Ms. Hen reviews Constance

Constance

Matthew Fitzsimmons

Planetarium Station, Inc.

2021

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because it was recommended to her. This is exactly the type of book she likes to read right now. Her taste varies, but now she is into speculative fiction about the near future.

This novel is a little different from other science fiction novels. It's sci-fi, but it's a mystery at the same time. Constance D'Arcy, or Con, is a clone that is attempting to solve her own murder. Con wakes up to find that her clone has been activated, and she has an eighteen month lag, meaning the original Con had not gone is for a refresh for that long, a refresh, meaning a consciousness upload. People who have clones have to go in to get their refresh, in case their clone is activated, they will have most of the same memories as the original.

Con wakes up, and she discovers that she should not have been activated, and people from the lab are after her. She escapes, but she struggles to find out what happened to her. She discovers that she had gotten married in the time she does not remember, and she was missing from Virginia. She goes to find herself, and is shocked by what happens.

This novel has excellent world building. It takes place in the year 2038, which is not too far in the future. Ms. Hen likes to think about what the world will be like in 17 years, but she can't imagine what will happen. Con had been in a band, and her boyfriend had been driving them around in a self-drive car, which means, the passenger drives it themselves, and they got into an accident. Older people like to cling to the old ways, like they do now. Humans can be resistant to change, and that aspect of human nature will not change soon. Even younger people want to stick with things from the past sometimes, because the future and the idea of change can be frightening.

This novel isn't like any other novel Ms. Hen has read. It's a sci-fi novel, and a mystery, and it has some legal shades, about a case about whether a clone is a real person. This novel is also about prejudice, and they way some people treat clones is unpleasant. Is a clone a person? Do they have rights and feelings? Are they like any other human? These questions might have to be answered in the near future.

Ms. Hen read this novel quickly because it was so good. She loved living in this world, with Con, the badass clone. This is also an adventure novel, and Ms. Hen felt herself gripping the book to find out what happened. She adores this book, and would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn what the future might be like, and anyone who wants to think about other types of life, such as clones, and how they might be able to exist in the world alongside humans.

 

Ms. Hen reviews An Artist of the Floating World

 

An Artist of the Floating World

Kazuo Ishiguro

Vintage International

1986

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because she read another novel by this author this year, KLARA AND THE SUN, and she really enjoyed that one. This book was nothing like the science fiction novel about a robot. This is a realistic novel about an artist in Japan around the time of World War II.

This novel is about an artist, Masuji Ono, his life, work, and family. In the present time, it is right after World War II, and he lives in a big house that used to be beautiful before the war, but is now shabby. His daughter Setsuko comes to visit with her son, and his other daughter Noriko, lives with him, and wants to get married.

In his working life, he had been an artist, and he worked with different teachers. One of his teachers taught him he should only depict art of the "floating world," the night life, and geishas, and men having fun. Ono didn't want to just create art like that, he wanted to do works that had political implication. He paid the price for this after the war when he was blamed for partly bringing the country to ruins.

This novel is written in a slow and quiet style. When it came to the part about the mentor telling of the need to paint the "floating world," Ms. Hen paid attention. She thinks this is interesting because not all artists think in the same way. Some people want to create work that is politically important, but others want to show the fun side of the world. There's no right or wrong answer, but Ono wanted to create art that's important, even though people he knew might have thought he should not have.

One aspect of this novel that Ms. Hen thinks is well-written is the depiction of Ono's grandson, Ichiro. The child is just like a real child, squirmy and indecisive, erratic and unpredictable. Children are not easy to write, possibly because they are so strange, but the author does an excellent job.

Ms. Hen liked this novel. She thinks that these characters are unique to this time period, and Japan in the past is a fascinating place. The country was on the verge of change, and anything that's changing fast is worth learning about. The Japanese might not have like the way the country was changing, but they couldn't stop it. Change can be beautiful, but terrifying at the same time. 

Ms. Hen reviews The Space Between Worlds

 

The Space Between Worlds

Micaiah Johnson

Del Ray

2020

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel, because she read about it, and she thought it sounded fascinating. She is always compelled to read new science fiction, and this book did not disappoint. She dived into the universe where interdimensional travel is possible.

This novel is about Caramenta, a young Black woman who lives on the outskirts in a place called the Rurals, who is recruited to be a traverser, since on most of the other worlds, her dop, or doppelganger, is dead. Only the minorities are hired to do this work, since most of them are dead on the other worlds. A twist occurs, and Caramenta dies, but she carries on. 

She runs into all the people that she knew on other worlds, including her sister, Esther, her boyfriend Nik Nik, and his brother Adam, who is dead on her world, or Earth Zero. Caramenta gets into trouble: when she traverses back to Earth Zero, she acquires stripes on her face, markings that she had a difficult traverse. Dell, Cara's immediate boss, is an upperclass Wileyite, that Cara has a crush on, and flirts with incessantly, but Cara doesn't know how Dell really feels. 

This novel is a style of science fiction about travel between dimensions. Ms. Hen read an amazing novel a couple of years ago called FAMOUS MEN WHO NEVER LIVED, and this novel reminds Ms. Hen of that one a lot. It's smart and complicated and passionate, just like this one.

One aspect that Ms. Hen found striking about this is that the protagonist is a Black queer woman. This is different for science fiction, because traditionally the genre is full of white men. Ms. Hen thinks it's exciting that new voices in science fiction are emerging, and the future that's being written about now is full of people who are realistic, and not simply who the white male writers want them or expect them to be.

