Category: Reviews

( #TheNightCircus, #ErinMorgenstern )

I just finished reading Erin Morgenstern’s “The Night Circus” and I found myself liking it more than I thought I would. The book is about a mysterious traveling circus that (if you can’t figure it out by the title), opens only at night. This circus is essentially the best ever because there are a few members of the crew who can actually do “real magic.” Morgenstern hints that the “magic” is more like science but never gets to deep into the technical details.

The story revolves around a bet made by two old rivals. They train young children (the more villainous of the two uses his own daughter) to engage in a decades-long competition that neither student know the rules to. The circus becomes their battleground as each one tries to out-do each other with attractions and optical illusions. Neither student can interfere or tamper with the other’s work. Of course as the children get older and find out each other’s identities, they fall in love (snore).

The best part of the book is that Morgenstern doesn’t give the reader a hint about how the ending. Neither character “goes dark” or tries to take advantage of the other, and Morgenstern plays by the rules she created for her universe. The romantic aspects of the book are weak and feels like “Water for Elephants” – the “I love you but I can’t be with you” nonsense, but Morgenstern wisely leverages her secondary characters to add atmosphere and back story so the primary plot of the love story utilizes the least amount of pages possible.

“The Night Circus” works because the plot moves along at a good pace and the writer did an excellent job of keeping reader interest high. I won’t say it is a great book, but it is good and I enjoyed the time I spent with it.

( #MichaelChabon )

Michael Chabon has a well documented love affair with comic books. He wrote the script for the first Spiderman movie, he has written his own comics, and he wrote “The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” which may be one of the finest books about the funny pages in recent memory (if not all time).

This book might as well be a history of the comic industry. The plot focuses on two cousins that write comics right before World War II. Sammy Clay is a struggling writer who discovers his cousin Joe, who just escaped Nazi Germany, is an excellent artist. Together they invent a character named “The Escapist” that is able to fulfill fantasies that they could never manage in the real world. As the situation in Germany becomes increasingly dire, “The Escapist” comics become more politically charged as the hero regularly fights Nazis.

The cool thing about this book is that it parallels the origins of Superman. Superman was created by two Jewish kids that were frustrated with the situation in Germany and had the man of steel regularly beat the hell of out the Nazis back in the 40’s to drum up support for the war effort. The book touches on women’s rights, the whole comic code being introduced, and the accusation that the introduction of sidekicks promoted homosexual activity (and how many real life artists found themselves being interrogated by police and media because of the fad) and the eventual decline in popularity (due in some part to the comic code).

“The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” is an outstanding book. Chabon used real stories of the comic industry to paint a picture of life during WWII and what it is like to be an immigrant during that time. It won the Pulitzer Prize when it was released, which I think was well deserved. I highly recommend this book.

( #MichaelChabon )

Over the years Michael Chabon has cemented himself as one of my favorite writers. His recent (and under-appreciated) book of essays “Manhood for Amateurs” resonated with me deeply. Chabon’s fictional work is equally outstanding and almost always extremely quirky.

Quirky is the word that I would use to describe “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union“. This is an alternative history story that presents a world where Israel was never created after WWII. Instead, a section of Alaska is set aside (essentially like a Native American reservation) for Jewish Holocaust survivors. All of this is the background of a strange murder investigation by (of course) a Yiddish Policeman.

Like most of Chabon’s characters, Meyer Landsman is a semi-broken man that yearns for former lovers, has a career that is badly damaged, and has substance abuse issues. As Meyer pushes deeper into his investigation, a larger plot about the fate of the entire Alaskan reservation is uncovered that puts Meyer’s life in danger as well.

I liked this book because it was a good ride, but it falls apart at the end. Once “YPU” links the murder plot into a larger mystery about fate of Sitka District (the name of the “city”), it loses focus. There is a whole situation with a missile that comes out of nowhere and doesn’t fit with the gritty snowy-noir vibe that Chabon spends the entire book creating.

Even with a nutty conclusion I like the book for the characters, the alternative history (I am a sucker for alt history books), and the interesting blend of genres and location.

( #JeffreyEugenides, #MarriagePlot )

When I found out that Jeffrey Eugenides released another book, I was excited to read it. His previous novel, the Pulitzer Prize winning “Middlesex” was (obviously) very good, with rich character history and unique plot. “The Marriage Plot” is a much different book in tone and story than “Middlesex” and not for the better.

Set in the early 1980’s, the book centers around a girl named Madeleine who is about to graduate college. She just broke up with her boyfriend and there is another guy that likes her. This love triangle makes up the entire plot of the book. The problem is that Madeleine is so unlikeable that you don’t want to read about her with either guy. You don’t want the guys to succeed in getting her, and I really couldn’t envision this girl being happy with anyone unless she changes (spoiler: she doesn’t). The whole love triangle was not enough to maintain the primary narrative of the book… what I am saying is that the book was boring.

Madeleine starts off as a self-centered over-privileged little snot and makes absolutely no progress in becoming a better person. One can argue that her caring for her depressed boyfriend Leonard during most of the story would count as growth, but I would counter that by saying she was just living up to social expectations. Her treatment of every other character in the book is horrid.

The other participant in the love triangle is a religious studies student named Mitchell. He spends most of the book traveling around Europe and India learning about religion and avoiding Madeleine’s relationship with Leonard. I would say he is the character you want to win in the story, but his attraction to Madeleine makes him suspect in my view.

I am not sure what the book was trying to accomplish. Perhaps it was a critique of expensive liberal arts colleges not preparing students for real life. Or it could be debunking the expectation that 21-year-old people should be treated like adults rather than children. Or perhaps it could be that relationships are complicated, but I would argue that is well covered grounds and this book didn’t add much to the conversation. My final thoughts on “The Marriage Plot” is that I found it to be a disappointing follow-up to an excellent book from a talented writer. The amazon reviews seem to disagree with my assessment, so feel free to make up your own mind.