The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman (Random House, 2010)
This engaging, fast-reading, debut novel centers on an English-speaking newspaper opened in Rome by American Cyrus Ott in 1954 and reveals the characters – primarily the editors and writers – who work there. These distinctive characters are skillfully interconnected, and their many foibles overlap and affect one another. The compelling and original structure of the novel strings together this collection of textured character profiles, unveiling each character’s “motives, resentments and disappointments” while also charting the de-evolution of the newspaper itself in such a way that the reader is fully invested in novel’s conclusive fate. Tom Rachman is certainly an emerging writer to watch! (9/10)
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
RollnSmoke Reviews: A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan
A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan (Random House, 2010)
Jennifer Egan’s fourth novel features an intricate web of characters mired in drugs, sex and the music business. Many of the characters are difficult to like, gritty and headed towards fierce self-destruction. While the writing, as ever, is strong and engaging, the reader has to work hard to keep track of the changing points of views and the shifting focus in cast. Chapters seem unconnected and often read like separate short stories so that the reader cannot always recall how each character is connected and therefore cannot discover an affecting central narrative in this novel (6.5/10).
Jennifer Egan’s fourth novel features an intricate web of characters mired in drugs, sex and the music business. Many of the characters are difficult to like, gritty and headed towards fierce self-destruction. While the writing, as ever, is strong and engaging, the reader has to work hard to keep track of the changing points of views and the shifting focus in cast. Chapters seem unconnected and often read like separate short stories so that the reader cannot always recall how each character is connected and therefore cannot discover an affecting central narrative in this novel (6.5/10).
Thursday, April 7, 2011
RollnSmoke Reviews: JUST KIDS by Patti Smith
JUST KIDS by Patti Smith (Harper Collins, 2010)
Winner of the National Book Award (“The Best of American Literature”), Patti Smith celebrates in memoir her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe that began one summer in New York City in 1968. In spare thoughtfully collected diction, Smith recounts how she and Mapplethorpe lived a gritty, Bohemian life devoted totally to the pursuit of art -- sometimes homeless, sometimes living at The Hotel Chelsea, for a long time living together -- each cultivating funky creativity amidst evolving androgyny. As an expression of their unique love, they vow never to “leave the other;” but they do love others, and as Robert lives into his homosexuality, they drift apart and evolve separate, ever-artistic lives, vow unbroken (9/10).
Winner of the National Book Award (“The Best of American Literature”), Patti Smith celebrates in memoir her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe that began one summer in New York City in 1968. In spare thoughtfully collected diction, Smith recounts how she and Mapplethorpe lived a gritty, Bohemian life devoted totally to the pursuit of art -- sometimes homeless, sometimes living at The Hotel Chelsea, for a long time living together -- each cultivating funky creativity amidst evolving androgyny. As an expression of their unique love, they vow never to “leave the other;” but they do love others, and as Robert lives into his homosexuality, they drift apart and evolve separate, ever-artistic lives, vow unbroken (9/10).
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
RollnSmoke Reviews: A MOVEABLE FEAST by Ernest Hemingway
A MOVEABLE FEAST by Ernest Hemingway (1964)
Ernest Hemingway’s only memoir, published posthumously several years after his suicide, covers the years 1921-1926 when he was young and married to his first wife, Hadley, living poor but happy with their young son, Bumby, in Paris. Hemingway was a struggling, oft- tippling, ever-hungry writer back then who juggled deep indulgence in life with inspired discipline at work. Here is a literary pastiche of keenly written scenes and snippets of dialogue with iconic luminaries like Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound and Scott Fitzgerald. What rises in retrospect as most poignant and wise is Hemingway’s lasting love for Hadley. “I wished I had died,” he writes in the end, “before I ever loved anyone but her.”
Ernest Hemingway’s only memoir, published posthumously several years after his suicide, covers the years 1921-1926 when he was young and married to his first wife, Hadley, living poor but happy with their young son, Bumby, in Paris. Hemingway was a struggling, oft- tippling, ever-hungry writer back then who juggled deep indulgence in life with inspired discipline at work. Here is a literary pastiche of keenly written scenes and snippets of dialogue with iconic luminaries like Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound and Scott Fitzgerald. What rises in retrospect as most poignant and wise is Hemingway’s lasting love for Hadley. “I wished I had died,” he writes in the end, “before I ever loved anyone but her.”