Ms. Hen reviews The Implacable Order of Things

The Implacable Order of Things

Jose Luis Peixoto

Anchor Books

2000

Translated from the Portuguese by Richard Zenith, 2007

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because she found it in a used bookstore, and she liked the title. She had been curious about the word implacable, and what it means. It means relentless, or unstoppable, but is usually used in a negative way.

This novel is about a village where strange things happen. A giant rapes a woman, and she becomes pregnant, has an abortion, and the entire town talks about how she was the one that had an abortion. A shepherd is mocked by the giant. The Devil works in a store, and is around the village, and performs the wedding ceremonies. A pair of conjoined twins at the pinky live there, and one of them gets married to the cook, and she makes them artistic meals, which they cannot afford.

This novel reminds Ms. Hen of a lot of other books she has read, especially Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It has a subtle kind of magic realism, one that seems like it could be real. Ms. Hen couldn't help but be amazed by the ordinary way in which amazing events occurred in this novel.

Even though she likes this novel, she thinks it is very sad. The ending didn't make her cry, but if she was having a bad day, it would make her upset. It says in the book, "I think: perhaps suffering is tossed by handfuls over the multitudes, with most of it falling on some people and little or none on others." Ms. Hen thinks that this is a true statement. Some people get all the pain, while others don't seem to suffer at all.

A lot of chickens appear in this novel, which makes Ms. Hen happy. She has noticed that chickens are in a lot in novels about rural areas. Some were here, "It was Saturday, no one would dare say it, but the sun was gentle, the chickens walked more briskly in the street, the pigeons made wider circles in the sky." In this scene, everything was calm, but there is a premonition of the doom to come.

Ms. Hen enjoyed this novel. It is beautifully written, but she thinks it should not be read when one is very sad. It is also a pleasant book to read in the summer, since it is summer throughout the book, and the characters discuss how hot they are. It could be read sitting on a bench under a tree, next to a river with geese and swans and ducks in view.

 

Ms. Hen reviews Midsummer's Mayhem

 

Midsummer's Mayhem

Rajani LaRoccca

Yellow Jacket

2019

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she saw the author talk on a Ted Talk for the hospital where Ms. Hen works. The author talked about how weird she is, and how she embraces her weirdness. She is a doctor, and became a children's book writer. Ms. Hen likes to read middle grade fantasy sometimes, so she decided to read one of the author's books. Ms. Hen is also weird.

This novel is about a young girl named Mimi, who loves to bake. She is the youngest of the children in her family, and her three older siblings are talented: her sister Riya is a dancer, her brother Henry is an actor, and her sister Jules is a soccer player. Mimi's father is a food writer, but when he comes back from a trip, he mysteriously eats everything in sight, and cannot discern tastes.

Mimi misses her friend Emma who moved to Australia, but she makes friends with a boy named Vik in the woods who plays a song on an instrument like recorder that is nostalgic to her. A cafe in their town is running a baking contest, and Mimi wants to win. The woman who runs the bakery, Mrs. T., is mysterious, and turns down Mimi's first creation, and wants her to bake from her heart. Mimi bakes honeysuckle cookies and the the teenage boys who ate them fall in love with whoever is closest to them. Jules gets upset about this, and things happen that upset people. Mimi bakes amazing sounding things, with herbs that she finds in the forest. The forest turns into a different place with a banyan tree, wild boars, and a cobra.

Ms. Hen could find the similarities between this book and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, which she has seen many times. The magic is subtle, but it's present; Mimi wants to win the contest, but she isn't aware of what it entails. She also doesn't know her powers. Ms. Hen was impressed that there were a few recipes at the end of this book. She doesn't think she'll bake them, but she wishes someone she knew would.

Ms. Hen has never been a person who bakes, but she admires people who have that passion. She doesn't normally like to spend a long time making something that is very unhealthy. However, last year, she became what she calls a "Covid baker." She baked on Saturdays, only in the winter, because she liked to eat things straight from the oven. She baked pumpkin loaf, cranberry orange loaf, and cupcakes.

