August 2020 Books

Recently I've been in a bit of a reading slump. For some reason I just can't find the concentration for reading and therefore this month's reviews may be more haphazard than usual as I search through my brain fog for pertinent things to say. Nonetheless there were some great books in August, though they might bear a reread when my focus is a little more sharp.

The Great

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

This is an utterly beautiful (albeit heart wrenching) book that completely captured my attention for the few hours that it took me to read it, even in spite of my difficulty concentrating at the moment. In it, Coates writes to his son about his experience of being Black in America, and how he came to terms with all the different ways that blackness, whiteness, race and racism play out. From growing up in Baltimore surrounded by violence (both in the home and out of it, both physical and institutional), to attending the historic Black university Howard and discovering the fullness of Black existence and the diaspora, to his life as a prominent journalist documenting police brutality and white supremacy. He writes very much in the legacy of James Baldwin (not least because of the epistolary form of this book echoing Baldwin's The Fire Next Time), as he meanders through his life delicately weaving memoir and emotive language with excellent analysis and theory. The balance is perfect, and I would highly recommend this book to anyone that struggles with standard nonfiction that doesn’t have that more personal, emotive element because I think you will be able to distil a lot of important and useful information from this short book in an engaging way.

Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

When I’m feeling low, there’s no author I look to more now than Le Guin. I’ve spoken about her writing and prose many a time over the past year or so, so I’ll leave a link here to a recent review where I talk about her prose style and underlying themes in greater detail. Like I say in that review, though I appreciate almost everything she writes, Earthsea is thus far my favourite of her projects. And to return to it was a dream, just as I expected.

In this collection of stories, Le Guin expands the universe, describing events both before and after the first four books, and setting the reader up for the final instalment. I would definitely recommend you read this set of stories after the first quartet and before The Other Wind as it was intended because I do think it makes for a better reading experience. Le Guin continues here to rewrite and revise certain aspects of the first three books in favour of the female characters, which is something I very much appreciated and love about her as a writer in general. There is quietude and beauty in these stories, as always, though naturally as with any collection there are some that work slightly better than others. I particularly enjoyed the story 'On the High Marsh', even though it has little relation to the overarching story of the whole. It is a touching story about a troubled man who finds kindness and redemption in a remote village, and it shows how far a little compassion can go. It's a story I will no doubt return to time and again.

The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin

Again, I found this novel to be moving and uniquely beautiful. I don't want to say too much about the plot (you can see my original review of The Earthsea Quartet here if you'd like to know more about the world) as it would spoil what is a rather wonderful conclusion to the series. In fact, I think this is one of my favourite books out of all the Earthsea novels for the characters, the storyline and the fundamental ideology.

Return to Nevèrÿon by Samuel R. Delany

Here is another excellent conclusion to what has been a rather long journey with me and Delany's Nevèrÿon books. I've written/spoken about them here, here and here so go and have a browse of those reviews to get a good idea of what these books are all about. This final instalment continues Delany's exploration of lust, desire and how that motivates people (drawing from psychoanalytic theory quite heavily), as well as ideas about mirroring and echoes through time and space. I have to say that psychoanalytic theory is something I've never quite connected with myself nor is it my favourite body of theory, so I don't think this will end up being my favourite Nevèrÿon book in the end, but Delany's genius is powerful and intoxicating in these stories and for that reason I will no doubt return to them in the future. If you are a big fan of Lacan though, you will absolutely love these books (and this one in particular), and I would highly recommend them to you. They are not easy books to read, but they are immensely rewarding and also almost completely unique in my opinion; I've yet to read anything else like them!

The Good

Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi

I have been back and forth about this book. One minute I'm in awe of Doshi's mastery of language and the sheer confidence of her prose for a debut novelist, but the next I'm not sure I like this book at all.

This is a first person narrative from the point of view of Antara; she is an artist living in Pune with her husband, and she is facing the deterioration of her mother, Tara. Her mother was an eccentric woman who exposed our narrator to a lot of unusual situations as a child (at times completely neglecting her!) and their relationship is fraught with problems and bitterness. But as her mother begins to lose her memories, Antara finds she must truly confront her past and her feelings for her mother. She struggles with the idea that she must now be the caregiver, even though she didn't feel she was given much care herself as a child.

