Review: 11/22/63 (by Stephen King)

My Rating: 5 stars

Wow, what a book!  This 849-page tome took me more than a week to read, but it was absolutely worth every minute spent (and then some). 

Those who are familiar with my reading preferences probably won’t be surprised to hear that this is my very first Stephen King book. Growing up, my impression of King has always been that he is a brilliant writer of horror novels (I mean, they don’t call him the “Master of Horror” for nothing) -- since horror is a genre I don’t read at all, it made sense that, for most of my life, I had never been interested in reading any of King’s fictional works.  Then a couple of years ago, a friend who was (and still is) a huge fan of King’s works not only corrected my misguided assumptions, but also helpfully gave me a list of his non-horror books to try.  Of course, 11/22/63 was on that list (in fact, it was at the top of the list, since it’s my friend’s favorite Stephen King novel), but since I had just started graduate school, I knew I wouldn’t have the time to get to it, so I put the list away and essentially forgot about it.  Coincidentally (or perhaps not?  Within the context of 11/22/63, the word “harmonic” slips into my mind as I write this, lol), one of my book clubs recently chose this book as our next read (cleverly aligned to the timeline of the story itself), but not only that, I just wrapped up my schooling last month and already started getting back into the full swing of things in terms of my leisure reading (not to mention I had just finished the last book I was reading and was thinking about what to read next) – talk about perfect timing!

In terms of the book itself – well, the fact that I gave it 5 stars already says a lot, especially since I’m usually really stingy when it comes to book ratings. The other thing worth mentioning though, is that, in addition to not reading horror, I’m also not a fan of science fiction (which is the main genre that this book is marketed as) – especially time travel stories (which, of course, is the main premise that anchors the book) because I’m the type of person who finds it extremely difficult to suspend disbelief, so I tend to get too caught up in the “hows” and “whys” and “what the hecks” and spend so much time trying to rationalize things that the story itself ends up getting lost on me.  In essence, reading time travel stories is usually a frustrating experience for me.  But that’s not all – I’m also admittedly not keen on stories about American politics and try to avoid that subject matter as much as I can (though with that said, JFK was always been an “exception” in our household, since my mom was a huge fan of his, so when it came to the subject of the Kennedy assassination, I grew up with information overload). Lastly, I’m also a bit of a cynic when it comes to romance, so the fact that there would be a story arc revolving around a central romance (specifically between the main protagonist Jake Epping and the librarian he meets during his time travel adventure, Sadie Dunhill) would not have interested me. 

Essentially, you could say that the odds were stacked against me liking this book, since it had so many of the things I usually shy away from in a book – and yet…to my utter surprise and astonishment, I ended up loving this book.  I’ve heard from many people who say that Stephen King is a masterful storyteller – I have to say that I absolutely agree, as my own experience reading 11/22/63 is a testament to this.  The way King wrote all of the characters – from the main characters of Jake and Sadie to the supporting ones such as Al, Deke, Miz Mimi (one of my favorite characters in the book), Miz Ellie, and even the minor ones such as Mike Coslaw and Bobbie Jo Allnut – he got me to care about all of them.  He also made the story riveting and compelling to the point that I was not only absorbed and invested in the story, I was actually so wrapped up in it that I completely forgot about the time travel element and as a result, didn’t get a chance to get “lost in the weeds” like I normally would have.  It definitely helped that King kept the time travel elements and rules very simple and didn’t dwell a whole lot on the mechanics.  Sure, there were moments when I didn’t really understand what I was reading and at times, some of the “science-y” stuff still went completely over my head, but unlike other stories with similar elements, the time travel / sci-fi aspect totally worked.  In terms of the romance part – well, let’s just say I read the last dozen or so pages with tears in my eyes.  Needless to say, I was definitely not expecting the “Master of Horror” to write such a tender, moving, and heartbreakingly poignant love story.

I am so glad that my introduction to Stephen King was through this beautifully written masterpiece. This book truly has a little bit of everything – mystery, suspense, romance, political intrigue, meticulous historical research, literary allusions (it is not lost on me that the main character, Jake Epping, is an English teacher), nostalgia, humor (this is another thing that surprised me – King’s brilliant use of subtle sarcasm and wit to create some truly hilarious scenes), and of course, the creepy elements (though there were some admittedly graphic and violent scenes, fortunately they were written in a way that was not overwhelming, to the point that the scaredy-cat in me was able to tolerate them). Now I’m excited to read more of King’s books, though of course, I will definitely be sticking with the non-horror ones!

