Two Good Books

I am on a lucky roll at the moment with books. I have read several good ones in a row. The most recent was Tom Rachman's The Imperfectionists. This is a wonderful book about a group of people who work for (and, in one case, read) a newspaper in Rome. The book begins in the 1950s and runs through the present day. Each chapter focuses on a different individual. The Imperfectionists has a wonderful balance of comedy and pathos. The writing is excellent, and there are some big ideas that make me sure I will return to it again.

Another recent read I would recommend is Chris Cleave's Little Bee. A story about a Nigerian refugee in England, it is by turns comic and tragic. It is a book that will stay with me for a long time.

Reviews: 2 Movies and 1 Book

Yesterday I watched two movies. The first, King Corn, was recommended by my friend, Dina, and the second was Donnie Darko, which Philip wanted to see after reading a New Yorker review of a movie that called the director, Richard Kelly, potentially the next Hitchcock.

King Corn is a documentary that follows two friends on their quest to learn more about the rise of corn in the western diet. Their investigation begins after they find out how much carbon in their hair comes from corn - and not corn on the cob. The two head out to Iowa to raise an acre of corn and find out where it goes. The film discusses the history of farm subsidies, the rise of corn as a crop, the prevalence of corn in processed foods, its use in the meat industry (no slaughterhouse images, for those of you with weak stomachs), and the impact on the health of Americans. It features interviews with farmers, government officials, manufacturers' reps, and Michael Pollan. Definitely interesting.

Donnie Darko is a psychological story with a time-travel element. A cult classic from 2001, it reminded me of a contemporary, non-sci-fi Minority Report. Jake Gyllenhaal was great as the lead - is he a paranoid schizophrenic or not? After a plane engine falls through the roof of his house, Donnie begins to see a mysterious figure that directs him to undertake various malevolent tasks. Donnie struggles to understand what he sees. Really interesting, and not hokey. I heard the director's cut is even better.

Finally, the book I read is The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. Written in the 1980s this novella (140 pages) is a spooky Victorian ghost story full of atmosphere. Solicitor Arthur Kipps heads to a remote English house to deal with wrapping up the affairs of the deceased mistress of the house, Mrs. Drablow. Mysterious strangers, unexplained sounds, and villagers unwilling to go near the house or even talk about it...

I really liked the writing and was drawn along by the plot. A good quick read.

Well, that's it. Off to enjoy this beautiful fall Sunday!

Endearing Audrey Niffenegger

I am looking forward to reading Audrey Niffenegger's new book, Her Fearful Symmetry. I enjoyed Time Traveler's Wife.

She seems like a really nice person. This was in The New York Times Book Review this week.

Audrey Niffenegger’s second novel, the ghost story “Her Fearful Symmetry,” enters the hardcover fiction list this week at No. 6. Niffenegger is best known as the author of the mega­selling “Time Traveler’s Wife” (in its 16th week on the trade paperback list), but writing is really a second career for her: for decades, she has been a successful painter and printmaker in Chicago, often exploring images of death or the supernatural. Still, as she told USA Today this month, she doesn’t believe in ghosts, or much else. “I was raised Catholic,” she said, “and that’s a good way to raise an atheist.”

On her website, Niffenegger offers a charming reply to fans who wonder why she doesn’t answer e-mail: “Well, I sometimes manage to write back, but I don’t have a very good batting average, I’m sorry about that. I do read all my e-mail. Then I resolve to answer it after I have some more coffee. Then I end up weeks and weeks behind, and it all starts to seem overwhelming. I am in awe of Jodi Picoult, who answers all her e-mail. You should write to her.”

Fingersmith - A Review

I just finished reading Fingersmith over the weekend.

Set in Dickensian London, Fingersmith follows the story of two orphan girls whose lives are intertwined. Full of villains, pickpockets, prisons, asylums, and gothic twists and turns, this was a delightful read.

The writing is wonderful, and the story is riveting. I found that it took me the first fifteen pages to really get into it, but after that I honestly could not put it down!

Elinor Dashwood?!!!

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Revolutionary Road - Review

I recently finished reading Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. I found it to be really well-written and quite interesting, and I thought its depiction of life in suburbia, where I live, was well-drawn.

The book focuses on Frank and April Wheeler and their unhappiness in their marriage and their suburban life. Frank hates his white-color job. April feels stifled and unfulfilled at home raising their two kids. They feel superior to the monotony around them, but do they have the really have the courage or the drive to escape it?

I think the thing that was the most haunting is that sense that probably most of us have had at one point or another -- that you are really not as extraordinary as you thought you were.

A sad but beautiful book.

The Book of Lost Things

I recently finished an interesting book, The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly. It is the story of a twelve-year-old boy, David, who has recently lost his mother. He has a love of books, instilled by his mother, and the books begin to talk to him.

David enters another world, a pastiche of fairy tales. He searches through this world to find a way back home, learning about loyalty, bravery, and honor along the way.

The Book of Lost Things reminded me a lot of Pan's Labyrinth. This book is more fantasy-based than most books I read, but I enjoyed it.