with their souls and lives in tatters trying desperately for one last de Noir and crime novels used to mean something. It used to mean damaged people with their souls and lives in tatters trying desperately for one last desperate bid for redemption. A landscape devoid of heroes filled with dive bars, luxury as a malevolent trap, gutters filled with blood, a world of desperate self-involved people hoping for love, a bit of the pie, and or safety in a world rule by greed and violence. Somehow crime novels have become boring collections of sexy lab staff, quirky detectives, super clever serial killers, police procedurals and other boring clichés. Richard Lange’s Angel Baby hearkens back to that older tradition, doomed despairing people fighting with no hope for life to mean more than the trap they have made it. Everyone is dangerous and there are no heroes, but the characters bring you along, and you try to be optimistic that anything good can come out of the proceedings. A little simpler of a story in the end than one would hope for, but when its blood drenched noir you are in the mood for, complexity isn't always called for. ...more
Lipsyte is hilarious, he also carves out exquisitely arranged prose and has characters that exist and something close to clarity of vision that will gLipsyte is hilarious, he also carves out exquisitely arranged prose and has characters that exist and something close to clarity of vision that will go as close to genius as we are probably going to get these days. Whether or not these characteristics always lead to fictions that balance right is pretty superfluous when experiencing his whirlwind of quips, failures (the character’s not the writer’s), and excruciating well-chosen phrases and words. I think maybe one story was a failed experiment and the rest might benefit from being read separately than as a piece and I still prefer him at novel length, but I will heartily endorse and recommend this collection....more
The finale to Harrison’s trilogy is as confounding, obtuse, and beautiful as the rest of the series. His prose is crafted so impeccably and relentlessThe finale to Harrison’s trilogy is as confounding, obtuse, and beautiful as the rest of the series. His prose is crafted so impeccably and relentlessly it is hard to resist chewing over each line and word choice (it is also very discouraging for the amateur writer) and occasionally losing the plot. But with Harrison you know you are going to read it again, soon I might restart the trilogy and see how they work together. His imagery, imagination, and prose are on such a level that they put much science fiction (is there anyone else who writes in the genre recently that is comparable as a stylist, Wolfe, Mieville, Shepard, or Gibson?) and other fiction in its shadow. Jodorowsky and Lynch should have skipped Dune and waited for these books to adapt. Quantum physics, Gnosticism, and dream imagery mixed with cyberpunk, noir, depressing near future science fiction, and space opera for a dense, cinematic, and surreal nightmare....more
Post-Soviet Ukrainian existential and absurdist noir is new genre for me and one I think Andrey Kurkov owns, Kurkov crafts tales worthy of Kafka but wPost-Soviet Ukrainian existential and absurdist noir is new genre for me and one I think Andrey Kurkov owns, Kurkov crafts tales worthy of Kafka but with warm humanity and humor and plotting that are definitely his own. The hero is a writer with writer’s block and a pet penguin (gotten from a defunded zoo) and while this combination at first seems a little bit precious but their melancholy day to day is described with well-placed rhythms and details and is never too cute. The events get both sinister and humorous as the protagonist accidentally gains a family, writes obituaries that come true, and is forced to attend gangster’s funerals with the penguin in tow. Death and the Penguin is a beautiful and amusing book with a sad sack sense of humor, affection for absurd and ominous situations presented in clear language, and humanity....more
Harry Potter and Dark Materials started the recent movement of YA titles that could be enjoyed by adult audiences as thoroughly as their target audienHarry Potter and Dark Materials started the recent movement of YA titles that could be enjoyed by adult audiences as thoroughly as their target audience, but no title deserves this distinction more than Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve. A thoroughly unsentimental, cliché rebuffing, and occasional brutally dark novel that still revels in wild adventures, crazy machines, Dickensian names and characters, and the full screen sense of wonder that belongs in a YA title. This book came out in 2001 not sure if before or after the events of September but it seems infused with the crazed atmosphere of that year, the mad march for war, the feeling of besiegement and blind trust in misguided leaders. Philip Reeve wrote the book that Mieville probably wanted too with Railsea, in fact the future wasteland of Reeve’s work is undoubtedly an influence on that book. Reeve creates a book that evokes Gilliam, Dickens, and Vance, and is overflowing with puns, references, and jokes about our time (my favorite being a character named Nancarrow and an airship called the 13th floor elevator), and filled to the brim with undead killers, giant machine cities, pirates, mad, old tech from an insane era of war, desperate atmosphere, villains that are ruthless but still human, an airship piloting spy named Fang, and two believable, unlikely young heroes. Reeve knows the trick to keep audiences on edge, make every character a full and believable character and be willing at any moment to kill one of them. The myth of protagonist’s invulnerability, revenge seeking, happy endings, the idea that a character has a destiny, and other atrocious tropes and clichés of fantasy/adventure stories are thoroughly skewered by Reeve along the way. He has created a unfriendly world ruled by force, accidents, and chaos that the character have to fight for survival in, but he has filled it with the warmth of a realistic view of humans, they can be cruel, selfish and self-involved and live in desperate times but they are recognizable human. If this series retains half the success rate of this initial volume it will be the YA series I point to above any other. ...more
