Book Review - The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Not something I'd have picked up by myself (title and cover both aren't very... pick-worthy... ) but thanks to other bloggers, I'm glad I read this :)

I bet pretty much all of you would enjoy reading this charming story - it's about an independent bookstore owner (A.J. Fikry) and his family and friends... and people who love to read! There are quite a few references to other books and authors in the book, including Jeffery Deaver lol :)

I thought the ending was a little quiet, but I suppose it is fitting to A.J.'s personality. I thought I'd get a bit more emotional when reading this, but I didn't.

3.75 Stars but bumped to 4 Stars because it leaves an impression, more so than other novels I'd read this year.

Some quotes -

You're a good reader, and you'll probably see it coming. (Is a twist less satisfying if you know it's coming? Is a twist that you can't predict symptomatic of bad construction? These are things to consider when writing.) (p160)

We read to know we're not alone. We read because we are alone. We read and we are not alone. We are not alone. (p249)

We are not quite novels... We are not quite short stories... In the end, we are collected works.. He has read enough to know there are no collections where each story is perfect. Some hits. Some misses. If you're lucky, a standout. And in the end, people only really remember the standouts anyway, and they don't remember those for very long. (p249)





Note - The book was borrowed from the library.



All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.

Book Review - The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards by Kristopher Jansma

The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards by Kristopher Jansma

From Goodreads:

An inventive and witty debut about a young man’s quest to become a writer and the misadventures in life and love that take him around the globe

From as early as he can remember, the hopelessly unreliable—yet hopelessly earnest—narrator of this ambitious debut novel has wanted to become a writer.

From the jazz clubs of Manhattan to the villages of Sri Lanka, Kristopher Jansma’s irresistible narrator will be inspired and haunted by the success of his greatest friend and rival in writing, the eccentric and brilliantly talented Julian McGann, and endlessly enamored with Julian’s enchanting friend, Evelyn, the green-eyed girl who got away. After the trio has a disastrous falling out, desperate to tell the truth in his writing and to figure out who he really is, Jansma’s narrator finds himself caught in a never-ending web of lies.

As much a story about a young man and his friends trying to make their way in the world as a profoundly affecting exploration of the nature of truth and storytelling, The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards will appeal to readers of Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists and Jennifer Egan’s Pulitzer Prize–winning A Visit from the Goon Squad with its elegantly constructed exploration of the stories we tell to find out who we really are.

I picked this based on another blog review I believe. Not my usual genre, but I was intrigued since the protagonist was a writer.

It is difficult to talk about this book without revealing some details - so read at your own risk!

SPOILER ALERT!

I like that this is a story-within-a-story-within-a-story-within-a-story- kinda book. It's a interesting plot, especially since it is a debut novel! However, the story got a bit repetitive in the later part of the book. And then you just really don't know who the protagonist really is anymore.

I do appreciate the ending which closes the loop and brings us back to the beginning.

If there is one take away from this book, it's that fiction authors need to be great liars - they need to make the readers believe in what the authors create, be it part truth or part slant. I guess I never really think about it this way before, though we do talk about whether a book/character is believable or not, but I didn't equate that to being lied to :) Interesting concept.

3 Stars. Great premise, though get a bit repetitive. I like the plot, but don't really care for the characters.


Note - The book was borrowed from the library.



All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.

Book Review - The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

*** This review most likely include spoilers, so read at your own risk! ***

First book of the year. It's been getting cold here so reading this book is quite fitting. I was captivated by the imagery and wondered whether the child was real or not (fairy tale re-tell, remember?) and what'd happen. My favorite character is Esther, the neighbor. She's just a hoot. The rest of the characters are not as well developed and seemed too flat or too stereotypical.

In the end, this book is just okay to me because nothing really happens... well fine, stuff happens, but there wasn't a climax and the plot is flat. I didn't really feel much emotion one way or the other about the ending... and I use how emotional I get to gauge how much I like a book.

