Friday, June 06, 2014

Books: Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel by Maria Semple, 2013

A "delightful" reading and a "glittering" prose..The book invites such definitions and the irony of the quotation marks. It is really imaginative and fresh and very  often - quite funny. My problem with it is that its "charm" outweighs its author's talent. I value more the "menace to society" aspect of the mother character than all the cuteness of the child. The book becomes too cute, especially towards the end.

The TED talk episode is hilarious, outstanding...

I could not get rid of the impression that I am reading a Young Adult novel. Is it because the YA mentality is gradually taking over the entire American literature?

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Books: The Circle. A Novel by Dave Eggers, 2013

A nice dystopian novel which reads with pleasure. The style is crisp and light as in Zamyatin's We and the balance between sarcastic humor and dark insights is just right. We follow an inspired young lady, Mae, into her spiraling path: literally - spiraling up in the ranks of her corporation driven by ambition and willingness to be perfect at work and do good in the world  and metaphorically - spiraling down into a state of brainwashed enthusiasm for "transparency". The critique of the corporate culture of advanced high tech companies is scalding. The tensions between "secrets" and "morality" are examined bravely and honestly. Eggers describes a world permeated by a sense of creeping totalitarianism. 

Occasionally the book becomes repetitive but in a way this "circling" is necessary to build the ominous presence of "the Circle"...Gospodinov could be developed more as a character.

Otherwise, Very Good!

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