The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion

Most of the books I have read this year did not involve a lot of chuckles, for example Herman Koch's The Dinner, reviewed in July. However, The Rosie Project brought many smiles. It is the story of Don Tilman, a geneticist working at an Australian University, a man who has never been on a second date. He has less-than-zero social skills and possibly has Asberger's. This conceit could have easily become ridiculous or annoying, but former IT consultant Graeme Simsion handles it with such empathy that it works well...in fact, the reader quickly becomes quite fond of Don. Also, we realize that in many ways all men are like Don, and this is perhaps part of the book's appeal. Don applies his scientific skills to his entire life, including finding a wife. He develops a long questionnaire to eliminate bad matches, The Wife Project. He soon begins to help one of his very unlikely matches find her biological father. Their time together is often hilarious, as are Don's run-ins with the university dean. Rosie is a short, fast read, which might remind you of many people you know!

Take Shelter & Michael Shannon

I watched Take Shelter for the second time and was impressed again by the work of two young artists: actor Michael Shannon and director Jeff Nichols. Shannon here brings to mind a young Robert DeNiro, only with a slight Kentucky manner instead of New York. His acting is understated and at the same time very intense. In Take Shelter he plays a blue collar family man who begins to have terrifying visions that he believes warn him of a natural catastrophe. The hook is that his mother was institutionalized at a similar age with schizophrenia, and he wonders if he is on the same road. He keeps these troubles a secret from his wife & friends, which provides a platform for the power of his acting. I recently was impressed by him in The Iceman, a very dark and convincing portrayal of family man who is a contract killer. 

Take Shelter was Jeff Nichols' second feature film, and is very accomplished for such a young director. His pacing of Shannon's descent into madness or premonition was done with a deft touch. He did not allow the brief & vivid visions to distract from the very human story. The final scene of the film has an elegance that is quite memorable.

Deboarh Levy's Swimming Home

Deborah Levy's Swimming Home is a tale of obsession, poetry, long-in-the-tooth love, & families, with just a dash of creepiness that sneaks up on you. Levy's quietly lyrical, dispassionate prose neatly captures all of the foibles of her very human characters. JRH, a highly regarded British poet, vacations with his family near Nice, along with two friends. An unexpected visitor is invited by his wife to stay in a spare room. His often absent war reporter spouse might have an ulterior motive here. The young woman is a would-be poet and completely unstable. It appears that her arrival is not an accident. I'm not sure about the ending, although it allows the understated prose to slowly build toward a climax. However, the postscript, in the voice of his daughter a decade later, is wonderful.

Fuminori Nakamura's The Thief

Fuminori Nakamura has a new book out, which inspired me to read his first novel translated into English, The Thief. This is the story of a Tokyo pickpocket, told in nihilistic-zen-noir. Nakamura captures perfectly the psyche of the pickpocket and his felt sensations as he steals. In Camus style, he falls into the web of a criminal boss who enjoys randomly manipulating the lives of others. I will likely read his new novel, Evil and the Mask, which was released in the US in July. Nakamura was born in 1977 and his first novel, The Gun, won the Shinco Newcomer's Award in 2002. The Thief was awarded the Oe Kenzaburo Prize in 2009.

Kerrigan in Copenhagen

Thomas E. Kennedy's Kerrigan in Copenhagen is an erudite, clever and fun novel. Here is a 60-something coming of age story of an expat poet who is re-entering life after his wife suddenly left him with their young daughter.  I don't enjoy 20-something c-of-a stories, they are too annoying, and the well reviewed Harvard Square is a recent example. However, Kennedy tees up a fun conceit: the likable Kerrigan, who enjoys his lager, has been hired to write a book about the 100 best bars in Copenhagen. He and his Danish "Associate" wander through Copenhagen and he offers hundreds of observations about poets, philosophers, painters, sculptors, & jazz musicians who have lived there. Along the way Kerrigan begins to allow himself fall in love with his Associate, and, of course, this does not take a direct route. The book goes sideways as well, for a bit, but finds its way back to a rewarding ending. Kerrigan is good company as he walks the streets of Copenhagen and ponders artists of all kinds and his own heart.

Koch's The Dinner: Danish Saul Bellow

Herman Koch's The Dinner is Danish Saul Bellow with a 21st century twist. Invoking Bellow is high praise for me. Koch's writing has the same dry, sharp insights into being human, leavened with a dash of cynicism, humor and darkness. Like Bellow, Koch makes keen observations about family, spouses, siblings, money, sex, love, loyalty, while spinning an engaging tale. In The Dinner, Koch adds a contemporary twist of senseless violence. Two brothers and their wives have dinner and through flashbacks and forwards reveal a terrible act committed by their two sons, as well as nicely developed subplots about the four adults. This heavy load is lightened by Koch's wonderful Bellow-isms about the two brothers, restaurants, politicians, and anything else the protagonist encounters, which often generate a chuckle. It's a great mechanism to employ to subtly develop the horrible story of the sons' action. To avoid any spoilers, that's all for now, other than to say, read this one.

Two South of the Border Ex-pats

Two South American ex-pats published books in 2012 in the U.S. that deal with identity and the nature of fiction.

