Since it has been a rather long time since I've written any book reviews, I thought that's where I should begin. Here are two of my favorites from the past few months:
The Unnamed, Joshua Ferris
Oh, how I love books that create one completely fantastical, utterly unbelievable situation, and insert it in the ordinary, everyday world. In this novel, Ferris tells the story of Tim Farnsworth, a successful lawyer who has one strange malady: he can't stop walking. Basically, every few years or so, his body gets this inexplicable urge to walk--an urge that lasts for weeks at a time and cannot be quelled, until, just as suddenly as the urge first appeared, it ends, and he returns to his normal life as lawyer and family man. Each time, he comes back with a renewed appreciation for his everyday life, only to have that gratitude slowly wear away as he inevitably gets comfortable again, forgetting not to take it all for granted. And each time an episode hits, it lasts longer--sending him out of the office and back onto the road. He's tried everything: seen doctors and psychiatrists, strapped himself to the bed, even worn a bicycle helmet rigged to monitor his brain activity. While this premise might sound comical at first (and believe me, there are time when I did laugh out loud at the craziness of it all), the book is actually incredibly realistic and heartbreaking. Tim spends months on the road, fighting the elements, trying to get back home only to have his legs take him in the opposite direction while his mind sleeps. Imagine being so very aware of having so little control. This is a novel about longing, about love, about the journeys each of us take to discover what matters most.
Vaclev & Lena, Haley Tanner
This is a great read for those of you looking for one of those 'funny, sad, true' kind of novels, by which I mean a book that effortlessly blends humor and poignancy to immerse the reader in its wonderfully bittersweet world. Who doesn't like the sound of that, right? Tanner's debut novel focuses on the friendship between two Russian immigrant children living in Brooklyn--one innocently boisterous, the other shy but perceptive--who script out a future together, only to have their best laid plans torn asunder. I don't want to disclose too much of the story's plot, since the joy here is really in the telling, but let me just say that this book has more than a touch of magic to it (literally! our two heroes practice their 'Vaclev the Magnificent' act daily). Vaclev & Lena does an incredible job exploring the enduring bonds of friendship and the possibility of happy endings.
That's it for today, but check back soon for a few more reviews!
