Great idea, okay execution, mediocre editing

The Raw Shark Texts
Steven Hall

I've written the title first for a rare change, and I can't help but think it says it all, leaving me stumped as what to write in the actual review. Mother effer!

Okay: I've actually been reading this book FOREVER (literally almost two years), but I stalled out midway through. It's just sooooo taxing. But still, resolution and all that, so I plugged on.

It all started out so...erm, swimmingly: Eric Sanderson awakes, an amnesiac who has completely forgotten his former life. Bits and pieces return thanks to letters he has written himself. Remembering brings its own dangers, however: a Ludovician -- a conceptual shark -- is hunting him. Wait -- what?

This conceptual, metaphysical shark is not a real shark as one might expect: it hunts words, memories, thoughts. Soon Eric is on the run, hoping to avoid the shark before his memory is wiped clean again. And then things get REALLY weird.

Hall plays with words and their concepts, giving words a power they've never had before. He uses the visual appearance of the words well, too. Unfortunately, the novel gets bogged down in...well, WORDS. He's got a brilliant idea here, but the novel could have lost a good chunk of text without being the worse for wear, not to mention some scenes getting more complicated than was really necessary.

In a nutshell: Oh well.

Bibliolatry Scale: 3 out of 6 stars

Never con a Con

The Ivy Tree
Mary Stewart

Hm. This one had such promise. Perhaps it hasn't aged well?

The Ivy Tree promised to be a fast read. It had mystery, it had romance. It had a gorgeous English manor that made me envious. I thought it would be an easy read to knock off another title in my resolution. Unfortunately, I was a bit deceived.

Mary Grey meets a mysterious man while visiting Northumberland. This angry, even frightening, man believes Mary to be his long-lost cousin Annabel. When he learns Mary is not his cousin, Connor Winslow hatches a plot, and soon he's convinced Mary to return to his home posing as Annabel in order to secure an inheritance. What's in it for Mary? Money, of course -- enough to live easily for the rest of her life. Mary agrees and quickly finds herself knee-deep in trouble.

Like I said, The Ivy Tree started out well enough, but then things just seemed full of teh obvious. I mean, the bad guy's named Con. CON. Certainly not surprising when he proves himself dishonest. Furthermore, some of the dialogue was a bit stilted and VERY old fashioned and even a bit sexist, which was awkward given the author is a woman.

There were a few positives. It wasn't so awful that I gave up. I was interested enough in these (rather flat, unfortunately) characters to make it to the end. Still, while a few things surprised me, and the novel's bit o' romance was sweet enough, I don't feel interested in reading more by this author.

In a nutshell: Mystery + romance + intrigue + deception = YAWN

Bibliolatry Scale: 2 out of 6 stars

Nature = scary (not to mention buggy)

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
Stephen King

Trisha McFarland is royally screwed.

Her parents are getting divorced: dad's an alcoholic, and mom's hatching one crackpot bonding plan after another. Her love of baseball (especially Tom Gordon, her favorite player) is one of the only things capable of bringing a smile to her face. Unfortunately, the comforts of home are far away after she finds herself lost in the middle of the woods with no tools and barely any food. Hoping rescue is just an hour or two away, she begins walking back toward what she believes is the path from which she first veered.

Needless to say, Trisha is wrong.

What follows is a harrowing misadventure that reminds anyone with half a brain NOT TO LEAVE THE FRIGGIN PATH when you're traipsing through the woods. Unless, of course, you happen to be a) older than 9, b) insane, or c) equipped with basic hiking gear, like, say, a compass.

What she thinks is a shortcut isn't; what she believes will take her back won't. Trisha gets lost and lost again, all the while struggling to survive in the face of some pretty awful obstacles.

As if this weren't already enough, King throws something ELSE at this poor kid: something is stalking her in the woods. What is this thing - is it beast? or human? Real, or a figment of her imagination?

In a nutshell: A fast, entertaining read that might have been better as a short story; still, readers can easily sympathize with Trisha and will want to see her through to the end.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars

Much madness is divinest sense

Martian Time-Slip
Philip K. Dick

I don't know how I got on a Dick Kick, but somehow I bought the first Library of America edition (see my previous reviews here and here), so of course I was obligated to buy the second edition containing five of his novels from the 60s and 70s. Because each novel received its own entry in my reading resolution, I figured it was time to knock one of these bad boys down.

The first novel in this collection, Martian Time-Slip, blew me away. It was by far better than I remembered the previous novels being (even though, upon rereading my reviews, it seems I enjoyed those quite a bit). Martian Time-Slip is unlike previous Dick novels I've read: there were no drugs, no crazy technology -- in fact, the novel contained only one main hallmark of Dick's fiction: the male protagonist whose grip on reality is threatened by powerful forces, both external and internal. Will said protagonist defeat these forces and keep his sanity? (With the final scene still burning a hole in my brain, I must say I doubt it.)

