Review: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

2019 CHALLENGE: 1 RE-READ PER MONTH 02 / 12

4 stars. THIS BOOK IS SO STRANGE! I fucking loved it as a kid but wow - this book is a really, really bizarre acid trip. In a good way.

I know so much has been said about Lewis Carroll and the possible inspiration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I can't personally add anything about that, except that I hope it's not true and I hope this classic remains untarnished. Because it's truly a one-of-a-kind, unprecedented and kind of unmatched as far as children's literature goes.

(Also, there’s no evidence that Lewis Carroll did drugs. Just sayin’.)

Now that I'm older and more well-read, this reminded me of a lot of my favorite authors growing up: Roald Dahl, Clive Barker (the Abarat series features an interested sort of Wonderland), CS Lewis, Norton Juster, etc. This really felt like kind of a warm up for books like that, or like it sprouted branches and now we can enjoy it’s fruit. It's charm and wit will probably keep inspiring authors as long as books exist. I also personally love books like Alice (Christina Henry) and other dark renditions. 

But the one thing that really stuck out during my re-read was how much I absolutely love Alice. What a badass, world-hopping, roll-with-it warrior!  

"The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it: 'No room! No room!' they cried out when they saw Alice coming. 'There's plenty of room!' said Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table."

I love her.

“One of the jurors had a pencil that squeaked. This of course, Alice could not stand, and she went round the court and got behind him, and very soon found an opportunity of taking it away."

She's fantastic. Alice couldn’t stand the squeaky pencil, so she took it away.

"Hold your tongue!' said the Queen, turning purple. 'I won't!' said Alice." 

I don't understand why Alice isn't more regularly recognized and featured as a young feminist heroine. She's so cool and clever and, of course, curious. 

I was also really into the way Lewis Carroll handled the lack of explanation for events. I'm always intrigued by books that don't give you a chance to question things. I know that some people prefer answers to EVERYTHING, they hate ambiguity. I see the beauty in it. I suspect Carroll was aware that children wouldn't mind, even poking at the concept a bit:

"'What IS the use of repeating all that stuff,' the Mock Turtle interrupted, 'if you don't explain it as you go on? It's by far the most confusing thing I ever heard!'"

Not as confusing as it may seem, ha. It definitely comes across as a book that's "just for fun," but I wouldn't be surprised if there was playful meaning behind every joke, every twist of dialogue, every story and riddle and interjection. That's what makes it so rewarding for children and adults - the magic and the meaning. It's not for everyone, but it's hilarious and weird and an amazing piece of writing and completely worth your time.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland on: Amazon | Goodreads

Review: Mrs. Caliban

5 stars. This was so great. Short and easy but strange, and very loud, and layered. I'm not even sure where to start, reviewing a book in which a housewife has an affair with a ... frogman ... is there a term that sounds less derogatory? A frog-like creature named Larry. That's slightly better, but no less surreal.

Mrs. Caliban is about an unsatisfied housewife named Dorothy who, while cooking supper for her husband, encounters an amphibian creature recently escaped from a scientific Institute. Instead of recoiling in horror, calling the police, or notifying her husband, she hands him food. 

And they become friends, then lovers. Larry, as the handsome creature is named, is wanted for the murders of his captors, so they must stay hidden, but Dorothy finds herself, perhaps for the first time in her life, enormously fulfilled.

For one thing, Larry disrupts her dull and quietly frustrating marriage to an unfaithful businessman. He shows interest in her, values her knowledge and opinions, even helps out with the housework. He also comes from another world, a world in which everyone is the same, a world that isn't complicated by human tendencies and instincts. He struggles to comprehend the concepts of jealousy, grief and status. More specifically, he offers her a respite from the misogyny that has blanketed her life. When compared with her husband, yeah, Larry's kind of an obvious choice.

