“Only one entry supplied an adequate definition, and she circled it with red ink, and referred to it nightly. Life: a constellation of vital phenomena–organization, irritability, movement, growth, reproduction, adaptation.” (184) A Constellation of Vital Phenomena (2014) by Anthony Marra follows a number of characters living in a small, mountain village of Chechnya from 1994 through 2004. The story jumps around between characters and time, sometimes even up to the 1940’s to show an older character’s earlier life. Although it’s not difficult to follow, the […]
Blond, Blue-eyed, Rapacious, and Ployglot
I stayed up until midnight last night finishing this book. Not because I couldn’t put it down. Because I couldn’t wait to put it down and never have to pick it back up again. It’s not that I hated this book. I just didn’t find the struggle with it rewarding. I have rarely wanted to love a book more than The Game of Kings. I’d been hearing for years how amazing the Lymond Chronicles books were, and I really wanted to be counted among those […]
A Conversation with the Lannister Children
“Three stars!?!” exclaimed Lord Tyrion. “I thought we had an agreement Maester Adam? Not much I can do for you now my friend.” “Please let me explain my liege.” I stammered, sweat beading on my brow as I notice Sir Illyn enter the corner of the room, red-hot poker in hand. “It’s not that I didn’t like Maester Yandel’s work, I…I…I just thought it was…lacking.” “Lacking? Do tell sir.” proclaimed Regent Cersie, perched high upon that most horrible of thrones. Seated to her right the Kingslayer […]
Nothing so Wholesome as Life on the Farm.
Wow! I have to give this book 5 stars. Proulx’s writing was amazing and engaging, despite the story being about as bleak as possible. Any romantic notions one might have had about rural Vermont living are pretty much ripped to shreds by this story. It follows multiple characters across 40+ years, watching the lives and farm of the Blood family unfold (or implode, depending upon how you look at it.) The oldest son is forced to leave home under circumstances that are never really explained- […]
Books, Blood, Love, And Barcelona
“Page after page I let the spell of the story and its world take me over, until the breath of dawn touched the window and my tired eyes slid over the last page.”
It’s Drafty in the Trenches, Oh
Jacques Tardi’s World War I opus, Goddamn This War!, is a hard beast to categorize, at least when using English terminology. It’s not a comic book, and for a graphic novel it’s not very novelistic. But call it what you will, it’s hard to deny its power. This is a harrowing masterpiece of one unnamed soldier’s experiences in the Great War that so wholly failed to be the war to end all wars. Things the reader won’t find in Goddamn This War! include plot and dialogue. Does […]
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