Gao Xingjian is apparently an important and influential Chinese literary figure. He lived through the Cultural Revolution before expatriating to France. He has since earned a Nobel Prize in Literature, for his fiction, poetry, and drama. His stature, history, and skill are evident in his writing. However in this book they seem to overshadow the storytelling. There are only a few stories contained within this book, and none are particularly long. And while I quite enjoyed this as a collection, no one story really stands out. It’s definitely not the type of collection to pick and choose from.
Buying a Fishing Rod for My Grandfather follows a consistent thematic thread. These are essentially stories about people who cannot connect, with others or with their world. In each story the characters are surrounded by many others just like themselves, and in each story there is a noticeable lack in social understanding, or even communication. Selfish egocentrism reigns, and empathy is nowhere to be found.
I am regrettably ignorant of modern Chinese culture, though I’ve read that Gao Xingjian is critical of his native society (not to be misconstrued as unloving). This book contains a lot of characters solely interested in their own selves; it is a book populated by “me”s. The main character in the title story, for instance, sees his grandfather much less as person than as a figure in his own life.
This is perhaps most noticeable in “The Accident” where people speak over the corpse of a man hit and killed by a human vehicle as if he were little more than news, thus dehumanizing him and realizing him merely as a part of their own existences. Of course this is really no different than the turned heads at an accident in any country, so Xingjian clearly isn’t criticizing solely the Chinese. The newlyweds in “The Temple” partake in one sided conversation with a villager where they are honeymooning, much as the former lovers in “In The Park” both speak at each other while neither listens.
Still, the writing is strong, with plenty of exposition that carefully dips into the emotional undercurrent of each story and utilizes descriptions efficiently:
The lid of the coffin is open and he almost guesses that the corpse in the coffin, with its head wrapped in the shroud, is himself. Apparently confused, he turns and looks around, although he doesn’t know what it is he is looking for. However, he sees behind him two big heavy doors that are half-open, and outside in the sun, on the stone steps, a little wooden bucket with peeling paint. A lizard is crawling on the stone step in front of the wooden bucket.
This is a very short collection that builds a strong emotional swell, and well worth the read. However much of its strength resides in what the stories speak to contextually and how they work as a collection, so no singular story within stands out as particularly great. If you’re up for a collection of quick and heady short stories, definitely give this a read in a sitting or two, but if you are looking to nibble on a story or two between other readings, this may not be your best bet.
Before we get to the links, a little site promotion: I was Christmas shopping for books today and I wanted to get a mystery novel for my grandfather. Where did I look? Why the C4 Book Reviews section of course. Give it another peek, maybe you’ll find some gift ideas of your own. Also, check out our Best Books of 2009 feature, which will be updated Mondays through January. Well, enough of that…
I walked by a SonyStyle store the other day, and I have to admit they’re doing a good job of pushing their Readers in brick and mortar stores (I’ve also seen them in Best Buy stores amongst others as well). And while they have a decent selection of models, I’m not sure these themed Readers are quite necessary. In other ereader news, the Aiptek Storybook inColor is pretty neato looking, though I still don’t think an LCD ereader is ever going to really fly. The Aluratek Libre has a nice pricetag, but the same LCD concern still applies. (Before you poo-poo me, electronic ink–in our opinion–really does make a huge difference. Here are my initial impressions of the tech from last spring.)
The COOL-ER is getting a hardware upgrade, making it marginally cool-er in the eyes of the other wallflower ereaders. And there’s lots of Applet Tablet rumors floating around this week, but I’m not going to link to any, beacause I’m sick of them. We’ll discuss an Apple Tablet and its secondary ereader abilites only when (if) it actually gets announced. Here’s a review of the Sungale Cyberus, which also doesn’t look all that impressive.
The library portion of Reader Library is fairly bare-bones, but functional
There hasn’t been much love lost between me and Sony’s ereader software—I wasn’t a fan, to put it lightly, of the original eBook Library for Windows or the more recent Mac version. Last Friday, Sony came out with a new version, 3.1, for both Mac and Windows. To commemorate the new software and the accompanying switch away from their old proprietary format and toward the more open Adobe ePub (DRMed), they’ve renamed their online store the “Reader Store,” and the eBook Library software has become “Reader Library,” and they’ve partnered with Borders for some reason. So far, so… meaningless.
