Literary Fiction | Book Chatter

Caribou Island
By David Vann
(Harper, Hardcover, 9780061875724, January 2011, 304pp.)

The Short of It:

The path from normalcy to insanity is literally a mere boat ride away.

The Rest of It:

Gary and Irene have been married for 30 years. Their marriage is falling apart but they are held together by a very thin thread. When Gary decides to build a log home on the small island of Caribou, located on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, Irene sees it for what it is. Their last chance to make the marriage work, or a sign that it will never work and that they have failed miserably. What takes Gary sometime to realize, Irene has already realized and partially accepted.

While they are trying to put this cabin together, Gary and Irene’s grown daughter, Rhonda has problems of her own. She is dating Jim, a dentist. He’s well-off, successful and safe. But Jim has his own secrets. As Rhonda ponders what is going on with her parents, she can’t help but think about her own relationship.

These are troubled times.

This is not a happy story. There are no happy people here. In fact, what you have are miserable characters who are wrought with loneliness. So lonely, that being together is better than being apart and trust me, these people should be apart. As depressing as this all sounds, and it does get rather depressing here and there, the story is very compelling. Vann’s writing is lovely and sad and brutally honest. It’s scratchy and raw and there were times when I was uncomfortable reading, but only because Gary and Irene’s story seemed so real. You know how it is when you are with a couple who is fighting? How you try to ignore the tension yet it’s impossible to do so? That’s how it was for me reading this book. The tension is everywhere, yet I couldn’t put it down.

Halfway through the story, I knew where the story was heading, but in no way did it prepare me for what actually happened. I reached that last page and the air was sucked right out of me. I had read Vann’s Legend of a Suicide and had a similar feeling when I finished that one but these characters seemed more real…as if they could be people I know. That made it more personal to me and what marriage hasn’t seen trouble every now and then? The images that Vann created are still floating around in my head today.

Caribou Island is a moving account of a marriage gone wrong and although it’s bleak, it’s very thought-provoking and Vann does wonderful things with the setting. You don’t enjoy a story like this, but you experience it and appreciate it on a different level. Vann is a very talented writer and at this point, I’d read anything by him.

Note from Ti: I also listened to this on audio afterward and it’s great on audio as well.

Source: Borrowed

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Dance, Dance, Dance
By Haruki Murakami
(Vintage, Paperback, 9780679753797, 1995, 416pp.)

The Short of It:

Part mystery, part fantasy…Dance, Dance, Dance is a beautifully crafted, wicked-good example of a surreal story that works.

The Rest of It:

An unnamed protagonist is on a quest to find his missing girlfriend. Along the way, he plays chaperone to a wiser-than-her-years teenager, cavorts with call girls and reunites with a friend from high school who just happens to be a famous A-list celebrity.

Dance, Dance, Dance is actually the sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase. Although I’m sure it would have been better to read them in order, my enjoyment of the novel wasn’t affected in the least by not doing so. I was completely and utterly mesmerized the whole time through.

Murakami is a master of dialogue. When his characters speak, I listen. It might be the most mundane thing coming out of their mouths, but for some reason, I always find myself sitting on the edge of my seat when they speak. I think it has to do with the complexity of his characters. They’re complex, so their dialogue doesn’t have to be.

The other thing that works for me, are the surreal story elements. Normally, I cannot stand surrealism in literature. It usually takes me out of the narrative, but Murakami uses it carefully to emphasize the harshness of reality. I find myself completely willing to drink the Kool-Aid, and that says a lot.

As much as I enjoy his writing, and his continual references to Western culture, I know that many may not care for his writing style. This is the second novel I’ve read by him, and it too, contained quite a bit of sex and a bit of violence. Not enough to bother me though. The other thing that might bother a reader are the untidy, open-ended endings. Again, not a problem for me.

Is Murakami for you? The only way to tell is to actually read one of his books. He’s a rock-star to me but you already knew that…

Source: Borrowed