Poetry on up

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008) How the End Begins by Cynthia Cruz, finished January 19

007) Delinquent Palaces by Danielle Chapman, finished January 19

I took a couple poetry collections with me to an elementary school function to aid in my antisociality. Chapman's I started first and thus finished there. It had its moments, but never really grabbed me. My favorite section was the long, multipart "A Shape Within" which gradually revealed itself to be a walk through a city and, you know, faith and despair and stuff. It's already a bit fuzzy because I immediately started in on Cruz's, which I loved---especially the first half when the connections between poems were less formal. But the witty morbidity of all the pieces hit me where I live. And the casual plainness of the read was instantly appealing.

Both made me want to write, which is always a commendation.

one evening



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006) Pilot by pd mallamo, finished January 19

I need to think about this before I write a real review. It has many marvelous qualities and it was also pretty irritating, so I'll work on correlating my reactions then probably write something longer for AMV.

over a month, which is kind of ridiculous, but we had a baby



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005) Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, finished January 16

I can make positive comparisons to Folk of the Fringe (especially) and The Road and Cell (to a lesser extent), but I think this is my favorite. It's nonchronological---it's home time, I guess, it's well after the apocalypse, but it makes daily life before the apocalypse as interesting and post, and both more interesting than the death of practically everyone itself. That's not possible of course, but the text gives more attention to the details of times less inherently car-crash compulsive which makes for a lovely balance.

Karen Valby, on the back cover, says that "The story feels spun rather than plotted" and this is true. I'm a bit tired, honestly, of the deliberate craftiness of much fiction---look-at-me cleverness as the author spins us through time and narrators. While this novel is doing much of this as well, it's honest. Spun, not plotted. Natural. And, as I said, it can take me from a postapocalyptic horror show to a normal day in pre-disaster Toronto without me being sad or impatient. Both equally interest me.

It's an astonishing accomplishment.

a couple weeks at most



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004) I Hate Fairyland Volume 1: Madly Ever After by Skottie Young et al, finished January 14

I'm pro-cuteviolence, but nothing about this volume really excited me. It frequently cuts away from the big action pieces because that is "funny" sequencing, and the lead character is not that interesting. The world is interesting, but we never really get to learn about it before everyone in this part of town is dead. It's a bit tiring, a bit dull. Juxtaposing things that just don't go together! is not sufficiently clever to carry a book, I'm afraid.

two days

Previously in 2017

1 – 3

003) The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, finished January 12
002) F in Exams: The Very Best Totally Wrong Test Answers by Richard Benson, finished January 10
001) States of Deseret by William Morris, finished January 10

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