Review: "A Model World" by Michael Chabon

The only thing I dislike more in Michael Chabon’s career than his recent output may be his early output, because his short Story collection, A Model World, may be the least impressive book, standing behind only the dreck that he came onto the scene with, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. It falls into doing something I really cannot stand when it comes to short stories: nothing ever happens. A few emotions are uncovered, and certain desires and wants come to the surface in these stories, but no real action take place. I’m not really judging those kinds of stories on their literary merit, authors like Raymond Carver are masters of the form, and his stories have very little action. It really comes down to preference, and I just prefer my stories to have a kind of weirder bent to them. It is a small enough form to experiment with, so I like it when a story loses its marbles a bit. My favorite short story writers; Dan Chaon, Haruki Murakami, Flannery O’ Conner and Joe R. Lansdale, all write stories that walk that line between insanity and brilliance very well. But having said that, I still feel that Chabon’s first collection is not a very good one. They all have interesting settings, especially the last one, which involves a group of kids who appear to be breaking into a house to proposition a foreign girl for sex. But I found it easy to lose the motivation of each character, probably because none of them were very well drawn-out, and what motivations they had, if any at all, were not really clear, or got in the way of what Chabon really wanted to express in the short form. I can’t be too made at this collection. It is from a very early period in the life of a literary superstar, and I’m glad to say that Wonderboys, Chabon’s best book, was right around the corner.

Rating: 3/5

Review: "Europe Central" by William T. Vollmann

Europe Central by William T Vollmann is the hardest book that I have had to get through in recent memory, for all the wrong reasons. There isn’t a moment in this book where it rises above its bland and dry layout that is almost too daunting for even the hardcore reader to get through. And the lack of reward at the end of the 750 pages (there are about 150 pages of sources and appendices but you couldn’t pay me to read them) shows what happens when a writer thinks too much with his head, and sometimes his penis, and not with his heart. The only positive things I can say about it is that some of the sex scenes in it are quite hysterical, almost as bad as the ones in Peter Nadas’ Parallel Stories, and it retroactively makes me think more highly of a book like The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell, a similar book in size and scope, but has much more emotional impact than this book, which has almost none. Like The Kindly Ones, Europe Central takes place during the years of World War II and focuses on the affect that the Third Reich’s rise has on everybody from high-ranking SS officers to artists, mainly composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Vollmann, I can tell, is quite intelligent and has an output that I honestly envy, producing almost five or six books in his career, whether they are fiction or non-fiction that surpass the 1000 pages mark. But if they are anything like this book, or worse, than they should only be read by academics in high-level college classrooms. But I’m done with that. Even though the sex scenes, written with a clinical coldness, provide quite a few laughs, it can save this long book from being a colossal dud.

Rating: 2/5

Review: "Live By Night" by Dennis Lehane

While it is very predictable, Dennis Lehane’s Live By Night is a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. It has all the trappings that make him my favorite American writer working today; prose and dialogue that expounds on everything from way a criminal act goes down to the very meaning of existence, and never coming off as arrogant or phony in doing so, and plot lines that create urgency and tension with realistic scenes of violence and characters who make you feel and live what is at stake in the pages. This is an indirect sequel to what I feel is Lehane’s magnum opus The Given Day. I don’t want to say that it is any less than the other book; it is just a different kind of story entirely. While The Given Day is almost purely a historical novel, Live By Night is definitely a crime epic set in the Prohibition Era, which makes this an excellent book for people who are fans of the show Boardwalk Empire (and shows why he was brought on as a writer for this previous season. And being a crime epic, this is a much darker book than The Given Day. The cost of life seems greater, the chances of survival, of both the body and the soul, are quite slim for all involved. The focus in this chapter of Lehane’s proposed trilogy is Joe Coughlin, who survived a bout of malaria in The Given Day, who is all grown up and leading a life of crime. A stain on the family name according to his father Thomas, a police commissioner, not just because of his criminal ways; he has fallen in love with Emma Gould, a squeeze of Albert White, the rival of the boss Joe works for. In a series of events that begin with a botched robbery, Joe is almost beaten to death, first by White, than by his vengeful father and a group of thuggish policeman, and Emma is presumed dead. A prison sent soon follows, where he is taken under the wing of kingpin Maso Pescatore, and is sent down to Florida to run his illegal rum operation. From there, he becomes a Scarface like figure, basically running the town with his love interest Gracelia, although trouble is never far behind, and the past comes back to try to take away Joe’s future. This is probably the darkest Lehane has gotten since he dealt with child abduction in Gone, Baby Gone, featuring a beating that is the most graphic and stomach turning one I have read in recent memory. It never glamorizes the lifestyle, and there still remains a nugget of the Joe we met in The Given Day, who is deeply moral and wants what is best for him and those that he loves, even though he knows that they are destined for tragedy and ruin. This is powerful, cinematic book that takes the reader on a journey into the darkest areas of desire, and it’s one that only Dennis Lehane can provide.

