I have learned already that if you are looking to Hendrix for consistency, you won't get it. It's been even weirder lately where he's written two of hI have learned already that if you are looking to Hendrix for consistency, you won't get it. It's been even weirder lately where he's written two of his very best books, books that made me think he was really changing the game, only to follow them up with two of his worst. (Sorry but this is one of the latter not the former.)
There are moments here that I really enjoyed. Mostly near the end, when our protagonist Fern just does not want to deal with anything anymore, when she is willing to sell out her own friends just to get something like real life back. It was a spark of an interesting book, but only a spark. It is, at least, a good idea of a time and place for a horror novel. And I will also say that he gets a real feel for the details, you don't have to struggle to get a sense of the setting and the circumstances.
But there's also a lot that's oversimplified here. The horror of being a teenage girl, pregnant when you don't want to be, and shipped off to be hidden away until you are forced to give up your baby, is pretty harrowing. And yet the beginning of the book drags terribly, it really wants you to slowly consider the whole situation. And maybe it's because Hendrix is a man and I'm a woman who has been pregnant, but I found it eye-wateringly slow and quite dull. Yes, it is awful, but perhaps it's just that I've contemplated these types of awful circumstances many times before? It feels like the book wants us to see this all as new and had we ever imagined??? I have. Maybe you haven't. Maybe you'll find that it bowls you over. Who's to say.
And then when we get to the plot, it was surprisingly simple, not what I expected from Hendrix. A plot where you could almost always anticipate what was going to happen well ahead of time.
I like this more than Final Girls Support Group, which I found to have basically no cohesiveness as a novel. This has structure and character development and all those things. I just found it rather boring. There are multiple birth scenes and they are LONG, which yeah sure birth can be quite long, so it's accurate, but is all of this repeated over and over so necessary? There is a reason why birth scenes happen so quickly on tv!
There is a little bit of a Magical Negro trope happening, though it seems clear to me that Hendrix is trying to play against the trope. Still not sure it works the way he wants it to. ...more
I have liked and disliked Alice Feeney novels, but this one is the worst so far. The book exists only for the sake of the twist, and worst of all, eveI have liked and disliked Alice Feeney novels, but this one is the worst so far. The book exists only for the sake of the twist, and worst of all, everything leading up to the twist is quite boring! I kept seeing along the way all kinds of interesting things Feeney could do but she did not do them. I am not even sure I should mark this book as "read" since it was really just skimmed waiting for something good to happen and being disappointed....more
This was my first full re-read of the entire Magicians Trilogy. Having read the first book several times and the second book a few times, I wasn't surThis was my first full re-read of the entire Magicians Trilogy. Having read the first book several times and the second book a few times, I wasn't sure where I'd fall on my re-read of the third book. I firmly believe that these books are best the second time through when you have a better idea of what they're going to do. They mess with your expectations so thoroughly that the first read is always a frustrating experience in some sense.
The third book has one of the same major flaws as the first book: it tries to do too much. With the first book it's a heavy amount of worldbuilding that leaves you feeling a little dizzy and never able to settle in and stretch out in the world its created. In this book, it's too many stories, too much to wrap up, too many points of view to jump between.
I'd also argue that a book that treats a fictional place or character as near-sacred is always going to be imperfect because the author has an attachment that the reader will never understand. (Assuming you haven't lived in the same world for a very long series, which is different.) But Grossman's and Quentin's attachments to Fillory just aren't the same as the reader's. We never spent much time there, we had to take their sentimentality on faith, and so the extended sense of loss and sadness the characters feel about Fillory potentially dying doesn't translate to us.
I'm also not a fan of Plum, who seems to exist mostly to give us a more objective 3rd party view of Quentin.
I feel pretty comfortable after my experiences with these books saying that the 2nd book is the best. It is doing two things and dives deep into them, and I think that's most of the keys to its success. It's more carefully structured, it comes by its emotional twists more honestly.
Merged review:
This was my first full re-read of the entire Magicians Trilogy. Having read the first book several times and the second book a few times, I wasn't sure where I'd fall on my re-read of the third book. I firmly believe that these books are best the second time through when you have a better idea of what they're going to do. They mess with your expectations so thoroughly that the first read is always a frustrating experience in some sense.
The third book has one of the same major flaws as the first book: it tries to do too much. With the first book it's a heavy amount of worldbuilding that leaves you feeling a little dizzy and never able to settle in and stretch out in the world its created. In this book, it's too many stories, too much to wrap up, too many points of view to jump between.
