This collection of short stories about Korean immigrants is quite moving and provides real insight into their particular culture and challenges. I thiThis collection of short stories about Korean immigrants is quite moving and provides real insight into their particular culture and challenges. I think I preferred the eponymous story the best, but all of them had a special ambiance and were page turners.
This is the list of stories: The Church of Abundant Life First Language A Map of the Simplified World Solo Works for Piano Skinship The Art of Losing The Loved Ones Song and Song
One quote I liked: "foods that were overly sweetened tasted of deceit."
I have known the author of this book since she was my sister's best friend several decades ago when we are about six or eight years old (I am two yearI have known the author of this book since she was my sister's best friend several decades ago when we are about six or eight years old (I am two years older than Maud). I recall a brilliant, mousy girl who was rather withdrawn at the time. Our lives ran in a rather strange parallel because we both went to the same university but had different majors and our paths barely crossed if at all. I also recall less clearly family all of whom are protagonists in this brutally honest account of Maud's genealogical research.
The writing is casual and engaging as Maud takes us with her on her journey into her immediate past history with her mother and father, their parents and brothers and sisters, and so on. She reveals her discoveries one after the other and we are at times horrified and at times comforted by what her research turns up.
As someone interested in his own genealogy, I found the book highly readable and helpful in interpreting my own family tree. There is a section near the end that approaches an experiential aspect of her research which will be offputting to some readers. I felt it was well-described as her own specific, personal experience and, as with the rest of the book, loved her straightforward and honest recounting of what she lived through.
Despite the obvious subjective filter of appreciating Maud as a wonderful human being, objectively this is an important piece of research into the virtues and dangers of genetic research and a monument to her strength of character and perseverance for having made such an admirable contribution to the field and a beautiful partage of her own story....more
I was honestly a little let down by this new Anne Tyler book. As much as I loved The Accidental Tourist, Breathing Lessons, and Dinner at the HomesickI was honestly a little let down by this new Anne Tyler book. As much as I loved The Accidental Tourist, Breathing Lessons, and Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, this one just never pulled at my heartstrings in the same way. The idea of telling a story over multiple generations is not all that original and as she moves the focus around, we never get to really feel an affinity with the family members. I was impatient to move up to the COVID period, but this section was short and felt a bit truncated. I would have preferred a full novel of that chapter or maybe the camping one, rather than this pot pourri of short stories dealing with the same family. And, I might be really thick, but other than the reference in the penultimate chapter to a character doing her hair in a French braid, I never was able to connect the title to the narrative. I don't think Tyler will be getting a second Pulitzer for this work....more
I was not all that enamored with Batuman's previous The Idiot and was even less impressed with its putative sequel. It is not claimed as a sequel, butI was not all that enamored with Batuman's previous The Idiot and was even less impressed with its putative sequel. It is not claimed as a sequel, but in fact, picks up the story of the protagonist and her obsession with Ivan. I just could not enjoy the whining of someone that is smart enough to get into Harvard, but too stupid to see through transparent, manipulative assholes like Ivan. That and all the pointless complaining about classes and lattes just put me off of this one....more
I really did not like how this book was written and was repulsed by most of the protagonists. I realize that Ms. Watkins is borrowing from her own famI really did not like how this book was written and was repulsed by most of the protagonists. I realize that Ms. Watkins is borrowing from her own family history, that her dad really was named Paul and really did procure young girls for sexual abuse by the heinous Charles Manson. Still, I found little redeeming or even interesting in the narration or in any of the characters. I found myself wanting to skip forward to see if anything actually happens or if anyone's lives improved and I was disappointed in both regards. Truly, I don't see why this book was so highly praised.......more
Wow, this was pretty awful. Surely, there are many readers that will disagree with me because the book has an overall average of >3, but I was put offWow, this was pretty awful. Surely, there are many readers that will disagree with me because the book has an overall average of >3, but I was put off by it. There is this strange pseudo-magical realism with the assimilation of the narrator Tiny's child as an owl-baby (thus the title of the book), but sometimes a metaphor can be pushed too far and in this case, she broke off the cork and pushed it back in the bottle and every sip I took, I was spitting out shards of wood. There were interesting music references as the narrator (and the author?) is a cellist, but even the music is uniformly depressing. I realize that this is about the difficulties of being a new mom, and I also realize that as a man, I will never have that particular experience. However, I have had kids and experienced some of the anxiety and dread that is so heavily alluded to from cover to cover. The tone is uniformly dark with a stark and disturbing lack of comic relief. I dunno, if you are a woman that had a particularly conflicted pregnancy and birth, this book might talk to you. On the other hand, if you are a parent and more or less happy with the end result, this will read like drinking a gallon of sour milk and honestly reads as a piece of white privilege - emo lit. Notta my cuppa tea.
This was an unexpectedly great piece of magical realism in the tradition of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Mario Vargas Llosa. De Robertis is from Uruguay This was an unexpectedly great piece of magical realism in the tradition of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Mario Vargas Llosa. De Robertis is from Uruguay and this book is a fictionalized biography of José Mujica, the President of Uruguay from 2009 to 2015. The story takes place in his old age as a retired man, but there are many flashbacks to his 15 years in prison as a leftist guerilla. It is during this time that he meets the frog... The book is well-written and very engaging. Highly recommended.
