Into the Forest discussion

lol. Well, I'll give you all my Murakami books and you can give me all your Valente books and we'll both be happy!

As far as why I don't like him... I really don't have any reason in particular.

He name drops a lot - composers, books, authors, brands of clothing - and it all seems pretty irrelevant. In the first chapter of 1Q84, he painstakingly describes this girl's outfit and when he's done, other than her wearing a miniskirt, hose and heels, I still have no clue what she's wearing. I've never even heard of Charles Jordan, so why should I care that the main character is wearing a pair of that brand of heels? Who cares what brand they are... Are they stiletto heels? Kitten heels? Pumps? Fashionable, practical? Or Ray Ban. Sure, I've heard of Ray Ban sunglasses, but why should I care that the character has a pair? Are they dark? light? Big lenses that cover your face, small silly ones you peer over?
What does the brand matter? If you're going to give that sort of detail, at least give me details that tell me something...

He goes into great detail about other unimportant things too. The character takes a shower? Well, he washes his stomach first, then chest, then his left arm, then his right arm - paying special attention to his arm pit. Then his right leg, then his feet, and don't forget about in-between his toes! He has lunch? He's going to eat a sandwich. But it's not just any sandwich. It has a particular type of lunch meat, lettuce, tomato, bread & butter pickles rather than dill, mayo, not miracle whip, brown mustard rather than yellow, and lightly toasted white bread of a particular thickness. When he eats it, he's going to start at the corner and nibble inwards, taking great care not to dribble any extra condiments, and he'll drink some orange-pineapple juice with it. Tomorrow's lunch? Tomorrow's shower? Might only differ in minor details but it's going to be explained in the same excruciating detail.


But then, when something is important - like that reference to the 2 souls from one body split in two thing from Plato's The Symposium - they spend FOREVER retelling you every painstaking detail from the myth, explaining exactly how it pertains to the current situation, what you should feel and think about it, etc.
And then when something else pops up later to further that allusion, they can't just trust that you'll understand it - he has to re-explain it all over again and point out that he made another allusion.

IMO, I'd rather him just make a reference - perhaps giving you enough that you can go look up whatever he's alluding to if you don't already know it - and trust the readers to make our own connections instead of trying to spoon-feed everything. Sure, people will miss stuff or skim over it- but that's part of the art of reading.


At times, I felt like I was being lectured to rather than reading a novel. It was a very controlling experience.

TO be fair, I did listen to Kafka on the Shore in audio, and I think when a book is really slow and excessively detailed, it being in audio can compound those issues. There's no easy way to rush and skim through it - you just have to sit there and be bored.

Melanti wrote: "lol. Well, I'll give you all my Murakami books and you can give me all your Valente books and we'll both be happy!
As far as why I don't like him... I really don't have any reason in particular.
..."

It's a deal!
This is hilarious! I swear I don't even remember Murakumi name dropping or all the long descriptions of what he ate! All I remember are the talking cats, the fish raining down from the sky, the ghost of lady who was still alive, and then the two World War 2 soldiers lost in the timeless magical forest and the villain who kills cats to make a flute out of their souls!
It is not the first time this has happened, where I am discussing a book or movie or even real life event with someone and we remember completely different things!

lol.
Yeah, I might be exaggerating just a tad for comedic effect, but...

By the end of the first chapter of 1Q84, the main character has listened to classical music - Janacek's Sinfonietta (he makes sure to point out that it's a Czechoslovakian composer and written during the roaring 20s - which wasn't very roaring in Japan since their emperor had died and Hitler was coming to power.)
Her taxi fair was 2,150 yen.
The taxi was a Toyota Crown Royal Saloon - bought specifically because it's a quiet car and it makes it easier to hear classical music.
They're stuck in traffic and the car next to them is a Mitsubishi Pajero, The one in front of that guy was a Saab 900. The car in front of theirs is a Suzuki Alto. They pass a Toyota Celica that's playing Michael Jackson - Billie Jean, specifically.

The main character is wearing Charles Jourdan heels, Ray Ban sunglasses, and a Junko Shimada suit.

Like I said - I think listening in audio can magnify certain types of flaws...

Melanti wrote: "lol.
Yeah, I might be exaggerating just a tad for comedic effect, but...

By the end of the first chapter of 1Q84, the main character has listened to classical music - Janacek's Sinfonietta (he ma..."


This is 1Q84 you're describing and not Kafka on the Shore, right?
I have not yet read 1Q84. I wanted to read 1984 first but haven't been able to make myself do it.

A little of both.

The showers and meals examples were from Kafka on the Shore (the specifics were made up, as I don't have the book in print for easy reference), as was the lectures about Plato's Symposium.

The lists of brand names, was from 1Q84 - but Kafka on the Shore did the same sort of name dropping.