I'd also argue that a book that treats a fictional place or character as near-sacred is always going to be imperfect because the author has an attachment that the reader will never understand. (Assuming you haven't lived in the same world for a very long series, which is different.) But Grossman's and Quentin's attachments to Fillory just aren't the same as the reader's. We never spent much time there, we had to take their sentimentality on faith, and so the extended sense of loss and sadness the characters feel about Fillory potentially dying doesn't translate to us.
I'm also not a fan of Plum, who seems to exist mostly to give us a more objective 3rd party view of Quentin.
I feel pretty comfortable after my experiences with these books saying that the 2nd book is the best. It is doing two things and dives deep into them, and I think that's most of the keys to its success. It's more carefully structured, it comes by its emotional twists more honestly....more
This started off interesting but somehow got duller as time went on. A strange situation for a book that wants to bring biting commentary. Ultimately This started off interesting but somehow got duller as time went on. A strange situation for a book that wants to bring biting commentary. Ultimately the heart of the book is very old-fashioned and not really that interested in fully addressing the problems we're presented at the start.
Mixed political party marriages are certainly something that has been more top of mind the last 8 years. Harris' novel struggles because she only partway acknowledges the truth of that divide. Trump doesn't exist in this book and Trump-ism only sort of does. That is, I think, the fatal flaw of the novel. Because Trump is why relationships have gotten so much harder across the political divide. And it makes it even harder to make any sense of Ethan, a gay Republican. Yes, the Republican party in the book has a loudly bigoted faction, but in the book this is something that is overcome-able. Something you just have to pretend isn't there so you can get an endorsement and win a race and then actually do good things. Yes there are politicians like this, but it's hard to imagine Gabe, the vibrant high school teacher being married to gay Mitt Romney, which is what the book wants us to believe. I never could believe that Ethan existed. I never could believe that Gabe would stay happy with him. And it's very frustrating to over and over again have Gabe vent his righteous (and extremely justifiable!!) anger only to then apologize and walk it back because the way he expressed it was not socially appropriate.
Kate and Nicole have a more interesting and more believable dynamic. Nicole treated Kate badly when they were young. Now Kate is a workaholic and Nicole has left her work entirely to stay home with two children after marrying a man. They reconnect, sparks fly, and it's very clear that this could once again go extremely badly! Not just for Nicole, it was actually Kate I worried about more. Nicole SUCKS, and I will say that the way Harris draws her is just 100% accurate, this kind of chaotic person who focuses so much on herself that she cannot see that she is being terrible to her husband and her mistress feels very true to life. But there's nowhere to really go with it. The justifications for Nicole to stay in her marriage always feel halfhearted. And it never feels like you can trust Nicole to be a good partner for Kate's future. So the stakes just aren't there.
If this book was really willing to go for it, to let this world feel more real, to not cop out so often, it could have been interesting.
It's also written in so many short scenes, many of which just feel like repeats of previous scenes, showing us no real progression in plot and nothing new in character. I wanted tighter, sharper, MORE....more
Another lesser Higashino, kind of a bummer after the splendor of Silent Parade, our last Detective Galileo translation. This is the third mid HigashinAnother lesser Higashino, kind of a bummer after the splendor of Silent Parade, our last Detective Galileo translation. This is the third mid Higashino in a row (I also wasn't a fan of A Death In Tokyo) so I am starting to wonder if we have already had all the best ones, especially since they aren't translating them in order.
It's also odd that this digs very deep into Detective Galileo's mother, which also happened to Detective Kaga in last year's release The Final Curtain. The two of them together are an odd pair.
The pacing here is off, and the investigation doesn't make much sense. A murdered man's girlfriend has left town, and we focus entirely on the girlfriend even though the man had many enemies. By the end we have a plot that is almost as complex as a typical Galileo case, but it takes quite a while to get there and the first half is quite slow. If I wasn't such a Higashino devotee I'm not sure I would have finished this one....more
I knew going in that Semiosis and Interference were two very different books. This initially frustrated me about Interference, I'd expected us to onceI knew going in that Semiosis and Interference were two very different books. This initially frustrated me about Interference, I'd expected us to once again move quickly through the development of Pax from generation to generation but much of that book took place within just a few months. I knew I should expect a change with Usurpation, and I got one. It just wasn't the kind of change I liked. This time we are not on Pax. Not even for a single minute. Once you line up all three books it's clear that Burke isn't writing about the development of a new planet, about the growth of a planned utopia. She isn't even writing about the ways different alien species come together. Ultimately these books are all about the bamboo.
The bamboo is what everyone remembers about Semiosis. And it's such a fabulous invention of fiction. Following the interaction of Stevland and the Pacifists was my very favorite thing about these books. I just didn't feel like this third book brought much that was new or interesting.
