Tag: A Visit from the Goon Squad

TransAtlantic by Colum McCann

Posted June 7, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: TransAtlantic (Goodreads)
Author: Colum McCann
Published: Bloomsbury, 2013
Pages: 320
Genres: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
My Copy: ARC from Netgalley

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

The National Book Award-winning author of Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann comes an astonishing new novel, TransAtlantic. Through a series of narratives that span 150 years and two continents comes this magnificent and somewhat ambitious novel. From the first TransAtlantic flight from Newfoundland to the west of Ireland to the American senator crossing the ocean in search for lasting peace in Ireland, this is part fiction part historical literary achievement.

I’ve often struggled with the novels that are made up from a collection of short stories as well as the ones that blend fact and fiction. A Visit from the Goon Squad was a widely talked about book for having a chapter dedicated to a different person but I didn’t think much of it, while The Imperfectionists did the same thing a whole lot better. Now we have TransAtlantic, which I’m not sure if it was the fact that I read this while flying but this really stands out about the rest. Then you have these novels that draw a lot from history. A Treacherous Likeness was a disaster; Z: The Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald I thought missed too much of her later years; Burial Rites was the exception but only because it was such an obscure historical event I didn’t know about it. Yet TransAtlantic seems to be standing out above these novels as well.

The first chapter looks at the incredible story of the first flight across the Atlantic in 1919, an epic feat in human history by all accounts. I felt like Colum McCann handled this so masterfully that I wasn’t concerned about the historical facts, I was absorbed in the tension facing these two men as they battle against the odds to make it.

Yet this isn’t just about the history of flight across the Atlantic Ocean, this focuses a lot on Ireland. McCann is an Irish born author so you expect to see Irish history within this book but he is also coming from a journalist background and it really shows. This novel takes a look at slavery and conflict within Ireland making this an interesting look at the significance of TransAtlantic flight.

Colum McCann weaves a tapestry of rich and powerful short stories that lavish us with this literary piece. From the get go I felt drawn into the novel, the short sentences seem to keep me reading at such a fast pace. While I had to get off one plane and board another half way through this book, I was so sucked in I felt like asking the pilot to take the long way just so it wouldn’t interrupt my reading.

Key historical figures within TransAtlantic include Frederick Douglass, John Alcock and Teddy Brown and George Mitchell. The novel both encouraged me to learn more about these people and while giving me a new insight of both TransAtlantic flight and historical events within Ireland. On reflection I can pinpoint exactly what worked well and what didn’t, the different elements of this novel all seemed to work together to hide whatever flaws I was looking for.

TransAtlantic was both an addictive read and a stunning piece of literary fiction. While it wasn’t perfect, I’m not sure how to fault this book, I picked the right book for the right time and it was an enjoyable experience. I’ve not read Colum McCann before, in fact I hadn’t heard of him, but you can be sure I’ll be tracking more of his novels down.

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

Posted May 24, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Contemporary / 0 Comments

Title: The Imperfectionists (Goodreads)
, 2010
Pages: 277
Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

With the war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq, climate change, the economy and constant tragedies and crime, a newspaper has plenty of material to fill its columns. But for the staff of this international paper based in Rome, the real stories are not the ones on the front page but the ones that happen in their own life. The Imperfectionists is a quirky novel about the people that write and read this newspaper.

My first thought of this novel was, this is going to be the newspaper equivalent of A Visit from the Goon Squad and in some parts it is, but I actually enjoyed this book. Don’t get me wrong, A Visit from the Goon Squad has some positives to it and a lot of people enjoyed it, but for me I just think it was over hyped and you get to know a character and then the novel moves onto something different. This is a problem with The Imperfectionist as well but I got this sense that each little story came to a relatively decent close; this is tiny little stories to give you a small insight into each life. These stories don’t really make up an overall plot; that happens between each chapter when you learn a little more about the overall rise of this paper.