Ms. Hen found that this novel is meant to be read in long stretches. She had to sit down and read for a long time in order to situate herself in the world in which the novel takes place. It's a different world, a violent one, full of dangers, but also full of hope, since all the other worlds exist, there could be one where you find yourself having a wonderful life. Ms. Hen likes the idea of different dimensions where she has another life, and has spent time thinking about what could have happened to her. On another world, what kind of hen would Ms. Hen be?

Ms. Hen reviews Apeirogon

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel, because she had read about it, and she thought it sounded interesting. She always wants to learn something new about a different culture, and she understood this novel is about Israel and Palestine, and the conflict. It's about that, but it's also about people, families, history, and nature.

This novel is written in vignettes, or micro fiction, and it is written very well. Each burst of writing adds to the story of two men, Rami, an Israeli, and Bassam, a Palestinian. Both men have lost young daughters in the conflict. Rami's daughter was killed when she was fourteen by a suicide bomber, and Bassam's daughter when she was ten outside her school by an Israeli soldier, while there was a conflict somewhere else; he shot without thinking.

The two men become friends, and travel around the world talking to groups of people about peace. The novel also intersperses bits about the history of the conflict, with the Holocaust, and birds that migrate to Israel and Palestine, and other characters in history. The word "Apeirogon," means many sided object, and this novel is indeed one of those, because it keeps turning and turning, and it becomes another section of the story every few pages.

Ms. Hen thinks this novel is emotional, and it is not for weak people. But she thinks the writing is some of the most beautiful she has read recently; the prose sings on the page, and even though the subject matter is depressing, the novel uplifts.

The novel starts describing one subject, then it stays on that subject for a while. It's almost like the book has a type of ADHD, it bounces around from different narrative to the main narrative, and back again. It's difficult to follow, if you're not a hen that can pay attention.

Ms. Hen likes the birds in this novel; even though there weren't any chickens or hen, she enjoys the descriptions of the various types of birds that migrate around Israel and Palestine.

Ms. Hen intensely enjoyed this novel. She thinks the novel captures the subject so well, and it describes the conflict with compassionate details. Ms. Hen took a long time to read this novel because it's dense, and she thinks it's meant to be read slowly, and digested. She recommends this to anyone who loves good writing, and also to people interested in this subject.

Ms. Hen reviews Jo's Boys

Ms. Hen breaks one of Mrs Jo's rules 

 

Jo's Boys

Louisa May Alcott

Roberts Brothers

1886

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she found it at a Little Free Library near where she lives. She had read other books by Ms. Alcott, and enjoyed them. She didn't realize that when she started reading this book, that she had not read LITTLE MEN, and that is the second book, and this is the third in the LITTLE WOMEN series.

This novel follows the characters in the college that Jo and her husband founded with the help of Laurie's donation. The three sisters, Jo, Amy and Meg, work in the college and help the young people to find their way in the world. They all have children, and there are lots of characters in this book. There are so many that Ms. Hen got a little confused at first, but each chapter focuses on one or two characters, and she got them straight by the end.

Jo and her sisters like to preach morals to the young people, especially the boys. Ms. Hen found this kind of superior talking down to people a little annoying. She understand that Jo wants to teach the boys and girls right from wrong, but Ms. Hen doesn't think those morals transfer to to this day and age. She thinks this book is a little old-fashioned and stuffy, and is acceptable for children, but not adults. She did not feel that way when she read LITTLE WOMEN, however, and she does not like to read about people being taught morals, because they are a gray area.

Ms. Hen found herself very distracted while she was reading this book, because she has things going on in her life, and she found the book a little boring. She needs to find something exciting to read to catch her attention, and this is not the book to do that.

Ms. Hen did not like this novel as much as others by Louisa May Alcott. Ms. Hen understands this is one of the last books she published in her life, and she thinks Louisa may have gotten a little "high and mighty" in her advanced age. Nevertheless, it's a good book for children, but not grown children.

Ms. Hen reviews Fever Dream

 

Fever Dream

Samantha Schweblin

Riverhead Books

2014

Translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell, 2017

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because it was recommended to her. She had recently read a book by the same name, but she believes it was recommended to her because she read TENDER IS THE FLESH, which is a horror novel translated from Spanish.

This novel is like a long short story. It's about a woman named Amanda who is on vacation, and meets a woman named Carla. Amanda is afraid something will happen to her daughter, Nina. Carla tells Amanda a story about her son David, and how he got sick the same way one of the horses that was on their property got sick. Carla tells Amanda about the horrible things that David did after he got infected. Amanda speaks with David simultaneously while she is talking with Carla. This book is creepy, because even though it takes place in a summer vacation town, Ms. Hen got the feeling that something horrible was going to happen, and it did.

This book is a very quick read, but Ms. Hen found herself distracted while she was reading it. Not because it isn't good, but because she had other things on her mind, and she couldn't concentrate. She didn't find that she was scared reading this, even though she should have been. Sometimes she find novels and stories about motherhood tiresome, because she cannot relate to this. Amanda is obsessed with keeping her child safe, and Ms. Hen is not interested or compelled by this subject or this state of mind.

Ms. Hen thinks that this book should be read all at once, in one gulp. She did not read it like this, and she regrets it. She thinks it would be a good book to read if you are a mother and are scared that your children would be hurt, because it would be more frightening than it was to Ms. Hen.

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.