Satisfyingly, Thrillingly Empty
That is to say, I’ve read all the books on my list for September
It’s hard to describe the precise feeling that settles in your gut when People are Reading a thing you’ve Written—it’s a breathtaking cocktail of exhilaration and dread, with a pinch of embarrassment for flavour. So with this week’s unexpected spike in readers (thanks everyone!), plus my regularly scheduled self-doubt, I had a panic-fuelled writing block that I’m escaping only now, slowly, one bad sentence at a time.
Image: A verandah runs along dusty red walls. To the right, a row of plants, disorderly and tall, offers shade from the harsh sun. Just under the old plastic roofing sheets, two white AC units are precariously perched on metal supports, as if lying in wait for a distracted student to pass by.
A good book review must be beautiful, or failing that, functional. It must be the story of one person’s encounter with the text, a euphoric, intriguing, maybe vulnerable, tumbling of words that instantly propels a book to the top of your reading pile (or alternatively, helps decide what you definitely don’t want to read).
I won’t pretend I’m good at writing book reviews. I am, however, good at reading (and loving) books. So this series of monthly reading wrap-ups (did I just promise a series?) is going to feel like me shoving these titles into your hands, and blabbing with obvious excitement and the bare minimum of analysis. My goal, insofar as I have a goal, is to make you want to read at least one of these. Tell me if I succeed.
Final note: spoilers will be avoided.
Set at the dawn of civilisation (a rare choice for fantasy), the inter-connected short stories in Samuel R. Delany’s Tales of Nevèrÿon⭐⭐⭐⭐ follow courtiers and slaves, merchants and fishers as they grapple with their rapidly changing world (and interrogate the project of civilisation itself). I stumbled upon this series in um, an interesting place, but it hits all the sweet spots—the invention of writing and weaving, complicated sexual desire, amazingly diverse female characters with their own agendas. With a framing device that makes me swoon (hint: fictional academic commentaries!) and the casual expectation that the reader will keep up, this book can be a dense read, but it is absolutely worth it.
Next, I needed something light and fluffy, so I finally picked up Britt-Marie Was Here⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Fredrik Backman. Sixty-three and newly single, Britt-Marie moves to a tiny town called Borg and accidentally befriends the local football team. Hijinks ensue. The hilarious prose and plot might be very familiar if you’ve read Backman’s delightful A Man Called Ove, but I am willing to argue that that’s okay, because this world needs more stories about love and community (and sometimes you need to escape from the particular stress of entrance exams).
For the next three weeks, I read nothing in particular—some boring non-fiction, snippets of Kierkegaard, and Rachel Lachmansingh’s haunting short story The Species is Dead⭐⭐⭐⭐.
Then one day I read two whole novels by midnight. The reading slump didn’t even stop to say bye.
I read Perumal Murugan’s One Part Woman⭐⭐ because it was originally written in Tamil (there’s something about Tamil, even in translation, that comforts me), and because it had faced a huge conservative backlash at one point. I loved the premise—a childless couple’s last chance at conception is a festival day when extra-marital relations are permitted. I was immersed in their reality, in the norms of what could and couldn’t be done…
But I was terribly disappointed by the ending. I wish Kali and Ponna had actually talked out their fears and emotions, and made a decision together instead of running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I wish the ‘One part woman’ (the titular half-female, half-male god) had played a bigger in the story. I wish there was no sexual double standard.
Maybe the story didn’t work for me because my context was so different. Maybe from my perspective it wasn’t a subversive story at all. But surely a man and a woman should use their words instead of making hints and hoping the gesture conveys the depth of feelings and worries!
Now for the five-star read of the month, the singular, most adorable, unbelievably wholesome adventure that is Kevin Wilson’s Nothing to See Here⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Get this, Lillian’s childhood crush and only friend Madison hires her as governess for her new stepchildren, Bessie and Roland, twins who spontaneously burst into flame when they’re upset or angry. Yes, it’s every bit as weird as it should be. It’s the most amazing found family story ever. The 'parenting' (or rather, governessing?) was on point. So much love. The pacing was great (I couldn’t put it down). Also the very idea. Of children. Spontaneously combusting. It's so wild. It works. It works so well. The ending was just right. I’d have rioted if it had been any different. The whole thing was just amazing. Go read it!
When he fails to commit suicide, Hanio decides to sell his life, and quickly gets sucked into a swirling world of gangsters, lovesick women, and secret agents. Of course Yukio Mishima’s Life for Sale⭐⭐⭐⭐ caught my eye. It’s so bizarre, so beautiful. I like that no one questions Hanio’s decision to sell his life. They aren’t interested in the ethics or morality of it at all, only what use they can make of him. And the prose is simple, charming and unforgettable. Consider: “The blood oozed stealthily from under the corpse onto the surrounding floor, as if using the confusion of the moment to make its escape.” (I stopped reading Mishima’s Confessions of a Mask halfway through, because it was a little too angsty and a little too slow, but I am certain now that I will go back and finish it one day because he writes like an angel and I cannot keep away.)
Life for Sale is short, inviting (and dare I say, thrilling?), but show me a literary novel and I’ll show you misogyny. The thing is, no female character can come close to Hanio without having sex with him or dying or both. In that way it reminds me of the worst parts of If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller. Someone please rescue these male protagonists from the endless wave of women who want to get into their pants.
Technically, Defy the Stars⭐⭐⭐⭐ is an early-October read, but I finished this on Saturday morning and I’m still feeling all the feelings. Claudia Gray is a genius because she ties together a heart-wrenching love story (between a soldier and a sentient mech on opposite sides of an inter-planetary war) with big questions about Earth and environment destruction and living an ethical life. This was by far the longest book I read, but the truth is it took me so long to read because I stalled at a super tense scene for two days (you won’t have this problem, because you’re probably much braver than I am).
Some time between drafting this piece and editing it, I finished Luster⭐⭐⭐ by Raven Leilani. It’s about a young black woman and her art and her white lover’s open marriage and his mortician wife and their black adopted daughter. It’s one of this year’s most anticipated releases. I thought it was okay. At first it felt ungenerous to shrug off a book that so many people have loved, but Luster seemed (to me) like a sadder, more brutal Nothing to See Here plus literary despair. And I find it hard to love sad stories. Or maybe I’m unwilling to love sad stories because I fear that they’re telling the truth.
And now the line in my journal where I write the title of the book I’m currently reading is satisfyingly, thrillingly empty. Soon, maybe even tonight, I’ll choose another, and free fall into a stranger world. But now I want to stretch, maybe find something to nibble, maybe look to see if the real world has improved (although I doubt it). The story worlds beckon, they are a multitude, but I can wait. The night is yet young.
There, I finished it. Now I’m going to eat my chikki.
Image: Johanna Rabindran
I like the way you selectively reveal information, enough to attract the readers but not disclose the spoilers. The reviews actually ups the excitement for exploring the books! I have not read most of the books mentioned except Ove. That is truly a heartwarming read. To be honest kudos for suggesting this. Really helps you get through tough times. Thank You!