Imperial Bedrooms
by Bret Easton Ellis
(1/5 stars)
It's just as well that JD Salinger never published a sequel to "Catcher in the Rye" with Holden as a middle-aged man because it probably would have turned out like "Imperial Bedrooms." While Ellis' "Less Than Zero" wound up being the '80s version of "Catcher in the Rye," perfectly capturing the emptiness and wastefulness of that decade, "Imperial Bedrooms" has nothing to say and really no reason to exist. It's just a dull Hollywood thriller like the type we've seen dozens of times before in books and films.
Picking up 25 years after "Less Than Zero" the novel again features Clay as the narrator. It might have been helpful to have reread "Zero" beforehand because the first few pages go on about how someone wrote a book about Clay and his friends back in the '80s but it wasn't really Clay, it was someone else who like Nick in the "Great Gatsby" was close to the action but not entirely a part of it. The book then goes on about the difference in the movie version, which is remarkably different.
Then it finally gets down to the brass tacks. Clay is a screenwriter and like most stereotypical Hollywood screenwriters is an alcoholic and fringe player on the scene. The rest of the book goes on as a B-movie-style thriller involving Clay, his friend Julian, and the stereotypical struggling actress/whore Rain Turner.
None of this rises above the level of cliche and really the only thing you could take away from this is something I figured out a while ago: most people don't really "grow up," they just get older. If you were looking for Ellis to provide some kind of commentary on 21st Century society, think again. He gets bogged down in the cheap TMZ tabloid theatrics instead. But maybe the point as I said was that nothing's changed for Clay. He's still a selfish idiot, only now he abuses alcohol more than cocaine.
In short this was a disappointing book that smacks to me of a cash grab. If you're reading this and you haven't purchased the book yet, then don't waste your money. Just go pop "LA Confidential" in the DVD player instead if you want a good Hollywood thriller or reread "Less Than Zero" if you want a nostalgia fix.
That is all.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Play Dead
Play Dead
By Ryan Brown
(3/5 stars)
I've never actually read a book featuring zombies before, but I have watched a few zombie movies like "Night of the Living Dead," "Shaun of the Dead," and "Zombieland" so I am familiar with the subject. All of those movies I'd say are better than "Play Dead," a book I'd give 4 stars for the concept and 2 stars for the execution. A lot of potential was left in the locker room instead of on the field, not to mention an overall pedestrian writing style. While the book is easy to read and not really terrible, it could have been a lot better too.
The story is about football--and zombies. In Texas there's almost nothing the people care about more than football, so that the people of Killington (pun intended?) are crazy about their team even though they're about as good as the Detroit Lions. Things seem to be finally going their way with the emergence of quarterback Cole Logan, who has the team one win away from the district finals against the hated Elmwood Badgers. The Badgers have made a successful run in large part because their team is more doped up than the East German Olympic team.
Everything's bigger in Texas, including the pranks played on the opposing team. Instead of stealing the Killington mascot, the Badgers attack Cole with a hatchet and then run the team bus off the road, seeming to kill everyone but Cole (who wasn't on the bus) and Coach Hickham, who managed to escape out a window. That's where the zombies come in, thanks to a football-crazed witch. From there it's down to a showdown between the zombie Killington team and doping Elmwood team.
The game itself is almost an afterthought, crammed into the last 30 pages of the book. The other 310 set up the bus accident, the zombies, and the game itself. Most of this is devoted to the emerging romance between Cole and ace school reporter Savannah Hickham, also the coach's daughter.
In the hands of a far more gifted author--like Stephen King maybe--this situation could have turned out to be much more interesting. As it is, the characters are stock and the Killington players have no personality BEFORE becoming zombies. Even the name "Cole Logan" seems like something pulled from an Action Movie Cliche guidebook.
In the hands of a gifted satirist the Texan love of football, various football cliches, and so forth could have been exploited to better advantage than they are here. There is some of that, but not enough to make this a truly great book. That's too bad because Brown has a fun concept but he's the wrong author to pull it off effectively.
