Raid on the Articulate

The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was an interesting book, while not quite as compelling as the reviews have made it out to be. It's also a very quick read. The central question: whether it is possible to be good and still survive, and what society thinks of those who do survive, is pretty fascinating. One of the characters in the book makes the point that it's the witch-trial conundrum: if you sink and drown, you're not a witch, but if you survive, you are. You can't win. Given the enormity of that dilemma, I expected a bit more drama, but the book is quiet and pretty subtle in its pulling together the character of the narrator. It leaves you wanting to know more, and then, at the end, pokes fun at you because you do. But sometimes ambiguity is not clever or cool; sometimes it's just a lack of development, the triumph of style over substance. Ultimately, while it's a really good debut, and I look forward to more from this author, I wanted it to be a little more intense.



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The Ravishing of Lol Stein by Marguerite Duras

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


An interesting book. Engaging without being truly ... engaging, though I think I won't soon forget it. Some of the other reviewers call it dream-like, and I think that's true. It was rather like being in a dream, and it had that subtle and constant anxiety that wends through most dreams, so I was constantly off-balance, never quite settled in. Though it's not my favorite of Duras' work (so far, that would be "The Sea Wall"), I find Duras' style endlessly fascinating. I'm not entirely sure why. She sets a distinct tone that is very difficult NOT to fall into, and this book was no different. She's a master at presenting uncomfortable truths in a very straightforward and matter-of-fact way, as if she's saying "Well, here it is. Deal with it and like it or go away." "The Ravishing of Lol Stein" was very much that kind of work.



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I just finished the first round of edits for Bone River, which is tentatively scheduled for a December release, and while I'm waiting for the book to speedily boomerang back to me for the next round, I've gone back to the new ms for a few days to address the problems my critique partner found (numerous and extensive, no surprise there). In essence, I'm in EDITING mode. Which means I'm probably not at my best for reading or watching movies for enjoyment.

However, having said that, I have rather enjoyed a few things lately. I just finished Book 5 in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series--City of Lost Souls--which I liked, but I have to admit is not my favorite of the series. Usually I love the main couple in these books, Jace and Clary, but in this book they were a bit one note to me, and it was the secondary characters who grabbed my interest. But it's all building up to what I'm sure is going to be a pretty fantastic finale in the final book. I also saw The Avengers, which I really liked, especially after the first half hour or so. Tom Hiddleston, who plays Loki, was just fantastic, and though I went in expecting to be underwhelmed by Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow, I actually found her pretty compelling and really interesting. Robert Downey Jr., was, as always, perfect. And the rest of the cast were equally mesmerizing.

I've been watching Game of Thrones, which gets better every week--I cannot believe we're nearly at the end of this season--and Vampire Diaries, which took me by surprise in the last episode, as always and rather breathlessly, easily making up for seemingly killing off one of my favorite characters in the penultimate episode. I've been watching The Borgias again this year too, but I'm finding it a little slow going. I keep watching it because I love Cesare, and I keep waiting for Lucretia to come into her own. And it has these really great episodes interspersed between those that are, for me, a bit boring, so I never know which I'm going to be watching from week to week.

And I've been immersing myself in French literature, which I'm finding strangely and alternately fascinating and comforting. All that fatalism is somehow compelling. Not entirely sure what that says about me, but I've really enjoyed Duras and Cocteau, and am looking forward to some Zola in the next few weeks. Also on my TBR pile are The Lifeboat, by Charlotte Rogan, and the latest fantasy series by Carol Berg, who I love. And I'm looking forward to Kristin Cashore's newest YA, Bitterblue.

And now, back to enjoying the few hours I have before I must start thinking again...

Here's the link to a short interview I did at the King County Library's Literary Lions Gala in March. It was short and sweet and fun. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqjS97Hqo4o

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A great story. It was (at last!) different without being gratuitously so, with a cool and unusual setting (Prague), well layered, and emotionally satisfying. Karou is a kick-ass heroine with a secret even she doesn't know, and she's also vulnerable and clever. Akiva is a fascinating love interest/antagonist, with a great depth of his own. The conflict in the story feels well-thought out, and the world-building is stellar. I'm really looking forward to the next installment.