Eduardo Halfan's The Polish Boxer is a blend of fiction, memoir, past & present. Halfan was born in Guatemala, moved at 10 with his family to the US, studied industrial engineering & then spent seven years teaching literature in Guatemala. He now lives in Nebraska. As The Polish Boxer opens, the narrator, a Guatemalan writer names Eduardo Halfan, is ferreting out his roots through his grandfather, an Auschwitz survivor. In loosely related chapters, the story then focuses on Halfan's obsession with a classical pianist, Milan Radik, who is half-Serbian, half-gypsy and therefore accepted by neither. As Halfon tracks him, the pianist tries to delve into gypsy music, but he meets a lot of resistence because he's essentially a "Muggle", half-breed. They are both searching for who they are and who they might become. The book really comes alive in the Radik chapters, with some wonderful insights into music, performance, & the varieties of musical experience.

Alberto Manguel's All Men are Liars looks at identity through the prism of other people's perceptions. Manguel  was born in Argentina and spent his childhood in Isreal when his father was ambassador. As a teen back in Argentina, he read to the nearly blind Borges, which must have been quite an experience. As an adult he had been a globe trotter, living in London, Paris, Toronto, becoming a Canadian citizen. He settled in France, where he renovated a medieval presbytery, including a library for his 30,000 books -- I like this guy! Liars is narrated by several people who relate to a journalist their impressions & experiences of a writer who recently fell to his death in unusual circumstances. I don't enjoy the multiple viewpoint structure, but that's a matter of taste. Part of the point is how different these perceptions & memories can be. However, to me in some way they were not that different.  Over the course of these observations, written in the form of letters, many plot twists are slowly revealed as the story travels between Argentina and Spain. In the final chapter, the journalist speaks about this project, & essentially guides the reader to how to think about this stew of memory, identity, fiction. I think it would have been a better book without this chapter. Most of the characters are writers, poets, editors. So, the other thread of this identity tapestry is writing & fiction. If you love to read, it can be a rich mix.

In the Land of Blood and Honey

Directed by Angelina Jolie? I was prepared to be disappointed, but I was astounded. This is accomplished film making: great directing, acting, & script, so kudos to Ms. Jolie. It is an important film that deals with terrible issues in today's world: the atrocities committed in sectarian violence  and especially the brutalities against women, in this case in the Serbian/Bosnian catastrophe. Jolie never uses the subject as a blunt instrument, there is no gratuitous violence thrust in your face. She shows just enough to let the viewer know that countless horrors occurred. Zana Marjanovic and Goran Kostic are the impressive actors at the fulcrum of the story. Kostic is a soldier carrying out the orders of his hate-filled father, and Marjanovic is one of the women imprisoned by him. Jolie creates a remarkable dance between them, of passion, hatred, trust, betrayal. 

Unfortunately, this skillfully crafted film with an crucial message barely made a ripple. By contrast, another big topic movie, Milk made a huge splash, but was a deeply flawed film. I suppose it got a hall pass due to the important subject matter. But, I wish that the subject had been handled in a much better film. For example, starting with the the opening scene: film making's weakest device, the voiceover, this time spoken into a tape recorder, and repeated throughout the film: dreadful. If you can't advance the story through acting & action, then you should get another director. Harvey Milk deserved better. I'm guessing that the Brangelina  schtick helped push Blood & Honey to the sidelines. I almost didn't see it. You should.

Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore

Robin Sloan's Mr Penumbra is a lighthearted, clever collision between books, googlers and wizardry in a San Francisco bookstore. Our hero and narrator, Clay, is a RISD grad in search of a job. He wanders into a strange bookstore and we're off. Clay has a likable voice, which is one the charms of the book. His frequent second thoughts and pithy observations in the middle of conversations are delightful. He slowly learns that his employer, Mr. Penumbra, is part of a secret society which is trying to solve a puzzle left in a book by an early Venetian printer, Aldus Manutius. Clay was a gamer as a teen, and an avid reader of a fantasy trilogy. So, decoding is an elixir to him and he is hooked. He soon adds his own unorthodox high tech methods to crack the code. Enter google and the googlers, and a good deal of fawning over google. This is redeemed by musings on books, the future of books, the love of books, and, the future of Media. Clay involves his friends in the quest, some high tech and some no tech, an unlikely band, which is a key ingredient in this type of genre. Speaking of "type", a font plays an important role in the story, so, attention bibliophiles. Have fun!

The Constant Heart and The Informer

The Constant Heart, published in late 2012, is vintage Craig Nova. The story is of deep and changing relationships, and people in tough situations. As often is the case in his work, Nova writes of the manipulation and abuse of women by men. His prose is clear, concise, dry, and, every few pages, Nova makes an observation that is startlingly insightful. Heart is about two relationships. First, the relationship between a father and a son, and the lessons about kindness, gentleness and forgiveness that the father imparts. These attributes are out of synch with the times we live in, and the novel explores this. The second relationship is the friendship over the years between the son and a girl/young woman. Her life has had little kindness in it, instead, foster homes, half way houses, and jail. These three lives collide with a man who has been exploiting her. She goes past the point of no return and the two gentle men are willingly pressed into service to help her. The resolution of the problem is a bit contrived, but doesn't detract from the story, the writing and lessons he learns.

Nova's previous release, The Informer, is the strongest of his 12 novels. The prose style is similar to Heart, and is superb. The story is of a woman detective in Berlin, before and after WW2. It is not a mystery novel. The various characters she has to deal with are developed in a powerful way that is tied to the workings of the story. They all have an agenda and motives that she must interpret and juggle.  Again, Nova is looking at women in extremely difficult circumstances, who are manipulated by bad, bad men. Some of the scenes are breath stopping. However, Nova's clear prose is at work again, and these scenes are made all the more dramatic by being under-written. The Informer is strong stuff, I recommend that you read it!