- The Martian by Andy Weir
- The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
- At the Mountains of Madness by H P Lovecraft
- 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
- Guernica by Dave Boling
- Persuasion by Jane Austen
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
- Galore by Michael Crummey
Lowlands, to me, seemed like a novel-length short story. Or perhaps a series of related short stories that told a bigger story. It also seemed like everyone in the story lost something rather than reaching some kind of fulfilment. It was just ok for me.
Having finished Mountains of Madness and looking at when this story was published I had to wonder if the Aliens vs Predator movie and the Antarktos saga by Jeremy Robinson borrowed from Lovecraft's twisted imagination. Very descriptive and very good at creating tension. It seemed like it was difficult to maintain that tension until the very end but it certainly gave it a good try. I'd like to try more Lovecraft works.
In hindsight perhaps I should've started with Kafka on the Shore instead of 1Q84 as my entree into Murakami's works. Don't get me wrong, I loved 1Q84 but it left me wondering if certain aspects of style were normal or just part of this overly long novel. I could put this book down for weeks at a time and when I resumed I would be reminded of events that had previously taken place by the repetitive internal dialogue that the main characters engaged in. Also, to me there were a lot of loose ends. Who were the Little People? Why did they build air chrysalises? Was the troublesome NHK Collector the spirit of Tengo's father? But with all that aside, the story is awesome in its scope and creativity. Part romance, part sci-fi, part thriller -- if you have the right amount of patience there are rewards for your perseverance.
One of the enjoyments of reading an historical novel is learning something about the past while being entertained from the fictitious stuff. Such was the case with Guernica. I'd never heard about the misfortunes of this place at the start of WWII and certainly did not know that Picasso had painted a large piece depicting the events that took place. But this book took me a long time to finish. The storyline before and after the events surrounding the ill-fated Guernica were just not compelling to me and at times I felt like I was watching a made-for-TV movie.
I have mixed feelings about Persuasion. On one hand some of the satisfaction that comes from reading a book like this is just figuring out what the heck is going on from all the "proper" language and actions of the characters from the early 1800s. On the other hand the machinations of romance from those times are so frustrating to someone nearly 200 years later. "For goodness sakes just tell him how you feel!" is what I want to say to Anne. Sheesh! No more Austen for me.
Ocean is classic Gaiman stuff. Short but punchy with great plot ideas and narrative. Told from a child's point of view it is interesting to note that the protagonist is just able to accept everything happening to him that an adult might balk at. This brief story is definitely up to the hype I'd read about it.
Galore on the other hand reminded me of the Kings and Queens of Roam that I also had some trouble with. The narrative seems to basically follow one character for the duration of a chapter but the meandering back and forth in time really lost me at times. Unlike other multi-generational novels I've read, Galore was not cohesive to me -- except for perhaps the beginning and the end. I found the somewhat magical happenings interesting but it wasn't enough to keep me glued. I see that Crummey has just published another novel called Sweetland which seems to promise more of the same formula -- I won't be tackling that.