Speaking of the brain, I loved how PKD dealt with the mind in this novel; it was different from my previous PKD experiences. Martian Time-Slip, in fact, seemed only nominally "science fiction-y" in that it took place on Mars. The real setting, however, is the human mind, especially the mind of the mentally ill.

PKD questions whether those who have a mental illness like schizophrenia or autism are truly mentally ill, proposing instead that they have astounding gifts simply unknown to the rest of us. In Dick's world, several characters locked in their own internal worlds actually see and know more than they should, including that which has not yet happened. Such a talent is easy for one with power and money (not to mention an unflappable will to exploit the less fortunate) to use for his own devices.

I haven't yet attempted to write a conventional summary because the plot is both too simple -- and yet somehow too complex -- to condense into a basic paragraph, but I'll try. There's a colony eking out an existence on Mars. Some people have gifts. Other people have power. The latter uses the former. The result is disturbing and utterly unforgettable. Clearly, this summary leaves something to be desired; there is too much I have neither the time nor the place to include.

In a nutshell: Martian Time-Slip transcends the traditional Dick-ian trope of paranoia and drug use to take a compassionate (and fascinating) look at those with debilitating mental illness.

Bibliolatry Scale: 5.5 out of 6 stars

I was nothing until I hated

The Secret Speech
Tom Rob Smith

This month's review has been posted at Pajiba, and this time I was excited to read Tom Rob Smith's follow up to Child 44, which I read -- and adored -- last summer.

Thankfully, The Secret Speech is just as entertaining as its predecessor. You may read my thoughts by clicking here.

In a nutshell: Fast paced and overall awesome, even if murdered children aren't a feature this time around.

Bibliolatry Scale: 5 out of 6 stars

Why doesn't the Gingerbread Man wear shorts?

The Fourth Bear
Jasper Fforde

You may have noticed a lack of posts lately (actually, you probably haven't, but let's pretend) -- and this is a good thing. No posts = kicking ass in my resolution. It's been trying, especially when some books just suck.

Which brings me to The Fourth Bear. I wanted to like it: everyone else seems to. Fforde's got a good enough idea going, treating fairytale characters as though they are real, but the jokes and gags that follow all seem like too much effort for not enough of a return.

First, a recap: The Fourth Bear begins as Goldilocks, an investigative reporter, questions a local cucumber grower. Soon, the grower is dead and Goldilocks is missing. Jack Spratt of the Nursery Crime Division investigates her whereabouts, and he soon finds -- wait for it -- the three bears. These honest bears, however, know nothing about Goldilocks present location, leading Spratt to believe in the presence of a fourth bear. Meanwhile, the notorious Gingerbread Man is running amok, leaving innocent victims in his wake. If only Spratt can solve the crime in time...

Sure, he looks cute. . .
but wait until he rips off your arms

Unfortunately, for Spratt and his cronies, I was rooting for the Gingerbread Man, who was the most interesting character in the book -- Fforde should have let the Man do as he pleased. I really didn't care whether Spratt ever found Goldilocks and solved the cucumber mystery (which became way too complicated for my blood). The running jokes involving fairytale characters in real-life setting were cute at first, but the humor faded quickly. I had to force myself to finish, and, had this not been the only book available during an interminable transatlantic flight, I probably wouldn't have finished at all.

In a nutshell: Cute and quirky at first...but the cute and quirky wore off quickly. Fforde's novels are immensely successful, though, so you might not want to take my word for it.

Bibliolatry Scale: 2 out of 6 stars

Oh, and if you want the answer to the question posed in the title of this post, it's because he has crummy legs. Get it? GET IT? That's so funny right? Just like this book.

Reading Resolution: June Update

Time to gather some links and rack up my progress for the month of June. Not that great, but I was traveling for a good bit.


RESOLUTION TITLES READ IN JUNE: 2

Eco, Umberto. The Name of the Rose
Irving, John. The World According to Garp


NON-RESOLUTION TITLES READ IN JUNE: 6

Brown, Kevin and Annette Presley. The Liberation Diet
von Daniken, Erich. Chariots of the Gods
Doyle, Larry. I Love You, Beth Cooper
Kurlansky, Mark. The Food of a Younger Land
Waters, Sarah. Fingersmith
Wood, Patricia. Lottery


TOTAL TITLES READ IN JUNE: 8

CURRENT RESOLUTION PROGRESS: 27 / 88

TOTAL BOOKS READ IN 2009: 41