Thanks, Anansi!

The House of Anansi has sent over some books for review. Along with their generosity, they included a very nice note. I'm grateful for both and look forward to the new reads!

Followers

Hello loyal readers!

I just wanted to tell you that I wouldn't hate it if you followed my blog. In fact, I'd really like it. I'm sure that at least one of you has come back here after reading a review, right? So just let me know that I'm not completely off base by following, okay?

You can also follow me on Twitter. I'm @jhytel

That's enough shameless self-promoting for the day. Enjoy the weekend!

The Last Flight of Poxl West by Daniel Torday

ISBN: 9781250051684

I don't know exactly what makes a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. I'm sure if I looked into it, I could find the exact specifications, but I'm not going to do that. I'll just go on what I know and what I've read: I'm reminded of American Pastoral, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, A Visit from the Goon Squad--there are similarities and they are all winners. If Pulitzer time rolls around and The Last Flight of Poxl West is mentioned in the same breath as the aforementioned new classics, I would not be surprised in the least.

The book has two narrators: the title character in the form of his best-selling memoir and his 15-year-old American "nephew," Eli.

Poxl left his native Czechoslovakia in a huff as a teenager in the 1930s after he walked in on his mother having sex with a painter (very much not her husband.) He went to Rotterdam where he fell in love with Francoise, a musician whom he later discovers to be a prostitute. WIth the inability to put Francoise's profession behind his love for her (and the unfortunate witnessing of her on the job,) Poxl leaves yet again, this time for London where has father has set him up just as Czechoslovakia is occupied by the Nazis. There Poxl takes all the nececssary steps to become a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force. He meets and falls in love with Glynnis, a nurse, only to lose her in the Blitz. Still though, he can't seem to shake his love for Francoise. She is a major focus of Poxl's narration. She and Shakespeare, that is. Poxl's love of the Bard--that Glynnis' mother instilled in him--turns into something a bit more as the novel winds down thanks to Torday's creativity.

All the while, Poxl becomes a fighter pilot--a heroic one, at that. But still, the constant worry over his lost love and whether she is even still alive after the Luftwasse bombings of Rotterdam remains the primary focus in his memoir. 

Meanwhile, Eli, who looks to Poxl like a grandfather even though there is no real relation (his actual grandfather and Poxl were good friends--meeting after the war when Poxl moves to the States,) gives the reader insight into Poxl in present (1986) times. Skylock (Poxl's memoir which Torday uses to tell his story) is critically acclaimed and becomes a bestseller. Eli idolizes his uncle and wants only to think of him and absorb is succes and adulations. He finds himself becoming more popular and his grades are improving--all thanks to Poxl, the hero and much lauded author.

I very much appreciated Daniel Torday's ability to give himself rave reviews without having anyone read his book. Of course, after reading and loving it myself, it is no surprise to me that the actual book has been met with critical acclaim.

His writing is beautiful, Poxl's story is compelling and Eli's emotional dependence on his uncle seems all to genuine. There really is so much to this novel: it's one of those books that once you have completed, you smile thinking back to parts you may not have considered while reading.

I adored The Last Flight of Poxl West in its entirety and look forward to Torday becoming a mainstay in the literary world. I'm not sure if it was Torday's intention to give the book an American aspect for Pulitzer consideration, but it would be well-deserved.

Poxl West is just the kind of book I seek out and I'm interested to see if we'll be talking about it next April.

So yes, I definitely recommend this book. No kidding.

Harmless by James Grainger

I'm not sure what the overlying theme of Harmless by fellow Canadian, James Grainger, is. I'm not one to read thrillers regularly--I read Gone Girl a few years ago and it was enough to veer me away from the genre for a while. I'm not always looking for "The Next Big Thing" in books, I'm one for subtlety. This book may have been the opposite of that.

In Harmless, a father and his teenage daughter leave Toronto for a weekend in the country to catch up with Joseph (dad's) old friends. Joseph is divorced and his relationship with his daughter Franny is not as good as he would like it to be. He seems to still be in love with his high-school sweetheart Jane, the host of the gathering. Joseph harbours some pretty overt feelings of resentment towards Jane's husband Alex. 

