#882 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Wednesday March 20)
Good morning,
RECENT BOOKS
Here are some recent books I’ve read—relatively short and novel books—with some thoughts on each:
My Murder, by Katie Williams. An interesting premise regarding a technology that brings people back from death. The people being “reborn” are women who are the victims of a serial killer. The book doesn’t dwell on the science fiction as much as the lives (and rebirths) of these women, including one who is trying to ascertain the details regarding her murder and her murderer.
The Short End of the Sonnenalle, by Thomas Brussig, with Introduction by Jonathan Franzen. The Sonnenalle is a street in Berlin that was split by the wall between West and East. The longer end is in the West and the short end is in the East, abutting the wall. This is a great satirical view of a dark place in which the most rigid of regimes before it ultimately was released of that burden. Much of the story revolves around adolescent boys, who offer their share of humor. Franzen notes that “The novel’s brilliant stroke is to highlight [the adolescents’] silliness by situating it in the most serious of places.” He adds, “To laugh at the recollection of a dark time—specifically a time in which the collective was paramount, the individual a nullity—is to reframe the notion of seriousness.”
Prophet Song, by Paul Lynch. The dystopian story of an Ireland in the near future descending into an authoritarian regime, told through one family’s struggles. The winner of last year’s Booker Prize is not the story of the fascist takeover, but the aftermath of that takeover. The descent is foreshadowed and turns south more than the protagonists anticipate. Then the rebels arrive and war breaks out. It is heartbreaking, as the regular benchmarks of a stable society drop away one-by-one. As the mother of four contemplates leaving to join her sister in Canada, the author declares that history is replete with stories of those who didn’t recognize when it was time to go. Written before many of the conflicts currently engulfing the world and that resonate with the stresses of civilians caught in the crossfire. The stress and pace are heightened by minimal punctuation, staccato conversations in paragraphs without clear delineation of the speakers, and few paragraph breaks. A great quotation from the book, “All your life you’ve been asleep, all of us sleeping and now the great waking begins.” I thought this was a great book.
Tokyo Ueno Station, by Yu Miri. A poetic little book that was a Notable Book for the New York Times and won the National Book Award for Translated Literature. A strange little book that is long on description and short on character development, yet beautiful in its own way.
This Other Eden, by Paul Harding. This National Book Award and Booker finalist is the story of an island off the coast of Maine originally populated in 1792 by a former slave and his Irish wife. It’s a generational story about a community of families that lived mostly off the grid, finding work sometimes on shore. Everything is relatively peaceful until a well-meaning teacher comes and “civilization” enters their lives. A story of freedom, community, art, memory, and good intentions gone awry. A beautiful story told in vivid language utilizing biblical parallels, exploring issues of community building, folk wisdom, terrible science, hereditary burdens, and love. And at 221 pages, you’ll get through it in short order.
Weather, by Jenny Offill. This truly is a unique book. While it is described as a “novel,” it seems more a contemplation of the idea of apocalyptic times. It is a series of paragraphs, some related, others not. They are meditations on current events, personal experiences and challenges, and issues of the end of days, preppers, and the possibility of taking one’s life another direction. In the Guardian’s book review: “Because Lizzie seems so unnervingly close to us, and because the bad news is seen glancingly, the way we might look at the sun, all of this feels real and near. …there is no comforting fiction in this book at all, only terrifying facts about ecological disaster and encroaching fascism…Weather made me grind my teeth at night, just like its narrator – but it is certainly a brilliant exemplar for the autofictional method. Offill pulls us in close in order to make us worry about things outside us; mirrors the self to show us what we are selfishly ignoring.” It’s only 200 pages, but pages filled with a great number of observations and realizations that are difficult to ignore.
Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler. This is a deep and meaningful exploration of a modern Black woman who is thrust back to an 1819 slave plantation in Maryland, for reasons and by forces that are unclear. The time travel is not the center of the story; although Butler is a well-known science fiction author. Rather, it is the story of a woman meeting her forebears (including a slave master who has raped a woman, both of whom are her direct ancestors) in an antebellum border state, understanding and interacting with these people while insinuating herself in this slave culture in order to survive. That the key events are set so far prior to the Civil War and, therefore, such a long way from emancipation, the futility and inevitability of the slaves’ dilemma is set out in stark relief. As she and her husband, who is white, travel between the present and the past, they explore issues of the legacy of slavery, the teaching of slavery in books, the promise of America, and how difficult it was for those like them—a Black woman and a white abolitionist—in difficult circumstances.
Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski. Why, indeed. I include this among these short books because this book is meant to be read in short spurts. Some of the greatest moments (and a bunch of extras told in periodic lightning round paragraphs) that are entertaining not only for the baseball, but for the personalities and the humorous antics. A delightful “pick up and read a couple of chapters” sort of book. Thoroughly enjoyable, with many stories triggering memories of the events described. And with the season coming soon, the timing is perfect.
A GREAT OLDER BOOK NOT TO BE MISSED
The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion. To be fair, this also is a book both Lauren and I think is a classic. It also is one that was read some time ago, so doesn’t really count as “on the nightstand.” But I just couldn’t not include it. Didion’s journey through the year of her husband’s death and only child’s septic shock (she eventually also died) is both heart-wrenching and life affirming. To me, it is the gold standard of grieving, questioning, and medical analysis. It won the National Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer.
OTHER BOOK THOUGHTS
I have asked each member of our family to tell us what they’ve been reading recently. Andrea shares these: Lessons in Chemistry, Covenant of Water, The Many Lives of Mama Love, and Wellness. Jake loved Overstory.
MORE GOOD STUFF
In the meantime, for some fun reading, interviews, things to do, and things “Beyond the Year of Magical Thinking,” try out Lauren’s new publication on Substack:
Have a great day,
Glenn