I did not need to go with him to see the world. I sat in my comfortable chair, the canvas on my lap, tbe needle leading a thread, each entry point a heaI did not need to go with him to see the world. I sat in my comfortable chair, the canvas on my lap, tbe needle leading a thread, each entry point a heartbeat. Delay and delay each cross-stitch, delay and delay each beartbeat, and suddenly I'm above yellow China. I soar over azure Italy. Is this Morocco's red I see before me? No, I did not walk the world. I flew above it, and I soared. Don't contradict me. I told you I'm always right. Don't argue with me. Of course I flew on my threads. Why would you believe that a woman could fly on a broom but not on threads, why? I'm ninety-nine, and I can still thread a needle by candlelight. ...more
This was a really interesting read. It takes a while to realize that he really is talking about Netanyahu's father UPDATED! Pulitzer Winner for 2022!!
This was a really interesting read. It takes a while to realize that he really is talking about Netanyahu's father and the former Israeli president as a kid, apparently based on a true story. It is written in a subtle Philip Roth-like self-deprecating tone. We are inside this Jewish family in 1959 and experience the endemic anti-Semitism faced by our protagonist, the only Hebrew professor at a celebrated university - their token Jew of sorts. The denouement is hilarious and the afterward helpful to add perspective to the entire book. Highly recommended.
This book just won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize! What a surprise! I have not heard of either of the runners-up, Monkey Boy or Palmeras. I would note that Cohen is only the 5th Jewish person to win, the others being Michael Chabon (2001) and the holy trinity of Roth, Bellow, and Malamud. Sadly no Latina or Jewish woman has still ever won…
Stephen King's latest book is an interesting crime novel about the eponymous Billy Summers, an Iraq veteran Marine turned professional assassin, whoseStephen King's latest book is an interesting crime novel about the eponymous Billy Summers, an Iraq veteran Marine turned professional assassin, whose last job becomes incredibly complicated. First off, he isn't sure he can trust his mob boss or his flunkie collaborators. And then there's Alice...It is not a literary masterpiece, but it is peppered with excellent descriptions of the Iraq war apparently inspired by a true veteran's account of Fallujah. I liked the principal characters of Billy, Bucky, and Alice and found the story relatively cohesive even it if was a bit of a slow boil.
This was an interesting mashup of a murder mystery with social commentary about racism and lynching and political commentary about TFG. It was highly This was an interesting mashup of a murder mystery with social commentary about racism and lynching and political commentary about TFG. It was highly readable and goes pretty fast. The end is kind of dystopian, but hardly surprising once the reveals come out in the story. I liked this one slightly more than last year's Telephone. I might go back and read his previous work....more
This was a clever short story collection, five of which feature the same protagonists: Jack and Sadie. Each of the stories is about relationships insiThis was a clever short story collection, five of which feature the same protagonists: Jack and Sadie. Each of the stories is about relationships inside various families and each is written in an intimate, lucid tone. It is a quick read but resonates with you for days afterward. It is dark, but also very human.
I really enjoyed this short and brutal little western. Ming Tsu is a badass assassin in the Far West during time that the great Pacific railroads wereI really enjoyed this short and brutal little western. Ming Tsu is a badass assassin in the Far West during time that the great Pacific railroads were being built. He is a sort of Chinese Arya, marking names off his list as he venges past wrongs. The writing reminds me a little of Cormac McCartney, but the dialog here actually uses punctuation marks ;-) He hooks up first with a prophet, who makes for a great character study and some comic relief. Later, he has a group of "miracles" with which he travels - this brings an element of magical realism to the story for which I found it easy to suspend my disbelief. The themes of home, love, upbringing, and forgiveness are all here if in a photo negative version. The descriptions of the many dry walks across the wastelands and encounters with outlaws and bones along the way were realistic and moving.
Fantastic little book, I feel it was well-deserving of the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction. Maybe not a Pulitzer winner though.
This was a painfully gorgeous tale about two women lost in Vietnam several decades apart. It is a beautifully woven narrative shifting back and forth This was a painfully gorgeous tale about two women lost in Vietnam several decades apart. It is a beautifully woven narrative shifting back and forth in time and forcing the reader to recreate the chronology. There is also a disquieting, but almost Murakami-esque magical realism quality to the writing. I thought it evoked postwar Vietnam with verve and passion and I definitely could see why the book was so highly promoted. It definitely made me want to read Kupersmith's shorter fiction in The Frangipani Hotel as well. A must for Vietnamese readers and those interested in southeast Asia and in particular womens' plight in the wake of war and counter-revolution....more
This was a powerful collection of stories that take place in Cambodian communities in California. The landscape is bleak, the memories of the Pol Pot This was a powerful collection of stories that take place in Cambodian communities in California. The landscape is bleak, the memories of the Pol Pot / Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia from 1976-1979 are vivid and raw, and the relationships with family are strong but strained. The stories tend to be very intimate, but with characters we can relate to and sympathize with. I really enjoyed the style and variety of stories here.
Having visited Siam Reap and the many Angkor Wat temples, I have a tiny bit of familiarity with the history of Cambodia and its people. The book made me realize that I certainly did NOT taste the best food that is in their repertoire and I did not scratch the surface of their unique story of suffering and resilience.
It is likely that this collection could be a Pulitzer winner-up. I feel it would be deserving, and it is true that a short story collection hasn't won since Interpreter of Maladies (which I felt was inferior to The Stories of John Cheever which for me was the greatest short story collection to win the prize). It is true that this year's crop is VERY strong.
Highly recommended and I can't wait to see what Anthony Veasna So will do next!
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