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Reviews

Book Review: Alphabet by Kathy Page

June 24, 2015 by KB Staff

Fiction / Literary / Crime
Originally published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004.

Reviewed by Sarah, 06/16/15

When you think about stories that capture the persona of a murderer or a sexual offender, you typically think of thrillers. That’s not this book. Page’s character, Simon, is in prison for killing his girlfriend. We know this immediately. The book is not so much about that event as it is about the aftermath. We are looking at the rehabilitation process, the prison system in England, and the humanity of an individual at once flawed and sympathetic. Don’t get me wrong, Page doesn’t glorify Simon. She wants you to see him as potentially dangerous and unstable, but she wants you to understand him at the same time. That is, we have the opportunity as readers to imagine how a person can commit such a crime without being “crazy” or “evil.” At the same time, we are invited to imagine what this must have been like for his girlfriend, another character presented as a whole human being, not just a victim.

The book is filled with thought-provoking material in terms of psychology, penal system rehabilitation programs, ideas about sex and sexuality, etc. In fact, the book also features a transgender woman. This is an interesting piece of the plot and provides another great example of realistic portrayal. In fiction, the LGBTQ characters are often relegated to stock characters or featured solely as a part of erotica. As we celebrate Pride Month, I’m thrilled to note that Page has included a character that is none of these things. Page’s character is a part of a larger narrative and feels important to the action of the book, not just propped in as a token.

I appreciate this book and believe that Page is tremendously talented. This is a fascinating read.

Filed Under: Reviews, Sarah

Staff Reviews

April 26, 2015 by KB Staff

Reviewed by Sarah
Reviewed by Jean
Reviewed by Kaili
Reviewed by Kaili

Read more reviews here, or mouse over “Reviews” to select a staff member.

Filed Under: Reviews, Specials

Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson

April 15, 2015 by KB Staff

Verse Novel / Poetry / Fantasy / Romance
Pub. 1998 by Vintage

Reviewed by Kaili, 4/23/15

RedCarson’s Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse, first published in 1998, scooped me up during a poetry class at WMU several years ago. (If you are unfamiliar with the genre: a verse novel combines narrative, poetry, and drama. Similar to a lyrical essay, but fiction rather than non-fiction).

Works so heavy on mythology rarely pull me in, but I was (am!) absolutely taken with Autobiography of Red. It is the first of two verse novels following the character Geryon, a boy with red skin and wings, roughly based on the Greek myth of Geryon and Herakles (Hercules). I approached Red with little knowledge of the mythology, but Carson provides context in a short introduction.

Autobiography of Red, as I see it, is a bildungsroman and a romance for the underrepresented.  We travel with Geryon through layers of boyhood, abuse, shame, an obsessive love with the adventure-seeking Herakles, heartbreak, and photographs–covering, with emotional immediacy, an expanse of experiences rarely given reverent light of day. Geryon’s relationship with another man, for example, is written to stand for all human desire–homosexuality is presented within such an individual context (as opposed to a social context) that it becomes a neutral experience–an incredibly underrepresented reality. Red has marvelous rhythm, both in regard to the verse and to the structure and sequence of events. The silence between words is just as provocative as the words themselves, and the intellectual questions posed within Geryon’s story left me thinking.

If you appreciate a puzzle and consider ambiguity a force, rather than a frustration, I highly recommend Autobiography of Red. As for the “verse” part: critic Sam Anderson says, “‘Red’ has become known as one of the crossover classics of contemporary poetry: poetry that can seduce even people who don’t like poetry.” Carson’s familiar themes, albeit within uncommon context, won’t escape you.

Sequel: Red Doc> (2013).

Filed Under: Kaili, Reviews

The Martian by Andy Weir

April 13, 2015 by KB Staff

Science Fiction / Adventure
Pub. 2011 by Broadway Books

Reviewed by Jean, 4/23/15

the-martian-coverCould a human, left behind on Mars, make it until rescue arrives? This is not so much a retelling of Robinson Crusoe as it is “MacGyver in Space”… with a little Big Bang Theory thrown in.

Mark Watney is part of the third manned mission to Mars when the crew makes an early exit due to a severe wind storm. The crew sees Watney get hit in the chest with a metal antenna and his spacesuit’s bioreadings go dark. They can’t find his body and are forced to leave without it, thinking him dead. When Watney becomes conscious, he realizes that the landing crew has left him behind. Due to some luck with the antenna and his own blood acting as a patch in his spacesuit, Mark Watney is alive.

From that moment on, Watney survives, day to day, step by step, with the hope that he can survive long enough to communicate with Mission Control and to wait for rescue. I will not spoil the story for you by telling you how Watney plans to accomplish this, but oh, he’s clever, clever. His diary entries are such an exciting read. The reader cheers his triumphs and agonizes with him over the setbacks. He is a likable fellow with a sharp brain and a gallows sense of humor. You delight in traveling this journey with him.

Aside from a touch of foul language (not overused) this book is good for men and women, adults and teens. A friend who works at NASA says the space nerds love this book!

Filed Under: Jean, Reviews

Deadeye Dick by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

April 10, 2015 by KB Staff

Reviewed by Sarah, 4/10/15

deadeye dickThis is not one of Vonnegut’s best known titles, but it deserves just as much attention as Slaughterhouse Five, Cat’s Cradle, and any of the others. If you like stories about well-meaning people who do terrible things out of ignorance, this is it! What do I mean by terrible things? Try the boy narrator who fires a gun out his folk’s upstairs window as a celebration of his burgeoning manhood only to find that he just accidentally killed the pregnant neighbor lady, nailing her right between the eyes. Now he’s forever known to his community as “Deadeye Dick.” If this makes you laugh rather than cry, you’re a Vonnegut reader. The dark comedy of this novel is offset at times by a surprising warmth and gentleness regarding humanity. It’s as though Vonnegut is assessing all of our human fallibility and laughing with us at its absurdity. Essentially, this is some of the best fiction I’ve read and I’m a pretty persnickety reader.

Filed Under: Reviews, Sarah

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