More broadly, Larry is like a child, asking "why?" about everything. This technique is successful in the fact that it made me, as a reader, sit back and go, "wait a minute, YEAH! why?" There are some things in human society - habits, social constructs, values - that truly make no sense whatsoever. And things never change. I can’t wait to read it again so I can unpack all the subtle lessons.

I particularly enjoyed the depiction of Dorothy's friendship with Estelle. It felt very natural to me, and funny. It's a funny book, with a few really serious zingers:

“Why do you call him a monster?”
“Well, an eight-foot tall green gorilla with web feet and bug eyes—what would you call him? A well-developed frog? Not exactly an Ivy-league type, anyway.’”
“I’ve met plenty of Ivy-leaguers I’d call monsters.” 

I know there are theories that Larry's not real, and only exists as a figment of Dorothy's imagination. Maybe. I don't really care. The book is casual and matter-of-fact but sharp, sort of like a trippy episode of Mad Men. Dorothy's ability to roll with it, I guess, is refreshing. She doesn't really question herself. I liked that. It's a playful and thought-provoking exploration of being female. A must-read.

And yeah, she has sex with the frogman. I DON’T KNOW, HONESTLY, it wasn’t that weird. WHAT?!

Mrs. Caliban on: Amazon | Goodreads

Review: Stillhouse Lake

4 stars. My heart is officially racing. 

Stillhouse Lake begins when Gina Royal, housewife and mother of two, discovers that her husband has a secret. A huge, life-altering, sadistic secret. Not a spoiler: he's a prolific serial killer who carries out his crimes in the garage of their family home. When he's finally arrested and stopped, Gina must work to rebuild her life while keeping her family safe from a world that wants revenge. 

She thinks she's finally safe at Stillhouse Lake. It's a small, remote town in Tennessee and she reluctantly settles in knowing her kids could use some stability. And then (typical), a body shows up. Gina has to fight off death threats on a daily basis, now she has to deal with suspicion from the police plus a new copycat murderer. It's a thrilling pageturner with a gut punch of a climax.

Gina is an excellent and well-written character and perhaps the anchor that steadies this twisty turny story. I found her mama bear instincts to be smothering and so annoying but also heartwarming and justified. Caine explores the horrific impact of cyberbullying, internet culture, even dipping her toes into the true crime obsession, adding an interesting and unusual layer of threat for our heroine to deal with. 

Gina also, quite frankly, has no use for men. I really, really, really noticed and loved that. Men are in the story: she meets a few, gets close to one, saves his life, and takes down others as needed, but really, this is her world and the men are just there to fuck up. HA. So just like in real life. I admire Rachel Caine for achieving this so deftly, for taking such a feminist approach.

Gina’s two children, Lanny and Connor, are also well-written. Both have agency and interests and speak in distinct voices. Like their mother, they are traumatized, which I think can be difficult to portray in young people without using cliches. And their presence in the story is nuanced - sometimes they bring humor, or love, or extra fear to the story, sometimes Lanny is a typical irritating teenager and sometimes Connor is naive. They felt like real kids, to me.

Alright, so, this is a thriller, of course there's a twist or two. I happened to predict them early. That's okay. It was still an immensely enjoyable read. I would recommend this for fans of Jane Harper - both craft concise, character-driven thrillers with awesome villains and intense action sequences. And yeah, THAT ENDING. I want more.

Stillhouse Lake on: Amazon | Goodreads

Retro Review: Red Sparrow

When I started this blog, I had been posting reviews on Goodreads for about 6 months. In the interest of having all of my book writing in one place, I will post one of these old reviews every Friday. They weren't written with a blog in mind, so please forgive the lack of summary and off-the-cuff tone.

3 stars. In some ways this is a very typical spy novel full of technical tradecraft, desk-thumping, breasts and a whole lot of America fuck yeah!! Pure male fantasy. Also, I don’t trust the author’s portrayal of a Russian woman. Or of Russia, actually. I'm sure Jason Matthews tried to be fair and inclusive, but if I were Russian I think I'd be slightly offended with how cleanly the story came across as good vs evil. Matthews basically spells out for us his theories on Putin and Russia and the political resentment pitting these two countries against each other and ... it's just too simple.