As would happen when most forty-somethings get together for a weekend, the group (minus Franny and the other kids) gets blind drunk and stoned.

Joseph and Jane decide to take a walk in the woods and have an extra-marital affair. Why the hell not?  It's not like they were surrounded by their friends and family or anything...

Joseph hears a twig snap nearby which brings everything to a grinding halt (no pun intended.) The two return to the house only to find out from Alex that their daughters, Franny and Rebecca, are missing.

Logically, Alex invites Joseph to go out into the woods with him to find the girls--armed, of course. They have conversations about killing abductors and taking the law into their own hands.

There are a few things in this book that I found a little bit difficult to read, but I think that's the point. No one really wants to get into topics like dead animals and there are several in this book. I may be a tad hypersensitive given my vegetarian lifestyle, but I don't think I'd be alone in thinking some of the graphic nature in the novel is a tad over-the-top.

Without question, there is a lot of violence in the book. The protagonist has a lot of penned up anger and frustration and he is given ample opportunity by the author to release it.

Even though Harmless wasn't really my thing, it is certainly a page-turner. I wanted to steamroll through it, if not only to see what wild immoral act would be perpetrated next. Let me tell you, there is plenty to go around!

 

As far as recommendations go, those that like violent, compelling thrillers would probably really enjoy Harmless. I wish I had more books to compare it to. As far as I can tell, it was good. It was very readable but I had absolutely zero empathy for Joseph. It's fun to root for the good (or not-so-good) guy and I didn't really care what happened to him.

I'll recommend it to some, how about that? I think that's fair.

Highly recommend to some.

Raincoast Books is in!

Raincoast Books will now be sending over ARCs to your humble book blogger (me!) 

This, of course, means more new and upcoming content to review. 

This makes me very happy and grateful. I am extremely fortunate. 

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

ISBN: 978-0-345-80940-7

The Buried Giant is a fantasy novel written by a novelist that doesn't usually write fantasy. Sorry for that.

So either we call this book Fantasy (which I would given all the spells and dragons and things that don't actually exist,) or we avoid harsh words from purists and call it "Fantasy Fusion." I'm okay with that one, too.

I'm not a fantasy purist. I've superficially read and enjoyed the genre (basically just A Song of Ice and Fire and Mistborn.) I was not insulted by Ishiguro's foray--in fact I was quite pleased. The only other book of his that I've read is Never Let Me Go which is quasi-science-fiction and I liked it. I will read pretty much anything  when it comes to genres: as long as there is a good story spun in the pages, I don't really care.

It follows an elderly couple--Beatrice and Axl--on their journey through medieval England to find their son who had left many years before. There is word of a "mist" that causes forgetfulness, thus explaining why the two basically cannot remember what they had for breakfast. 

And so they embark, passing through a neighbouring Saxon village where they encounter two more individuals: Wistan, a warrior, and the boy he just rescued from the throes of an ogre, Edwin. The boy is to be exiled because he has been bitten and that is unacceptable in the village; Wistan acts as his keeper and mentor and will take him with him on the mission assigned to him by his king. Fortunately, they are all going in virtually the same direction and Beatrice and Axl are more than happy to have the tag-alongs. 

Further on down the road, the motley crew comes across a knight, Gawain, nephew of Arthur--the very same Arthur that brought peace to England and ended the quarreling of the Britons and Saxons many years prior. It's about this time that we learn that Gawain and Wiston are on the same mission: slay the she-dragon Querig. Guess what: it's Querig's breath that causes the mist of forgetfulness. That makes Beatrice and Axl all too happy to see her killed so they can have their memories of each other, whether they be good or bad, back. It's pretty convenient that everyone wants the same thing.

Of course, they don't all want the same things...That would make for a pretty boring read.

