This Side of Brightness

by Colum McCann

I was first introduced to Colum McCann via my contemporary Irish fiction course; we read Let the Great World Spin. McCann is a skilled and vivid writer, and he is very much a New York writer, as opposed to an Irish writer, despite being Irish. The beauty is in the details. McCann writes about what is unique and easily overlooked about New York.

The premise of This Side of Brightness is fascinating: tunnel people. The novel follows the lives of those who built the subway tunnels and those who inhabit them. I did have a little difficulty with the initial chapters because it was difficult for me to visualize, not only the process of digging the tunnels but the navigation of the tunnels and nests and cubby holes.

But I completely love this book; I couldn't put it down. McCann's characters felt real and true, and I didn't expect to get so invested in Treefrog. His underground world is amazing. I also enjoy when the characters in a novel are gradually shown to be intertwined, I feel like your brought along on the journey and develop with the characters. The ending of the novel is a little walking-off-into-the-sunset, but I can forgive that because I'm not sure there would be abetter way to end the novel. I highly, highly recommend reading This Side of Brightness, it is the perfect balance of love, heartache, danger, and true humanity.

The Fourth Hand

by John Irving

The downside of living in a city: The wait list for Irivng's latest novel In One Person is 180 people long. Well, not a problem, Irving has plenty of other novels. I tend to steer clear of prolific writers (I think 13 novels deserves the title prolific, and that's not including his screenplays) on principle. That principle being that contemporary prolific writers are too commercial and, well, not worth reading: Nicholas Sparks, Danielle Steele, James Paterson. But Irving is a truly great American novelist.

After reading The World According to Garp, it quickly became one of my favorite books. I think Irving has a fantastic writing style. There is a clear narrative voice, but it is crafted in a way that is not intrusive or obtrusive. It's like sitting down and being told a story by some really likable guy.

All this being said, the plot is...weird. It's too borderline sci-fi for me, with the hallucinatory blue pills and the interconnected dream premonitions. And, to be honest, I didn't even know that hand transplants were real or even possible. But what I really love about Irving is how thoroughly he constructs human relationships. I think if this book were written by anyone else, I probably would have given up on this book, but because it's Irving I stuck it out.

Patrick Wallingford is an interesting fellow; he's neither likable nor wholly unlikable. Irving's constant switching between calling him "Patrick" or "Wallingford," or sometimes "Patrick Wallingford" embodies Patrick's identity crisis and his self-determined journey to become a better person. I take issue with his feelings for Mrs. Clausen. First of all, that he continues to refer to her as Mrs. Clausen I actually find a little creepy. Although, she is such a part of the Clausen clan and never quite Patrick's, I understand that choice. But, his love for Mrs. Clausen just doesn't seem sincere. It comes out of a dream and bizarre circumstances, and suddenly he's madly in love. I think really what it is, is that he's more in love with being a father and the idea of family. I don't like how he basically steps in as a surrogate Otto Clausen and then gradually assumes his life: his hand, his wife, his cabin, his clothes; it's a little, again, creepy. But his acceptance by the family at the Packers game is almost heartwarming. However, all my issues with Patrick were somewhat resolved in my favorite chapter, chapter 11, "Up North." It is in this penultimate chapter that the novel seems to settle and Patrick himself seems to settle, and it's full of lovely, simple moments with Mrs. Clausen and little Otto. That is where the novel seemed most genuine. The final scene of the novel I certainly didn't love, and I have mixed feelings about the way Irving writes about sex. Generally I like that the unrealistic romance is taken out of it; I just wanted a more delicate way of closing their story, I suppose.

The Fourth Hand is a good book; it's no Garp, but it's good. The personal relationship are the best part, and I'm willing to overlook most of what I did not enjoy about the book because of his writing style.

Sleepwalk with Me

and other painfully true stories
by Mike Birbiglia

I wanted to really enjoy this book, but I didn't. Don't get me wrong, I really like Mike Birbiglia; I think he is hilarious and just nerdy and self-deprecating enough as a comedian, plus he's a great storyteller. So, it follows that his book should be great. After reading the first few pages of his book however, I was not so thrilled. I've listened to a lot of his comedy, and my first impression was that the book was just a written down, slightly edited version of his stand-up; I recognized many of the anecdotes. He lengthens the anecdotes and adds others, but for the most part, the book is just an expanded version of his stand up.

