March books
The books I read in March! I actually wrote this in April and have edited it a bit. Mostly because I’m still getting a handle on what qualifies as a spoiler, and you have to be a bit careful with murder mysteries :)
The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
Okay - this did not move me and break my heart the way it clearly did for a lot of people. Not to say it wasn’t good; it just didn’t hit me that way, despite being about two teenagers with cancer. I enjoyed it though; I liked the romance, I loved Isaac, I liked Amsterdam and the way the cancer fucks with even their happy, romantic time - the part in the Anne Frank House was probably my favourite. And there’s interesting stuff there about gender roles and what it means to live a good life. But me and John Green are sort of like me and Neil Gaiman: logically I should love it and loads of nerdy people like me do, but somehow the chemistry isn’t there.
Unnatural Death by Dorothy L Sayers
I was a bit disappointed by a (spoilery) detail, but I liked this one. Peter Wimsey is charming and I love his butler forever, plus there’s this great character Miss Climpson. She’s a gossipy spinster and also a SPY who secretly moves into this town to ferret out info for Wimsey UNDERCOVER. SO COOL. And it’s actually a rather nice comment on gender, I think; I often feel a bit uncomfortable about ‘woman uses gender stereotypes’ characters, because they can be awesome or this awful ‘she is EMPOWERED by getting molested’ thing. Miss Climpson is awesome. She’s this sharp, clever, observant woman whose mental powers are being tragically wasted by the society in which she lives, and she uses the expectation that she’ll be nosy and gossipy to FIGHT CRIME.
Whose Body? by Dorothy L Sayers
I really liked Sir Peter in this one. Silly and upper-class and terribly clever, and this time I didn’t get so much of an uncomfortable Victorian-gentleman-detective-with-all-the-problematic-shit-that-implies vibe. BUNTER IS HILARIOUS AND AMAZING. AS IS THE DOWAGER DUCHESS. And the actual mystery is cool as well as funny. BODY IN A BATH. IDK. And the part where the body can’t be Sir Rueben Levy, because that guy is a pious Jew with pious Jewish parents, whereas the dude in the bath, not so much. PETER GIVES ME LOLZ. Peter’s ambivalence about his own role, his seeing this stuff as a game, is cool as well. And the chapter of his war nightmares and shell-shock... fantastic.
The Unpleasantness At The Bellona Club by Dorothy L Sayers
This was kind of fascinating. Not so much the mystery in itself, although I liked that; more as a study of post-WW1 Britain and the faultlines left behind. Peter’s shell-shock, and the fact that he and his butler Bunter met in the trenches, came up in the other books but this was all about the First World War. The fact that the ‘murder mystery’ part centres around an old soldier and the inheritance he leaves for two younger men, both veterans of WW1, is just perfect - a lot of the novel, for me, revolves around the ‘lions led by donkeys’ stuff and quiet resentment of the older generals by the men who fought.
The title is just perfect - we wouldn’t want any unpleasantness, would we - particularly since one of the young ex-soldiers, George, is kind of disgusting to the other Bellona Club members because he gets hysterical and has shell-shock and is just generally failing to be a Man with a Stiff Upper Lip. There’s a lot of really interesting bitterness interleaving the story, not least in the matter of gender relations.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
SO different in mood. This is about two US boys called Will Grayson, with alternating POV chapters, who meet in the middle of the book. I liked the straight Will and his reaction to being best friends with Tiny, who is a diva enormous in both body and personality; Will’s sense of orbiting Tiny’s planet is interesting if not always endearing. The gay Will is interesting too; he’s clearly got mental health issues, some sort of depression probably, but they’re not elucidated upon or the focus of his story - they’re just a steady painful thing. I like his relationship with Tiny when they meet and how that plays out.
Ultimately the most interesting thing for me, in this book, was the scene in which Tiny gets some interiority. He’s a defining figure for both Will Graysons: a best friend for years and the driving force behind events in Will’s life, or a first boyfriend and the cause of coming out for the other Will. Tiny goes around being fat and shameless and writing a musical and being constantly in love and knowing everyone - he’s a classic theatre queen, although subversively overweight. And then he gets a scene where he actually gets to talk about his own life and has emotions beyond the ones he sings about, which never happens for that kind of character. Very cool.
So yeah. Not a great book, but a good one. I really appreciate, as well, the massive value it places on platonic love, and on the people who change you, whether or not you fall in love with them.
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Yay! I love Katsa, the main character, and I love the romance and Po, the man in question. I enjoyed the minor characters, especially Prince Raffin - he’s Katsa’s cousin, and their tight platonic bond is just lovely. And the world is genius: it’s basically medieval-esque-little-kingdoms, business as usual, but some people are Graced. And a Grace is a massive talent for something - anything, from swimming to cake-baking to mind-reading to flower-arranging. Katsa’s Grace is for killing.
IT IS SUCH A COOL SET-UP. And there is a great twist which I love and will not spoil, but it is a great twist and provides subtly feminist commentary. [Spoil in comments if you like, but please warn - I got spoiled and it did affect my enjoyment.] And Katsa’s pain over her Grace and the use to which it’s been put, and her process of changing her effect on the world and so her idea of herself, ahhhh KATSA I LOVE YOU. She’s just great, particularly because she could be this WOMAN WARRIOR CARES NOT FOR FEMININE FRIPPERY! NO MARRIAGE FOR HER! thing, and she totally isn’t. Also, for a fantasy romance in which our heroine begins surrounded by powerful men, Bechdel passing liek whoa. Bitterblue, the child princess who is the third main character, is sometimes a bit too perfect and stoic, but it’s not too bad.
Also, the villain is fucking terrifying. Like, seriously, I felt oogy about him from the first references to him, and he becomes utterly chilling.
