Friday Finds - I Know I Said I Wouldn't Buy Anything Till My Birthday...

But did you really expect me to wait that long?
I decided it's OK if it's already on my wishlist and it's used or very, very cheap. :-)

The Possibility of an Island is a science fiction/dystopia novel along the lines of Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, written by French author Michel Houellebecq. I know he has a new one out and I'm interested in it, but I've never read him before so I thought I'd start with something that would probably feel familiar and then see if I like it enough to seek out more of his books. I've decided to do Science Fiction Reading Month again, probably sooner rather than later, and this book looks like a fine addition to my lineup.

The Secret in Their Eyes, by Eduardo Sacheri, looks to be a little more of a traditional Marie book- a love story, translated, from a small press (Other Press). I always meant to pick this up at my old job and never got around to it. Then I found it used! Yay! (Now that I mention it, I think all three of my finds this week are foreign fiction. Huh.)

Another small press book, Varamo, by Cesar Aira, came my way via the wonderful New Directions, which sent it to me for review per my request. It comes out in February and I'm planning to make it one of my first reads next month.

That's it for this week! What have you added to your pile lately? I'd love to know! More Friday Finds at ShouldbeReading.wordpress.org.

REVIEW: The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes

The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes. Published 2011 by Random House.

Winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize and latest novel by acclaimed British writer Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending is a must-read for any reader of literary fiction. The book tells the story, in his own words, of middle-aged Tony Webster and his lifetime of regret around his relationship with two people- Veronica, an ex-girlfriend, and Adrian, a close friend from school. Lifetime of regret isn't quite right; he doesn't find out until very late in his story that he has any reason to regret but when he does, it's as though the weight of all of his decisions crashes upon him and he's left to sort through the rubble alone.

The theme of the novel is laid out early, as a high-school-aged Adrian is talking to a teacher about how to write history fairly: "That's one of the central problems of history, isn't it, sir? The question of subjective versus objective interpretation, the fact that we need to know the history of the historian in order to understand the version that's being put in front of us." And herein lies the central challenge of this book. Tony is telling this story from the future, after the events have taken place; in the opening pages, as we're getting to know the characters, their futures, and Tony's, is hidden from us but not from the man telling the story. He knows things we don't yet, and these things color the way he tells the story. We can't understand anything he's saying until we know everything and we don't know everything until the very end.

Therefore, re-reading The Sense of an Ending is mandatory!

However the book is short enough, and more than wonderful enough, to make a reread easy and worthwhile. Soon after this point in the story, Tony meets Veronica, and their relationship forms the basis of the rest of the book. Even after their romance ends, they continue to interact in meaningful ways; one could say that Tony's relationship with Veronica is the central and defining one of his life, even as he tries to argue that other women were more important. That lie is one of many, maybe not lies exactly but self-deceptions Tony tries to sell the reader. The final secret is revealed obliquely, which tells us something about Tony's ability to process what he's learned and face it.

The Sense of an Ending is a wonderfully, intricately crafted unreliable-narrator story starring a perfectly ordinary man who, through one act of cruelty by whose impact he himself seems baffled, upends four lives for years to come. It's also the story of his reckoning and acceptance of what he's done as well as his ultimate irrelevance. And it is a book that deserves an immediate re-read. But you'll want to- you really will. It's just that good!

This counts towards the Complete Booker Perpetual Challenge.

Rating: BUY

The Sense of an Ending
by Julian Barnes

I'm a Powell's partner and receive a small commission on sales.


FTC Disclosure: I did not receive this book for review.

REVIEW: The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, by Caroline Preston

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, by Caroline Preston. Published 2011 by Ecco.

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt is a delightful little trifle, a novel told in vintage ephemera- fashion plates, ads, photos, postcards and more. It tells the story of Miss Frances Pratt, a young lady of lesser means from New Hampshire. She meets a dashing gentleman, absconds to Vassar and then to Paris. She has a scrapbook and an old typewriter when she leaves high school in 1920 which she uses to record her adventures and make her way in the world.

