Inscrutable Cabal

"The Boy Detective Fails" by Joe Meno

2007-12-29T18:03:56Z

There are books that you read in a haze of wonder, each page feeling like a dream you once had or a memory barely remembered. Lovely and wondrous and a little bit sad. Joe Meno's The Boy Detective Fails broke my heart and then, very gently pieced it back together, maybe even a little better and stronger than it was before. It is a story about mysteries, the small ones and the greatest ones, about growing up and about falling in love. The year nearly at an end, I can say that this novel was my favorite this year.

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Some reviewers I've encountered on the new found the story in some ways disjointed. There are side characters and villains that, they say, appear out of context and unnecessary filler. I disagree. These side characters build a world that is the Boy Detective's own. Without them he is even more alone, and the true heart of this story is that we do not need to be alone even in the face of a world that is tragically not as kind and warm as we would like it to be. An easy 5 stars.

My Rating:

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"The 13 and a Half Lives of Captain Bluebear" by Walter Moers

2007-10-10T00:58:51Z

The cover of this book drew me in. I may not judge a book by its cover, but a cover is certainly a good first step in getting me to notice something.

It's a wonderful cover. A giant blue bear in a tiny boat surrounded by mini pirates. If you find the image charming, you are likely not going to be completely disappointed in what awaits inside.

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There is, however, the promise of depth in places. Bluebear, at moments, is a lonely wanderer. The last of his kind it appears, and in this there is something to explore. Sadly, that loneliness, that depth, is never tapped. It leaves the book feeling a little unfinished, a little like running in circles. What did we learn after all? Perhaps there's more to be told in the second half of Bluebear's life. There are, after all, another 13 and a half lives to go.

My Rating:

Amazon says:

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"Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami

2007-09-05T23:09:06Z

My first Murakami experience was a little book called Wild Sheep Chase which was soft, magical, exciting by turns and wove its way to a beautiful conclusion. Thus, my hopes were high for Kafka on the Shore, perhaps even a touch too high.

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Therein lies my problem with the book. It is someone else's story, and much of the magic and curiosity that it builds is sadly unrewarded. That is the point in many ways. Our characters, who we do come to love, really in the end turn out to be merely tertiary characters in some larger story that we are not quite made a part of. So, when the book falls into its dreamy conclusion, I was left feeling as if I had been denied the real story and left hanging on an incomplete work.

This problem aside, there's much to love in Kafka on the Shore. Fans of Magical Realism will enjoy Murakami's experimentations here. The characters are also well formed and intriguing. Such pluses do make this book worth a try, although other Murakami works are clearly superior.

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"Underworld" by Don DeLillo

2007-08-07T00:10:22Z

There are some novels that you wouldn't hesitate to call epic works. Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, Joyce's Ulysses. Often they seem epic because they stretch out away from you and portions of them remain far from your grasp. There's a sense that you can't see the whole picture, and maybe you never will. DeLillo's Underworld for me was both epic in feel, but approachable, containable, visible. Therein lies the power of the piece.

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My Review:

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"Paper Sailboat" by Dana Falconberry

2007-07-25T01:52:21Z

The old style folk style of this sweet little EP give it a distinct and timeless quality. Dana Falconberry's crooning voice and sparse but colorful accompaniment are worth the price of a download by themselves, but the song writing it top notch as well.

]]> Of particular note are Sadie and Sophie, two songs whose soft sounds belie a depth of emotional resonance that's rather surprising. Like most efforts, not all the songs stack up. I'm less fond of Old Red Hat and My Sweetheart, My Dear but even these are a pleasure to listen to. In short, this is a great collection of songs, and hopefully a sign of an eventual full album. So, 4 out 5 for a few weak spots but an overall lovely experience.

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"V" by Thomas Pynchon

2007-07-25T00:41:07Z

Reading a Thomas Pynchon novel is always somewhat daunting at the outset. Somewhat like entering a large maze without any string to lead you back out again. Still, it's an adventure, and one always worth undertaking. My first such experience was with The Crying of Lot 41 a veritable short story compared with a tome such as V.

]]> V. is complicated and full of myriad characters and symbols that few readers will find accessible, but it is rich and poignant by turns. While you could hardly hope to have it all figured out by the time the tales intersect and wind down to their ending, you will have experienced something quite singular. Really, you can't ask for much more from a novel than that. So, that said, I rate it 4 out 5. 1 star knocked off for a certain amount of perhaps unnecessary pedantry, but 4 stars for being a powerful portrayal of the essential idea of recurrence and the cyclical nature of history. Or, at least, I think that's what was going on.

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