Soccer, Death, and Laughter

Hello Web World,
The Wi-Fi and weather have been a bit sporadic this week, so posting has been difficult. I guess that it's an embarassment of riches since I've got multi-reviews this week.

Again I have to thank all of you who came over from either Dickensblog or the wonderful Egalitarian Bookworm. They are both great literary blogs. I'm crazy-honored that they've highlighted anything that I have to say.

Enough Onward I Say!

Reviews
Thirteen Reasons Why
Jay Asher's debut novel Thirteen Reasons Why is an emotional thriller that I think can be labeled as the anti-thesis of last year's Paper Towns. Asher sets up a great premise that sucks you in. The book begins with Clay Asher who receives a box of audio tapes from Hannah Barker. Hannah is a fellow classmate who has committed suicide. Her instructions are that everyone who is featured on these tapes contributed to the psychological breakdown that led to her death. They must listen to the tapes to find out where they fit. Clay, who is a genuinely good person, agonizes as he listens to each tape desperate to find answers. Asher uses the tape device to give us Hannah's POV and then Clay's reaction to it. This book becomes a discussion of how one person's actions can have horrible repercussions. Hannah exposes the ugliness in those around her. While Paper Towns was a mystery where the clues led to a character's uplift, Thirteen Reasons Why is about a character's disintegration. Cheerful it's not. I do think that Asher captures the horrible emotional toll that Hannah suffers in a realistic fashion. I just wish that somehow Hannah Barker had been able to find help.

Other Reviews
Boys Blogging Books | Becky's Book Reviews | Em's Bookshelf

Dangerous Laughter
In this 13 story collection writer Millhauser showcases his cold and scientific writing style. He does a great job at dissecting ideas and philosophical concepts in stories like The Tower and The Dome. Steven Millhauser does not traffic in inter-personal conflict or emotional upheaval. As a reader I connect more with characters that act like real people in real situations, rather than the ideological. I had a difficult time with his unemotional style. Also could've done without the entire "Heretical Histories" section. There was not enough of the human element in there for me.

Other Reviews
New York Times | Literary License | Strange Horizons

The Game of Their Lives
The only sport that I follow these days with any enthusiasm is international soccer/football. I started with World Cup 2006 and have been a fan ever since. I picked up this slim re-telling of "The Miracle on Grass" because I hoped for a fun sports/history read. At the 1950 World Cup a rag tag US team beat the English powerhouse in an amazing match considered one of the greatest upsets in sports. Unfortunately even at 154 pages there just was not enough material here for a book. Writer Geoffrey Douglass tries very hard to fill out the story by including material about the immigrant enclave in St. Louis where many of these players came from. However it just got tiring. His best writing is his coverage of the actual game itself. In the more interesting passages Douglass dissects the dichotomy in the US vs. England style of play. In the end I think this works better as a magazine article than a book.

Bio Info: England v United States (1950)

The Reading List
Magazine
Vanity Fair

Comic
Wonder Woman

Books
The Man Who Invented Christmas
I Led 3 Lives

Check Out Count: Slowly decreasing

Comic Pull List: Buffy The Vampire Slayer #25, Deadpool #10, Flash Rebirth #2, League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1910 #1, Superman World Of New Krypton #3, Trinity #49, Trojan War #1

Have a great week! Book Slave.