As I said, Doshi's command of the language is strong and confident in this book, and that may be from the sheer power of the narrator's voice; there is a lot of bitterness, resentment and fiery anger here. But there is an undeniable bond between mother and daughter, even though that bond may consist of both love and hate. Doshi shows how the line between self and mother can become blurred, and how the two characters both destroy and create one another. This is not a book I'd recommend if you're in a sensitive place, or if you want something with light and hope in it, but it is an accomplished debut and I'll be following Doshi from now on.

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

This is a lovely little book that follows an elderly woman and her young granddaughter across various summers on a tiny island in Finland. There is no particular plot line here, but rather we dip in and out of these two lives as they explore the natural world, as well as the ups and downs of growing up and growing old. There is playfulness here and joy and whimsy, but the book also deals with all sorts of themes in a delicate manner, from the big theological questions to grief and loss. It's a quiet meditative book, and also a short one, so expect to sink into its atmosphere rather than do a deep dive into any characterisation or storyline. A little gem of a read if you fancy something short but sweet.

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

Here's another book I wasn't quite sure what to make of. It follows Wallace, a young queer Black biochemistry postgraduate working in a Midwestern university; surrounded by primarily white friends and colleagues, he frequently feels awkward and out of place. Over a series of days toward the end of summer, everything seems to come to a head; Wallace's father has just died, leading him to look back on his traumatic past, and he enters an ill-advised relationship with a domineering friend.

I think this book will appeal to lots of people. It's a contemporary campus novel looking at this group of friends in forensic emotional detail, written in visceral and intimate prose. It is about racism both overt and covert that Wallace encounters, and all the microaggressions that wear him down, especially at a time when he is emotionally vulnerable following the death of his father. From my perspective (which is obviously severely limited), I do think this novel does a great job of showing the ways that microaggressions can become such a huge burden over time, simply because it does go into that forensic detail. In terms of the prose, some of the language is excellent, some is overwrought bordering on the ridiculous. Some of the character developments, plotlines and dialogue are believable and illuminating, some of them are questionable and awkward. However, the novel's patchiness is understandable and forgivable considering this is Taylor's debut.

On a more general note though, I don't think this book was for me. I'm not a reader that enjoys the blow by blow of every second of emotion. Plus this is one of those books which seems to be about a group of people inflicting pain and hurt on one another. Throughout I was desperate for Wallace to find some better friends, because they certainly weren't helping him in any way. I was also very excited for the marriage of biochemistry and the narrative (I love a bit of a science and literature mashup), but there didn't seem to be much for me on that front. It seemed to me like Wallace could be doing any degree. Whilst the novel was felt fully fleshed out and some of the prose was quite lovely, it simply didn't grip me like I hoped it might.

The Fine

Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler

What a huge disappointment! This is my first Anne Tyler book, and I think that was probably a mistake on my part. Anne Tyler fans I want to reassure you I do still plan to read some of her earlier work from her heyday. This, however, was not good. I'm frankly quite confused as to how it got nominated for the Booker at all.

It is about Micah, a middle-aged man who is extremely set in his routine. Then his girlfriend (or 'woman friend' as he calls her) finds herself possibly about to be evicted, and a boy turns up on his doorstep claiming to be his son. All of this sounds like a fantastic set up to a classic twentieth century style realist novel, perhaps with a dash of humour thrown in from the set-in-his-ways man. However, this book seems to merely skim the surface. The plot is disappointing, the revelations completely mundane ('maybe I should stop worrying about sticking to my routine so much!'), and it is too short to draw you in in any way. Furthermore, it seemed the modern day setting to this novel felt confused. It didn't seem to truly be set either around now (when I think it's supposed to be set - after all Uber is around), or 30 years ago. Instead it's stuck in some odd limbo which takes the reader right out of the sense of realism and makes a fair few elements rather unbelievable. Whilst the prose is smooth, accomplished and classically twentieth century, everything else is very disappointing. And it wasn't even bad! It was just… fine.

That’s all for this month my loves! See you next time.