Review: “The Winter People,” Jennifer McMahon

Publisher’s Synopsis:  “West Hall, Vermont, has always been a place of strange disappearances and old legends.  The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house, just months after the tragic death of her daughter, Gertie.  Townspeople say that Sara’s ghost walks the streets after midnight, and some still leave offerings on their doorsteps to prevent her from coming inside.

Ruthie Washburne has never put much stock in West Hall’s rumors.  Having grown up in an isolated farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister, Fawn, she dreams of leaving her sleepy town and escaping her mother’s odd insistence that they live off the grid without Internet or even a listed phone number.  But when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished without a trace, she beings to wonder if her mother’s eccentricities have a deeper reason – especially when she finds a copy of Sara Harrison Shea’s diary hidden beneath the floorboards of Alice’s room.

The diary tells the story of a mother on the edge, a mother who is willing to do the unthinkable in order to hold her daughter in her arms once again, no matter the consequences.  And as Ruthie gets sucked deeper into the mystery of Sara’s fate, she will discover that she’s no the only one looking for someone lost – nor is she the only person desperate to unlock the secrets that the diary contains.  But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.

Rating:  4.5/5

I heard about Jennifer McMahon’s The Winter People through the Books on the Nightstand podcast, and I had initially planned to read it right after Her Fearful Symmetry, but I waited because I was worried that they would be too similar.  I’m glad that I held off, but they weren’t as similar as I feared.

I don’t like scary movies.  I used to enjoy ghost stories, but it’s been years since I’ve read a scary book.  The Winter People wasn’t truly scary, but it was definitely a little creepy – I’m glad that I finished it while the sun was still out!    It was a very quick read, mostly because I got hooked so early on.  A wonderful combination of plot, suspense, and characters kept me turning the pages, and the three interacted seamlessly to form a coherent whole.

The narration of The Winter People shifts from first person diary entries from the early 20th century, to third person omniscient narration of that time, to third person omniscient narration in the present day.  All of the third person omniscient narration is told through the ‘lens’ of one of four characters.  This seems to be a big trend in novels right now – I feel like most of the novels I’ve read this year use it to some extent.  McMahon does is extremely well; every time the narration shifted, I was disappointed to leave the story I was on behind, and then I got immediately hooked into the next.  I think that those shifts in narration are a large part of what propelled me to read so quickly.

The characters and the setting of The Winter People were also masterfully achieved.  I constantly felt that I could see the people and places, although I never felt bogged down in length descriptions.  It almost felt as if I’d been dropped into a world that I was already familiar with.

Glancing at some other reviews, I saw mixed thoughts on the ending.  Some readers thought it felt unfinished and didn’t give a sense of closure, and some were hopeful that it was set up for a sequel.  I, for one, don’t want a sequel.  I appreciate the ending for what it was.  The fact of literature is that it is intended to turn a looking glass on life. Novels start when something changes, but it isn’t realistic for endings to wrap themselves up in a package with a neat little bow.  Life doesn’t end like that, so it feels more true to me when novels don’t either.

Review: “Gone Girl,” Gillian Flynn

Publisher’s Synopsis:  On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary.  Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears.  As the police begin to investigate, the town golden boy parades a series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior.  Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter – but is he really a killer?

Rating:  4.5/5

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Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl tells the story of the disappearance of Amy Dunne and the investigation, which focuses on her husband.  The narration shifts back and forth from Nick Dunne in the first person to Amy Dunne, also in the first person, but through diary entries going back several years.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up this book.  I had a vague idea of the plot (from the book jacket only), and while I heard a lot of buzz, I didn’t know any specifics, and I hadn’t heard any spoilers. My first thought was that I couldn’t think of another book I had read – at least recently – with a male narrator written by a female author (on further thought, both of Elizabeth Kostova’s novels feature this).  I think that Flynn did this exceptionally well – in my opinion, it’s one of the most difficult things for an author to do, and she did it in a way that had me both sympathizing with and suspecting Nick.  I love an unreliable narrator, and throughout the entire book, there is never a reliable narrator.  What was surprising was that even though you know from the beginning that you have two unreliable narrators, by the middle of the book you, as a reader, start to wonder if there is anything that you can trust in the slightest.  The narration turned me into a paranoid reader, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Gone Girl was a book that I struggled to put down, then couldn’t wait to pick up again.  I read it when I shouldn’t have, and lost a lot of sleep in the process.  Almost every chapter ended with a twist or revelation, and I just couldn’t wait to find out what the next one would be.  It was a fun read, even as the material was dark and twisted.

