A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

Initial impressions: this guy has a thing for whale penises and lady ears.

Final impressions:  the silly and the real are weaved effortlessly and the Sheep Man creeped me the f#%k out.

Also, there is another WINTER scene.  If your novel doesn’t have winter, it’s worthless.  Worthless.

Perhaps I am missing the symbolism.  Sometimes I think I may have missed a point or two.  I didn’t become very interested in the story until about the half way mark, when The Hunt really began.  There’s an evil sheep that possesses people.  AN EVIL SHEEP.  It must be found. 

The author does very well with the “where the hell is this plot going” bit.  A number of people have recommended the author to me and I searched and deliberated on which novel would be my first.  I thought this one had the most interesting title.  It ended up being literally (I’m sorry when I write this word I now imagine it being said the way Chris from Parks & Rec or Robin from HIMYM accentuate it) about a sheep chase.  It did not disappoint.  I thought the strength of the novel was in the second half, which seems appropriate.  It is better to end with a bang that with a dud. 

It’s a little bit Moby Dick, a little bit Sherlock Holmes.  

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

“Light is the left hand of darkness and darkness the right hand of light.  Two are one, life and death, lying together like lovers in kemmer, like hands joined together, like the end and the way.”  - Proverb of the people of Winter.

Yes, another book that takes place in the snow.  Seriously, fantasy and sci-fi writers; what is up with your thing about snow?

I was not even half way through the first chapter and I just felt in my bones that this was going to be a fantastic novel (it was not because they were on a planet called Winter).  At first it was because of the authors vocabulary, I loved it.  As I continued and it was revealed that there was an Envoy (representative of a human being much like ourselves) visiting a planet of humans that are genderless except during their kemmer (a period of estrus that occurs once a month).  During this time they can take on being the male or the female.  The concept fascinated me, and I was all, “ooohhhh, where is the author going to take this?!”

It’s a study in cultural anthropology, fictitious cultural anthropology is a better word for it perhaps.  At least, that was my initial take on it.  The book is the story of the Envoy’s (Genry) time on this planet (interjected with inserts from a native’s (Estraven) journal and traditional stories or myths of the planets people).  One of the most interesting facets is that these two main characters interactions are completely misinterpreted by the other because of their cultural and physical differences.  Genry is male and for the people on this planet he is considered a “Pervert” because to them he is perpetually in kemmer and Genry finds it difficult to communicate with people without trying to identify them with male or female traits. 

That’s really the beginning and then it turns into this epic political intrigue and then to unjust imprisonment and then an epic journey (in the snow of course).  Culminating into a story of true friendship.  I am not going to lie, I did not expect to tear up reading a science fiction novel.  It was fucking beautiful ok.  Read it.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Once Marvin the robot was introduced, all I could see was Eeyore.  By the end I was just trying to figure out how each of the characters fitted into Pooh’s Corner.  Arthur is Piglet.  Zaphod is Tigger.  Ford is Pooh.  I haven’t made up my mind whether Trillian is Kanga or Rabbit.  And the mice are Christopher Robin.

This book is funny.  In a very particular sort of way.  It’s so British.  It felt very Monty Python, for lack of a better association, that’s the closest I could get to the type of humor it could be.  Maybe in a sort of way a classic Mel Brooks type of humor.  I find it interesting that I associate this story with TV and film.  As I read I could imagine watching this and now I want to see the movie and I hope that its good.  This was a really fun book.  I was cracking up out loud.  Does this make me a dork?  This, among other things, yes.  Its ok.  I’m comfortable with it.  

The story is full of humor but also these really creative ideas.  I was most fond of the idea of a group of people that make planets. Luxury planets.  One, because things just get bigger and grander and quite ridiculous.  We are thinking too small with custom cars, custom homes, and man made islands.  Two, there are specializations; there’s a guy that is the best at making fjords!  It’s an art.  He won an award.

It’s mostly harmless.

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

I have never read anything by Virginia Woolf.  Of course I had heard of her; one of the greatest writers ever, she had committed suicide, there is reportedly a really good movie (based on a book about her) called The Hours, and there is play called “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf” which doesn’t really have anything to do with her.

I went into this novel having no clue.  I may still not have a clue.  It was written as a stream of consciousness bouncing from one character to the next over the course of a day, where the end goal is a party.  I took me a little bit to settle into it.  I was all, “whats the point?” and then I was like, “oh.” Then it began to unravel or come together (by that I mean the storylines).  I think there are still things that I missed or didn’t get, but coming out of it I think its about reflection and acceptance.

These characters are just moving through their day thinking about stuff, what was, what if?  It’s not epic.  It’s just life, the mundane and the everyday.  Many of the passages made me a bit sad.  I felt really bad for Peter, who is never able to get over the woman he loved in his youth. I felt really bad for the wife of the suicidal soldier suffering from post traumatic stress.  I don’t really know if I was happy for anyone, except for Sally. 

And then there are the comas! And then the semicolons! 

“Beauty, the world seemed to say. And as if to prove it (scientifically) wherever he looked at the houses, at the railings, at the antelopes stretching over the palings, beauty sprang instantly. To watch a leaf quivering in the rush of air was an exquisite joy. Up in the sky swallows swooping, swerving, flinging themselves in and out, round and round, yet always with perfect control as if elastics held them; and the flies rising and falling; and the sun spotting now this leaf, now that, in mockery, dazzling it with soft gold in pure good temper; and now again some chime (it might be a motor horn) tinkling divinely on the grass stalks—all of this, calm and reasonable as it was, made out of ordinary things as it was, was the truth now; beauty, that was the truth now. Beauty was everywhere.”