I mentioned the pedestrian writing earlier and overall I felt this was the kind of story I'd see in an online writing critique group. One particular issue was the author's heavy use of dialog to the point he actually describes Savannah through dialog thusly: "Oh, she's a doll. Red hair. Green eyes. That adorable figure." That just made me shake my head sadly. For one it's unbelievable dialog and for another it's just plain sloppy writing. Probably the only worse way of describing a character would be to use a police APB.
Anyway, this is an OK book, not a great one. It is light beach/airplane reading that seems destined to be made into a movie with a Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart lookalike in the Cole and Savannah roles.
That is all.
By Ryan Brown
(3/5 stars)
I've never actually read a book featuring zombies before, but I have watched a few zombie movies like "Night of the Living Dead," "Shaun of the Dead," and "Zombieland" so I am familiar with the subject. All of those movies I'd say are better than "Play Dead," a book I'd give 4 stars for the concept and 2 stars for the execution. A lot of potential was left in the locker room instead of on the field, not to mention an overall pedestrian writing style. While the book is easy to read and not really terrible, it could have been a lot better too.
The story is about football--and zombies. In Texas there's almost nothing the people care about more than football, so that the people of Killington (pun intended?) are crazy about their team even though they're about as good as the Detroit Lions. Things seem to be finally going their way with the emergence of quarterback Cole Logan, who has the team one win away from the district finals against the hated Elmwood Badgers. The Badgers have made a successful run in large part because their team is more doped up than the East German Olympic team.
Everything's bigger in Texas, including the pranks played on the opposing team. Instead of stealing the Killington mascot, the Badgers attack Cole with a hatchet and then run the team bus off the road, seeming to kill everyone but Cole (who wasn't on the bus) and Coach Hickham, who managed to escape out a window. That's where the zombies come in, thanks to a football-crazed witch. From there it's down to a showdown between the zombie Killington team and doping Elmwood team.
The game itself is almost an afterthought, crammed into the last 30 pages of the book. The other 310 set up the bus accident, the zombies, and the game itself. Most of this is devoted to the emerging romance between Cole and ace school reporter Savannah Hickham, also the coach's daughter.
In the hands of a far more gifted author--like Stephen King maybe--this situation could have turned out to be much more interesting. As it is, the characters are stock and the Killington players have no personality BEFORE becoming zombies. Even the name "Cole Logan" seems like something pulled from an Action Movie Cliche guidebook.
In the hands of a gifted satirist the Texan love of football, various football cliches, and so forth could have been exploited to better advantage than they are here. There is some of that, but not enough to make this a truly great book. That's too bad because Brown has a fun concept but he's the wrong author to pull it off effectively.
I mentioned the pedestrian writing earlier and overall I felt this was the kind of story I'd see in an online writing critique group. One particular issue was the author's heavy use of dialog to the point he actually describes Savannah through dialog thusly: "Oh, she's a doll. Red hair. Green eyes. That adorable figure." That just made me shake my head sadly. For one it's unbelievable dialog and for another it's just plain sloppy writing. Probably the only worse way of describing a character would be to use a police APB.
Anyway, this is an OK book, not a great one. It is light beach/airplane reading that seems destined to be made into a movie with a Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart lookalike in the Cole and Savannah roles.
That is all.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
The Serialist
The Serialist
by David Gordon
(4/5 stars)
I was predisposed to liking this book as I wrote a very similar character to Harry Bloch in my novel Where You Belong. That is a writer who gets by writing under pen names that sometimes are not of the same gender as the real author. In my case the male author wrote a YA sci-fi series under the pseudonym of an Irish woman. In "The Serialist," author Harry Bloch writes porn, sci-fi, "urban" detective novels, and lately vampire novels by using a variety of aliases; the pseudonym for the latter series is actually his mother's identity.
Despite publishing dozens of books, Harry has never published under his own name and he makes only enough money to get by. He lives in his mother's former house, alone after his ex found greener literary pastures. The closest he has to an agent is a 15-year-old girl named Claire whom he "tutors" by writing term papers for her.
