I wrote my final university exam two days ago, so sitting here among the sea of undergraduate students studying for their finals makes me feel like a fraud. Nevertheless, the summer days are bringing me back to those prepubescent years where I could spend the whole day reading, so I’ve got some goodies to share. And what better place to write about books than at the library?
A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey
genre: biography
“Anyone who says they only have one life to live must not know how to read a book.” I’ve never done drugs, so I picked up this book to live the life of a drug addict for a few hours. It was fascinating… until I found out the book doesn’t actually belong in the biography section because James Frey pretty much made it all up. After that illusion was shattered, I found it hard to read with the same enthusiasm. I also found that the ending didn’t wrap up as many loose ends as I had hoped. For example, who sent the pictures from San Francisco? Was it actually his ex-girlfriend? And if so, why? Was it an attempt at a reconciliation, or is this the equivalent of returning a box of your ex’s stuff so you can finally get closure?
The ending did have a satisfying final page, where Frey lists everyone’s whereabouts after the narrative ended. I counted, and of 13 drug addicts, 3 because better. That’s better than the 10:1 odds they talked about in the book. But was that made up too?
rating: 3 out of 5 lies James Frey told Oprah
Fishbowl, by Bradley Somer
genre: contemporary
The cover summary for this book could not undersell it more. “A goldfish named Ian is falling from the 27th-floor balcony on which his fishbowl sits. He’s longed for adventure, so when the opportunity arises, he escapes from his bowl, clears the balcony railing and finds himself airborne.” So this entire novel was going to be about the couple seconds it takes for a goldfish to fall and become paste on the sidewalk?
The book itself was a pleasant surprise. The goldfish’s fall is but a small part of a collection of stories of all the residents in the building. My favorite story-line was about Claire the shut-in. There’s something so beautiful about the idea of living life in a self-contained vessel, in need of and needing no one. Yes yes, I understand that we all need social interaction and she was living a very mentally unhealthy life brought on by fears of being hurt, but that doesn’t make those first few chapters narrating her placid lifestyle appear any less desirable. I can’t be the only one that longs to disappear not from civilization, but just from the presence of others for a while, can I?
Favorite quote:
It may take a lifetime for an individual to live, but it takes just under four seconds for the occupants of the Seville to live a collective life.
Rating: 3 out of 5 quiches that are tasty hot, or cold
Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher
genre: young adult
Holy SMOKES this book was good. Suicide is a heavy topic that I think most people automatically shy away from, but Asher used the delicate touch necessary to pry open those heavy curtains.
Jay Asher’s Q&A at the end of the book is also a must-read. I sometimes skip past these explanations when I get to the end of the book, but this one really give insight into the choices he made in the story. The logic behind the use of the audio cassettes was really quite brilliant.
genre: 5 out of 5 plays
Breathe, 