I am not afraid, Niccolò Ammaniti

Io non ho paura (I am not afraid), January 2010, 7/10.

Written by Niccolò Ammaniti, published by Einaudi Editore (Canongate Books in English).

This short novel from Strega prize winner Ammaniti is a pleasant read, but I was expecing something a little more substantial. The narrator and protagonist of the book is a 10-years old child from a very rural and impoverished town in the South of Italy. The events take place in the record-breaking heat of the summer of 1978, a summer so hot that adults do not adventure out of the houses during the day and the city seems abandoned for the children to roam around freely. And it is through the eyes of the child that we see initially unexplainable events come toghether in making one of the crimes that were haunting Italy in that period.

Sea of Poppies, by Amitav Ghosh

Sea of Poppies, December 2009, 8.5/10.

Written by Amitav Ghosh, published by John Murray Publishers.

AG’s sprawling historical novel is addictive; it really sucked me in and I missed when it was done. Set in North-East India at the wake of the Opium Wars, the story revolves around a ship headed to Mauritius filled with indentured laborers from India. With amazing skill, AG manages to credibly intertwine the stories of very diverse members of Indian 19th century society – British trade-crazed opium producers, Bhojpuri peasants, laskars, merchant, a raja, a french teenager, and even an american freed slave. Each protagonist is wonderfully characterized by a meticulously researched way of speaking and slang. The mix of laskar slang and nautical terminology is  intimidating at first, but the story is so captivating that it motivates you to work through all the jargon, and very soon into the book you feel very much at ease with it.

Conversations in Bolzano, by Sándor Márai

Conversations in Bolzano, November 2009, 7/10.

Written by  Sándor Márai, published by Penguin Books.

Artful and witty, this novel would make a perfect pièce de theatre. SM describes a couple of days in the life of Giacomo Casanova, during which the famous adventurer and womanizer meets again, in unexpected circumstances, the only woman he might have truly loved. Using conversation and soliloquy as a literary expedient, the author explores the personality of this fascinating historical character. Casanova  sees himself as an intellectual, a writer who, though not having yet written a line, is accumulating experience to make his writing more compelling and inspired. In fact he is a rather superficial fellow with a penchant for theatrality who takes himself very seriously rather than the profound researcher of the human soul he purports to be. SM is great at capturing the irony of the constrast between Casanova poetic prowess and his soullessness.

Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers

Zeitoun

Zeitoun, November 2009, 8/10.

Written by Dave Eggers.  Published by McSweeney’s Books.

A rare non-fiction book, but one that tells a story so incredible that it may as well have been made up.  This book follows a Syrian-American family in the lead up to and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  Told in clear and concise language, one feels that the author’s sympathy for the family could have clouded his view, but overall I felt that the approach taken was evenhanded.  The book benefitted from stating at the outset that it was a work of nonfiction, which meant that the reader did not have to guess what was real and what was not (a particular problem in other works by the same author).  Although not a particularly short book, I felt that it could have used some beefing up in certain places, particularly towards the end, when some of the analysis that I would have liked to have seen into the aftermath of Katrina was lacking.

Fictions, by Friederich Dürrenmatt

Selected Writings, Volume 2, Fictions, November 2009, 7.5/10.

Written by Friederich Dürrenmatt, published by University of Chicago Press.

D.’s stories are remarkably diverse in tone register and style. Some take place today, others in a hypothetical orwellian future, others in Greek times. They involve Minotaurs and sales representants, profets and gangsters. Some are incredibly comic, others morbid, yet all feel like anguishing nightmares, because the dominant theme in each of them is the conflict of the individual with a monstruous world. In most stories, the individual is defeated and can only bear his situation thanks to self-deceit. For example, in “The City”, one of my favorite stories, the main character attempts to rebel against the orwellian “administration,” an amorphous entity that controls the city, but is subdued into accepting a job as a guardian, a seemingly powerful role. Except that the guard is confined to living incognito in the same pitch dark  dungeon as the prisoner and cannot be distinguished from the prisoners other than from his knowledge of being the guard, because he has a weapon. He cannot use it however, because he is incognito. Guard and prisoner are alike: are all the prisoners guards and viceversa? The thought dawns on him but is soon deflected, because it is only the illusion of having power over others that makes his situation bearable. But the doubt lingers on.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, by Betty Smith

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, October 2009, 7.5/10.

Written by Better Smith.  Published by Harper Perennial Modern Classics.

A classic and a real page-turner, even if it is a bit sugar coated.  If one doesn’t mind the fact that a happy ending is signalled almost from the start, and that a false premise (no matter how nice it is to believe, and perhaps doubly false due to its application to a woman) of self-empowerment is espoused, there is little negative to write.  Clearly semi-autobiographical, the book offers an amazing insight into tenement living in Brooklyn in the early twentieth century, and the unbelievable poverty and struggles that went with it.  Combining this historical picture with a fast moving storyline based around an interesting set of characters and their families in a rapidly modernizing world, the author has produced a long and engrossing novel.

2666, by Roberto Bolaño

2666, September 2009, 8.5/10.

Written by Roberto Bolaño, published by Picador.

This monumental opus is composed of five parts, connected among each other by a web of tenuous links and subtle cross-references. Though each section could be a novel in its own right (and so, it seems, was the will of the author), reading the book as a whole allows us to grasp the ambitiousness of this sprawling, chaotic, and truly engaging book. All sections have a different feel to them and are written in a different style. In the first section a group of academics specialized in contemporary German literature search for their – vanished – fetish author. Their relationships evolve and mutate, involving various combinations of  sex, love and friendship. But despite the explosive emotions B.describes, there is, throughout the section, an overrationalization, a sense of brainy restraint, that is stifling. And while the fifth section, dedicated to the life of the vanished author, is more dreamy and poetic, though still dramatic, the fourth section is a, seemingly infinite, catalogue of forensic reports that detail horryfing murders. B. gives us no respite, as the sickening catalogue just keeps on going, and no hope, amid incompetent investigators and corrupt powers. This book is many thing at once and it’s a great ride.

On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan

On Chesil Beach

On Chesil Beach, September 2009, 7/10.

Written by Ian McEwan.  Published by Nan A. Talese / Doubleday.

A strange little novella that highlights the extent of social change and breakdown in traditional customs in a very short period.  While these are interesting themes the book took a distant view of them and the author chose not to analyse the ripples such changes have caused, instead letting the story take its path and allowing the reader the consider and draw conclusions.  The nonlinear timeframe – 95% of the book deals with one night and various memories related to it and the last 5% deals with the rest of the characters’ lives – was an interesting narrative device and I feel was well used to highlight that the lead up to a decision that is made in a second can have ramifications that are felt for a lifetime.  A secondary theme was a consideration of pride and an invitation to question when it is best to stand up and when it is best to back down.