Review: "The Dissident" by Nell Freudenberger

Finally, I have read every author from The New Yorker’s 20 Under 40 list, and while a lot of the writers on that list are amazing and have super-bright futures ahead of them (Karen Russell, Philipp Meyer, Wells Tower, Joshua Ferris and ZZ Packer to be exact), a lot of the choices on the list seemed to just fill a void and based solely on the quality of how derivative their work is, instead of originality (Jonathan Safran Foer, David Bezmozgis, and Dinaw Mengetu spring to mind), and this last author, Nell Freudenberger, and her novel, The Dissident fall into the latter category. It is not that she is someone who is just copying writers from earlier generations; it is just that the book she wrote offers nothing special. Nothing about it jumps out at you the way Everything Ravaged, Everything burned by Wells Tower and Swamplandia! By Karen Russell not only commanded your attention with great plots and fictional people you wouldn’t find anywhere else, they also command respect and take there place among the best of writers today. This book didn’t really do that. It is hindered by its obsessions with cultural differences (always rearing its ugly head) and self-importance. It is also too long, with its 400 pages needing to be cut down to 200. The novel about a Chinese artist who lives with a well-to-do family in LA is very standard, but for all my bad mouthing I didn’t hate it at all. I give it a solid B for a few moments of entertainment (like any scene with the bush baby), and I think in the end all of its focus on weird artists doing weird things for the sake of validating themselves, the book (and I hope Freudenberger as well) is very critical of that kind of shallow behavior, and for that, I give it brownie points. Not the best, but again, I am glad to have read the book.

Rating: 4/5

Review: "That Old Cape Magic" by Richard Russo

The one thing books by Richard Russo always have is charm. He writes easily the most charming books I have read. Even when the plot moves along thanks to stupid and preposterous happenings, like a car being driven on the sidewalk in Nobody’s Fool and a the spine of a notebook impaling a nose in Straight Man, I can never bring myself to hate what I am reading. It isn’t forced quirkiness like Juno; it just seems to make the world as well as the people who inhabit that world more endearing and sympathetic, especially when they do things that are mean and thoughtless. That Old Cape Magic, Russo’s most recent, begins with the main character Griffin, being crapped on by a passing swallow, which is typical in a Russo opening and one that is very funny. We meet Griffin in his favorite place in the world: Cape Cod. It is where he vacationed as a kid, got married, and watched his daughter’s friend get married as well. Now, after he and his wife are now separated, he must reexamine his decisions and where they have brought him. The big problem with this particular novel is that there does not seem to be much at stake, and what is at stake seems very trivial, which makes it hard for the reader to really care. But I think Russo’s intention with this short (compared to his others) novel was to make something fun, even if he sacrificed the real heart in his best works. And it is pretty funny. We get two jarhead ex-brother in-laws who want to harm Griffin, and the climatic collapse of deck where the wedding is supposed to be. It is okay to laugh because no one dies and someone gets stuck in a tree. A fun lighthearted novel that is perfect for fun, never heavy, reading.

Rating: 4/5

Review: "How to Read the Air" by Dinaw Mengestu

With a book that includes twenty different writers, one of them had to come out as the worst. It’s the law of averages, and I think the one who has the least amount of talent is, sadly Dinaw Mengestu. This is the perfect example of what I dislike about ethnic or immigrant fiction. It doesn’t have the zeal or entertainment value of a Junot Diaz or even the great storytelling ability of a Chimanda Ngozi Adiche. It works off one trick and that last for about 300 pages, that are admittedly hilarious for how stupid the plot is, and how awful the main character is. We meet a Jonas (paper thin autobiographical character) as he is dealing with the death of his dad and his failing marriage. He teaches at an elite prep school, where he breezes through his day without a care. He recalls his families struggle in their new surroundings and his life leading up to now. He begins to tell a fake story about his father’s journey to America, which is the only good part in the book. The problem I have is with how pretentious Mengestu comes off. He thinks his story makes him special, which it doesn’t, and he continually name drops authors his “protagonist” is reading or likes. It’s rather annoying and makes him come off as a massive hipster tool, which, unfortunately, people respect enough to publish. It is a completely unoriginal story written by an arrogant person whose culture he thinks makes him superior. It is a funny thing to read though, and that is the only reason to read this book and the only reason it is better than Native Speaker (another whiny man oppressed by his arbitrary cultural identity). Read it for the laughs, which is not what this book was supposed to be.

