Personal Selections
- Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut
- The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
- A Partial History of Lost Causes by Jennifer Dubois
- The Postmortal by Drew Magary
- A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
- The Unvarnished New Testament translated by Andy Gaus
Book Club Selections
- Jeff In Venice, Death In Varanasi by Geoff Dyer
- Light In August by William Faulkner
The second selection read in this month's What Should Kester Read? was Neil Gaiman's Preludes and Nocturnes, a compilation of the first eight comic books in his Sandman series. When I read this month's first selection, Essex County, it was because I expected to like it the least. It ended up being one of the best graphic novels that I have ever read. Preludes was my second choice, and for similar reasons. I am not a Neil Gaiman fan.
And yes, before you ask, I read American Gods. Yes, I also read Neverwhere. Yes, Good Omens too. No, none of them did it for me. I don't hate Neil Gaiman. I just sort of "meh" Neil Gaiman.
But I like this. I didn't at first, but I'm used to not liking a series at first. Ever seen the original Seinfeld? Yeah, I didn't like that either. It takes time for a story to find its direction and a character to find his voice. That's true of some of my favorite stories and it is true of Sandman. But by halfway to two-thirds into Preludes, Gaiman is hitting his stride. When you consider that there are 75 total issues in this series (10 collected works), you realize he's got a long way to go. Which means he's got a lot of time to do a lot with this story. Or to blow it. Which he could. I thought I was going to like American Gods too.
For now, at least, I am very much enjoying Sandman. It's just the right mix of dark and comic, it's wry and weary title character the perfect blend of lights and darks, as shadowy as the story he finds himself in. It feels weird to say a story this dark is "fun," but it is. I'm having fun with this story and this character and I am looking forward to reading more.
Fortunately for me, my forward thinking friend and co-worker, Joe Turner, has already picked book two, The Doll's House, as one of his five What Should Kester Read? selections for January. I'm pretty sure I can wait until then.
The fact that I'm not completely sure should tell you something. This series will hook you. It certainly has me.
What Should Kester Read? selections
- Blankets by Craig Thompson
- Buddha, Vo. 1 by Osamu Tezuka
- Palestine by Joe Sacco
Other Reading
- Jeff In Venice, Death In Varanasi by Geoff Dyer
- The Unvarnished New Testament translated by Andy Gaus
What Should Kester Read? selections
- Blankets by Craig Thompson
- Buddha, Vo. 1 by Osamu Tezuka
- Palestine by Joe Sacco
- Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
Other Reading
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- Jeff In Venice, Death In Varanasi by Geoff Dyer
- The Unvarnished New Testament translated by Andy Gaus
"It feels like I'm experiencing someone else's dream."
So speaks Aomame; one of the two main characters in Haruki Murakami's newest book, 1Q84.
The year is 1984, and Aomame is a professional assasin who takes a shortcut to her latest job, only to find that she may have stumbled into a different world, altogether. It is a place she begins to call 1Q84 ("Q is for 'question mark.' A world that bears a question.") Finding her way in this new world is only the beginning to finding her way out. In the meantime, she must discover why it is that she is there.
Meanwhile, an aspiring young writer named Tengo is persuaded to secretly ghost write a novel called Air Chrysalis. it is a novel which contains a world with two moons and spirits known as "the Little People." As Tengo rewrites this world, he finds himself slowly drawn into it.
Fans of Murakami's fiction know that to read his stories is to enter into a dreamworld of sorts; the twists can be confusing, the characters confounding, their decisions complex. But we go along for the ride because we trust that Murakami will get us safely (if not unscathed) out the other side. 1Q84 can be placed alongside Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Hard-Boiled Wonderland as some of his best work. It is strange and sad and thrilling. It feels like you're experiencing someone else's dream.
The first book I tackled in this month's What Should Kester Read? was Jeff Lemire's Essex County. Like last month's selections; Sara's five picks for November are all graphic novels. Unlike last month's selections, Sara's five picks are less familiar to me, none more so than Essex County. I went in with no sense of whether this would be funny, gory, mysterious, or what.
What is was was as honest and heartfelt a tale as I have read in some time. I'm not sure why this graphic novel doesn't get more attention (at least from the folks I'm in conversation with), because it's a reminder that a graphic novel can be just as literary and rich and rewarding as standard novels. It was sad without being maudlin, it was sincere without being sanguine. It was what I expect Blankets to be when I read it for the first time, later this month. It was a truly human story. It was proof that real doesn't equal cynical or jaded. It's a beautiful piece of work.
And that's just the story and the writing of it. The art is the other element and it is perfect. Sparse and simple and subdued. Much of it feels like pencil sketches lovingly rendered, but never "fixed." Pages go by without a word being written, a reminder that the great storytellers know when to show instead of tell.
In case you missed it, I loved this book. I started with it, figuring that it would be nothing special and I'd just get it out of the way. Now I worry that the rest of the month won't measure up. I was saving Blankets for last, sure that it would be my favorite. Essex County makes me far less sure.
What Should Kester Read? selections
- Blankets by Craig Thompson
- Buddha, Vol. 1 by Osamu Tezuka
- Essex County by Jeff Lemire
- Palestine by Joe Sacco
- Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
Other Reading
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- Jeff In Venice, Death In Varanasi by Geoff Dyer
- The Unvarnished New Testament by Andy Gaus
Or...that's how this month should have started. But I am in the middle of the new Murakami and was afraid that I'd have to stop, given my no books but those assigned by selector or book club or Bible and I didn't want to stop reading Murakami and so I started early on Essex County and read it in one sitting. It was amazing. Review to come. So...
What Should Kester Read? selections
- Blankets by Craig Thompson
- Buddha, Vol. 1 by Osamu Tezuka
- Palestine by Joe Sacco
- Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
Other Reading
- 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- Jeff In Venice, Death In Varanasi by Geoff Dyer
- The Unvarnished New Testament by Andy Gaus
