Hmm. I went through many different moods reading Olga Dies Dreaming, there were sections I loved (the romance), and others that just didn't work (too Hmm. I went through many different moods reading Olga Dies Dreaming, there were sections I loved (the romance), and others that just didn't work (too much telling). Ultimately it felt like it was trying to be too many things: a political thriller, a romance, a history lesson, a family drama. It seemed like until about 3/4 of the way through Gonzalez was still introducing new characters, new story lines, which meant that things got wrapped up too fast, and I didn't care about a lot of it. The 'telling' was all about the history of Puerto Rico, and although I was frustrated because this is a novel, I certainly did need to be told that island's history, because I knew very little about it. ...more
Some things I really enjoyed: descriptions of the unnamed city, learning how Rasa and his family lived, how he was with his friends and lovers, the coSome things I really enjoyed: descriptions of the unnamed city, learning how Rasa and his family lived, how he was with his friends and lovers, the conflict between community and expectation and individualism, confusion between who is good and who is bad politically. But I had lots of issues around the writing and especially the metaphors, and some trouble with some plot holes which were never sorted out, or created right at the end. ...more
At the height of the pandemic Jay is working delivering groceries in upstate New York and living out of his car, when he delivers food to a remote houAt the height of the pandemic Jay is working delivering groceries in upstate New York and living out of his car, when he delivers food to a remote house on an estate of many acres. The woman who meets him at the door turns out to be Alice, his girlfriend from when he was an art student in 1990s London, and whom he hasn't seen for 20 years. Moreover Alice is still married to Jay's best friend, and fellow artist, Rob. Told in flashbacks (which I would have preferred to sink into more fully) we learn that Jay was a conceptual / performance artist who decided to disappear for his last piece. Jay is ill with the virus and Alice decides to hide him on the property. I really enjoyed this, both the present day sections and the past, and the writing. It asks some interesting questions: about whether art is art if there is no one there to witness it, whether art is real art if it is made for profit, whether the twenty years in which Jay was missing counted as part of his 'performance' even if it was documented, and when does a piece of art like this, end? It also asks questions about race but sometimes I felt these were a little shoe-horned in. ...more
Such a great premise: two young people in an unnamed Middle Eastern country fall in love. As their city falls into civil war, they escape through a maSuch a great premise: two young people in an unnamed Middle Eastern country fall in love. As their city falls into civil war, they escape through a magic portal to London, and from there to America. But unfortunately there was so much that didn't work for me. Firstly, Nadia - everything about her was sexualised, even going to the toilet. I also didn't like how she finds love with another woman - it seemed too convenient and too easy a way out (I couldn't imagine Hamid exploring the male character's gay side. I also couldn't get on with the narrative style: an omniscient narrator who repeats information within one sentence making too much seem portentous, and who skims over the surface of the two lovers so that I wasn't ever able to connect with them fully. Lots of readers have complained about Hamid adding an unnecessary speculative element (the magic doors that allow the couple to move countries). I didn't have a problem with the doors being there - they might have been a good way to show what could happen with super mass migration (although this was never fully explored) but I had a problem with how they worked. They always seemed to lead from poor / war-torn countries to wealthy ones. How's that work then?? And I also had a problem with the lack of politics. Not that I want politics in my fiction but its lack in this novel was almost obtrusive....more
I enjoyed the dictionary strand with Poppy's vignettes and learning the meaning of some aboriginal words, but the other two: Greenleaf's letter and AuI enjoyed the dictionary strand with Poppy's vignettes and learning the meaning of some aboriginal words, but the other two: Greenleaf's letter and August's present-day story didn't work for me. It felt that too many issues were crammed into one story and I was hit over the head with them. I also wasn't sure about how the whole of it came together and the land was saved. 2.5 stars...more
Fifteen-year-old Kambili lives with her abusive and religious father, abused mother, and older brother in Nigeria. She survives by working out exactlyFifteen-year-old Kambili lives with her abusive and religious father, abused mother, and older brother in Nigeria. She survives by working out exactly what it is her father wants but still he beats her and pours boiling water on her feet. She and her brother see a different kind of family life - loving and fun - when they go to stay with their aunt and cousins. This is all set to the backdrop of the Nigerian coup which affects her father's life most of all. There were lots of things I enjoyed: how complicated her father is, the stirrings of love that Kambili feels for a priest, and the aunt and cousins, but still I was left rather unmoved. The brother and mother both seemed unknowable, and even Kambili is so introverted that she lack enough energy and agency to care too much about. ...more