Also, men: a woman should never, ever be blamed for the fact that you are attracted to her. Jesus.

But there is some surprisingly delicate, beautiful writing here - the element of Dominika’s color clairvoyance, for example, was lovely. I liked the recipes! The caricatures of U.S. politicians and bureaucrats felt astoundingly real. Sure, the romance was predictable and boring and melodramatic, but it earns three stars for an engaging, interesting plot and a tight story.

Red Sparrow on: Amazon | Goodreads

Review: The Witches of New York

4 stars. In this charming and fiercely feminist story, three witches unite in 1880 New York: seventeen-year-old Beatrice (a talented young lady looking for magic and a new life in the big city), Eleanor St. Clair (a thirty-something owner of a useful shop called Tea and Sympathy - would like to go there, thanks!), and Adelaide Thom (a courageous young woman living with scars both visible and unseen). All three find companionship, support and magic by leaning on one another to fight traditional expectations, societal constraints and supernatural threats. There’s a surly talking raven, a Civil War vet, a Bird Lady, a Giant Obelisk, a villainous preacher and a couple of colorful ghosts ("Just as a child learns reading, writing, and arithmetic, the dead had to tackle their three Rs as well: revenge, regret, and reconciliation.") plus demons. It’s quite a crowd.

McKay's tone is matter-of-fact and humorous, but there's an undercurrent of anger, causing The Witches of New York to feel light and heavy at the same time. It tries to be fun and deep. The danger never seems real and we completely expect a happy ending, but it tackles such important, weighty subjects: the strength, courage and fortitude of women, the power of friendship, the complicated and wonderfully imperfect nature of being female, the struggle of being female, the struggle to push against the patriarchy when it pushes back twice as hard. It's lovely, really, and sends an important message.

It's not flawless. There are a lot of characters here - fleshed out characters with agency, to McKay's credit - but it almost feels Dickension (not in a good way). It was a little hard for me to keep track of; a little too expansive for its own good. Perhaps McKay was trying to emulate Jonathan Norrell and Mr. Strange? A lot of it just seemed unnecessary. I love stories with layers, but this one had too many. I also question the romantic subplot(s) - ladies, you don’t need a man/significant other to live fulfilling lives!

And there's a very, very, very apparent lack of diversity. This is about female empowerment - as it turns out, white female empowerment. I would've been very interested and very happy to read any included diverse voices, and I think, considering the time and place of this book's setting, they would've added a lot. Overlooking these voices is counter to the aforementioned message. 

Despite these weaknesses, The Witches of New York is strong. It made me smile. It's very well-researched and the details are absolutely charming, which reminded me somewhat of The Alienist (only the tidbits about New York! That book is not for the faint of heart!). I really rooted for our heroines and appreciated such an intense (if not well-rounded) exploration of female identity. I’ve never read Practical Magic, but I’ve seen the movie, and can guess that it has similar vibes. I found myself wanting to bookmark the tea recipes and try the little magic tricks for warding off evil. Ami McKay is an excellent and sophisticated writer and it shows. I wanted something soothing and quiet, and this delivered, with a lot of meaning tucked in its pages. 

The Witches of New York on: Amazon | Goodreads

Retro Review: Pines

When I started this blog, I had been posting reviews on Goodreads for about 6 months. In the interest of having all of my book writing in one place, I will post one of these old reviews every Friday. They weren't written with a blog in mind, so please forgive the lack of summary and off-the-cuff tone.

2 stars. Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho to investigate the disappearance of two fellow agents. Upon arrival, Burke is involved in a serious car accident and wakes up in a town where nothing is as it seems. Stranded and confused, Burke begins to unravel the mystery of the town in an adventure that ends in a fight for his life.

Well, this book was exhausting. And not in a good way.

It was sort of like one giant, extended chase scene (that seriously pushed the limits of reality) with a bizarre plot twist at the end.

