Sense and Nonsense

"So Brave, Young, and Handsome," by Leif Enger

Some months ago, I read Leif Enger's prize-winning 2001 novel Peace Like a River, which I liked very much.  I wanted to read more by him.  I recently finished his 2008 book, So Brave, Young, and Handsome and heartily recommend it.  Set in the early 20th-Century West, this is the story of a likable outlaw, Glendon Hale, who is fleeing the relentless pursuit of a wily and determined Pinkerton detective, Charles Seringo. Accompanying Glendon on his meandering journey throughout the western U.S. is the narrator, Monte Becket, a Minnesota writer of a successful western novel. Becket decides to take off with Glendon when he experiences severe writer's block while at work on his next novel.  Becket tells us the fascinating tale of the cat-and-mouse game that Hale and Seringo have been playing for years, with more than the usual amount of collateral damage.  This is an epic western story, and Leif Enger tells it with astonishing skill.  His writing is extraordinary, his command of tone and vernacular admirable.  ★★★★★

Summer Fun

Good times during a family vacation at Lake Tahoe last week:

 

Tom and Kara

 

Sue and Katie

 

James and Megan

 

Katie and Brooke

Three Novels by John Burnham Schwartz

John Burnham Schwartz's newest novel, Northwest Corner, was published on July 26.  After learning a bit about it, I decided I wanted to read it.  The novel picks up the lives of one of the author's earlier novels, Reservation Road, so I decided to read that first.  After finishing both of them, I was drawn to yet another of Schwartz's novels, Claire Marvel.  Each of these is a fine book; I recommend all three of them.

 

Reservation Road came out in 1999 and later (in 2007) was made into a major motion picture with Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly, and Elle Fanning. It's the compelling story of a hit-and-run accident in which a young boy is killed -- and the fallout of that event on two families, the victim's and the driver's. Not surprisingly, we see grief and loss tearing away at the parents of the young boy, as guilt and remorse corrode the man who ran into him on a dark road and then fled.  This is an elegiac book, decidedly downbeat (how could it be otherwise?).  No wonder Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo ended up being cast in the movie version; they're about as gloomy and depressing as any male actors in contemporary cinema.  One has to admire the great skill with which Schwartz draws out the plaintive, honest emotions that pervade this book. He's really a fine writer. ★★★★★

 

 

I'm glad that I took time to read Reservation Road before picking up Schwartz's new book, Northwest Corner.  Although Northwest Corner certainly works as a stand-alone book and one doesn't have to have read Reservation Road to understand what's going on in its sequel, having read the earlier book makes the experience of the newer one more meaningful.  This novel also opens with a tragic event.  Sam, the now college-age son of the hit-and-run driver in the earlier book, severely injures another young man in a barroom fight. Just as his father did years earlier, Sam flees in panic and spends the rest of the book dealing with the emotional fallout of his actions.  He's accompanied on his psychological journey by his parents, both of whom are also emotionally dysfunctional. 

This novel does not work as well as its predecessor, but it's still a good book, far better than the recent review of it by Julie Myerson in the New York Times would suggest.  (Methinks Myerson is envious of Schwartz's success.)  ★★★☆☆

 

One of the things I like about the Kindle is that it enables my reading habits. On vacation at Lake Tahoe last week, I had finished reading both of the Schwartz novels noted above and decided to see if there was anything else by him that looked interesting. At Amazon, I came across his 2003 novel, Claire Marvel.  I was able to start reading it less than a minute later. The story line grabbed me. The male protagonist, Julian, is working toward his PhD in Harvard's Government Department. Julian manages to win the attention of Carl Davis, the star of the department's faculty, who makes Julian his research assistant and agrees to be Julian's dissertation advisor. But the relationship between these two sours when Davis wins the heart of Julian's girlfriend, Claire Marvel, a beautiful young woman studying for her PhD in art history.  As the years go by, Julian marries someone else and Claire gradually realizes her mistake in spurning Julian for Davis.  The rest of the novel deals with the emotional, push-pull relationship between Julian and Claire as years unfold. It's a schmaltzy but likeable novel. And who doesn't want to read about the private life of a Harvard-trained political scientist?!  ★★★★☆

"This Beautiful Life," by Helen Schulman

Helen Schulman's new novel This Beautiful Life was released last week. The pre-publication blurbs from eminent writers were glowing (see them for yourself at Amazon).  And I see that the book received a glowing review by Meredith Maran in this morning's Boston Sunday Globe.  Schulman's book is fine, but I don't think it's as good as Maran and the publisher's flacks say it is. 

The story is wrenching and timely: an affluent New York family copes with the social fallout after the 15-year-old son opens his email, finds a pornographic video made for him by a 13-year-old girl at his school, and forwards it unthinkingly to a friend.  The video quickly goes viral, with unfortunate consequences all around.

This ripped-from-the-headlines storyline is not new; in fact, it's been so heavily used recently that it risks triteness.  Somewhat similar narratives fueled Anita Shreve's Testimony and Theresa Fowler's recent novel, Exposure.  Schulman had a good idea here, but in my view her characters are too flat and the story sort of fizzles out about half way through. Moreover, Schulman's story is less persausive than it needs to be about why the boy's behavior, though certainly regrettable, receives such an excoriating response from the community.  ★★★☆☆

"I Could Love You," by William Nicholson

I saw in early July that William Nicholson has a new book out, I Could Love You. I had read his The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life some years ago and liked it well enough, so I decided to get the new one, which I read recently on a flight to California.   

Nicholson's new book is good.  Many readers have noted that it is not unlike the movie "Love Actually," in that it weaves together various love stories and relationships between interconnected characters of different ages. It takes place in England at Christmas time.  In a narrative that's laced with lots of dialogue, we see these characters coping with loss, uncertainty, bad decisions, and longing.  And in some instances they find love.  ★★★☆☆

"The Hypnotist," by Lars Kepler: Pure Drivel

Buyer, beware.  Do NOT fall, as I did, for the aggressive advertising campaign mounted by publisher Farrar, Straus, and Giroux on behalf of The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler.  This is a colossally bad book, a truly horrible piece of writing.  

FSG is cynically relying on the recent public appetite for Scandinavian mystery thrillers to sell this piece of shit. The book starts off well enough with a horrific triple murder.  For a while, the whole thing seems promising.  But the book dissolves into senseless red herrings, lengthy disquisitions on hypnotism, endeless sidetracks, etc.  

I have to say that I haven't read a book quite this bad in a very long time.  And that's saying something, because I come across a lot of crap in my reading.  Protect yourself: don't purchase this slop.   Boycott FSG.  They should be ashamed of themselves.   ☆☆☆☆☆  (ZERO stars)