Cannonball Read 3 - Review #12 - Bossypants by Tina Fey

There are a few writers who could write about something like salad or the history of calendar publishing and make it hilarious. Bill Bryson is one of them, and even though this is the first book I've read by Tina Fey (her first book ever? Probably, right?) I believe she is another one of those people. She does draw from her own life, which has been colorful and not exactly mainstream, so she has less than boring source material, but even so, the humor and biting wit in her writing makes me confident she could make almost anything funny. Bossypants doesn't read like a typical memoir, and I don't know if it's even marketed as such, but instead Fey tells stories from snapshots of her life from childhood up to the present that paint a picture of her experiences and world view without her having to give a blow by blow account of how she got from here to there. Tina Fey was an awkward child/teenager/adult with a keen eye for observation. She writes in vivid detail and is honest and self-deprecating about her admittedly many faults. She is more than aware of the many things people think and say about her that are unflattering, true or untrue, and she gets her detractors back in the most satisfying way: by being so funny and smart that it takes them a second to figure out that they're the ones being "oh, snapped!" Fey tells stories about her childhood, her family, her early start in improv, the challenges and triumphs of working at SNL during a time of transition, and what it's like to be Tina Fey in all aspects of her life, from work to family. The most satisfying chapters for me were the chapter about her dad and the chapter called "All Girls Must Be Everything" where she talks about the beauty standard for women and the media assault telling us what's wrong with us that we never would have even thought of until they told us. I laughed out loud and even though I'm already a huge fan, I was won over all over again by her self-effacing humor and honesty. It was a really fast read, funny and engrossing. I hope it's not her last.

Cannonball Read 3 - Review #11 - Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

I've read Fahrenheit 451 and I own The Martian Chronicles and plan on reading that, so I know that Bradbury writes some science-fiction, but this book is a simple and beautifully written book that centers around Douglas Spaulding and other residents in the fictional Green Town, Illinois during the summer of 1928. Split into brief chapters, there is no real plot, but rather small stories and reflections of the characters as they go through their summertime lives. Douglas is a sensitive, passionate, and serious 12-year-old boy who treasures the joys of being a kid in a small town during the summer so much that he recognizes how amazing everything is while it is happening, and writes down his discoveries and joys so he won't forget. The reader gets perspectives from young children as well as the old and frail citizens who often are found reflecting on their youth with envy, amusement, and fondness. The whole novel is sort of restless, with a sense of urgency that time is flying by, and Douglas is so desperate to remember the little things that make him happy and the things he learns. One especially beautiful passage is at the beginning, when Douglas realizes that he's "alive." It's something he all of a sudden understands and marvels at, and it leaves him kind of flabbergasted. There is also a part at the end that endears him to me, forever, when an old sort of rambling man of the town tells Douglas how he is one of those children who become sad younger than everyone else. I think Douglas is the 1928, male version of me as a child. Mostly the book is made up of snapshots in the daily lives of these people in a simple town during one summer. People have their petty squabbles and their small worries that don't mean much in the long run, but then there are relationships that form us and genuine moments of love and kindness that stay with us forever. Bradbury's writing in this novel is flowery and lovely, and not something we see much of anymore, as in 2011 readers tend to scoff at the nostalgic or the precious. I, however, loved reading about the daily goings-on of Green Town, and the character of Douglas is a sweet and earnest little hero.

Cannonball Read 3 - Review #10 - Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

I have never read any of Murakami's books, and probably wouldn't have, as there are always too many books to read. However, it is the April selection for my book club, so Murakami it was. Set in the late 1960s in Tokyo, the book is told from the perspective of Toru Watanabe, who is looking back on his days as a college student and the intense relationships he had then. He is drawn to Naoko, a severely depressed friend from his high-school days who was childhood sweethearts with his best friend Kizuki, who committed suicide when they were seventeen. The shared grief over Kizuki draws Toru and Naoko together, and Toru struggles to help Naoko while she struggles with her mental illness. Toru is also drawn to Midori, a spirited young woman he meets in one of his classes, and he tries to navigate these intense relationships and do the right thing while dealing with his own pain and detachment from the rest of his carefee classmates. The characters are all wonderful. There are no "normal" people that Toru is friends with. Everyone from his roommate to his girlfriend all have unique quirks and serious problems, but while Toru acknowledges them, he does not make a big fuss of how strange they are. He calmly loves and understands the troubled people in his life, probably because his own pain makes him more aware and sensitive to that of others, a feeling I can relate to. The novel explores grief, mental illness, relationships, love, and the pain of growing up in a calm and deep way, and no one is a cliche or caricature. We follow the lives of a few deeply flawed people in Toru's life as he tries to love them. Except for many references to music and books from the era, the novel is rather timeless. It's a beautiful story of imperfect people trying their best to be happy, or peaceful, or alive.

Cannonball Read 3 - Review #9 - Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

It took me a while to finish the old boy, but here I am. Catch-22 is a whopper of a satire, and Heller does an amazing job of capturing the frustration and impotence of bureaucracy and the horror and senselessness of war. The novel takes place towards the end of WWII, and centers around Yossarian, an American soldier who is disaffected with the war effort and is constantly trying to figure out how to stay out of harm's way while the powers that be keep raising the number of missions before the soldiers can go home. Yossarian is our eyes as the reader, and seems to be the only one who really sees the stupidity of bureaucratic processes and how ineffectual a big effort like an international war seems from the front lines. While the book is very funny, there is this undercurrent of tension and darkness that really comes to a head towards the end of the book. The reader also gets to know Yossarian's friends and fellow soldiers, many of whom meet less than satisfying ends, as will happen when on the front lines of a major war. I really felt Yossarian's rage and frustration, and his struggle with wanting to save himself while also being loyal to his sense of morality. The book flips back and forth from past to present, sometimes returning to the same event from someone else's perspective, but the timeline is not terribly complicated, so it isn't bothersome. Catch-22 is so expertly written because Heller makes the reader just as anxious and angry as his main character and makes you feel something genuine amidst all that satire. It took me a while to finish, but I'm glad I took the time.