I also don't love the structure of the story Birbiglia is trying to tell of his life. I get that it's a memoir and he gets a lot of leeway, but he jumps around too much to put together a chronological picture of his growing up and his developing career. Plus I think he tells the "La Quinta Inn" joke twice.

Having listened to a lot of Birbiglia's stand up it's amusing to me that the jokes I recognize I can hear him saying in his own voice in my head. If you haven't listened to his standup, particularly the CD by the same name, then definitely read the book. I especially appreciated his chapter about Mitch Hedberg, who was a great comedian as well. I like the "tour of the brain" type of comedy.

When a comedian writes a book, I almost immediately jump to read it: Craig Ferguson, Lewis Black (ok I only have two examples which is not exactly sufficient evidence). But, the fact is, just because you can write jokes, doesn't mean you can write a book (the fiction book Ferguson wrote wasn't all that impressive). I want to read Michael Ian Black's book, but now I'm a little hesitant. Also, I can't help but scoff at the irony of a man who's not "great at reading" writing a book. (Birbiglia, not Black. I have no idea if Black thinks he's good at reading or not.)

And if, Mike Birbiglia, you do get a Google alert from this post, I want to say I respect you as a comedian, you're book just fell a little short for me, and I only think you're slightly "pawkward."

One Day

by David Nicholls

I cannot adequately express how wonderfully satisfying it is to be so thoroughly engrossed in a book. I mean, my reading for grad school has been engrossing, for sure, but reading for grad school is drastically different from reading for fun. I have to actively look for nuances and metaphors and allegory and deeper meaning, when sometimes, I just want to read and enjoy a book. No, I'm not spending my free time reading Plato, and I am perfectly happy with that. And this is such an enjoyable book.

Granted, it's a little cliched. A riff on the classic good girl pining after the bad boy. And yes, it is a little infuriating that when Dexter finally realizes how much he loves and needs and has depended on Emma, she drops everything, her potentially wonderful boyfriend in Paris, to finally fulfill her dream of being with Dex. Dex and Em. Em and Dex. But, feminist feelings and cliches aside, this is a really enjoyable book. Perfect of the nerdy girl hopeless romantic.

I really enjoy the format of this book, I think it was a smart move. Occasionally you may feel like, Oh really? Every important thing that happened to these two people happened on St. Swithin's day? Get over it. It's clever and it really works for this book; it moves the relationship along nicely.

This is a great, complicated love story to get wrapped up in. I haven't seen the film version, and I don't know that I will. All I know is that I think this book is absolutely worth reading. While I don't love the ending (not the trip to Scotland, the events leading up to that) and I do think the story is just a touch too long, it's a great love story to get caught up in.

The Infernals

by John Connolly

"Free time" is a rare commodity as a graduate student, and so I've let this blog fall to the wayside. It was bound to happen. And it took a little while, but I reminded myself that, yes, I do in fact still love to read.My list of books to read is getting longer and longer and I'm easing my way into it. Let's start with something fun and easy.

"The Infernals" (titled "Hell's Bells" in the UK; apparently that's just not a phrase we recognize in the States. I always find it interesting how covers and titles differ between the US and the UK.) is John Connolly's sequel to "The Gates. I fell in love with "The Gates" and eagerly awaited its sequel. I love everything about this book and think Connolly is truly a wonderful writer. "The Infernals" is a perfect mixture of fantasy, sciencefiction, fact, and wit. And, of course, I can't resist a good coming-of-age story. Samuel Johnson is an endearing hero with excellent companions to help him along the way, especially his dog Boswell and the somewhat inept demon Nurd.

This time Samuel has to battle his way out of hell, and the demons he encounters are epic. His encounter with a former weapons manufacturer is my favorite episode. Connolly creates backstories for his demons and prisoners of Hell in an extremely well-crafted way, and it's nice to know that not everyone is without redemption.

"The Infernals" is a fast but thoroughly engrossing read and ended all too soon for me. But, if I'm not mistaken I think there is a third book to come out in the series, and if so I cannot wait to see where Samuel's adventures lead him.