Sunday Shorts: A Round-Up Of Short Book Reviews

This post is a collection of short reviews of some of the books I've read in the past month.

In a Perfect World by Laura Kasischke

This author won me over with The Life Before Her Eyes, and when I finally started In a Perfect World, I couldn't put it down. Jiselle is a thirty-something flight attendant, with an open heart and naive nature, who falls for a pilot. Mark seems perfect -- he's handsome, charming and sexy. Jiselle quickly agrees to marry him, quit her job, and raise his three motherless children. Do you sense trouble coming? 

The story of Jiselle's marriage is one layer of this novel. In the background of her life, the "Phoenix flu" is killing indiscriminately, and no one understands why or how to prevent or treat it. Furthermore, the United States is blamed for this growing worldwide epidemic. We see society change gradually around Jiselle, beginning with occasional electrical blackouts and shortages and ending with a world that is almost unrecognizable.

I love Kasischke's lyrical, poetic writing. Her vivid imagery and attention to detail make her stories seem realistic and concrete, yet you're being drawn into a world in which nothing is quite as it seems. I love the fact that, unlike other dystopian fiction, this novel takes place in a culture that is clearly our own. The apocalyptic events don't come in one dramatic moment. It's a slow progression, painted vividly with realistic details. This made it eerily easy to imagine these events really happening.

In a Perfect World creates an apocalyptic universe interwoven with a drama about falling in love, marriage, and becoming a stepmother. This novel reflects the zeitgeist of post 9/11 America. It's also full of allusions to history, including the Bubonic Plague, and folklore. The author spent a great deal of time researching how cultures respond to plagues. Most of all, however, it's a story about who you become when life demands every bit of strength and fortitude you have -- and more -- and about the glorious and agonizing journey of becoming a mother. 


(4.5/5 stars)

The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman

Three sisters – Elv, Claire, and Meg -- have a deep bond. They share stories of a secret, magical land and a private language. One summer, after their parents' divorce, things go terribly wrong. While trying to protect Claire, Elv becomes the victim of a vicious, depraved crime. She carries this secret for the rest of her childhood, and it leads her down a tragic path that changes everyone's lives. 


I used to be a devoted reader of Alice Hoffman's books. This is my first in many years. She is the queen of quirky, lyrical magical realism. She weaves together realistic, raw, painful experiences with mythology and fanciful stories. For example, the brutality Elv suffers becomes intertwined with her fantasy world, and she lives in a dark fairy tale. Hoffman is also masterful at intermingling aesthetic beauty with darkness and pain: a necklace made of a bird's bones, a young woman hobbled by guilt and grief making intricate, beautiful jewelry in a tiny, secluded studio, or a tiny black demon, with delicate wings, bringing tragedy and sorrow.

I had mixed reactions to this novel. It is dark and sad, to the point of being emotionally manipulative at times. The characters seem to be relentlessly bombarded by tragedies. Even given the fact that the line between reality and fantasy is porous, as it always is in Hoffman's novels, it sometimes strained credibility for me. 

However, I was often mesmerized by the storytelling, characters, lyrical storytelling, and vibrant imagery. I also found parts of this story deeply moving. One piece of the story that particularly tugged at my gut involved a program in which prison inmates rehabilitate severely abused dogs. This provides some sense of purpose to a very troubled character who has always had a tremendous heart for hurt or suffering animals. At this point, the novel actually made me cry, leaving me with feelings that have stuck with me ever since. 

(3.5/5 stars)

Triggered by Fletcher Wortmann 

Imagine the worst thing in the world. Picture it. Construct it, carefully and deliberately in your mind. Be careful not to omit anything. Imagine it happening to you, to the people you love. Imagine the worst thing in the world.

Now try not to think about it.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, particularly the "Pure O" kind (uncontrollable obsessive thoughts with relatively few compulsive rituals) may be the most misunderstood mental illness. People continually joke about OCD, which makes me cringe. "I can't stand it if my CDs aren't organized. I'm so OCD." Or they imagine it's just a frenzy of hand-washing and lock-checking. The reality is generally much darker and definitely not funny.

