Bleak, but powerfully written, The Five Wounds follows a broken family through some harrowing difficulties over the course of a year in New Mexico. ItBleak, but powerfully written, The Five Wounds follows a broken family through some harrowing difficulties over the course of a year in New Mexico. It includes a literal crucifixion and a birth and tends to generate some real sympathy for its characters. As messed up as they are, we root for Angel and her dad to overcome their many character flaws and build something out of the mess of their lives.
The Pulitzer has never gone to a Latina, will this be the year? In fact, the only Latinos that ever won were Oscar Hijuelos in 1990 for Mambo Kings and Junot Diaz in 2008 for Oscar Wao, so perhaps a Mexicana-American debut novel would be a fantastic choice?
The writing is pretty good throughout. Here's a sample: "This is death, then: a brief spot of light on earth extinguished, a rippling point of energy swept clear. A kiss, a song, the warm circle of a stranger's arms--these things and others--the whole crush of memory and hope, the constant babble of the mind, everything that composes a person- gone." (p. 285)
I don't think this one will win the '22 Pulitzer, but given recent trends, I would not be surprised if it was a runner-up. I actually wouldn't mind it winning, but it is a long shot. What do other folks think, could Quade be the first Latina laureate?...more
This was a beautifully written novel about life in a cloister of nuns in the 12th Century in England. Our protagonist Marie is related to Eleonore of This was a beautifully written novel about life in a cloister of nuns in the 12th Century in England. Our protagonist Marie is related to Eleonore of Aquitaine but as a result of a rape, and times being what they were, this rendered her unmarriable and destined for monastic life. She is exiled to a plague-ridden cloister where she becomes abbess (the #2 in charge) at the young age of about 14. The story follows her long life during which she brings prosperity to the abbey through aggressive management and revolutionary ideas (like women protecting their walls against potential male aggressors with a labyrinth, etc). The book feels very realistic and was the result of lots of research into the period. It is loosely based on a poetess of that period named Marie of France of whom we know almost nothing, giving the author a blank slate from which to work. Prepare to be immersed in the wild world of the middle middle ages complete with crusades and wars and intra-court politics.
This one started out interesting but then went off literally into the weeds with some strange ghost stories, some implausible trajectories for the chaThis one started out interesting but then went off literally into the weeds with some strange ghost stories, some implausible trajectories for the characters, and an ending that was entirely unsatisfactory for the reader. Maybe it is just me, but I was not entertained with rape scenes or with the story of the competing theme parks - I found World of Darkness fairly ridiculous and wondered to what extent the book was trying to be a parody or just a criticism of the various Florida theme parks. The book lacked humor as well. I think the premise would have been ok had the story stuck with the title on Swamplandia! rather than going off in a few other, less interesting directions.
One quote: "Hopes were like these ladies, Mom told us. Hopes were wallflowers. Hopes hugged the perimeter of a dance floor in your brain, tugging at their party lace, all perfume and hems and doomed expectation. They fanned their dance cards, these guests that pressed against the walls of your heart. Our mom had become agitated as the movie credits rolled: There had never been a chance for them! What stupid women. That day we watched TV with her until the hospital began to empty, until the lights went white as a screech and the room grew so quiet …" (pp. 81)...more
[image] This is a sort of strange but fascinating dystopian novel about a futuristic Baltimore (B-Mor) following a series of environmental catastrophes[image] This is a sort of strange but fascinating dystopian novel about a futuristic Baltimore (B-Mor) following a series of environmental catastrophes and the institution of a global tiered society. We follow the fate of one girl who leaves B-Mor to find her lover who had been whisked away by the powers that be. Her journey takes us to several other strange places in this world - and we encounter some twisted people somewhat reminding me of Walking Dead bad guys. I enjoyed the book and understand why it was so highly praised....more
[image] This was a gripping tale, but I preferred both The Plague of Doves and The Night Watchman. Some of the characters and themes from those books c[image] This was a gripping tale, but I preferred both The Plague of Doves and The Night Watchman. Some of the characters and themes from those books cross the pages of The Round House which makes it feel familiar. I did like Joe, but I was less convinced by his father and was neutral about his mother. I felt the denouement was a bit abrupt, though. I think Erdrich was trying to talk here of the interactions of Catholic missionaries on the reservations and that is well-discussed and analyzed. In her writing, she uses nature for creating moods, and here is a passage that I particularly appreciated: Now the crane my mother used to watch, or its offspring flapped slowly past my window. That evening it cast the image not of itself but of an angel on my wall. I watched this shadow. Through some refraction of brilliance, the wings arched up from the slender body. Then the feathers took fire so the creature was consumed with light. (p. 123)...more
I enjoyed this pseudo-autobiographical book about trumpism's intersection with anti-muslim sentiments in America. It is a meandering story of the relaI enjoyed this pseudo-autobiographical book about trumpism's intersection with anti-muslim sentiments in America. It is a meandering story of the relationship between Ayad and America, between his famous heart surgeon father and the ex-president, about the author's ambiguous relationship with the wealthy Riaz. It is unclear to me what facts were fiction and the inverse, but the book did make me think about how popular perception of Islam has changed since 9/11. The passage about his experience on that day in Manhattan was moving, by the way.
