1Q84 - Haruki Murakami

My first endeavour into Murakami and it was a slog. His latest is a full length, that showcases moments of poetic brilliance set among a realistic fantasy tale. The story itself is intriguing but rather slow moving considering how little happens in 900+ pages. A handful of actions are analyzed over and over again, perhaps to stress their importance and show a glimpse of what the characters must have gone through but with nothing added on each retelling it is difficult to see the point of it all. I'd have preferred a boiled down Reader's Digest version, as long as it still included things like his likening of Ushikawa's hair to pubic hair, but cut out the ninth retelling of the hand-holding scene. Even after it all there isn't a great deal of resolution that makes one wonder whether it was worthwhile in the end.

6.5

Oct-Dec (no library renewals!)

Exit Lines - Joan Barfoot

An eye-opening read for a self-obsessed youth. The characters are real and revealing, making the book riveting. It starts strongly, once everyone was straight in my head, and then it carries. Written in a style that crams many things into a sentence, similar to the way people actually think. In fact there seem to be occasions were multiple narrators take on a paragraph and there were a number of re-reads, moving the emphasis around, but it was worth it once you got it. Setting the stage was my favourite part of the book as I was not thrilled by the plot line once it was eventually revealed but persistence easily paid off. A fine, grounding read that manages to cover a lot of 'life' and ends up as an inspiration.

8
November 2012

This is Your Brain on Music - Daniel J. Levitin

Two very intriguing topics merged into one book it brings the study of the function of the brain to the forefront while focusing on its reaction and processing of music. Slightly heavy on the jargon from both disciplines some aspects were skimmed over but other pieces were very rewarding. The brain is still an emerging area of scientific study and so there is still much left unknown which makes it exciting. Some of the physiological reasoning behind things like musical expectations and earworms are quite neat to finally have explained. Plenty to chew on here.

6
August-September 2012

Shampoo Planet - Douglas Coupland

Despite the story not really having a beginning, middle or end, Shampoo Planet carried itself as Coupland has proven his stories can. Basically popping into the life of an ambitious young small-city American guy with a hard bent for everything hot and modern it had ample opportunity to reflect on life and growing up (and even some love and relationships). Not relying on any gimmicks that Coupland has employed otherwise, besides the long lists of modern conveniences and fascination with human-made items, it was a fairly straightforward novel.

It did include this marvelous quote:
She is like a cheetah in the zoo, which has lived a comfortable life but has never run fast like nature intended her to. Okay, the cheetah is alive, but, so what?

September/October 2012
6

Kill Your Friends - John Niven

A vulgar orgy of drugs, obscenities, racism, alcohol abuse, and well, orgies all in the context of the late '90s music industry scene. The insight into the industry was intriguing while the first-person narrative's seemingly unending litany of offensive comments was disgusting and offensive (yet well-written). Something compelled me to push through - there must be something worthwhile here - yet the legal drama did not take any bigger importance in the latter half of the book and the storyline continued to be carried almost solely on an ongoing list of abuses to himself and other. The desired comeuppance never came and no lessons were learned. The interview with the author indicate that this was a fairly accurate glimpse into big music which is rather disgusting if true.

September 2012
5

Haiku - Andrew Vachss

An interesting perspective being told from the point of view of a homeless man. Not only that but a recovering narcissist to boot. Plenty of in-his-mind revelations that were intriguing in addition to the mini heist that the story revolved around. Enough to keep me entertained though perhaps not enthralled.

August 2012
6

Beatrice & Virgil - Yann Martel

An odd premise for a book that seemed to rush the introduction only to meander through the remainder. Saying something through a different medium to allow for it to be more easily digestible is a tricky one that I rarely enjoy and this didn't really turn the tables on this stance. Here the criticisms that the narrator levels at the playwright within the novel can obviously be turned on this book itself; the whole thing is somewhat meta. Based on the worthwhile twist rendered in Life of Pi I saw this one through to the end but it didn't quite redeem it. There was some resolution yet I didn't feel it was worth the build up. The Games for Gustav that appended the story were rather effective however - kudos for tackling the subject matter at least.

July/August 2012
4