jessicaxmaria's Reviews (1.04k)

I probably shouldn't review this book since it's written by a friend and my husband is featured somewhat prominently. I will say that it's fun and interesting, and Diaz (as is his wont) does not hold back. At all. That might be a warning, actually. The collection of true stories does not provide much context for some of its adventures, but it's recommended for those interested in stories from a guy who's toured with the likes of Fall Out Boy and Guns 'n' Roses.

A short, precise examination of the civil war in El Salvador in the early '80s. Didion visits the country and her observations and insights (as always) are keen if somewhat bleak. But it's easy to be bleak as she explains the all-pervasive feeling of terror in the air. And as she explains how the word 'disappeared' is used within the context of what was happening and how it's oddly translated from Spanish - it's eerie and terrifying. It's a well-reported, solid piece of journalism about something that today can seem like a distant subject.

When I first recieved this book and slid the hardcover book out of the S. sleeve, and ran my hand over the canvas throwback library book Ship of Theseus, I was surely amazed. When I cracked it open and noted the various inserts of postcards, letters, napkin maps (!), and the "handwritten" notes in the margins, I was definitely taken with the mystery. And when I took in that smell--that distinct old library smell--of the book, well, I was already in love.

The production value is top rate. It's even a little magical? I couldn't travel with the book, I had to SIT DOWN AND READ. And I did just that for the first months--you must read this book slowly and pay attention. But then the wariness of the "work" I had to do while reading the book and the marginalia and the ciphers surpassed my interest in the actual story. I eventually came back to it after about a month, but as I neared those ending pages I could feel with heaviness that not all questions would be answered and when I was far done with the book I still wouldn't know everything. Alas, here I am, and I didn't.

It was quite a journey, and mesmerizing for a bit. I DID enjoy it. I raced home, I cancelled plans, I made sure I cleared my schedule to read this book. But now that I'm done, I'm on the internet and I'm still trying to discern things about the book that were not understood immediately or by book's end. There are actual website tie-ins and new ciphers created by the author Doug Dorst. Which is fine, I guess. But why extend this book, which seems a project obstensibly about LOVING THE INCREASINGLY NOSTALGIC ART OF READING AN ACTUAL BOOK, into something that goes online?

Why not contain all the answers in the words of your novel? In the words of your finely created characters in the margins -- Jen and Eric? I love these two characters, and I felt the thrill of their journey about VM Straka and their own romance. But in the end, it falls flat and based on interviews I've read from Dorst, there's websites with answers! You must go find them! And so the book loses it's entrancing quality and just becomes a gimmick, and exhausting.

I did love the book, I am just disappointed that days later the central question (Who is VM Straka?) remains unanswered.

(And I have a theory about who it is that I thought perhaps the book made clear, but upon discussing with other readers and from what I can glean from those websites, it seems less clear than I imagined. SIGH.)

The novel starts off as a jumble, and the narrator served to confuse me more than inform. But about halfway through, the pieces of the puzzle became clear and the revelation in the ending pages could be heartbreaking, if Didion was less bleak in her writing. But that's a reason I love Didion: her bleakness. Her attention to not the big, emotional scenes and moments, but those nearly blank spaces between the (catastrophic) events. She winds together a solid novel on crime and conspiracy with an inventive structure, but there seemed to be too much left unsaid (written?) - especially in the first few pages.

There's so much tedium in life, so much left unanswered, that reading this novel seemed just more of the same. A fine piece of observation, but wholly un-enthralling and quite boring. My escape into fiction left me
unsatiated this time around; there's a danger in being too realistic, observing every mundane detail of a life and setting the mystery to the side. By the time a (vague) resolution came around I didn't care any more.

The first few stories of the collection are riveting and eerie; I thoroughly enjoyed the madness, picking this up after hearing about the literary references in True Detective. The fun tapers off and becomes kind of tedious by the end of the book. There were some good surprises and fun, scary narrative. Enjoyed those parts.


I'd give the first half of the book five stars and the second half two. So, three and a half stars total.

I grabbed this book as I headed out the door to the airport -- I never travel to California without a Didion in tow. Good thing I own many of her books that I have yet to read; for occasions such as this.

Some of the essays in this collection seem dated in 2014, but others timeless. I particularly liked the great mini-history on the LA Times written in 1989, and her essay about Patty Hearst's personal life trajectory. Also interesting was the book-closer, written about the Central Park jogger case at the time it was happening in the headlines and long before the five boys charged with the crime were exonerated in 2002. Because this case came back into the headlines a couple of years ago with the Burns documentary, was fascinating to read Didion's cautious insights at the time -- which also called out the lack of actual evidence against these boys and the case in juxtaposition to New York City's social culture at the time.

I received this hardcover book without a sleeve, so I really had no idea what it was about. I just began reading. The writing in the prologue definitely drew me in; I liked Hershon's manner of referring to the future of her characters as they made a decision or contemplated something in the present. That mechanism worked well for me through the book. There were other detailed areas that were dense and rambled a bit long for how much time was passing to the characters. I liked the characters quite a bit - each of them different, flawed, and cultivated in reality. It's odd, but though there weren't many traditionally likable characters, I did like them and liked following along on their own journey and personal motivations. Besides some sections I think could be pared down, it kept my interest to see these characters from before, during, and after a tragedy.

A novel whose plot I knew little about when I began reading; I enjoyed the shock of what happens in the first part and how it triggers everything that happens to the main character, Theo, afterwards. So: I will not disclose what happens in this review, though it's included in most synopses.

Tartt has an excellent ability to let you sink into the character's surroundings. The fact that some of the book's major settings I see everyday on my way to work notwithstanding, I felt immersed in her world. As well as immersed in her characters - they are all such a great, interesting cast from the itinerant Boris to the lovable Hobie to the chilly Kitsey...I could go on. There are surprises in each, too.

The titular painting is real, and on show in NYC currently, so I've bought tickets to the exhibition. I liked the way the painting figured into the story, into the life of Theo. It became a little more far-fetched near the end, but I still loved the love-of-art theme and how it affects us, as human beings across time.

I enjoyed the book and how much time elapsed - to see from the beginning to the end. There were some things about the ending that rang odd, and perhaps weren't as fulfilling as I'd wished, but I was satisfied nonetheless. A good-sized novel that read quickly, without dragging.

(4.5 stars if I could award half-stars...)

A couple of weeks after finishing the book, I had to mark it 5 stars because the characters haven't left me yet, and I'm still thinking of that little bird!!