Illusion

In another life I might have been a Shakespeare scholar so finding Shakespeare references in The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern caused me to smile.  Morgenstern weaves many of Shakespeare’s themes into this charming novel.  There are the star-crossed lovers, comedy, tragedy and magic.  I found Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Nights Dream,  The Tempest, Hamlet and Macbeth references woven into a seemingly simple story of a circus that is open only at night. 

The story unfolds in a circus designed as a format for a competition between the children of two aging illusionists.   A pair of twins born at the time of the circus’ creation, a fortune-teller, a clock maker and a contortionist round out an unusual cast of characters.  Oh, and an outsider named Bailey.  But trust me this is not the Barnum and Bailey circus.  A fire cauldron keeps the circus going.  Rather than one large tent, the circus is composed of multiple tents each with its own theme and purpose.  In the Drawing Room circus visitors write on the walls.  The interior of Ice Garden contains only white objects.  What happens as the competition proceeds and the continuation of the circus round out the plot. 

Because I was so immersed in the story I had read half the book before I realized it was written in third person omnipotent.  Usually I spot the point of view within the first page which means Morgenstern handled the writing so effectively that the story flowed smoothly.   And, this is a first novel by the young author.

Just Skip It

 

I’m starting to feel like I’m wasting time with some of my reading choices.  While I was still working I read to run away from the stress of my job and my life in general.  Now after nearly two years of retirement I no longer am stressed and have the brain power to be more discerning about what I read.  Yet, I’m still putting the same type of books on my library hold list and when available I quickly speed through them.  

 

Force of Nature by C. J. Box is such a book  My buddy, Marilyn Stasio at The New York Times, initially sent me to C. J. Box and his first few books about a game warden in Wyoming were interesting as I’ve always been a city girl and have not even been to Wyoming.  But like many other writers who write repeatedly about the same character, Box lost control of his plots and the stories got outlandish.  In her review, Marilyn Stasio said “Force of Nature” avoided some of the recent plot issues because the story focuses on the game warden’s friend, Nate Romanaski.  While it is presumptuous of me to disagree with a reviewer who actually gets paid for her reviews, the plot was too full of “oh, you’ve got to be kidding” moments to be an effective story. 

 

 Box knows how to put sentences on a page and the scenes where Nate works with his falcons were fascinating.  Instead of churning out a book every year Box might want to slow down and spend more time on thinking through his plots.  

 

The Jungle Book

I resisted reading The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht because the main line critics raved about this book and its young writer.  “The New Yorker” put Obreht on their 2011 list of young writers to watch.  I don’t like to read pretentious work and I anticipated this book was most likely an example of extremely ostentatious writing.  But, I broke down and luckily discovered a lovely work.

 Natalia, a young doctor in one of the countries carved out of the former Yugoslavia, and a friend travel to an orphanage to provide immunizations.  Early in the journey Natalia learns her grandfather has died.  His passing brings back the memory of a story he told a young Natalia.  The allegorical story involves a tiger, a man disappointed by life and a deathless man. 

The story telling is so subtle that unless the reader has at least some knowledge of the history of the Balkans you’ll think you are reading about a tiger.  Not since my immersion into mid-twentieth century American literature have I been able to see more than a story within a novel.  Not only did I find the story engrossing, I also gained insight into the problems incurred in the Balkans during the last half of the twentieth century.  Obreht is truly a talented writer. 

 

A Boy’s Journey

Around page seventy five I almost stopped reading The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje.  After a month of crime novels the story wasn’t moving fast enough for me.  But, the professional critics have given the book good reviews so I persevered and enjoyed the thoughtful story. 

The time is 1954 and eleven year old Michael is traveling on a ship fromColombo toEngland.  On the ship Michael becomes friends with two other young boys who meet fascinating people and have young boy adventures.  Parts of the book read almost like a memoir but the story is fiction.  During the voyage young Michael learns more about life than he realizes until he reaches adulthood.  Ondaatje is a skillful writer and the plot avoids the “so what” which occurs when the writing is less lyrical.  And, the book has a most amazing ending.

A cozy read

Sometimes a cozy is needed to take the edge off a difficult time or more intense reading.  But it has to be the right book and often a cozy can be over the top saccharine.  Many times a cozy involves an older woman who owns a tea shoppe or a book store and solves a murder.  Louise Penny in A Trick of the Light captures the quiet, low intensity of a quality cozy but avoids the pitfall of too cutesy characters. 

 In Three Pines, a tiny village just outside of Montreal, the art critic Lillian Dyson is found dead in Clara Morrow’s garden.  Clara is a fiftyish artist who has just had her first solo exhibition.  In their youth Clara and Lillian were friends until Lillian disparaged Clara’s art.  Chief Inspector Gamache comes to Three Pines   find the killer.  As Gamache’s investigation continues he discovers that Lillian had a long history of belittling other artists.  It seems that being a nasty critic can be quite dangerous. 

 Penny has command of her craft by making Gamache calm and methodical while Beauvoir, his assistant, provides some angst.  The description of Three Pines adds the sense of place necessary for a successful story.  A most satisfying read.

