Za
There was so much talk and love for this book, I had to read it. Fortunately, the good folks at Two Book Nerds Talking sent their Patreon supporters an ARC copy each, and this winged its way to me.
First off: I am not a fan of fables. I read The Alchemist and few other titles some time back, and found them to be too cryptic as well as contrived to be able to derive much pleasure out of the reading of them.
Fortunately, this book strikes a more grounded note - the lead character, Nora Seed, is at the lowest point of her life, and at the moment when despair overwhelms her, she is transported to a magical library where it is constantly midnight and where the books show her different paths her life could have taken. With the guidance of Mrs Elm, the librarian (who happens to be her grade-school librarian in real life), Nora gets to review her regrets, undo them, and experience how her life Might Have Been if her decisions had been different.
I shall be honest, it took awhile for me to fully settle into this book - the episodes of Nora in the library with Mrs Elm were the ones I was most impatient with. At first. But the story is compelling, telling as it is of a young woman's feelings of failure, loneliness, and abject despair, and the revelations she needed to find out herself to slowly pick her way out of the emotional abyss.
It is also interesting - how many of us often wonder “What If?” - through Nora Seed, we get to explore the consequences of those What Ifs. Yes, they are Nora's but they serve to remind readers as well that each decision has a consequence and what might have seemed like a path in the road leading to much greener grass could very well have been another wrong turn. The book is not all gloom; Nora's various experiences - as a rock star, an Arctic explorer, a Mom, a bar owner, and some other roles in between - have their fun moments, ultimately serving to emphasize the story's central message: that no life is perfect but that's no reason to give up on it.
This is the ideal read if you need a pick me up but dislike non-fiction prescriptive writing, or if you simply need to nestle into a story that you know will ultimately lead you - gently and persuasively - out of the dark and into some sunshine.
All stories begin with the basic premise, What If, and this book is no different, albeit the protagonist is a famous politician: Hillary Rodham Clinton. The author, Curtis Sittenfeld, is known for these semi-fictional portrayals of well-known personalities, having written American Wife, a lightly-fictionalised account of Laura Bush.
Written in the first person as a memoir, the book traces the personal and professional trajectory of Hillary Rodham's life.
The Hillary Rodham in this book is serious, intelligent, hardworking, and committed to making her country a better nation. She is also lonely, confident, insecure, competent, ambitious, and full of self-doubt. In other words, and it is credit to the author's skill and craft, the Hillary Rodham in this novel is completely believable as a career woman with big goals in a field long (and still) dominated by men: politics.
Back to the central question of What If. What if Hillary had not married Bill in 1975? Well, she becomes a law professor, then decides she wants to run for Senate when she watches Clarence Thomas, despite allegations of sexual harassment, get approved by the (mostly male) Senate to the Supreme Court. Her decision to run is tested when another woman, an African-American, also makes a bid for the Senate, and here Hillary faces a decision that male candidates most likely do not. Given that very few women will get voted into the Senate, should she run against another woman, and a woman of colour at that, or should she withdraw and throw in her support for the other woman? I won't spoil the surprise here except to say that the other female candidate is Carol Moseley Braun who did run for Senate in real life (and win, becoming the US's first African-American female Senator).
There are many other “real” people who feature in this novel, among the most interesting are Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Obama is given mostly respectful reference and some distance from Hillary. He defeats her in her bid for President in 2008 (just like in real life) while Trump is more colourfully portrayed, providing some entertaining relief in the final third of the book (I confess, some of the lines were so Trump-like I burst out laughing; it seemed that the author did lift some of them from his real-life speeches). Trump also has his own alternate history in the novel, and some readers may wish that had really happened instead of what actually occurred.
Of course, the most prominent other real person in the book is Bill Clinton. In the novel (and perhaps as in real life), Bill is handsome, driven, smart, and charming, and he completely enfolds Hillary into his life from the time that they meet in university.
> “But I always hoped a man would fall in love with me for my brain.”
Their relationship is intellectual and physical, and the book does not shy away from describing their passionate encounters. But Bill has a problem, one that he recognises will not go away (it involves women, in case you don't know) and in a moment of remarkable emotional clarity, he realises Hillary is too good for him. She leaves him instead of marrying him in 1975.
They meet later on in the story, and these encounters eventually prove to be the eye-openers Hillary needs when it comes to Bill, as well as much of the fuel for the book's third act.
There are many, many instances of sexism and prejudice that Hillary Rodham encounters as a law student, professor, Senator, and Presidential candidate, encounters that I am very sure the real Hillary faced too, albeit in different forms.
A contention of the book is that women political candidates often have to be “likeable”, one that is underscored by the most recent debate between Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence, where Ms Harris had to keep smiling almost throughout the entire debate to avoid coming across as unlikeable.
> “And really, wasn't this endless ruminating over my own likability in itself a thing only a woman would do? Did Bill—or Ted Cruz or Rand Paul—ever ponder their likability, or did they simply go after what they wanted? Did Bill ever stop to think about which of us was more qualified, did he question his own motives for entry into the race? The idea was laughable.”
