Book 21: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Title: A Thousand Splendid Suns
Author: Khaled Hosseini
Length: 367 pages
Year Written: 2007
Why I chose this book: It was recommended to me by my friend Aria!

When I was little, I was big on the Dear America series—these were basically fictional diaries of young girls who lived through slavery, or the Trail of Tears, or the Titanic, or other historical times. They were great books, and educational in a kind of roundabout way. Not since third grade have I read a really good piece of historical fiction, until A Thousand Splendid Suns. It is his second book, published four years after The Kite Runner, indisputably his most famous novel. I haven't read The Kite Runner, but if the storytelling technique and writing style is anything like Splendid (which I would bet a lot of money on), it's probably coming up very soon on my to-read list.

Splendid is a story spanning thirty years, set in Afghanistan against the backdrop of the real-life war and violence that has gripped the country for decades. It is divided between the perspectives of Mariam and Laila, two women with very different upbringings who find themselves in a similar situations of helplessness and captivity. For me, the novel brought to light a perspective I can't imagine I would have come across otherwise. It's astonishing to think that everything we have been told about war with Afghanistan has been filtered and edited so that we are blind, or perhaps numb, to the atrocities the Afghan people have endured—at the hands of the military, the rebels, and the Americans alike. I cried during one part of the book, audibly groaned at others. One scene involving a Caesarian section made my limbs weak and my eyes blur. That's what a good book can do to you.

Khaled Hosseini is a very talented writer with a gift for simple yet illustrative storytelling. Though his characters can at times feel predictable, you always feel that these people are real. And it's probably because, in a way, they are.

Rating: 9.8/10

Book 20: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruku Murakami

Title: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Author: Haruki Murakami

Length: 386 pages

Year Written: 2014

Why I chose this book: Because I fucking love Murakami!

I fucking love Murakami! I just realized I sort of have a thing in general for Japanese (and even Japanese-American) authors, but when it comes down to it, nothing really beats Murakami. This is the second book by him I've read so far this year. The other day, I tweeted this: 

It sounds like I'm criticizing him, or emphasizing his topical limitations in a negative way, but the fact is that Murakami truly owns the writerly space he occupies. Reading a book by Murakami is like eating a piece of sushi that Jiro made. It's like drinking a cappuccino made by a 10-year barista veteran. Colorless is one of the less complex novels in Murakami's repertoire, but it still involves many (if not all) of the same themes that are found in all of his other novels. When reading Murakami, expect to encounter dreams, fantasies that are realities (and vice-versa), strange spiritual occurrences, and some type of graphic, if not also deviant, sexual activity. It's kind of like Murakami is a chef with just a few ingredients, but can mix them a million different ways to create many uniquely enjoyable dishes.

The main character of Colorless is (no surprise here) Tsukuru Tazaki, a 36-year-old man who has lived his entire adult life in the shadow of something that happened to him in college—his four closest friends cut him off completely and without explanation. As the title suggests, Tsukuru goes on a pilgrimage, or rather, realizes he has been on one for years. It is a very simple story, almost childish at first, before it develops into quite the layered yet placid plotline. It is a book for wanderers, for observers, for special people who don't realize how special they are.

Rating: 9.6/10

Book 19: The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger

Title: The Catcher In The Rye
Author: J.D. Salinger
Length: 216 pages
Year Written: 1945
Why I chose this book: I know that this is an important piece of literature, one I somehow managed to sidestep in my many English classes throughout life.