A thrilling, absorbing and immersive tale of artistry, adventure and romance. Thanks to the publisher for a proof. I really enjoyed this. The 1790s anA thrilling, absorbing and immersive tale of artistry, adventure and romance. Thanks to the publisher for a proof. I really enjoyed this. The 1790s and woodcarver, Abbas works with a French artist to carve an automaton of a tiger eating a British soldier (which can really be seen in the V&A) for Mysore's leader, Tipu Sultan. When Mysore is looted, the automaton is taken, and eventually Abbas teams up with a young woman to try to get it back from an English lady. It's all great fun! ...more
This was a fun, quick read that was different from my usual more literary fiction. Often when I fall for the books that are everywhere - and I am pronThis was a fun, quick read that was different from my usual more literary fiction. Often when I fall for the books that are everywhere - and I am prone to do that - they just don't cut it; it feels as though they don't even achieve what they're setting out to do, but Yellowface was different. Kuang described exactly the pain and pleasure of being a published author (although some things were a little over-explained even for readers not in the industry), and she made me feel so uncomfortable for much of the novel which was a real achievement: whose side was I supposed to be on? And in fact no one comes out well from this story. June Hayward, white not-so-successful author is there when her friend Athena Liu, Chinese American celebrity author, chokes on a pancake. Unable to save her but before the paramedics arrive June steals Athena's unfinished manuscript for her next novel, rewrites it and passes it off as her own. June is now the celebrity author, with the dead friend... There were bits that didn't quite work for me: the ghostly stuff, and the Scoobie-Doo-like scene towards the end where June has it out with her antagonist. But still definitely worth picking up if you're looking for something quick but still worth reading....more
This was interesting although also sometimes a little incoherent. Artist Antara lives in the Indian city of Pune with her American-born husband. Her mThis was interesting although also sometimes a little incoherent. Artist Antara lives in the Indian city of Pune with her American-born husband. Her mother, Tara is suffering from dementia and Antara (un-Tara) takes on the caring role. But Tara didn't look after her daughter well when she was younger, deserting her when she fell in love with a guru in an ashram, turning them into beggars for a while, generally abusing her. So, it's a complicated relationship - Antara feels a duty of care to a woman she hates. She believes that removing all sugar from Tara will make her lucid, and perhaps this works because her mother sees her art and begins to destroy it. There is something here about care-giving and family stories looping round, and difficult mother daughter relationships, but somehow the story is too muddy to see it all clearly. 3.5 stars...more
Gina recently interviewed me at McNally Jackson bookstore in New York, because...octopuses of course. Ro is struggling her way through life while workGina recently interviewed me at McNally Jackson bookstore in New York, because...octopuses of course. Ro is struggling her way through life while working in an aquarium looking after a giant pacific octopus. Several years ago her father disappeared at sea, but interestingly Chung doesn't make this a novel about Ro looking for him, but more immersing herself in her own memories to escape real life, where her ex-boyfriend has a one-way ticket to Mars and her best friend is distracted by her own wedding. Original, wise and funny. Thanks to the publisher, Picador for my copy....more
I am about five months older than Lemn Sissay and it was impossible to read this book without reflecting on the juxtaposition of his childhood and minI am about five months older than Lemn Sissay and it was impossible to read this book without reflecting on the juxtaposition of his childhood and mine (I was for the most part provided with love, support, encouragement and truth by my family). This is Sissay's story from his birth to an Ethiopian mother who wouldn't sign the adoption papers that The Authority insisted on, to age 18 when he managed to move into his own flat. In between is his account of his foster family who abandoned him age 12 so that he was moved into several children's homes, the last of which was more or a less a prison. He intersperses his memories with the documents that The Authority's employees wrote about him which he didn't get to read until his late forties. It is powerful, moving, searing, and yes, shaming. ...more
