Tag Archives: fiction

BOOKS: “A Short Stay in Hell” by Steven L. Peck

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A Short Stay in HellA Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site: Strange Violin Editions

If you enjoy books like Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 or Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy this book will probably be right up your alley. It may not be as unrelentingly (and hilariously) absurd as H2G2, but it’s clever, amusing, and thought-provoking.

The premise is that a devout Christian finds himself in hell because it turns out that Zoroastrianism was actually the one true religion. Fortunately, Zoroastrian hell is neither as grim nor (perhaps, ironically) as fire & brimstone-oriented as the Biblical version, but it is tedious, demoralizing, and — while it might not last forever –it lasts long enough to seem like forever.

Jorge Luis Borges fans (such as myself) will find a nod to his work in the shape of said hell.

I’d highly recommend this book for readers of irreverent and humorous literary fiction. It’s funny. It’s clever. And it’s a quick read.

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BOOKS: “The Last Brother” by Nathacha Appanah

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The Last BrotherThe Last Brother by Nathacha Appanah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site — Gray Wolf Press

When Mauritius made it onto my shortlist for upcoming travel, I needed to find an enlightening work of Mauritian literature, and this book was prominently discussed as one that might fit the bill.

The book is narrated by an old man telling a story from his boyhood. It is a poignant and riveting tale. The book’s title, The Last Brother reflects the protagonist’s (Raj’s) first tragedy, losing his two brothers in a natural disaster in Mapou, Mauritius. Raj’s family then moved south where his father got work in a prison.

Much of the book revolves around a strange historical event — the imprisonment of a large number of Jews on Mauritius during World War II. These Jews had fled Europe and were trying to make their way to Palestine but were not granted entry because of a lack of acceptable documentation. They were then sent to Mauritius where they were imprisoned in a detention camp.

The reader only sees this event through the relationship of Raj and David. Raj is taken to the prison infirmary after being beaten by his alcoholic father. There he meets David, a Jewish boy in the detention camp. It isn’t until the very end of the book that the author presents the facts of the historic event. I think this is a wise move, allowing the reader only knowledge of what the characters would know (which – as nine-year-olds – is not much.) The late reveal adds to the tension and makes some of the characters’ decisions more understandable.

The last part of the book is a little reminiscent of Huck Finn, except without Twain’s lightheartedness and with a more melancholic and tragic tone and ending, but featuring two young men on the lam for different reasons.

I found this novel to be a potent read and would highly recommend it for readers of global literature — especially if you expect to find yourself in Mauritius at some point.

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PROMPT: Character

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Daily writing prompt
If you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why?
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Wu Song (武松) from Water Margin (水浒传.)

Because he’s a traveler with zero f#&ks to give. There is no more freedom to be had than that.

BOOKS: “Attack on Titan, Vol. 1” by Hajime Isayama

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Attack on Titan, Vol. 1Attack on Titan, Vol. 1 by Hajime Isayama
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Kodansha

A bit like Starship Troopers in that it features a group of youths drawn into military service to defend humanity from an existential threat, this series revolves around humanity besieged by giants. This introductory volume opens many questions that it leaves to be answered, such as: what are the Titans? Where do they come from? Can humanity survive them?

What this opening volume does a good job of is building a cast of characters one can connect with, as well as showing how humanity has been losing ground to its mammoth enemies. The reader enters this conflict in the middle, humanity living in walled cities that periodically come under attack, and that not only sets a tone but builds engagement with the story.

I found this volume intriguing and would highly recommend it for comic book readers. Note: the book is formatted in manga style and thus reads backwards from the perspective of an English language book reader.

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BOOKS: “A Man Was Going Down the Road” by Otar Chiladze

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A Man Was Going Down the RoadA Man Was Going Down the Road by Otar Chiladze
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site

This is the English translation of a novel considered to be one of the most important literary works of Georgia (i.e. the country, not the state) in the twentieth century. The multigenerational tale adapts from Greek Mythology, most notably the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece and Daedalus and Icarus (the former taking place early in the book and the latter towards the end.)

Given its pacing, multigenerational sprawl, and the rambling ordinary life interactions between big events, this book isn’t of the highest readability, but that has its benefits. Supposedly, the author was taking digs at the Soviets and their invasions and operations in Georgia, but – apparently – the Soviet censors never made the connection due to the abstruse nature of the story. Otherwise, we might not have this book to read, today.