So how does the rest of Reader Library 3.1 stack up to its forebears? The question isn’t “Is it good?”—I’ve given up on good software from Sony—the question is “Is it… like, a little bit better? Like maybe not crashing quite so much?”
The answer is surprising: the Sony software is more usable than ever. It’s nobody’s dream, but it no longer inspires nightmares.
The following brief review applies to the Mac version of the software, but Sony’s a Windows company, so presumably the Windows version is at least as good, if not better. … Continue reading »
This is hands-down my favorite book of 2009. Cleave does just about everything right. The multiple voices are distinct and expertly rendered, the characters memorable, and the plotting tight. It is also a deep and moving book.
I really enjoyed the distinct voices, and the young boy, who considers himself Batman, is one of the most adorable characters I’ve read in a while. The book affected me in ways books don’t often do, and a lot of my respect for this novel stems from that.
It’s tough to explain the plot without giving things away. From my review (read the full review here):
I won’t spoil the plot, as the tangle of the characters’ lives is the crux of the book. Little Bee is a novel about a Nigerian refugee, self-named Little Bee, escaping to Britain. It is a novel about how one single moment, one action or inaction, can change the lives of many people, even those worlds apart. It is a novel about humanity. It is about the complacency and willful ignorance Westerners silently allow themselves at the expense of other humans just like them, in the name of comfort afforded by the imbalance of “global” economy. When confronted with these consequences of our lifestyle we’d rather sweep them under the rug like dust, or write a check to Unicef, or leave the world to politicians and businessmen because it’s easier.
I liked this novel because it was at once complex and simple. It’s easy to read and still the writing is excellent. Apparently it’s going to be a movie soon, so do yourself a favor and give this a read before Nicole Kidman steps in. … Continue reading »
Just noticed this when I bought a PRS-300 as a gift. Sony’s running an educational discount, 10% off on ereaders (and many other things in the Sony Style online store). Also, for some reason I didn’t catch, I got an additional thirty bucks off when I got a PRS-300 and a cover that retails for $30—didn’t have to sign up for a credit card or do anything else.
That adds up to a PRS-300 and a cover for $176 plus tax, and you get free shipping. That’s a pretty great deal.
You need to be a student or faculty member, presumably at a college. But you only need to designate which school you go to, not your student ID number, very similar to Apple’s student discount system. I’m not sure how (or if) they check up on that.
It would be unfair of me to label What Happened to Anna K. somewhere between Tolstoy and chick lit, not least because I’m nowhere near an expert on either of those things. Still, the title of this novel tells us Reyn was cribbing heavily from (or, if you prefer, “updating”) Anna Karenina, and the setting and routine—21st century New York, with characters whose primary hobbies are shopping and talking about relationships—isn’t far from Sex and the City-style fashion-drama.
Despite its heavy Tolstoyan influences, I’m going to try to discuss What Happened to Anna K. on its own merits, as a standalone work. Essentially, it’s quite well-written, but so repetitive and and formulaic that it’s not as good as I wish it was.
Reyn falls into that bittersweet grouping of writers to watch who haven’t yet written books to read.
I don’t really read all that much sci-fi, and even less so niche stuff like steampunk, but if I had to pick a go-to subgenre, steampunk would be my choice. I like the alternate history, low-tech tech, Victorian atmosphere, and funky gadgets. When I learned about Westerfeld’s alternate history of the First World War, battled between an axis of machinists (“Clankers”) and an alliance of nations who rely on biological machines of war (“Darwinists”), I was intrigued. I don’t usually give much credence to book trailers–they are usually rather dumb and tend to commodify books a little more than is to my taste–but the one for Leviathan tickled my fancy. (I’ve embedded it below if you care to watch.) … Continue reading »
I’m only recently back in the country, so this might be a bit strange since I’ve been out of the loop for two months. In any case, here’s some news about books and ebooks from around the web:
The Barnes & Noble Nook: We’ve learned a few things from the “nook,” primarily that nobody takes it seriously when you try to uncapitalize your product’s name (and, really, it does look silly). We’ve also learned that people loveloveloveto talk about which gadgets are going to “kill” other gadgets. So is the Nook a Kindle-killer? I could care less; there’s room for more than one device. In reality, the Nook and the Kindle are roughly 95% identical. The Nook has the touchscreen interface, which Engadget says isn’t all that hot, while Gizmodo likes it despite the interface hiccups. CNET says the perks (like lending books to friends) make it a worthwhile device. The big difference in my eyes is that the Nook does Adobe ePub, which means library ebooks, though I’m guessing they won’t work over wireless. We’ve also learned that Amazon isn’t the only one who has trouble filling ereader orders. Oh, and also… remember Borders? I’d say they have about 2 years of financial solvency left. It’s going to be like a brontosaurus dying.