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Imposture by Benjamin Markovits

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a 4.5 star book for me. I really really liked it. I'd read Markovits before and liked him very much. This book is not just about imposture but about self-delusion. It's beautifully written, entirely character-driven, and a very thoughtful meditation on failure and vanity and expectation. The characters are beautifully drawn, with an overlaying aura of melancholy that reminded me of Henry James. I think this will have to go on my favorites shelf.



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This last Tuesday, I did a blog radio talk with Bill Kenower from Author Magazine. Bill's always fascinating to talk with; he's a great interviewer who asks probing questions and has a lot to add to the conversation himself. I had a great time, and the interview is available here for anyone who wants to listen. We're not exactly solving the riddles of the universe, but sometimes we come pretty close.

The Wings of the Dove by Henry James

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


So this one falls on the upside of three for me, close to four but not quite there. Call it 3 1/2 to 3 3/4. I'm giving it a four, but ...

In the introduction, it says that James referred to his late style as sub-aqueous--that seems pretty apt to me, though I think it more like swimming through jello--you gain a hold only to realize you're sinking fast. I'm a fast reader, which is a detriment when it comes to James because EVERY WORD MATTERS, which is frankly exhausting. However, the characterizations in this book are fantastic. Kate Croy and Merton Densher are two of the best characters I've read: their fatal flaws--what makes them themselves--force them into actions that have terrible consequences for them emotionally. Milly Theale, however, was a cipher to me. People kept saying how "stupendous" she was, and it wasn't just one person, so I had to imagine it must be true, but I never saw it. She hardly says a word throughout. Milly was at her most stupendous at the end, when her actions can be interpreted in several different lights. I always find moral ambiguity fascinating, and there's a ton of it here if you can get past the circular, drowning writing style.

Though I enjoyed the introduction (and when did it become the style, btw, for introductions to tell one the ENTIRE story? I always save them to read for last because clearly they don't want to wait for me to discover what happens on my own--the very reason I read a story), the footnotes and asterisks in this edition are sometimes laughable. Try this one, for example: Following the sentence "But this imagination--the fancy of a possible link with the remarkable young thing from New York--had mustered courage: had perched, on the instant, at the clearest lookout it could find, and might be said to have remained there till, only a few months later it* had caught, in surprise and joy, the unmistakeable flash of a signal." The asterisk footnote says: "The 'it' refers to Mrs. Stinghams' imagination."

No. Really. This is not the only footnote like this. I found them mostly amusing but unnecessary and sometimes actively annoying.

The characters--James's strength always--completely captivate. But ... there are often too many notes.



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Now at last, the new cover for A Season in Eden makes its debut right here:



So that's it on the new covers for now--at least until I decide they should be changed again.

For all of you who were waiting for my pithy and illuminating thoughts about my experience at Comic Con, here it is in a nutshell: Interesting. 
 
I'm a geek from way back--I mean, I saw Star Wars 35 times at theaters (paying for it, no less. This was before VCRs or DVDs, I hate to admit. As my daughter said to me: Did you have refrigerators?). I used to read comic books and I've obsessed about Batman. I've been known to read a bit of fan fiction now and then. I read every one of Doc Jensen's columns at Entertainment Weekly obsessing about the philosophy of Lost. These people at Comic Con have nothing on me. And actually, that was the fun part. People in costumes and people completely geeking out in true fanboy-and-girl fashion at the thought of meeting their cult heroes, my daughter included. I mean, I felt sort of at home. While my daughter was busy worrying that I was somehow going to embarrass her beyond all comprehension or recovery (doing what, I wonder? Sprouting wings and prophesizing the coming Rapture? Hey, I refrained from wearing my Frodo Lives hat--what more does she want?), I was busy taking in the scenery. A few Katnisses, stormtroopers, Darth Vaders, Pokeman figures and wizards, one HitGirl, a bunch of people wearing Firefly hats, a couple of Jedi knights and a pirate or two. There were a lot of booths selling comic books and many people who seem to feel that deodorant is merely advisory (so THIS is what the 19th Century smelled like!), but the most lingering and overwhelming impression I had was of lines. Long, long, long lines of people waiting to pay $40 for an autograph or more for a photograph with their favorite star (I tell you, I am in the wrong business). My legs were so sore and tired by the end of it I could barely stand. But it was fun and fascinating, and I'd love to go to one of the bigger ones someday.