Review: Silver Sparrow (by Tayari Jones)

 My Rating: 4.5 stars

“My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist.”  This opening line to Tayari Jones’s 2011 novel Silver Sparrow, is simply stated, but after finishing the story, we realize just how much of a punch this one sentence packs.  In this wonderfully nuanced story of two sisters, one of whom doesn’t even know the other exists, we are given insight into a family and the dysfunction that results from one fateful decision.  In James Witherspoon’s eyes, he believes he is “doing the right thing” by marrying Gwendolyn Yarboro after she has his child, a daughter named Dana Lynn.  Never mind the fact that, at the time, he had already been married to his wife Laverne for a decade and also has a daughter with her, named Chaurisse.  On paper, Gwen is James’s “wife” and Dana is his legitimate child, but reality, especially the law, dictates otherwise.  Regardless of what James says or does, Gwen and Dana will always be a “secret” that his “real” family must never know about — in fact, James makes it very clear to Gwen and Dana that they are to “stay the hell away” from Laverne and Chaurisse.  How is that possible though when his “real” and “secret” family live in relatively close proximity to each other and, as we find out eventually, the daughters know the same group of friends.  So of course, it should come as no surprise that Dana and Chaurisse eventually become friends, though Chaurisse has no clue that Dana is actually her sister.  As is usually the case, secrets of this nature are hard to keep under wraps forever and when the inevitable is revealed, the results are devastating.   

The story is narrated from the points of view of the 2 daughters, which I feel was the perfect mechanism for telling this story.  As I came to know both Dana and Chaurisse, and began to understand the impact of their parents’ actions on them — physically, mentally, emotionally — I couldn’t help feeling deeply for them.  For two teenagers to have to deal with not just a situation that neither of them chose, but also the fallout from it that changes their lives forever, it really made me detest the adults in their lives for their actions (and inactions).  Of course, the character I hated the most in this story was the father, James Witherspoon — not just because of his cheating on his wife (which, as it turns out, was probably the least of his aggressions), but because the way he handled the entire situation, he repeatedly caused pain to both his families, which I found to be deplorable.  The worst part was James’s nonchalant attitude toward the whole thing — it made me mad how he would constantly assert that he was “doing the best he could” and the fact that he agreed to “own up to his mistake” by providing for Gwen and Dana (as opposed to abandoning them, I suppose) should absolve him of all wrongdoing. But of course, it’s not that simple, as it becomes obvious from the way James treats Gwen and Dana throughout the entire story that he is exasperated with them, at times even making himself out to be the victim rather than the person who created this whole mess to begin with.  Some may argue that James is a “flawed” man who made some mistakes, but since he did try to rectify them, he should at least be given some credit for that – while that may be true to some extent and perhaps in other circumstances, I might be more sympathetic, but the James Witherspoon presented as he was in this story made me feel nothing but disdain for him.

This was my first experience with Tayari Jones’s works (I know, I know — it embarrasses me to even admit this), but it absolutely won’t be my last!  Jones is a master storyteller absolutely deserving of all the accolades bestowed on her.  I love the way she writes her characters, all of whom truly came alive for me:  I felt for Laverne and Gwen, both of whom, at different points in the story, had to take the bad situation they were in and make the most of it;  towards James, I felt nothing but scorn and contempt; Raleigh I also did not care much for, but he did have some redeeming qualities that James completely lacked.  Emotionally though, I related to Dana and Chaurisse the most, even though our backgrounds and experiences are so vastly different.  I think the resonance, for me at least, comes from having the shared experience of coming-of-age in an environment that has not always been kind to people of color.  Though I never had to deal with bigamy in my family, I did have many of the same struggles that Dana and Chaurisse had in terms of being a teenager having to deal with the consequences of poor decisions and actions from the adults around me at the time.  And I can absolutely relate to the piece about how those actions (whether intentionally or unintentionally) can have a severe, and sometimes even destructive, impact on those we love.

I can’t wait to read Jones’s newest (and perhaps most famous) work, An American Marriage, which I’ve had on my shelf for awhile already but hadn’t get gotten around to reading. And like many others, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what Jones has in store for us next!

