Currently Reading

The Other - David Guterson : I read this book out of longing for the Pacific Northwest region, most specifically the Olympic rainforest, where a good portion of this story is set. That delivers, but the plot not so much. I was left feeling like it never quite tackled the kernel of the matter, a hermit living and dying alone in the forest. But I suppose then the lack of understanding as to why someone would forsake civilization is then present.

Here They Come - Yannick Murphy : This is not a book I would normally read, I can not exactly say why, but regardless, I am glad I did. Perhaps because of its resonance in the region I am currently in. A young, crass girl living with her poor family on the lower east side of past, and all the ensuing hi jinx. There is a beautiful twist of language at the end and some magical realism throughout. I read this taking the F train back and forth on a rainy day.

"The Leopard" - Wells Tower : The story from this week's New Yorker is good and weird. Set from the point of view of a vexed and blemished eleven year old boy, it is a style of voice I had not yet seen represented by the periodical. He has a collection coming out in Spring. Link to the story here.

Insel - Mina Loy : I found this whilst browsing the "L"'s to my delight. The novel is set amidst a collection of Surreal painters in this semi-autobiography. Loy was a painter and more throughout several art movements in the early and mid-century. Printed too some thirty years after it was written. I am only partway through, but am enjoying its elaborate and layered language.