Then came a week off--which I have not taken for longer than I care to remember--just to prepare for Passover and Easter, which happened to be ONE day apart this year. So I no sooner recover from gorging on Matzo ball soup and Gefilte fish and macarons with salted caramel filling (okay, mostly those), then I have to turn around and gorge on ham, deviled eggs, coconut cake, frosted jello (a midwestern specialty, attendant at every family reunion and potluck), and Cadbury mini eggs (okay, mostly those). It may take me a year to recover. I don't mind it when the two celebrations are at least a week apart. But this year was seriously overdoing it. I will be taking up my complaints with the lunar calendar--please give me at least seven years before I have to endure such a thing again.

And now ... reading Henry James' The Wings of the Dove, which has curiously escaped my reading list before now. So far, I'm finding it much like Portrait of a Lady, alternately like swimming through half-set jello (obviously a recurring theme today) and fascinating. We'll see how it turns out, but some of these characterizations are completely stunning once one gets past his "late period" style, which I'm not totally a fan of. I am finding it interesting that one of my favorite of James' works is one that wasn't at all popular when he wrote it: The Bostonians. I wonder what that means, if anything. Recently, I very much enjoyed The Aspern Papers and The Turn of the Screw, and Italian Hours, which isn't a novel but a travel guide, and I was feeling very confident in my ability to approach a longer work of his again, which just shows you how foolish I can be. I'll let you know.

Next week I'll begin working on the edit for the newest book, which is tentatively scheduled to be published in early December of this year, and in the meantime, I've started something new which I'm really, really enjoying. There's still plenty of time for it to fall apart completely (which, believe me, it will), but just now I'm possessed with that feeling I always have when embarking upon a new project: hopeful and passionate, which are always good things to feel, particularly with the coming of spring--which I'm also just now starting to feel in my little corner of the world.

And oh ... Game of Thrones ... how breathless you leave me...

Okay, in the interest of trying everyone's patience, there's a new cover for the ebook of A Candle in the Dark AND a new one coming for A Season in Eden too, though that one is not up yet.  Here's the new cover:



I think it's very pretty.

I'm currently reading The Seance by John Harwood, which I'm finding very interesting. I also finished the second in the Chemical Garden YA series by Lauren DiStefano called Fever. I like this series--it's another dystopian world, which I've said before (and will say again) that I'm growing really tired of, but this is an interesting world with some political implications about medicine and ethics. It's also pretty bleak, especially for girls. DiStefano is a good writer who makes you really feel what the main character is feeling, though that character has spent two books now being fairly helpless, and I'd like to see her take up a cudgel.

I've also read Michelle Lovric's Carnivale, which is an older book. I've always liked Lovric; I think she's a writer with a lovely style and vision. I think I would have liked this one better if I hadn't just read Casanova's memoirs and Byron's letters, because what she's really doing is retelling their stories through the eyes of a woman who is mistress to both of them. So it felt very redundant to me. But if you haven't had any exposure to those writings, then I would think the story would be pretty enlightening. Both Byron and Casanova were fascinating men, and well worth reading about. Histories within histories...

Next week, I'm attending my first Comic Con with my youngest daughter, who's chomping at the bit to go. It should be interesting.

Easter AND Passover coming up--both celebrated in our house, and this year only separated by a day. I'm weary just thinking of it...