Something called Opium, which is evidently a funny lit mag, has launched an iPhone app. Sounds promising; their interview about it was pretty funny. They publish quick stories and daily content—so far, no word on price.
Canada’s version of the RIAA, the CRIA, has been viciously hoisted by their own petard. For decades, they’ve been using songs for anthologies without compensating the artists, roughly 300,000 times. That’s piracy! In fact, it’s worse than piracy, because they’ve been profiting on their theft. Now they’re getting sued for $20,000 per song (actually a deal compared to the RIAA’s $80K per)—that works out to $6 billion. Ouch. And, ha ha.
Sony’s proprietary BBeB format is deadas of Friday. They’re adopting ePub as planned, meaninglessly rebranding their “eBook Store” to be the “Reader Store,” and rolling out a new 3.1 version of their desktop software. Which was necessary. Very necessary. I’ll give 3.1 a shot and let you know how it goes. Next on Sony’s docket: the Reader Daily Edition, with wireless. Something tells me it might be a Kindle-killer…
It’s the end of the year, so everybody’s doing best book lists, including us (you can keep track of our Best Books of 2009 series here). Sam Jordison at the Guardian’s books blog has a different take: here’s his hilarious post about the worst books of the decade. It’s good therapy, Dan Brown has a starring role—seriously, 80,000,000 readers?
Random of the week: “Mark the Spot” is an official AT&T iPhone app that lets customers tell AT&T where their coverage is thin, and detail specifically how they suck (dropped call, etc.). I’m guessing Mark the Spot won’t be making a cameo on those Luke Wilson commercials anytime soon. Pretty hilarious.
Keep up with the entire Best Books of 2009 series here.
It’s the end of the year, and time for another C4 book recommendation series (you can check out our last one, Literary Beach Books, here). For the next few Mondays, we’ll be chronicling our favorite books of 2009, but we’ll be doing it a little differently than most places.
Instead of all of all of us hammering out a ranked list nobody really agrees with, each of our contributors will give their own favorite books of 2009, along with a brief rationale for each choice. There’s no committee compromising here, just handfuls of books that somebody loved.
Here’s the first installment. Check back Mondays for more.
Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn
Dark Places is a gripping mystery about Libby Day, a woman whose family was murdered by her brother when she was seven. Twenty-four years later, she starts investigating the murders herself, and finds a whole lot more than she bargains for.
The narrative alternates between Libby’s perspective and flashbacks from the perspectives of her brother and mother during the weeks leading up to the murders. That’s not exactly my favorite structure, and I was more than a little skeptical when I started reading. Additionally, Libby isn’t all that likable, and Flynn’s prose leaves something to be desired (like her titles).
But Dark Places stands as proof that great storytelling wins out. Flynn writes excellent dialogue, creates compelling characters, and plots this book remarkably well. The result is one of the most gripping novels I’ve read in a long time. If you like mysteries and you’ve got a tolerance for a fair amount of violence, this book is a can’t-miss.
I’m not exactly sure how I feel about this book. For starters, it’s not really a book at all. Before he died–more than 30 years ago–Nabokov was working on a novel. Before his death, he asked his wife to burn his notes–a stack of 3 x 5 index cards. She didn’t, and now his son has decided to publish the fragmented work. It is in no way a novel, or even an incomplete creative work. If you are looking for any sort of narrative, give up now. This is merely an insight into the writing process of one of the English language’s greatest authors. … Continue reading »
Author: Gao Xingjian, translated from the Chinese by Mabel Lee
This is hands-down my favorite book of 2009. Cleave does just about everything right. The multiple voices are distinct and expertly rendered, the characters memorable, and the plotting tight. It is also a deep and moving book.
Author: Irina Reyn
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Dark Places is a gripping mystery about Libby Day, a woman whose family was murdered by her brother when she was seven. Twenty-four years later, she starts investigating the murders herself, and finds a whole lot more than she bargains for.
Author: Vladimir Nabokov