Caroline Preston tells Frankie's story with concise, witty first-person narration, so that we feel that we are reading Frankie's own diary. We see her insecurities and mishaps, and her tentative steps towards adulthood. We share in her friendship with the glamorous Allegra Wolf, her Vassar roommate, and her near-romance with Allegra's brother. We see her time in Paris and what happens when she comes back, and her ultimate happy ending as well.

The book is charming and unusual. The pictures illustrate rather than tell the story, so while it's tempting to describe it as a graphic novel for adults, it really isn't. Preston has written this sparse tale with skill such that neither the characterizations nor the story feel thin. Nonetheless, The Scrapbook is a quick read, maybe two cups of tea long with enough left over for a scone if one were in the mood. It's a fun, funny and sweet book with a winning heroine at its helm. Pick it up for a light, enjoyable and visually engaging read.

The American Library Association agrees and awarded the book a 2012 Alex Award for Best Adult Book for Teens!

Rating: BEACH

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures
by Caroline Preston

I'm a Powell's partner and receive a small commission on sales. 

FTC Disclosure: I did not receive this book for review.

It's a Cult Classic!

What does the term "cult classic" conjure up for you? Last week Ellie Robins of Melville House wrote this great post on the subject, responding to another article on the subject in El Pais. Robins asks whether the term is something that marketing folks apply to a book (and in doing so, do they strip the term of its meaning?) or if it's something that just gets applied to a work or an author. And in either case, what exactly does it mean?

The subject of cult books and cult classics has been on my mind lately because not too long ago I picked up a book called 500 Essential Cult Books: The Ultimate Guide, by Gina McKinnon and Steve Holland. It's one of those books-about-books, a long list of books the authors consider to be classics, albeit not the kind you were required to read in school. These books are the underground classics, the ones that got passed from friend to friend, or the ones you picked up in a used bookstore and read when you should have been doing your homework. Or the ones you read because your education was self-directed. When I was a teenager, I read all kinds of crazy things because nobody was really telling me what to read outside of school and my appetite for books was insatiable. Or they were the books you read because you felt a little outside the mainstream for some reason, and these were the books that spoke to you, the ones that made you feel like you belonged somewhere, or the books that let you step outside the lines from time to time.

A lot of the books McKinnon and Holland list trade on that alienation and marginalization or cover some kind of out-of-the-lines experience or idea. And I would bet almost none of these books were marketed initially as alternative or edgy or "cult." Books achieve cult status because they find a niche audience, fans who adore the and carry them around like totems and share them with friends. The aura of otherness, of specialness, grows up around them and as the books stand the test of time, become indelibly imprinted upon them.

So yeah, I don't think a marketer can tell me which book is a "cult classic" only because there's no way to know! How can a salesperson predict the future? I think it would be unfortunate if that term became just another piece of ad copy, just another trendy buzzword to apply to whatever flavor of the week someone in publishing is being paid to push.

I had a lot of fun paging through 500 Essential Cult Books; I found something in almost every chapter that I'd read and lots that I own and haven't read. Some of my favorites listed in the book include

• The Leopard, by Giuseppe di Lampedusa,
• The Sheltering Sky, by Paul Bowles,
• The Prestige, by Christopher Priest,
• Jesus' Son, by Denis Johnson, and
• The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov.

When I realized that I had neither read or nor owned any books in the Religion chapter I bought Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the broken spine and dogeared pages on my battered, well-read used copy testament to its importance to at least one other reader. No marketer can tell me which books are really going to speak to me or last through the years; only readers themselves will make those determinations in the end.

What do you think? What does the term "cult classic" mean to you? What are your favorite "cult" books?

I had an idea to run a challenge based on 500 Essential Cult Books; any interest?

Sunday Salon- A Day of Rest and Activity

So today my husband and I are finally putting Christmas away! He got the boxes down from the attic yesterday and today we're going to un-decorate the tree and put all the gewgaws and nicknacks back in their containers, and even, maybe, take the tree itself down. It's a fake tree so it doesn't get dried out or anything but it's funny how after a certain point after Christmas I just stop noticing it's all even there, despite the huge amount of real estate it all takes up.