To reassure Ayad Akhtar's father, he wasn't presented as ONLY an asshole. ...more
This was a very well-written contemporary story about the difficult life of women and transvestites in modern India. There are three protagonists whosThis was a very well-written contemporary story about the difficult life of women and transvestites in modern India. There are three protagonists whose lives intersect in tragedy and some degree of success. Both female characters, the jailed "terrorist" and the transvestite are written in first-person whereas PT Sir, the male character, is written in the third-person. Each person is realistically described and I felt a connection to them. The novel occurs in India which might disqualify it from the "scenes of American life" aspect of the Pulitzer, but several recent winners (e.g. The Sympathizer and All the Light We Cannot See and others) take pace in foreign lands so, perhaps it has a legitimate shot. It is better written than this year's nominal favorite A Children's Bible in my opinion. We'll have to wait and see in May!...more
I truly appreciated how Myra Goldberg wove a story out of this idea of an exhibition catalog of a female photographer and her daughter. Touching, painI truly appreciated how Myra Goldberg wove a story out of this idea of an exhibition catalog of a female photographer and her daughter. Touching, painful, but beautiful like the black and white photos that Lillian dedicated her life to despite the heavy cost: the price for Lilly’s immense talent was an immense loneliness that I would never have to know. (p. 30)
Due to a particular series of raw photos of Lillian and her daughter that were exposed at the Lacan Gallery and titled for the daughter (and author of the catalog), Samantha, the powers-that-be find the work offensive and "perverse" and the situation for both mother and daughter deteriorates rapidly. Sam learns about assumptions: It struck me that those who assume the worst of people are predisposed to assume it, just as those who suppose the best are predisposed in that direction. Any given assumption has more to do with its assumer than with the people they’re assuming about. (p. 59)
The writing has moments of brilliant clarity: Sometimes the people you’d expect to be important drift past like clouds, while the seemingly random types end up changing everything. (p. 71) I tried sitting with my camera by the window, but a dead-end street in winter is a closed fist. (p. 102) it is a face willing the light that I am guiding up my arm and into my head to shoot out through my eyeballs and into the camera lens, exploding it into a mess of twisted metal and shattered glass that will never take a picture again. (p. 198) Yes, I told her, and that is why there are no shawls or rugs here. If some person did build a museum for shawls and rugs, this would create the problem of bare floors and cold shoulders. (p. 231) Son or daughter, your flesh can attain a shape so different from anything you could have imagined that the notion it was once inside you feels like a fairy tale. (p. 257) it’s true that life divides us into smaller and smaller pieces as we go, until each piece seems too small to do anything as worthwhile with it as we’d like. (p. 278)
Sam has a best friend, Kaja, the daughter of one of Lillian's best friends and a black militant, Paul. She learns about how society looks at race: True acceptance does not stare, because true acceptance sees nothing to stare at. To both kinds of people, Kaja and I were a symbol. (p. 143)
Sam changes her name to Jane following the photo scandal and learns quite a lot about life as she reminesces about her life after her mother's death: lot of energy trying to make people in my image and then getting mad when they didn’t look the part, but if being a mother and a teacher has taught me anything, it’s that you have to work with what’s already there. I told Lilly there was a difference between a promise and an aspiration. The whole point of an aspiration is to make yourself reach. The only people who achieve everything they aspire to are lazy or cowards. If one of us had been either of those, we never would have stayed friends. (p. 318)
In fact, Lillian contracts cancer at 40 and nearly is cured: What began as a small piece of hope grew larger, until I did not see its edges anymore. (p. 320), unfortunately, the cancer comes back and takes her away before Sam/Jane can reach her again. Before dying, Lillian left all her photos organized and given to Sam/Jane: I told her what I missed about her as I put each sheet in the stop bath, and what I remembered about her as I rinsed it and hung it to dry. Inspecting each exposure, I described what was beautiful in each of those last pictures she had taken, and what was difficult to see. (p. 324) and this is the basis of the exposition for which the book is the catalog.