Another is that every aspect of their physical appearance are minutely examined as much as, or sometimes even more than, their competence or policy decisions. The “pink tax” is the extra hour that women have to spend on wardrobe, hair, and make-up, to avoid negative scrutiny by the press. Then there is the double standard when it comes to women candidates, that they have to be squeaky clean whereas men with skeletons banging around in their closet can still run for office and - shock, horror - may even win. As Hillary puts it, “You know when true equality will be achieved? When a woman with these kinds of skeletons in her closet has the nerve to run for the office.”
This book drives home many of these points through its story of Hillary Rodham. I did not expect to enjoy this novel, but I did. The narrative, as it's written from Hillary's perspective, is clear, direct, and provides some insight into the possible thought process of a woman aiming to become President of the United States of America. The book does not go into the controversial decisions that the real Hillary made, perhaps because the positions occupied by Hillary Rodham are less powerful than the one occupied by the real Hillary, and some of the bigger events that happened are either left out or mentioned only in passing (9-11 being one of them), but the book does present the hard considerations and cold calculations that a woman aspiring to power may need to make. The ending is satisfying in its conclusion of fictional Hillary's career, and a hopeful nod for the future.
If you want a fictional lens through which to read about American politics or politics in general, or if you want to delve into the challenges that women political candidates face beyond the headlines and statistics, this book provides a smart combination of reality, personalities, alternate history, and entertainment.
#bookreviews #klbacbookreviews
Note: This book was kindly sponsored by Times Read.
A huge book about a group of humans trying to save the living sentinel of our earth - trees. Richard Powers's writing is beautiful and lyrical, bringing trees to life in a way no encyclopaedia nor textbook ever could.
The human characters are nowhere near the number of trees that populate this book, but for a novel, there are many: 9. We meet them individually then together: the descendant of a farming family, a second generation Chinese American, a bright but odd kid, a lawyer and the woman he can't live without, a young, scarred soldier, a crippled tech genius, an academic, and a beautiful uni drop out.
Many of them meet within the second half of the book and become members of a radical green movement to save the earth from human plunder.
I normally shy away from books with a strong message but the writing is so evocative, the information on trees so fascinating, and the author's presentation of the human experience so unique that the 500 plus pages didn't feel heavy.
This was not an easy book to read, but it is one that will make you look at trees and plants with a lot more respect and wonder, and it could be the one to make you realise the real cost of our neglect of the environment.
Read this in the recommendations of strangers on Facebook and it's one of the most gruesome horror I've read. The perfect diet book, actually, because you'll lose your appetite within the first chapter.
In a nutshell: Five boys and a Scoutmaster are on an island, soon to be joined by a man, ravaged by a mysterious disease, who's escaped from a military research centre. Things go bad, very bad, and it's pretty much up to the kids to survive.
The above does not do justice to the horror contained in the tale. Shades of Lord of The Flies with its frequent kids vs adults juxtaposition, but really, a solid, frightening Man vs Monster story.
4.5 stars.
As a caffeine junkie, I found this audiobook delightful.
Michael Pollan is amusing when he explores the rise of coffee in the 16th century and the proliferation of coffee houses in Europe that likely spurred the French Revolution and the movement towards democracy in other countries (interesting tidbit: coffee was the beverage of choice in Britain, long before tea).
The beans as cognitive enhancers necessitated the Industrial Revolution's creation of the “coffee break'', alongside the brew's reputation as fuel for intellectual, creative, and — at times — revolutionary pursuits.
Caffeine addiction is investigated, ironically by the author himself going without his daily java throughout the duration of writing the book (how brave of him!) and talking to experts about the benefits and dangers of coffee.
This short audiobook is superbly engaging, interweaving the author's personal experience of going cold turkey with. history, facts, and opinions.
Best listened to with a hot, steaming mug of, what else? — coffee .
Note: This was my first encounter with W Gibson.
This was not the easiest collection of short stories to read, because the author's descriptions of the future are so vivid, manic, and unapologetically hard-core specific you get disoriented at the world he's painting. In his world(s), social divides are magnified and the synthetic get woven into the real, reinforcing rather than mitigating human flaws. The stories buzz with energy, the characters are gritty, emotive, and the science seems just out-there plausible.
Three of the 10 stories are author collaborations. Favourites are New Rose Hotel (corporate espionage in a way I've never read), Red Star, Winter Orbit (Russian astronauts in space), and Burning Chrome (which has the most beautiful descriptions of computer hacking, and viruses).
Will pick up Gibson's Neuromancer soon.
This book has been a slow read, but a very satisfying one. The narrator is as witty as the protagonist, Count Alexander Rostov, a Former Person under permanent house arrest at the Metropol Hotel by the Communist Party. Despite his aristocratic bearings, the Count adapts himself to his new circumstance with surprising agility, never once losing composure nor his fine manners. We meet the hotel residents and staff, as well as emerging leaders of the new country who dine at the Metropol.
