The Stanson Book Review: Fiction

Yes, the much anticipated Stanson Book Review (Part II) has finally arrived. Now, I want to jump into this rather quickly since there’s a fair amount of books, but, perhaps, first I should give a disclaimer on my tastes. Basically, I try to read an eclectic selection of books, and, when in doubt, I’m going to read the book that’s not mainstream and sickeningly popular. Hence, why you don’t see Harry Potter or The Da Vinci Code listed here. Which isn’t to say that they’re bad books, as I wouldn’t even know, but, basically, I’m probably not going to read them. No, I don’t care how much you beg. But, yes, anyway, let’s get on with this. Once again, the books are roughly listed in the order I’d recommend them, but, of course, it all depends on your personal tastes.

1) Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn: A very fun novel that I’m particularly fond of because, while it manages to work on a basic entertainment level, it also contains a bit of hidden depth (that is if you can stop laughing long enough to notice). The entire novel is essentially a play on words, and the most entertaining aspect is really just becoming immersed in Dunn’s language. Still, it’s not a flawless book, and those of you not obsessed with words as much as I am may be a bit put off. But, really, even those not interested in the Totalitarianism commentary or constant word play will find a bizarre and captivating novel awaiting them. Anyway, this was probably the best book I read this summer (but, then, it was a weak summer).

2) The Informers by Bret Easton Ellis: This one’s billed as a novel, but it’s really more of a collection of short stories, and a damn good one at that. Characters do appear in multiple stories (or chapters), but it’s nearly impossible to remember them, and, really, that’s part of the point. All of this is basically Ellis 101 with his usual commentary on our moral wasteland, and the book could probably serve as a decent introduction to his work, although he’s written better stuff (American Psycho and, especially, Glamorama). Still, I’m an absolute mark for Ellis, and I really liked this. However, I must provide the requisite Ellis warning as a few of the stories are extremely graphic and certainly not for the squeamish. Sensitive readers should probably skip over “The 5th Wheel” in particular. Oh, and for those pressed for time, I’d recommend “In the Islands” and “Water from the Sun” as my favorites.

3) The Tunnel by William H. Gass: Ok, including this one is slightly cheating, as I read it a while back and merely skimmed over it again recently, but it’s worth a mention. This is essentially Gass’s magna opus, as he spent over 30 years writing it, and it certainly shows. Each sentence is perfectly cadenced and each thought is completely processed, although almost to a fault, as the prose is absolutely unreadable at times. Truthfully, most of it is unreadable to the point that I can’t imagine any of you really enjoying it, but I’m not about to call it bad writing either. Those wondering about the differences between good literary junk and bad literary junk need only compare this book to the later mentioned Underworld.

4) The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick: Similar to Ozkick’s The Puttermesser Papers, this book is technically two short stories published together, however, they involve the same protagonist and seam together smoothly enough that it’s essentially just a two chapter book. Like mos

t of Ozick’s stories, it sounds extremely dull when describing it (this one is about a Holocaust survivor’s struggle to live in 1970’s ), however, it’s really incredibly written – and pretty short to boot. Still, if you’re going to start reading Ozick, I’d recommend beginning with Heir to the Glimmering World, or, even better, the aforementioned The Puttermesser Papers first. But, no matter where you start, she’s a marvelous writer.

5) The Body Artist by Don Delillo: My first exposure to a very celebrated American author, this is a rather short book (or to put it accurately a “novella”), that is equally small in scope, but at times beautifully written. It certainly reveals the much awarded Delillo’s writing talent, although I think he gets a little in over his head with the time travel themes that he tries to wrestle with. Still, an always interesting read that moves very briskly. Recommended.

6) A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami: Translated from Japanese, A Wild Sheep Chase may be the most purely bizarre novel I’ve ever read. And I’m not sure that’s necessarily a good thing. Now, Murakami is arguably the most popular author in Japan, but, frankly, this reading left me wondering why. Understand, I’m always in support of symbolism in books, but there’s a line when the symbolism just becomes preposterously pretentious, and Murakami crosses the line about halfway into the novel and, then, proceeds to just keep going and going. By the end I found myself numbed to the whole story. Still, although I certainly did not care for the novel, I could see how fans of simply bizarre literature would probably love it. However, if you do read it, I reiterate, it is bizarre. As in, the main plot revolves around trying to find a sheep in someone’s head. Yes, in someone’s head. If that sounds enticingly interesting to you, hey, go for it. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

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N-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA”>7) Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind: This is another bizarre foreign one that’s translated from German and set in 18th century France. Now, don’t let the title fool you – This ain’t about your average serial killer. The protagonist, Grenouille, kills his victims because he wants to possess their smell, literally. Since he doesn’t have a personal smell of his own, you see. Which, although it means he probably doesn’t have to bathe, apparently makes him all unhappy inside. Yeah, there’s probably some symbolism in there somewhere. Anyway, again, fans of bizarre literature may enjoy this, though I thought the Murakami novel was a little stronger.  The translation is a little dry for this one too.

8) The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro: The back cover describes this as “a profoundly compelling portrait of the perfect English butler and his fading, insular world in postwar England.” Now, if that doesn’t scream of boring, then, I don’t know what does. And, actually, it is rather boring. The problem with the book is that it’s essentially about how the protagonist, Stevens, wastes his entire life away obsessed with becoming the perfect butler, which is an interesting point, but, being that Stevens is obsessed with being a perfect butler, he does not make the most exciting of protagonists. There are many long tirades about what Stevens considers to be the perfect butler and his ideals of what constitutes honor and duty. Again, this is about as exciting as it sounds, but that’s the cost of writing a book about a boring protagonist. Despite all this, the movie remains one of my all-time favorites and is highly recommended.

9) Underworld by Don Delillo: The second Delillo book I read after being mildly impressed with the earlier mentioned novella, this book was extremely disappointing. It’s one of those books that I’m sure is technically a classic, and perfectly fits Mark Twain’s definition of one: A book everyone wants to have read, but no one wants to read. In fact, allow me to say what no literary critic will ever have the balls to: This book is 827 pages of lifeless pretentious junk.

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: ‘Times New Roman’; mso-bidi-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA”>10) Cosmic Engineers by Clifford D. Simak: Sci-fi junk that isn’t even worth mentioning, except that I really did read it. Well. Most of it.

11) The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende: Another translated work (this one from Spanish), this is just another boring, tedious epic that I honestly couldn’t recommend to anyone. It covers 3 generations of a family, focusing mostly on the female characters, who all seem to be raped at some point. There is a rather poignant moment towards the end when Alba says (paraphrased) “And he raped me because my grandfather raped his grandmother. And, now, my grandson will rape his granddaughter. Because this is how things are." Right.

And so ends the Stanson Book Review for this year. I may do this again next year, only including all of the books I read, instead of just over a summer. So, once again, you’ve got something to look forward to.

Now, let the notes recommending Harry Potter begin.