by Patrick Ogle

Chronicle of a Death Fortold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is, of course, masterfully written and I am not going to presume to CRITQUE  a book by one of the world's greatest writers.

This is not Love in the Time of Cholera, The Autumn of the Patriarch or The General in his Labyrinth. It is a brief book, novella length. It doesn't have the scope and it doesn't develop the characters in the same way his novels do.

Yet every bit of it makes you want to know more. It is the story that is compelling. This is probably true of his longer works but those, obviously, have more time to develop characters and make you feel for them. It isn't as if he doesn't do that here, for a shorter work he does sketch each character finely but you do not necessarily feel you KNOW them. Part of this is the number of characters introduced. Thinking on it, it is remarkable he created memorable characters in just a few pages for some of the characters.  Other books I've found myself having to go back to remember WHO a character is.

"Wait...is Joe the mailman or the butler?" That is never the case in this book.

I finished this a few weeks ago (nearly a month) and I still feel like I've yet to digest it and this is another thing it has in common with the author's longer works.

by Patrick Ogle

Every Day is for the Thief by Teju Cole is a travel book and a view of contemporary Lagos.

I've had this book for years. It was one that just slipped through the cracks and didn't get read. This is a shame because it is an engaging and quick read.

It won't make you want to vacation in Lagos? But it definitely gives the reader a feel for the city and its people.

I was thinking of other writers who've delved into this sort of travel based work. These include the likes of Henry Miller and Graham Greene. I am more fond of the latter than the former and, in some ways Teju called him to mind. I confess I cannot quite put my finger on WHY. Perhaps it is just that I haven't read much travel literature that was personal.

At various points in the book I wondered about Cole constantly contradicting himself; on the one hand he lambasts his homeland and writes that he would never move back, then he turns it around and considers that prospect. He discusses the lack of artistic endeavor and then says that if only some famed American writers were exposed to a place like Lagos their writing would have improved. It took a few of these turns and reversals for it to dawn on me that Cole left these seemingly opposite views there for us because it was what he felt while he was there.  It was his genuine reaction.

The book also draws on firm conclusions at the end. No predictions are made, no optimistic (or pessimistic) view of the future is forthcoming. I suspect that is because Cole doesn't know what is going to happen in Nigeria. Nor does anyone else.

More than anything this made me want to read more by Cole whose books include Open City, Tremor and Blind Spot.

by Patrick Ogle

Bad Actors by Mick Herron is the latest Slough House book.

Shortly after starting the 8th novel in the Slough House series the reason for the books' appeal became clear to me. It isn't the characters or the plot or the action or the humor.  It is that we all relate to the denizens of Slough House. Who hasn't had a pointless, tedious job with an awful boss?

Sure usually fewer of our co-workers are killed in a given workday but let's not quibble over that. It is also true that the worst bosses most of us have had pale next to Jackson Lamb (based on the various smells that seem to emanate from any segment he features in.., and yes, Herron makes it so that you can ALMOST smell it).

This latest entry has tons of changes to the trajectory of the series, to the point that you might wonder how much longer it will continue. In true Herron fashion there were several side plot lines and character that I wasn't terribly interested in--until I suddenly was. There is a point to everything put before you in these books and they are incredibly hard to put down.

Next up for me are the collected novellas after which I will wait for book number 9!

by Patrick Ogle

Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation by Isaac Asimov are the sixth and seventh books in the Foundation series. They are also the final books. 

Looking back at these two I confess I might fail a test about what happened in a specific book as they do bleed together in both fact and in my head but maybe a little more in my head. Essentially the first of the two books is about the origin of "psychohistory," which is the lynchpin of the entire series. 

These are the first of the books to really deal with Hari Seldon as a character. He is basically a ghost throughout the other books (or, rather a recorded hologram). Those who've only watched the TV show may be surprised by this but the tv show sort of samples the books like a picky eater rummaging through a buffet. This is merciful because a faithful adaptation of these books would be extremely difficult to follow given the original book was written in disconnected segments. The time span in the first couple of books may be hundreds of years so main characters disappear and new ones appear.  This isn't true of the last four books but they were written differently.

Prelude to Foundation is the more engaging of the two books as Seldon travels around the world of Trantor with the help of a mysterious "journalist." It isn't terribly hard to figure out he isn't a journalist so I'm just going to say that, even though it is a "spoiler." This character, who appears in the earlier volumes and is pivotal in the tv show (although there is a gender change), is Eto Demerzel.  Parts of the volume seem to contradict parts of the earlier (or in the timeline here LATER) books but it doesn't go too far off the edge.  As I read this book I didn't feel as if it necessarily cheapened or wildly contradicted the over arching plot explored in the first five books.

This isn't the same in the final book.

