Friday, October 30, 2009
RollnSmoke Reviews: Ms. Hempel Chronicles
Ms. Hempel Chronicles by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum (Mariner Book, 2009)
Impressively, Ms. Bynum was a National Book Award finalist for her debut novel called Madeleine is Sleeping. This quick and light read, her sophomore effort, features a single woman in her late-20’s who works as a (mediocre) middle school English teacher. The chapters are vignettes (“chronicles”) that capture the life of this rather plain woman – rooted in nostalgic flashbacks to her childhood with her younger brother, Calvin, and her now-deceased father, memories of her fiancée to whom she is no longer engaged and of her teaching career – that work together not as an arching narrative but more as a string of playful and provincial stories. A great deal of the novel focuses on Ms. Hempel’s young students – ever “on the verge of something, brimming” -- who supplant her life. While the effect is charming and often amusing and the diction is admirable, the novel falls short of delivering any sort of meaningful message as Ms. Hempel herself admits that she is “aware of her own oblivion and innocence” (7.5/10).
Saturday, October 24, 2009
RollnSmoke Reviews: BICYCLE DIARIES
Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne (Penguin, 2009).
Since the early-1980’s Talking Heads front-man and visual artist David Byrne has been riding a bicycle as his primary means of transportation in New York City. His seventh book ( -- Renaissance Man! -- ) is a travelogue that goes back at least a dozen years and loosely chronicles his experience biking in various cities across the globe including Berlin, Istanbul, Buenos Aires, Manila, Sydney, London, San Francisco and New York. From the vantage point of a bicycle, Byrne “catch[es] glimpses of the mind of [his] fellow man, as expressed in cities … [that] are physical manifestations of our deepest beliefs.” While his writing is clear and engaging, the subjects he covers are impersonal, random and often lack segues. In fact, the theme of bike-riding serves mainly as vessel for a jumbo-load of Byrne’s thoughts on politics, art, architecture, history, fashion, urban planning, cultural stereotypes, and, of course, music (8/10).
Since the early-1980’s Talking Heads front-man and visual artist David Byrne has been riding a bicycle as his primary means of transportation in New York City. His seventh book ( -- Renaissance Man! -- ) is a travelogue that goes back at least a dozen years and loosely chronicles his experience biking in various cities across the globe including Berlin, Istanbul, Buenos Aires, Manila, Sydney, London, San Francisco and New York. From the vantage point of a bicycle, Byrne “catch[es] glimpses of the mind of [his] fellow man, as expressed in cities … [that] are physical manifestations of our deepest beliefs.” While his writing is clear and engaging, the subjects he covers are impersonal, random and often lack segues. In fact, the theme of bike-riding serves mainly as vessel for a jumbo-load of Byrne’s thoughts on politics, art, architecture, history, fashion, urban planning, cultural stereotypes, and, of course, music (8/10).
Friday, October 16, 2009
RollnSmoke Reviews: UNACCUSTOMED EARTH by Jhumpa Lahiri
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Vintage Contemporaries, 2009)
Pulitzer-Prize winning author Jhumpa Lahiri offers a magnificent collection of eight stories that was voted Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Washington Post and The LA Times (among numerous other publications). Most of the stories take place in and around (often academic) Boston, Massachusetts, but maintain cherished family connections and traditions from (Bengali) India. The stories explore poignant moments among intimates – family members, long-time friends, lovers -- that present essential life questions: What does it mean to be loyal? To be family? To be home? To be alive? Lahiri deftly probes the mysteries and complexities that fuel meaningful human relationships, eliciting surprising empathy and interest from the reader (9.5/10).
Sunday, October 4, 2009
RollnSmoke Reviews: How Fiction Works
How Fiction Works by James Woods (Picador, 2008)
James woods, a prominent critic and staff writer at The New Yorker and visiting professor at Harvard, presents a highly-acclaimed short book packed with smart insights and judgments about the craft of fiction. His aim is to pose theoretical questions about novel-writing and to answer them practically. In addressing the importance of style, consciousness and characterization and the use of detail and metaphor, Woods draws exhaustively from the literary masters, which requires of his reader a near- encyclopedic knowledge of the history of literature. While no doubt intelligent, Woods’ brief but pedantic study of the novel verges on overbearing and without the benefit of his live instruction becomes boring (7/10).
James woods, a prominent critic and staff writer at The New Yorker and visiting professor at Harvard, presents a highly-acclaimed short book packed with smart insights and judgments about the craft of fiction. His aim is to pose theoretical questions about novel-writing and to answer them practically. In addressing the importance of style, consciousness and characterization and the use of detail and metaphor, Woods draws exhaustively from the literary masters, which requires of his reader a near- encyclopedic knowledge of the history of literature. While no doubt intelligent, Woods’ brief but pedantic study of the novel verges on overbearing and without the benefit of his live instruction becomes boring (7/10).
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... a cold Kalik, anyone?
