This is a beautifully written introspective book about friendship, aging, art and so much more. Conversations are amplified by dreams, day dreams and wakeful imagination. This is a thoughtful and imaginative book that is often surprising, so a great read.
Month: February 2018
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman
Enjoying a book chosen from a library shelf with no prior information is a wonderful experience. This is a very fine relationship book about complex issues, most seriously the conviction that someone is unlovable and unlikable because of bad things that happen in childhood. Eleanor has many issues like wildly inappropriate social skills, but a chance encounter with Raymond leads, slowly and haltingly, to a happy endpoint. There are some laugh-out loud parts but then some heartbreaking sections that will bring the reader to tears. This is Honeyman’s first novel but her writing is mature and reminiscent of Rachel Joyce which is high praise, in my opinion; highly recommended.
The Boat People – Sharon Bala
This is a novel created from a Canadian story – what happens to a boatload of Sri Lankans who arrive in Vancouver as refugees. The novel addresses a number of critical and important questions. What would you do to escape a deadly civil war? What would you reveal during the Immigration and Refugee Board hearings? How can the adjudicators determine what is truth from what might be lies or at least omission of facts? Part of what makes this book great is the detail of the chaotic refugee bureaucracy, and the ease of subverting refugee claims by politicians arguing that terrorists must be within the refugee population. So the context is vivid and important, and the three central characters are complex. Another remarkable first novel, this is the best of the Canada Reads books, in my opinion.
American War – Omar El Akkad
This is a remarkable book about a second American civil war (2075-95). The power is in the chilling demonstration of the cost of war to common people; this is not a story about soldiers. This war is driven by ecological issues and extreme partisanship, so very topical and prescient. Above all, this is a tough angry story about revenge and retribution. This is a debut novel that should be a formidable Canada Reads contender.
Bad Feminist – Roxane Gay
This is a challenging set of essays published in 2014. Gay displays righteous anger toward issues like rape culture and sexual violence. Her writing is always provocative but also self-deprecating. Above all it is her honesty that is compelling. Comments on Sweet Valley High, The Hunger Games and her obsession with Law & Order (SVU) are delightful. She is very aware that her life (and opinions) is messy, full of contradictions and biases. It will be interesting to read follow-up essays in this era of #MeToo. Gay is an American cultural treasure.
The Night Manager – John Le Carre
Reading mystery/thrillers is a guilty pleasure; for me, plot is less important than context. Two factors distinguish Le Carre’s novels. First, the writing is much better than most mystery writers. Here is a description of Ireland: “The day had been sullen and damp, an evening that began at breakfast”. And second, Le Carre’s plots are sublime in their complexity. In this novel, someone infiltrates a drug/arms dealer’s entourage so lots of danger and suspicion; the complementary plot of political intrigue for the spymasters is wonderfully suspenseful (really, who are the good guys and who are the villains). This is a very entertaining book which was made into a TV mini-series a few years ago.
What David Read 