Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Reader's Diary #2247 - Angélique Lalonde: Glorious Frazzled Beings
Monday, October 25, 2021
Reader's Diary #2246- Jennifer Murvin: Mom to You
Monday, October 18, 2021
Reader's Diary #2245 - Cornell Woolrich: It Had to Be Murder
I only recently saw the Hitchcock classic Rear Window for the first time and was surprised to see that it had been adapted from Cornell Woolrich's short story "It Had to Be Murder."
Of course, it's next to impossible not to compare so I won't bother trying. I'll also say that it's one of the few cases where I think the film is better than the book (or story in this case). I didn't dislike the story but Hitchcock played up the paranoia angle better. In Woolrich's story, the narrator is always convinced he's right and his bored isolation isn't played up.
Still, it's got a good voice and a bit of a noir detective vibe working for it.
Friday, October 15, 2021
Reader's Diary #2244 - Jordan Tannahill: The Listeners
Monday, October 11, 2021
Reader's Diary #2243 - Shashi Bhat: The Most Precious Substance on Earth
I truly loved Sashi Bhat's short story, "The Most Precious Substance on Earth" and those are often the ones I find hardest to discuss.
Honestly there's not a misstep. The voice, the setting, the characterization, imagery, themes. It's all perfect.
But a story can be technically perfect and still not resonate. Fortunately that's not the case here.
Told from the perspective of a high school band student on an important band trip away from home. She's caught somewhat between a bully and victim who she's been roomed with. It's a particularly heavy topic considering it's set not long after the Columbine shooting. Towards the end, there's a bit of an awakening about the importance of belonging (not just "fitting in") but it isn't heavy handed.
Wonderful, wonderful story.
Friday, October 08, 2021
Reader's Diary #2241 - Steve Foxe (writer), Shadia Amin (artist): Spider-Ham Great Power, No Responsibility
As a lifetime fan of MAD Magazine, it's no wonder I have a thing for parodies. And in the Marvel world, Spider-Ham comics certainly scratch that itch.
In these comics, really it's the Marvel Universe that is parodied more than just Spider-Man and the obvious approach is changing all the heroes and villains into animals with puns or similar sounding names. There's also Scarlet Pooch, Squawkeye and so on. (We're talking parody, not political satire here!)
But Spider-Ham is given just enough of his own personality and backstory to make him a character in his own right, not just a Peter Parker riff. In his case, he's an overly confident bumbling but still likeable sort.
He's also in good hands with Steve Foxe and Shadia Amin who have written a very silly kid-friendly escapade in Great Power, No Responsibility. Spider-Ham has lost the key to the City and must find it before it falls into the wrong hands...
Thursday, October 07, 2021
Reader's Diary #2240 - Norma Dunning: Tainna
They're also by and large depressing. Touching upon themes of colonialism, residential schools, sexual assault, alcoholism, and racism, this isn't unexpected. But there's some dark humour in the mix (which I'm always up for) and though my guard was up toward the end to not be optimistic for a happy ending, there are some that end on more positive, hopeful notes.
Monday, October 04, 2021
Reader's Diary #2239 - E.R. Murray: Another Day
I wonder if E.R. Murray worried about making her short story "Another Day," about a terminally (I think) ill woman and a homeless man finding comfort in one another one Christmas season night.
She needed of been, at least in my estimation. Yes, there's a glimpse of home and in that it's touching, but I don't think she abandons reality altogether. Just offers a break from from it.
It's quite lovely.
Friday, October 01, 2021
Reader's Diary #2238 - Omar El Akkad: What Strange Paradise
Omar El Akkad's novel What Strange Paradise is getting a lot of praise. And no wonder, it's very topical and has a lot of heart.
It follows a young Syrian immigrant named who was lucky enough to have survived a harrowing illegal sea crossing, washing up on the shore in Greece, only be hunted by the army. Luckily, a local teenage girl named Vänna decides to help him out.
There are so many well developed themes in the book, it would make for an excellent book club pick: escape (Vänna herself wants to escape her own troubled life), compassion, hope, cynicism, and so on. It's also laid out wonderfully, fluctuating between before (dealing with Amir's boat voyage and the strangers he'd met) and after (being chased across the Greek island). Besides keeping the book from ever growing monotonous, it also makes you never able to forget Amir's backstory and the lives of the other refugees.
My sole issue was the authenticity of Amil and Vänna. Told in the 3rd person, El Akkad nonetheless attempts at times to describe their thoughts. However they seemed too mature and too literary and too similar to one another to convince me they were thoughts of an 8 year old boy and a teenage girl.
Nonetheless, I still liked the book overall.