So 3 Stars out of 5 only for me.

Note - The book was borrowed from the library.



All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.

Book Review - Little Bee: A Novel by Chris Cleave

Little Bee: A Novel by Chris Cleave

This was my November book club choice. I'd heard some good things about it so I was looking forward to reading this story. I am a bit torn about how I feel about it.

The first half of the book was very engaging, and what a strong first sentence - "Most days I wish I was a British pound coin instead of an African girl." (implying that people are happier to see a coin than an African girl). However, the second half slowed. And I also did not like the ending - not because it was happy or sad, but because it was ambiguous. I just do not like ambiguous endings. I know some readers like that because they can finish the story with their own imagination or have their own desired ending, but I prefer the author to tell me because it is their story, not mine.


The story were told from two perspectives - Little Bee (the African girl), and Sarah who met Little Bee in Nigeria on that fateful day on the beach that changed both of their lives. I liked the Little Bee chapters much more than Sarah's. Someone from the book club asked if the book would have been better if Sarah's chapters were eliminated. Well, her side of the story did provide some background, so I don't know how that'd work. I guess I just did not know how I felt about Sarah - I really admired a couple of actions she took, but at the same time, she seemed rather naive for a 32 years old and she made lots of decisions I disliked also.


I also wondered about Little Bee's language ability - it did not seem like she knew much English beforehand (that was the impression I got anyway, since she lived in a rural little town in Nigeria), and yet she spoke too poetically and with much sophistication from someone who learned most of her English in the detention center watching TV. Though I suppose some people are more gifted with languages than others. (Note, I was not aware that English was Nigeria's official language, though according to wiki, English is more for the urban elite, and not for rural areas.)


The story sometimes was too contrived [Spoilers] - Little Bee's detection "friend" hanged herself, Sarah's husband hanged himself.  Little Bee and Sarah's boyfriend Lawrence both mentioned the word "just" and its implication separately, e.g. calling someone "just" a co-worker when it wasn't necessary ("she is a coworker, vs. "she is just a coworker"), as it implied some guilt. The cop got called about Sarah's missing son would also arrest Little Bee, then Little Bee would be back to Nigeria so soon for deportation, even though she was in the detention center for 2 years prior... [/Spoilers]

I am not a writer, but I also thought the author seemed to tell more than show - mostly with Little Bee telling us what hapepend. I think my disappointment also came from the hype - the back of the book said "Once you have read it, you'll want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens. The magic is in how they story unfolds." But I didn't really feel the magic. I kept waiting for the magic. The message of the story was an important one (what refugees had to do to survive), and I don't disagree with that, but I thought the execution could have been better. However, it did make me think, if I was in Nigeria on that fateful day, what would I have done? Would I have done what Sarah did? or Andrew? Or something else altogether? I simply do not know. I think it is one of those scenarios that you won't know how you'd react until it happened to you.


One of the most interesting aspects of the book was to read about Little Bee's survival/exit strategy (see 3rd quote below) - what her mind set was even when she was in a seemingly safe place. But the author didn't really have to devote a whole chapter to it as it just got boring after a while - we got the message already. I also liked the author's subtle humor (see 4th quote). As you could see, all the quotes came within the first 50 pages. I really wish the rest of the book was as strong.


Note - there were some brutal, violent moments in the book. So be warmed as I know some readers couldn't stomach graphic descriptions.

