Reading Wednesday, live from the UK!

[sabotabby]

Finished reading: Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice. I quite liked this one. It’s a post-apocalyptic novel where, at the beginning, none of the characters realize that the apocalypse is happening, because they live on a remote Anishanaabe reservation and the TV and internet go out all the time as it is. The remoteness of the setting both adds to the vulnerability of the community, but also means that the characters are uniquely prepared to survive. The likeable everyman/everywoman characters and the ordinariness of their lives are contrasted with the impending horror and the supernatural elements that come in towards the end. I found the ending confusing and abrupt, but that’s really my only criticism.

Me Funny (not going to bother with the very long subtitle), edited by Drew Hayden Taylor. This is part of the same series as Me Sexy and is a collection of essays and reflections on indigenous humour. It is actually pretty funny, and an interesting study of how humour of oppressed cultures is a survival strategy.

Currently reading: Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon. It’s about two owners, one black and one Jewish, of an indie record store, their wives, both midwifes, and their kids as the record store is about to be driven out of business by a megastore and the midwifes almost lose a patient. It’s very slice-of-life and episodic and there are approximately a fuckzillion viewpoint characters and I’m not sure I’m really bonding with it. But I just started so maybe it’ll pick up. I’ve loved everything else I’ve read by Chabon, anyway.

Comments

[joymoose]

Those all sound like good reads.

[sabotabby]

I’ve been on a good streak lately.

[dewline]

Re: Waubgeshig Rice - I remember the reports he filed back when he was on staff at CBC News Ottawa. Also, his appearance at Can-Con alongside Jay Odjick on their "Indigenous People and Apocalypse Fiction"(?) panel a few years ago. (Wishing I could remember the exact year that panel discussion happened, but it was interesting. I'm guessing that he was already thinking about that novel's ideas as the panel discussion was being worked up.

Re: Michael Chabon - It's going to be interesting to see how he handles being a showrunner for a TV series, let alone a Star Trek series, let alone Picard!

[sabotabby]

I could actually see him really rocking at Picard. The thing he does really well is character, so if it’s a character study, it’ll work.

[sara]

I liked Telegraph Avenue but I used to live there so I read it through a very nostalgic lens. I have no idea how it works if you aren't thinking aww, home every few pages.

[maeve66]

I liked Telegraph Avenue a great deal also, though I haven't lived in Berkeley, exactly. But Telegraph Avenue goes through Oakland too! I would say this and The Yiddish Policeman's Union are my favorites of his novels, in fact.

[sabotabby]

Interesting! I picked it up because of the Panther thing but there’s been very little of that. Still, the writing is damned good.

Yiddish Policeman’s Union and Kavalier and Clay are tied for my favourites.