The lost memories in the book reminded me a bit of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in which the two main characters were happy with each other in their ignorance and when their past becomes clear to them, problems arise. At that point it's difficult to change fate--especially when strong emotions are tied into it. Pretty deep elements and very interesting stuff, I think.

There are questions of morality and religion, whether it is possible to atone for sins committed so willingly and blatantly. Is it possible to actually be forgiven or will forgetting the act and pushing it under the rug suffice?

The book is chock full of metaphors as most fantasy novels are, I suppose. Although the book's setting and some of the players involved are thoroughly unbelievable, the underlying issues are very real. You shouldn't really expect less from Kazuo Ishiguro: he seems to have a pulse on the problems of society (at least in what I have read.)

I liked The Buried Giant a lot. The book gave me an opportunity to read fantasy without having to commit to thousands of pages. And if the purists tell him not to quit his day job, well, he hasn't: the man writes good books and doesn't need to be pigeonholed.

So I recommend the book to those of you with open-minds on either side of the Fantasy spectrum.

Side note: If you haven't seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, you should really do that. 

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

ISBN: 978-0-670-06955-2

Where to begin...

It has been some time since, while reading a book, I have wondered: is this the best book I have ever read? It certainly has never happened with a work of non-fiction. I guess there really is a first time for everything.

H is for Hawk is a masterpiece. There, I said it. Now I can get on with it.

A passing in the family is never easy--especially when it is a parent that you looked up to. Fortunately, I haven't yet had to cope with such a loss and I'm obviously not looking forward to the day that I will. When Helen Macdonald's father died, she essentially lost a part of her. In H is for Hawk, she tries to find a way to get it back.

Macdonald's primary interest has been in falconry since she was a child. She has trained hawks before, but never a goshawk: widely known as the most erratic, blood-thirsty species. And so she buys one and names her Mabel. She puts everything aside--she becomes a bit of a recluse, she turns down a teaching job in Germany--all to commit herself entirely to training her hawk.

I had to laugh when she described the distraction of passing people on the streets. As she is trying to get Mabel to focus, people stop and stare in amazement. She wishes they would all just disappear. I have felt the exact same way when walking my puppy. Obviously a puppy and a goshawk are not the same at all. It's just very frustrating to get an animal to do what you want it to without anyone around, let alone with. The rational emotion is not anger, though, and that is the one that Macdonald and I shared. 

I don't know anything about falconry. To be completely honest, before I read this book, I didn't know it still existed. Being a vegetarian, it isn't something that I have an interest in doing--especially after reading Macdonald's description of Mabel's prey's last moments on Earth. But the training of this wild bird--the steps Macdonald has to take to ostensibly make the goshawk an extension of herself--is compelling to say the least. Mabel becomes her "spirit animal": she mentions Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials and how the children in the series have "daemons" and likens it to her own situation with Mabel.

She also finds a parralel with TH White, the author of the Arthurian epic The Once and Future King. White also became an austringer (albeit an unsuccessful one) and wrote about it in The Goshawk. White was a very sad--bordering on pathetic--character. He was gay in a time that it really wasn't accepted and was struggling to fit in. He did his best to find an "appropriate" love, but when he couldn't, embarked on the training of a goshawk. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to and ended up losing his bird, Gos. 

Macdonald did not want to have a similar fate. Although she had more experience than White, there was always the possibility that Mabel would just fly away. Being in a very sensitive state, that is not something that she thought she could handle.

Helen Macdonald is a wonderful writer: it's hard to find flaws in her prose. Her accounts of White are written in an omniscient third-person narration that read the same as a narration of a novel. It is unique. Really good stuff.

H is for Hawk is an honest account of a terrible time in someone's life and of how they pick up the pieces. The author, thankfully, gives the reader a window into her mind when she was struggling and shows how she overcame it with a predatory bird on her fist.

I'm so glad I read this book and I recommend that everyone does the same: no matter what your general interest, I'm sure you'll be able to find something in it that captivates you. There's just so much to it--I can't say enough good things. 

Must-read. So go read it.