This novel mainly focuses on the newspaper industry, founded in the late fifties, in a time where the paper is still the primary source of news for most people. This novel tracks the changing time and the effect it has on the people that work for this paper. Television and the twenty four hour news channels had a huge effect on the newspaper industry but this paper managed to stay in business and now with the information age and the internet they are really struggling to remain relevant. This newspaper refused to create a website and insisted on sticking to the old ways and this turns out to be their downfall.

Each member of the staff that show up in the chapters of the book have their own issues to deal with as well; love, relationships, parenthood and normal everyday life. The thing I enjoyed about this book was each character was unique and handled life differently but then all of them had their own issues to deal with that were more important than the problems facing the newspaper they worked for. Sure they worried about their jobs but life has its own challenges and these are what are explored with the newspaper industry decays.

This works like a collection of short stories, each have their own plot but then in between each one there it the main plot which follows the newspaper from conception to where it is today. I really liked the way this was done; it felt like each story wasn’t irrelevant to the overall plot. Their names pop up and you have a sense of understanding that person enough to know just how they may feel. Each little story is different, but they are told in the same third person style so they seem to tie together really well.

There are some problems with this novel as well, sometimes you want more from a character you like and sometimes I found myself getting bored. As an overall novel I did end up enjoying it; I found myself racing through this book and that is rare for me when it comes to short stories. I don’t know much about author Tom Rachman; I know his has written another short story but not another novel. I would be interested to see how he goes with a follow up novel and see how he approaches it. The Imperfectionist was enjoyable but I don’t think I would recommend it to anyone, unless they want something similar to of A Visit from the Goon Squad.

Confessions of a Reader

Posted May 4, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 6 Comments

While most people know my story, I wasn’t much of a reader until a few years ago when something clicked and I started reading and wanting to read almost everything in sight. I’ve been playing catch up with everyone else for the past few years. While I claim to be a bibliophile, I’ve still got a lot to catch up on. My name is Michael and these are by reading confessions:

I haven’t borrowed a book from the library in about a year While I love libraries and my local librarians are awesome people, I think I like books too much to borrow them. I don’t think I would want to return them. Plus I’m now more of an e-reader and still waiting for a digital local library.

Short story collections often bore me: While it’s great to read some quick stories, when reading a whole book full of short stories – especially on the one topic – it often gets boring and becomes a struggle. I think the fact that I read it straight through instead of a little at a time is my main problem.

I still groan at the thought of reading some genres: While I do try to keep an open mind to new and recommended book, I tend to avoid or put off reading some genres. I’m not sure if this is simply because I haven’t experienced enough good books in these genres but fantasy, magic realism, romance and paranormal romance novels never seem appealing.

Large books often scare me: I will try to read them but I don’t like the idea of investing in a long story when I can read two or three books instead. I’ve written a post previously about this same issue.

I’ve never read Jane Austin: I probably should. I know she is one of the most famous writers but I have so many other books to read and none of her books really interest me.

I read literary books with the hope to look cool: Even though I’ve realised that I’ve enjoyed most of them. My main motivations for reading books like 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan and The Shipping News by Annie Proulx in an effort to look more like a literary elitist.

I rarely complete a book series: I can only think of two book series that I’ve read completely through, most of the time I read one of the books just to test the series out and move onto more interesting novels. I haven’t finished The Hunger Game series and I only read the first two books from the Song of Ice and Fire series to keep in front of the Game of Thrones TV series.

Audiobooks have replaced my music in the car and while I do work or exercise. I like being able to listen through a novel during those times where I’m doing mundane tasks. I often have an audiobook and an ebook on the go at the same time. It’s surprisingly easy to read two books at the same times if one of them is an audiobook.

I’m addicted to Goodreads: This is an effect of my reading and a need to keep a record of all the books I’ve read and want to read. I’m now part of a few groups on Goodreads and spend most of my work day on the site.

I own multiple copies of Frankenstein and even a few other books. I love Frankenstein and I need more copies of it, so I can have a copy of the book in every part of the house. Most multiple copies of books are by accident but when it comes to Frankenstein it was intentional.

I’m sure I can keep going with my confessions but I think I will stop with those ten. I would love to know what you would confess about your reading habits.