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Book/Manga Recs, 8/6/10
Friday, August 6th, 2010 05:25 pmIn Books:
Commencement, by J. Courtney Sullivan: This was an awesome birthday present from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
orichalcum, given to me not only because of the good writing, but also largely because of the bulk of the plot taking place at my alma mater, Smith College. (Sullivan is an alum.) And, for the most part, Sullivan nails it. Her description of life at Smith is sharply observed--everything from the awkward first year (note: NOT freshmen, get it?!) house meeting to the way that friendships form, change, disintegrate, and heal. (Although I did start to wonder if Sullivan had a weird obsession with the fabled "freshmen 15" weight gain: she brings it up at least three different times over the course of the whole novel. Maybe I wasn't paying attention at Smith, but I cannot for the life of me remember any of my fellow students gorging themselves the way she describes!) She also captures the Smith experience of graduating student expectations: you will DO something with yourself. You will NOT waste your life. Social responsibility is YOURS. What, you've got nothing for the alumnae magazine? What's wrong with you? While some of the later plot twists are a little over the top, the majority of this book is a thoughtful, understated look at the way education shapes us, for better and for worse. I highly recommend this to all my Smithie friends.
Crystal Rain, by Tobias S. Buckell: If there's one way to turn me off a book, writers, it's having all of your characters of color speak in a patois of broken English. A hero with amnesia, secrets locked up in his brain that the villains want? OK, fine. Slightly low-tech science fiction world? Yeah, sure, I'll buy that. The Gods walk among humans from time to time? Well, fine, it's your to-do. BUT: having the said white hero speak perfect English while his wife and son have dialogue like, "A long time ago, all we old-father them had work on a cold world with no ocean or palm tree" means that I cannot get invested in your narrative, no matter what literary tricks you promise to pull down the line. (Book club read, not my choice.)
Poison Study, Magic Study, & Fire Study, by Maria V. Snyder: I speed-read through the first one of these, sailed through the second, and plodded through the third. I can't quite say what bogged the story down for me so much. Was it the somewhat pasted-on romance between the two lead characters of the first book? No, although I had to work to actively put their age difference out of my head while I read the books. I think it was more the expanding of the cast of characters from about five to twenty-five in the last two books, and the feeling that those additional twenty weren't exactly fleshed out. The other thing that bothered me about these works was that sexual violence was a major impetus for all three plot lines. (OK, the third installment not quite as much. That time, it was human sacrifice. o_0;;) I'm starting to have issues with the standard rape-and-revenge plot lines; yes, it's a major motivating factor for any character, but... for every book? Hasn't your main character gone through enough yet? Perhaps what really got me was that I liked the heroine so much in the first book, and the stakes for her simply surviving the plot were almost too damn high to be believed. After that, the stakes dwindled somewhat, and I started wishing for a decent therapist and a steady job for her, instead of further attempts on her life and sexual/political intrigue. These books are definitely worth a read, but those with rape/sexual assault triggers should probably steer clear.
A general memo to all fantasy and mystery authors: Not everyone who's into BDSM is a serial killer/sexual predator in training. I'm getting tired of the reveal of the villain's collection of "evil"/deviant sex toys and all the other characters shaking their heads in disgust.
