{Wrap-Up #4} Ideal Month: February

Month #2: Has the system completely fallen apart?

(Just in case you need a reminder, this is what I wrap up every month.)

I started writing this a week ago and thought I had been absolute rubbish this month. Actually, I was not so bad. As I've been traveling through the Pacific Northwest discovering bookstores and authors, I didn't get to the reread, but I managed to tick every box otherwise. 

((1/Classic)) The Day of the Locust - Nathanael West

A tale about a Hollywood screenwriter, a self-destructive but seductive woman he falls in love with, and one of her many pursuers, West's novel was darkly entertaining but ultimately felt short of its own potential. With some moments of truly brilliant writing and an engaging plot (which I must admit was more intricate and interesting than I originally expected), it lacks a true backbone, some indescribable quality to give it spark. Nonetheless, I did enjoy it and I would still recommend it if you like old Hollywood narratives. 

((2/Contemporary Fiction)) The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid

I went into this without really knowing anything about it other than its relevance, and, though I was expecting a tale about identity in relation to the US, I wasn't expecting it to be inserted in corporate New York life (which was great!) and touch upon the subject of post 9/11 day to day for people from Middle East countries. This is an intense novel that's worth your time, though I will say that the narrative strategy (2nd person present tense) doesn't always work. The "present scene setting" feels stilted, yes, but a strong attempt was made to make it work and the tension is maintained even if you know where the story is headed. A must!

((3/In translation/in Spanish)) My Tender Matador - Pedro Lemebel

I'm so happy this Chilean novel is translated into English so I can urge you to pick it up. This is my first Lemebel, which is sad only because, I'm a bit ashamed to admit, I'd been putting off reading his novels for fear I wouldn't enjoy them. How wrong I was! Poignant and sentimental, and yet truly profound, Lemebel's prose is shamelessly beautiful. I hope the translation does him justice. The plot follows a gay man in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship, and his complex relationship with a revolutionary college student. At the same time, it satirizes Pinochet's marriage and explores themes of sexuality, manhood, love, and, of course, freedom and repression in multiple dimensions. 

((4/Essay Collection/Bio/Memoir)) Maybe You Should Talk to Someone - Lori Gottlieb

Talking about therapy in this day and age, after so many cheesy books have risen to the top of the bestsellers lists, can be tricky. Yet Gottlieb, a former TV writer and current therapist, definitely knows how it's done. This is a memoir-meets-seriously-informative-nonfiction-about-what-therapy-should-be-and-how-it-can-help. Though Gottlieb admits to having jumped through hoops fudging the facts in order to make the narrative obscure enough that her patients wouldn't be affected, the truly powerful effect of good therapy (and all its intricacies) shines through. She's also incredibly honest about her own journey as a therapist, as a patient, and as a human. Gottlieb's experience as a writer is another key element: she handles all the "plot lines" and temporal jumps perfectly, with every chapter leaving you wanting more. If you're into memoirs, this is the real deal!

((5/Non-fiction)) So We Read On - Maureen Corrigan 

This is literary criticism for the general public at its absolute best, and just a perfect book for me. I did a whole review of it, gushing about its brilliance. While I read it, I kept thinking "this is it, this is how you do it, this is how I want to do it", and it made me reevaluate several potential life choices. That's how good this was.

((6/Poetry Collection/Play)) Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T.S. Eliot

When my Poetry professor told us that T.S. Eliot, the Thomas Stearns Eliot, had written a poetry collection on cats that had served as the inspiration for Cats the musical, I decided I had to get my hands on it. The result? A delightful and intelligent bundle of whimsy. Although some of the poems weren't my favorites, others were truly genius, and the rhythm in them will definitely have you singing and dancing. 

((7/Reread)) :( Maybe next month? 

Hope you enjoyed this! Read me next week with a new review.)