We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived. (p9)

In your country, if you are not scared enough already, you can go to watch a horror film. Afterward you can go out of the cinema into the night and for a little while there is horror in everything. Perhaps there are murderers lying in wait for you at home. You think this because there is a light on in your house that you are certain you did not leave on... Horror in your country is something you take a dose of to remind yourself that you are not suffering from it. For me and the girls from my village, horror is a disease and we are sick with it. It is not an illness you can cure yourself of by standing up and letting the big red cinema seat fold itself up behind you. (p45)

In the immigration detention center, they told us we must be disciplined to overcome our fears. This is the discipline I learned: whenever I go into a new place, I work out how I would kill myself there. In case the men came suddenly, I make sure I am ready. The first time I went into Sarah's bathroom I was thinking, Yes Little Bee, in here you would break the mirror of that medicine cabinet and cut your wrists with the splinters. When Sarah took me for a ride in her car I was thinking, Here, Little Bee, you would roll down the window and unbuckle your seat belt and tip yourself out of the window, no fuss, in front of the very next lorry that comes the other way. (p47)

In the canteen there was a television that was always on. I began to learn more about life in your country. I watched programs called Love Island and Hell's Kitchen and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and I worked out how I would kill myself on all of those shows. Drowning, knives, and ask the audience. (p49)  

3 / 5 .
(The first half would have been at least a 4 / 5, but the 2nd half did not live up to the expectation.)


Note - The book was borrowed from the library.



All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.

Book Review - The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar

The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar 

Mostly based in India, Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta were once best friends. Due to circumstances, they had drifted apart and had not seen each other since. Thirty years later, one of them was dying in America and her last wish was to see her friends once more. Would they be able to honor her wish? I chose this ARC to review (out today!) because I wanted a good friendship story.

I liked the characters (loved their names!) - they were all flawed but seemed realistic. Though some characters were developed more than others. In fact, I thought the two male characters (husbands of two characters, who were also friends with all four girls back in the days) were the more complex characters even though they were not the main focus. I also was hoping for a more emotional read - after all, a close friend was dying! - but I thought it fell a bit flat.

One of the other themes of the book reminded me of Megan's Way by Melissa Foster - what would you do if you have a terminal disease - would you go for treatments or not?  If not, why not?

Usually I shy away from literary fiction because I do not like overly descriptive story without much action. Fortunately I did not have much problem with this book, as the writing was quite easy to read. I also liked that I learned a little bit more about modern India. 


This is definitely a character-driven novel, and more about the journey than the destination. Because of that I am quite disappointed by the ending - not quite how it ended, but where it ended. I thought there would be more to the story, or at least the book should have an epilogue to tie up some lose ends. Right now it just felt unfinished.



3.25 / 5

Note - ARC was given HarperCollins in exchange for an unbiased review.



All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.

Book Review - The Human Bobby: A Novel by Gabe Rotter

Title: The Human Bobby: A Novel
Author: Gabe Rotter
Year: 2010
Page: 320
Genre: Fiction - Literary

FTC Disclosure: Borrowed from the library

Summary (from goodreads.com):
A page-turning story of the unraveling of one man's seemingly perfect life, and his struggle to get it back.

First Sentence:
There's a staccato clicking sound in my head.

My Thoughts:

• I have not seen a lot of reviews of this book, but from the few reviews, they all said the same thing - read it! I don't think I had seen a negative review. BermudaOnion's review was one of the first reviews I'd read, see here.

• Seriously, if I saw this book in the library or book store, I would have NEVER picked it up. Not even to read the back description to see what it was about. Not based on the title. Not based on the cover. Really, if it wasn't for the other bloggers, I would have missed out on this brilliant book. This is such a shame that this book hadn't been given more attention when it came out last year. I had been meaning to read it for a while, but my library did not have it, and I finally found it from an inter-library in the network. After reading the book, the title made sense, but it's definitely not an eye-catching title. And the cover is related to the story (the yellow tent has its significance), but again, not eye catching. It looks gloomy. The cover reminded me of another literary fiction I didn't quite like - Caribou Island (see my review here with a cover picture.) I hadn't given it much thought about what the title should be, or what the cover should look like, but it is just unfortunate that this book might not have gotten a lot of attention based on this first exterior impression.

• But yeah, I am going to echo all the other bloggers - READ IT! This will be one of my top 5 reads of 2011. I know, we still have 1.5 months to go, but I doubt it'd fall outside the top 5. It was a  fast paced page turner, and I finished in 2 days. Would have finished it in one setting if I didn't have to go to work.