Review: All the Flowers in Shanghai (by Duncan Jepson)

My Rating: 3.5 stars

As I was looking for a book to fill the "J" entry for my A to Z Challenge, I came across Duncan Jepson's debut novel  All the Flowers in Shanghai and in reading the summary, I decided to add this one to my list for this challenge.  Perhaps it is due to my Chinese background and growing up surrounded by family stories about my culture and its rich history, but over the years, I've developed a certain fondness for historical fiction set in China and since this book fell into that category based on the summary, I went into it with pretty high expectations.  While overall I would say that I enjoyed reading this book well enough, the overall story didn't really grab me as much as I thought it would, for reasons that I will talk more about below.

Set in the 1930s in Shanghai, a naïve young Chinese girl named Xiao Feng is thrust into the world of the wealthy and powerful Sang family through a marriage arranged by her parents.  This one action -- her parents' selfish, stubborn adherence to age-old superstition and tradition – upends Feng's life and eventually turns her into an extremely bitter, resentful woman who becomes obsessed with seeking revenge against not just the people who put her in that position but also the customs and traditions, her heritage, that drove those people to take the actions they did.  Spanning several decades into the 1960s, this story chronicling Feng's coming of age and survival in a world she views as largely foreign and cruel is set against the backdrop of one of the most turbulent time periods in China's modern history.

Overall, I feel that this book was pretty well written.  While the writing didn't blow me away, it was definitely above average for a debut novel -- descriptive where it needed to be, but not overwhelming, with language appropriate to its time period (for the most part).  I started reading this book without knowing anything about the author at first and have to admit that I was surprised at the author's extensive knowledge of Chinese culture – much of what was described in terms of Chinese customs and traditions, cultural attitudes, philosophy, superstition, relationships, etc. was spot on and it made me wonder about his background.  It wasn't until I read the Author's note at the end of the book that the familiarity with the culture made sense to me, as the author is Eurasian – his mother is Chinese and his father is British.  This book, while written for his mother in a way (he explains in the author's note), was not actually her story, though the inspiration for some of the themes in the story (i.e. mother/daughter relationships, concept of family, etc.) as well as certain elements pertaining to the cultural background were based on his mother's life. 

One of the things I found most interesting about this story is that the author chose to frame the narrative from the main character Xiao Feng's first person point of view.  Up until this point, I hadn't read any books written this way (male author telling the story from the female character's first person perspective), so for me this was a new experience.  I will admit that there were certain points during the story where I actually forgot that this was written by a male, as Feng's voice sounded so authentic at certain moments, but then later on there were parts where I totally could not understand why her character would act that way.  Perhaps this is why I found it difficult to completely connect with the character of Feng, despite sympathizing with her plight (to a certain degree) and the way she was treated.  Feng, while a believable character, was not likable, as her overwhelming bitterness toward the life forced upon her permeated the entire story and basically blinded her to everything going on around her. While I definitely understand why Feng turned out the way she did, it was hard for me to wrap my head around her rationale and the justification she tried to give for some of her actions, some of which were "mistakes" that she made knowingly and deliberately.  I'm all for stories about women who rise up against social convention and survive against the odds, but with Feng, I felt like something was lacking that made me feel differently about her – perhaps it was the fact that the way she went about defying convention was so irrational, I wasn't really convinced what type of person she wanted to be.

In terms of this book being marketed as historical fiction, I actually feel that it doesn't completely fit the category.  Majority of the book is about Feng isolated in the microcosm of her home (first her family home with her parents, grandfather, and sister and later in the Sang family mansion), completely oblivious to everything going on in the world outside.  As I said above, the backdrop of the story was the time period between the 1930s and early 1960s – a time period in which, for those familiar with Chinese history, so many historical events occurred that it was nearly impossible to write a story set during this time / place without having those events impact the story's characters in some way.  With this book, it wasn't until the last quarter of the story or so that the history piece actually came into play in a significant way.   To me, the best works of historical fiction are able to achieve a good balance between incorporating (accurate) historical detail and telling a compelling, captivating story and doing so in a way that weaves both into each other seamlessly.  This book didn't deliver in that aspect (as historical fiction) but as a well-written coming of age story that explores cultural and societal conventions, relationships, family, love and betrayal, etc., this book definitely worked.  I would still recommend this book, as it was a good read overall, it's just that I prefer more depth from a historical perspective.