So it's not much of a surprise that Harry jumps at the opportunity to ghost write the autobiography of notorious serial killer Damian Clay. Clay is on death row and slated to be executed in just three months. In exchange for providing his story, Clay wants Harry to visit some of Clay's fans and write perverse stories about them for Clay's amusement. While Harry is reluctant to go along with this, ultimately it's an opportunity he can't pass up.
From there things take a deadly turn. Really the second half of the book plays out like a two-part episode of "Murder She Wrote" where Harry takes on the case. Actually it would make for a good series on the USA Network with the unconventional detective and his equally unconventional sidekicks Claire and a stripper named Dani who's the sister of one of Clay's victims. The last fifty pages especially drag along as Harry unravels the last few clues of the mystery and things run their course.
I suppose, though, that if this never turns into high art or "literature" that's keeping in character. It's hard to believe someone like Harry could suddenly create a stunning masterpiece. Then again it's hard to believe he does a number of things he does in the book, so here we are.
Anyway, the narrative is witty and engaging. Harry is a lovable loser, not a Sam Spade-type detective, which makes the story fun as it goes along. I am disappointed though that, as I said, the second half comes off as a TV detective show, but then I was probably hoping for something too much from a mere serialist.
That is all.
by David Gordon
(4/5 stars)
I was predisposed to liking this book as I wrote a very similar character to Harry Bloch in my novel Where You Belong. That is a writer who gets by writing under pen names that sometimes are not of the same gender as the real author. In my case the male author wrote a YA sci-fi series under the pseudonym of an Irish woman. In "The Serialist," author Harry Bloch writes porn, sci-fi, "urban" detective novels, and lately vampire novels by using a variety of aliases; the pseudonym for the latter series is actually his mother's identity.
Despite publishing dozens of books, Harry has never published under his own name and he makes only enough money to get by. He lives in his mother's former house, alone after his ex found greener literary pastures. The closest he has to an agent is a 15-year-old girl named Claire whom he "tutors" by writing term papers for her.
So it's not much of a surprise that Harry jumps at the opportunity to ghost write the autobiography of notorious serial killer Damian Clay. Clay is on death row and slated to be executed in just three months. In exchange for providing his story, Clay wants Harry to visit some of Clay's fans and write perverse stories about them for Clay's amusement. While Harry is reluctant to go along with this, ultimately it's an opportunity he can't pass up.
From there things take a deadly turn. Really the second half of the book plays out like a two-part episode of "Murder She Wrote" where Harry takes on the case. Actually it would make for a good series on the USA Network with the unconventional detective and his equally unconventional sidekicks Claire and a stripper named Dani who's the sister of one of Clay's victims. The last fifty pages especially drag along as Harry unravels the last few clues of the mystery and things run their course.
I suppose, though, that if this never turns into high art or "literature" that's keeping in character. It's hard to believe someone like Harry could suddenly create a stunning masterpiece. Then again it's hard to believe he does a number of things he does in the book, so here we are.
Anyway, the narrative is witty and engaging. Harry is a lovable loser, not a Sam Spade-type detective, which makes the story fun as it goes along. I am disappointed though that, as I said, the second half comes off as a TV detective show, but then I was probably hoping for something too much from a mere serialist.
That is all.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Snapped
Snapped
by Pamela Klaffke
(5/5 stars)
I'm surprised I liked this as much as I did because I'm definitely not in the book's target audience. For one thing, I'm a guy. For another I don't know anything about fashion. I've never seen an episode of "Sex and the City" or "Ugly Betty" or "America's Next Top Model" or "Project Runway." I never watched "The Devil Wears Prada." I did read one "chick lit" book solely on a whim because it was super cheap and I was bored.
But I did really enjoy this book because it's so funny. The story centers around Sara B., a cofounder and photographer for "Snap" magazine. Sara's main contribution is to take pictures of people who are then labeled as "DOs" or "DON'Ts." She's been doing this for almost twenty years to the point that she's now 39 and most of her subjects are far younger than her.
