John’s Comments (group member since Sep 12, 2019)

John’s comments from the YHS Class of 2022 group.

R-T, Margaret, and the Rats of NIMH by Jane Leslie Conly

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Robert C. O'Brien's award-winning children's classic Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH was the first book I ever called "favorite." As I child, I was aware that the series went on--I think I even started Racso--but I think I was disenchanted by the fact that O'Brien had not written the sequels.

I read Mrs. Frisby to my kids back in February. Though I confess it had lost some of its magic for me (even after attempting to adjust for my jaded adult biases), we all enjoyed it enough to want more. I was pleased to realize, then, that Jane Leslie Conly, the author of the other two books, is in fact O'Brien's daughter and that she'd only taken over because O'Brien had died somewhat unexpectedly a couple years after writing Mrs. Frisby. We dove in.

Honestly, while the ridiculousness of the premise strains more and more as the concept of these superintelligent rats is drawn further from its initial whimsical conception, both Racso and R-T, Margaret are darned good! Not quite as good as their predecessor perhaps, but Conly takes the story in some clever and thought-provoking directions. This last one, especially, introduces some surprisingly mature themes (such as peer pressure and the ethical duties of the journalist) in a way that is tactful and accessible to a younger audience.

I was concerned that Conly was going to end this book, and thereby the whole series, on an overly sunny, saccharine note, but she surprised me in the penultimate chapter and did something that felt far more real. Brava!

Anyway, if you are a fan of Mrs. Frisby or just enjoy solid children's literature, or if you have a thing for rats and other small creatures, give this series a try!



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American Street by Ibi Zoboi

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


This book presents us with Fabiola Toussaint, a Haitian teen who immigrates to Detroit and quickly finds that America is far from the "Promised Land" implied by its reputation. Honestly, it was a slog to get through, and I probably wouldn't have finished it were it not for the fact that I really hate not finishing things. YA is not my style to begin with, but the writing style and characters never really engaged me much at all here, and a lot of it just felt tacky. I did enjoy learning a bit more about Haitian culture and folklore, but I imagine there are higher-quality vessels for those sorts of ideas. If you're really into YA lit and teen drama and gangs and all that sort of stuff, you might enjoy this more than me, but otherwise I'd definitely steer clear.



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Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I don't even know what to say about this book, except that it is an astounding achievement, even for one of the most hyped writers of the 20th Century. I've read my fair share of Vonnegut over the years (including having already read this one once before when I was a senior in high school), and it's all been intriguing enough and pretty much fine, but there's something uniquely remarkable about S5. Vonnegut recognized this himself:

I suppose that flowers, when they’re through blooming, have some sort of awareness of some purpose having been served. Flowers didn’t ask to be flowers and I didn’t ask to be me. At the end of Slaughterhouse-Five, I had the feeling that I had produced this blossom. So I had a shutting-off feeling, you know, that I had done what I was supposed to do and everything was OK. And that was the end of it.

What he had been "supposed to do" was relate his actual experience as a prisoner-of-war in one of the most horrifying massacres in the history of humanity: the Allied firebombing of Dresden, Germany, in the final months of WWII. After struggling to achieve this for 25 years (a struggle that ostensibly forms the basis for this book's riveting first chapter), he finally found success through the fictionalized, fractured lens of Billy Pilgrim, the hapless simpleton who stumbles through this book--as well as through time and across the universe--with a profound passivity, casting the existence and value of free will into question.

Facing down the sublime horror of war and genocide and carnage and just plain old death (and I suppose we must also toss in life), Vonnegut yanks his narrative handbrake, and this story appears to skid out-of-control, yet he lands it in precisely the right spot to have spoken his piece, etching along the way a remarkably beautiful and chaotic journey. The overall effect reminds me of a more tongue-in-cheek version of what Vietnam vet Tim O'Brien would achieve so gorgeously a couple decades later in another masterpiece of military fiction, The Things They Carried.