• The book actually started on Chapter 31, which is rather unusual. I suppose it's like a prologue, but unlike the typical prologue, it didn't give up the ending, but rather connect the dot when you were about 2/3 through the story. It's almost a word-for-word repeat of Chapter 31, rather than just a hint of what was to come. I had to say though, after reading the book, this made sense, but when I first read it, it was a little confusing and this chapter was a little boring. So I was glad I didn't decide to drop the book based on this chapter alone (luckily it wasn't a very long chapter). After this chapter though, the rest was very easy to follow!

• I don't quite know how to categorize this book - is it a literary fiction (since it said A Novel?) but it is so fast paced that it almost read like a thriller or suspense - after all, the protagonist's son went missing, and his life went from perfect to hell. And the plot twist was just brilliant - I thought I had it figured out, like who the kidnapper was, and I was right about that, but then I was also so wrong! I couldn't really tell you about it, or it'd spoil the fun. I couldn't really tell you which character I liked or disliked, because that'd give away too much! Seriously, this is definitely a book that the lesser you know, the better. 

• The tone of this book reminded me of This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper (read before blogging) or Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman (see my review here). But this one was better due to the plot, plus I just liked the characters better too. I liked its subtle humor (see quote below.) So if you like these two books, you'll probably like this. Even if you have never read these two books, you should still read this! I liked that this was written as a 1st person perspective, as you'd really get to know Bobby the protagonist.

• I could see this book being made into a movie - how who should play Bobby? For some reason I can see Tobey Maguire or Jake Gyllenhaal. 

• I'd definitely read more of this author's work.  This book was refreshing, and it had been a while since a fiction book excited me (I read this before Children of Paranoia, and that's another one I'd highly recommend, see my review here), that I can't wait to recommend to other people! Some people said they didn't quite like the ending, but to me, the ending was what makes this story so good. The reason it's not a 5 Stars is that I didn't get overly emotional. That speaks volume actually, for me to give a high rating to a book that doesn't make me cry!

Quote: 

Shit, meet fan. (p114)

Overall Rating:

4.5 Stars. Read it, and enjoy the ride.


All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.

Book Review - Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Title: Middlesex 
Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Year: 2003
Page: 529
Genre: Fiction - Literary 

FTC Disclosure: Borrowed from the library

Summary (from goodreads.com): 
"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974. . . My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver’s license...records my first name simply as Cal."

So begins the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibition-era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City, and the race riots of l967, before they move out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Pointe, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, Middlesex is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic.

First Sentence:
I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974.

My Thoughts:

• This was our book club choice for July. I've read some good reviews before, but never picked it up because I didn't think it was my type of books. I was right. I stopped at p34. Some may say 34 pages are not enough to judge a book. They might be right, but I just couldn't get into it. I kept having to flip back to the previous page to re-read what I just read. I just could not stand the thought of struggling 560+ pages

• Chapter 1 was actually kinda interesting, especially the part about the silver spoon to see if the baby is a boy or girl. Chapter 2 focused on the grandmother when she was a young girl in Greece, and I just lost interest in this chapter.  

•  Most of the book club people really liked it, except my friends and myself lol. But the book club people tend to be less harsh than I am :)

Overall Rating:

0 Star. Did not finish.


All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.

Book Review - State of Wonder: A Novel by Ann Patchett

Title: State of Wonder: A Novel  
Author: Ann Patchett 
Year: 2011
Page: 368
Genre: Fiction- literary

FTC Disclosure: ARC copy from HarperCollins in exchange of an unbiased review

Summary (from goodreads.com):
Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ann Patchett returns with a provocative and assured novel of morality and miracles, science and sacrifice set in the Amazon rainforest. Infusing the narrative with the same ingenuity and emotional urgency that pervaded her acclaimed previous novels Bel Canto, Taft, Run, The Magician’s Assistant, and The Patron Saint of Liars, Patchett delivers an enthrallingly innovative tale of aspiration, exploration, and attachment in State of Wonder—a gripping adventure story and a profound look at the difficult choices we make in the name of discovery and love.

