Neil Gaiman’s short stories

This review should start with the bald fact that Neil Gaiman may just be the most naturally creative person on the planet. He writes good stories. They’re totally unique, even when he’s retelling something, and they’re all frustratingly inventive.

But, even though his apparently bottomless well of creativity is plenty impressive, that isn’t actually my favorite part of reading Gaiman’s short story collections. Instead, I really enjoyed that oft-skipped part of books: the author’s preface. Because, however interesting the stories themselves are, it’s marvelous to be given the inside story of where they came from, what their original context was, and, in some cases, how pleased the author is (or isn’t) with the outcome. And unsurprisingly, Gaiman is just as good at explanatory notes as he is at stories.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I know Corey has already written on this book, but I had to tell you about my experience with it. It changed my life, changed my reading and made me rethink my career.

This book is as rich and complex as the circus it depicts. I want to teach this book, if only so I can spend more time analyzing the symbolism, the rich themes that underpin the plot and characters and make the entire novel run as magically as one of Herr Theissen’s clocks. I don’t know if Erin Morgenstern knows she has created a masterpiece, but I hope she does – the entire work is genius.

An examination of the function of Tarot in the novel is where I would start. Isobel, the card-reader, is a minor character, but an important one – the cards she turns over, when read with a tarot reader’s eye, constantly tell the reader what will happen, even if the hints, like the tarot itself, can be vague and interpreted to mean multiple events and people.

But like most books that stand the test of time, this novel also follows the general model of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey—except Morgenstern does him one better and allows at least three of her characters to follow that journey. Bailey, Le Chevalier des Epees, or Knight of Swords, enacts the Hero’s Journey on the most basic level, while the events surrounding Celia and Marco is far more lush, complex and multi-faceted.

A haiku review of ‘Death Comes to Pemberley’ by P.D. James

P.D. James channels
Jane Austen to ill effect.
A pointless myst’ry

in the land of Eng.
Characters we remember
fondly, now remade.

Happy marriages
abound, while Wickhams remain
excruciating.

‘Commencement’ by J. Courtney Sullivan

Towards the end of 2011 I looked around me and discovered that there was a sizable, but not insurmountable, pile of books that I had had every good intention of reading in 2011, but had never got around to. With the clock ticking and just under a week left in 2011, I set my nose to the grind-stone and did my best to get through them. I was only successful on two counts before getting pleasantly lost in Henry James’ thick prose, but they were a good two.

The first book I successfully got through was J. Courtney Sullivan’s Commencement. (The second was A.S. Byatt’s enjoyable The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye.) I’d been wanting to read this book practically from the moment it first came on the scene in 2009 because Sullivan and I shared an alma mater, Smith College. Smith here serves as both inspiration and setting for much of the book and, because of this dual role served by our college, I felt compelled to check it out.

A.S. Byatt’s ‘The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye’

As many of you know (and I feel like I say this more than is probably warranted), I have something of an apathetic relationship with A.S. Byatt. This apathy is despite my very best, very genuine efforts to like her. I struggled through Possession; I ultimately loved it, but still feelt grumpy about how I had to force myself through the first half to get to the luminous second half. And I plodded through The Biographer’s Tale, mentally willing it to be something better and different from what it was. Again, I ultimately appreciated the book, this time mostly for her commentary on academia, but I remained A.S. Byatt’s sulky acolyte.

Enter The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye.

Jewel by Bret Lott

 After struggling through The Children’s Book by A. S. Byatt, I needed a refreshing read. The Corrections, Lonesome Dove and We Need to Talk about Kevin were all in my to-read pile, but I simply could not face tackling one of these quite yet. It would have been like running a marathon only to enter another marathon the next day.

But I couldn’t face a fluff book, either. I’ve read all of the Jane Green novels my library has to offer, ditto Sophie Kinsella, and rather than turn to Marian Keyes, I decided to find some book that would be timeless, captiviating and an overall excellent reading experience.