You'll need a sense of adventure and an affinity for irreverence to enjoy this. Because the book is so damned lovely, I hope you have them both.



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Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I was sorely disappointed with this book. I've always enjoyed Bradbury, and I was really looking forward to experiencing a different side of him. Add to this the esteem and hype this book seems to attract, and it seemed reasonable to expect that I would have a grand old time with Dandelion Wine. Alas, 'twas not to be.

Perhaps I was too attached to the idea of a narrative arc. Maybe I should've known better that that was not in store for me here. This book is essentially a collection of vaguely interlinked anecdotes and reflections from a boy's idyllic summer in the suburban Midwest. Bradbury pulls out all the stops in making it as poetic and lyrical as he can, resulting in a few nice passages but far more trite tripe.

I guess if you really get carried away with the romance of summer and Americana and boyhood and the good ole days, you could enjoy this. Apparently, there's a great many people of such a bent. For my part, I can think of dozens of books that accomplish all that far more artfully (To Kill a Mockingbird seems the most obvious example at this time).



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Tenth of December by George Saunders

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Brilliantly original stories from beginning to end. I know of no writer so capable of convincingly dropping you into world after uncanny world, each as compelling and realistically presented as the last. He's like a more muscular and rollicking Barthelme.

My favorites would have to be "Exhortation," "Escape from Spiderhead," "Al Roosten," and "Victory Lap." But honestly there's not a bad story in the bunch.

If you like to be surprised and touched and don't mind working for it, Tenth of December should be high on your list.



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A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was my first Murakami novel, though he's been on my list for so long it's criminal. Often in situations such as these, there accrues an insurmountable quantity of hype. In other words, I was expecting to be wowed. Somehow, Murakami delivers.

Honestly, it's so hard for me to talk about this book. Any summary of it sounds insane. Let me try.

In late-70s Japan, an ad exec uses a photo he received from an estranged friend as part of an ad campaign and, in doing so, attracts the intention of a mysterious, ultrapowerful magnate who recognizes in said photo a magical sheep which he then forces the ad exec to seek out on his behalf. Also, the friend's name is The Rat. Also, that's practically the only name we get in the whole story. Also, the main character enlists the support of his girlfriend, who happens to possess supernatural, supremely beautiful ears. Also, there's a geriatric, flatulent cat. Also, the cat is one of the only other characters in the book with a name (Kipper). Also, there's quite a bit about whale penises.

See what I mean? INSANE.

But somehow it's absolutely not. Rather, it's dreamy. As in I felt like I was in a dream while reading it. The narration is supremely compelling. The story is supremely enticing (think magical realism meets film noir). The book is supremely worth reading.

Avoid if you have a low tolerance for the bizarre. Otherwise, I highly recommend it.



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Eva Luna by Isabel Allende

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Eva Luna is a marginally fantastical tale of a young South American woman who, despite facing some unusual and intense hardships, grows up to be a confidently creative force thanks to an uncommon self-possessedness and talent for storytelling. Allende's writing is richly descriptive and starkly captivating at times, especially in the sections about the tragic childhood of Rolf Carlé, an Austrian who leads a somewhat parallel life on a collision course with that of the protagonist. Unfortunately, the story takes quite a while to take shape--there's enough that's compelling at the beginning to make up for this, but it winds up lagging a bit around the middle. Still, it makes for an enchanting and rewarding read for anyone who enjoys sprawlingly ambitious narratives, richly multi-dimensional characters, and exotic settings... with a hint of magic.



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If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have never read anything like this book. Calvino's insane ambition gripped me from the first page basically to the last. While the jig got a bit repetitive at times, overall this book is an astounding demonstration of how inventive and refreshing fiction can be, of how, despite the fact that authors are limited to letters and punctuation and spaces and a whole bunch of pages, the possibilities for invention and ingenuity are effectively endless.

It's not an easy book by any stretch, but, if you're a reader who is up for a challenge and likes to look at the world from a delightfully skewed angle, you may well enjoy giving this one a try.



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