Dr. Marina Singh, a research scientist with a Minnesota pharmaceutical company, is sent to Brazil to track down her former mentor, Dr. Annick Swenson, who seems to have all but disappeared in the Amazon while working on what is destined to be an extremely valuable new drug, the development of which has already cost the company a fortune. Nothing about Marina's assignment is easy: not only does no one know where Dr. Swenson is, but the last person who was sent to find her, Marina's research partner Anders Eckman, died before he could complete his mission. Plagued by trepidation, Marina embarks on an odyssey into the insect-infested jungle in hopes of finding her former mentor as well as answers to several troubling questions about her friend's death, the state of her company's future, and her own past.

Once found, Dr. Swenson, now in her seventies, is as ruthless and uncompromising as she ever was back in the days of Grand Rounds at Johns Hopkins. With a combination of science and subterfuge, she dominates her research team and the natives she is studying with the force of an imperial ruler. But while she is as threatening as anything the jungle has to offer, the greatest sacrifices to be made are the ones Dr. Swenson asks of herself, and will ultimately ask of Marina, who finds she may still be unable to live up to her teacher's expectations.

In a narrative replete with poison arrows, devouring snakes, and a neighboring tribe of cannibals, State of Wonder is a world unto itself, where unlikely beauty stands beside unimaginable loss. It is a tale that leads the reader into the very heart of darkness, and then shows us what lies on the other side. 

First Sentence:
The news of Anders Eckman's death came by way of Aerogram, a piece of bright blue airmail paper that served as both the stationary and, when folded over and sealed along the edges, the envelope.

My Thoughts:

Why this book?

• I have never read Ann Patchett before. I remember Aths from Reading on a Rainy Day highly recommended Patchett's other book, Bel Canto (read her review here). So when the ARC of this book was up for review, I decided to give her a try even though this is not a genre I typically like (remember, it has "A Novel" after its title!) I like the premise has something to do with the Amazonian jungle, science/medicine, mystery and adventure. So I thought I'd pick this over Bel Canto as my introduction to Patchett.

First thought:

• Why-oh-why did you end the book this way...

Cover Art:

• I guess the cover set the tone of the book - that this is going to be a slower-paced literary fiction, as opposed to a thriller (the premise totally could have been a fast-paced thriller!). I wonder why there is a dragonfly instead of a moth. It's not a book I'd choose based on its cover...

Title:

• Just okay for me. I prefer titles that are more catchy or clever

Writing:

• Patchett's writing is probably what one would described as "lyrical prose". I am no expert on writing style, but her writing is how I would define as lyrical. Usually I prefer straight-to-the point-less-flowery writing style, but I actually quite enjoy her writing, as I almost felt like I was there, in the Amazonian jungle. 

• There were some very long paragraphs though... e.g. went from bottom of p139 to top of p141. For some reasons sometimes I get lost in long paragraphs (which line am I reading again?)

Plot:

• There were some plot twists I didn't foresee. Some thought they were a bit unrealistic, but I thought hey, nothing is impossible! Plus this is FICTION. Made-up-stuff. I thought it was actually plausible.

• There was one plot question concerning Dr Swenson that was not answered. It was asked by the main protagonist Marian Singh, but Dr Swenson was aversive about it saying it didn't matter. As a reader, I want to know! I think it does contribute to the storyline as it'd create different dynamics between the characters

• I was enjoying the development of the story... until the last 15 pages (specifically from p338 onwards) where Marina and Easter went onto a boat ride alone... It took us over 300 pages to get there, and more things happened in the last 15 pages than the rest of the book? More about that when I discussed the ending below (no spoilers!) 

