The 2019 AW Book Reading Challenge! New year, new categories, new books and new friends

I went to a production of Othello a year or so ago. Now that I've seen it maybe it's time to give it a read and a study.

Judging a book by the cover is of course a gamble that can pay off; or not. I finished Happiness by Aminatta Forna, a book I chose purely for the story hinted at by the cover art. Verdict: Mixed pay off.

I give her an A+ for the idea! On the surface, Jean, an American researcher of urban foxes, literally runs into Attila, a West African post-trauma psychologist in London. Not only is Attila in London to deliver a presentation on PTSD in impoverished wartime populations, he is there to track down his niece Ama and her son Tano who have gone missing, but also to visit his long-time mentor and one-time lover who is now confined to a nursing home with Alzheimer's. Multi-layered with a large cast of characters, the juxtaposing Forna constructs between the "invading" and unwanted London foxes, parakeets and Massachusetts' coyotes against the unwanted human immigrants, the elderly, and traumatized war refugees is an amazing idea and I just EAT THAT UP and can't get enough of it. The factual-based parts of it were well done and interesting, such as how foxes live in cities.

However, the execution deserves little more than a C-, unfortunately. All of the conflict and mystery that drives the first half of the story is resolved by the halfway point, and I wasn't drawn into the mystery that supports the second half. I never warmed up to Attila (I developed a story-based theory why about halfway through, and it sort-of went that way), and therefore I couldn't get into the romance between Jean and Attila. Forna goes into waaaaay too much unnecessary mundane detail, seemingly for the sake of realism but that actually slows things down. I don't need to know every item on the menu and which ones they ordered, and the physical descriptions of almost every incidental character didn't work for me. The whole chapters in italics were almost unreadable; there is no reason to put a flashback in a different font if the header to the chapter gives the date and location. Finally, I got actually angry at, despite Attila being an experienced world traveler and had visited London many times, how thoroughly stupid Forna made Attila at some times, such as not knowing how to add airtime to his pay-as-you-go phone (Africa was using these long before the West was) or using a sat-nav in a car. He would know these things if he had the background he was supposed to have.

ETA: Smokes! I didn't mean to spout off a wall of text! Sorry (I shortened it some).



9. Best friend: A book with a dog on the cover. Unsaid - Neil Abramson
16. By its cover: A book you know nothing about, chosen solely by the FRONT cover (no reading the jacket flap, back cover blurb, or reviews). Happiness - Aminatta Forna Done 7/23/2019
24. Down on the farm: A book featuring farmers, agriculture, or taking place in an agrarian setting. Of the farm - John Updike
28. Keep up with the Joneses: A book everyone else seems to have read but you have not. The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
34. Ye olde booke shoppe: A book written before 1800. Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift Done 7/8/19
41. Locked up: A book taking place in a prison, mental institution or treatment center. Papillon - Henri Charriere


2. That old black magic: A paranormal novel. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman Done 3/4/2019
7. Doorstoppers: A book more than 600 pages. Mexico - James Michener Done 2/28/2019
13. Learn the Quadrille: A regency romance. A Wicked Kind of Husband - Mia Vincy Done 1/26/2019
14. Crossing the (color) lines: A book about a person of color (PoC), any variety, written by an author of the same variety. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave - Frederick Douglass Done 1/14/19
17. Back in the day: A historical of any genre. My Name is Red - Orhan Pamuk Done 4/18/19
19. Support the home team: A book by a fellow AWer. A Dangerous Fiction - Barbara Rogan Done 3/15/19
24. Down on the farm: A book featuring farmers, agriculture, or taking place in an agrarian setting. Charlotte's Web - E. B. White Done 1/17/19
27. Halcyon days: A bestseller or book published the year you turned 21. The English Patient - Michael Ondaatji Done 6/24/19
29. You might also like. . .: A book recommended by someone real, or by a bot. Less - Andrew Sean Greer Done 7/2/19
33. Happy days are here again: A book published between 1945 and 1960. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury Done 5/13/19
37. Read it again, Sam: Reread a book you have already read. Freedom - Jonathan Franzen Done 1/14/19
43. Still time for more chapters: A memoir/biography by/about someone who’s still alive (as of January 1). Educated - Tara Westover Done 5/30/19[/QUOTE]

I loved Lolita, but couldn't get into Glory. What compelled me about Lolita was the confessional tone to it; not that I get any thrill from reading shock literature--far from it, I hate that stuff--I thought Humbert's detatchment from his actions and from the effect he was having on Lolita shows how people allow themselves to get away with stuff like that. It was like the case study of someone who's recovered or reformed. "Here's how it was, folks, and what I was thinking at the time" without glorifying his actions. I understand now that Humbert is an unreliable narrator, but I'm not so sure he's all that unreliable. Selfish and self-indulgent, yes, projecting his perspective onto Lolita, yes, but not unreliable as far as reporting what he was experiencing. There is often some really nifty wordplay too, like when he referred to Dolores as dolorous. I totally get it that for some people the creepiness is not possible to overlook.

I read Fear and Loathing eons ago. I remember bits of the story. It's chaotic but readable. Skip the movie. I don't mind Depp but I hated him in this and the film didn't capture the talent of the writing; it just came off as a grubby drug fest.

RookieWriter said:

I liked the book enough to consider it an entertaining read. I have not seen the movie and have little to no interest in it. If I read the book before watching the movie I usually won't like the movie anyway.

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For me, when I read a book I really want to see a movie based on it, and it's been about 50/50 whether I've liked it or not. However, if I see the movies first it ruins the book because I keep seeing the actors and not the characters.

Perhaps when seeing the movie from a book I've read I don't mind knowing the ending, and it's an intellectual pursuit of how to represent the story rather than the story itself. "How are they going to show the emotions and internal processes I was able to read about?" Because movies are all show and no tell, I can get some ideas on how to better show.

But mostly I just want to see if the director was as genius as I am about what the scene looked like

Lol, Daniel, when I saw Jurassic Park as a historical I was kinda . . . um, yeah. Your explanation counts, though!

Suggestions:

For Flights of Fancy, I really enjoyed "Everyone Brave is Forgiven" by Chris Cleave. It splits between nurses/first responders during the London Blitz and RAF pilots in Malta.

QUILTBAG: I read "Less" by Andrew Sean Greer for this challenge. Reviews upthread.

EDIT: For "Out of Africa," holy smokes where to start? "What is the what?" by Dave Eggers is great. "Things fall apart" by Chinuha Achebe is considered the standard for African literature, although I wasn't overly thrilled by it. For classics, "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad defined the genre for years and years, and if you've seen "Apocalypse Now!" you've basically read the book. There is also of course "Out of Africa" by Karen Blixen, and for a historical account "The Discovery of the Source of the Nile" by John Hanning Speke is long, factually questionable, but has a lot of insight into pre-colonization Africa. For newer books "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave (there he is again!). Thinking back, there are actually few newer novels that take place in Africa; most are about the African diaspora in Europe and the US. If you don't mind a short story compilation, look for one of the Caine Prize anthologies.

oneblindmouse said:

Interesting!! My sister recommended "Everyone brave is forgotten" by Chris Cleave, as she's a big fan of his, but I've been putting it off as it doesn't look particularly interesting. So I'm interested in your comments above, Chris P.

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I enjoyed it. I thought I might have reviewed it for the "What are you reading" thread, but no luck. It was the type of up-market fiction I enjoy, with enough historiosity to tickle my interest but enough of a personal touch to make the characters real. I really liked the interplay between the two London nurses and how their personalities diverged throughout the story. The RAF pilots part was fairly standard WWII fare, but still well done.