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jnzllwgr's reviews
241 reviews
Dead People I Have Known by Shayne Carter
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Biographies are so niche. Not everyone is interested real people or feels the need to be a completist. It’s like that for me, but I also love my weirdos. New Zealand had a indie music moment in the 80s that remains legendary today. Of dozens, two bands have been anointed as the gods: The Clean, for the first hit record off of the fledgling Flying Nun Record Label and The Chills, who’s songwriting was 1st to capture global interest (this year’s posthumous Spring Board LP is an encomium that unites the origins of the band with its final years…really worth a go). Arguably, Straitjacket Fits completes the trinity. A Lennon/McCartney-esque writing partnership earning a 6-record deal with Arista, they fizzled after 2. This is the origin story of the band’s Lennon and what went down these last 60 years. CARTER IS A FANTASTIC WRITER. He needed to be. While I love the Doublehappys, the Fits and his 2016 solo album, I struggled to understand the longest-standing Dimmer project. He deftly reoriented me and it just goes to show how listening is as much an intellectual exercise as it is an emotional one. Carter’s story is one of struggle and growth, a lower class punk who has been inducted in the NZ music hall of fame, received legacy awards and laureateships. His literary craftsmanship is witty, turns on a dime, observant and honest. Unique editorial decisions kept things linear, but with swirls in the timeline which really helps connect past events to future ones and back again. I came away loving a broader swath of his music than ever before and respecting his life’s path —which possesses a real sense of truth to his personal compass— tremendously. If you’re remotely familiar with New Zealand and the Flying Nun Label / “Dunedin Sound” time period for rock music, check it out.
James by Percival Everett
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
This was a hot book, but I think I have a different definition of what should qualify for National Book Awards. Call me an unsubtle mind, but this was nothing earth-shattering. Everett’s conceit is that this is story of Huckleberry Finn from the slave, Jim’s, point of view. Roughly the first third/half of the book sticks closely to the Twain plot. Then begins to deviate significantly, even warping the timing of the events by decades. Why parallel Twain’s story at all? Having come finished re-reading Twain’s novel(s), these deviations ended up being a distraction rather than some response/evolution from it. Specifically, the ending of Huck Finn is so problematic (does Huck really see Jim as human, as an equal? It’s seriously debatable), I was hoping that Everett would address that head on. But the deviations never return to the denoument of the original myth. So, instead, Twain/Huck seems to get off the hook—again. And then James’ journey becomes more radicalized and dark, separate from what I felt was an unequal friendship of convenience. Was this an anti-hero trope? The concept that slaves had developed a vernacular to speak to their white masters for the purposes of survival is fantastical, but also intriguing. And the author uses that meaningfully to shift and propel the narrative. There are other events that further put into relief enculturated dehumanization and its moral/ethical emptiness. But in the end, all hands are bloody. As James becomes bolder, I found myself split with satisfaction and sadness. Perhaps the books greatest strength, however, is that Everett doesn’t attempt to claim any territory of righteousness. This allows the reader to wrestle these issues find their own conclusions. In all, it seemed like an opportunity to interrogate the legend of the original that leaves me puzzled still why Everett did not leverage that to it maximum
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
These need little introduction. The forward author noted that Tom Sawyer is a children’s/teen’s book while Huck Finn is more for adults. That lands in retrospect. Tom Sawyer is a Peter Pan type, always concocting extravagant conceits for imaginary play. I’ve been there, done that, and that’s part of childhood for sure. But I walked away despising his existence — mostly due the contrast of the character arcs in HF and the return of Tom at the end of that book. Both books are adventure novels. HF is also a coming of age story, wrestling with adulthood and all the temptations and bad things men have/do. Huck’s inner compass is what ultimately redeems him. But Tom’s return in the conclusion of HF invoked my disappointment and anger and it ultimately destroys the potential of the novel. Was this intentional? Was this a commentary on the upper societal castes’ remove from the daily struggles of the poor and enslaved? Huck’s capitulation to go with Tom’s plans means our ‘hero’ does not overcome the social order. Despite his ‘friendship’ with the slave, Jim, he’s still not empathetic enough to minimize that suffering. Has the culture indoctrinated him to believe poor people follow behind the affluent; does he believe no one will believe him? Is this the dark underlayment that makes the book great? Or is that an unintended reading and Twain is simply an unserious writer? I think if Twain was conscious of civil rights, he could have used Huck as a foil for Tom’s establishment complacency. But he doesn’t So to hell with Twain, really. A dark book, indeed.