Book report 21
By A. Bae Hel
Three very story books this time.
If Cats Disappeared from the World
Genki Kawamura, Eric Selland (Translator)
Another of the Japanese cat genre that I think probably is not translated to provide the same impact as the original. I could be wrong, but the writing seems in part juvenile, particularly the parts around the devil persona.
I gave it a 3 star because the elements around the valuing of what you have in life are well done, but whole making a deal with the devil seemed overly contrived and did not touch me. But again, perhaps this is the translation. Plus, too much reliance of Christianity myths for the story line. Are there not more traditional Japanese myths around death that could have been used to greater effect? Pervious Japanese novels I have read provide a sense of the culture, an element to my western mind of foreignness. This novel however, read like an American juvenile novel with no sense of Japan. As I learned from Taipei Story, the language of cultures reveals the life of the culture. Unfortunately, all this one gave me was a taste of hot dogs and southern fried steak.
If you enjoy Japanese cat genre, I cannot recommend this one, unless you can find a translation by a different translator.
The Hounding
Xenobe Purvis
This novel is an apropos cautionary tale for the times. Young girl does not smile at a local man. And you know the outcome.
Girls, don’t be, well basically, don’t be anything. Don’t focus on family, don’t be grieving, don’t show no interest in a man, don’t be, don’t be, don’t be.
Written with a gothic vibe, the 5 sisters are the targets of a community’s desire to create drama. It’s a rough man’s world full of violence and hatred of anything seen as not conforming to the desires of what a man wishes to see, grasp and control. Dark and gloomy with an overhanging sense something awful approaching, the novel is apparently inspired by a true event from 1700 of 5 sisters who, based on a doctor’s report, barked like dogs. Set in the ‘Age of Enlightenment’ the story is told from the perspective of those men and boys around them, and one woman. While there are some enlightened members of the community, gossip still rules and the place of girls in society is strictly proscribed, enforced by the fear of those with the most malicious whispers.
Gossip and rumour spreading is a key theme and the vicarious thrill it gives to spread it further. That little gleam we get when we can be the one to share a bit that before anyone else, boosting our dopamine and our pathetic self esteem. Mirroring today’s gutter press insistence that ‘the public has a right to know’, this novel examines the component of community life that we continue to face today.
Son of a Trickster
Eden Robinson
This was not what I thought it would be when I picked it up. The novel is primarily about a truly horrible family life full of drug and alcohol addiction. Jared is in grade 10 and trying just to get through the year with an unstable mother, father and friendship circle of addicts.
Set in Kitimat, Terrace and occasional Prince George it is a deeply unflattering rendering of indigenous life in the north. Jared is a basically good kid with a sense of responsibility for his mother, his father and even his drunken friends. He spends most of grade 10 stoned or black out drunk in good part due to his mother offering him beer instead of supper and encouraging him to traffic in pot cookies.
The first half of the book continues to build this horror of a life, and it isn’t until the half way point where the magic realism finally shows up. The novel contains violence, parental neglect, abuse, a lot of drugs and alcohol, graphic sexual descriptions and finally a sense of a path to redemption. It is the first in a series, but I am not sure I will continue on; if felt too much like shock the reader, not for the story progression, but rather just to describe the horrors of how bad life can be. I was reminded of Daemon Copperhead but without a desire to read on.
It is hard to recommend this, but apparently it is popular. That may be more due to collective guilt rather than it being a good story.