Rating: 5/5

Review: "The Other" by Thomas Tryon

The first book I read in 2014 was one I built up a little too much for myself. I had gotten my copy of Thomas Tryon’s The Other because of the afterword in it written by one of my favorite authors Dan Chaon. Knowing how he writes, I was excited to read a book in a similar style as how he writes. And from hearing about the reputation of the book, one being in the vain of Shirley Jackson, I was looking forward to it quite a bit, and made it my top reading list. But I’m quite disappointed in it. First off, it is very scary, I will give it that. The scenes of violence and dread are very well written, creating a dark, brooding atmosphere where a depraved act is just around the corner. But this somewhat swift novel is way over-stuffed with superfluous characters that detract from the relationship of the two twin brothers. This classic novel tells the story of Niles Perry, and the increasingly disturbing acts perpetrated by his twin brother Holland, in the town of Pequot Landing. They have just suffered through the violent, ambiguous death of their father and, with a neglectful mother, the two are free to roam as they please, and Niles is left to fend for himself as he tries to understand his sociopathic brother. As I said, the scary scenes are just that, with one involving an elderly neighbor and a magic trick being the highlight. But the adult characters just get in the way. It adds another, almost too mature dimension to the kid’s world, leaving them a little less alone than they should be in a story like this, and in turn makes the telling of the story less suspenseful. The twist I already knew about, but it is more than a bit creepy with the opening narration to each section. Just wish it could remain so in the confines of the two boys separate, isolated lives.

Rating: 3/5

Top Ten Books of 2013

Because a few things got in the way, I was only able to read 82 books this year, 19 shy of my goal of 101 books each year. But I made up for it by reading what are probably some of my favorite books of all time, and a lot of them were released this year! I’ve split it up into two lists, with authors I’ve read before and authors I haven’t. Here’s to another 101 in 2014.

New authors:

10. A Moment in the Sun by John Sayles: This 950 page monstrosity about a disparate group of people living in and around the time of the Yukon gold rush is as rich as it gets. It gets violent, introspective and epic, and there is a lot for a bibliophile to chew on as you plow through McSweeny’s thick paperback. Be sure to pick this one up with both hands.

9. A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers: A mixture of Waiting for Godot and Death of a Salesman create what is easily Dave Eggers’ most accessible, and probably best work, having only read a few short works. There are moments of great truth in this book, where Eggers gets right to the heart of human desire, no matter the age of the person. And it’s entertaining as well. 

8. What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt: Because she is married to Paul Auster, it’s unavoidable to compare to him, but I don’t feel like that is a bad thing. This book about two men whose relationship with each other perverts itself through each of their sons feels like a long-lost Auster novel. It has the same sense mystery, twists and emotional revelation as his early period. And even though the events are dark, I still feel great warmth when I read it.

7. All Souls by Javier Marias: A new international author to love in the way that I love Bolano. He takes a tired subject, the campus novel, and injects it with the same kind of oddball, scatter-shot storytelling that made Bolano’s thick novels so great. It’s a short read, barely a hair over 200 pages, and they go by quick.

6. The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers: The best war novel I have ever read. It’s a deeply poetic and viscerally violent look at war through the eyes of a young man filled with regret. But not regret at the people he has killed, but the people he has let down. It is a personal story that shines a light on bigger issues, which is what literature is supposed to do.

5. The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley: Leave it to an author like Mosley to give readers the most unique look at race relation in the past quarter century. It takes hot button topics and places them in a narrative that would be at home in a Rod Serling show. It manages to be creepy yet never lets go of the gravity of what it is trying to say about guilt.

4. The Dinner by Herman Koch: This is the most gleefully cynical book I read all year. Over the course of one dinner and 300 pages, we find out the levels that people will go to protect their own, even when they deserve to be tossed to the wolves. With a cool twist about who is really telling the story (which I won’t reveal), this book deserved to be a bestseller and the subject to many water-cooler conversations.

3. Big Breasts and Wide Hips by Mo Yan: Despite the goofy title, this novel is a near masterpiece in epic storytelling. Through the misfortunes of one woman and her unfortunate offspring, who fall victim to the tides of violent change, Yan captures a certain kind of Japanese identity that exists in his country. But I really don’t care about that. It’s just an old-fashioned, long patient kind of storytelling reminiscent of the best of John Irving that makes this book, and his author, so important.

