Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

 

This book is so particularly nuanced that to write about it at all would require a spoiler alert. I don't want to spoil it, so I'm going to be careful.

I believe the point of this story is to take the journey alongside Piranesi, the main character. You need to go on the ride too as an unexpected mystery pops up and finds resolution. For that reason, being careful means I won't talk about plot. I will say that this book is perfectly written and I enjoyed the flow of the story in the same way I liked Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. 

Piranesi explores the darkness of human nature and our innate need to find answers and make discoveries. It's also a book about survival, instinctive kindness, and the impact our environment plays in shaping us as people. It looks at faith from a purely spiritual perspective. There's no mention of G-d, but something deeper is out there. It's smart, thought-provoking, and just good.

I really enjoyed the complexity of this story and how it unfolded. There was a great juxtaposition of good and corrupt, selfish and selfless. It also postulated some interesting questions about identity.

I will mention though, speaking directly about the book, that Piranesi  is written as a journal. This is particularly important because you end up really only getting the story from a singular point of view. However, this telling of the story, in a more uncommon way, is one of the primary reasons it's such a worthwhile read.

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

 Second Book Club #13

I'm having a hard time pinpointing what I think of this book. I liked it. It was interesting, and told a very unique story. I enjoyed reading it too, but at the same time it wasn't a page-turner. A powerful, and emotional story, for sure, its combination of realism and supernatural, along with shifting narrators, does something.

Jojo's dad is white, his mom is African American. His dad is in jail, his mom is a drug addict. Jojo can hear animals talk. He can see ghosts. Jojo loves his grandparents and little sister. Jojo is still very much a kid, but is dealing with all of this. 

His Pop had a rough past, with a stint in Parchman Jail. It's where Jojo's dad, Michael, is now. With an unfinished story about what happened to Pop while he was there, Jojo has to go with his mom and sister to pick up Michael from the very same place.

During the roadtrip, it's very apparent what kind of mom Leonie is. She sucks. But, she's dealing with the trauma of her own past, losing a brother through questionable circumstances. She's also struggling with the interracial relationship she finds herself in, and her own addiction. 

At Parchman, the family not only picks up Michael, but they also end up with Ritchie, a ghost on a mission.

The story shifts between Jojo, Leonie, and Ritchie. They all have a piece of the full story to tell, which I feel is essentially what to do when you're lost. They're all lost for their own reasons, and they all have to find what feels like home in the end.

Through sadness, disappointment, bravery, and devotion, the story unfolds. We learn that the dead sing when they don't know where to go, and that sometimes it's the living that have to guide them. Threaded with commentary on race in America, this book is both educational and emotional. It gives a snapshot of one potential family living one possible life that has both hope and defeat intermingled.

It's also a book about people, a character study of so many different types. That was perhaps my favorite part -- how unique each person was within the book. They're all working with their own baggage, and it's significant, but the depth of insight into that process made this a very good book.

I would recommend this. I also think it's a great book for book club discussion. It's something different, something harder to explain. That's definitely a good thing.

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

 

This book began in such a different place than others like it. This is a story about good and evil. There's magic. There's an "epic" battle and a lot of carnage. But, that's not where we start.

The story begins ten years after the Chosen Ones have completed their mission. The bad guy is gone, the world is repairing, and our heroes are left dealing with the emotional and mental fallout of what they've experienced while essentially at war.

The five Chosen Ones began preparing for their fight as children, so the impact of their situation has been particularly hard to process. This is especially true for two of the five -- Albie and Sloane -- who both had a particularly rough time of it.

It was captivating to approach this topic from this angle. I liked beginning my interaction with these characters by thinking about what happens after such a significant life event. To see the struggle of living with the heroics and the tough decisions of war. I was so into where the book was going...

Until I wasn't.

That happened the second Sloane and two other Chosen Ones got sucked into a parallel universe, and the book becomes all about the battle after all.

Don't get me wrong, I like the genre, but it wasn't what I wanted out of this book. That, and the moment we shifted to the "action," the writing got worse. It was a fine read, but I felt like it moved through some great material only to hit me with disappointment.

Ten years after defeating The Dark One on Earth, using relics imbued with magic, the Chosen Ones are all in different states of repair. Not everyone is living a mentally healthy life. Albie, who continues to be physically and emotionally plagued by his capture and torture by The Dark One, commits suicide. This brings back the remaining four Chosen to mourn. It's in that instance that three of them get pulled into a parallel universe where magic is regularly used with the help of siphons, and The Resurrectionist and his undead army are the enemy. Our Earth's Chosen have been forcibly called upon to defeat them. It's the only way they'll get to go home.

Magic, though, is unique here. You have to know how to use it, but there also has to be intent behind each act. If you don't really want it to happen, even if it's as simple as unlocking a door, it won't work. Sloane struggles with this. Her mind is muddled with a mess of past guilt and trauma. Her disdain for the magic turns her into an easy target for The Resurrectionist. Once their paths cross, things get complicated (too complicated if you ask me.)

I'm very much on the fence about this book. I know I didn't really like it, but the story did take hold just a bit. The verdict is still out on my end.

The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl

 

I don't read a ton of mysteries, but the literary snob in me was attracted to The Dante Club. It's not because I'm a huge Dante fan -- read Blake in college instead -- but rather the presence of a few American literati.

The story takes place following the Civil War, in Boston, mostly near Harvard University. The literary scholars, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell were all real Dante aficionados, and J.T. Fields was the real publisher. They've come together, forming the Dante Club, to translate Dante's Inferno into English for the first time.

What's surprising is how resistant the Harvard leadership is to their project. They don't feel the Italian authors are worth learning, that this translation is a waste of time, and it may even have a detrimental impact on American culture. This puts immediate strain on the Dante Club since most of its members have a Harvard connection.

All of this part of the story is real. Then, the (fictional) murders start. Each one is very unique and specific, and suddenly the Dante Club realizes they're imitating the gruesome punishments from the Inferno. This correlation compels the club to use their knowledge to help unravel the mystery of the murders. Naming the murderer Lucifer, they must work fast to figure out who they are and what their motivation is before another death occurs.

Working against the clock, and some local detectives, it's a rush investigation that requires ingenuity and determination, making the mystery thrilling to follow.

This is an exciting and passionate book both in how the characters approach solving the murders and in their desire to translate Dante. Both are massive undertakings, and the juxtaposition of the two is so great to read. This is a very good, very smart, and very unexpected book. I really liked it!