Characters:

• Marina Singh - I felt indifferent about her throughout the book, then I totally disliked her in the last 15 pages. I felt she didn't have much of a personality, and she acted much more immature than her 42 years of age I think. While she was well liked by others in the book, it seemed a bit one dimensional. I was totally disappointed in her in the end of the story by two things she did, or didn't do, regarding two different characters (I won't say their names or it'd be spoilers). I think if you had read the book you'd know what I am talking about, if not, ask me and I'd comment with a spoiler tag! I think those actions were totally not her character, not what the author had led us to believe anyway. It was almost like she was a different person. I was also disappointed with this other character who played a main role in the ending - again, this character acted like a different person! Some might argue what this person went through might have changed him/her, but it seemed a rather abrupt change as no details were given (and we had to make a lot of assumptions - which ironically, Dr Swenson had told Marina not to jump to any conclusions)

• Dr Annick Swenson - I didn't like her at first as she seemed cold, but she won me over as the story developed as we started to see a different side of her. I think she's like one of those professors we feared but respected, and yet hoped they'd notice us and thought we're special - that we had the potential to be something greater than we thought we would ever be

• Easter - he got to be my favorite character in the book! You can't help but feel for him. I also liked Milton. I think he's very perceptive. Mr Fox seemed a bit one dimensional - your stereotypical big corporate executive from an evil pharmaceutical company. I thought more could have been developed about him and the relationships he had with other characters in the book

Ending:

• Total disappointment for me. Definitely not one I had envisioned, and not in a good way. Now, I hate predictable books, but what happened here seemed so unreasonable and rushed. It goes beyond whether this has a happy or sad ending. It was almost like the author ended it that way just so there could be a twist. 

Emotion:

• Two moral or ethical questions were raised: (i) should we leave natives alone or intervene if we could? Did they really want us to intervene? Should we help improve their lifestyle, by our standards, if we could? (ii) scientific or medical research on human subjects and consent. Is consent required when the subject does not understand the research, but the outcome of the research could potentially benefit mankind (including those human subjects)?

What I Learned:

• The ending can totally make or break a book!

PS:

• Someone else said she didn't like Bel Canto much because the ending was rushed. For those of you who had read both, or either of the books, what do you think? I know "rush" is relative though...

Read this Author again?

• It depends on the premise I guess... I don't feel like rushing out to read Bel Canto at this point. Convince me otherwise! :)

Quote:

Hope is a horrible thing, you know. I don't know who decided to package hope as a virtue because it's not. It is a plague. Hope is like walking around with a fishhook in your mouth and somebody just keeps pulling it and pulling it. (p43)

"Don't be so self-referential. I was telling you a story. I wasn't telling a story about you." (p152)

He used to say we all had a compass inside of us and what we needed to do was to find it and to follow it. (p229)

Your story tells as much by what you leave out as what you put in. (p231)

In this life we love who we love. There wer some stories in which facts were very nearly irrelevant. (p233)

Overall Rating:
3 Stars. Would have been lower because of the ending, but I did enjoy the rest of the story so I think 3 Stars is fair if you "average it out"... If the ending was satisfactory, would've given it a higher rating.

 



All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.

Book Review - Caribou Island by David Vann

Title: Caribou Island
Author: David Vann
Year: 2011
Page: 304
Genre: Fiction - Literary

FTC Disclosure: Received ARC from HarpersCollins

Summary (from goodreads.com):
The prize-winning author of Legend of a Suicide delivers his highly anticipated debut novel.

On a small island in a glacier-fed lake on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula, a marriage is unraveling. Gary, driven by thirty years of diverted plans, and Irene, haunted by a tragedy in her past, are trying to rebuild their life together. Following the outline of Gary's old dream, they're hauling logs to Caribou Island in good weather and in terrible storms, in sickness and in health, to build the kind of cabin that drew them to Alaska in the first place.