Regardless of my comments about readability, the book does have a number of positive things going for it. I found the translation to have some beautiful stretches of language. There was an opening paragraph of one of the latter chapters that floored me. Also, it’s not all soap opera, the more intensely plot-driven bits are compelling, most notably the Golden Fleece story.

I’d highly recommend this book for readers who don’t mind the challenge of literary fiction pacing and everyday minutiae.

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BOOKS: “Pygmalion” by George Bernard Shaw

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PygmalionPygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Available on Project Gutenberg

Pygmalion is a play about class and human connection, and is probably the best-known work of George Bernard Shaw, having been adapted into a popular movie entitled My Fair Lady.

Henry Higgins, an expert on accents and dialects, bets his friend, Col. Pickering, that he can train a poor Cockney flower girl (Eliza Doolittle) to pass as a duchess at a soiree with genteel elites. Higgins is educated and of upper-crust upbringing but is neither refined nor does he have much in the way of people skills. Pickering is a personable and mannerly gentleman. Eliza is on a journey of transformation and her interaction with the two men offers insight into how those of different classes view dignity. (Besides examining class differences, some insight into how men and women differently view human interactions is generated.)

Beginning the last act (Act V,) it felt like the earlier acts hadn’t done the work required of them to motivate the last act behavior / discussions, but — I must admit — that feeling went away by the time the dialogue was complete. (Also, I give benefit of the doubt to the fact that good acting may have conveyed inklings to an audience that couldn’t be garnered from reading dialogue and stage directions.)

There was an Afterword that sketched out what happens in the lives of the characters after the events of the play. I didn’t care for it. There is a certain level of ambiguity in the ending, and I was good with that. I understand that many readers / viewers are not, however. (If you watched Christopher Nolan’s Inception and the spinning top ending drove you batty, you’d probably appreciate this Afterword. I believe the movie (My Fair Lady) tweaks the ending to make it more definitive.)

At any rate, this is a witty and evocative play and is well worth reading (or seeing.)

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BOOKS: “Face Meat” by Bonten Taro

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Face MeatFace Meat by Bonten Taro
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Living the Line

Release: May 20, 2025

This is a creative collection of fourteen dark and creepy tales. It’s full of monsters, curses, killers, folkloric themes, and death. Many, but not all, of the stories are placed in Japanese settings — e.g. the wild west and 19th century Europe are also featured. (And some of the stories seem to be of ambiguous setting — presumably on purpose.) Most, but not all, of the stories feature supernatural elements.

It’s a translation of a manga, and isn’t reformatted, such that one will need to get comfortable with the “backwards” reading that such books entail. The art is mostly line drawn and lightly shaded black and white, with a few color pages (mostly story covers) in sepia-reminiscent tones.

I found the tales to be taut and disturbing and would recommend the book for readers of horror and dark speculative fiction. It is sexually as well as violently graphic –so, if you’re one of those weirdos who is ok with a severed head but scandalized by an unclad breast, this book isn’t for you.

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BOOK: “Zatanna” by Paul Dini, et. al.

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ZatannaZatanna by Paul Dini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher Site — DC Comics

Zatanna is a magician, both in the sense of being a professional stage illusionist and in the sense of making real magic offstage. The stories contained herein are about her heroic use of the latter magic, though they are often set to the backdrop of her professional life, i.e. clubs and other entertainment venues. Daughter to a deceased legend of stage prestidigitation, The Great Zatara, Zatanna makes magic through verbal spells.
 
This sixteen-issue run consists mostly of standalone stories. There are a couple story arcs that span three or four issues, but for the most part the stories are wrapped up within an issue. Some of these stories dedicate panels to what’s happening with Zatanna’s long-running nemesis, Brother Night, even when the main story is unrelated to him (presumably so as to keep the readers ready to receive some larger arc.)

The stories are good, light-hearted escapism — even – perhaps – when they don’t mean to be. By that I mean that the subject matter is often dark, dealing in demons and nightmares personified, but Zatanna is usually so overpowered compared to her enemies and the book attempts to maintain a quippy comedic effect, and so the reader never feels their heroine is at risk of true danger. That said, the authors do put Zatanna in dire situations, and so the stories often do hook one into a state of wonder about how she will escape some awful fate (even while not doubting for an instant that she will.) Zatanna does have weaknesses and there is some attempt to suggest that magic has risks and consequences (otherwise, the stories would devolve into lukewarm absurdism rather quickly.)