2. The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vasquez: To compare someone to Bolano again, this is a horror novel of the highest order, but a more cerebral one, with real-life atrocities taking the place of the supernatural, which is all the more frightening. Vasquez captures a culture of fear that infected Columbia under the iron rule of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. It wasn’t just a war on drugs, it was a war on people, and it is no less scary than Bolano’s Santa Theresa or Stephen King’s Derry, Maine.

1. Rivers by Michael Farris Smith: The best new author I’ve read in awhile, as well ad the best debut I have come across in years. A unique kind of post-apocalyptic setting is presented here, one that is filled with epic weather changes in the Gulf of Mexico and an ocean of rain falling from the sky. In it is one lone man who must trek to the border somewhere near Tennessee. On the way he becomes a savior to a group of captured, pregnant women, which only bring up memories of his tragic past. A suitcase full of money, and plenty of bloodthirsty men willing to kill for their own salvation fill this epic tale of redemption. It comes with my full seal of approval.

Old authors:

10. Donnybrook by Frank Bill: Indiana’s own Frank Bill presents a damned wild ride into heartland of America where violence is a form of communication and depravity is a way of life. It is hard to find any moral center in this novel, but it is there if you look for it behind the piles of dead bodies and broken teeth. With the promise of a sequel, I’m in!

9. Clockers by Richard Price: After reading a few unimpressive novels by Price, this was the first one that was a homerun. The story is long, but simple, and focus on two men trying to navigate the hellish landscape of a crime-ridden New York City. The dialogue pops with double entendres and loose metaphors that are music to the reading ears, and a twist near the end forces the reader to ask questions about violence and where it really comes from.

8. Gone, Baby Gone by Dennis Lehane: Another transcendent crime thriller from the best one working today. Unlike his more mature books, like Mystic River and The Given Day, this book is probably his darkest one as well as his most ambiguous, with an ending that questions whether the right thing was done.

7. Ladies and Gentleman by Adam Ross: After the rather confusing Mr. Peanut, Ross gave readers a more straightforward look at dark modern life with this collection of stories. Things like honesty, kindness and good will are all negotiable in the world presented here, as long as something desired sits on the other side of these virtues.

6. Number9Dream by David Mitchell: Another book by an author I had almost written off, this novel balances the creativity with quality, presenting 9, almost spate narratives that build toward the rebirth of our damaged narrator. It will leave your mind racing as well as your heart aching.

5. The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver: A more optimistic look at a subject matter than Shriver’s famous We Need to Talk About Kevin. Through alternating chapters, we see the cause-and-effect of one possible kiss, each of which lead to complications both good and bad, that are unavoidable. It makes a really touching point about the ups and downs of life, and really earns its heartwarming moments.

4. The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano: After talking about people who make me think of him, let me talk of the man’s books themselves. With this and 2666, Bolano made a permanent mark on the world that will last for generations. And while 2666 could be about the acceptance of death, The Savage Detectives could be about the celebration of life. But it’s all open to interpretation, but what isn’t are the little stories weaved throughout this epic tale. From a ghost in a mineshaft to an oral sex contest, it’s all crazy, intriguing and full of life, showing us that Bolano’s death in 2003 is one of our young century’s greatest losses.

3. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt: I don’t think I can wait another 10 years for a new Tartt book Life is too short and she is too good to be so sparse in what she publishes. But I can rest easy knowing that this is her best work. Even at 778 pages, there is not a word wasted, and she provides the same kind of philosophical thriller that she did with The Secret History. It makes you think about the reasons people do things, and why certain objects contain an almost physical memory that the holder clings to even if it sinks them.

2. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill: Another epic 700-page book announces a change in a great writer. Here is the novel that will propel Hill out from under the shadow of his famous father and possibly make him the greatest genre writer of his generation. There is a real maturity in this story not seen in his other books; a real kind of summation of themes that he has been playing with and can now lay to rest and grow as a writer. This is a masterpiece of horror, and what’s better is that it doesn’t signal the end of a career, but a new beginning of one.

1. The Son by Philipp Meyer: The best book I have read since I have started reading seriously back in 2010. While I loved American Rust, Meyer is dealing with something better and grander here. This epic, which spans 150 years and three generations of oil tycoons, takes the idea of America’s founding and turns it on it’s head in a way I have not experienced before. The violence is gruesome, on both sides, and haunts the future generations in a breathtaking and ingenious way, as evidenced by the opening. A real set-in-stone masterpiece I hope gathers a huge following. I am still in awe of this book.