Don't get me wrong - the plot twist was fascinating, and twisted, and science fiction in the BEST way. It's just that EVERYTHING ELSE - the writing, the characters, the dialogue - was so shoddy it detracted from the impact of the big reveal.

I actually ended up skimming a lot, especially toward the end. And I'm such a weirdo perfectionist that I almost NEVER skim, even if I hate what I'm reading.

I just couldn't take any more of "Ethan's Survival Guide to the Idaho Wilderness." I just couldn't handle another scene in which the superhuman secret agent somehow avoided the town mob armed only with pure adrenaline and insane rock-climbing abilities.

It's such a good concept. But man, is the execution poor.

I really liked the author's afterword, and his obvious admiration of Twin Peaks. In my opinion, though, had he channeled even half the subtle creepiness of David Lynch into the story, he would have been much better off. It was obvious that something was wrong the minute Ethan arrived in Wayward Pines - but that was the problem. It shouldn't have been that obvious, at least not at first. The town shouldn't have fought him so hard so quickly. The clues should've been more subtle, and quiet - and thus would've been so much more unnerving.

Watch the TV show instead. It's a tremendous mystery that makes so much more sense.

Pines on: Amazon | Goodreads

Review: The Virgin Suicides

2019 CHALLENGE: 1 YOU HAVEN'T READ THAT YET?! PER MONTH 02 / 12

5 stars. No surprises here. I love the movie, I loved reading Middlesex, and thematically this checks all the boxes for me. I was struck, however, by a couple of things: first, the uniqueness of the narrative voice. First person plural is rare, successful first person plural is unheard of. To Eugenides’ credit, it really works, and it was refreshing to fall into a sort of collective, shared headspace. I fell in love with the boys who fell in love with the Lisbon sisters; their quiet and honest sense of obsession and horror is totally unselfconscious.

Second, the playful and subtle way Eugenides illustrates how incapable people are at handling grief. In examining so closely the reaction to the girls’ suicides (not a spoiler!), we see people lose all sense of self-awareness. An entire community flounders and stumbles around in fear and curiosity and humor. We see an astounding lack of sensitivity from neighbors, “friends,” acquaintances. There is painfully misplaced judgment and blame. We see clumsy attempts to heal and help. The only people who truly try to understand are the narrators - and they don’t really get there. This felt very real.

Third, I thought this book would examine more deeply what it means to be female. I expected the point would be that the girls’ femaleness would inform their deaths, not necessarily the other way around. That’s not a critique, just an observation. Aside from Cecelia’s perfect explanation to her doctor, this was more about youth and tragedy than female youth and female tragedy. Being desired, desiring others, desiring more … all explored with a superficial eye. But it’s not just about the girls. It’s about the boys.

It’s about the boys’ lust and their coming-of-age in middle class suburbia; their memories and their shared reminiscence of an impactful event that changed their perspective forever. It’s about the loss of innocence and an attempt to grapple with something that simply cannot be explained. It’s about adults not having all the answers. It’s about seeing another person through a fog - or a lens - or a telescope of your own making, of your own perceptions. Or perhaps through a coating of dusk, muck, grass, smog, bugs.

I thought this would annoy me - the prevalence of the male gaze. But the girls do have agency. They’re awkward, strange, nerdy, mistake-making teenage girls and the boys (the men) later recognize this. Perhaps we would be more forgiving of girls if we remembered that. They’re not perfect, mythical, beautiful, ethereal creatures too special for this world. They’re just girls.

This was a satisfying read in the sense that I knew I would love it. But it’s not a happy book. Also …

Otter insulation? Otter insulation? EW.

The Virgin Suicides on: Amazon | Goodreads

Review: Looker

4 stars. I feel so lucky that I can, in this day and age, read extensively about complicated, layered, real women. Women who are capable of good and evil. Successful women with problems, women who are fulfilled in different ways, strong, stubborn, obsessive, struggling, sexual women who fuck up and buck up and own the fact that being a women means being a fighter. Women who are large and loud and present.

