2015 books: 21-24

[the_siobhan]

    

Dublin by Seán Moncrieff My dad loaned me this book because he said he thought I would like it. I spent the first half of the book cringing at the main character and the second half devouring it to find out what happens to him next. The main character in question is Simon Dillon, a former bass player from a band that was almost successful and who has been riding on that brush with greatness ever since. In his own words he fucks up everything he touches. So when he stumbles across an impending drug turf war in Dublin he injects his own special blend of sending everything shitward in a way that is train-wreck horrifying and also absolutely hilarious. Highly recommended.

    

Girl with Curious Hair by David Foster Wallace This was the first book I read by Wallace, a collection of short stories. Some of them feature real people in a way that even though they are fictional they could be true and they are demented enough that I kind of want them to be. I personally think his writing style works better with the short format, and I love these stories. Apparently there are a couple more collections of his after this one. I may have to track them down later.

    

Life of Pi by Yann Martel I got this book from Fiona. I didn't realize he was Canadian, or I would have put this one with the other Canuck reviews. The conceit of the book is that the author is telling the life story of Piscine Patel, a man who was shipwreaked on his way to Canada along with his family and some of the animals from his parents' zoo. The lone survivors of the wreck are Pi and an adult Bengal tiger who spend the next seven months slowly starving to death on a lifeboat. You wouldn't think a lot would happen on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but the story is brilliant. I saw the film with BC and absolutely loved it. It is gorgeous and as it turns out, very true to the feel of the book.

    

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe by Fanny Flagg I got this one just before the movie came out and I recall there being a big fuss about it. It's about a friendship between two women, one an unhappy housewife in her forties and the other in her eighties and in a retirement home. The older woman tells her stories about the town of Whistle Stop, with the Cafe and it's owners being a central part of the town life. I know I saw the movie and I honestly don't remember a thing about it, other than that some people were upset that it never explicitly came out and identified the two women who ran the Whistle Stop Cafe as being a couple. A "lesbian" couple of course, because bisexuals hadn't been invented yet. Anyway, it's a cute little book. The writing flips back and forth between time periods and there are also short inserts from the town newsletter which consist mostly of the writer bitching about her husband. A little too, "times were hard but we were happy" for me, but it's not intended to be more than a bit of lightweight entertainment.

Comments

[greylock]

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe by Fanny Flagg
I got this one just before the movie came out and I recall there being a big fuss about it.

Weird.
I recall the film coming out (I'm going to say 1985 without checking) because I remember it strongly as one of the few times my mother went to the movies (seriously, it's not a thing she does), and one of the few times she went out with "gal pals". Probably because it had Dolly Parton in it.

I know I saw the movie and I honestly don't remember a thing about it, other than that some people were upset that it never explicitly came out and identified the two women who ran the Whistle Stop Cafe as being a couple. A "lesbian" couple of course, because bisexuals hadn't been invented yet.

And, in 2015 Jezebel et al would declare that a hate crime.

I had no idea there was even a subtext of that in the film, but I have not seen the film.
I am not even sure fried green tomatoes are a thing people eat.

[the_siobhan]

And, in 2015 Jezebel et al would declare that a hate crime.

I don't read Jezebel, but that strikes me as a bit hyperbolic.

I am not even sure fried green tomatoes are a thing people eat.

They are delicious!