No so pretty after all

It is rare for a writer to effectively weave social commentary into a crime novel.  In her first novel Cara Hoffman with So Much Pretty quietly intertwines observations about violence endured by women into a story set in a small Application community in central New York.  With a median annual income of $14,000 the folks of Haeden including the sheriff have a naïve; bad things happen can’t happen in their town attitude.

 A local girl, Wendy White, disappears and the complacent town folk think she probably ran off on her own. Several months later her body is found in a ditch just outside of town.  She’d been dead for less than twenty four hours.  The young woman writing the local weekly newspaper publishes a long article about violence against women.  Most of the town just yawns.  The incompetent police botch the crime scene investigation.  Fifteen year old super intelligent Alice Piper whose parents had moved from New York City to Haeden in search of a simpler life style begins to think about things she’s heard. 

Hoffman tells the story from multiple perspectives and uses different formats including Alice’s school papers and interviews conducted by the crusading reporter.  This writing method enhances the story and kept me intrigued from the first page to the last.    

 

 

Two Hunks

Elvis Cole and Joe Pike can come to Des Moines  hang out with me anytime.  It’s too bad Elvis and Joe are fictional characters created by the good-looking author Robert Crais.  But it is always fun to imagine.  In Taken Crais includes both Elvis and Joe.  In the past Crais has put the two together in one book but has also written books which feature only one.  

 Of course Elvis and Joe live in California.  Elvis has a home in the Hollywood Hills that he sometimes shares with an unnamed black cat.  Cat will let Joe pet him when the occasion arises.  

 Elvis, the self-proclaimed world’s greatest detective, is hired by Nita Morales to find Krista, her missing adult daughter.   When Elvis discovers that bandits involved in human trafficking are involved he enlists Joe to assist in finding and recovering Krista.  

 Crais expertly weaves together the story told from three different perspectives. The sense of place is as vivid as the characters.  Taken is an example of superior crime fiction.

Haunted?

Chris Lowdes has purchased a home in a remote area of the Yorkshire dales.  A recent widower Chris has lived for the last twenty years in the U.S.working as a movie music composer.  The dales are home and he believes Kilnsgate House will provide him with a place to recover from the death of his wife.  In Before the Poison Peter Robinson, well known for his Inspector Banks series, has created another memorable angst ridden character.

A lonely, tortured sole Chris Lowdes discovers his new home was the location of a murder which resulted in the hanging of the woman accused of the murder.  But, did she really do the nefarious deed?  Chris begins to investigate the fifty year old crime which assists him in dealing with his own grief. 

While it is risky to move away from an established character there are times when such a move is necessary to keep readers interested.  Robinson shows his writing finesse with the believable and interesting creation of Chris Lowdes. 

Brief and wonderful

I took 1Q84 back to the library unread.  The book was due and I was not allowed to renew.   It is back on my hold list but will require at least a week to read.  The Sara Paretsky novel Breakdown was a disappointment.  Paretsky is aging the V. I. Warshawski character and it isn’t working.   A fifty year old female private detective is a dull character.  Paretsky over reached on the plot and it was a dud. 

The Sense of An Ending by Julian Barnes is a compelling story told in a brief 163 pages.  While easy to read all at once I savored the book over two days.  A story of four adolescent friends, a college girlfriend, a forty-year gap and powerful ending provide the plot components.  Barnes deservedly won the British 2011 Man Booker Prize for this book as it is simple story telling at its best.

Time Travel

I do not read the books written by Stephen King because I think he has bastardized his talent for money.  But, I have read a couple of King’s short stories published in “The New Yorker” because he exercises his literary muscle for these stories.  When King’s newest novel 11/22/63 was published and received amazingly positive reviews by the professionals and was listed on several best books of 2011 lists I put the book on my library hold list. 

After a library book famine for most of January, I was almost overwhelmed when the library suddenly had six books for me including 11/22/63.  Also, in the stack was The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides, Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George and IQ84 by Haruki Murakami.  None of these books were less than 500 pages long.  I prioritized the stack so I read Eugenides first, then George and then King.  The Murkami will be tackled once I finish the new Sara Peretsky thriller. 

The Marriage Plot is modern literature.  It is smart, funny and had words I had to look up in the dictionary.  If you’re interested in clever, contemporary literature read this book.

Believing the Lie is the newest in the Inspector Lynley series.  Elizabeth George is an American who writes British mysteries.  Her current book provides the needed sense of place and a compelling plot. 

Which brings me to 11/22/63 by Stephen King; much to my disbelief the novel captured and held my interest.  It took me only three days to read all 842 pages.  Of course, as a child of the sixties I remember where I was the day John Kennedy was shot so a book of time travel that gives a man the opportunity to stop the assignation seems to be written specifically for me.  While the time travel drives the plot the real story is one of a good teacher, love and a desire to stop a tragedy.  The ending was a little surprising but fit splendidly with the rest of the story.  So, if you are a long time fan of King’s work or a reluctant reader 11/22/63 delivers.