Yes, we still have a long way to go, particularly in featuring women of color and other diverse voices. But I'm thrilled to see so many artists explore what it means to be female, especially under the surface. I particularly enjoy authors like Gillian Flynn, Madeline Miller, and Ottessa Moshfegh, who poke and scrape and peek under the blanket, pulling at the knots, giving even the most grotesque and dangerous of us a pointed spotlight.

More of that, please. I really do eat it up. But when so many artists - starved to be heard - jump on the train, that train gets crowded. And common elements emerge. Trends. And suddenly what once felt new and fresh feels derivative and stale. Things start sounding familiar. 

A depressed, spiraling, recently-separated, wine-guzzling, self-loathing, utterly judgmental female becomes obsessed with someone. Another female, perhaps. Becomes tangled up in a crime. She is unlikeable, and an unreliable narrator. The Girl on the Train. The Woman in the Window. Notes on a Scandal. Even Sharp Objects. And now, Looker.

AND IT'S AWESOME! I loved it. Yes, it feels familiar - in the BEST WAYS. This is a succinct pageturner that takes you into the mind of a middle-aged college professor, recently separated, who becomes infatuated with an actress who lives down the street. Yes, she guzzles wine, she's full of self-loathing, she swings between envy and anger, she's hypercritical of others - all characteristics we see frequently in these types of books. But Laura Sims manages to keep things moving in a sharp and witty way, placing you right in the terrifying headspace of someone suffering a nervous breakdown.

I think what's so terrifying about this is we can all relate to our unnamed narrator, in small ways. Her outlook overlaps ours. I think many of us have experienced a bizarre sense of entitlement when it comes to celebrities we admire. Her struggles with infertility sound absolutely brutal and serve as a fascinating explanation (not excuse) for her descent into madness. I liked the tight focus and the level of detail, despite it being so short. I liked the poetry. And I loved the ending.

I would argue that this isn't solely about the obsession with the actress, so don't go in expecting that. It's about a variety of factors and circumstances, internal and external, contributing to one flawed woman's breakdown. Her sense of justification was twisted but very human. I was glued to the pages as she slowly lost her grip on reality. I almost rooted for her. I almost rooted for her to go for it, to cross the line. Looker provided a really weird, and really fun, reading experience - a true, in my opinion, psychological thriller.

Looker on: Amazon | Goodreads

Review: The Traitor Baru Cormorant

3 stars. My second DNF on Goodreads! It's in my nature to be stubborn and stick with things, but about halfway through this I took a step back and realized I was done. The Traitor Baru Cormorant is not a bad book at all, I'm just the wrong reader for it. Nothing against Seth Dickinson and his frankly impressive worldbuilding here, but I wasn't interested.

Super high level summary: a fierce and intelligent young woman infiltrates the group that conquered her homeland intending to stoke the flames of rebellion from within their highest ranks. It's painful, for her: navigating the system, learning who to trust, weaving together the millions of threads required to reach her goal. We get front row seats as she experiences the growth and great personal sacrifice required to change the world. It's a fantastic premise.

And I want to recognize that this book deals with some incredibly important themes - homophobia, racism, gender dynamics, colonialism, power - in incredibly insightful ways. I really admire authors who successfully tackle stuff like that in complex fantasies, because it can go so wrong. So many pitfalls to avoid! Dickinson pulls through, at least in the first half of the book, with a nice balance of cleverness and sensitivity.

So why did I put it down? Well, I hate math. I love that Dickinson tried to demonstrate the power of money here (I love considering the concept of conquest from all angles), but I have to admit that most of it was pretty over my head. I also couldn't hold onto certain delicacies within the plot, nor could I easily remember or recognize most of the characters. I'm a really careful reader, but I just couldn't stick with the writing style here. It felt sloppy, to me. It's totally, totally fine for an author to rely on his or her readers to draw conclusions, make jumps, recall plot points, etc., but this felt extreme. (And I almost say that sheepishly, less as a criticism and more of an admission that maybe I'm not smart enough?)