In Manga:
A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, by Moto Hagio: First of all, a word on this beautiful book. Fantagraphics has put together this collection in a gorgeous hardcover package that's well worth the $25. Besides the comics themselves, there's an extended interview with the author and her translator, as well as the highly informative article from The Comics Journal giving the background on the author and the significance of her work. The comics themselves... are quite wonderful. They're at turns funny, creepy, touching, and haunting. Perhaps the strongest of the collection is The Iguana Girl, about a little girl whose mother is convinced that her child isn't human--an iguana at best. The story, which unfolds over the girl's lifetime is slow and steady, told in short bursts of narration and picture until the entirely surprising conclusion jumps out towards the end of the story. Hagio tackles a lot of issues that are relevant to readers of all nationalities like dealing with grief and loneliness, abortion, and the tricks that memory can play. All in all, this is a highly satisfying piece of work, and it most definitely belongs in your manga collection. :)
Commencement, by J. Courtney Sullivan: This was an awesome birthday present from
orichalcum, given to me not only because of the good writing, but also largely because of the bulk of the plot taking place at my alma mater, Smith College. (Sullivan is an alum.) And, for the most part, Sullivan nails it. Her description of life at Smith is sharply observed--everything from the awkward first year (note: NOT freshmen, get it?!) house meeting to the way that friendships form, change, disintegrate, and heal. (Although I did start to wonder if Sullivan had a weird obsession with the fabled "freshmen 15" weight gain: she brings it up at least three different times over the course of the whole novel. Maybe I wasn't paying attention at Smith, but I cannot for the life of me remember any of my fellow students gorging themselves the way she describes!) She also captures the Smith experience of graduating student expectations: you will DO something with yourself. You will NOT waste your life. Social responsibility is YOURS. What, you've got nothing for the alumnae magazine? What's wrong with you? While some of the later plot twists are a little over the top, the majority of this book is a thoughtful, understated look at the way education shapes us, for better and for worse. I highly recommend this to all my Smithie friends.Crystal Rain, by Tobias S. Buckell: If there's one way to turn me off a book, writers, it's having all of your characters of color speak in a patois of broken English. A hero with amnesia, secrets locked up in his brain that the villains want? OK, fine. Slightly low-tech science fiction world? Yeah, sure, I'll buy that. The Gods walk among humans from time to time? Well, fine, it's your to-do. BUT: having the said white hero speak perfect English while his wife and son have dialogue like, "A long time ago, all we old-father them had work on a cold world with no ocean or palm tree" means that I cannot get invested in your narrative, no matter what literary tricks you promise to pull down the line. (Book club read, not my choice.)
Poison Study, Magic Study, & Fire Study, by Maria V. Snyder: I speed-read through the first one of these, sailed through the second, and plodded through the third. I can't quite say what bogged the story down for me so much. Was it the somewhat pasted-on romance between the two lead characters of the first book? No, although I had to work to actively put their age difference out of my head while I read the books. I think it was more the expanding of the cast of characters from about five to twenty-five in the last two books, and the feeling that those additional twenty weren't exactly fleshed out. The other thing that bothered me about these works was that sexual violence was a major impetus for all three plot lines. (OK, the third installment not quite as much. That time, it was human sacrifice. o_0;;) I'm starting to have issues with the standard rape-and-revenge plot lines; yes, it's a major motivating factor for any character, but... for every book? Hasn't your main character gone through enough yet? Perhaps what really got me was that I liked the heroine so much in the first book, and the stakes for her simply surviving the plot were almost too damn high to be believed. After that, the stakes dwindled somewhat, and I started wishing for a decent therapist and a steady job for her, instead of further attempts on her life and sexual/political intrigue. These books are definitely worth a read, but those with rape/sexual assault triggers should probably steer clear.
A general memo to all fantasy and mystery authors: Not everyone who's into BDSM is a serial killer/sexual predator in training. I'm getting tired of the reveal of the villain's collection of "evil"/deviant sex toys and all the other characters shaking their heads in disgust.
In Manga:
A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, by Moto Hagio: First of all, a word on this beautiful book. Fantagraphics has put together this collection in a gorgeous hardcover package that's well worth the $25. Besides the comics themselves, there's an extended interview with the author and her translator, as well as the highly informative article from The Comics Journal giving the background on the author and the significance of her work. The comics themselves... are quite wonderful. They're at turns funny, creepy, touching, and haunting. Perhaps the strongest of the collection is The Iguana Girl, about a little girl whose mother is convinced that her child isn't human--an iguana at best. The story, which unfolds over the girl's lifetime is slow and steady, told in short bursts of narration and picture until the entirely surprising conclusion jumps out towards the end of the story. Hagio tackles a lot of issues that are relevant to readers of all nationalities like dealing with grief and loneliness, abortion, and the tricks that memory can play. All in all, this is a highly satisfying piece of work, and it most definitely belongs in your manga collection. :)