Despite the success of the magazine, Sara feels generally unfulfilled. She's never married or had children like her friends or really even had a serious relationship. She drinks and smokes almost constantly, often to the point of excess. And when she takes the picture of a young woman with a parrot on her shoulder whom she calls "Parrot Girl" she realizes her passion for the job is waning. Not long after this, she meets a perky young woman named Eva, whom Sara makes her assistant and takes under her wing. Except of course Eva is a backstabbing phony out to usurp Sara's job--not that she really cares.
The story is narrated by Sara and full of hilarious asides and fantasies, many of which are darkly comic like a game show where only the fastest shoppers survive while those who use coupons and write checks are shot. A lot of her asides are also self-deprecating about her enlarging rear or sagging breasts or flabby stomach.
I think what I enjoyed the most is that while Sara goes through changes, she never really changes entirely. There's not that "A Christmas Carol" moment where she decides to change her ways and be "good" forever. Nor does she decide that to be happy she needs to settle down in the suburbs like her friends and have kids. In other words, she never sells out herself.
The story doesn't contain many surprises, but it's enjoyable guilty pleasure reading--even for dudes.
That is all.
by Pamela Klaffke
(5/5 stars)
I'm surprised I liked this as much as I did because I'm definitely not in the book's target audience. For one thing, I'm a guy. For another I don't know anything about fashion. I've never seen an episode of "Sex and the City" or "Ugly Betty" or "America's Next Top Model" or "Project Runway." I never watched "The Devil Wears Prada." I did read one "chick lit" book solely on a whim because it was super cheap and I was bored.
But I did really enjoy this book because it's so funny. The story centers around Sara B., a cofounder and photographer for "Snap" magazine. Sara's main contribution is to take pictures of people who are then labeled as "DOs" or "DON'Ts." She's been doing this for almost twenty years to the point that she's now 39 and most of her subjects are far younger than her.
Despite the success of the magazine, Sara feels generally unfulfilled. She's never married or had children like her friends or really even had a serious relationship. She drinks and smokes almost constantly, often to the point of excess. And when she takes the picture of a young woman with a parrot on her shoulder whom she calls "Parrot Girl" she realizes her passion for the job is waning. Not long after this, she meets a perky young woman named Eva, whom Sara makes her assistant and takes under her wing. Except of course Eva is a backstabbing phony out to usurp Sara's job--not that she really cares.
The story is narrated by Sara and full of hilarious asides and fantasies, many of which are darkly comic like a game show where only the fastest shoppers survive while those who use coupons and write checks are shot. A lot of her asides are also self-deprecating about her enlarging rear or sagging breasts or flabby stomach.
I think what I enjoyed the most is that while Sara goes through changes, she never really changes entirely. There's not that "A Christmas Carol" moment where she decides to change her ways and be "good" forever. Nor does she decide that to be happy she needs to settle down in the suburbs like her friends and have kids. In other words, she never sells out herself.
The story doesn't contain many surprises, but it's enjoyable guilty pleasure reading--even for dudes.
That is all.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Next
I really enjoyed the first two-thirds of this book. It's too bad the story did a horrible 180 for the last third that completely ruined my enjoyment. If not for that I would have definitely given it 4 if not 5 stars. But 3 is the best I can do and that's being generous.
In those first two-thirds this seemed like one of those books that seemed so closely tailored to me I thought the author must know me--if not actually then through some kind of telepathy. The story focuses on Kevin Quinn, a Michigander (like me!) who was raised in Royal Oak in suburban Detroit. Later he went to Ann Arbor to the University of Michigan, where he cycled through several majors before earning a worthless General Studies degree that earned him a job as an editor at the university's Center of Asian Studies.
The main problem is Kevin's life is that he's drawn to women much younger than himself. While Kevin is 50, all the women he's been with are significantly younger. His current girlfriend Stella is 35 but tries to pass herself off as 29. It's this attraction to younger women that lands Kevin in trouble on a spur-of-the-moment trip to Austin, Texas for a job interview. Sitting next to him is a girl named Kelly who is half his age, if not younger. But Kelly reminds Kevin of Lynda, the fling of his youth, the memories of which call to him like a siren's song.