Ms. Hen liked this book because it is a light read for the summer. Reading about baking made her hungry! She admires the author because she has a lot of books coming out this year. Ms. Hen thinks this book is charming, and she's happy she read it.

Ms. Hen reviews Rememberings

Rememberings

Sinead O'Connor

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

2021

Ms. Hen has been a fan of Sinead O'Connor since she was fifteen years old. She originally liked her because their names are almost the same, and people used to call her Sinead. Ms. Hen threatened to shave her head bald, but instead she cut her hair very short. That was a long time ago. She has not followed Sinead's career all through her life, but she was interested in reading her memoir.

The beginning of the book is about Sinead's childhood in Dublin, in which she describes her parents getting divorced, getting beaten by her mother, and her life as a juvenile delinquent. She writes about her need to steal anything that wasn't nailed down, including money from charity boxes that she carried around asking for money.

She also writes about the men in her life, and her experiences in the music business. A section of the book is on what all her songs are about, which Ms. Hen thinks is interesting, because when most people listen to music, they like to make it about themselves. Sinead writes about her time in rehab and being pursued by Dr. Phil. She also talks about her desire to become a health care assistant, because she was always treated kindly by them when she was in the hospital, which Ms. Hen thinks is beautiful.

This book is written in a rather haphazard way. The beginning of the book, about her childhood, is written in first person present tense, and it's similar to ANGELA'S ASHES or PADDY CLARKE HA HA HA by Roddy Doyle, about a dysfunctional Irish childhood. The other parts of the book are written like a straight narrative, and have a different voice than the first section. 

When she talks about the music business, she writes from a woman's point of view of how difficult it was being so young, and having older men in charge of her career. When she writes about her children, she writes with love.

Ms. Hen has knows that the people she admires: musicians, writers, actors, might not be what they appear to be to her. She has been a fan of Jim Morrison for a long time, but she thinks if she had ever got a chance to meet him, she probably wouldn't like him. She's not sure if she would like Sinead. She seems like a tough woman, and she knows they have things in common, but she's not sure if she would like her, because she thinks Sinead would either laugh at her or kick her butt, or maybe both.

This book is eye-opening, and fascinating. It's worth reading if a person is a fan, and it's a picture of a woman who has always tried to do what she wanted. She doesn't care what the world thinks of her, or what I think of her, she is going to live her life the way she wants, and neither you nor I can stop her.
 

Ms. Hen reviews The Bridegroom

 

The Bridegroom

Ha Jin

Vintage International

2000

Ms. Hen picked this book up at a used bookstore recently. She had read other books by Ha Jin and loved them, and she thought she would enjoy this as well. This collection of short stories did not disappoint her.

These stories are all about China after the Cultural Revolution. The story, "Alive," is about a man who travels for business, but gets caught in an earthquake, and loses his memory. He gets married to a woman he does not know because the authorities suggest that the people who survived marry each other, and take a lost child and make a family. The man regains his memory, and finds that the life he had is lost. In the title story, "The Bridegroom," the character's adopted daughter get married to a man who is gay. He is put into a psychiatric hospital, and the people attempt to force the homosexuality out of him.

The story, "Flame," is about a woman who regrets not marrying the man she loved when she was young because her mother wanted her to marry someone else. She learns her old flame is coming to visit, and she has anxiety, and wants to impress him. "After Cowboy Chicken Comes to Town," is about a Western style fast food restaurant, where Chinese people work. They learn about American business practices and are disgusted.

Ms. Hen thinks this is a fascinating collection. Each story is a snippet, or a window to another world, a strange world where she doesn't live, and will probably never go. The characters are propelled by the need to survive and the fear of not pleasing authorities. Also, a theme of poverty and injustice that runs through the collection.

