Matt’s Book Review #8

As always, these are listed in order of enjoyment. And I really need to read more fiction.

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1) Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami: Perhaps the most bizarre Muarkami novel that I’ve read this is, as expected with Murakami, a very entertaining and readable novel. Murakami’s storytelling is in top form, though at times I thought he was being outrageous just for the sake of being outrageous (for example, do we really need Col. Sanders to show up as a deity/pimp?) The book is definitely a little heavy on fantasy and metaphor for my tastes in general, but it’s Murakami and thus this comes with the territory. At any rate, I’d say this falls somewhere in the middle in terms of Murakami’s oeuvre, but average Murakami is still worthwhile reading.

 

2) A Closed Book by Gilbert Adair: This is essentially a mystery/thriller novel from an author who is typically known for being more literary. It’s not a bad read at all and is probably especially worth checking out if you’re a fan of the mystery/thriller genre, though this is definitely a less ambitious work than the first Adair novel that I read, The Death of the Author.

 

3) The Pornographer’s Poem by Michael Turner: This may be called the pornographer’s "poem” but it’s worth saying that there’s definitely a lot more pornography than poetry in this book. I actually thought the book was hurt by its excessive sex scenes and that it was more entertaining when it wandered elsewhere. At times it’s a quirky little book that is a lot of fun (a 2nd grade teacher who requires her students to make films?), but there’s too many long sex scenes for it to ever be as enjoyable as it potentially could have been.

 

4) The Dreamers by Gilbert Adair: Yes, for some reason I’ve been in a Gilbert Adair mood in 2009. Sadly, I didn’t enjoy this novel as well as I did either A Closed Book or the Bernardo Bertolucci film based on this book. There’s a lot of sex here too (including incest), but it’s handled a little better than in The Pornographer’s Poem. Still, on th

e whole this is a pretty dry read.

 

5) Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell: David Mitchell shows that he can write poorly in six different genres! I think a good goal for next time would be to write well in one.

 

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August 8, 2009

I bought a book called “The Position” and it’s about how a book about sex affects a family (the sex book was written by the parents, and the kids found it as kids from like age six to twelve or something) later in life. Not any sex so far, which is why I bought the book. Maybe I’ll look into the porno thing. ~I’ll be

August 9, 2009

Kafka by the Shore was good but by far his most bizarre novel. I have read most of Muarkami’s novels and enjoyed most of them. I have not read anything else on your list this time. I will look into them. RYN: I really think that most kids explore their bodies, ask questions and talk frankly about their bodies. They are not ashamed and shouldn’t be! I like that you remember your exploration.

August 9, 2009

I thought Cloud Atlas was ok. Though admittedly I only really remember the robot story now… I read far too little nonmedical stuff these days… do you ever read graphic novels? “Bone” (Kira lent it me, unsurprisingly) was about the most fun thing I’ve read in any genre in ages… I mean it’s not serious or anything. still.

August 9, 2009

A lot of sex in your review here. And okay, after all the talks about Cloud Atlas where you go on and on about how WELL he writes, then this? Seriously now. Did I miss something? Not that I don’t agree with the review, but that’s what I’ve been saying about it. You kept telling me it got better if i just read more. . .Liar!

what??? hurt by excessive sex scenes? never!!!

Sounds like what you’ve read is very interesting….I might return to your entry later when I’ve read half of the books that I have in my own personal collection….

August 20, 2009

Thank you. I have a lot of those, I just don’t share them all. lol

September 2, 2009

ryn: I would once have agreed with you, but at some point a couple of years back the mumbling sailor man started to grow on me again. There’s a lot of subtle comedy in the old Popeye shorts, mostly owing to the fact that the voices were dubbed after the animation was made, so the actors would adlib alot to fill quiet spots.