YA short fiction collections are a rarity; I think this is one of the few I've ever managed to find. They also tend to be uneven. This one was solid aYA short fiction collections are a rarity; I think this is one of the few I've ever managed to find. They also tend to be uneven. This one was solid all the way throughout. Some stories I enjoyed less than others, but I don't think there was a single "oh no I HATE this" kind of story throughout. A lot of great historical fiction, some spec fic, all pretty good. ...more
This was fabulous, and dense, and strange. This the kind of book that merits a second reading later on (now that I know how it all unfolds) to see howThis was fabulous, and dense, and strange. This the kind of book that merits a second reading later on (now that I know how it all unfolds) to see how it's all put together--Mitchell makes it look so damn easy. There were bits that felt like more of a slog (by which I mean "Sloosha's Crossing," which makes 100% perfect sense the way it's told, but I'm not a terrifically huge fan of dialect), but man... what a book. I feel dizzy having finished it, and I don't know if I can talk about it more coherently. I wasn't sure if I'd like reading this, but I'm absolutely glad I did, and I look forward to revisiting it in the future....more
I'm shelving this under "short fiction" because this is a whole bunch of short stories, linked together by our protagonist (Jason Taylor), and I'm notI'm shelving this under "short fiction" because this is a whole bunch of short stories, linked together by our protagonist (Jason Taylor), and I'm not shelving this under "YA literature" because this is one of those literary coming-of-age novels designed for people who remember the 80s. (Not quite a complaint, but I'll get there.)
I have so many feelings about this book and it's really hard to suss them out. I'll try.
I've been meaning to read David Mitchell for AGES. I've heard so many great things about Cloud Atlas and now The Bone Clocks that I thought, "Dude. This guy MUST be worth checking out." My dad gave me this for Christmas, presumably because it's (a) coming-of-age and (b) well-received. I like both of those things. But I still had some issues with this book.
I think my biggest issue is that there are times when Jason reads like a true thirteen-year-old and times when he gets poetic in ways that I don't quite believe. This gets confusing when you think about when he's telling this story from--a much older version of Jason, or still his thirteen-year-old self? For example, there's one bit where he describes rain, writing "Rain washed out the twentieth century." I do not buy that sentence from a thirteen-year-old who writes poetry. I don't care that he writes poetry. It's still something that rang untrue. I thought it might've been interesting to show Jason becoming more poetic and aware of his language as the months wear on, but that didn't quite happen. Whatever. This is David Mitchell's book, not mine.
As for Jason, our protagonist. He's an underdog. He's poetic. He's a stammerer. He's an all-around Good Guy who's trying to get through each day. There's not much to dislike about him, but there wasn't too much that made him stand out, either. I've read a lot of coming-of-age fiction. I'm not quite a connoisseur of it yet, but I know a fair about it. And for me, a lot of this read as a bit too generic, the self-insertion protagonist from the period when the author was that age. Guess what! David Mitchell was thirteen in 1982! I was pleased that this wasn't "let me shove as MANY CULTURAL REFERENCES AS I CAN TO REMIND YOU THAT THIS IS THE 80s," but I think this is a trend that mildly irritates me. Writing about the exact time when you were a kid in a nice way = Literary Coming-of-Age Story. Writing about teenagers now dealing with basically the same concerns = Modern YA. Not literary. No matter how well-written it is. This isn't a jab at Mitchell by any means, but maybe more along the lines of genre-marking. Like, would this have been so well-received if it had been explicitly marketed towards young adults? It won an Alex Award (which means crossover appeal with YA audiences). To be honest, if it hadn't been billed as an adult book, I probably would've passed this one over, marking it as a little too generic.
