I’ve Still Been Reading
I have a tendency to blog more about bands even though I am always reading one or more books. If you would like to read a somewhat concise review of any of the following titles, click the title of the blog and scroll down ‘till you find what you are looking for.
RUNNING WITH SCISSORS by Augusten Burroughs
THE AUTOGRAPH MAN by Zadie Smith
DRINKING COFFEE ELSEWHERE by ZZ Packer
INDELIBLE ACTS by A. L. Kennedy
ORIGINAL BLISS by A. L. Kennedy
AMRITA by Banana Yoshimoto
RUNNING WITH SCISSORS by Augusten Burroughs
Apparently, this is at least in part an autobiographical account of Augusten’s childhood. The book chronicles the divorce of his parents, his mom’s steady descent into mental illness, his life with his mom’s psychiatrist who would probably meet DSM IV criteria for several different diagnoses himself, and the main character’s first love.
Augusten is quirky and obsessed with hair products (kind of like a gay non republican version of Tyler Johnson in Douglas Coupland’s Shampoo Planet) He’s perhaps too smart for his own good and spends his days loafing about and trying not to annoy anyone too much. Living in squalor, he bonds with the psychiatrist’s children and becomes involved in a serious relationship with a past patient of the Dr’s. We see a group of people who more than ever struggle for guidance with their fast food jobs and “Bible dipping.” (That’s when you ask God a question and look for the answer by turning to a random page and word of the Bible.) Lurking behind Augusten’s daily escapism is always the thought that he might turn out like his mother, who we see taking over the book’s plot almost completely at some points when her bouts of mental illness take over any reasonable line of thought.
Running With Scissors is a difficult read not so much because mental illness is incomprehensible but because every character Augusten interacts with is somewhat to moderately affected by mental illness. Most surprising , of course, is the psychiatrist Dr. Finch because the decisions he makes are not only irrational and unprofessional but they also seriously put the lives of his patients in jeopardy. It’s very disturbing that this is autobiographical but at the same time made me feel hopeful that Augusten obviously made it out alive with enough wits to make sense of the chaos, depravity, and a Christmas tree that won’t ever be taken out and disposed of.
THE AUTOGRAPH MAN by Zadie Smith
I was reluctant for a long time to read anything by Zadie Smith for the simple and foolish reason that I was worried she wouldn’t live up to the hype. I was really relieved to read this because I did find it engaging, creative, and very worthwhile. Alex Li-Tandem is a man with a dual mission: 1. To divide and categorize everything between what is wholly at its nature Jewish and what is not. 2. To track down an authentic Kitty Alexander autograph. The novel tracks Alex from Britain to NYC and back in a course of events that is always quirky and unpredictable. Zadie’s strength is in capturing the true essence of her characters in a third person perspective that leaves you feeling more like you are actually reading a first person perspective. There are many intracasies in the writing as well that allow Zadie to explore issues of religion, race, and the temporary nature of life. I found myself wrapped up in the quirkiness of the characters and in the wild unpredictability of the plot. It’s a very active, exciting book at the same time that characters are developed and you can’t help but want to read more about them and find out what happens to them, which is I suppose, the best many writers can hope for. I’m excited about reading some more of Zadie Smith’s novels.
DRINKING COFFEE ELSEWHERE by ZZ Packer
Has Flannery O’ Connor been reincarnated as a black woman? That was the question I continually asked while reading many of the stories in Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, which are quite brilliant. I’m not one to be incredibly impressed by short stories alone but these were surely a step above 99% of the short stories out there.
Often dealing with issues of race and faith, we meet several protagonists who struggle to do the right thing in bad situations. We see a religious nurse being challenged by one of her patients, a teenage girl who runs away from home to find her mother and gets caught up in an underground drug and prostitution ring, a group of camp girls who make allegations of racism of other campers before realizing what they are getting into, and many many other characters dealing with difficult issues. The main link is the matter of faith and religion that each one of them struggles with. Often, the average reader will find her or himself just as challenged as the protagonists. The book tackles everything from inner city schools to gay rights to civil rights, every time adding a unique perspective and with a perfect amount of visual description within the text. Some of it is downright profound.
INDELIBLE ACTS by A. L. Kennedy
This is another collection of short stories but this time from a Scottish author instead of an American one. The nature of these deal much more with infidelity and sexuality instead of issues of race and faith, however. The protagonists are hopeless drifters in search for something to fill the emptiness, usually something in terms of a relationship or of a sexual nature. Often, the stories come across as a glimpse into a life. There are subtleties in the writing that make these more interesting but it didn’t grab me as much as ZZ Packer’s short stories or some of my other favorites (the previously mentioned Flannery O’Connor as well as Andre Dubus. It’s possible the nature of the problem lies in the fact that I couldn’t really relate to any of the characters and was left feeling disconnected.
ORIGINAL BLISS by A. L. Kennedy
I thought I would give Kennedy another try with this one as I’m typically more partial to full length novels instead of short stories and I found myself being disappointed. (I actually discovered that I liked her short stories more.) The main protagonist is very difficult to read and Kennedy doesn’t help much in the way of us really understanding why she does the things she does. She isn’t mentally ill but she clearly searches for something. It begins with her searching out a famous quantum mechanics author for help because she feels God has left her. She endures abuse and some bizarre sexual entanglements and yet most of the time she is seemingly reserved and without much personality. Even in action, she seems passive and therefore a very weak character. Perhaps, I just didn’t relate because my personality is so much different than hers. Basically, I feel like the cinematic equivalent of reading this book would be seeing a film without any soundtrack. (I did recently. It was called Caché and I disliked it. Not only did it not have any music but it had no real ending either and it left me feeling like an idiot.) Back to the point, I felt like something crucial was missing from this text that would really make me feel more involved and interested in the story line and the characters.
AMRITA by Banana Yoshimoto
I started getting into Banana Yoshimoto just recently when I read her collection of short stories Lizard, which I wrote about here. I wasn’t as impressed with Amrita, although there were defitely some things I liked. I’d say it’s strengths were the drifting dream like quality of it and the way characters visited eachother in dreams and sensed ghosts. The book dealt with the spirit world quite substantially as the protagonist has just lost her sister, who was captured in films, and is sort of haunted. Written in first person perspective, the reader experiences what it would be like to have two selves, two life stories, and feel almost everything around you. Yoshimoto also addresses the issue of memories.
It’s weaknesses are that it seems hokey at times and almost naive. It’s almost what I would call unbelievable. It doesn’t draw you in as fully as it is meant to. At times the drifting quality is enchanting but at other times, it doesn’t seem to really be leading you anywhere and what should seem magical feels unsatisfying instead. Although, to be clear I can see someone who is really into these topics being more drawn in by the book overall.
I would still say that this book has definite worthwhile sections and that I enjoyed some aspects of it but I am hoping that I will enjoy one of the two other Yoshimoto books I recently purchased: Kitchen and Goodbye Tsugumi more.