When Kevin sees Kelly again outside a Starbucks in Austin, he finds himself following her around the city. This is only the first act of the story. The second focuses more on Kevin and a Latina doctor who aids him in a moment of need. Kevin also evaluates his relationships to Stella, Lynda, his father, a girl he met before Linda referred to as The Philosopher's Daughter, and a woman he spent a number of years with named Beth.
This story could have been turgid and boring, but Hynes's writing is witty and insightful enough to keep things humming along. It helped for me that most of his observations about Michigan and Midwesterners were bang on the money. (The only thing I'd take issue with is that the author kept referring to Detroit's main airport as "Detroit Metro." That's fine if you're an out-of-towner but there's no way Kevin would think of it as "Detroit Metro" any more than someone from Chicago would think "Chicago O'Hare" or "Chicago Midway." Usually we refer to it simply as "Metro" or "Metro Airport." Adding the "Detroit" seemed like a bit of authorial intrusion to indicate to the reader that it's located in Detroit--actually, in Romulus but let's not quibble.) The only significant issue I'd had was I would have suggested the author scale back the current pop culture references. Those sound nice in the moment and I got most of them, but in 5-10 years references to "Sex in the City," "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," "Battlestar Galactica," "Lord of the Rings," and so forth are going to seem moldy. Still, for me the first two-thirds then were a breeze to read and very enjoyable. The way Hynes delved so deeply and entertainingly into Kevin's inner life brought to mind Richard Ford's "Independence Day" and especially David Gates' "Jernigan."
It's such a shame then that after creating this wonderful portrait of a character, Hynes decides to throw his story away and turn it into "The Towering Inferno." (Slight spoiler.) It just seems lazy to me, like when an excellent thriller movie devolves into a series of car chases and kung-fu fights at the end and you just wonder why the filmmakers felt they needed to dumb down the product at the end for the popcorn crowd. Though the best example might be "Huckleberry Finn" where Twain/Clemens had such a great story going with Huck and Jim and then threw it all away by inserting Tom Sawyer and his shenanigans into the end.
In the same way I feel betrayed here. I followed Kevin this far, I wasn't going to stop reading just because there wasn't enough "plot" to the story. More to the point, I liked Kevin and I wanted to see him work things out--or not. Instead, the book takes a shortcut that left me unsatisfied and angry. To me it just seems like Hynes lacked the courage to let the story unfold naturally, so instead he fell back on a deux ex machina device. It's quite a wasted opportunity.
I'd definitely recommend reading the first two-thirds of the book. Once you get to Part 3 though you might want to stop reading.
That is all.
In those first two-thirds this seemed like one of those books that seemed so closely tailored to me I thought the author must know me--if not actually then through some kind of telepathy. The story focuses on Kevin Quinn, a Michigander (like me!) who was raised in Royal Oak in suburban Detroit. Later he went to Ann Arbor to the University of Michigan, where he cycled through several majors before earning a worthless General Studies degree that earned him a job as an editor at the university's Center of Asian Studies.
The main problem is Kevin's life is that he's drawn to women much younger than himself. While Kevin is 50, all the women he's been with are significantly younger. His current girlfriend Stella is 35 but tries to pass herself off as 29. It's this attraction to younger women that lands Kevin in trouble on a spur-of-the-moment trip to Austin, Texas for a job interview. Sitting next to him is a girl named Kelly who is half his age, if not younger. But Kelly reminds Kevin of Lynda, the fling of his youth, the memories of which call to him like a siren's song.
When Kevin sees Kelly again outside a Starbucks in Austin, he finds himself following her around the city. This is only the first act of the story. The second focuses more on Kevin and a Latina doctor who aids him in a moment of need. Kevin also evaluates his relationships to Stella, Lynda, his father, a girl he met before Linda referred to as The Philosopher's Daughter, and a woman he spent a number of years with named Beth.