If you stopped by on Friday you know I got a couple of great-looking books from Capuchin Classics; I started reading the Stephen Benatar book the other day and I'm enjoying it. It's about the strange relationship between a brother and sister and the widowed wife of their brother. Starting off with a bizarre obituary about the two women, we go back in time and launch into an extended narrative about the long history these people share. The book is told largely in dialogue which gives the reader an opportunity to see these characters from the inside out.

I'm also reading Running the Rift, by Naomi Benaron, about a boy growing up in Rwanda at the time of the recent genocide in that country. I'm enjoying it as well; I've been hearing so many wonderful things about it from my fellow bloggers lately, I finally decided I needed to pick it up and read it.

And so today I'm going to try to get some r&r in, maybe a trip to a coffeeshop or a bookstore or a bookstore that serves coffee (two great things that go great together) and pore over my books, but there will be some chores and errands mixed in, too. What are you up to today? I hope you have a great Sunday.


More Sunday Salon here.

Friday Finds- Two for Review, from a Great Small Press

Awhile back I did a Publishers Spotlight series on the Dalkey Archive Press; afterward, I was approached by several small presses interested in doing a similar series on the blog. One of them, Capuchin Classics, sent me a couple of books to read and review to prepare for just such a series. They arrived from England this week! They are

The Man Who Loved Children, by Christina Stead. From Capuchin's website:

Henrietta, privileged and sheltered, expected a smoothly comfortable society life in Washington when she married Sam Pollitt, a handsome self-made biologist.
Ten years later, Henny is a skinny, screaming drudge with five children, a raging wreck of a woman driven by ‘hate, horror, passion or contempt.’ But Sam, whose impractical idealism has brought his family to near-ruin, is unchanged: still at sea in all adult affairs, an absurd hypocritical buffoon but a genius with children … except Louie, his eldest daughter, an ugly brilliant adolescent who is forced to take a drastic, final step to save herself and the children from lasting tragedy.
The Man Who Loved Children is an astonishing account of the decline of an American bourgeois family. Intimate, accurate and savagely funny, it is also unforgettably moving. 

It just sounded really good to me!

The next book is When I Was Otherwise, by Stephen Benatar. I loved Benatar's book Wish Her Safe at Home, (the link is to my review) so I couldn't resist requesting this one. Capuchin says:

This novel opens with a macabre impact, as a newspaper report describes the discovery of two dead women - one of them a skeleton- in a North London house. The women are revealed to be the sister and sister-in-law of the man who shared the house. The story of these characters' lives is told through a blend of powerful characterization and social satire, and summons the mingled tragedy and humor of old age to powerful effect. 

Sounds great!

What did you get this week? More Friday Finds at ShouldbeReading.wordpress.com.

REVIEW: 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth, by The Oatmeal

5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides) by the Oatmeal. Published 2011 by Andrews McNeel.

The Oatmeal is a webcomic written and drawn by Matthew Inman, and 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides) is the first collection of his comics.

So, okay. First of all, this is not a cartoon collection for the meek, or for children. It's hilarious, but it's also violent, raunchy and obscene in places. In other places, it's not. Topics of the comics include random facts about cats and cheese, things that can go wrong in web design, and yes, those five good reasons to abuse a dolphin. But it's all pure whimsy- no animals were harmed in the creation of these comics. I think.

Before you decide whether or not to buy this beautifully illustrated and well-produced book, you should definitely check out the site and sample some of Inman's comics. The site is up-to-the-minute current with lots of comics not in the book, including a very funny (and very adult) animated piece about the SOPA legislation. The site also includes other Oatmeal merchandise.

I'm a fan of the Oatmeal. He's funny. And raw, and full of swears and other things children shouldn't see. So if you think you might like that kind of thing, check him out, and the book, too. The book is brilliant and funny and you'll laugh until you cry.

Rating: BUY

5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (and Other Useful Guides)
by Matthew Inman

I'm a Powell's partner and receive a small commission on sales. 

FTC Disclosure: I did not receive this book for review.

REVIEW: Moffie, by André Carl van der Merwe

Moffie, by André Carl van der Merwe. Published 2011 by Europa Editions.

It's been kind of a while since I read a book that blew me away like Moffie did. It's a searing, heartrending story about a young white South African man called up for national service and hiding the fact that he's gay.