It has Seldon becoming the first minister of the empire and confidant of the emperor. This doesn't make a great deal of sense. The book also really harps on how democracy doesn't work but also manages to point out that imperial rule also doesn't work. There is a sourness through most of the book. It seems like a book by a tired old man. Large portions are about Seldon dealing with bureaucracy. Yes, that is generally about as scintillating to read as it sounds. The ending also seems abrupt, as if Asimov thought ; "oh I have enough pages, I will wrap it up." I actually wish I hadn't read it. It adds very little to the series and just isn't particularly interesting. Where I barrelled through the other books and couldn't put them down I trudged through this one. There were moments where it made me want to keep reading....then, not so much.

Frankly, after finishing Forward the Foundation I wished I hadn't read Prelude to Foundation either. If you READ Prelude you sort of have to read Forward. I felt like Foundation and Earth made a better ending point than either of these. Yes, I realize that criticizing Asimov is regarded by some as sacrilege but the man literally wrote hundreds of books. No one is perfect.

by Patrick Ogle

Yes, another Slough House book by Mick Herron. This one is CALLED Slough House.

What else can I say about these books? Well, there is, at least, ONE thing; these books get noticeably darker as they go on and Slough House is the darkest yet. I am poised to read the final (existing) Slough House book, Bad Actors shortly and we will see how dark THAT one is.

I steadfastly avoid plot summary because I don't want to spoil anything if someone happens to read this but it is also the fact that these are spy books and there are marked similarities between the plots of many of the books. It is the nature of spy books.  

This isn't to say the books are the same but rather to point out that these books are MORE about the characters than the broader plot elements. They get put in similar situations in many of the books because the characters are spies (well...sort of...). I would compare it to a series dealing with attorneys where the protagonists often wind up in court. It is hardly shocking lawyers wind up in court or spies...well....SPY. This also refers to BROAD plot elements like "there are people trying to kill a member of the team." Obviously there are more subtle elements to the various plots.

What Herron does best is create characters you really like or hate. Even some of the "bad" ones you develop empathy for and feel vaguely bad when something happens to them. There are kind characters, funny characters, characters you would like to have a martini with and characters you would never, ever want to meet in person. Even the minor characters seem to require an emotion of the reader. 

It is probably a requirement that someone writing a series make you care about the characters in one way or another. Keeps readers reading.

I am personally glad I read this book without having to wait a year or so for the next one to come out as I NEED to know what happens ASAP.

by Patrick Ogle
(as a note? this was finished in February. The post date is just that)

London Rules and Joe Country by Mick Herron. So Yet another in the series by  Herron. These get better and better as you read through the series. Keep in mind, they are pretty good from the beginning as well. As readers, of course, it may be that we get more and more "at home" with the characters and their predicaments as we read.

Is there a hint of earlier books in London Rules? Yes. It is probably tough to not tread over the same ground here and there in such a series. It isn't duplication of the entire plot but rather some parts that drive the action. The plus side is how well the characters are developed at this point.  MANY of these books revolve around a team of assassins or terrorists being in England. Just the back story and level of competence, changes from book to book. This is, of course, the sort of thing you don't notice while you are reading. I ripped through this book in a day and some change.

Naturally I am going to contradict myself a little with regard to Joe Country. Joe Country is the best reviewed book (where I've read reviews) but was a bit of a lull for me. It wasn't the plot or the characters but rather one segment of the book where you know there are going to be fatalities. This isn't giving away much since the first few pages tell you this. I just felt , at the end, this was drawn out too long and that the subterfuge revolving around "who will it be?" was kind of tiresome.

The good news this isn't the whole book or even a large percentage. It just bogged me down. The writing was still funny and the characters as smart as ever. They even give hints as to the origins of certain characters whose anti-social behavior the book rests on. There is a bit of Jackson Lamb backstory that you might just read past but I thought "ahhh" when I read it.

It is impossible to not love these books.

The Graveyard by Marek Hlasko.

Marek Hlasko was not a favorite of the Communist Polish government in his final years but that hadn’t always been the case. He was a pre-teen during the Warsaw Uprising and subsequent Soviet offensive. These experiences marked him as a man. He became a truck driver and then a journalist. The Communist Party that would later be the bane of his existence initially opened the door for him to become a writer. Taking a truck driver and making him a writer/worker was right in the party’s wheelhouse. He became popular and well-known, both as an interviewer and short story writer. His life was not a happy one and he died in Germany at the age of 35. 

Hlasko's books are brief, reflecting his early days as a short story writer.  He manages to pack a lot into his novels, whether they be written in his ex-patriot years or while still in his native Poland. Reading The Graveyard is bound to conjure images of Kafka but, at the same time it dispels these images with a wildly different writing style. There is a wry, painful humor underneath Hlasko's indictment of the system. You might even say he is indicting all systems because the travails of his protagonist here, while more pronounced in communist Poland are not unheard of in the West.

The Graveyard was written in 1956 and is complete with references to Uncle Joe Stalin and echoes of World War II that are already growing fainter barely ten years later. His cynicism and tendency to point out the flaws and frailties of the system is poetic and often heartbreaking.