It took a long while to settle into the gentle cadence of this novel, but once you accept that the book will not be offering thrilling twists and turns at every chapter but instead beguile you with its language, characters, and dialogue, you can enjoy the unfolding tale of the Count, his daughter, Sofia, and the people around them.
There is a twist, of course, as well as a rapid elevation of pace towards the end of the novel, that make for a satisfying finish.
This book is like a good meal at the Boyarsky, the restaurant the hotel is noted for, which one can only enjoy if one lingers and appreciates the delicate balance of flavours.
This is a very disconcerting tale of two sisters and their Uncle who live in the aftermath of a family poisoning that killed the girls' parents, their brother, and their Aunt, and for which the older sister had to face a trial (and was acquitted). It's written from the point of view of the younger sister, Merricat, a sly, intelligent, and half-wild 18-year old who is the only one of them who goes to town and thereby endures the villagers' taunts. When their cousin Charles comes to visit, his presence disturbs a carefully ordered routine with unexpected results.
A gothic story brilliantly told, with menace, dark humour, and wry observations of family relations and wealth.
Highly recommended.
There are parts I have to return to, to understand better, but Neil de Grasse's sense of wonder at the vast universe, and the science it contains, is palpable and draws you in as surely and relentlessly as a gravitational pull (could not resist that!). I may not still be able to understand pulsars or quarks perfectly, but I do understand how little we know of the space we occupy and how insignificant earth is, in the vastness of it all.
The atmosphere and surrealist tone of the stories, especially for The Missing Girl and Nightmare, adds to their creepiness. Love her style, even if, for Nightmare, the ending was abrupt and gave me question marks than answers.
If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say “Invisibility” was the theme running through the stories. In the first, so little information about the missing girl could be obtained from the people around her including her own room-mate that it's as if no one paid her any attention; in the second, a child lends a woman the cloak of Invisibility she desires; and in the third, no one notices a woman even when a van is blaring her exact description on the streets of New York and escalating rewards (a yatch, $50k, unlimited travel, etc) are offered for her identification.
These stories don't have the shock twist and horror of The Lottery; the sense of dread is present but mild, and in all three, peters off at the end.
Worth a read if you're keen to become more familiar with Shirley Jackson's works.
4.4.
A story that made the hairs on my arms rise, after I finished reading.
This is The Exorcist, updated for the era of reality TV and blogs, both of which are main parts of the book's narrative.
A 14-year old girl, Marjorie, acts strangely and hears voices in her head. Is she mentally ill, or possessed by the devil? Her father thinks the latter, her Mom is skeptical, but both Mom and Dad, driven by desperation perhaps, accept the offer of a television network to film the family as they deal with Marjorie on the assumption that she is, indeed, yes, possessed by the devil.
The story is told from the POV of Marjorie's 8-year old sister, Merry, both from her vantage point of an adult, fifteen years later, as she's interviewed by an author writing the story of her family, and of her 8-year old self.
Interspersed throughout are the blogposts (fifteen years hence) of Karen, who dissects the reality TV show of the Barrett family through the lenses of pop culture.
There are truly chilling moments in the novel, moments that convince you that Marjorie is indeed supernaturally cursed. Then the next chapter convinces you otherwise.
But the tale is more than just about demonic possession (or the mistaken assumption thereof) and is also about the disintegration of the Barrett family as they deal with Marjorie. It's also about how the seemingly twisted idea of televising a family trauma becomes a new normal, and how that very act affect a family's decisions and emotional state.
I read this in fewer than five sittings, because the story was just that compelling. Is she or isn't she? Will they or won't they? Then the shock of the ending.
Recommended for fans of horror looking for a modern twist to a classic trope.
More a 3.75 than a 4.0 because I got terribly irritated that the author - a Malaysian who lives abroad - couldn't fact-check that Malaysia has not had a jury system since 1995. When that error occurred in the first quarter, it took me more than 50 pages to settle into the story because the mind was wondering what other fact about my country - our country - he got wrong.
But once I got settled in, the tragedy of Hock Lye drew me in. The story focuses not just on the dark and exploitative migrant labour scene in Malaysia but also on people - like Hock Lye and his Mom - who are stuck in a vicious cycle of poverty. The Malaysia that is painted in this story is not pretty - everyone is corrupt (exaggeratedly so, I must say) and the system (like the drains) is broken. It's in these broken places that people like Keong, Hock Lye's friend, and the people running the illegal labour racket, survive.
Refreshing to read a particularly dark episode in our nation's past without feeling like you're being lectured to or pushed to adopt certain views. Appreciate that she did not whitewash the incident. A well written YA novel that's uniquely Malaysian.
Very brave of the author to choose this particular setting for her debut and to layer on an OCD compulsion dressed up in djinn form but it was well executed. Maybe the final confrontation was a tad too - Hollywood-y - but it was mercifully brief. Characters are immediately recognisable to Malaysians.
Despite the serious setting (I won't use sensitive), the author didn't use a heavy hand and the narrative was allowed to breathe.
Hope there will be more novels like this, especially for younger readers.
Well done, Hanna Alkaf!