While Gone Girl has gotten a plethora of glowing reviews (it’s one of the most buzzed-about books out there for the past few years), there has been a lot of criticism about the ending.  I actually loved the ending; I thought that it was a great exploration of the dark, manipulative side of human nature.  The film adaptation is coming on in October 2014, directed by David Fincher, and while Gillian Flynn wrote the screenplay, she changed the ending.  I’m very curious to see what changed and how it effects the overall tone of the story.  I’ll leave you with the trailer for the film:

Review: “Her Fearful Symmetry,” Audrey Niffenegger

Rating:  4/5

This is going to be a short review, almost by necessity; there is very little that I can say without delving into spoilers.  Her Fearful Symmetry is the second novel by Audrey Niffenegger; her first was The Time-Traveler’s Wife.  It centers around twins, Julia and Valentina, who inherit their aunt’s flat in London under the conditions that they live there for a year before selling it, and that their parents never enter it.

It’s hard for me to imagine an author writing two more different books than The Time-Traveler’s Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry.  I enjoyed both of them, almost equally, although of course for different reasons.  Her Fearful Symmetry was unique to me in that it has a distinctly Victorian Gothic feel, but it is set entirely in the present.  The setting has a lot to do with that – the flat that the twins inherit borders London’s Highgate Cemetery.  It took nearly 150 pages before I was invested in the plot, although I was intrigued from the beginning.  The plot is very character-driven, and the characters are complex enough for that to work well.  The narration is third-person omniscient, with enough of each character’s thoughts included to drive their motivations.  It is extremely well-crafted and enjoyable; I highly recommend it (although I will say that I strongly dislike the title).  For comparison, the feel of it reminded me quite a bit of The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Satterfield, although there are minimal plot and character similarities.

As an aside, for my fellow “Doctor Who” fans:  The Time-Traveler’s Wife was one of Steven Moffat’s inspiration for the second-series (since the reboot) episode “The Girl in the Fireplace.”  There is an acknowledgement of that within the story of Her Fearful Symmetry.

 

Hitting a Wall, Re-reading, and “Comfort Books”

As I mentioned yesterday in my Bout of Books Wrap-Up, I turned back to an old favorite book (The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova) on the final day of the read-a-thon. I wasn’t making progress with Middlesex, so it seemed like a good time for a re-read.

When I say that I wasn’t making progress with Middlesex, I don’t mean to imply that I wasn’t enjoying it – I was. With my level of anxiety skyrocketing, I was doing better when I was busy, and as much as I love to read, it just wasn’t doing it to keep me calm. That was why I made the decision to pick up a book that I know I love.

I think that it’s basically the same thing as craving comfort food when you’re stressed – you want something that you know will work. Some books are the literary equivalent of a warm hug and plate of your mother’s cooking, and that was exactly what I needed.

When I started out on this year’s 50 Book Challenge, I decided to give myself the license to make up to 12 of those books re-reads. I didn’t have anything particular in mind to read again, but I wanted that flexibility for situations exactly like this. For me, the best way out of a slump or book hangover is a book that I know will keep me excited. Additionally, I find a whole new experience of a book every time I re-read it. Already (on page 30), I’ve noticed things about The Historian that I’ve never picked up on before. My copies of the Harry Potter series are battered and falling apart from at least half a dozen (complete series) re-reads – that’s not even counting the re-reads before Deathly Hallows came out, and believe you me, there were many – and every time I pick them up, I find something new.

I’ve never reviewed The Historian here, so I think I will when I’ve finished it again – it will be a little different than a regular review by virtue of being a re-read, but it’s certainly a book I love to talk about.

Bout of Books 10.0: Wrap-Up

Oops. I didn’t post a Day 6 progress update because there wasn’t any Day 6 progress. I didn’t read a page. At the end of the day yesterday, I picked up The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova, (it’s an old favorite) and read 29 pages.

Overall, I read 657 pages and completed two entire books. While it’s not as much as I had hoped, it’s certainly more than I would read during a typical week, so I’m happy with that. As it turned out, beginning on Tuesday, I was dealing with a steadily increasing level of anxiety, and that detracted from my goals; it’s something that I should have anticipated but didn’t.

This was my first Bout of Books and my first read-a-thon, and I thought of it as a trial run – I wasn’t sure if it was something that I would be interested in doing in the future. Having done it now, I can say for sure that it is something I would do again! Even though I was only in full swing for the first few days, it was great fun during that time.

Congratulations to all the Bout of Books 10.0 participants!

Bout of Books 10.0: Progress Update, Days 4 and 5

Alright, brace yourselves:  I’ve read a grand total of 7 (yes, 7!) pages in the past two days. Life got in the way.  I’m not thrilled about it, but it happened.  Oh well, what can you do?

I work today, so I’m not expecting to read much, if at all.  I’ll be back tomorrow to let you know what happened (if anything).

How are you doing on  your progress so far?

Review: “The Martian,” Andy Weir (Plus a Podcast?)

Rating:  5/5

Go read this book.  As soon as possible.  Please.

