Ms. Hen reviews Exhalation

 

Exhalation

Ted Chiang

Vintage Books

2019

Ms. Hen bought this book at a new independent bookstore in her neighborhood called Molly's Books. She went to there to check the place out, and it's a cute bookstore. There was a table that was dedicated to AAPI Heritage month, and she picked up this book because she had never heard of this author, but she loves sci-fi short stories, so she took it home.

This is a collection of nine stories, some are longer than others, but all of them dwell in other realms. Ms. Hen became charmed by each of these worlds, and she was swept away in each story.

The opening story, "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," is an Arabian Nights type of story, that includes time travel through a portal. "The Lifecycle of Software Objects," tells the story of digients, which are digital pets, and their owners have to fight for their survival. "Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny," is a type of steampunk story about a robotic nanny that takes care of infants, or at least attempt to do so.

Ms. Hen thought it was interesting and different that there is an explanation for the inspiration for each story by the author at the end of the collection. She thinks that knowing a story's origin is cool, but not always necessary. She learned that the story, "The Great Silence," originated as an art exhibit about parrots that can talk that was a collaboration with some artists.

This collection reminded her of, "The Paper Menagerie," by Ken Liu, that she read a couple of years ago. That book contained short stories that possessed an entire world in each one, similar to this book.

Ms. Hen is glad she read this book. She loves to read books that are strange and unusual, because she herself is strange and unusual. These are stories that make a reader think about the world, and why it is the way it is, and how bizarre things can be if a person looks in the right direction.

Ms. Hen reviews Night

 

Night 

Elie Wiesel

Hill and Wang

1958

Translation by Marion Wiesel 2006

Ms. Hen found this book at a Little Free Library near where she lives. She thought she had read it before; she meant to read it, but as she started, she realized she never had. She knew it had been in her presence before, but someone might have recommended that she shouldn't read it, because she might become upset, but Ms. Hen can't remember.

This novel is about Elie Wiesel's experience in Auschwitz when he was young. He was sent with his family, as well as all the Jewish people in his town. His entire family did not survive. He talks in the novel about the struggles of the people in the camp: how they think about food more than anything, and how everyone seems to be out for themselves. 

He describes an incident when he hurt his foot, and ended up in the infirmary. Rumors fly that the camp is going to be invaded, so he struggles to walk to save himself. He found out later that everyone in the infirmary was liberated, but nobody knew that would happen.

Ms. Hen has read many books like this before, but she understands that this was one of the first of its kind. She thinks there is a dry humor to the book, and even though the protagonist suffers immensely, he finds a reason to laugh at times. People who can joke in the face of death will never fear anything.

Ms. Hen wonders why she had never read this before. She thinks she was dissuaded because it is so well known, but there are several that she has read like this such as SURVIVAL IN AUSCHWITZ by Primo Levi, and THE LIBRARIAN OF AUSCHWITZ by Antonio Iturbe, and others. 

The stories of survival and hope never become old. Ms. Hen knows that the world is still dysfunctional, but she wants to believe that through these books and stories, the tyrants of the world have a slimmer chance of succeeding than they would have before. If only more people read books, Ms. Hen thinks the world would be a brighter place 😊 

Ms. Hen reviews Ruin and Rising

 

Ruin and Rising

Leigh Bardugo

Square Fish

2014

Ms. Hen bought this trilogy together. She reviewed the two other books recently, and this is the last one. 

This novel continues the story of Alina Starkov and Mal, while they continue to attempt to destroy the fold. We start with Alina and her group underground with the Apparat, but they escape to try to find the Firebird, the third amplifier, which will make Alina's strength even greater. Alina, Mal, Zoya and the others end up with Nikolai at his hideout in a mountaintop that he calls the Spinning Wheel. Things don't go according to plan, as usual. The Darkling surprises them, and things take a turn for the worse.

The beginning and ending of all of these novels is a type of fairy tale about a girl and a boy that are not named, but are Alina and Mal, which Ms. Hen thinks are charming. She wonders if there will be a book of fairy tales about these novels. She especially liked the ending tale in this novel, but she will not give it away.

RUIN AND RISING reminded Ms. Hen of THE WIZARD OF OZ more than the other books, possibly because the characters were on a journey throughout the story, and they were all unique, quirky characters.

The books are very different from the TV series, but Ms. Hen can appreciate both of them. She loves a good adventure, with magic, and romance and intrigue, and she gets all of those here and more. 

Ms. Hen reviews This is How you Lose Her

 

This Is How You Lose Her

Junot Diaz

Riverhead Books

2012

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she found it at a Little Free Library near where she lives. She met the author many years ago at an event, and found him incredibly unpleasant, and difficult to converse with. (One of Ms. Hen's friends said he was coked up. Ms. Hen isn't knowledgable of such things, so she took his word for it.) Ms. Hen was turned off by interacting with him, and has not read anything by this author since then.

But this year she watched the film TAR, starring Cate Blanchett, and a scene in the film stuck with her, in which the character was teaching a class, and gave a lecture to a student about not judging the art by the artist. She was talking about Bach, but Ms. Hen has had this discussion with other creative people. It's different if someone is talking about Bach or Picasso, or any other offensive individual who has passed on, but if we talk about someone who is alive, are we right to judge the art by the artist? Ms. Hen hesitantly decided to give this author another chance.

This collection of short stories is about different characters who are from the Dominican Republic, men and women who are trying to make it in the United States. They are poor, but hard workers, and have strict ideas about how the world should be. A few stories circle around a character named Yunior at different times in his life. His brother dies from cancer in one story, and another takes place when he and his brother and mother move to New Jersey to live with their father, who had lived there for several years.

Ms. Hen thinks that the male characters in this book are misogynist and objectify women's bodies. She found it offensive how the men talk about women, but she believes this is a realistic portrayal of how these characters would act. All the men cheat on their wives and girlfriends. It's difficult for Ms. Hen to have sympathy for men who are such philanderers.

Ms. Hen did not start reading this collection of short stories with the idea that she would be disgusted with it, and she was hoping for a different feeling when she finished. Should art be judged by the artist? Ms. Hen does not want to think this is true, but she can't help feeling that she wasted her time reading this.