Rating: 3/5

Review: "Fitting Ends" by Dan Chaon

This is a breath of fresh air as I ma closing in on my goal of 140 books. Maybe I read Among the Missing too quick, but even in the day that I finished this book, I was able to savor each story and enter into these worlds that Dan Chaon creates that are equal parts high literary study in society and intense and suspenseful narrative with many secrets that open doors to your imagination that all books should do. Chaon, who is one of the best writers working today, is a master at that through two amazing novels and two collections of short stories. He fits in perfectly into what direction modern fiction is going in how he blends high and low art into something new and creative. The people who inhabit these worlds all seem real and the actions they take, whether they are self-destructive or just plan stupid, always seem real and never come of as fraudulent or silly, and the most stupid things these people do always come from a place in Chaon’s mind that is respectful of their plight. The first story that deserves mention would be “Going Out” which shows the relationship between a father and son whose only sense of connection would be their trips to Alcoholics Anonymous. The father blames himself for the way his son abused alcohol and lost his chance of moving on to better things once he graduated college. But from the son’s perspective, he didn’t not only drink too much, but he sees alcohol as one of the only things that made him happy. He never killed anyone or disappointed anyone while he was drunk. All the happy moments in his life were a result of alcohol, and now he is lost and alone without the feelings alcohol gave him. These two perspectives work to show the reader how one solution to a problem is not always the right one. “Fraternity” is along the same lines as far as setting and characters go. After a violent car accident, two frat member’s lives are changed. One becomes the president of the fraternity, while the other one suffered irreversible brain damage and had to leave college altogether. Haunted by these memories, the new president, along with another friend goes to visit their former classmate. What they find when they get there is really sad and heartbreaking, especially when recalling the flashbacks to what the man used to be. Finally the title story, which is equally about a haunted stretch of road and a man’s feeling on his long dead brother, is both scary and painfully nostalgic for a time when things seemed better, and friends you used to know exited as flesh and blood instead of faint memories. Whoever says plot is worthless reads too many modernists for one, and has never read anyone like Dan Chaon. Pick up this book and his two other fine novels You Remind Me of Me and Await Your Reply and I promise they won’t disappoint you.

Rating: 5/5

Review: "The Vagrants" by Yiyun Li

The Vagrants by Yiyun Li is not a book that left a big impact on me, and it is very hard to dredge up details over a week after reading it. But thinking about it now, as I have said before many times, I don’t think that is a sign of a bad book. It just failed to resonate with me as anything astounding or revelatory. When you read as much as I do, and broaden your reading tastes with every book you read, you are bound to come across books that slide out of your memory bank and leave only the faintest impressions. This is one. It is a cool premise, albeit one that is more derivative than original: a political radical in a small Chinese village in the late 70’s is being executed for her crimes against the state. This sentence has far reaching implications with people in this town. The woman’s parents, who never understood her daughter, are confused about their guilt and grief. A woman married to a wealthy man is inspired by her brave actions. A borderline sociopathic young man is intrigued by the spectacle, as well as his equally messed up love interest, and the innocent boy who follows him around. It succeeds in showing the ways in which an apathetic and cruel society affects every kind of person who lives under its rule, whether you are young or old, or rich or poor. But that has been done to death, and it doesn’t break new ground. The characters are okay, but they are just that: okay. I would love a whole book on the sociopath, but Li is not that kind of writer. If she was this book would be a lot more memorable, and I would give it a hearty recommendation instead of a half-hearted one.

Rating: 4/5

Review: "So Brave, Young and Handsome" by Leif Enger

Leif Enger blew me away last year with his first novel Peace Like a River, and he has done the same thing with So Brave, Young and Handsome, another thoughtful adventure tale that harkens back to a time in all our lives where the world was mostly unknown to us and it was scary, risky, but always had a sense of adventure in the dangers we undertook growing up. I have compared Enger to John Irving, which is what Peace Like A River reminded me of, but here, this is more of a classic western tale, like Cormac McCarthy but worth your time. We meet Monte Becket, struggling writer who gained success to early and cannot duplicate it, as he struggles with his writing quota on his Minnesota farm. In the midst of his struggle for the written page, Glendon Hale, a kindly old boat maker, wanders into his family’s life and enthralls them with his stories of where he has been and what he has done. Soon, on a whim (as well as a need to escape from his go-nowhere writing career) he accepts Glendon’s invite to head to Mexico to reconcile with Glendon’s lost love, Blue. He finds out early on that Glendon is a professional robber, and decides to follow help him on his journey toward redemption. From that one scene, which takes place on a train, the story is pure magic. In short, easy to read chapters, we follow Monte as he and Glendon travel to Mexico, meeting all kinds of different people. They meet a young outlaw named Hood full of life and hope, whose story and desires become the most tragic part of the story. At one point they stop at a carnival, where Hood becomes a cast member in a movie, which leads to the accident that seal his fate. This is the slowest part of the novel, only because Enger actually just slows down when everything else in the book his quick and fast-paced. This part of the novel also leads to the most entertaining part of the novel, which features Monte being held captive by the story’s antagonist, Charles Siringo. This guy comes of the pages as one hell of a frightening figure. His tenacity to catch Glendon, and the harm he does to Monte is appalling and puts the villainous cap on a brutal lawman instead of the brave outlaw. The ending, I must saw was very anti-climatic and a little disappointing, but that in no way casts a dark shadow over the proceeding excitement. There is nothing real special in the prose or in how the story’s action rises. It is just a great fun story that anyone with and open mind and an open heart will enjoy thoroughly. It is sad that Enger doesn’t right more. If a good director makes any of these books into a movie, it should make him a literary star, and people would be itching to read what he publishes. Until then, we have two books that are fantastic.

Rating: 5/5