Review: The Tunnel

The Tunnel by William H. Gass

Not really recommended unless you're interested in what the literary equivalent of suffocation feels like. And have prior familiarity with other maximalist works (e.g. Gravity's Rainbow/Infinite Jest, with a dose of House of Leaves).

This one is much more cynical than the others though in that the narrator basically would fit in with the Neo-Nazi sympathizer crowd today. It shows a lot of the kind of mentality that leads to such a worldview, digging (literally and metaphorically) deep into past childhood and adulthood grievances that led to this moment where he feels the need to override his life's work with his frustrations and lack of fulfillment. I get it. It's fascism of the heart.

I also feel like it's a bit much after a while. It's basically total whiplash going back and forth between insightful (and quite honestly, sometimes beautiful) prose and and then just overwhelming dread and cruelty. But honestly at one point I just wanted it to end already cause I'd seen enough. The middle section of the book is more palatable than the beginning/end.

On the plus side, the experience of reading this is making me appreciate coming back to reading just about anything else right now.

Review: Unassimilable: An Asian Diasporic Manifesto for the Twenty-First Century

Unassimilable: An Asian Diasporic Manifesto for the Twenty-First Century by Bianca Mabute-Louie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am probably biased because I am part of the demographic this author is writing about (similar background/familiarity with Asian American culture as well as involvement with InterVarsity in college) but I appreciate the broader message of this book and the challenges it raises, in areas where the dominant sociopolitical discourse today just feels inadequate at addressing.

Similar thoughts to other books I've read in this space - it sometimes feel like terms are taken for granted without defining them which can make this less accessible if you're coming from a different context/viewpoint. But the overall message is on point if you can get past that. I would love to see more dialogue in response to it.

Review: Love in the Time of Cholera

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Appreciated this one more than One Hundred Years of Solitude, but with the caveat that there are a lot of... problematic aspects to the story that only make sense if you consider the metaphorical idea of love as a disease (as suggested by the title). Marquez's writing is poetic at its finest and some moments feel genuinely beautiful, but in the broader scheme of things, it's also uncomfortably disturbing. And I think he intended it to be that way.

Review: The Secret History

The Secret History by Donna Tartt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For starters: this book is considered one of the main precursors of the Dark academia genre, so it gets points for that.

That said, the first half captivated me more than the second half, which played out more predictably than I'd have liked. I was expecting more Bacchae and less of... the way this Redditor puts it:

"I went to the twins' and smoked a cigarette while Francis and Henry drank whisky. Then Camilla batted her eyes at me and i blushed, then Charles smoked a cigarette. When i woke up in the morning I was filled with an indescribable terror. Then i grabbed a beer and did some coke with Judy. The leaves with on the trees outside looked pretty. Later at Henry's we talked about who said what to who at which time while we all drank scotch and flirted with each other. After wards i smoked a cigarette. After that, I smoked another cigarette." repeat 100× and you will have written "The Secret History" verbatim.

Okay seriously though, the characters are all unlikeable but intentionally so as to make the plot somehow compelling enough to remain a page-turner... unless you can't stand pretentious self-obsessed people which is also equally valid. But I'll admit there is a certain forbidden kind of appeal in the clique, especially if you buy into the narrator's perspective (hint: he's not an impartial observer here).

I just wish there were more of the fantastical element suggested in the first half. For a story inspired by Greek mythology, the actual fallout feels a lot more mundane and grounded in modern-day academia in comparison and made me wish I were reading real mythology instead. There is probably a thematic reason for this to be honest, but that doesn't make it feel any less disappointing given the sparks I saw during some of the first half's big revelations.

Review: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The publisher description/advertising makes this book sound like a murder mystery, and while the murder mystery aspect does happen (and is really felt in the ending), about 200+ pages is spent ruminating in the thoughts of an eccentric elderly woman who lives alone in the woods of Poland and obsesses over horoscopes, William Blake's poetry, the right to life of animals, and how the alignment of the planets in the sky led to last night's murder victim really being offed by a herd of deer.

I would tack the writing up there with Lolita in the category of "I'm not sure if I empathize with this character and I feel strange thinking about it." Janina is a lady who I would normally ignore if I were to ever encounter her in real life. As it turns out she has an insightful view into how humans work, but this frequently gets lost in the midst of her rants on astrology and sentient animals out to get us all.

By the ending I had a better grasp on how I felt about her (there is indeed a method to the madness), but the journey getting there was weird. There are some genuinely beautiful moments in this otherwise dark narrative-- reflections on the life of a lonely societal outcast with strong convictions. But it takes some getting used to and I didn't feel quite prepared for the first half given the above. I think this would definitely benefit from a re-read later.

I also had my mind in a loop at one moment trying to make sense of several English translations of several Polish translations of an English poem that were treated as if I were actually reading the Polish versions of the poem but with English words.

I don't necessarily recommend this book for everyone, but if you find any of the above interesting then you might get a kick out of it. Make of that what you will.

(Tangent but I knew I liked William Blake's art already and the experience of this is telling me I need to catch up with his poetry. The Proverbs of Hell in particular feature heavily in this work.)

(Tangent #2: Just found out there's a theater adaptation in Europe that looks really interesting.)

Review: The Shining

The Shining by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Part of me wishes I hadn't seen the film version before this. I haven't seen Kubrick's film in over a decade now, but some of the moments from that film are so striking and memorable that they heavily colored my feelings of this book despite noticing some fairly strong differences in places (details, tone). I can see why King was dissatisfied with the film as an adaptation, although both stand out as their own work of art.

For this book itself, it's an overall less bleak story in spite of the darkness and does a better job explaining some of the things assumed in the film including establishing the backgrounds of the main characters (Jack and Wendy's relationship dynamic, Danny's powers, etc). The last quarter is about as tense and anxiety-inducing as one would expect, just like the film. There is one particular moment unique to the book though that stuck with me during the ending sequence (no spoilers here).

Overall feels like one of King's better famous works, with the benefit of not overstaying its welcome compared to say The Stand or It (both of which I feel like I have to say, "I like it, but..."). Looking forward to the sequel.

Also aside but the winter setting feels very seasonally appropriate right now lol.

Review: Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Normally when I see a book that Audible cites as "Audiobook of the Year," my first instinct is to avoid it at all costs.

I'm glad I eventually changed my mind here. I can see why this book won an award just on the basis of the audiobook alone: it's entertaining and actually quite funny. The reader does a great job with different voices and a lot of the narrator's monologue plays out like a slapstick Abbott and Costello routine against himself (and others referenced in flashback/etc).

What strikes me about Weir's work the most-- speaking of his other work The Martian which I only saw the film adaptation of-- is its optimism in the face of hopeless odds. This is what sci-fi looks like at its most inspirational and least noir/cyberpunk (as much as I love the doom of the latter). I don't always want to be uplifted this much quite frankly, but if I had to be cheered up I don't think I'd look much further than this.