It’s a quick read, it hooks you from page one, and it never lets go.

I heard about Andy Weir’s The Martian from the Books on the Nightstand podcast*, where it was given a rave review.  It tells the story of an astronaut, presumed dead and left behind on the surface of Mars after a sandstorm cuts his mission short.  It is quintessentially a survival story – “Cast Away” meets “Gravity.” The narration shifts from the astronaut left behind, to the crew returning to Earth, to NASA.

I started reading it on a Thursday night, and I finished it on Sunday night.  I deliberately tried to slow myself down because I was enjoying it so much, but once I picked it up, I couldn’t stop turning the pages.

The research that went into The Martian is impeccable.  The science is airtight (no pun intended) and at no point does it seem even remotely implausible.  The characters are intensely human – there is no archetype of a flawless, brave hero.  Everyone, at one point or another, gives up hope.

There are moments that I’d like to write about, and more details that I would love to give, but I won’t.  I really want you to read this book.  I’ve become something of an evangelist for it; I’ve recommended it to at least five people and given it as a gift.  Please read it.

 

*If you love books (and if you’re here, I assume you do) this is absolutely worth checking out.  It’s a weekly podcast with episodes that seem to average about 30 minutes, all about reading, the publishing industry, book recommendations, and occasionally chats with authors.  It’s run by two publishing industry veterans, and their enthusiasm is palpable.  It’s rare that I listen to an episode and don’t get at least one book to add to my “to read” list.

Bout of Books 10.0: Progress Update, Day 3

I am a little bit disappointed in my day three progress;  I finished Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore and read 14 pages of Middlesex, for a total of 162 pages (and an overall total of 621 pages).  I woke up at 5:30 yesterday and was hoping to have a lot of reading time, but I stayed busy with housework and work work all day – always a risk since I do 1/3-1/2 of my work from home.  I had really been hoping to make significant progress on Middlesex, although for my goal of a book a day, I’m still on track.

My goal for today is to finish Middlesex and ideally get started on The Poisonwood Bible, but I’m not sure how realistic that is – I have several things to do to today.  I may stay up late to get as much done as I can.  I won’t be posting an update tomorrow, as I have a review going up, so hopefully by the time I post another update on Saturday, I’ll have finished The Poisonwood Bible as well and made a start on The People in the Trees.

How are you doing so far?

Bout of Books 10.0: Progress Update, Days 1 and 2

I decided against posting a progress update yesterday since I already had the Sweet Tooth review going up.  Monday (day one) wasn’t a great day, but I knew it would be a write-off since I had to work.  I wound up reading a total of 64 pages from Jennifer McMahon’s The Winter People, and I had less than an hour of reading time.  I went into Tuesday (day two) hoping to finish The Winter People and get started on Robin Sloan’s Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore.

On Tuesday, I did finish The Winter People and I read 140 pages (almost exactly half) of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, for a total of 390 pages read on day two.  It’s been easy so far, but I’ve had great books for company.  I think my next few are a little more intense, so I’m anticipating slowing down.  For Wednesday (day three), I’d like to finish Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore and make significant headway on Middlesex.

I’m very happy with my progress so far.  If you’re participating, how are you doing?

Review: “Sweet Tooth,” Ian McEwan

Rating:  4.5/5

I’ve read a fair amount of Ian McEwan: Atonement, Amsterdam, Saturday, On Chesil Beach, and now Sweet Tooth.   Sweet Tooth was by far my favorite McEwan ending (and he certainly has a knack for them), but not my favorite book; that is still Atonement.

Sweet Tooth tells the story of a young female MI-5 employee at the height of the Cold War and her involvement with a young author, secretly supported by MI-5 due to the anti-communist overtones of his work.

When I read Hemingway, I hate every word of it until I get to the ending, then I like the ending, go try to read more Hemingway, and hate every word of it.  My point (and I do have one) is that I had a similar experience with Sweet Tooth, although not to the same extreme.  I wasn’t incredibly ‘into’ the book as I read it, although I certainly didn’t hate it; the characters were not particularly likeable (although well written and incredibly developed), but I love an unreliable narrator, so I kept reading.  Then I got to the end and my jaw fell open.  It was utterly satisfying; I can’t imagine another possible ending.  In typical McEwan fashion, it implies an ending beyond the pages, but doesn’t explicitly confirm it.  The ending made  everything else in the book make sense.

This was not the easiest book for me to get through.  That being said, I’ve tried to give myself more leeway to simply put a book down if I’m not enjoying it and move on, and the thought never crossed my mind.  When I sat down with Sweet Tooth for marathon reading sessions, however, it was more to get done with it than to see what was going to happen.  I was ready to move on.  It was worth it.  I’d even consider re-reading it to see how the reading changes through the lens of the ending.