Category: Books

The novel is a paean dedicated to books and libraries, painting five stories separated by time but connected via a singular, fictional book. Two tales follow children stuck on opposing sides during a siege of Constantinople in 15th century, two other resides in a fictional town in Idaho around the 20th century and beyond, while the final character lives in the near-future on an inter-planetary ship. Through dumb luck, the four who live in the past all end up preserving an antediluvian, fictional Greek codex called “Cloud Cuckoo Land.”

The eponymous Greek book itself plays as essential role throughout the novel, introducing themes and motifs which the reader can easily grasp onto. It’s really an AP Lit teacher’s dream come true with the deluge of overt themes like the power of knowledge and of those who controls the knowledge, the very human desire to reach too high, or simply the horrors of warfare.

But I think I connected with how time was treated in the novel. Depending on context, years, or even a whole lifetime, would pass in a single chapter. It reminds me of Gentleman in Moscow, where time accelerated through the chapters. Decades seemingly compressed into two sentences whilst the adventures as a child were so exquisitely detailed. Life seems diminutive as time marches on and destroys those that were not carefully preserved.

With that solemn conclusion, it still has a positive angle. No matter how meaningless an action now is, as long as humanity lives on, it might have a positive impact on someone down the line. We’ll be dust by then and our contributions will be lost to time, but posterity will nevertheless appreciate the bit of effort.

It’s a fairly well-written book overall. I thought there were several plot points missing and a bit too many deus ex machinas, but I did really enjoy it.

I honestly spent some three months trying to read Donna Tartt’s The Little Friend. It was well written, and I generally like her written styles (I did finish The Goldfinch and The Secret History) but somehow this particular novel didn’t work for me. Out of frustration, I just borrowed the most popular book on Libby which is available which happens to be the titular book written by Laura Dave.

Oh boy was the difference in writing stark. It was distinctively less sophisticated and the vocabulary more elementary. It made for much faster reading meaning the novel was done in less than a week. This is also probably due to the over-explanation at all points.

Was it worth it? Eh.

I honestly thought the plot was unrealistic with hackneyed tropes: a teenager being difficult, the protagonist doing things for “love”, a clear misunderstanding of what technology can do. Still, I finished it.

Why is that? I don’t know.

My third Bill Bryson book after a Short History of Nearly Everything and At Home. As usual, I loved his writing style and humor. I found myself laughing and snickering more while reading this book about struggling through the Appalachian Trail then the Anxious People novel.

Pros:

• Lots of facts, and his usage of vocabulary has always been strong.
• Dry, British humor

Cons:

• No sources; there is a fact about the average American walking less than ____ miles a week which I couldn’t verify.

The novel was published back in 1998, I do wonder if anything has changed since. There were quite a few sections where Bryson crucified certain governmental actions (or lack thereof) which I suspect will have gained a lot of attention due to the book/movie. It’s just so depressing sometimes to read about the accelerating decline of nature.

I wasn’t sure what this book was supposed to be.

It started off as a bank robbery gone awry. A few dozen pages later, it become a surprisingly heartfelt discussions on morality of intentions, and depressive thoughts. At other times, it tried its best to be a comedy (though, I don’t think it really worked for me).

In the end, I thought it tried to hard to be all three. As a mystery, I thought the “twist” was not that inventive. I did like how the the individual stories from each character played into the overarching mystery though. And also to be fair, it was arguably one of the more realistic resolutions that one can imagine.

As a comedy, it just didn’t click with me. I’m not sure whether it’s the characters or just the way my humor works… but I just didn’t laugh that much at all. Compare this to the Walk in the Woods which I’m currently reading now which has me audibly snickering.

Finally, as a character study, I didn’t much care for the characters. I found them grating, and rather unenjoyable to be around.

I can see why some people would like the book (hence the Netflix adaptation), but it’s not for me.

The Faustian bargain at the heart of the novel is intriguing: our protagonist Addie is allowed to live forever, but she is not allowed to make a “mark” on the world during her life. This means that everyone she meets will forget her as soon as she leaves the room. The curse is the embodiment of “out of sight, out of mind.”

Beyond the social aspects, she cannot draw, paint or write, for those can leave marks. Photographs of her develop to be stubbornly out of focus. Even her transient footprints get wiped away remarkably quickly. She is, in society’s eye, invisible.

While intriguing to discuss the consequences (such as how does one travel internationally in this day and age without a passport if one can be forgotten instantly with no records… or the fact that I think the author could’ve spent much more time in the “meat” of the time period rather than mostly near the beginning and end), the central driving force behind Addie is her desperation to be remembered. In time, she found that she can influence artists to create art inspired by her, supposedly remarkable, face and figure. I really liked this loophole for some odd reason.

Without spoiling the story too much, she meets a… remarkably… dull man who can remember her. Character traits notwithstanding, I did very much enjoy the writing in the last few chapters of this man. Speaking too much here would spoil the ending.

Overall, solid book. Decently interesting plot points. Fun read.

From the very first pages, one could deduce that Ms. Oliphant (as she likes to be called by strangers) is not completely fine. Certain aspects of her life are certainly considered ordinary: she has an ordinary job, a deep grasp of language and a steady schedule. Then one discovers that she has the savoir faire of a judgmental ninny. On top of that, she definitely has an abusive relationship with her mother. Oh, and alcoholism.

But the novel is not about whether she is fine or not. It’s about her journey to realizing that she is not fine, and, subsequently, taking the steps to changing her life. It’s oddly fulfilling to read about a character struggle with loneliness rather than being able to embrace it:

These days, loneliness is the new cancer—a shameful, embarrassing thing, brought upon yourself in some obscure way. A fearful, incurable thing, so horrifying that you dare not mention it; other people don’t want to hear the word spoken aloud for fear that they might too be afflicted, or that it might tempt fate into visiting a similar horror upon them.

Though initially a bit difficult to sympathize with our protagonist,  the author did a wonderful job of making her mental health struggles tangible.

Did I mention that the vocabulary of the book is top notch? Definitely a GRE level novel.

A novel about hardship felt especially apropos given the pandemic. In many ways, the novel about a woman enduring the Dust Bowl did its job. My feelings were thoroughly manipulated, and then crushed whenever a misfortune befell our protagonist, which was often. At times, I had tears in my eyes.

But at the end, the book made a turn for the unusual. There’s a distinct break in the plot, after the plot drifted from Texas to California. The change was subtle at first, but it was gradually made clear that there was an underlying political message in the novel. Oddly enough, it was positions which I generally support but nevertheless, seeing it diluted in the novel felt out of place. Perhaps Communism is a major factor during the Dust Bowl. It certainly made sense given FDR’s then-radical policies.

In view of the whole novel, I have to commend the author for an easy read with some interesting historical perspective.