The Passport, Herta Muller
This short novella revolves around the quest for a passport out of Romania for a miller, his wife, and daughter. I can’t summarize it more than that because this book and I really just didn’t get along at all. I found it to be far too vague, one of those books where every word means something and you have to spend time puzzling it out before you can properly appreciate the story. As such, I might have liked it if I’d read it in a class and had a chance to dissect it, but as I did read it I just wasn’t in the mood for that sort of thing. I finished it, but I doubt I will read anything else by Herta Muller. I’ve seen elsewhere that this was a poor translation from the German, but despite that I just don’t normally want to read anything that literary.
A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby
New Year’s Eve is a very popular time to kill yourself. Four people from entirely different walks of life in London discover that as they meet atop a tower. They manage to talk themselves out of suicide and spend an evening wandering around the town. Afterwards, they struggle to find a place for one another in their lives, even though they recognize that few other people will understand their unique experiences.
I didn’t really know what to make of this book. I liked that it highlighted the differences yet similarities between people of all different backgrounds, how their problems seemed more or less severe but all were in despair. I didn’t think the book really had a point, though, unless it was that people are different from the way they think about themselves – butI’m not sure it was meant to. I can’t decide if I like that or not. I read this one during the Read-a-thon so it’s gone sadly fuzzy now, but I do intend to read more of Hornby in the future.
The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion
This is a hard book to write about, so I’m chickening out with a mini review. Basically, Didion’s husband passed away suddenly at her dinner table, just days before Christmas, and while their daughter was severely ill in hospital. The book is about the year after she lost her husband, how she behaved irrationally because of her grief, and the profound effect that losing someone can have.
This was a difficult book for me; ever since I lost my brother, I’ve been incredibly worried that I’ll lose someone else. I don’t grieve in this way any longer, but it’s still such a tough subject to cope with. I read the book mainly because I thought it was worthwhile to see how other people felt, to try and learn about emotions that aren’t mine. The loss of a husband and a brother are different, but I could recognize much of myself in this book. Ultimately, it’s difficult to take, but it does give you a real insight into how a grieving widow will feel – and it may make you stop and think when you or someone you love loses someone.
Dead in the Family, Charlaine Harris
This tenth book in the Sookie Stackhouse series deals with the aftermath of the catastrophic events in Dead and Gone. Sookie’s changed quite a bit over the course of the series and now has her own grief and hard feelings towards others to deal with. Things never stand still, though, so she’s not left alone to recover. Instead, her friend Amelia moves away and her fairy cousin Claude moves in. She has a visit from Hunter, her little cousin who shares her powers, and she has to deal with some unexpected visitors from Eric’s surprising side of the family.
I love getting my hand on another installment of this series; it’s a nice return to a familiar world, even if it’s changed somewhat since the first books. I think Sookie herself has probably undergone the most changes. So I definitely liked the book, but the plot was very loose if at all existent. This is another book where some things happen, but most of them don’t actually lead to much. The climax of the book is quite speedy, but we lose much of the build-up to it. Mainly, it’s Sookie going about her life; I don’t mind this, but as a book I don’t think it held together all that well. Still, always looking forward to the next!
I am an Amazon Associate. The first of these books was sent to me for review; the rest I acquired on my own.
Frankly, The Passport sounds awful, and I am not going to be reading it. I also have been long interested in Hornby, but it doesn’t sound like this is the book to start with. Thanks for the great mini-reviews. I love these!
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The Year of Magical Thinking sounds awfully heavy. I would definitely have to be in the right mood to tackle a book like that.
I am totally excited about Sookie’s book. Would love to reach that
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I actually really liked A Long Way Down when I read it when it came out but was so long ago I don’t remember the specifics other then the main character was just dealing with life. I think, more than anything, I just like Hornby’s writing style. I like these mini reviews
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So Sookie eventually gets together with Eric, does she? Well who can blame her.
I’ve been wanting to read The Year of Magical Thinking, but I keep shying away from it. Maybe one day. And I definitely need to reread Dead and Gone before I embark on this Sookie adventure. I just can’t remember what happened in the previous book at all!
Nice set of reviews. I have hesitated to read Didion’s book because I’m not sure I want to live through someone else’s horrible year of grieving. I’ll think about it. I know that the Sookie books are light on plot sometimes, but still so much fun.
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If A Long Way Down is your first Hornby, please try more!! I was a little less kind than you were in my thoughts on the book but I do enjoy Hornby as an author.
I’ve been wanting to read The Year of Magical Thinking for years! Keep forgetting about it.
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I’m sorry to read about your brother. I’m sure that would affect your reading of Didion’s book. I thought it was a very sad, but also pretty beautiful memoir about grieving.
*hugs again* re: your brother…I’ve been too afraid to read Didion’s memoir, even though I haven’t lost anyone in my immediate family (one of my grandfathers did pass last November, though).
As far as Herta Muller, I’ve yet to read anything about her and her books that makes me want to read them.
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I love Nick Hornby. You should definitely read more of him!