Dante is often quoted (I paraphrase) as finding heaven the hardest to write of all the sections of his Divine Comedy. I wonder if the writer Talbot haDante is often quoted (I paraphrase) as finding heaven the hardest to write of all the sections of his Divine Comedy. I wonder if the writer Talbot had similar difficulties on certain sections of this exuberant popular history of one of my favorite cities, San Francisco during the sixties and seventies. His writing about the utopian early hippie days and an attempt at redemption in an effective stint at mayor by Diane Feinstein and a good 49ers season (I did find the section on the city’s response to the AIDs epidemic inspiring compared to the cold shoulder New York gave in the same era.), are overshadowed by the middle section. This section is the inferno. Talbot calls it Terror. Here is a city at war with itself in the dread seventies. Hard drugs take over the Haight, the Altamont disaster spoils the mood and the revolutionary movements move towards rage. These changes happened all over the country in the Nixon years but San Franscisco seemed to be hit the worse, the Red Queen section of the wonderland replete with death cults, violent revolutionaries, mad bombers, and assassinations. Talbot’s portrayal of S.L.A., the People’s Temple, and the Zebra murders are chilling and compulsory reading, but thankfully also nuanced and fresh takes on these horrific events. ...more
Second nonfiction I have read recently that has evoked Dante’s inferno for me. Sacco and Hedges takes the reader on a tour of our sacrifice zones. AreSecond nonfiction I have read recently that has evoked Dante’s inferno for me. Sacco and Hedges takes the reader on a tour of our sacrifice zones. Areas that capitalism and other forces (racism and classism mainly) have made into third world failed states that exist in the borders of the world’s number one economy. Pine Ridge reservation, Camden, New Jersey, West Virginia Coal country, the produce fields of Florida, and finally the Occupy protests. These pieces are intended as both prophesy of unfettered capitalism and a shaming for our collective turning of the back. In other words this is muckraking piece in the classic style. There is a tension between Hedge’s manic street preacher of doom delivering an erudite and passionate sermon that critiques history and safely held preconceptions with Sacco’s more humane and thoughtful portrayals. This tension gives way in the last and weakest section on the Occupy movement as Hedges turns most of the piece into a plea for revolution (without any really answers though many of his critiques seem trenchant) which makes it the weakest section, as good reportage on the Occupy movement is needed more than his rant....more
It starts with a riot and ends in an elegy, a deep feeling of loss. In between is almost nonstop frantic energy and bad moods. This is not a biographyIt starts with a riot and ends in an elegy, a deep feeling of loss. In between is almost nonstop frantic energy and bad moods. This is not a biography of Nixon, though he broods and connives throughout like Milton’s Devil, this book is a panorama or Boschian landscape of the era that brought this deeply paranoid, inferiority complex plagued man to power. The title of Nixonland is taken from an Adlai Stevenson quote, “a land of slander and scare, of sly innuendo, of poison pen and anonymous phone call and bustling, pushing, shoving-the land of smash and grab and anything to win.” Civil Rights, and populist backlash against it, the restlessness of the baby boomer generation, the reckless and worthless escalation of the war in Vietnam created a confluence of factor that led to a civil war within the Democratic party, breaking the back of the New Deal (though ironically elements of it still continued in Nixon’s domestic policy). A revolution was also brewing in the Republicans as Barry Goldwater’s failed campaign left in its shattered wake a takeover by the conservative elements of the party. Arguably Perlstein is presenting nothing new in this book but he synthesizes seemingly everything in a thoroughly novelistic narrative. My Lai, race riots, the start of the culture wars, terrorist attacks, Attica, The Siege of Chicago, Nixon’s brilliant campaigning and crippling doubt, LBJ’s hubris, the turbulent presidential campaigns of 68 and 72, the assassinations, hippies, political trials, all get pulled into an entirety. He makes some mistakes along the way (the New York and L.A. Times reviews are good sources on these), but when juggling this much I will forgive him for a dropped ball or two. He is very fair when addressing all the various political factions and personalities in this narrative. He in the end has provided a riveting history of a turbulent era whose mistakes and children are still with us. ...more
Urban fantasy has been a pretty fallow genre for me, despite loving urban stories and being a reader of fantasy. Mainly because it has been taken overUrban fantasy has been a pretty fallow genre for me, despite loving urban stories and being a reader of fantasy. Mainly because it has been taken over by paranormal romance (darn necrophiliacs ruin everything). Thankfully Kadrey is here to show how it can be done. The writer of one of the better of the cyberpunk novels Metrophage (not the most important but hands down one of the best realized and written), he disappeared and maybe spent eleven years in hell like his protagonist Stark because he has returned with an awful attitude. Yes a character named Stark seeking revenge and another character named Parker, the spirit of Westlake is alive in this book. Noir, heaping helpings of Garth Ennis’s Preacher and Eric Kripke’s Supernatural, Kung Fu flicks and Spaghetti Westerns form the DNA of this book as much as its recognizable genre, making this a pulpy, grisly, dark humored gem of an entertainment. The main character’s bad attitude is a little wearying at times, but the book has got so much movement that it is hard to find fault. I don’t think I like the name or title Sandman Slim much though....more
