We Few, We Happy Few, We Band of Micro Reviews

But first! I’m headed away for research for the next few weeks, so my blog posts may be sporadic. And some may be full of photos. End transmission.

Although those of you who’ve read my other reviews (micro, macro, and in between) might wonder at it, I feel like I haven’t been making time for pleasure reading since the start of my postgraduate studies. So this winter, I’ve decided to step away from trawling the Internet and instead spend some more time with my nose between the pages. And you know what? It makes me happier.

And it doesn’t exactly hurt when I’m wondering what to put in my next blog entry, either.

Truth by Peter Temple, 2010 (mystery novel) – As the jacket cover blurbs about the author’s previous book said, you might be forgiven for designating this as a literary novel in which crimes happen to be committed. Purportedly the story of a cop navigating family drama and workplace politics as he tries to nab some killers, the book is a juggling act, and, as such, I found it difficult to follow. The urban Australian atmosphere is vivid, but the top-notch slang and gritty realism are both a little opaque, and I was frustrated that the mystery took backseat to the protagonist’s personal problems .

The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley, 2010 (mystery novel) – This engaging murder mystery, set in a quaint country village of 1950s England, is set apart from the crowd by its protagonist, eleven-year-old wannabe Sherlock Holmes Flavia de Luce. This avid chemist and social manipulator shows shades of the Master no matter how you slice it, and her voice is alternately annoying and what makes the entire book worth reading. Her aggravating know-it-all side is balanced with cool descriptions of chemical interactions and occasional heartbreaking moments where Flavia’s search for acceptance and love comes through front and centre.

The Cold Moon by Jeffery Deaver, 2006 (mystery novel) – I have to admit that my first reaction on finishing this book was, seriously, the second half of this novel is entirely twists. Yeah, I care about paraplegic supergenius Lincoln Rhyme and his hawt but astute partner Sachs and even about new kid on the block body-language-reader Kathryn Dance, but the plot, ostensibly about catching a serial killer who tortures people to death, veers into self-parody and made me think of this. Only, I think the book has even more 180-degree surprises.

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore, 2010 (YA sci-fi novel) – No wonder this exciting sci-fi adventure is already being made into a movie. It’s not that the plot or characters are knock-your-socks-off mindblowing (there are nine adolescent Kal-Els, sent to Earth to save their race after their planet is conquered by Ugly Bad Aliens who are now tracking them down: add a twist of Ferngullian environmental ethics; X Files-style alien ridonkulousness; and typical high-school plots where the new kid is bullied by the jock but friends with the quirky outcast…), but you will keep turning the pages whether you want to or not. Although I enjoyed this book, I gotta admit that I was weirded out by prominent human characters being named Sarah, Mark, and Emily (the names of me and two of my cousins)… especially as the physical description of Mark is pretty much how my cousin looks.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door by Intelligent Systems, 2004 (Nintendo GameCube game) – Thanks for lending this to me, Dave! Dear Nintendo: please stop prefacing your final boss fights with interminable but unskippable cutscenes AFTER the last save point. Other than that, though, this game is A1, with a surprisingly engaging story and a vivid cast of character all along for the ride to help Mario collect the 7 Crystal Stars, open the titular Thousand-Year Door, and (of course) save the princess. The game mechanic is also great fun, with JRPG-style choose-a-move-from-a-menu mixed with pressing various buttons in the correct sequence with the correct timing to get the most out of your turn.

Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis , 1956 (fantasy novel) – Thanks, Ted and Ellie, for individually recommending this! C. S. Lewis wrote that he liked this re-telling of the myth of Psyche and Cupid best of all his novels, but I can’t quite agree with him. I think it’s because, despite sympathizing with his “ugly but competent woman” main character and enjoying how she discovers her own flaws, I didn’t like Psyche at all and therefore couldn’t get behind the protagonist’s deep love for her.  It also might be that this story emphasizes one of Lewis’s favourite themes, which is also my least favourite: whatever you tell yourself, all your actions and beliefs are ultimately based on emotion (I’m OK with arguments for this part), so therefore all the unfair things you blame on the gods, no matter how obscurely they choose to communicate, are really your own failings, because if you were a better person, you would’ve believed the right thing, no matter how scant the evidence.

Star Island by Carl Hiaasen, 2010 (humour novel) – I call humour novel even though in the Globe and Mail, they put this in with the mysteries. Thing is, there’s nothing mysterious about this slick story of a dumb-as-rocks starlet on a downhill spiral into sex and drugs and the absurd efforts of her entourage to keep her image untarnished after a paparazzo kidnaps her body double. Yeah, there are crimes involved, but you’re never wondering who did what and why; it’s more a clever satire of celebrity culture than a cozy, reminiscent not of Agatha Christie but Christopher Moore.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, 2006 (gothic suspense novel, says Wikipedia) – A young bibliophilic woman agrees to write the memoirs of an eccentric old authoress whom she has never met, and in the process uncovers old secrets. This is one of those stories where atmosphere is everything: you can imagine what eventually is revealed to be the plot as a boring 100-word news byte, but when you experience it along with the protagonist, danger and mystery seem to be lurking at every turn. This is to mysteries as “The Turn of the Screw” is to ghost stories: if you wanted, you could make a case for it not belonging in the genre at all, but it still hits the familiar emotional notes.