A Black young woman questions everything and everyone: her promotion to the joint head of her team (with a white man), why her white boyfriend is withA Black young woman questions everything and everyone: her promotion to the joint head of her team (with a white man), why her white boyfriend is with her, what his wealthy family really think of her, what to do about recent medical diagnosis, as well as much bigger societal issues around race, culture, colonialism, and more. The structure is experimental, and while I'll admit that those aren't the kind of books that usually grab me anyway, I felt that this just had too much going on for such a short novel. The writing, though, was wonderful: poetic, succinct, careful. I'd definitely read whatever Brown does next. ...more
How many pages do you read before you give up on a book? For me - especially if it's a proof that I haven't requested - it might be as few as one or tHow many pages do you read before you give up on a book? For me - especially if it's a proof that I haven't requested - it might be as few as one or two. I might have given up on The Namesake if I wasn't reading it for my book group and thought that I should press on. And I'm so glad I did - when I was just past page 100 I was hooked. Up until then I felt that it didn't stop and examine any one thing closely enough - it was just this happened, and then this happened, and then this. Something seemed to change with Gogol the main character finds his first serious girlfriend, and everything slowed and became much more enjoyable. Really very enjoyable. It's the story of Gogol's life (and before - his parents' lives) - the first child of Bengalis who have emigrated to American, and how he is torn between his heritage and parents' culture, and his American life. ...more
How long after a long list of murders can there be retribution? is the next generation guilty of the crimes of their parents? and if there is retributHow long after a long list of murders can there be retribution? is the next generation guilty of the crimes of their parents? and if there is retribution should it take the same form as the original crime? The Trees dives deep into race in America, racism, and lynching, with a humorous touch (it definitely gets pretty crazy by the end). Except I just didn't get the humour - I knew when Everett was trying to be funny, but it was too much of a pastiche for me; too cartoony. The white characters (clearly deliberately) didn't feel real and when the number of gruesome murders pile up, I didn't care (again, I can see the irony between the 'Unknown men' who were lynched and losing track of the number of white deaths), but it all meant that I finished this novel not feeling very much, when I think I was supposed to feel a great deal. ...more
The book opens with a young mother, Kim Jiyoung having some psychotic episodes when she believes she is one of her friends who has died. We then go baThe book opens with a young mother, Kim Jiyoung having some psychotic episodes when she believes she is one of her friends who has died. We then go back to Jiyoung's childhood, studies, first jobs, and when she has her child. Everything is shown through the lens of the misogyny and sexism Jiyoung faces in South Korea, which although shocking, is written in such a dry and stilted style, it is hard to get into the story. Perhaps this was the wake-up call South Korea needed because it has been a bestseller there. ...more
15 stories / flash fiction pieces about being a bi or gay Puerto Rican man in the US. Sometimes dark, funny, or just wonderfully weird, I enjoyed most15 stories / flash fiction pieces about being a bi or gay Puerto Rican man in the US. Sometimes dark, funny, or just wonderfully weird, I enjoyed most of these. I liked their brevity but still always felt they landed well. ...more
I've tried Diaz's stories a couple of times now, and unfortunately, he just isn't the writer for me. I found it hard to differentiate between the storI've tried Diaz's stories a couple of times now, and unfortunately, he just isn't the writer for me. I found it hard to differentiate between the stories and the voices, and it was all very flat. Also endings, don't talk to me about endings. ...more
This was originally published as a series of short stories by The New Yorker, about the character Annie John growing up on Antigua in the 1950 and 196This was originally published as a series of short stories by The New Yorker, about the character Annie John growing up on Antigua in the 1950 and 1960s, and then brought together as a novel, and for me this didn't particularly work. It felt very autobiographical (and apparently is) with little narrative thread apart from time passing and Annie hating everyone. Annie is a very difficult character to read - she is really quite horrible in the end about all the people she spends time with, especially her mother and cannot wait to leave. I did, however, really enjoy reading about life on Antigua in that period - about 15 years before independence from Britain, and the clash between more traditional Caribbean culture and medicine, and British. Incidentally, in the early 2000s I went on holiday to Antigua with my kids and first husband. It is a beautiful island with lovely people but the trip was overshadowed by a disaster that has become one of those stories that families retell over and over. A story for another day....more
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