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Books/Manga Recs, 10/21/08
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 09:16 pmBooks:
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz
I never thought that I would read a Pulitizer-prize winning book that referenced a character's hit points, Akira, and Magic: The Gathering in such an easy and familiar way. And I was a bit suspicious that a mainstream novel would treat these subjects without sarcasm and derision. So imagine my surprise when this book not only did the above, but did it with bells on and in such riveting prose that I readerly soldiered on, despite horrific descriptions of violence and torture under the Dictator of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo. I desperately wanted to know what had happened to the main character's parents and grandmother, and how Oscar became the way he was. Oscar, our main nerd/character is like a lot of people I knew in high school (and to a lesser degree in college) except that he seems unable to live up to any expectation, except that of fantasy that his beloved sci fi books, role-playing games, anime, and comics. And these obsessions weave their way into all other parts of the narrative. It's a bit disconcerting to read a sentence about how Oscar's mother was beaten almost to death by gangsters and come across the notation (at least 4d10). But I think it demonstrates the consequences of violence when observed from a great distance (in this case, time.) Oscar, unable to imagine his mother like this (because she's a pretty formidable character when he's alive) can only see her through the lenses of his beloved popular culture references. It's an amazing book, and highly deserving of the award. I just can't help imagining a lot of book groups sitting around and wondering "what the hell are we missing here?!" at the mixture of nerd slang and Spanglish that permeates much of the dialogue.
The Pirate Loop, by Simon Guerrier
Out of all the officially-sanctioned Dr. Who fanfic books I've read so far, I like this one the best: I can imagine it as a real episode and the character descriptions are spot-on. The badger-faced space pirates are pretty darned adorable (and only a bit menacing, in one instance) The ending, in particular, is one that I think is better executed in a book than in the TV medium. Anyway, it's a bit of fluffy reading that I quite enjoyed.
Manga:
Yotsuba to!, by Kiyohiko Azuma
Azuma has such a good eye for everyday details of modern Japanese life, and this volume has them in spades; the narrative goes from episode to episode and tackles small, real life stories, like a typhoon blowing through town, and the portable shrine festival (can't remember the name in Japanese.) It's the details that get me every time. For example, the small drawings of the signs at the local high school's culture festival are lovingly rendered, right down to the cute lettering that students (like the ones I once taught) would choose; the school itself is the good old layout, lockers, loaner plastic slippers and umbrella stands I remember. Add to this the funny dialogue between the women who live next door to the main character, and I'm sold. Reading this is the best way to practice Japanese, ever.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz
I never thought that I would read a Pulitizer-prize winning book that referenced a character's hit points, Akira, and Magic: The Gathering in such an easy and familiar way. And I was a bit suspicious that a mainstream novel would treat these subjects without sarcasm and derision. So imagine my surprise when this book not only did the above, but did it with bells on and in such riveting prose that I readerly soldiered on, despite horrific descriptions of violence and torture under the Dictator of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo. I desperately wanted to know what had happened to the main character's parents and grandmother, and how Oscar became the way he was. Oscar, our main nerd/character is like a lot of people I knew in high school (and to a lesser degree in college) except that he seems unable to live up to any expectation, except that of fantasy that his beloved sci fi books, role-playing games, anime, and comics. And these obsessions weave their way into all other parts of the narrative. It's a bit disconcerting to read a sentence about how Oscar's mother was beaten almost to death by gangsters and come across the notation (at least 4d10). But I think it demonstrates the consequences of violence when observed from a great distance (in this case, time.) Oscar, unable to imagine his mother like this (because she's a pretty formidable character when he's alive) can only see her through the lenses of his beloved popular culture references. It's an amazing book, and highly deserving of the award. I just can't help imagining a lot of book groups sitting around and wondering "what the hell are we missing here?!" at the mixture of nerd slang and Spanglish that permeates much of the dialogue.
The Pirate Loop, by Simon Guerrier
Out of all the officially-sanctioned Dr. Who fanfic books I've read so far, I like this one the best: I can imagine it as a real episode and the character descriptions are spot-on. The badger-faced space pirates are pretty darned adorable (and only a bit menacing, in one instance) The ending, in particular, is one that I think is better executed in a book than in the TV medium. Anyway, it's a bit of fluffy reading that I quite enjoyed.
Manga:
Yotsuba to!, by Kiyohiko Azuma
Azuma has such a good eye for everyday details of modern Japanese life, and this volume has them in spades; the narrative goes from episode to episode and tackles small, real life stories, like a typhoon blowing through town, and the portable shrine festival (can't remember the name in Japanese.) It's the details that get me every time. For example, the small drawings of the signs at the local high school's culture festival are lovingly rendered, right down to the cute lettering that students (like the ones I once taught) would choose; the school itself is the good old layout, lockers, loaner plastic slippers and umbrella stands I remember. Add to this the funny dialogue between the women who live next door to the main character, and I'm sold. Reading this is the best way to practice Japanese, ever.