This story could have been turgid and boring, but Hynes's writing is witty and insightful enough to keep things humming along. It helped for me that most of his observations about Michigan and Midwesterners were bang on the money. (The only thing I'd take issue with is that the author kept referring to Detroit's main airport as "Detroit Metro." That's fine if you're an out-of-towner but there's no way Kevin would think of it as "Detroit Metro" any more than someone from Chicago would think "Chicago O'Hare" or "Chicago Midway." Usually we refer to it simply as "Metro" or "Metro Airport." Adding the "Detroit" seemed like a bit of authorial intrusion to indicate to the reader that it's located in Detroit--actually, in Romulus but let's not quibble.) The only significant issue I'd had was I would have suggested the author scale back the current pop culture references. Those sound nice in the moment and I got most of them, but in 5-10 years references to "Sex in the City," "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," "Battlestar Galactica," "Lord of the Rings," and so forth are going to seem moldy. Still, for me the first two-thirds then were a breeze to read and very enjoyable. The way Hynes delved so deeply and entertainingly into Kevin's inner life brought to mind Richard Ford's "Independence Day" and especially David Gates' "Jernigan."
It's such a shame then that after creating this wonderful portrait of a character, Hynes decides to throw his story away and turn it into "The Towering Inferno." (Slight spoiler.) It just seems lazy to me, like when an excellent thriller movie devolves into a series of car chases and kung-fu fights at the end and you just wonder why the filmmakers felt they needed to dumb down the product at the end for the popcorn crowd. Though the best example might be "Huckleberry Finn" where Twain/Clemens had such a great story going with Huck and Jim and then threw it all away by inserting Tom Sawyer and his shenanigans into the end.
In the same way I feel betrayed here. I followed Kevin this far, I wasn't going to stop reading just because there wasn't enough "plot" to the story. More to the point, I liked Kevin and I wanted to see him work things out--or not. Instead, the book takes a shortcut that left me unsatisfied and angry. To me it just seems like Hynes lacked the courage to let the story unfold naturally, so instead he fell back on a deux ex machina device. It's quite a wasted opportunity.
I'd definitely recommend reading the first two-thirds of the book. Once you get to Part 3 though you might want to stop reading.
That is all.
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner
By Khaled Hosseini
(4/5 stars)
The structure of this story should be familiar to readers of Charles Dickens, John Irving, or Patrick Dilloway. It starts off with a young boy who grows into a man and then deals with some of his lingering issues. The only difference is that instead of taking place in London or New England or Iowa, it's taking place in Afghanistan.
Amir's mother died in child birth, something his father (referred to as Baba) seems to hold against him. As much as Amir would like them to be close, Baba always seems disappointed in him. They live in a well-off neighborhood in Kabul in the '60s and '70s, back when Afghanistan was still a monarchy.
Amir's best friend is his servant Hassan. Hassan is an outcast not only because of his harelip and occupation, but also because he's a Hazara or someone with Mongol blood to give him a more Eastern appearance. Despite this, Amir and Hassan are as close as brothers, in large part because they suckled at the same breast.
Then after a kite fighting tournament to which the title refers, something terrible happens that creates a rift between Amir and Hassan. Not long after, they're separated when the Soviets begin moving in, setting off political chaos that remains to the date of this review. Amir and his father go to America, while Hassan and his father stay in Afghanistan.
Over the ensuing 25 years, Amir becomes a man and finds a wife, but he never forgets Hassan or the moment of cowardice that ruined their friendship. The only way for him to redeem himself--to be good again as a friend says--is to go back and face his demons.
This is definitely a book that came along at the right time. With the 9/11 attacks planned by terrorists sheltering in Afghanistan and the subsequent US invasion, the American public was obviously hungry for any insight into Afghanistan and its people and Islam. And the author doesn't disappoint here. The problem the US faces, as did the Soviets and British before them, is that Afghans are reckless and not prone to following rigid rules, as Hosseini describes during the kite fighting. And it has its own melting pot of cultures that to outsiders would seem trivial but to them (as demonstrated by the very different lives of Amir and Hassan) are extremely important.