Some of the longest sentences ever came from this book.  Then you say to yourself, “what?” and you have to reread that paragraph that covered the past two pages again, but it’s very pretty.

Sabriel by Garth Nix

I was glad that the story didn’t revolve around her being female.  She wasn’t “chosen” or “destined” because she was a woman.  She wasn’t the first woman in a long line of men.  Many times in fantasy, or really in every type of thing, the sexuality of a lead female character is a major plot line.  Here that doesn’t happen, well, not really.  Is there a love interest?  Yes, but it doesn’t overwhelm.  Luckily, the “love story” is poorly handled at the very end of the book so you don’t have to deal with it for very long.  It really could have been done better.

The last third of the novel was less convincingly written.  It’s fantasy and belief must be suspended, but it seemed rushed and illogical.  The world building up to that point was pretty good, there was still a lot missing, but its a trilogy so that is to be expected.  

It dealt with The Undead quite a bit, because that’s the focus of the story.  A number of reviews had talked about zombies being in this book, but they’re not zombies.  If you get killed you don’t become a walking dead thing.  Your body could be worn by a malevolent spirit (which was gross) or your body could be used as a puppet thing (seriously, with strings attached) or you could just be dead.  Perhaps there a different versions of zombies, but it didn’t fit my idea of what a zombie is.  So if you are afraid of zombies, don’t worry.  The book is really about magic and magical beings.  

Overall I enjoyed reading it.  It was a little bit of a thriller and fast paced, in a good way. I would like to read the rest of the series once my schedule lets up a bit, two down and eighteen to go!

Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner

I finished this book yesterday, but I didn’t really know how to write a review about it, because my feelings are complicated.  It is a novel that reads like a memoir.  I had seen that the author is a poet and that this is his first novel.  I don’t know if it is semi-autobiographical, but I can only assume that some things are, considering the character telling this story is a poet.  The writing is really pretty (I honestly have no other word for it, I wish there was a better way to put it).  

There is an excerpt where he describes what a bad day feels like; how it can come on at any moment and you just sink into it.  Of course it’s exaggerated by him being all poetical, high, and depressed. (It made me think of the scene in Howls Moving Castle, the film not the book, when he becomes all slimy from being sad about his hair.) The whole book, every few pages you go and then stop and say, “what the fuck did I just read? That. Meant. Something.” I mean that in a profound, thought provoking way, not in an I don’t understand what is happening sort of way.  Or maybe it just means something to me right now because I’m going through a phase.

The character is basically trying to figure out his worth in the scheme of things, what his purpose in life is, faking it until something “real” comes along, etc.  He is relatable because he doesn’t know what to do with himself and who has never felt that way?  On the flip side, you want to punch him in the face because he is an asshole and a manipulative liar.  Which could be exacerbated by the misuse of prescription drugs taken with chasers of alcohol and weed.  It kind of reminds me of reading Catcher in the Rye and how annoying Holden could be.  

I liked it.

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

I picked this book because 1. The authors name (awesome). 2. The title (pimpernel is a funny word, I thought it was The Scarlet Pumpernickel the first time I saw the title). 3. It’s free on the Kindle. 4. It fits into some categories for my reading group (score).  Prior to reading this book, I had no idea it’s influence (Zorro, the Lone Ranger, etc.) or that it had been turned into a number of films, tv shows, or a musical.  Pretty much because I had never heard of it.  So the plot was really obvious to me and the secret identity of the mystery hero was blatantly evident.  I thought it was quite funny that the heroine of the story is referred to as “the cleverest woman in Europe” (or something along those lines) and believes this of herself as well, when she is not.  It’s very Lois and Clark, which I have always found perplexing yet endearing. The dialect was sometimes difficult to grasp and I had to look up a number of words and/or phrases that are no longer in use.  That’s ok though because I find that entertaining and educational.  I like it when authors write speech in dialect form, because it is always fun to read aloud to yourself.  It’s a charming story but predictable, not the fault of the author of course, but of a result of time (there are so many masked crusaders these days).  Also, the villan literally rubs his hands together in a devious manner and all I could imagine was General Grievous.  On the serious side it is a story of bravery and heroism on the part of the characters that risk their lives to rescue people from The Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the book, but I did enjoy it for what it is.      

I already had this book queued up on my Kindle to read when I joined the Reading with Style group, so I tried to fit it into one of the task that was lined up for the Winter Challenge.  I was able to use it for the Play the Numbers task and some Style points as well.  I am starting the challenge a month into it, but that’s ok.  The people in this reading group are serious readers and I really don’t think I’ll come anywhere close to the top, but it is fun nonetheless.  There are people with 400+ points so far and it’s only been a month into the three month challenge.

On to the point of this post, I read The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht.  I was expecting that it would be a bit of a disappointment because the novel has been so hyped up.  I was not disappointed at all.  It is beautifully written.  I mean that as the whole kit and caboodle. There are so many themes at work it this book, the most prominent being how people deal with death. The weaving of the real and the mythological makes the story more enticing to read.

It is about a woman coping with the grief of losing her grandfather. She is searching elements of his past and reminiscing on the stories he told her in order to figure out what brought him to the place where he passed away. I was drawn to the authors depiction of how the individual characters rationalized their actions by moving back and forward through the characters histories.  

Also, part of the story is from the point of view of the Tiger.  How fun is that?  It also shows how people turn things that they can’t explain or don’t understand into fantastical mythologies that become a history.  A very interesting history.  

“Come on, is your heart a sponge or a fist?” - Tea Obreht, The Tiger’s Wife.