But this island is not right for Irene. They are building without plans or advice, and when winter comes early, the overwhelming isolation of the prehistoric wilderness threatens their bond to the core. Caught in the emotional maelstrom is their adult daughter, Rhoda, who is wrestling with the hopes and disappointments of her own life. Devoted to her parents, she watches helplessly as they drift further apart.

Brilliantly drawn and fiercely honest, Caribou Island captures the drama and pathos of a husband and wife whose bitter love, failed dreams, and tragic past push them to the edge of destruction. A portrait of desolation, violence, and the darkness of the soul, it is an explosive and unforgettable novel from a writer of limitless possibility.

First Sentence:
My mother was not real.

My Thoughts:

Why this book?

• When HarperCollins asked if I wanted to review any January release (this book will be released on 1/18/11), I debated whether to get this one or not. This book is not usually my genre, but I liked this description - "brilliantly drawn and fiercely honest"- I like honest novels, and I like that this story seems a bit dark (I don't usually prefer happy ending books). Sometimes when I don't like a particular genre, I always wonder if I just hadn't read the right book yet... so every so often, I'd give it a try again, especially since my reading taste have changed a bit in the past few years

First thought:

• Where are all the quotation marks? 

Cover Art:

• Very pretty, I love the colors. Something I'd hang a print of at home. After I read the book, it captures the mood the story very well.

Title:

• Indifferent. Title alone doesn't capture my interest, but well, the story is set on "Caribou Island" so can't say it doesn't relate to the story. I guess I just like books with clever, witty titles better

Writing:

• I guess others would describe Vann's writing as beautiful, poetic... but it's not really for me. It's too flowery and descriptive for my taste. I guess that's why I usually am not interested in this genre...

• The positive of such writing though, is that I can "play the movie" in my head as I read the book. But it's a slow moving movie...

• Vann also did not use quotation marks in his dialog! This bugged me, as it made the story much harder to read - who is saying what, what is being said, what are actual thoughts but not said out loud... I had the same problem with The Road by Cormac McCarthy 

Plot:

• Actual plot itself can be summarized in a few sentences (but I won't, don't want to give spoilers). For someone who likes more action driven story, this isn't it

• This is definitely a character driven story - it is more about their relationships to each other, but it just wasn't satisfying to me. Didn't have any ah-ha moments.

Characters:

• There were basically 8 characters in the book - Irene and her husband Gary, their children Rhoda and Mark, and their significant others (Jim and Karen, respectively), and Mark's friends, Carl and Monique

• I don't like any of them. I don't like their personalities, and don't know why their signification others stay with them. They are realistic, but I feel that while the characters are described well "in the present", it didn't have a lot of development to tell us why they turned out they way the are

• While it did tell a little bit of Irene's past, it was a bit too superficial to explain her actions

• If I really had to choose a favorite character, it was probably the daughter Rhoda. I felt bad for her but there wasn't anything about her personality that made her stood out

Ending:

• I could definitely see the ending coming - while I wasn't 100% certain, but there was no surprise 

Emotion:

• Some said it is a depressing book - it wasn't a happy story, but didn't make me depressed or too sad... I am not cold-hearted, but the characters chose their paths and I guess sometimes I just didn't have a lot of sympathies for those who won't help themselves and just blamed others for what happened to them 

PS:

• I think for those who like The Road by Cormac McCarthy (writing style wise) would enjoy this author's style. The story actually reminded me a bit of Shadow Tag by Lousie Erdrich (my review here) - so if you like that book, you'll probably like this too. I liked Shadow Tag a bit more because I liked the children in the book

Read this Author again?

• Probably not... I just prefer non-character driven novels and don't like anything too descriptive

Quote:

Irene followed because once she had endured she could punish. Her turn would come. And this is what they had done to each other for decades now, irresistibly. Fine, she would think. Fine. And that meant, just wait. (p5)

Because you can choose who you'll be with, but you can't choose who they'll become. (p101)

Overall Rating: 2 Stars - Not Really For Me... But Others May Like It

 



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