There isn't a lot I can say negatively about this book. My main complaint was that the ending was so obvious. It's the kind of ending where you know what's going to happen 50-100 pages in advance, so you wonder why it takes Amir so long to figure it out. I won't say what exactly, but if you read the book you might see what I'm talking about.
Other than that I only have a couple of nitpicks. One is that after Amir gets into his fight and gets his jaw wired shut, he mentions that his voice sounds like Al Pacino in "The Godfather." I assume he meant Marlon Brando with the cotton stuffed in his cheeks. Maybe this was intentional to show Amir's incomplete grasp of American cinema. Or it's an oversight. Not a big deal, but a little jarring considering "The Godfather" is one of the 10 greatest American films ever so you'd think an author would be able to keep track of who played what character.
The only other thing is I found it a little odd and creepy that Amir romanticizes a woman's unibrow and big nose. Maybe it helps if you're from Afghanistan on that score.
Anyway, this overall is a good book. I wouldn't put it up there with Dickens or Irving's best works, but it's close. Generally though it follows the same pattern of following the main character from pretty much birth to present, so that even though it focuses on a different culture it should seem pretty familiar. If you're looking for a similar book that's a bit more challenging, check out "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie.
That is all.
By Khaled Hosseini
(4/5 stars)
The structure of this story should be familiar to readers of Charles Dickens, John Irving, or Patrick Dilloway. It starts off with a young boy who grows into a man and then deals with some of his lingering issues. The only difference is that instead of taking place in London or New England or Iowa, it's taking place in Afghanistan.
Amir's mother died in child birth, something his father (referred to as Baba) seems to hold against him. As much as Amir would like them to be close, Baba always seems disappointed in him. They live in a well-off neighborhood in Kabul in the '60s and '70s, back when Afghanistan was still a monarchy.
Amir's best friend is his servant Hassan. Hassan is an outcast not only because of his harelip and occupation, but also because he's a Hazara or someone with Mongol blood to give him a more Eastern appearance. Despite this, Amir and Hassan are as close as brothers, in large part because they suckled at the same breast.
Then after a kite fighting tournament to which the title refers, something terrible happens that creates a rift between Amir and Hassan. Not long after, they're separated when the Soviets begin moving in, setting off political chaos that remains to the date of this review. Amir and his father go to America, while Hassan and his father stay in Afghanistan.
Over the ensuing 25 years, Amir becomes a man and finds a wife, but he never forgets Hassan or the moment of cowardice that ruined their friendship. The only way for him to redeem himself--to be good again as a friend says--is to go back and face his demons.
This is definitely a book that came along at the right time. With the 9/11 attacks planned by terrorists sheltering in Afghanistan and the subsequent US invasion, the American public was obviously hungry for any insight into Afghanistan and its people and Islam. And the author doesn't disappoint here. The problem the US faces, as did the Soviets and British before them, is that Afghans are reckless and not prone to following rigid rules, as Hosseini describes during the kite fighting. And it has its own melting pot of cultures that to outsiders would seem trivial but to them (as demonstrated by the very different lives of Amir and Hassan) are extremely important.
There isn't a lot I can say negatively about this book. My main complaint was that the ending was so obvious. It's the kind of ending where you know what's going to happen 50-100 pages in advance, so you wonder why it takes Amir so long to figure it out. I won't say what exactly, but if you read the book you might see what I'm talking about.
Other than that I only have a couple of nitpicks. One is that after Amir gets into his fight and gets his jaw wired shut, he mentions that his voice sounds like Al Pacino in "The Godfather." I assume he meant Marlon Brando with the cotton stuffed in his cheeks. Maybe this was intentional to show Amir's incomplete grasp of American cinema. Or it's an oversight. Not a big deal, but a little jarring considering "The Godfather" is one of the 10 greatest American films ever so you'd think an author would be able to keep track of who played what character.
The only other thing is I found it a little odd and creepy that Amir romanticizes a woman's unibrow and big nose. Maybe it helps if you're from Afghanistan on that score.
