Book Review- Carolyn Parkhurst's The Dogs of Babel

Carolyn Parkhurst's debut novel, The Dogs of Babel has been sitting on my bookshelf for years and i finally decided to give it a shot and devoured it in less than twenty-four hours. it's a quick read, that's impossible to put down. 

Many years ago, i read Parkhurst's second novel, Lost and Found, about contestants on a reality television show and really enjoyed it. It was a fun read and a theme that interested me. Her debut novel is more of a mystery, a theme that i don't often find appealing, which is why i think that i let it languish on the shelf for so many years.

However, this is not so much a straightforward mystery, but told from the perspective of a grieving  husband trying to figure out the details of his young wife's untimely death. Her death is never a question of foul play. Lexy, Paul's seemingly bipolar young wife, has died from falling from the top of a tree in their backyard. in the aftermath, Paul sorts through clues to determine if Lexy accidentally slipped or committed suicide.

in his grief, Paul begins to fixate on Lorelei, the family dog and only witness to Lexy's death. Paul is a linguistics professor and begins to get obsessed with the idea of teaching Lorelei to communicate, specifically to speak. It sounds crazy and may be, but grief can lead to some insane ideas.

 Warning, this novel has a very disturbing, creepy twist. It actually made me feel sick to my stomach to read.

The book has many beautifully written flashbacks, detailing Lexy and Paul relationship. i loved the theme of masks, woven in throughout. The story has many tender moments, but Lexy and Paul feel like a real couple, a couple that has many flaws. it's this rooting in reality, that balances Paul's outlandish behavior as a husband in grief and unreliable narrator. It also makes the reader relate and like both main characters, rooting for them to ultimately have a positive outcome, despite the tragedy of Lexy's death.

A very well-crafted debut novel from Parkhurst. i am excited to read her future novels.

Book Review- An Object of Beauty

I like Steve Martin as an actor, but I really think that his talent shines as an author. While I must admit that his latest effort, An Object of Beauty, is the weakest of his three novels, it's still a strong novel and worthwhile read.

You must love and have a decent knowledge of Art and Art History to love this book. It's clear from this and Martin's other writings, that he has a deep love of art. This story frequently turns into Martin pontificating and often turning into a diatribe about the politics concerning galleries and art collectors. There is a lot of angry ranting, but it's not entirely bitter or without merit. If you do not understand and have a love for the art world, this story will probably not be of interest. Martin does pepper his novel with photographs of art, but he really doesn't explain much for those who don't already have a knowledge of the arts.

Martin is best at writing dialogue and creating subtle moments between characters. He masters writing subtext and this is why I love his books so much.

The only thing that didn't really work for me in this story was the narration. It is told from the point of view of Daniel Franks. Franks is telling the story of his friend, Lacey, who is the central character of the book. She is a highly mysterious woman for whom Franks has had a long time crush. He fills in the blanks for imagining her life as he is not there for many of the scenes in the story. It is similar to the way the narration works in one of my favorite novels, by Jeffrey Eugenides , The Virgin Suicides, where a group of boys recount the suicides of a family of neighborhood girls.  It worked well in Eugenides' novel, but doesn't quite work here. I kept forgetting that Franks was the narrator. His presence would disappear for many chapters and then he would pop back in to remind me that he was still telling the story. I felt very much like Lacey was telling her own story. This drove me a bit nuts.

Book Review- Cheryl Strayed's Wild (From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail)

Cheryl Strayed's memoir Wild is exactly the type of book that appeals to me. I love stories of people setting off on adventures and I also feel connected to stories of grief and attempts to find a place in the world.

After her mother's death, Strayed found herself in her early twenties and falling apart. Her once close-knit family took an isolationist approach to grief and grew distant. Strayed dropped out of college just shy of graduation, cheated on her husband and turned to heroin. She found a guide-book to backpacking the Pacific Crest Trail, a trail that stretches from Mexico to Canada and although inexperienced, decided to give it a shot.

Strayed saved money from waitressing jobs, bought what she thought was proper gear and planned ahead, parceling out money and supplies sent ahead to post offices along the route. She decided to spend a few months along the trail from Death Valley, California to Portland Oregon. Strayed soon learned all of the book information and hiking tips from REI, did not adequately prepare her for this journey.

The brilliance in this memoir is Strayed ability to write about her life in a way that is so relatable. She exposes herself, warts and all, and her vulnerability makes her so likeable. It made me root for her to succeed on her journey, even though she has made some monumental mistakes in her life. She doesn't gloss over the spousal cheating and drug use. She doesn't make excuses or ask the reader to forgive her. She just exposes herself and it makes the reader accept her past, but love her for the person that she will become, as we get to be part of watching the transformation.

This book is exciting. It's filled with plenty of action and tense moments, as the trail is a harsh place and Strayed is definitely unprepared. Besides Strayed's story, the book is interesting because it exposes a subset of society, those who backpack on these trails. It's a culture and it's fascinating. Strayed makes plenty of friends on her adventure and each has an interesting story of why they are on the PCT. The PCT is its own character that's constantly changing and filled with surprises.

Strayed's memoir is rooted in grief and is very healing. It made me cry, in several places. I had been reading it during my lunch breaks at work, but found it to be so emotional, that I finished it in the privacy of my home. The emotional passages hit me like a ton of bricks and were hard to predict where they would fall in the book. They are profound and sprinkled throughout. Strayed is very self-aware and has a knack for keen observations often leading to profound statements.

This book is a must read.