The kind of opposition that the main character and narrator, Nicholas, faces, is almost a little difficult to understand in the liberal bubble I live in. His father is a hyper-masculine chauvinist. His mother is more sensitive but cowers behind her husband. His father pressures him relentlessly to be conventional and successful, beats him when he steps out of line, ridicules him endlessly. Being nonathletic or artistic is bad enough; if Nicholas were unsuccessful his father says he would pass him by on the street. But if Nicholas were gay, a "moffie" in South African slang, his father says it would be "the end." Nicholas doesn't even want to know what his father means by that. The army is the solution, according to his father, the thing that will make a man out of his unsatisfactory son.

When Nicholas enters the army he enters an environment even more ruthless and punishing than his home. But it's in the army that Nicholas meets gay friends, falls in love, and comes to believe in himself. He encounters unspeakable brutality, scarring tragedy and horrors beyond his imagination, but he also learns about loyalty, friendship and bonds that will last a lifetime. He also learns how to use his religious faith to get him through the trials of army life and how to move forward with pride and confidence.

Moffie is the kind of book that tears you to shreds only to piece you back together. A longish book that reads like lightning,  it's not perfect; the tone can be a little overwrought at times, and there are a couple of unlikely coincidences that are poetic in their way but maybe unrealistic. That's okay. The narrative alternates between Nicholas' army time and his childhood, showing how he became the man he is, and ends on a dual note of horror and hope. An intense, demanding book, Moffie should be required reading not just for LGBT-interested readers but for anyone. If you're doing an LGBT- or African-literature challenge this year, I urge you to add Moffie to your reading list.  I think it may have replaced Broken Glass Park as my favorite Europa and it will certainly show up in my top reads of 2012. What a book!

It's my first read of 2012 for the Europa Challenge!

Rating: Are you kidding? BUY

Moffie
by Andre Carl Van Der Merwe

I'm a Powell's partner and receive a small commission on sales. 

FTC Disclosure: I did not receive this book for review.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Today I'm reading a few things. I have one story to go in Dan Chaon's new collection Stay Awake, and I'm reading one story a day in Etgar Keret's collection The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God and Other Stories. I started Susan Sherman's The Little Russian yesterday; it's a new novel from Counterpoint about a Jewish woman who moves from the glitter of life in Moscow back to the boonies of Ukraine, and the attendant difficulties. And I'm still reading Obabakoak, a collection of linked short stories set in the Basque region of Spain. I finished up Leaving the Atocha Station yesterday and I'll have a review soon! Of the four books I'm currently reading, I'm really crazy about the Keret!

What are you reading this Monday?

See what more folks are reading at One Person's Journey Through a World of Books.

Sunday Salon- Settling in for the Winter

This past week was pretty quiet, so I don't have too much to talk about as far as goings-on with me. I spent some time sorting out my TBR pile and ended up losing the book Leaving the Atocha Station for most of the week; I decided I wanted to read it after digging it out of the piles and then couldn't find it for days. I did find it eventually and started reading it; it's a moody, style-driven novel told in the first person by a young American man living in Spain, writing poetry with a fellowship. Mostly he seems to be drinking, doing drugs and spending time with his girlfriend. I think the plot is about to pick up though! I'm also reading Obabakoak, another book set in Spain, although this one is set in a Basque village and was originally written in the Basque language- one of only about 100 books to come to us from that language. It's a collection of interlinked short stories, and very fun to read.

I've been trying to decide if I want to do any challenges in addition to the Europa Challenge and the Complete Booker Challenge, and I think I probably won't, but it's still early in the year. This past week I completed one book for each of those challenges: the wonderful The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes, for the Booker Challenge, and the staggering blistering Moffie for the Europa Challenge. Moffie should be required reading for anyone doing LGBT books- or just for anyone. It knocked my socks off!

This week? Well, after I finish Atocha Station I'm thinking about dipping into American Dervish, a 2012 release out now about Pakistani family in the United States. It looks really, really good to me and I'm looking forward to it. I'd also like to try out Tyrant Memory, a newish book by Horacio Castellanos Moya and published by the wonderful New Directions press.

What are you reading this week? Any 2012 releases you're starting now, or waiting on your nightstand or bookshelf?

More Sunday Salon here.