I will get the negative out of the way first. I would not have read this book with a different author’s name on it. Police procedural, serial killer, I will get the negative out of the way first. I would not have read this book with a different author’s name on it. Police procedural, serial killer, New York, Detective who doesn't fit it, cold case, Crime scene unit, sorry I fell asleep writing that list of almost fatally boring elements of popular culture. I love Ellis’s comic work, and enjoyed his quirky, weird, and disgusting first novel but was confused why he choose to write something so ubiquitous and crassly commercial. As I read along more stuff came up that worried me including a lesbian character written like a man, and savage killer used by society elites to achieve success. I should probably have given up but I kept going and Ellis in the end delivered a solid entertainment, probably still fairly slight, but solid enough, the characters gradually pulled free from their clichés and became real men and women, and the book became exciting in a good T.V. episode way. The ambiance of violence the story takes place in seems to evoke the bad old days of New York city rather than present reality which I found a little distracting(it had less murders than Chicago last year). There is rumor that this may develop into a TV show. Warren Ellis definitely deserves a TV show, though I’m not sure we need another Police Procedural. ...more
Following up his Half Made World, Gilman does so in unpredictable style. Or maybe predictably unpredictable as Gears of the City his follow-up to ThunFollowing up his Half Made World, Gilman does so in unpredictable style. Or maybe predictably unpredictable as Gears of the City his follow-up to Thunderer went totally postmodern. Here following Jeff Vandermeer’s Shriek: an Afterword and he presents a memoir that is edited by another, a mix of Nabokov’s unreliable narrator and Borge’s faux non-fiction with a healthy dose of Mark Twain’s picaresque wit. This is also one the most aggrieved skewering of Horatio Alger since Nathaniel West’s Cool Million. With references to Twain, Alger, and the continuing quasi-western milieu obviously this is fantasy novel with its eyes set on American myths. Some would argue that the style would keep much of action distanced from the reader, but I found this an interesting literary gambit that paid off more so than Vandermeer’s similar book. Gilman remains one of the most fascinating of contemporary fantasy writers to me. Where will he go next? I’m interested. On a side note how did he get Gordon Lish to blurb this? Weird. On another side note, is there a revival of the Western going on right now?...more
Red country has been labeled as Abercrombie’s take on the western. This partially true, as Abercrombie has managed to squeeze as much of the tropes anRed country has been labeled as Abercrombie’s take on the western. This partially true, as Abercrombie has managed to squeeze as much of the tropes and furniture of said genre into this book. Showdowns in bars, scouts, wagon trains, native attacks, cattle stampedes, frontier towns, a stagecoach chase, ravaged homesteads, kidnappings, last stands, and others are all gloriously skewered and given homage. There are references to many of the classics, The Unforgiven, Outlaw Josey Wales, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Searchers, Blood Meridian, but the atmosphere most resembles Leone or Kurosawa’s similar grafting of westerns tropes onto a Samurai milieu. I say only partially true as this essentially at its core nothing but yet another prime piece of Abercrombie fiction, a writer so thoroughly on the top of his game that it is kind of disappointing to read anyone else. This book is another rollicking black comedy with existential dread and skewered moralism and terrifically drawn characters. He has always skewered genres. His original trilogy was just his take on the classic fantasy trilogy, followed by a revenge/thriller, and then war fiction. These paint by numbers genre frameworks are just a place for him to splatter paint all over. He is getting better and better and this is my favorite by him yet. He brings back many of his characters from his previous books. I will not give any spoilers by revealing which ones (one is barely disguised, one receives an ending I felt a little anti-climactic, and another is well disguised but I think I guessed who.), but while this will bring smiles to long time readers I believe you can read this book without any introduction. Waiting for his next book is going to be tough, but unlike Martin I know I won’t have to wait that long....more
Fugue State is another worthwhile collection of Evenson’s brilliant, angular, and disconcerting takes on fiction. He uses short fiction in way very feFugue State is another worthwhile collection of Evenson’s brilliant, angular, and disconcerting takes on fiction. He uses short fiction in way very few contemporaries do, Ligotti definitely comes to mind though. Beckett’s desolate spaces and comic narrators, Poe’s diseased and obsessive minds, the suffocating traps of Kafka are Evenson’s peers, but his collection of mutilations, plagues, amnesiacs, liminal spaces, and bizarre rituals are distinctly his own voice. Zak Sally the cartoonist and former bass player of the wonderful band Low provides some stark little illustrations and one full on collaboration with Evenson....more
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