In Usurpation we are back on earth with the plants that grew from Stevland's seeds. We follow Levanter, one of the first three plants. But once again most of the book takes place over a short period. Levanter is deciding whether to reveal herself to humans. The humans are involved in elaborate wars and conflicts. We follow the perspectives of several humans, but the earth itself is so vast, it's impossible for us to get all that invested in an entire planet. The story works best when it's much more limited, but it keeps expanding outward.
The truth is I never really cared. There were a few subplots that really held my attention, but often just when it would get interesting everything would change. All the pieces are there again, we have the bamboo learning to communicate with other plants on earth, tapping into the human network, establishing contact with wild robots, many different forms of life tenuously trying to connect. But it's actually really nice to have specific characters to know well and latch on to who can take you through these larger plots. No one besides Levanter ever really connects.
Disappointing, but also it's one of these times when Burke is shooting for something different than what I most enjoyed from the series. We just have different things we care about here. And that's fine! But I enjoyed Interference much more on a second read, whereas I doubt Usurpation will grow on me in the same way. ...more
3.5 stars. The moment I started reading this book and encountered two women dressed as hotel maids named Blanket and Pillow I knew I was back in an Is3.5 stars. The moment I started reading this book and encountered two women dressed as hotel maids named Blanket and Pillow I knew I was back in an Isaka thriller. Once again he creates a multi-plot assassin caper that has many of Bullet Train's pleasures. It is not quite as complex and not as grounded in character (there will never be another pair like Lemon and Tangerine!), but it's not a bad thing to have a somewhat lighter version that's a breezier read.
Once again it's darkly funny, bizarrely violent (blow guns! sheets as murder weapon!), and our friend Lady Bird just can't get a lucky break.
I re-read THE PLOT in anticipation of this and, unfortunately, this was a real bummer. I started a little baffled, not sure what Korelitz would do nowI re-read THE PLOT in anticipation of this and, unfortunately, this was a real bummer. I started a little baffled, not sure what Korelitz would do now. It turns out she is doing... exactly the same thing. Somehow this sequel is the same book as the first, despite removing its protagonist. Except this time it all feels like a retread, lower stakes, nothing new to discover, like a book I'd already read.
Once again we have a novelist with a bad attitude as our protagonist. This time it's Anna who, it turns out, just happens to have written an amazing first novel in a very "What, like it's hard?" fashion. I learned from the first book that for Korelitz's satire to work, you just have to accept it and roll with it. So I did. And there's some funny stuff, but less. And so much of it is Anna's frustration and annoyance with her readers. What we're really getting at is how some people get to move to the front of the line, avoid the typical difficulties of getting published, not due to any talent but who they know. Anna is one of these. It's a lot less interesting when there is no struggle, and when Anna's book is not necessary. Anna is, clearly, set for life though it's completely unclear what she wants out of that life.
Once again we have a campaign of mysterious messages saying they know our novelist's secret. Which is the same secret as the last book. It's unclear why this must happen through another strange campaign of letters and notes, why someone doesn't just come out and make an accusation. Last time there was a reason for the secrecy. This time? Not so much.
And once again we have the same characters. Somehow we do not have a single notable new character in this book. Everyone is someone we already know. This bored me most of all. You're not even going to try to bring a new angle? We're just going to go back to talk to the exact same people we talked to in the last book? Yawn.
There's a twist, but it's not a particularly interesting one. Because it turns out that without all the layers of motives in the previous book, that there is no bigger thing beneath it all. It's just who has the author decided knows the secret. Not why they might care about the secret or be involved in the secret, just how they found out. Has an eeny meeny miney mo feel of who will be responsible.
Anna moves through the story with the same lack of empathy she did before. She is a hard character to relate to. At least Jake wanted something. What does Anna want? She used to want so much, she used to have this intense drive. But now what exactly is she fighting for? She doesn't enjoy writing novels or going on book tours. What does she enjoy? Who are her friends? What does she get out of it if she manages to keep her secrets?
Worst of all, the book feels inflated and repetitive. Scenes play out much longer than they need to. Anna thinks the same thoughts over and over again. It would have been really easy to trim 50 pages out of this. There wouldn't have been much left, but there is not much there to start with!
It isn't all that fun to follow a narcissistic sociopath through a plot we've already read....more
Weike Wang is becoming one of those authors I like spending time with. I settle in with her books, I get comfortable, I know I will enjoy my stay.
KerWeike Wang is becoming one of those authors I like spending time with. I settle in with her books, I get comfortable, I know I will enjoy my stay.