I did progress to the beginning of chapter 3, and I've already been lectured about how fiction factories a la James Patterson is a totally legit way of writing... I definitely rolled my eyes at that one.


I think you'd dislike 1984, to be honest. And from everything I've heard, you really don't need to read it first since the parallels aren't that major. From what I understand you can pick up most of what you need to know about 1984 just by reading the wiki entry.

The biggest comparison that I've heard is that in both, reality is mutable.

In 1984, history is continually altered because the government keeps editing its historical records to change reality. And they've got their population so brainwashed that anything the government says is true is considered true... They can be at war with Eastasia one week and Eurasia the next, and as far as the general populace is concerned, they've always been at war with Eurasia and always been friends with Eastasia.

In 1Q84 though, reality itself is mutable via some magical realism/surrealism techniques.

Well, I like neither Marukami nor Valente, but at least we can find common ground with Charles De Lint.

Shomeret wrote: "Well, I like neither Marukami nor Valente, but at least we can find common ground with Charles De Lint."

Very true!

Shomeret wrote: "Well, I like neither Marukami nor Valente, but at least we can find common ground with Charles De Lint."

Yes, absolutely! When I "compared" books Shomeret and I are 85% similar taste and Melanti 89%.

I just did a compare books with Melanti and it's somewhat lower at 73% but I did notice some common ground that I hadn't expected.

Melanti wrote: "Lacey wrote: "Which Waters book is your favorite? ..."

I normally don't mind backwards story telling. I think, in this case, it was a lot of factors combined - so many characters, backwards story ..."

I'll second Fingersmith.

It doesn't compare with the serious reading a lot of you guys seem to favour but I've been reading my way through some YA fairy tale retellings lately. I've just finished my first K.M. Shea and am currently on Before Beauty. I figure it counts as genre research for my own books - or at least that's the excuse I use ;)

Melanie wrote: "It doesn't compare with the serious reading a lot of you guys seem to favour ..."

Don't worry about it!

I'm reading & listening to heavier books at the moment because I'm trying to read stuff mostly from my own bookshelves and that's what I have left... I tend to read a lot of hte lighter stuff I buy pretty quickly but the heavier books sit there forever.

Shomeret wrote: "I just did a compare books with Melanti and it's somewhat lower at 73% but I did notice some common ground that I hadn't expected."

Huh. Interesting. I compare with you, and I get 77%. Apparently I'm more likely to like your books than you are to like mine! There's some relatively obscure books there too, that I'm surprised to see.

Melanie wrote: "It doesn't compare with the serious reading a lot of you guys seem to favour but I've been reading my way through some YA fairy tale retellings lately. I've just finished my first [author:K.M. Shea..."

No worries! Most of us here also read YA. I just have not found any I liked recently, but there are some great ones out there!

Just finished two comics I finally got today. And they were dead serious, too. ;)

I love this series (starting with Red Thorn #1) btw, it's set in Glasgow (and some more of Scotland, with a little trip to Morocco) and brings some Scottish legends to life in a very original way and beautiful artwork. Can't wait for the next one!

Jalilah wrote: "No worries! Most of us here also read YA. I just have not found any I liked recently, but there are some great ones out there!"

Thanks :) Which ones have been your favourites?

I just finished and loved The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor.

I'm about to start the debut YA novel See No Color by Shannon Gibney, which my RL book group is reading. Also, Kindred by Octavia E. Butler.

Melanie wrote: "Thanks :) Which ones have been your favourites?"

There are a number of ya books I've really enjoyed but my favourites are the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor
The Painted Boy by Charles de Lint as well as his Wildling trilogy. The first one is Under My Skin
I love Juliet Marillier Wildwood Dancing series. Unfortunately I read that she does not plan on writing anymore in this series because the two that she wrote did not sell well.
And another great series I loved by Holly Black is the Modern Faerie Tale series. The first book is Tithe

I own (and enjoyed) Wildwood Dancing but I haven't read the sequel. From the description it sounded like it was quite different.

I've heard good things about Daughter of Smoke and Bone but I'm not as much into the angels/demons sub genre (or the 'girl finds out she's really faerie' one either). Probably partially because I don't like my books dark.

No surprise, then, that I just checked out Tithe's page and it's definitely not my thing! :) Pretty much once I see the word 'torture', I'm out. (With the exception of Maria V. Snyder who seems determined to sneak it in to every book she writes - in her case I just grit my teeth and push past it)

Melanie wrote: "I've heard good things about Daughter of Smoke and Bone but I'm not as much into the angels/demons sub genre (or the 'girl finds out she's really faerie' one either). Probably partially because I don't like my books dark

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is not at all about angels and demons in the traditional sense. They are different species from an alternative universe, that to humans might look like angels or demons but they are not. Especially the Angels are not Angels at all!
I would not describe the series as particularly dark except for the second book. Maybe I read more into the series than the author intended but I saw the message of the series is against war.