Before opening my copy of The Catcher In The Rye, I had absolutely no idea what it would be about. I didn't want to spoil my sense of wonder by checking Wikipedia or SparkNotes, and so, once I started reading, I was a bit surprised. The story seemed so normal. It was just about a kid who seemed to hate everything. He didn't have friends, didn't have sex, and kept getting kicked out of schools. I kept reading and reading, waiting for the big moment of clarity about why this book is such a heralded work. There was never a big moment. It was more the general after-impression left by this narrative that was remarkable. The main character, Holden Caulfield, is seriously maladjusted. He thinks everything and everyone is fucking stupid and phony—except for himself, of course. In the same vein, it is also unsettling that the book is narrated by Holden. I have serious trust issues with first-person narratives. Anyway, as you read, you learn some things about him, and continue to see him unravel, until you realize the book is over and you've just experienced one of the all-time greatest novels ever written. The feeling you feel at this point certainly begs for a much closer re-read. Especially for those who were lucky enough to actually study this book in high school, reading it again as an adult would almost certainly prove to be a rewarding experience. Salinger is awesome. I read this book and I just wish we could be text buddies.

This book took an unusually long time for me to read, considering its relatively short length, but I blame it on a 10-day vacation I took recently (I was reading another book originally, and left it in Houston on a connecting flight).

The most striking part of the book is when you find out the meaning of the book's title. I remember always wondering what in the fuck a catcher in a rye was. Now I know. Oh, how I know. It also reminds me a lot of the much newer novel The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, which must have found some slight inspiration in Holden Caulfield. Both are decently funny, semi-depressing stories of an awkward boy. Overall, The Catcher In The Rye is a tale of growth, pain, and alienation—but most people already know that. I'm the one who just found out.

Rating: 9.3/10

Book 18: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Title: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Author: Betty Smith

Length: 493 pages

Year Written: 1943

Why I chose this book: Only knew of it in the sense that it’s an important, classic novel. And I love to tackle those.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn took an excessively long time for me to finish reading. The book is just shy of 500 pages, and more importantly, it covers nearly two decades of the life of a poor family in Brooklyn. I read about how Katie met Johnny, they got married, had Francie and Neeley a year apart—then I followed Francie through childhood, adolescence, and eventually adulthood. I am, at this point, thoroughly invested in Francie and her family. I’ve spent three weeks with them.

In the book’s introduction, Anna Quindlen writes that A Tree in Brooklyn is “not the sort of book that can be reduced to its plot line.” It is about the human experience. It is about family, failures, fortunes, friendships. It is about a little girl who is aware that her younger brother is favored, a little girl that reads no less than one book a day, a girl that pretends with her family that they are in the North Pole awaiting  rescue when there is no food in the house. It is about her alcoholic dad, her proud mom, her wise grandmother, her irreverent aunts. It is sometimes heartbreaking and most of the time intriguing, reading about this small slice of life during a time I can’t fathom living through. Times in this book were hard, but nothing that the human spirit won’t fight against with utter resilience.

All in all, the book was a bit long, but ripe with realness. It’s almost reminiscent of To Kill A Mockingbird, with Francie and Neeley giving a little bit of a Jem and Finch vibe at times. I see why it’s a classic, and is probably worth a closer re-read at some point in my life.

Rating: 8.6/10

Book 17: She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb

Title: She's Come Undone
Author: Wally Lamb
Length: 469 pages
Year written: 1992
Why I chose this book: I've wanted to read this book for a while, not having known much about the plot but knowing so many people have read and enjoyed it (including Oprah).

Dolores Price is an ordinary girl who is subjected to an extraordinary lifetime of unfortunate events, filling her with pain, confusion, and resentment. Tragedies occur in Dolores' life like they are set on a timer, and are outlined by her bitter sense of sarcasm and wit. She reaches a weight of 257 lbs. after being raped by a neighbor and spiraling into a depression of overeating. Her mother is confounded with guilt, her dad faces brutal emotional retaliation and alienation for having previously left Dolores and her mother, and her grandmother is uptight—not someone Dolores can exactly relate to. In her oversized body, Dolores feels more and more isolated from the world, a feeling that follows her to college and eventually to Cape Cod, where she decides to disappear from it all.

