Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio by Amara Lakhous
I read about this book over on Adrian McKinty’s blog and it sounded sufficiently interesting enough that I knew I had to read it. Now that I have I feel comfortable saying that is one of the more enjoyable reads of the year so far.
When one hated resident of a culturally diverse apartment complex is murdered another beloved resident is considered the prime suspect. In the aftermath the other residents provide monologues describing the two men and life in this modern microcosm.
The stories run parallel to one another, they connect and contradict in interesting ways. The ways that they all mesh together by the end is just masterful. I love the structure of the story and all of the interesting ways that the beloved suspect become a character described in relief.
Some of the themes that run through the book are identity and memory and how they are constructs. Also the book asks us what is the truth and does it exist? One of the main themes that runs through all portions of the book is racism, both casual and overt, and how it affects the group and individual, the young and old, and interestingly, because of how relatable these characters are, how we become implicit in the inherent racism in the book.
This is a delightful, thoroughly enjoyable Wow! book
Private Midnight by Kris Saknussemm
Private Midnight is about as disjointed and weird a novel as your likely to find anywhere else. After reading it I decided that it was a detective story for the Will Christopher Baer crowd except weirder.
Is it original? Yes, highly. Is it successful? Maybe less so. It’s disjointedness can be so jarring and abrupt as it switches from a PI tale to a more erotic one then finally to a supernatural one that it’s likely to throw most readers. There’s going to be a certain dedication required for those who chose this book.
I don’t mean to make it sound like I’m damning the book with faint praise though. It is indeed an interesting book. But I have to be honest in hesitating to recommend it to a broad audience.
In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami
I heard about this book when Al Guthrie and The Nerd of Noir were discussing it on Twitter. I was forced to confess two things; that I hadn’t heard of it and that it sounded interesting. So I picked up a copy.
Over the years the serial killer has become the ultimate blank faced symbol. Critics have seen the serial killer as representing everything from a declaration of white dominance in society, a reaction against the rise of conservatism, a reaction to rampant consumerism, an attack on intellectualism and everything in between. The boogey man for the new millennium.
For In the Miso Soup the two main characters are allegorical, representative of their countries, Japan and the U.S., in a larger and extended dialogue about their relationship with one another. The crux of the time seems to be spent saying that the U.S. is rampant in it’s excesses and these excesses lead to amoral killings.
One of the interesting things about In the Miso Soup is the lone act of violence. It happens in the middle of the book and is 10+ pages long and very detailed. It’s details and repetition almost dull and bore the reader it’s so detached. So is this a commentary on the act of violence in the modern age or is it a commentary to the reader and their ability to be non-plussed by the time it ends? Probably a little of both (among others). For an interesting conversation about this scene please go here.