And the plot... I'm divided on the use of "a standalone short story for each month." I don't think this is as inventive as some people have claimed, although I think it's an interesting move. The problem with some of these stories is that the thread of "these all happen to the same narrative" was not as strong as it needed to be to connect them all. (view spoiler)[For instance, when he meets with Madame What's-her-face--I have been drinking and I do not have my book by me, so I can't remember her name, Eva something-or-other, Communist, Courferyac, whatever--there was approximately ZERO CONTEXT for that happening. It felt out-of-place and a little too magical, not in a good way. Same with the sudden appearance of Romani people in the middle of the village green. "Wise g****s!" Hooray. What a trope. Bugger that all. (hide spoiler)] There were some places where I wished that this was less "linked short stories" and more "linear novel thing," but alas alas alas. "YOU CAAAAAAAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WAAAAAAAAANT." (view spoiler)[I also had issues with how drawn-out the divorce/Jason's parents' marital problems were. I thought a lot of it could've been dealt with much earlier, and Jason could've been dealing with some of the more obvious repercussions earlier. As it stood, the whole thing read as "well my parents might be fighting??? idk there's some tension but whatever it's fine I have to think about how Dawn Madden's eyes are dark honey." I would've done something a bit different with that aspect, but that's just me. (hide spoiler)]
Make no mistake, though: I flew through this book in a day and I could not put it down. I had to know what happened to Jason. I didn't want to leave it, even though I ddi have to leave it to go out to the shops. But all in all perhaps this wasn't the best book to start reading David Mitchell with. Or maybe I'm too critical. I'm still gonna read Cloud Atlas at some point, and I hope to god it's better than this one. This book was billed as "subtle." Perhaps reading so much YA has dulled my taste for "subtle." I love subtle. I do. But... ehhhhhhhhhhhh. (wiggly hand motion)...more
I'm tentatively marking this as YA, although I spent the entire book trying to figure out who the audience was for this book. (That's something else eI'm tentatively marking this as YA, although I spent the entire book trying to figure out who the audience was for this book. (That's something else entirely.) If I remember correctly, this book won the Printz award this year, and it was on sale for Kindle, so I figured I'd pick it up and give it a whirl.
There are several words to describe this story. Unsettling. Luminous. Confusing. Strange. Very, very strange. And, at the end of it all, I wasn't sure if it was entirely worth it.
The basic idea is intriguing. Two souls, Eric and Merle, were once separated, and now they keep finding one another on this Scandinavian island with strange dragon orchids growing there. The stories span history, from the near future to the Vikings. I think, individually, the stories were strong--especially that of the painter, the archaeologist, and the airman. But I also think that when you're reading a book of interconnected stories like this, there should be an "a-ha" moment that makes it all worth it. For the most part, I didn't have one of those. I remained interested, but it was... ehhhh.
Sedgwick also had a writing tic throughout most of these stories that really bothered me. A lot of his paragraphs were just one sentence long. When you have SO MANY of those all together and they become the driving force of the story, it gets really old really fast. I say this as someone who prefers longer sentences. Granted, not all these sentences were short, but... If I wrote a whole review like this, you'd get bored. Very bored. So bored. It would happen quickly, and we'd know that these dragon flowers were creepy, and it would be weird. Honestly, it reads more like the writing style of fourteen-year-old girls on blogs. (I had friends who blogged like this.)
Overall, I really wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. I think Sedgwick did a lot right with it, but it never quite clicked with me. Make of that what you will....more
I read this for school about five years ago, and it was a hell of a book. I don't know where my copy is. From what I remember, very funny and definiteI read this for school about five years ago, and it was a hell of a book. I don't know where my copy is. From what I remember, very funny and definitely worth the read....more
There were so many great stories in here and I can't think of any I outright hated. I also was glad that they included a What an enchanting anthology!
There were so many great stories in here and I can't think of any I outright hated. I also was glad that they included a list of gaslight fantasy at the back. The editors had good taste--there were a lot of writers I recotnized and a lot I didn't, and that's okay. So many stories worth telling. God, I love Victorians. ...more
I'm filing this one under "short fiction" because one of the things I love about this book is that it's, in part, four interconnected short stories abI'm filing this one under "short fiction" because one of the things I love about this book is that it's, in part, four interconnected short stories about kids on a quiz bowl team. A friend dear to me sent me this book during my freshman year, shortly after I had joined my own quiz bowl team; although I was a little above the target age by that time, it still stuck with me. I love these characters, I love the dynamic they share, and I love how we root for them in the finals. There are a zillion ways to do underdog stories, and for some reason, this story never felt tired or tropey--it simply was.
I should re-read it soon. I know I re-read it within the past year, so I'll mark it down for 2013, but... another re-reading couldn't hurt....more
Beautifully written. It reminded me of another favourite, Adverbs, but centered around fewer characters, and with less variety in viewpoints on love (Beautifully written. It reminded me of another favourite, Adverbs, but centered around fewer characters, and with less variety in viewpoints on love (not a bad thing, as it follows Yunior all the way through--Adverbs has a zillion characters who love a zillion ways). The way that everything links together is great, and there were several times when I'd re-read a sentence and think, "Gosh, I'll never be able to write like that." But that's why I like reading--it helps me learn how to improve my own writing.
I should really re-read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao; I read it about... five years ago when I finished high school? I think it's worth another reading, especially now that I know a bit more about DÃaz and enjoy his writing more. (I liked Oscar Wao a lot, but it was also like WOW THERE'S A LOT GOING ON HERE THAT I DON'T KNOW ABOUT. I think re-reading it will be a good exercise.)...more
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