This collection reminded Ms. Hen of DUBLINERS by James Joyce, in the way that it is about a place, and each story displays the dysfunctional but fascinating characters that live in the place. We walk around and look at these characters, and wonder why they do the things they do, and think the things they think. Ms. Hen learned a lot about the Chinese psyche from this book.

This book has lots of chickens in it, which made Ms. Hen happy. She especially liked the story, "After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town," because the story is primarily about fried chicken. At the end of the story, the workers in the restaurant find the manager at the beach, "When we approached it, we saw Peter stirring something in the fire with a trimmed branch. It was a pile of chicken, about twenty pieces. The air smelled of gasoline and burned meat." The workers learn about American waste, which horrifies them, because they would have loved to eat that chicken, or bring it home to their families.

Ms. Hen thinks this collection of short stories is brilliant, not just because it shows a different part of the world and how unique it is, but it shows how people suffer, and get through their pain. Suffering is inevitable, and Ms. Hen is not sure if that was the motivation of the author, but she knows that it is true, especially now, with the world the way it is.

Ms. Hen Reviews If I Had Your Face

 

If I Had Your Face

Frances Cha

Corycian Content

2020

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because it was recommended to her. She didn't know what it was about, but when she started reading, she became fascinated by the stories of the young women and their lives in Seoul, South Korea. She could not put this book down.

This novel is told from different viewpoints of four young women in South Korea, Ara, Kyuiri, Miho, and Wonna, who live in an inexpensive apartment in a neighborhood with lots of bars. Kyuri is a beautiful room salon girl, who entertains men and drinks with them. Ara is a mute hairdresser, who had lived in an orphanage with her friend Sujin, who is bent on becoming a room salon girl. Miho is an artist who lived with Ara and Sujin in the orphanage; she had lived in New York, and she has a rich boyfriend. Wonna is the married woman who lives upstairs, and observes the girls coming and going.

Sujin gets advice from Kyuri about where to get plastic surgery so she can become a room salon girl. She gets the surgery, but it takes a long time for her to heal. Ara is obsessed with a pop band, but when she meets them in person, it does not go as she planned. Kyuri works in a room salon of "ten percent" girls, that is the prettiest ten percent in the city. Miho creates art inspired by her friend in New York, Ruby, but she won't let her boyfriend see it, because Ruby is his ex-girlfriend, and she thinks it might upset him.

Ms. Hen thought this novel was fascinating. She believes it's one of those works that's a window - that is a window to another world, that people would not necessarily see unless they were in that world. Ms. Hen pities the young women who think they need plastic surgery to be more beautiful. She thinks that when someone is young, they shouldn't need plastic surgery. And the room salons! The young women are glorified prostitutes, but this is considered a desirable life for some, because they make a lot of money.

Almost all the men in this novel are dastardly. It makes one wonder why the young women are so obsessed with looking good - Ms. Hen thinks it's because they are shallow, and only care about looks. There is no feminism in this world - an unmarried woman approaching forty is never taken seriously. Ms. Hen is glad she doesn't live in this society, but she does find it compelling.

Miho is contemplating her life, and she remembers, "In America, one of my professors said once that the best art comes from an unbearable life - if you live through it, that is." Ms. Hen likes this philosophy, and she adheres to it. Happy people aren't brilliant, that's what Ms. Hen thinks. And people with perfect lives could never create anything worthwhile.

All throughout the novel, the girls are eating chicken, which Ms. Hen adores. They get drunk and order chicken wings late at night. In the last chapter, the girls are sitting with Wonna and she says, " 'The baby always demands fried chicken at 1 am.' " The girls agree, and they order the chicken. Ms. Hen likes that this is the last image of the novel.

Ms. Hen read this novel in three days, which is unusual for her. She usually takes a week or so to read a book, but this was so good, she could not put it down. Reading about how difficult other people's lives are on the opposite end of the world enlightens Ms. Hen. Life is hard everywhere, and it's always refreshing to learn about it from a different perspective.