Strangely, I kept thinking of South Florida condominium boards while I read this. That is how he paints the apparatchiks of the party--mindless automatons upholding rules with a tired, bored sort of malevolence. From the police on the street to factory managers to a feared party boss, none seem actually concerned with communism's aim to reform society and humanity, with creating a "new man." They mouth the words, usually the exact same words, but there is nothing behind them. The fervor of revolution is long gone. There is no purpose except to keep one's head down. It is a book about a man who doesn’t want to compromise, believes he fought in the war for something and believes in the system until it demonstrates to him that it doesn’t deserve belief.

It may be that  Beautiful Twentysomethings (a memoir) or his book set in Israel, Killing the Second Dog are better, more realized, efforts but if that is true it is a near thing. Hlasko is a writer who deserves more acknowledgement, especially given the state of the world.

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki.

Wow.

This is a book that is difficult to define. Is it science fiction? No. Is it horror? No, it is way too charming and pleasant (mostly) for that. There are spaceships and a demon on hand as well as deals with hell and discussion of a space plague. If it can be assigned a predecessor in literature I would nominate The Master and Margarita (perhaps my favorite book). So maybe we can call it magical realism, if we have to place it in a genre.

It is a story about music as much as anything. It tells the story through food and the interconnecting legacies of immigrants to Southern California (even immigrants from outer space) .The characters, after a few chapters, feel like family. You will worry about them--from their ultimate fate to their mental well being. I kept telling myself; “They are not REAL”

There are numerous side plots in the book but they all come together seamlessly, touching, connecting, weaving the pieces together. The book truly is about the immigrant experience as noted but it is also about being an outsider. It is about mistakes and it is also about redemption. For me redemption is always a great thing for a book to be about (even if it is only partly).

This book pulls you into a world where people so diverse in outlook and origin interact that you feel yourself trying to fit in. Really it isn't “a world” but WORLDS because from one character to another they are living in different universes (even when we are not talking about aliens).

Also…donuts.

After writing this I want a giant donut. 

The book is magical, fun and thought provoking. I really think there are a lot of people who NEED to read this book out there in the world now. I hope they do.

Experimental Film by Gemma Files may sound like a textbook for an elective film studies course you thought about taking during summer semester in college.

I assure you it is not. 

I really don’t want to give too much away about this book. I try to do that with all the books on this list, even the ones that are older than I am. Who wants a plot summary? Especially in a blog like this that is basically me keeping track of what I read.

Files writes horror and this is the first thing I’ve read by her. It will not be the last. There is something mesmerizing about the book, the subtle “realness” she manages in a book about ancient gods, the silent film era, autism and the vagaries of a career as a freelance writer. She creates this mood of vague dread that is both supernatural and existential throughout Experimental Fiction.

The book is both creepy and odd. Sometimes I was forced to go back and read passages again after thinking “Wait, what just happened?” There is a style , a use of language, a use of form here that is unique. Parts are written as Q&A interviews and others, where italics are used for emphasis, seem to reference communication that isn't exactly...verbal. There are  parts that seem almost like a diary. It is intricate and elegant writing. Maybe a hint of gothic horror? But it is so, so modern at the same time.

I was constantly visualizing while reading this, wanting to SEE it and know what it LOOKS like. This is partly because the book is about (in one sense) film, a visual media, but also because there are events happening that are spectacular and frightening. Your mind wants to see them. In some cases you CAN while in others it is abstract and supernatural.

In some ways I don’t think much of this COULD be rendered into the visual as it is the stuff of dreams–nightmares. I sure wish someone would try though. It is a unique story told in a unique way. It is a story you might not want to live in but it is certainly interesting to read about.

I actually read The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle earlier this year but forgot to post about it.

This is weird because I absolutely loved the book. Next to Lone Woman it is probably my favorite book by Lavalle (and that is saying something). Interestingly enough this is another take on the Lovecraftian  from the perspective of black characters. Earlier in the year I read the second Lovecraft Country book, The Destroyer of Worlds which also revises Lovecraft using black protagonists.

Part of why this is interesting, obviously, is the contrast with the inveterate racism of H.P. Lovecraft. Please don't tell me he wasn't really racist. That is nonsense....just accept it. You can be talented and a racist. 

This book, set in New York City in the 1920s, has the feel of a fable and is actually a novella rather than a novel. This is a good thing. It makes the author get right to the point but he still creates fully realized characters. As much as anything Lavalle has written this highlights his artistry and skill as a writer.

I didn't leave this wanting more like I did with The Destroyer of Worlds. I felt this story worked at this length and needed nothing else. It is a perfect piece of writing for the world between a short story and a novel. It reminds me a little of the novellas by Phillip Pullman from the "Golden Compass" world. It is actually better than most of those however and that is partly because of the freedom of being connected to no larger story.

Once again Lavalle impressed me. It no longer comes as a surprise.