December Reading 2/2

Up In the Air
Walter Kirn

Backflap:
Ryan Bingham's job as a Career Transition Counselor - he fires people - has kept him airborne for years. Although he despises his line of work, he has come to love the culture of what he calls "Airworld," finding contentment within pressurized cabins and anonymous hotel rooms. With a letter of resignation sitting on his boss's desk, and the hope of a job with a mysterious firm, Bingham is agonizingly close to his ultimate goal, his Holy Grail: ONE MILLION FREQUENT FLYER MILES.

Review:
Up in the Air isn't the gem that I was hoping it would be, but that being said it was still a quick, enjoyable read. Ryan is a fairly average character that even a light reader would recognize. He doesn't form lasting attachments, reminisces about his childhood and has odd qualities that makes the reader relate to him and think he is a bit odd all at once. The real momentum behind Up in the Air is the Airworld Ryan lives in. It is vibrant and something that I have rarely seen explored in fiction. Even Ryan's job is interesting, and watching him read people is fun and engrossing. However, about 3/4 of the way through the book everything slows to a glacially pace and the ending leaves a lot to be desired but overall a decent read. Looking forward to seeing the film.


Story:
**1/2
Structure:
***1/2

December Reading 1/2

The Other Queen
Philippa Gregory

Summary:
In the last novel of Gregory's Tudor series we follow Mary Stuart (Mary Queen of Scots) as she is captured by the English and left with George and Bess Talbot, a newly married high noble couple. We follow them from castle to castle, running from possible raids and war, and under Queen Elizabeth's advisors Cecil constant watch. The reader follows Mary on her quest for freedom, George's inner turmoil over serving one Queen while loving another and Bess's worries over status and finances.

Review:
I guess you could call me a loyal Gregory reader. I've read the majority of her Tudor series and have read the first book in Plantagenet trilogy. Usually I can find more than a few faults with her novels, but the story is usually enough to overlook large historical inaccuracies and underdeveloped characters. Unfortunately every character in this novel is grating. Mary is pompous, vain, and irritating as she repeats the same choirs of "you must free me, you can't kill me, aren't i pretty". Bess is the stereotypic nagging wife, who can not go a section without worrying about her land, and talking about the money that is being lost, and all the while George is gripping with his love for Mary, while serving Elizabeth and making stupid choices the entire time. Between the three of them there is not one redeemable quality, and that is really the tragedy of this story, not the massive number of executions, the religious persecutions or the historical inaccuracy's. Not one of Gregory's best works.

Story:
**1/2
Structure:
***

November Reading 5/2

A Spot of Bother
Mark Haddon

Summery:
The story revolves around the Hall family. The family consists of George, a hypochondriac who is convinced he has cancer even though his doctor has diagnosed him with eczema. Jean, Georges wife, who has been having an affair, Katie, their daughter, who is a single mom who is getting married to Ray, who George and Jean think is the wrong man for her and Jamie, Katie's gay brother.

Review:
Haddon (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime) had much to live up to with A Spot of Bother, and I don't think he lived up to expectations. The Hall family is stereotypical and kind of dull. They each have their problems and one goes from siding with George to Jean to Katie to Jamie to even Ray. By the end it's hard to tell who you should care the most about, or weather you should care about any of them at all. With that being said, this was by no means a terrible book, just mediocre, and that, I think, is the real crime in this novel. Nothing specatular happens, but it's good for a rainy day read.

Story:
**
Structure:
***

November Reading 4/2

Extremely Loud and Incredibility Close
Jonathan Safran Foer

Summery:
Oskar Schell lost his Father two years ago during 9/11. He wears his heavy boots all the time trying to cope with his death until one day he accidently knocks over a blue vase and finds a key with the name Black written on it. Oskar thinks finding the lock to the key could bring him closer to his father so he goes on a search of every Black in New York City. Oskars most trusted person is his Grandmother, a woman with her own sad story from Dresden. Her husband, Oskars Grandfather, left before his son was born. Now with the past and the present colliding there are heartbreaking stories told from every direction.

