VPL Staff Fiction Picks - December 2009
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Campbell, Eddie This curious graphic novel showcases some of the great circus troupes of the late Victorian period. The episodes parallel the calamities of the last century from the Siege of Paris to the sinking of the Titanic illustrating, perhaps, that life is far more “stupendous” and “colossal” than art. The artwork and typography are by the inventive Dan Best.
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Jackson, Mick The Bears of England is a fanciful and delightful collection of short stories about, well, the nature of bears as they exist in the imaginations, tales and superstitions of humans. The writing is exceptionally good and, as a bonus, the book is peppered with clever illustrations by David Roberts.
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Ragde, Anne B. When 80-year-old Anna Neshov suffers a stroke, her three adult sons meet to discuss the situation. The three estranged brothers start by discussing inheritance issues but, unexpectedly, reveal unsettling family secrets. The story is set in Norway.
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Burns, Olive Ann The town of Cold Sassy, Georgia is scandalized on July 5, 1906 when E. Rucker Blakeslee, a widower for three weeks, elopes with Love Simpson, a northerner half his age.
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Mahfuz, Najib This is a curious and intriguing collection of stories that seem, on reflection, to be much bigger than they actually are. Each story is like an Islamic miniature painting. Told in the style of a dream journal, Mahfouz offers details of ancient and current history, personal autobiography, and observations on life. This book will appeal to fans of Jorge Luis Borges.
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Wang, Gang This is the story of 12-year-old Love Liu, a boy living in a remote and highly conservative region of China during the Cultural Revolution. When a new teacher arrives from Shanghai with an English dictionary, Love Liu is fascinated by the book’s possibilities yet wary of looking for answers in dangerous times. The book was a major hit in China.
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Barbery, Muriel Following her sensational English language debut, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Barbery offers this wonderful tale of Monsieur Arthens, the most powerful restaurant critic in Paris. Arthens is dying and in his final days, he recalls his life and searches his memory to recall the "flavor par excellence.” This book will appeal to fans of culinary literature such as John Lanchester’s The Debt to Pleasure.
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Ackerley, J. R. One suspects that the sadness often seen in the lives of his fictional characters, reflects troubles in Ackerley’s private life. What a pleasure it is then, to experience Ackerley’s “bright-young-thing” moment in Hindoo Holiday. First published in 1932, the memoir is set in the 1920’s when Ackerley was employed as the personal secretary to an eccentric Maharajah. The book offers fascinating historical detail, naughty fun and a waggish indifference to political correctness.
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Imprisoned for fourteen years for a crime he didn’t commit, Myrden is released to a much changed world. Forced to confront the complexities of this overwhelming “outside” world, Myrden looks for reasons to believe he still has something to offer and the courage to try again.
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Binchy, Maeve Maeve Binchy's first novel, published in 1983 tells the story of a young English girl in Ireland under the care of the boisterous O'Connor family. Through them she meets Aisling who becomes her best friend and together they endure years of change, joy and sorrow.
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Hemon, Aleksandar The book is a series of linked short stories about a young man growing up in Sarajevo shortly before the Yugoslavian conflicts who immigrates to the United States. Hemon presents a growing sense of rootlessness as his character finds himself caught between two vastly different political worlds. Hemon’s themes are nicely balanced by stories from his childhood that the reader can easily identify with. Also highly recommended is the author’s wonderful novel, The Lazarus Project.
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Maguire, Gregory Originally conceived for broadcast on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered program, Maguire re-imagines Andersen’s classic tale of The Little Match Girl adding a parallel story about a poor boy named Frederik. A timely reminder as the holiday season approaches, that British Columbia has the highest child poverty rate in Canada.
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Guibert, Emmanuel Co-created with Didier Lefevre and Frederic Lemercier this work is stunning. Following the Russian-Afghan conflict, Doctors Without Borders entered Afghanistan in 1986 to offer medical aid to the remote and virtually inaccessible areas of the country. With them was photojournalist Emmanuel Guibert. Combining photos and graphic illustrations, the book offers a level of immediacy and compassion unmatched by most books covering the Afghan conflicts. The pages are filled with small but heroic stories and unforgettable faces. Highly recommended.
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Kindly, yet bewildered Timofey Pnin is a professor of classical Russian literature at Waindell College. The professor is unaware that he is an object of fun to his fellow faculty members. The novel is presented from a variety of points-of-view and alternates biting satire with affectionate observation. Nobokov’s splendid prose plus the mock-heroic tone of Pnin, remind me of V. S. Naipaul’s A House For Mr. Biswas. Recommended.
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Boylan, Jennifer Finney Janet Maslin calls this book “The Running With Scissors of sex-change stories.” Author and teacher James Finney Boylan’s transformation to Jennifer Finney Boylan is told with painful honesty and great humour. You’ll find yourself questioning your basic assumptions about gender and identity in this inspiring memoir. Recommended.
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Bahadur, Sanjay Shortlisted for the Man Asian Prize, The Sound of Water is the story of a disaster in an Indian coal mine. Bahadur offers a compelling psychological portrait of the trapped miners, the official leading the rescue operations, and the families waiting for news.
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This is one of the best AIDS themed books to appear in many years. Video artist Steve Reinke appears as a mentor to the book’s narrator, Auden, who has AIDS. Steve helps Auden imprint new stories that, piece by piece, rewire and reprogram Auden’s inner voice and replace the “narrative of illness” that has come to control his life. Complex and intriguing.
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This wonderful debut novel presents a modern retelling of Hamlet. Instead of Denmark, the action takes place in rural Wisconsin on the Sawtelle family’s dog-breeding farm. I think this is the best depiction of dogs in literature since J. R. Ackerley’s My Dog Tulip.
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Coetzee, J. M. This is the concluding volume in Coetzee’s semi-autobiographical trilogy he began with Boyhood and Youth. In Summertime, we find a fictional biographer preparing a book about the “late” John Coetzee. In a series of interviews, we’re presented with the portrait of an intelligent if emotionally distant individual viewed with suspicion by his family. The book also offers a portrait of South Africa’s politics in the mid-1970’s.
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Lansens, Lori This is the emotionally involving story of Mary Gooch, a chronically overweight woman who is deserted by her husband on the day of their 25th wedding anniversary. Readers of Alice Munro’s early works or Mary Lawson’s Crow Lake will especially appreciate this wonderful book.
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