Keru and Nate have been together since college. He is a professor, she is a consultant. He comes from a small Appalachian town where he never fit in. She is an immigrant who never fit in. They work as a couple, though they have been together long enough that we see the cracks that have formed from small divisions growing over time. They have been together long enough that their love is more assumption than action. They work a lot, they have no children, and their lives have taken on a flatness they don't know if they like or not.
We see them over two vacations, five years apart. And each time their vacation is intruded on by others, mostly by their own families. Both Keru and Nate have strained relationships with their parents in different ways, and they also struggle to relate to their in-laws. Their families are probably the biggest pressure on them individually, but also as a couple. And watching the two of them navigate these visits is both cringey and relatable.
It's mostly a quiet book, but one I couldn't stop reading. I like the strange little details, the way Keru throws things at pivotal moments, the constant taking pillows on and off the couch. The book is quite evenly split between the two of them, and they both feel fully drawn. This isn't really about going anywhere or seeing any big change, and that was fine with me.
I like the way Wang's work explores the lives of women who are variations on a theme. Daughters of Chinese immigrants, women driven to succeed, women who do not fit the mold of their parents' expectations or the American culture around them. They may have similar character sketches, and the stories around them explore similar themes, and yet they all feel quite different. I love that we see so much that can open up even in what others may consider a limited scope.
I mostly wish her books were longer because I so enjoy how lived in they are. The sharp eye for detail, the real consideration of relationships. Here in particular there is so much about what we may owe our parents, when do things cross the line, what is the goal of a relationship with people who do not understand you. Nate's family in particular pretends to play-act that everything is great, which Keru struggles to do. And Keru's family is so blunt that even Nate's Chinese lessons haven't done much to ingratiate him. Keru and Nate may come off as prickly sometimes but they both really struggle with the obligation to their families and the difficulty that comes from interacting with them. And yet they continue to try, continue to reach out, continue to support the families that don't support them. It isn't a book that wants everyone to get along or one that minimizes the pain parents can inflict. This is a tricky subject for me, but I never felt like Wang was being too optimistic or too harsh, it just felt right on....more
We are all calling this novel the third in a "loose trilogy" because Kunzru's previous two novels also have "color" titles. And I can see how this fitWe are all calling this novel the third in a "loose trilogy" because Kunzru's previous two novels also have "color" titles. And I can see how this fits with the other two in some ways, but it doesn't fit more than it does. These novels are all about artists, about class, about envy, about fear. Perhaps the similarities of the first two novels, which both have this amplifying dread and become basically horror novels by their conclusions, set up expectations? But the third does not really fit, though it has its own minor tensions, a smaller version of what the previous two did.
Regardless of the comparisons, this one had discrete pieces I enjoyed but never came together for me as a novel. Our protagonist, Jay, is a former performance artist who left that world, getting by now as an invisible undocumented person in the US. After getting Covid early in the pandemic, he was kicked out of the housing he shared with several other undocumented men, and now sleeping in his car, finds himself delivering groceries to a lavish estate. The recipient just happens to be his ex-girlfriend Alice from his artist days.
We spend a lot of time going back and forth from the present to their past. The art is well done (so many novelists write about art, but so few of them manage to make the art actually interesting and Kunzru succeeds here) and the scenes of squalor and creation are quite vivid. Jay's best friend during these days is Rob, who happens to be Alice's now husband. There is tension between Jay and both of these other two. Rob is a fellow starving artist, but has the bluster and carefree disregard of a white boy. Alice and Jay are both people of color and stand out in their crowd, but Alice comes from money, and is struggling to minimize contact with her family while also not willing to leave their funding her life. Jay's surprising success ripples out among these relationships, but is also a struggle for Jay. He wants to be an artist but he does not want to have to perform on command for payment. His work pushes up against capitalism while also providing a paycheck and the conflict seems unsustainable.
In the present, Jay is almost a cipher. We know very little of how he's spent the last few decades, or any of the characters. His lingering Covid symptoms make it difficult for him to have many desires beyond the most basic physical needs. He starts to recover, to find and appreciate art and beauty again, while Alice hides him away on the vast property. But of course a conflict is coming.
I wish Kunzru had more to push here about that art and capitalism conflict that felt different. Jay's journey is interesting but we only get the very beginning of it, not anything that came after. And Rob is more cliche than anything else, not fully explored. We never understand why Alice, who we know is smart and capable, has chosen to spend her life cleaning up after Rob. And so much of this is left unexplored that I had more questions than answers in this book.
There is a lot to enjoy here, but it didn't come together the way I'd hoped, it didn't throw big ideas at me or explore them with the kind of wit and nuance I expect from Kunzru. It's a quiet book with these sections of loud roaring interspersed along the way. ...more
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