Review:
The middle of last week Foer spoke at one of the Chicago Public Libraries and I decided to go, knowing from the start that I do not want my beliefs about food changed. (His new book, Eating Animals, is about factory farming and his choice to stay a vegetarian.) What I was surprised to find as he read sections of his work of non-fiction was how poetic his stories of his family were, which leads me to why I decided to go back and reread one of my favorite novels.

The three stories (Oskar, Thomas, and the Grandmother) and all unique and compelling. Foer has a way of making his characters real while setting them in intense and terrible situations. Every time I reread one of my old favorites I get slightly panicked that I will have outgrown them. I am pleased to say that once again that wasn't the case. I may be older, but Oskar is still easy to relate to. Thomas's stories are still beautifully tragic, Foer takes you on journeys that you may not want to always go on, but you enjoy none the less. The purposes of the pictures is clear, but often times they are unnecessary and sometimes unsettling. A great read.

Story:
****
Structure:
***

November Reading 3/2

Franny and Zooey
J.D. Salinger

Summery:
The Glass family is messed up. The first section consists of Franny visiting her boyfriend, going off on rants about phoneys, religion and English Departments across the country before having a breakdown and passing out. Zooeys story takes over where Franny's leaves off. Franny is sleeping on the couch as he reads an old letter from one of his brothers in the bath. His mom barges in berating him with questions and musing. Zooey eventually does talk to Franny showing his intellectual, egotistical side, talking about religion and calling Fanny out on her Jesus Prayer, leaving her in tears before he goes to impersonate his brother in a phone call to Franny.

Review:
I truly enjoyed this novel, if you can even call it a novel. One thing I have always loved about Salinger is how real his characters are, even when they are completely fucked up in the head. Franny's self doubt and Zooeys pompous attitude make for intriguing interactions with everyone they come in contact with. The whole of the Glass family is fascinating, if not tragic, making me want to delve deeper into their story.

November Reading 2/2

Her Fearful Symmetry
Audrey Niffenegger

Summery:
Julia and Valentina are twins, just like their mother Edie and her sister Elspeth were, except that Edie had a falling out that has separated them for 21 years. When Elspeth dies and leaves her London flat to Julia and Valentina with the instructions that they must live there a year before they can sell the flat, and that their parents may never step foot in it. Julia and Valentina move to London and realize they are more different then they thought, with the help of a ghost and their neighbors.

Review:
Having been uninterested in the Time Travelers Wife, I was surprised to find myself drawn to Her Fearful Symmetry. Niffenegger makes the existence of ghosts acceptable, and her characters real. The premise is just far fetched enough to keep readers interested, and the writing style such that you'll be reading for hours without realizing it. The twist at the end is regrettable, weird, and a little sad. Definitely worth a read.


Story
***1/2
Structure
****

November Reading 1/2

Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen

Synopisis:
Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his second wife and daughters with little and his Son Norland. While the Dashwood woman are in the process of finding a new home, John Dashwood and his wife Fanny move into Norland. This is where Elinor meets Edward, who she falls in love with. The Dashwood woman move to Barton, where they are close to Mrs.Dashwoods intrusive cousins. Colonel Brandon loves Marianne, Marriageable thinks he is to old to be in love, among other things. Marianne falls in love with Willoughby and acts without thinking while Elinor silently pines for Edward. Theres drama everywhere, Edward is secretly Engaged to someone else, Willoughby leaves and the girls go to London, where there is even more Drama. Marianne gets worked up and sick. Everyone ends up with the right person. pretty much typical Austen

Review:
Earlier this year I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time and was really looking forward to reading more Austen. Sense and Sensibility did not live up to the high standers I had set for it, but It was a good read. The slow start describing the family situation ruins the race of the story and makes it very had to get into. I had a problem with Marianne as a character, but I can see how she could be endearing to some. In short this was a classic worth reading.

Story
***
Structure
***