I enjoyed this run. The art is crisp and imaginative, and the stories are often clever — if rarely taut.

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BOOKS: “Letters from a Seducer” by Hilda Hilst

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Letters from a SeducerLetters from a Seducer by Hilda Hilst
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Pushkin Press Classics

Release Date: May 27, 2025

This is an upcoming English translation of a 1991 novella from Brazilian author, Hilda Hilst, from what has been called her “obscene cycle.” It is mostly an epistolary novella in which a man, Karl, writes his sister, Cordelia, informing her about his recent sexual adventures and attempting to coax a confession out of her about her own activities long in the past. We never see any replies from Cordelia. (And that is part of what makes the book fascinating.) The only indication of her responses that we get are Karl’s references to Cordelia’s comments from her last letter in his present letter. However, we can’t necessarily be certain that even those occasional suggestions of dialog represent the truth.

To understand why one might have doubt, one must be aware of what else is going on in this book. There is one other narrative voice, and that is of Stamatius. Stamatius is in socio-economic terms the opposite of Karl. Karl being of the gentlemanly class — his behavior and letters to his sister notwithstanding — and Stamatius is a starving artist (a writer, to be precise.) The two men speak of each other, though always in deprecating terms. However, there’s reason to think the two men might be one. Stamatius, while condemning Karl’s sex obsession, also mostly engages in tales of his own sexual adventures as well as presenting those of others. In fact, the end of this novella is a collection of short vignettes of the nature one might see in a smutty letter magazine, only better (and sometimes poetically) written.

By the author’s own description, this novella is intentionally pornographic. While the same thing is said of Hilst’s The Obscene Madame D I did not find that book particularly graphic or sex-centric. This book, however, is quite graphic and if one took away references to sexual activities
nothing of substance would remain. (Not true of The Obscene Madame D.)

I found this book to be intriguing, despite the fact that it is quite sloppily arranged (presumably on purpose,) but it does present some splendid use of language (at least in this translation — the original is in Brazilian Portuguese) and character psychology.

I’d recommend this book for readers of literary fiction who don’t mind plotlessness and pornographicness.

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BOOKS: “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” by Luo Guanzhong

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Three Kingdoms (4-Volume Boxed Set)Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Website – Penguin

The edition that I read was the Penguin abridged version that fits this sprawling epic into a single volume of a little over 600 pages. This is one of the four Great Classics of Chinese literature (along with Journey to the West, Water Margin, and Dream of the Red Chamber.) It offers a fictionalized telling of a period of Chinese history featuring a three-way civil war, especially centered upon the Han attempt to maintain its Imperial line against challengers, a fight that would ultimately end in the reunification under the Jin.

I’ve loved reading the Chinese classics. While this book and Water Margin feature massive ensembles of characters and could become clunky and cumbersome to read, they don’t because stories are told in intense battle-sized chunks and with a profound capacity to build character hooks that maintain clarity despite so many characters.

I would break this book up into three parts. The first (and by far the bulk of the story) focuses on a trio of great warriors that form a kind of blood-brother pact: Xuande, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei. Under Xuande’s leadership, these men fight to keep the Han imperial line intact. (It’s fair to say it could also be seen as focusing on the opposition to these men, notably Cao Cao.) The next bit continues the action as the masterful strategist, Kong Ming, tries to keep the wheels rolling on Xuande’s army after the dramatic deaths of the aforementioned trio, and finally there is a section in which it is as though all the great warriors are gone, resulting in an inevitable reunification as there are no longer those who can fight insurmountable odds. As I describe it, it might seem anticlimactic, but it is far so, but I would count it a tragedy.

To me, this book read more like historical fiction than did Water Margin, the latter (also excellent) is almost like fantasy: its characters are so much larger than life as to be veritably superhuman. That said, this novel does feature some magic, but the characters feel much more life-sized — if not without a measure of grandiosity.

I’d highly recommend this book for readers of historical fiction. It’s highly engaging and readable, despite being long and of epic of proportions.

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