Regarding Tithe, I am not a fan of graphic horror, but I did not find this series so bad.

I am currently doing a challenge for women writers from the Middle East, so I finished The Kindness of Enemies which takes place in Chechna, Sudan, Russia and Scottland. The autor is Sudanese. I rated it 5 stars. I tried to read A Plague of Unicorns, but sorry folks, couldn't get into it. Probably because The Kindness of Enemies was so good. I continued the ME challenge reading Mornings in Jenin, (4 stars) , and just started The Architect's Apprentice. According to one review this one is supposed to have Turkish folklore worked into it, so I'll let you all know if it would be good for this groups challenge.

The Snow Queen by Eileen Kernaghan is no doubt the best Snow Queen retelling I've read. In fact it's one of the YA best retellings I've read in a long time period. It's so good! I think people here would like it.

The Architect's Apprentice was also excellent.
I tried to read The Wandering Unicorn. I really, really wanted to like it, but I just couldn't. I got to about 1/4 the book but was really forcing myself. Too bad.

All good things to know, Jalilah!

I've been eyeing Kernaghan's book for a while now and hadn't heard of the other one yet.


Hopefully, I'll be able to catch up on some reading today.

We've gotten 13" of rain in the last 12 hours and another 3" still forecast. I doubt I'll be getting any yard work done today!

It's rained so much that I just found an earthworm crawling across my kitchen floor. I have no idea how he got there, but he's apparently in search of dryer climates than the great outdoors.

Jalilah wrote: "The Snow Queen by Eileen Kernaghan is no doubt the best Snow Queen retelling I've read. In fact it's one of the YA best retellings I've read in a long time period. It's..."

Added to my list. Thanks.

It's science fiction, but yesterday I finished and loved Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Today I'm reading Anna and the Swallow Man a debut novel by Gavriel Savit.

I was so looking forward to reading Green Grass, Running Water, but the library copy I have is so disgusting! In addition to many of the words being underlined for no apparent reason, there are stains and smudges of all colors, brown, mustard yellow....After reading about 50 pages and finding a greyish green smudge I just can't read on!
I can't tell if I'd like this book enough to buy it. I was so put off by the state the book I couldn't enjoy it!

haha I buy a lot of second hand books, but I have to switch off my OCD, and the book has to look CLEAN...

Jalilah wrote: "I was so looking forward to reading Green Grass, Running Water, but the library copy I have is so disgusting! In addition to many of the words being underlined for no apparent reason, ..."

Oh I so know what you mean. I can't handle a book that is nasty looking to touch.

One good thing is that you can usually take a wet wipe to the cover - as long as you can ignore the dirt on the pages themselves

Melanti wrote: "One good thing is that you can usually take a wet wipe to the cover - as long as you can ignore the dirt on the pages themselves"

Done that :)

Melanti wrote: "One good thing is that you can usually take a wet wipe to the cover - as long as you can ignore the dirt on the pages themselves"

The cover wasn't bad. It was the pages

I've quit reading books before because they were too gross on the inside. Ew, people!

I read a book from the library earlier this month (How I Live Now) that looked as if the person had either soaked it in weak coffee or an unidentified light reddish-brown liquid. It was super gross but I preserved and just held it by a teensy little piece of the bottom corner of each page. LOL that was the worst one I've had in years, though. Usually I luck out with the library's copies being in good to great shape.

I love my library but also hate it when the books are disgusting. These days I'm often borrowing the new releases though so they're generally ok. It's always satisfying when I pick up a book from the reserves shelf and it looks like it's brand new. Like buying a new book without having to pay for it! (Or find room for it on my overflowing bookshelves, haha.)

They have an AMAZING second hand book fair where I live which happens twice a year. I love it and now that I have a baby I've been using it as a source of cheap picture/board books (because those things are expensive!) but I always have to grit my teeth when going through the boxes. They're definitely dirtier than the adult books!

Polls are up for our May 15-July 14 Animal Transformation Themed Group Read!
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/3...

I'm not even going to get started on the horrors I have seen buying in books at the used place I work at.

I'm still mired in reading The Idiot... Over a month now! I'm so looking forward to finishing it up!

In anticipation of my freedom, I stopped by the library and picked up a few fun reads.
The Crane Wife by Ness
The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth
The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson
Beast by Donna Jo Napoli

It's definitely motivation to hurry up and finish Dostoyevsky. (I have a feeling people are going to start dying off any page now. I'm getting really close to the end.)

I was just reading an article in The Guardian about fairy tale fiction, and one of the books mentioned was The Last Illusion by Porochista Khakpour.