But it's certainly unique, and I may be tempted to pick it up again. Baru is an awesome character. The way she struggles with her sexuality feels so potent and tragic and hopeless. In that sense, it's really powerful writing. And I appreciate that Dickinson isn't preachy or sanctimonious, he just lets the chips fall. I can't really recommend this, and I can't comment on how it ends, but I fully acknowledge that there's something interesting here. It just isn't for me.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant on: Amazon | Goodreads

Retro Review: It

When I started this blog, I had been posting reviews on Goodreads for about 6 months. In the interest of having all of my book writing in one place, I will post one of these old reviews every Friday. They weren't written with a blog in mind, so please forgive the lack of summary and off-the-cuff tone.

5 stars. This book is a triumph. It tells such a gargantuan, important story. Stephen King has a gift, and I'm so impressed. I have so many observations.

First of all - this story is so, so sad. Heartbreaking. I'm used to horror books and movies killing off characters I barely know or care about; usually they are stupid, ignorant, boring, or all of the above. Getting to know the victims so intimately - their backgrounds, their thoughts - made their deaths feel like punches to the gut. Don't get me wrong, this technique made the story a lot scarier, and I admire how twisted Stephen King is. And I like to be scared. But following an innocent child to his death in the rain was really painful!

It's sad in other ways, too. King illustrates what you might call the gradual tragedy of growing up. He's obvious about it, and it's so accurate it's agonizing to read. We all experience the transition from childhood to adulthood, right? It's universal. And it's often described as gaining something - independence, awareness, knowledge, experience. King choose to focus on what we lose - youth, innocence, a sense of immortality, a sense that we can trust the world, the deep connections built with friends in imaginary worlds. He's so crazy good at capturing childhood and adolescence it was a little agonizing to read. I felt a pit in my stomach and epic amounts of nostalgia.

Secondly - the details are excessive. That's neither here nor there, I guess, not good or bad, but excessive is the only word I can use. I love that King writes so conversationally, and fills his prose with references to pop culture and businesses and brands and everyday observations. It's part of what makes him so unique, and what makes his books so ... full to the brim.

The excess feels extra appropriate in some places, especially when he describes the depth of fear, or writes from the perspective of a young child. But it's a little distracting at times. There are diatribes peppered with parenthetical references. There are experimental attempts to document rapid-fire thoughts and observations. That's his style, I totally get it. But it felt a little laborious in this particular book.

Third - I thought this book was going to be about, you know, a clown.

It's not. This book has every scary thing you could ever imagine tucked between its pages. Yes, there's a clown. There's also a werewolf, a mummy, a leper, a crawling eye, Frankenstein, moving photographs, ghosts, giant birds, epic amounts of sewage, and more. And even scarier - psycopathy, bullying, violence, child molestation, domestic abuse, unusual sex, addiction, and more. A lot more. You've been warned.

Despite that list, I didn't think It was scary, at first, actually at all. But then one morning I was going downstairs to get breakfast, in the dark, and I found myself thinking about what it would be like find a head in my fridge and ... yeah, I got a little jumpy. It earns points for that. I'm not even sure, though, that I'd classify it as a horror book. It's a dramatic tragedy with a, well, with a happy ending, I guess...

I wish I could better describe my impressions of this book. I used the phrase "full to the brim" above and I can't help but think that's a good description. It's just full. Full of thoughts and ideas and characters and feelings and monsters and sadness and children and adults and evil places.

It's unusual, for sure. It's trippy and weird, although it's easier to swallow if you don't question it. It's an incredible piece of writing. That's what's so weird/amazing about Stephen King - you start reading and you're like, wtf am I reading? And then you LOVE IT. And then you close the book and you're like, wtf did I just read?

It on: Amazon | Goodreads