This was originally posted at http://www.dreamwidth.org/12345.html. Comment wherever you like :)
The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
Okay - this did not move me and break my heart the way it clearly did for a lot of people. Not to say it wasn’t good; it just didn’t hit me that way, despite being about two teenagers with cancer. I enjoyed it though; I liked the romance, I loved Isaac, I liked Amsterdam and the way the cancer fucks with even their happy, romantic time - the part in the Anne Frank House was probably my favourite. And there’s interesting stuff there about gender roles and what it means to live a good life. But me and John Green are sort of like me and Neil Gaiman: logically I should love it and loads of nerdy people like me do, but somehow the chemistry isn’t there.
Unnatural Death by Dorothy L Sayers
I was a bit disappointed by a (spoilery) detail, but I liked this one. Peter Wimsey is charming and I love his butler forever, plus there’s this great character Miss Climpson. She’s a gossipy spinster and also a SPY who secretly moves into this town to ferret out info for Wimsey UNDERCOVER. SO COOL. And it’s actually a rather nice comment on gender, I think; I often feel a bit uncomfortable about ‘woman uses gender stereotypes’ characters, because they can be awesome or this awful ‘she is EMPOWERED by getting molested’ thing. Miss Climpson is awesome. She’s this sharp, clever, observant woman whose mental powers are being tragically wasted by the society in which she lives, and she uses the expectation that she’ll be nosy and gossipy to FIGHT CRIME.
Whose Body? by Dorothy L Sayers
I really liked Sir Peter in this one. Silly and upper-class and terribly clever, and this time I didn’t get so much of an uncomfortable Victorian-gentleman-detective-with-all-the-problematic-shit-that-implies vibe. BUNTER IS HILARIOUS AND AMAZING. AS IS THE DOWAGER DUCHESS. And the actual mystery is cool as well as funny. BODY IN A BATH. IDK. And the part where the body can’t be Sir Rueben Levy, because that guy is a pious Jew with pious Jewish parents, whereas the dude in the bath, not so much. PETER GIVES ME LOLZ. Peter’s ambivalence about his own role, his seeing this stuff as a game, is cool as well. And the chapter of his war nightmares and shell-shock... fantastic.
The Unpleasantness At The Bellona Club by Dorothy L Sayers
This was kind of fascinating. Not so much the mystery in itself, although I liked that; more as a study of post-WW1 Britain and the faultlines left behind. Peter’s shell-shock, and the fact that he and his butler Bunter met in the trenches, came up in the other books but this was all about the First World War. The fact that the ‘murder mystery’ part centres around an old soldier and the inheritance he leaves for two younger men, both veterans of WW1, is just perfect - a lot of the novel, for me, revolves around the ‘lions led by donkeys’ stuff and quiet resentment of the older generals by the men who fought.
The title is just perfect - we wouldn’t want any unpleasantness, would we - particularly since one of the young ex-soldiers, George, is kind of disgusting to the other Bellona Club members because he gets hysterical and has shell-shock and is just generally failing to be a Man with a Stiff Upper Lip. There’s a lot of really interesting bitterness interleaving the story, not least in the matter of gender relations.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
SO different in mood. This is about two US boys called Will Grayson, with alternating POV chapters, who meet in the middle of the book. I liked the straight Will and his reaction to being best friends with Tiny, who is a diva enormous in both body and personality; Will’s sense of orbiting Tiny’s planet is interesting if not always endearing. The gay Will is interesting too; he’s clearly got mental health issues, some sort of depression probably, but they’re not elucidated upon or the focus of his story - they’re just a steady painful thing. I like his relationship with Tiny when they meet and how that plays out.
Ultimately the most interesting thing for me, in this book, was the scene in which Tiny gets some interiority. He’s a defining figure for both Will Graysons: a best friend for years and the driving force behind events in Will’s life, or a first boyfriend and the cause of coming out for the other Will. Tiny goes around being fat and shameless and writing a musical and being constantly in love and knowing everyone - he’s a classic theatre queen, although subversively overweight. And then he gets a scene where he actually gets to talk about his own life and has emotions beyond the ones he sings about, which never happens for that kind of character. Very cool.
So yeah. Not a great book, but a good one. I really appreciate, as well, the massive value it places on platonic love, and on the people who change you, whether or not you fall in love with them.
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Yay! I love Katsa, the main character, and I love the romance and Po, the man in question. I enjoyed the minor characters, especially Prince Raffin - he’s Katsa’s cousin, and their tight platonic bond is just lovely. And the world is genius: it’s basically medieval-esque-little-kingdoms, business as usual, but some people are Graced. And a Grace is a massive talent for something - anything, from swimming to cake-baking to mind-reading to flower-arranging. Katsa’s Grace is for killing.
IT IS SUCH A COOL SET-UP. And there is a great twist which I love and will not spoil, but it is a great twist and provides subtly feminist commentary. [Spoil in comments if you like, but please warn - I got spoiled and it did affect my enjoyment.] And Katsa’s pain over her Grace and the use to which it’s been put, and her process of changing her effect on the world and so her idea of herself, ahhhh KATSA I LOVE YOU. She’s just great, particularly because she could be this WOMAN WARRIOR CARES NOT FOR FEMININE FRIPPERY! NO MARRIAGE FOR HER! thing, and she totally isn’t. Also, for a fantasy romance in which our heroine begins surrounded by powerful men, Bechdel passing liek whoa. Bitterblue, the child princess who is the third main character, is sometimes a bit too perfect and stoic, but it’s not too bad.
Also, the villain is fucking terrifying. Like, seriously, I felt oogy about him from the first references to him, and he becomes utterly chilling.
This was originally posted at http://www.dreamwidth.org/12345.html. Comment wherever you like :)