Dolores eventually begins healing, part of which includes a physical transformation. After shedding over one hundred pounds, she is able to start dating and eventually marry who she always considered to be her "dream guy." However, she soon realizes she has fallen back into her previous patterns of powerlessness. He is a perverted high school English teacher, a failed poet with a bad attitude—but handsome. Dolores struggles with repeated troubles which manifest themselves in her life in different ways. When she does have genuine breakthroughs, they are simply triumphant. Following the trajectory of her downfall and eventual climb back to the surface, we become attached to Dolores and regret having ever judged or ignored a person based on their physical appearance. It's true. I definitely thought about my casual use of the word "fat." It's not nice. It doesn't matter. People are people. And they are the people they are for good reason.

This was the first book for author Wally Lamb, and having read all 469 pages in under three days, I'd call it compulsively readable. It's one of those books you can't put down. Many books take a while for me to read because they are difficult, in either language or style. She's Come Undone is as easy as a soft-serve vanilla cone, so that nothing stops your absorption of the plot, of Dolores' life and thoughts.

Rating: 9.5/10

Book 16: Mary by Vladimir Nabokov

Title: Mary
Author: Vladimir Nabokov
Length: 114 pages
Year Written: 1926
Why I chose this book: I was once intrigued with (Nabakov's most famous novel) Lolita, and purchased this book in 2012 to explore more of his writing (as you can see, I have a habit of buying books and not reading them immediately).

I love books that have plots socially predating modern forms of technology. You know, the stories involving letters that take weeks to reach their recipients, and love affairs that spawned from a chance locking of eyes at the local fair. That kind of stuff. No phone numbers, no email addresses. Definitely no Instagrams.

The main character of this book is Ganin (which I believe is his nickname - the book was originally written in Russian so perhaps some things are lost in translation for me), who is a young guy (20s, maybe) staying in a boarding house with a bunch of random roommates. He learns that one of his housemates is awaiting the arrival of his wife, Mary. In some way or another, Ganin determines that this is the same lovely young Mary with whom he'd fallen in love and had a brief affair with a few years prior.

The book is very short, and not much happens. It seems like Nabokov spends a bulk of the novel just setting the scene, and there isn't actually much action. My favorite part of the book comes quite near the end, and it really spoke to me about the validity and importance of memories versus reality. Ganin was holding on to memories of a woman he had only known for a few days, and in his mind their relationship took on a new life. In reality, however, he was likely nowhere as important to her. After all, she'd gotten married to another man. Such is life.

Nabokov is smart and artistic, and although Mary is nowhere near as layered or heavy as Lolita (which comes later, as this was his debut novel), it was still a fairly enjoyable read with subtle yet vivid imagery.

Rating: 7.8/10

Book 15: We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

Title: We Need New Names
Author: NoViolet Bulawayo
Length: 292 pages
Year Written: 2013
Why I chose this book: This book was actually on display at the library, and after reading a few pages I decided I'd buy it from Amazon.

We Need New Names is the story of a young girl named Darling who is from Zimbabwe, but moves to Detroit to live with her aunt, leaving behind a colorful cast of friends named Bastard, Chipo, Sbho, Stina, and Godknows. The first half of the book follows Darling's life in Zimbabwe, where she spends much of her time ransacking guava trees with her hungry, feisty friends. Though pre-teens, these kids are sharp-witted (though often imprecise) and face an environment of poverty, violence and racial conflict with a flippancy that could come only from children. Darling brags about what she will have in America, only to move to Detroit with her aunt Fostalina and realize that not all Americans live in luxury.

The second half of the book is dedicated to Darling's acclimation to the United States as it parallels with her formative teenage and young adult years. There is a noticeable rift between her and the friends she left behind, and she grapples with her new surroundings and just where she considers "home" to be.

We Need New Names is riveting, and at many times heartbreaking. One of the saddest and most memorable scenes of the book is one that is responsible for its title—it involves a bunch of clueless children attempting to address the issue of 11-year-old Chipo's pregnancy, since her condition hindered their game-playing. It was an extremely unnerving chapter to read. Overall, the book is craftily written, weaving together different cultures and opinions and stereotypes to create a story that feels very honest. Darling's story is the story of many just like her, and reflect even broader themes of cultural identity and negotiation. This is a really great first novel from Bulawayo and I am excited to see more from her.

Rating: 9.6/10