52 Books 52 Weeks

Uh oh. I'm falling behind. Shit. Ok. Here's a recent recap.

(5a. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

I know I know I know. I'm not counting this one for my 52 book count. It was a quick read of short memoirs published posthumously. I started it since I was reading a lot about the modernist period, and Hemingway not only has some great passages that give insight into his first marriage, but to Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald as well. Not to mention Paris in the 20s was no doubt a magical time of creativity, so much so that even the seemingly innocuous or simple stories are downright inspiring within that setting and Hemingway's use of language as a 1-2 punch to bring his point home.)









(Full reviews for Pow! and How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia are on Frontier Psychiatrist: Don't Speak, Tell...)

6. Pow! by Mo Yan (finished February 8th)

Last year's Nobel Prize winner in literature has been under much criticism. Since he is a Communist Party member, other Chinese writers and artists say he is not true in his words, and he has been criticized for not speaking out enough for jailed contemporaries. He responded to many of these allegations in his first interview since winning the prize. As for the story itself, it weaves contemporary with traditional themes, in a tale that focuses around a family that works in a slaughterhouse. Bathed in dark humor and magical realism, the alternating timelines and vulgarity of the book made for an unexpectedly fascinating read. The ending was unfortunately a bit rushed, but Yan had me in his grips all the way leading up to then. As disappointing as the end was, the rest of the novel was enough for me to want to check out his earlier works. 





7. How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid (finished February 12th)

This is the third novel by Pakistani born Mohsin Hamid. As its title implies, it reads as a how-to book, and can be read as one character's life over seven decades, or various storylines happening simultaneously. It was a quick read, and danced between a light-heartedness as well as uncovering the harsh reality of trying to better ones place in "Rising Asia." While the setting is most likely inspired by Hamid's native Lahore, it never specifically mentions it. The book was good overall, but something about the quick pace of it leaves me wanting more, and not necessarily in a good way. What I do appreciate about the book is its attempt (inadvertently, I'm sure) to break the barrier between First and Third World Issues, when so often they are the exact same thing.





 8. Out by Natsuo Kirino (finished February 25th)

Whoa, this was a fucked up book. Four women work the night shift at a boxed lunch factory, and all struggle in their personal lives. One with a family that ignores her, one who has to take care of her own senile mother, one who's husband leaves her after a dramatic fight, and one who ends up murdering her husband. This last woman gets the help from the other women to help her out, but cutting up the body into tiny pieces and disposing of it in various places around the suburbs Tokyo. Between reading this and recently watching Lost in Beijing (a film banned in mainland China, which involves the lives of two Chinese couples dealing with the consequences of rape and infidelity), not to mention the previous two books, my head is reeling in how seedy, dirty, and unethical the entire continent of Asia is. I jest of course, but it was certainly eye-opening, surprising, and an intense cerebral experience to take in all of this in a short period of time.