Books 2009: Junot Diáz - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

It is not very often that I have to spend time figuring out whether or not I liked a book and what its strengths/weaknesses were. I'm a trained professional, for heaven's sake, and I did not spend [undisclosed] years in Evil Literary Geek School just to sit here and go "uhm". But, dear readers, I am indeed going "uhm" over The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and I have been uhmming for a few days now. I started out loving this book with a fierce passion. I loved the narrator with his footnotes* and idiosyncratic diction. He was funny, contemporary and really refreshing. And then, whoah nelly, the book shifted to another voice, another place, and another time. Diáz is a technically gifted writer and I cannot fault him for wanting to play around with timelines, but once the narrator turned out to just be one among many (or, to use more correct terms, what I thought was just the main diegesis was in many ways both extradiegetic and metadiegetic), the book felt ..

.. and this is where I am going "uhm". Most books would fall apart with a narrative structure like the one I have outlined above, but this one doesn't. It is woefully uneven and comes to a muddled conclusion, but it does not fall apart. It had some sublime moments, but it also came across as very contrived at other times. I cannot make up my mind whether or not I liked it or not.

Perhaps it suffices to say that parts of the novel were excellent but as a whole it left me going "uhm." (And that you could probably categorise it as a post-colonial homage to geek chic.)

(* I love footnotes in fiction! The barking mad footnotes in Nabokov's Pale Fire! The mind-bending footnotes in Gray's Lanark! The comedic footnotes in Coe's The House of Sleep! The elegant footnotes in Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell! The conversational footnotes in Fforde's Thursday Next novels! Even the very silly footnotes in Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy! If it has footnotes, chances are that I'll love the book)

Into Temptation

Holy caramel. I have just visited The Bead Company here in Glasgow and while I'm not a bling girl nor a jewellery-maker, I can definitely appreciate a place as devoted to creativity as that shop. Two floors of all sorts of beads - crystal, glass, gemstone, metal, big, small, cheap, affordable, expensive and in every single hue of the rainbow. Plus, you know, space devoted to workshops, tools, a small but refined library and extremely nice staff. Wow. Now, can we get a haberdashery and a wool shop* as amazing as that, please? I'd also like a local bookshop with the same sort of dedication and range in stock (because the much-anticipated Lost in Fiction turned out to be a bookshop for people who don't really like books).

I have just finished Diáz' The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Thoughts to come.

* Not that I don't like K1 Yarns, it just doesn't have a particularly big range.

You And Whose Army?

Yesterday I kicked someone off my Facebook friends list. I came home, checked FB quickly and noticed someone from my primary school days had joined a Danish-language group called "I'm not racist but be nice OR get out of my country". My stomach tensed as I checked the group description with its ten so-called commandments (including "Accept people can eat pork and not be disgusting" and "Pay your taxes - even if you own a cornershop or a takeaway"). The Danish flag featured heavily, of course.

So I sat there just before bedtime and I was .. not shocked nor surprised..  but, I guess, saddened that someone I once knew would think it a great idea to join such a group. And then I realised that I have no time whatsoever for this sort of sh*t, kicked my erstwhile classmate off my friends list and headed off to bed feeling slightly shell-shocked.

I feel I should be doing something more than just block someone on a silly social networking site (and reporting the group to the FB admins as violating their TOS. I do not think they'll care much), but what?

But .. I Don't Observe Lent!

Due to Certain Health Issues, I have embarked on a lactose-free, low-caffeine diet. This is very difficult for this milky-tea and Diet Coke devotee. I allow myself one cup of glorious caffeinated coffee every morning, but it's not any fun having to put soy milk in it. Oy. I have also been googling lactose-free rice pudding and custard recipes because I refuse to give up my comfort food. You say there's caffeine in chocolate? La la la la .. I cannot hear you! (You'd be forgiven for thinking I was Catholic as I have also given up buying wool)

I'm about two-thirds through Junot Diaz's The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao. I'm torn between absolutely loving it and finding it woefully uneven. Perhaps it's just that one of the narrative voices is so compelling that whenever he disappears from the book, I become very impatient. I'll probably finish it tonight or tomorrow and then need to mull over my reaction to it. I like it when a book demands a proper response.

Knitting, Books and Heeland Coos!

Knitting: I have the body and one sleeve of Forecast done. In other word, one sleeve and the button bands to go. It has been a very quick knit so far - I wonder if I can finish it before the end of February? My plan was to finish it before we head off to Poland, so I'm well on my way to meeting that target. My knitting group has a crochet-focus meet-up planned, though and I was one of the bright ones suggesting it, but I really should get around to finish my cardigan. Also? Do I really feel like chaining up a crochet project when my fingers are itching to cast on for Frances.. decisions. Books: I got quite a few book vouchers for my birthday and they had been burning a hole in my purse since .. well, last Wednesday! So yesterday I had a 'little' shopping expedition to Borders. I came away with:

• Anne Donovan: Being Emily. Donovan is a local writer - so local that she lives just down the street - and I really enjoyed her Buddha Da.
• Junot Diaz: The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao. It has been very well-received but in a manner which made me suspect I'd actually enjoy it. I've already begun reading it and, ten pages in, I'm not disappointed.
• Ross Raisin: God's Own Country. Okay, I admit I was swayed by the cover and the fact that I rarely get to read books set in Yorkshire's sheep-herding communities. Shhh.
• Michel Faber: Under the Skin. I haven't read any Faber although friends tell me to read The Crimson Petal and the White. I thought a sinister little book might be a better introduction than a big, sprawling Victorian-esque caper. I like sinister books.
• Michael Chabon: The Yiddish Policemen's Union. After having read the wonderful Kavalier and Clay, both Other Half and I were keen to explore Chabon's oeuvre. I have been warned that this is less engaging but seeing as a friend of mine apparently inspired a bit character, who am I to resist?
• Robin Melanson: Knitting New Mittens and Gloves. Ahem, well.. I have been circling this book for quite some time now. Grumperina has quite a few pictures of various patterns up. I can see myself making a lot of these mittens in the future.

Today: David and I went to the Burrell Collection to see a British Museum travelling exhibition on Ancient Greece. How do I say this politely? Uhm, having previously lived in a city which boasts The Carlsberg Glyptotek, I was fairly underwhelmed. Fortunately we met this little guy in the pastures outside and he cheered us up (although David proceeded by getting lost in the park and I had to wait 40 minutes at the entrance before he made his way out. And he used to be a boy scout!):

Free Books? Free Typefaces Too.

Thanks to Kim, I discovered BookMooch yesterday (I'm slow sometimes). The basic idea is that you compile a list of books you like to give away, people who have that book on their wishlist are then given the option to request the book, you send the book to them and you are given points you can spend on your own requests or "mooches". I signed up around 7.30pm and by 8pm I had already given away my first book. Two hours later another book had been claimed. I'm struggling a bit to find books I want to put on my wishlist - mostly because I have some fantastic secondhand bookshops here - but I'm sure I will cope. It's a great idea and you can even donate towards charity.

If you are on BookMooch too, my username is (unsurprisingly) karie bookish. Get in touch.

Two typeface links:

• what font are you? I'm Times New Roman - "timesless and classy", apparently, although I prefer my own interpretation of "designed in the 1930s".
• My arty friends Gabi and Phil have set up a blog where they are giving away self-designed typefaces once a week. You might also want to check out Gabi's homepage. She does some very cool stuff (and we are very chuffed to have some of her artwork in our home).