My first Alyssa Cole, and it sounds like a bit of a departure. The thriller aspect didn’t work for me but I appreciated the concentration on redliningMy first Alyssa Cole, and it sounds like a bit of a departure. The thriller aspect didn’t work for me but I appreciated the concentration on redlining, gentrification, and institutionalized racism. (Sounds like a weird thing to appreciate, but.) A good read for a white reader who knows this stuff but has only experienced it from the white side of the equation. ...more
A strange and unsettling short novel about a Japanese woman whose husband’s job takes them to a small isolated rural town…where she encounters strangeA strange and unsettling short novel about a Japanese woman whose husband’s job takes them to a small isolated rural town…where she encounters strange and unsettling things. Slightly reminiscent of Samanta Schweblin’s FEVER DREAM, with strains of Lewis Carroll and Yoko Ogawa. I’m not sure if it’s sinister or fantastical or what, exactly. ...more
This book was both depressing and compelling, which was kind of a confusing combination. The lives of the four main characters—all women struggling ecThis book was both depressing and compelling, which was kind of a confusing combination. The lives of the four main characters—all women struggling economically, as well as in terms of their personal and bodily independence—are pretty heavy stuff. One woman is a room salon girl, essentially an escort for rich, horrible men. Another is an orphaned artist dating a rich but philandering man. Another is a hairdresser who was rendered mute by a traumatic event in her past. And the last is a married woman who has suffered miscarriages and finally is pregnant again, but can do the math on raising a child in modern Korea and understands how desperately impossible it is, financially speaking.
The themes of the book seem to be the impossibility of life in modern Korea for anyone but the richest elite, as well as the overriding social and economic pressures around conformity and beauty standards, especially for women. Several characters undergo extensive, painful plastic surgery to change their appearance so they can make more money. In general, the surgeries land them in more debt. Office work pressures are insane, leading people to work hundred-hour weeks and feel dubiously grateful for the paltry salaries they make. Meanwhile no one can afford to buy a house or even make rent, and the older generation lectures younger Koreans on never thinking about tomorrow and not working hard enough to get ahead. That, they say, is why there’s so much suicide in Korea.
(All of this is deeply depressing for a Canadian to read. Real estate prices here have similarly benefited the older generation at the expense of younger people, who can’t afford to buy a house even if they work full-time in good careers.)
In the end, it’s clear that the Korean government and people in power are never going to help people like the women in this book. Instead, they help each other, through small acts of caring and by recommending each other for job interviews, helping each other network, and encouraging each other to seek out opportunities. There’s a bit of hope there, but nothing that will change the broken system.
A very Russian novel, a very Jewish novel. A darkly comic novel about COVID and the era of Trump, as seen through the eyes of a disparate group of AmeA very Russian novel, a very Jewish novel. A darkly comic novel about COVID and the era of Trump, as seen through the eyes of a disparate group of American immigrant friends who’ve taken refuge in upstate New York. Love, sex, money, jealousy, hope, friendship, sadness and fear—they all mingle absurdly wonderfully in this love letter to modern satire and classic Russian novels. Maybe it was a bit longer than it needed to be, but hey. Shteyngart loves his language, and he can’t settle for an easy epiphany. ...more
A firsthand account of volunteering on the Downtown East Side, Vancouver’s notoriously poor, drug-filled, and problematic neighborhood. Campbell is prA firsthand account of volunteering on the Downtown East Side, Vancouver’s notoriously poor, drug-filled, and problematic neighborhood. Campbell is pretty clear-eyed about his own motivations for being there (in the middle of life upheaval, he started to find himself not caring about things, possibly slipping into depression, and service to the less fortunate presented a means to rebuild his emotional state.). He’s also pretty direct about the fact that the people of the DTES are a mixed bag. Some are tragic, generous, hard-luck, abused. Some are foolish and bad at making life decisions. Others are jerks. Poverty and addiction bring them all together into a mix that’s sometimes interesting, even Steinbeckian, but other times depressing and ugly. He sees the service providers as having their own mixed agendas as well, and the ultimate result of so many services is a competitive, uncoordinated landscape that doesn’t really help to get anyone out of the cycles of poverty, but mainly enables people to keep living as they are, in miserable conditions. At the same time, without the services, many people would perish. This was a really interesting and engaging read, a good book to start the new year, and I wish that Campbell had written more. ...more
Look, I don’t even know. This was quick and sort of funny and sort of horrifying and sort of in the vein of Bridget Jones in terms of adult women behaLook, I don’t even know. This was quick and sort of funny and sort of horrifying and sort of in the vein of Bridget Jones in terms of adult women behaving badly. And there’s a happy romance ending, so. COVID. You know. ...more
The first Mandel book I’ve read. It felt fairly quiet, a bit abstract and conceptual, although the characters and situations were mostly interesting. The first Mandel book I’ve read. It felt fairly quiet, a bit abstract and conceptual, although the characters and situations were mostly interesting. Mandel weaves multiple story lines together over multiple decades to tell the story of a young woman whose life feels haunted from the start by the mysterious death of her mother. Vincent (unusually named) carries on in life from her childhood in a remote and tiny coastal village in British Columbia, to partner with a man of immense wealth in New York. Vincent’s brother, a troubled musician and addict, plays a shadowy role on the edges of her life, but they never really satisfyingly affect each other. When Vincent’s teetering world collapses, she makes a whole new life out of risk and chaos. The book explores themes of morality, vulnerability, risk, art, and home. It felt satisfying in the end, but as a fairly light meal, an intriguing structural accomplishment, rather than a wholly fulfilling nosh. ...more
A rare audio book, which always makes me a little more critical of the writing since it’s impossible to skim. That said, the writing here could best bA rare audio book, which always makes me a little more critical of the writing since it’s impossible to skim. That said, the writing here could best be described as...breezy? And having already seen the movie, I think the studio made some good decisions. They streamlined the plot and character arcs, deepened and dignified some characters, removed some plot elements that were frankly surprisingly dark, and reduced the meandering. And all THAT said, this was a fun read that made me want to eat in a hawker market someday. ...more
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