liar's dictionary

This book was weeded from my local library, I assume because they had multiple copies when it first came out. This is the second book/first novel from British author Eley Williams, if I'm understanding the book jacket information correctly. 

'Dictionary' in the title gave me my first clue that this was going to be a book by a word nerd author, and I was right; Williams is definitely a word hound and this book is just busting with them. Obscure, archaic, quirky, and just plain made up words.

The Liar's Dictionary is a story told in parallel, both now and in the past, * and centers on the little known Swansby's New Encyclopaedic Dictionary; which has lexicographers chipping away at words and their varied meanings, and somewhat more importantly, what the words mean to them. But that's not all, there is a little of everything here: love, romance, obsession, intrigue, terrorism, tragedy, mystery, censorship... yeah, everything.

Williams even lets her characters run off with the narrative, spinning away into streams of consciousness, and free associative thought processes, laid bare. That tactic is (thankfully) rare, but it lends a sense of realism that almost echos one's own thoughts while reading. And its funny! In many places, I got a kick out how these characters dealt with the stresses of their complicated, and interwoven lives. This book isn't very big, but there is lot in here. I'll be looking for Eley Williams' next venture.

Read this book.

 

On an unrelated note, invasion of your neighbor, Ukraine, seems like a crummy way to celebrate Defender of the Fatherland Day, or Red Army Day, this February 23rd, Vlad.

* the parallel stories, told now and in the past, and tied together with mystery and modern sleuthing reminded me of my recent reading of The Lost Apothecary, and reading them so close was an interesting contrast. It makes me think that some kind kind of thematic reading series might be fun to work on at some point. Ideas? Leave a comment!

black swan green

Being a 13-year-old boy, isn't the greatest thing to be, but it isn't the worse either. I've had this book on my reading list for a while because Dave Mitchell wrote it, and I've liked everything that I've read written by him this far. I couldn't help thinking that this novel had to have some autobiographical information. I mean, how is it possible for a guy to write about the day-to-day of a 13-year-old boy in the first person without including some of his own inner dialog from that stage of his life. The book takes place mainly in 1982, and I bet Mitchell was about that age in '82.

I wondered if some of the fantastical that has appeared in many of Mitchell's other books would show up here, but after a while it became clear that this was a story about a boy.* Jason Taylor's life in a small town in the English countryside seems boring an uneventful to him, and most of his peers, but that is only the story on the surface. Mitchell takes us into the inner dialogs, hopes, and fears of a teen boy, and while we all know that the world will eventually become wider for him, what he knows now is the world he lives in, and Mitchell helps us to reconnect with those feelings we all had as kids.

Black Swan Green is sweet, tragic, exciting, violent and in some cases heartbreaking, but all from the point of view of Jason. Is this the best of David Mitchell's books? No. But was it entertaining, fun, and in in some places really funny? Yes. Teens can say anything, and they often do. Mitchell takes advantage of the recklessness of his teen characters to say things adults may filter out, and even when he doesn't say it out loud, Jason's inner dialog often fills in the blanks.

 

* The fantastic is not completely absent, but in the context of this book, it could be seen as the imaginings of an adolescence boy. Trust the internet and the nerds who live there to inform me that, like a lot of Mitchell's books, characters sometimes appear in the periphery of other books. That is apparently the case here as well, but I missed.

lost apothecary

I started reading a book by Nick Tosches called In the Hand of Dante, but I put it down when I was given a recommendation to read this book; The Lost Apothecary . I'll get back to Tosches at some point,* but when I put the current book on hold at the library, I also asked for another one and its just come up so I'll read that first.

The Apothecary is the debut novel by Susan Penner. Its labeled as mystery at my library, but I'd say intrigue-historical may be a better classification, and its almost light enough to be teen, as it also has some of those elements often seen in teen fiction, altho it does have some more adult themes that teens may be bored by. The story is two fold, or maybe threefold, part taking place in late 1700s London, while some of it takes place in modern day London. The stories are woven together in that the modern day protagonist is trying to understand the story of which she has discovered some clues.

There is a great little 1700s map of the section of London where the action takes place, and it appears that some things have stayed the same, but others have changed drastically. I have no doubt that the mysterious places mentioned in the book no longer exist, if they ever did, in London, but who knows. Its fun to check back on the map and see where these things are relative to one another, and some other larger elements such as the river, and some of the major streets that still are there.

At the root of it, this book is a celebration of the solidarity of women, and how they have to look after and support one another or they'll be forgotten. some of that 'support' is a little grim tho Penner does her part to point out forgotten women in history, who are forgotten simply because the history was written by men. She also reminds us that women long preserved the old ways and old medicines long after the medicine of men became the norm. This was a fun one, and a welcome break from the hard, strange writing of Nick Tosches.

 

* I'll try and remember to come back here and put a link when i write a review, you for those of you using this blog to do research or whatever.