I enjoyed this book very much and would gladly read more from this author. Great stuff. Better than Nickel Boys IMO.
Tommy Orange is a very talented writer and nearly won the Pulitzer against Richard Power's The Overstory in 2019. It is the powerful, largely untold sTommy Orange is a very talented writer and nearly won the Pulitzer against Richard Power's The Overstory in 2019. It is the powerful, largely untold story of Urban Indian culture in the Oakland area centering on a catastrophic attempted robbery of a powwow. The story is told from the points of view of a variety of protagonists and exposes the tension between the economic desperation of the shattered diaspora of native Americans in northern California and the desire of many to maintain their threatened cultural links. It is a brutal story, full of alcoholism and drugs with precious little optimism.
Among the more haunting images for me was the spider legs that come out of Orvil's leg. I felt that this was a metaphor for the low-caste status of Native Americans and how racism gets under the skin and corrupts everyone in the system, but mostly the victims of racism and oppression. Jacqui's distance from her grandkids was also challenging, but, despite the ambiguous ending, it seems that perhaps that will change after the novel ends. Tommy Orange has hinted at a sequel; I for one would love to see what happens after the curtain call of this wonderful book.
A few quotes, this one after the narrator shoots a mourning dove in his back yard: "my dad looking up at me like he was the one who was sorry, that I had to see him go like that, with no control over the wild possibilities reality threw into our lives.
And better yet, Something about it will make sense. The bullets have been coming from miles. Years. Their sound will break the water in our bodies, tear sound itself, rip our lives in half. The tragedy of it all will be unspeakable, the fact we've been fighting for decades to be recognized as a present-tense people, modern and relevant, alive, only to die in the grass wearing feathers.
There There is an important work in terms of documenting the forgotten history of Native Americans in the 21st century which gets little air bandwidth in the midst of the general racist discourse against Mexicans and African Americans. I would also highly recommend one of his major influences, Louise Erdrich. I think I preferred just by a little bit the Powers' book for the Pulitzer, but this one was still powerful and definitely merited the PEN/Faulkner award....more
This was an interesting story about slavery, but with a magical twist. As Colson Whitehead has created a literal (but fictional) train in his PulitzerThis was an interesting story about slavery, but with a magical twist. As Colson Whitehead has created a literal (but fictional) train in his Pulitzer-winning The Underground Railroad, here Coates creates a sort of mystical, magical path to freedom called The Conduction. I just found it much less interesting as a story compared to The Color Purple by Alice Walker and Beloved by Toni Morrison.
The book is written in the first person from the perspective of the primary character, Hiram, or "Hi". He describes society as being divided into Quality (slave-owning whites), Tasked (slaves), and Low (poor whites). There are some memorable statements about slavery: Sloth was literal death for us, while for them it was the whole ambition of their lives. (loc 792) For it is not simply by slavery that you are captured, but by a kind of fraud, which paints its executors as guardians at the gate, staving off African savagery, when it is they themselves who are savages, who are Mordred, who are the Dragon, in Camelot’s clothes. (loc 1708) Slavery is everyday longing, is being born into a world of forbidden victuals and tantalizing untouchables—the land around you, the clothes you hem, the biscuits you bake. You bury the longing, because you know where it must lead. But now this new longing held out a different future, one where my children, whatever their travails, would never know the auction block. And once I glimpsed that other future, my God, the world was born anew to me. I was freedom-bound, and freedom was as much in my heart as it was in the swamps, so that the hour I spent waiting on our meeting was the most careless I had ever spent. I was gone from Lockless before I had even run. (loc 1848) But the Task does not bargain, does not compromise, it devours. (loc 2129) understood the whole dimensions of this crime, the entirety of the theft, the small moments, the tenderness, the quarrels and corrections, all stolen, so that men such as my father might live as gods. (loc 4749)
Hiram is the son of a Quality and a slave, long since sold away from the plantation, Lockless. The interesting name actually given that the novel revolves around escape and thus there being a missing lock. Hiram lives for most of his childhood in the Warrens, underneath the main house but still separated from the slave quarters. h, the curses my mind constructed for my fool of a father, for this country where men dress sin in pageantry and pomp, in cotillions and crinolines, where they hide its exercise, in the down there, in a basement of the mind, in these slave-stairs, which I now I descended, into the Warrens, into this secret city, which powered an empire so great that none dare speak its true name. (loc 1282)
Hiram finds his way into the Underground movement to rescue slaves, but, as also in Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad, this takes on a mystical side which not all readers will be able to connect with, the reviewer included. I suppose that Coates was sort of inspired by The Matrix because the person that shares Hiram's mystical power, Moses, reminded me a lot of the Oracle in that series of movies.