Enter Jewel by Bret Lott. The novel opens with a woman telling her husband that she is pregnant with their sixth (and last) child. Set in 1943, the novel is epic in its scope, spanning two states and four decades as it depicts a unique relationship between a mother and the daughter who is both a burden and a blessing to her.

Part of what makes Jewel so appealing is how familiar it feels. It seems like a cross between The Grapes of Wrath and The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, maybe with a splash of Faulkner-esque Southern Gothic and maybe a little Toni Morrison for good measure.

Over and over, Jewel tries to find the American Dream for her child—and herself—by heading as far West as fast as she can. When she loses it, you cannot help but cheer her on as she clings to her dreams despite a husband with emotional problems and a crumbling family dynamic.

The novel is written in a beautifully sincere style, and Lott has captured Jewel’s voice so perfectly that I could not believe it when I discovered that 1) Bret is definitely a man and 2) was not raised in Mississippi, where the characters hail from.

If you are looking for a book that feels timeless but is not too taxing, please check out Jewel—and don’t be deterred by the Oprah’s Book Club stamp on the front cover.  Even though I got it at a rummage sale and paid, oh, a quarter, this is a book worth buying — at full retail price, nonetheless.

‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern

It’s Halloween-week, which means it’s time for some magic, some spooky, and some tangentially-Halloweeny reads!

I’ve been trying to think of how best to write about Erin Morgenstern’s excellent debut novel, The Night Circus, for a few days now. It’s one of those books that can be categorized, enjoyed, and, upon finishing it, loved, but not one that can be accurately described.

Most of the publicity material for the book has mentioned the dread words “Harry Potter for adults.” Increasingly, I seems to be just stuck on any book that somehow involves magic and isn’t targeted at tweens. Really, neither The Night Circus itself nor Ms. Morgenstern’s writing style evokes anything of the world of Harry Potter or J.K. Rowling. While there is magic in both, that is about where the similarity ends.

The Biographer’s Tale by A.S. Byatt

I have an ambivalent relationship with A.S. Byatt. On the one hand, there’s her reputation as one of the most brilliant and articulate authors writing today. Her books have won loads of literary awards and her blurbs adorn the covers of many a book I’ve enjoyed, lauding them and recommending them. So we seem to have similar taste.

But on the other hand is my reality of reading A.S. Byatt. It isn’t easy. I get bogged down. I give up. I try again sometimes, but mostly I set her aside with a sigh of disappointment in myself for not yet being a Reader Who Gets Byatt. (I remain optimistic that I one day will be.) I want to love her books and I am able to recognize the quality of her writing, but for some reason the actual reading of her books never proves quite as I’d hoped.

Case in point, The Biographer’s Tale.

Ten Things About ‘One Day’ by David Nicholls

One Day by David Nicholls…

1.) …surprised me
2.) …was much heavier (in theme and tone) than I expected
3.) …rang true anyway
4.) …was, despite the fact that the film version has not yet been released, already taken over by the film’s casting in my head. First time for everything!
5.) …raised questions about literary validity of a happy vs. unhappy endings
6.) …turned into another ‘Odyssey Years’ read (see also: This Side of Paradise)
7.) …inspired me to read more David Nicholls and get curious about his next book
8.) …made me wait for ages and ages to get it from the library (it’s a hot ticket at Senate House Library!)
9.) …had me seriously pondering a swim in the ladies bathing pond at Hampstead Heath
10.) …made me cry

As a result of combined life, the universe, and everything stuff for both me and Kate, LT will be going on a sort of hiatus until the autumn. The Classics Challenge will continue unabated, but expect a lot of ’10 Things’ reviews rather than proper write-ups, probably a lot less musings, and possibly a lot more about female travel narratives of the 19th century than you ever wanted to know.

–Corey

The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw

In the continuing adventures of my search for something to read in a post-Harry Potter state of depression, I turned this week to Ali Shaw’s The Girl with Glass Feet. The novel has been billed as a modern fairy tale, which is fairly accurate if you make certain to associate ‘fairy tale’ with the Brothers Grimm rather than any sort of more Disneyified chick lit concoction.