Tag Archives: Claustrophobic

The Tremor of Forgery by Patricia Highsmith

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Synopsis:
While working on a novel in Tunisia, a writer encounters his own heart of darkness.

Review:
I had written a truly brilliant review of Patricia Highsmith’s The Tremor of Forgery, but it got eaten. Fie! The salient points were:

  1. Patricia Highsmith plays cat and mouse with the reader just like her most famous creation Tom Ripley played cat and mouse with anyone he encountered
  2. She is a master of nuance characterization
  3. The final third of the novel is a tour-de-force of subtle character dynamics
  4. This is one of my favorites of hers

I should also add that at times, Highsmith is scathingly funny, though this will come as no surprise to those of you who are familiar with her work. My absolute favorite remains Edith’s Diary, but I’ll be recommending The Tremor of Forgery a lot.

Renegade’s Magic by Robin Hobb

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Synopsis:
Soldier Son Nevare’s adventures culminate in a battle within his divided self for mastery of his body in defiance of the magic.

Review:
When last we saw Nevare, he was grossly fat and resigned to a life on the outside. A Soldier Son of modest ambition, Nevare’s soul was cleft in two during a battle with the tree goddess Lisana. Now, in Renegade’s Magic, the trilogy’s conclusion, Nevare finds himself trapped, with his Speck alter-ego having taken control of his body in order to wield the magic against Nevare’s own people.

For most of the book, Nevare is a disembodied self, helplessly observing as “Soldier’s Boy” grows fat on magic and rises in power as a Great One. He rues the choices he made to alienate himself from his family and from the woman he loves. Soldier’s Boy loves Lisana, the woman whom Nevare holds responsible for his destruction. And so he finds himself torn between his passion for Lisana and his hatred of Soldier’s Boy, and fears for the day when he will be unable to resist merging with Soldier’s Boy.

The internal nature of the narrative kept me from fully engaging with the story, oddly enough. I never saw Nevare as an agent in the story; rather, he was an observer to someone else’s story. The technique itself was well executed, but despite Hobb’s considerable skills I don’t think she transcended the gimmick’s inherent limitations. Ultimately I felt that the trilogy didn’t end with the level of majesty I’ve come to expect from her work.

Even so, Robin Hobb on a bad day beats the pants off of many other writers at their best. I’m already itching to reread her Six Duchies trilogies, and hope to get my hands on more of the out of print Megan Lindholm works.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

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Synopsis:
The last of a dying breed, a proper English butler reflects on his life in service.

Review:
I had no idea I would love The Remains of the Day as much as I did. To be honest, I love Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go so much that I was afraid that if I didn’t like this book, my love for that one would be tainted irrevocably. Continue reading →

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

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Synopsis:
One man’s harrowing journey up the Congo in search of enlightenment.

Review:
Blogging really wasn’t invented for talking about a book like Heart of Darkness. I am utterly incapable of coming up with anything approaching an instant reaction to this book. I need to sit with it for a long time, then read it again, then sit with it some more, then read it again. Then maybe I can talk about it. I promise to let you know if I come up with anything approaching a coherent thought about this tremendous work.

The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons

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9

Synopsis:
A new house in a suburban Atlanta neighborhood spells disaster for all its inhabitants.

Review:
It’s awfully hard to be frightened when you’re sitting on a rooftop deck in West Hollywood, letting the setting sun dry your bathing suit after discovering that you can float like a cork in the saltwater pool. Continue reading →

Winterwood by Patrick McCabe

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Synopsis:
Entranced by the folk tales of an old mountain man, and repulsed by the same man’s grisly crimes, Redmond Hatch struggles to narrate the events which led him to bring his beloved wife and daughter to winterwood.

Review:
I was upset by the way Winterwood seduced me. I did not want to be reeled in by Redmond and his elliptical storytelling because I knew that, between the lines, he was telling me stories I didn’t want him to be able to tell. I wanted to believe the surface of Redmond’s life, that he and his Catherine (and, later, his Casey) were blissfully happy, with no hand ever raised from husband to wife. I wanted to believe that winterwood was an impenetrable castle where loving parents and daughter Imogene barricaded themselves against the attackers without. Perhaps Redmond would have lost his life in the battle, but such a death would be preferable to the slow drip of madness that leaked out from every sentence Redmond spoke to me. Continue reading →

The Ruins by Scott Smith

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Synopsis:
A jungle adventure turns into a nightmare when six tourists find themselves trapped in a clearing, unable to leave without being shot by Mayans, and finding a gory secret that brings new definition to the word flesh-eating.

Review:
I had to finish The Ruins during the day time, because I really did not want to face the heebie-jeebies again tonight. This book is scary, y’all–one of the scariest I’ve read in quite some time. It’s scary like I like, too, not just gore and demons but fear generated by good old-fashioned human drama. The kind that makes the characters’ sweat smell different because of the adrenalin. The kind that makes it impossible for you to avoid imagining this happening to you. Continue reading →

I’ll Take You There by Joyce Carol Oates

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Synopsis:
A troubled, introspective young woman in college in the early 60s falls out of favor with her sorority sisters and into a troubled relationship with a black PhD candidate in philosophy.

Review:
Very typical Oates–claustrophobic first-person narrative from the POV of a woman with serious issues. The story is laced with philosophical arguments that are way less interesting than the arcana of sorority life. Once Anellia leaves the Kappa house, the book loses contact with the larger world, narrowing in on Anellia and Vernor’s twisted pseudo-love affair. Oates does such a good job of limning the world of pretty girls in pouffy dresses swilling beer with oafish boys that I missed them when they left the story. Continue reading →