Anyone who knows me understands that severe OCD, particularly the "Pure O" kind, is a subject painfully close to my heart. Wortmann describes it, from the inside out, so much better than any other writer I have seen. His account of his experiences is sometimes cerebral, sometimes raw and confusing, and sometimes absolutely brilliant. And much of the book was hilarious. As a person who gets through pain with dark humor, I felt like I "got" it -- I kind of wanted to take this young author out and buy him a drink. He definitely has a keen intellect and a sharp wit, and at times he reveals himself with painful honesty. The book made me laugh out loud and cry at the same time.

(4.5/5 stars)

The Life Before Her Eyes by Laura Kasischke

They're in the girls' room when they hear the first dot-dot-dot of semi-automatic gunfire. It sounds phony and far away, and they keep doing what they're doing -- brushing their hair, looking at their reflections in the mirror ...
Dot-dot-dot

Seventeen-year-old Diana and Maureen are best friends -- beautiful, radiant and full of life and good health. Maureen is devoutly religious. Diana is rebellious and sexually adventurous. They're both smart, funny and compassionate. As the story opens, they are sharing an ordinary moment in the school bathroom. Then a disturbed fellow student bursts in and points a gun at each of them in turn, asking "Which of you girls should I kill?"

Then we flash forward 23 years. Diana is 40 years old, still beautiful and married to a philosophy professor who wrestles with questions about good and evil and the nature of the human conscience. They have a lovely, healthy eight-year-old daughter, Emma, a house, and a garden. Yet even as Diana reflects on her perfect life, her world seems to become more and more fragile. The narrative fluidly slides back and forth between 40-year-old Diana's life and her life as a teenager.

In her adult life, it is springtime, and the season is described with breathtakingly beautiful imagery that illuminates both natural beauty, with the blooming of new life, and the scent of decay. This creates a mood that reflects many of the novel's themes: the urgency of life in the face of death, the contrast between good and evil, and the fragility of one's existence. There is also a sense of reality being partly created through one's perceptions. For example, the adult Diana suddenly realizes she can't remember how long it's been since she saw birds. When the thought occurs to her, birds suddenly return to the world, and she is surrounded by the sight and sound of them.

This is a gorgeous novel, both a story and a glimpse at Diana's dreamlike inner world. Laura Kasischke is a poet, and this shines through clearly in her elegant, imaginative prose. The book explores the metamorphosis from adolescence to midlife. It also asks some thought-provoking questions. For example, how much of our lives are made up of actual events and how much is woven from our thoughts and perceptions? How much of a person's identity is based on the person she will become? This intricate web of ideas is part of what makes this book, for me, unforgettable.

After I finished The Life Before Her Eyes, I had a burning need to talk to someone about it, but I didn't know anyone else who had actually read it. I don't want to say any more here, because I don't want to reveal spoilers. If anyone has read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts! If you include spoilers in your comment, please just include a spoiler warning at the beginning.

Thoughts on the Movie Adaptation:
This novel was spun, almost in a stream of consciousness style, from Diana's sometimes dreamlike experiences, thoughts, and memories, so it must have been difficult to adapt to the screen. Although inevitably it lacked much of the richness of the novel, I did get absorbed in this movie. I especially enjoyed the excellent performances by Uma Thurman, Evan Rachel Wood, and Eva Amurri.

The film's creators tried to capture some of the novel's imagery and symbolism through vibrant images, and the cinematography is gorgeous. For instance, we often see vivid pictures of birds on the screen, and birds are woven into the dialogue. For example, the adolescent Diana's science teacher mentions the Bernoulli Principle, explaining how birds achieve flight, and compares the rather troubled, rebellious Diana to a bird who has flown off course. The opening frames are filled with beautiful images of flowers blooming and decaying, and flowers appear throughout the movie, as they do in the book. These images, highlighting the tangled themes of life, death, and the fragility of our existence and our sense of reality, accurately reflect the novel.

I highly recommend this movie, though it is a bit confusing -- it's even more ambiguous than the book, which had me scratching my head more than once. This is an especially good pick if you enjoy extravagant cinematography and complex dramas.


Rating: 5

5- Cherished Favorite	4 - Keep in My Library	3 - Good Read	2 - Meh	1 - Definitely Not For Me