I’ve been reading a lot during this pandemic lockdown, and this is my favorite find so far. Set in Seattle after something strange and apocalyptic has happened to the humans, Hollow Kingdom is narrated by a crow named S.T, who use to have a pretty nice life with a human (aka Mofo) named Big Jim and his lovable but not-too-bright dog Dennis. But when Big Jim’s eye falls out and then he tries to take a bite out of S.T., the crow and the dog head out looking for something or someone to make sense of it all. Out on their own they’re confronted with a harsh physical world filled techno-zombiefied humans and a whole slew of other animals, domestic and wild ones, some friendly and some, like the big cats from the zoo, not so much.
Continue reading “Hollow Kingdom”
At the center of this beautiful novel is Britt Johnson, a newly freed slave in West Texas, just as the Civil War is ending. He’s moved there with his wife and children to begin a new life, only to have them ripped away from him in an Indian raid. So he’s forced to find a way to get them back. This is also at the time that the US government is trying to “civilize” the Indians, and they’ve sent a peace-loving Quaker to talk them into settling down, giving up their way of life, and become farmers. What’s really wonderful about this novel is that it honors all their perspectives: the husband, the broken wife, the children, the black man, the Indian. The only one who seems clueless is the white man.
The author of this captivating novel is Juan Gabriel Vásquez, not to be confused with his fellow Colombian Gabriel García Márquez. The Sound of Things Falling is the story of Antonio, a young law professor in Bogota who befriends an older man named Laverde in a pool hall, only to see him shot dead in the street as they leave, leaving him wounded both physically and emotionally. But when Laverde’s daughter Maya who barely knew her father contacts him, he heads out to the countryside to find out who Laverde was. The story flashes back to Laverde’s earlier life when he was flying pot to the US and falling in love with a Peace Corps volunteer, Maya’s mom.
At the center of this novel is a love story between a rich young teacher and a super talented chalk artist. Nina is an idealistic young teacher with TeacherCorps. She naively believes that her love of literature will allow her to get through to a bunch of pretty difficult kids. She spends time after work at a cafe where she meets Collin, an amazingly talented and struggling artist. Their developing relationship is just one of the through lines.
The central character in this story is Yeong-hye, a very ordinary South Korean housewife who awakens from a violent nightmare and declares herself a vegetarian, and it ultimately tears her entire family apart. The novella is told in three parts — one from her self-centered husband, one from her artist brother-in-law, and the last from her protective older sister. Yeong-hye’s transformation only begins with her vegetarianism. She eventually believes she can become one with the natural world, needing only air and water to survive.
I don’t believe I’ve ever taken as long to read a book! Sure, it’s over 700 pages, but that wasn’t what took me so long. I’d simply ingested enough story after just a few pages to be satisfied with the experience. The book is a fictionalized (or is it?) memoir by German writer Albert Vigoleis Thelen of the years he and his wife Beatrice spent on the island of Majorca. Initially landing there under the false impression that her brother Zwingli is dying, the couple ends up spending five years in various parts of the small island during the run-up to World War II.
Lots of lists coming out this time of year. Here are several good ones.
Bookish Ones 