The central tragedy in the book is the death of Hiram's half-brother, Maynard, and how this death impacts the rest of the plantation, eventually collapsing of its own weight without an heir. A few more quotes: We are all divided against ourselves. Sometimes part of us begins to speak for reasons we don’t even understand until years later. The voice that took me away from the Underground was familiar and old in me. (loc 3273) Maynard was crude and this was his greatest crime. In fact, he mirrored so much of the Quality. He simply lacked the guile to hide it. (loc 4805) His world—the world of Virginia—was built on a foundation of lies. To collapse them all right then and there, at his age, might well have killed him. (loc 4915)
So, even if it wasn't my favorite, it was still a decent read. Once again, for narratives of even more power about slavery (which also forgo for the most part (ok, so not in Beloved) the mystical side), see Zora Neal Hurston, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison...
This was such an excellent read. Full of poetry and violence and breathtaking. It was SO much more deserving of the 2018 Pulitzer than the lackluster This was such an excellent read. Full of poetry and violence and breathtaking. It was SO much more deserving of the 2018 Pulitzer than the lackluster Less by Greer. It is the story of a poor family in the bayou of Mississippi: a grandmother dying of cancer, a grandfather drowning in guilt, a mother losing herself in addiction, and a son trying to understand the whole mess and keep it all together. Leonie’s husband is at Parchman prison for cooking meth and she takes her two children, Jojo and the baby Kayla to pick him up and this ill-fated voyage is the core of the book. However, ghosts abound as well and although redemption may not be in the cards for all, some needed catharsis may be there for Jojo. The writing is highly descriptive and does an extraordinary job from three narrative perspectives keeping the narrative gripping and moving forward. I need to read her other National Book Award winner now. What a great writer! Why did it take me so long to discover her?
A few quotes: "But by the time we get out of the car in the parking lot, the birds have turned north, fluttered over the horizon. I hear the tail end of their chatter, of all those voices calling out at once, and I wish I could feel their excitement, feel the joy of the rising, the swinging into the blue, the great flight, the return home, but all I feel is a solid ball of something in my gut, heavy as the head of a hammer.
"I choked and coughed; Mama patted my back. The humidity made her hair alive around her face, tendrils of it standing up and curling away from her buttery scalp. The lightning cracked again, this time like it was right on top of us, feet away from arcing through the house, and her skin was white as stone and her hair waving and I thought about the Medusa I'd seen in an old movie when I was younger, monstrous and green-scaled, and I thought: That's not it as all. She was beautiful as Mama. That's how she froze those men, with the shock of seeing something so perfect and fierce in the world." 5/5...more
I am quite familiar with Lincoln, having read 4 books about him, Grant and the Civil War in the last few months, and thus am well aware of how deeply I am quite familiar with Lincoln, having read 4 books about him, Grant and the Civil War in the last few months, and thus am well aware of how deeply his heart was crushed by the death of Willie. But, I did not need to hear snippets of dozens of dead and living people in a cemetery to more fully appreciate the pathos. I truly could not get into this messy, chaotic account by multifarious narrators agogo and found it intolerably boring. The gimmick could be aright if, as Joyce did in Ulysses, the style changed at some point (which is precisely the problem of unreadability of Finnegan’s Wake by Joyce). Sadly, I couldn't get past about 34% and returned it to the (virtual) library early. Probably will have to be convinced to take another shot at Saunders' writing because this one was a turn-off for me....more
This is a wonderful book about a Nigerian woman's self-realization growing up relatively poor in Nigeria with her childhood friend and later boyfriendThis is a wonderful book about a Nigerian woman's self-realization growing up relatively poor in Nigeria with her childhood friend and later boyfriend, her move to the US and life there, and later her return to Lagos. The boyfriend's life is also chronicled in parallel. There are many pertinent discussions about racism and sexism throughout as the protagonist becomes a popular blogger and is able to make her living based on her blog. The story is beautifully told and full of life and hope. I enjoyed the insider look into Nigerian culture and the raw, undiluted criticism of the systems of repression that Adichie describes. Can't wait to read her other two books....more
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