Ms. Rooney’s new book is about four 30-year-olds: Alice and Eileen, Simon and Felix. Although older than the teenagers in Normal People, these adults are no more successful in their relationships. Despite deep friendships and yes, love, they can be frustratingly emotionally distant, deflecting a question with a question as the rejoinder. Overall, a fabulous examination of the modern world. Desire is complicated with delusion; perceptions of happiness are clouded by anxiety and uncertainty. A brilliant book – highly recommended.
Category: Contemporary
What Strange Paradise – Omar El Akkad
A Giller short-listed book about Amir, a 9-year-old Syrian refugee, the sole survivor of a shipwreck who is washed up on a Greek Island. He evades capture by local authorities and is rescued by Vanna, a 15-year-old resident of the island. What follows is a strange and dangerous odyssey by two children who do not speak a common language. They are pursued by Colonel Kethros, an implacable authority figure (think Javert). The writing is exceptional, describing both hope and despair, empathy and indifference.
Find You First – Linwood Barclay
Miles Cookson is a tech billionaire who at age 42 receives the devastating diagnosis of Huntington’s Disease. This prompts a search for 9 children he “fathered” as a sperm donor 20 years previously. But these potential heirs are disappearing without a trace! This is vintage Barclay with impossible-to-predict plot twists: very entertaining.
Real Tigers – Mick Herron
Another delightful story of the unauthorized exploits of the disgraced MI5 spies known collectively as the slow horses. This is a rousing tale of kidnapping, private security contractors and conspiracy theorists. And as usual, the real villains ae the politicians and spy masters. Very enjoyable.
Klara and the Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro has been recognized as a great writer by receiving the Nobel Prize for literature. This new book is simply brilliant, in part because of a unique point-of-view. The narrator Klara is an Artificial Friend (AF, aka robot), with acute powers of observing and learning. She is acquired by Josie and must learn about friendship and the nuances of human behaviour: love, loneliness, sacrifice, what it means to be human. Klara is an AF/AI with empathy, to serve as a companion, to prevent Josie’s loneliness. Empathy is not achieved by programming but rather by machine learning. Overall, this is a compelling story about relationships; Klara has a special relationship with the sun (she is solar powered) which she logically tries to apply to humans. And typically (recall Never Let Me Go), Ishiguro introduces a single word in the text that is not explained for 200 pages, creating a mystery. Fantastic book, highly recommended. Finally, this is a very nice companion book to Machines Like Us by Ian McEwan.
The Mothers – Britt Bennett
Ms. Bennet wrote the fabulous The Vanishing Half, so I wanted to read her first book. The Mothers is about 3 teenagers in Oceanside, north of San Diego; there is teenage sex and a pregnancy and an abortion, actions that have consequences over the next 6 years. This is an excellent relationship book about community in contemporary Black America, friendships undermined by secrets, the aftermath of youthful choices. Finally, the title The Mothers refers in part to elderly church women who are a Greek chorus, commenting on events. And also, the title refers to the issue of absent mothers for two of the characters. This is an insightful, thoughtful engaging story – highly recommended.
The SubTweet – Vivek Shraya
A very contemporary story about the complicated relationships between two persons-of-colour singers. Their relationship is mainly online where short texts can be misinterpreted. Artistic insecurity is described brilliantly with lots of self-doubt and jealousy. Excellent story telling.
Polar Vortex – Shani Mootoo
This is a superb introspective relationship story. Priya and Alexandra have a six-year marriage that is disrupted by the impending visit of Prakash, a long-time friend of Priya’s. What are Prakash’s motives for this visit? Why has Priya been withholding information on the significance of this friendship from Alex? And why can memories between friends be so selectively remembered and interpreted? A bit gloomy but overall an excellent read (on the Giller long-list).
The City We Became – NK Jemisin
A very imaginative example of speculative fiction about the soul of cities, specifically New York which is protected by five avatars in the five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. The personalities of the avatars reflect the borough characteristics. But there is conflict, a city takeover by malevolent forces! Highly entertaining with extraordinary visual scenes. Thanks Amy for this recommendation.
What David Read 