Weaving Connections and Characters: A Review of The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booty

Really, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I've been having trouble getting my brain to play nice lately and using the writing energy I can muster for my law firm ghost-blogging. I have been doing a bit better on the reading front of late and this review has been on my to-do list for a bit....

• The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booty

This book sits somewhere between the (recently trendy) format of linked short stories and a novel.  The settings range from World War II Europe to the twenty-first century U.S., with some of the focal characters getting revisited at multiple times in their lives.  Early on we meet Mr. Hugo, a man severely deformed in the war who we meet as an elderly man whose days are brightened by a young neighbor.  We meet him again in later chapters, learning more about his life.  We meet a young blind woman hoping for love.  We also meet a couple in love when the man leaves for the war.  The woman comes to believe her young love has been lost in the war, only to have him reappear many years later.  These stories weave together, along with others, and the characters impacting each other lives in ways small and large.

I am struggling to put words to my experience of this book.  At times it felt like it was trying too hard.  Or I was trying too hard...and I don't know if that's my doing or the book's or both (that brings up memories of literary theory, not a subject I enjoyed).  I focused too much on trying to identify overlaps and spot connections that I sometimes didn't enjoy the journey of the read.  Ultimately, I think the big connections do become clear enough that the extra focus wasn't needed, although I might have missed little pieces if I didn't keep the level of vigilance. 

Trying to set that all aside for some other thoughts....I came to care about many of the characters, appreciating their human-ness and their desire for connection.  Several of them pulled at my heart, always a sign of a good read.  Van Booty clearly has a talent for words and the language is lovely.  There's a lot of sadness and loneliness, but there's an underlying reminder of enduring connections.

It's a beautiful book, but it is very much trying to be....it feels a bit unfair to criticize that, but it did impact my reading experience.  Three and a half to four stars (with thanks to Harper for providing me an advance reader's copy).

a haunting first novel.....Loteria: A Novel by Mario Alberto Zambrano

...and when I do finish a book in a reasonable time (largely owing to it being a short one), I am a bit slow in getting my review up.  Still, I'm happy to get this review up in the pre-release time-frame (though it means remembering to go back and put it on Amazon after 7/3 since they only let their own advance readers write customer reviews ahead f time).

• Loteria: A Novel by Mario Alberto Zambrano

Loteria is a Mexican game, similar to Bingo but with pictures instead of numbers and relying on a deck of cards instead of Ping-Pong balls.  Eleven year-old Luz is refusing to speak, but she uses a deck of Loteria cards to spark memories as she journals about her story.  She has recently fallen into the hands of social services as her older sister, Estrella, struggles in the ICU and her father sits in jail.  Her Aunt Tencha comes to visit, but her mother has been gone for some time.  Through her journaling, the reader learns that Luz's life has been haunted by domestic violence and alcohol abuse. 

I don't want to tell too much about the story, which develops in pieces and is far from chronological.  One pivotal moment that I will note is when an older cousin forces a young Luz to touch his genitals (she compares what she touches to an infant's arm).  Luz's father blames her, leading to one of the books hardest to read scenes. 

This book is a quick read, though I can hardly call it easy.  It is around 250 small-sized pages, but a good quarter of them are taken up by illustrations from the loteria deck.  Zambrano did an amazing job showing how a life of violence can be simply "life" to a young girl who knows nothing different.  Fighting is normal and she struggles with the difference between her father's abuse and spats between other family members.  That is by far the element that impressed me the most...moments feel shocking from the outside, but little shocks Luz since she is telling the only story she knows. 

There's a short section where the novel remains a journal but falls more into "real time."  While I see why it needs to happen for the narrative, it throws off the balance for me and I wish it wasn't in there.  I did not see all of Luz's story in advance and I always do appreciate when a novelist can catch me off-guard while remaining true to the story and keeping it realistic to the narrative.  I thought the ending was well-chosen, it avoids the "magic wand" treatment but also doesn't leave the story on an entirely down note (hopefully that's not a horrid spoiler).

Enjoyed is never the right word for books like this, but I give it 4, maybe even 4.5, stars and recommend it. I thought the narrative device of the cards was well-done.  It was unique without feeling overly gimmicky.  I did sometimes feel like something was a bit off in Luz's voice, although I can't point to what made me feel that way.     Impressive for a debut novelist.  An advance copy of the book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review - The End of the Point (Graver)

This is a long time coming.  My brain is still acting fuzzy and I'm suddenly a very slow reader, some nights I can't really read at all.  So the speed is a reflection on me, not anything I'm reading these days.  Many thanks to the Harper folks for putting up with a slow reviewer! 

• The End of the Point by Elizabeth Graver

This is a story of a family and of a place.  It opens in 1942 with the Porter family summering in Ashaunt Point, a fictional community on Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts.  Ashaunt is very much an insider's community, the summer home to wives, children, and hired help, where the husbands visit on weekends and when they can get off work.  Bea, a nanny largely focused on the youngest daughter, is the main character in the early chapters as Ashaunt is altered by the arrival of soldiers building a base for WWII-related purposes.  As the novel progresses, it focuses on several other characters (all members of the family aside from Bea, who is essentially an adopted family member).

We see the years progress, the women juggle family and work/intellectual lives and one son deal with the after-effects of a bad drug trip and another war.  Different characters take the lead as the years progress from 1942 through 1999, although Bea is revisited as a focal character at several points. 

A number of themes run through the novel.  Family relations, both blood and heart-bound, are a major topic, including the strained relationships that can exist between parent and child.  Family ties with the theme of place and the way a place can shape an individual and an entire family line.  War's effects are another theme as WWII and Vietnam impact Ashaunt and the Porter family.  Nature and conservation are also key topics. 

My thoughts -- I'm not sure I'd seek out another Graver novel, but I did enjoy the book (supplied to me by Harper).  The writing was good, but I didn't find it as spectacular as other readers report.  I liked the concept of focusing on how time flows and how people and a place evolve together.  I wasn't overly interested in the character of Charlie (son of one of the three daughters from the first section), so those parts dragged a bit for me.  I enjoyed being able to revisit Bea throughout the novel since she was definitely one of my favorite characters.  I'd have loved more of a glimpse at the dynamic between the hired help and the well-off families of Ashaunt, including those who become part of the family and those who do not....although the novel is already a bit packed.  The novel is, perhaps, too packed and could have benefited from dropping one or two themes. 

Overall - A decent read.  Lots of themes and not a frivolous read but I think it would still make a good vacation/beach book.  Three and a half stars....rounded up for sites that require "full" stars because of the well-developed characters and sense of place.