Still on my Edgar-Award winning book series. This past weekend, I finished
In the Woods by Tana French. It's interesting in part b/c the narrator is male, though the writer is female. That's refreshing to me. Male writers seem to have no trouble picking up other genders/races, but women writers don't do this as often. Her voice is convincing, and the story is a page turner, but I was so disappointed that she didn't solve one of the central mysteries. I won't spoil it for you in case want to read it, but what happened to the kids??? It was just beautifully written and compelling. Also finished Walter Moseley's
When the Thrill is Gone ; liked it okay, but got a bit confused by the characters and their motivations. It involves twins, if that explains the potential confusion. Restocked my books from the Penn library and just started
The Serialist by David Gordon (narrator's a tiny, tiny bit too cutesy and aside-y... Has one of the worst, self-conscious first lines to start the action that I've ever read. Something totally confusing like: "Dressed as my dead mother with my fifteen year old business partner at my side, I opened fan mail from the serial killer") and also got
The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin and two others I don't recall at this moment. I'd also like to know how it is that the last issue of
The New Yorker had a fiction piece in it that ended with a single tear running down someone's cheek. It's a story called "Town of Cats," (you think I would love it instantly) by Haruki Marakami. This is last paragraph containing the tear reference:
With his hand on the doorknob, Tengo turned around one last time and was
shocked to see a single tear escaping his father’s eye. It shone a dull
silver color under the ceiling’s fluorescent light. The tear crept
slowly down his cheek and fell onto his lap. Tengo opened the door and
left the room. He took a cab to the station and reboarded the train that
had brought him here.
Here's your quote of the day (don't worry, I won't start doing this regularly): "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." --Groucho Marx.
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