Anyway, this overall is a good book. I wouldn't put it up there with Dickens or Irving's best works, but it's close. Generally though it follows the same pattern of following the main character from pretty much birth to present, so that even though it focuses on a different culture it should seem pretty familiar. If you're looking for a similar book that's a bit more challenging, check out "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie.
That is all.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
In Control
In Control
by Ethan Cooper
(5/5 stars)
If I told you this book was about a bank facing financial ruin when the real estate bubble bursts, you'd probably think this book was set at the end of the 2000s. You'd probably never guess that the story takes place in the early 1990s in Minneapolis and that the book was published in 1999, nearly a full decade before some banks ceased to exist while others were deemed "too big to fail."
The story focuses on Limestone Bank in Minneapolis, which is run by the manipulative Harry Kramer. During a real estate boom, the Minneapolis skyline changed drastically as companies began building huge skyscrapers. There seemed like no problem at the time when Limestone gave a loan to Aldco to build another skyscraper for a large company. Then that company decides to back out of the deal, leaving Aldco building a tower with no tenant and Limestone with a huge loan that might end up defaulting.
Another CEO might have decided to bailout and take his golden parachute or whine to the government about needing a bailout. Not Harry Kramer. No, Harry is always in control of the situation. The book then follows how Harry manipulates events and people to wriggle free of the trap and avert financial disaster. At the same time, we also see into Harry's personal life with his amiable partnership to his wife Holly, strained relationship with schoolteacher son Harry, and far less strained relationship with his doctor daughter Elizabeth.
I was reminded a little bit of Philip Roth's "American Pastoral" that focused on a businessman, who beneath the gilded veneer of financial success faces personal turmoil. Harry's life isn't nearly so much disarray, but behind his success at the bank we can see that his marriage is passionless, his son a disappointment, and his protege Gordon Elliam a fraud. So maybe Harry isn't as in control of things as he likes to think.
In the end if you've ever wanted to see what makes these high-powered movers and shakers tick, "In Control" is a good start. Not to mention the sort-of-sequels "Smooth in Meetings" and "Tom's Job." They all provide a fascinating look beyond the headlines in the Wall Street Journal.
That is all.
by Ethan Cooper
(5/5 stars)
If I told you this book was about a bank facing financial ruin when the real estate bubble bursts, you'd probably think this book was set at the end of the 2000s. You'd probably never guess that the story takes place in the early 1990s in Minneapolis and that the book was published in 1999, nearly a full decade before some banks ceased to exist while others were deemed "too big to fail."
The story focuses on Limestone Bank in Minneapolis, which is run by the manipulative Harry Kramer. During a real estate boom, the Minneapolis skyline changed drastically as companies began building huge skyscrapers. There seemed like no problem at the time when Limestone gave a loan to Aldco to build another skyscraper for a large company. Then that company decides to back out of the deal, leaving Aldco building a tower with no tenant and Limestone with a huge loan that might end up defaulting.
Another CEO might have decided to bailout and take his golden parachute or whine to the government about needing a bailout. Not Harry Kramer. No, Harry is always in control of the situation. The book then follows how Harry manipulates events and people to wriggle free of the trap and avert financial disaster. At the same time, we also see into Harry's personal life with his amiable partnership to his wife Holly, strained relationship with schoolteacher son Harry, and far less strained relationship with his doctor daughter Elizabeth.
I was reminded a little bit of Philip Roth's "American Pastoral" that focused on a businessman, who beneath the gilded veneer of financial success faces personal turmoil. Harry's life isn't nearly so much disarray, but behind his success at the bank we can see that his marriage is passionless, his son a disappointment, and his protege Gordon Elliam a fraud. So maybe Harry isn't as in control of things as he likes to think.
In the end if you've ever wanted to see what makes these high-powered movers and shakers tick, "In Control" is a good start. Not to mention the sort-of-sequels "Smooth in Meetings" and "Tom's Job." They all provide a fascinating look beyond the headlines in the Wall Street Journal.
That is all.
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