In The Atlantic, Alice Sebold contemplates literary awards.
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Monthly Archives: July 2009
Technique and Time
At Néojaponisme Daniel Morales reviews Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84.
Some unfortunate (or perhaps fortunate) souls will choose 1Q84 as their very first Murakami novel. As they follow Aomame and Tengo through the confusion of the novel and experience a Murakami world for the first time, they too will likely be drawn in by the dialogue, by the pregnant pauses, by the temple rubbing and lack of responses to important questions. By the music references, some of the lofty overtones in the first chapter, and the hints of warmth and connection implied in the final chapter. If new readers like the book, they still have the strongest part of his catalog left to enjoy. On the other hand, they might be expecting more of the same. Experienced Murakami readers will recognize connections with his old works, and if they strain their eyes hard enough, they might even be able to see flashes of the old boku as he is bricked in for good by the third-person narrative in 1Q84.
Posted in Reading
Tagged book review, daniel morales, haruki murakami, japan, neojaponisme
The Japanese Corpse by Janwillem van de Wetering
Not recommended.
Posted in Read in 2009
Tagged crime fiction, janwillem van de wetering, japan, netherlands, not recommended, soho press
2009 Man Booker Prize Longlist
The Guardian covers this year’s Booker prize longlist.
Posted in Writing
Tagged adam foulds, as byatt, colm toibin, ed oloughlin, guardian, hilary mantel, james lever, james scudamore, jm coetzee, man booker, samantha harvey, sarah hall, sarah waters, simon mawer, uk, william trevor
Throbs with Menace
At Slate Judith Shulevitz reviews Maile Meloy’s Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It.
Meloy’s grasp of our civic abdication is clear-sighted, large-hearted, and desperately necessary. Her pity flows most abundantly for its victims. This is an understandable sentiment but also, at times, a literary liability. Meloy feels such anguish for the innocent that she cleaves to them almost too closely. There is a superabundance here of the child’s point of view.
Posted in Reading
Tagged book review, judith shulevitz, maile meloy, short story, slate, usa
Suspicion and Fear
National Public Radio’s All Things Considered interviews Dave Eggers about Zeitoun.
Posted in Reading
Tagged dave eggers, interview, new orleans, npr, usa
The Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq
Recommended.
Posted in Read in 2009
Tagged france, frank wynne, michel houellebecq, recommended, translation, vintage books
Temporary Happiness
Michael Dirda of the Washington Post reviews Keith Thomas’s The Ends of Life.
When young, we are all aesthetes, eager to enjoy a wondrous world full of beauty, promise and reward. The experience of life itself seems enough to keep us busy and happy. So we fall in love and go to work and find success or not, and the decades roll by.
In later years, however, we become unwilling philosophers. A parent unexpectedly dies. The now-grown children go off on their own. Work suddenly loses its savor. Before long, we are taking long walks and wondering about the old perplexities: What makes for a meaningful life? How should we pass our too few days upon this Earth? What really matters?
Posted in Reading
Tagged book review, history, keith thomas, michael dirda, uk, washington post