It's set in NYC during 9/11, but is based on a Persian epic.

It sounds interesting, and I haven't heard it or the author mentioned before, so I thought I'd share.

Melanti wrote: "I was just reading an article in The Guardian about fairy tale fiction, and one of the books mentioned was The Last Illusion by Porochista Khakpour.

It's set in NYC during 9/11, bu..."

Sounds interesting. Thank you for the heads up.

I just finished the amazing fantasy,]magical realism book~ , and am now reading and enjoying a cozy mystery~

C. wrote: "I just finished the amazing fantasy,]magical realism book~ , and am now reading and enjoying a cozy mystery~"

Melanti wrote: "I was just reading an article in The Guardian about fairy tale fiction, and one of the books mentioned was The Last Illusion by Porochista Khakpour.

It's set in NYC during 9/11, bu..."

Thanks! I've added these two books to my to-read list. Both look really good!

I am re-reading The Hummingbird's Daughter and enjoying it every bit as much the second time around. I nominated it for a historical fiction group read ( the theme was Mexican history) and it ending up winning, so that's why I decided to read it again. I am glad I did because Id forgotten a lot. It's on the Endicott Mythic Fiction list. I guess I'll count it for the challenge, after the fiasco that happened with Green Grass, Running Water, the book I was originally planning on reading.

Melanti wrote: "I was just reading an article in The Guardian about fairy tale fiction, and one of the books mentioned was The Last Illusion by Porochista Khakpour.

It's set in NYC during 9/11, bu..."

Added!

Finished The Crane Wife last night and really enjoyed it.

Since I enjoyed both the YA and adult group reads this month, I thought I would continue on with animal transformations by reading Bear Daughter. Melanti and Jalilah mentioned making a group read for it, which I'll do. Anyone want to join in? I can skip it and read something else if anyone wants to read it later on.

I finished Beast a few days ago, and was a little disappointed. I really enjoyed the concept, but there was just too much suspension of disbelief needed for my tastes. I just can't envision a lion transplanting roses.

I also got my hands on a copy of A Circle of Cats, which is really cute. I should be re-reading The Cats of Tanglewood Forest soon.

I read a couple pages of The Crane Wife, but wasn't quite in the right mood for it, so I've switched over to Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights for now. I'm enjoying it, but it doesn't have the frenetic energy of other books by him that I've read.

So a few days ago I finished She Came From Beyond!: A Novel, a science fiction- adjacent novel about an actress who works on a tv show something like MST3K, and her family situation.

Then I read P.S. Be Eleven which I loved!

Today I listened to Fates and Furies which isn't for me, today.

I'm currently reading Tipping the Velvet.

I read The Night Circus last week and I loved it so much I couldn't read anything else until yesterday, when I started Joe Hill's latest The Fireman about which I know almost nothing, and 116 pages in I have no idea where he's going to take the story and I'm loving it!

After The Fireman I'll be reading a couple ARCs - We Love You, Charlie Freeman by Kaitlyn Greenidge and Detained and Deported: Stories of Immigrant Families Under Fire by Margaret Regan - then I'll be able to start the group reads.

Since I just read The Cats of Tanglewood Forest last year, I won't be re-reading that one, but I'm hoping to read The Fox Woman and Bear Daughter instead. I've been waiting for animal transformations to win for ages so I plan to take full advantage of the theme this time around. :)

Melanti wrote: "I finished Beast a few days ago, and was a little disappointed. I really enjoyed the concept, but there was just too much suspension of disbelief needed for my tastes. I just can't envision a lion transplanting roses..."

I felt the same way about Beast and it was the first book by Napoli I'd read. Thankfully, I picked up Zel and The Magic Circle next, which were much better, IMO.

Leah wrote: "but I'm hoping to read The Fox Woman and Bear Daughter instead. I've been waiting for animal transformations to win for ages so I plan to take full advantage of the theme this time around. :) "

Here's the link to the buddy read for Bear Daughter: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I'm starting it tomorrow or Wednesday, but feel free to join in when you get a chance.

I read The Fox Woman last year and liked it. Will you be reading The Crane Wife too? I really enjoyed it as well.

There are so many books on my shelf that qualify as animal transformations! I will probably stop after Bear Daughter and move on to other genres, but it's one theme I'd always be happy to read more from.

Margaret wrote: "I read The Fox Woman last year and liked it. Will you be reading The Crane Wife too? I really enjoyed it as well."

Yes, I plan to read The Crane Wife as well as selections from Beauty and the Beast Tales. I'll be busy reading the next three weeks. :)

Leah wrote: "Yes, I plan to read The Crane Wife as well as selections from Beauty and the Beast Tales. I'll be busy reading the next three weeks. :)"

Always. :)