Real World by Natsuo Kirino

Real World by Natsuo Kirino can be labeled a psychological thriller, but I think it goes a bit deeper than that. It is a coming of age story that focuses on the expectations and pressures placed upon teens in contemporary Japan.

The central plot is the murder of a mother by her son, but the real story is the response to this murder by a clique of four teenage girls. Full of angst and despair, they become involved in the aftermath of this horrific event.

The story is told by five alternating first person narratives, that of a boy (the murderer) and four girls (the clique). This constantly shifting point of view is quite jarring, but in the context of the story this is probably a very appropriate technique. The story is jarring. The events in the story are so extreme that they seem unreal, but those events are more real than the superficial everyday lives of the adults.

There are two worlds in Real World. The superficial adult world and the angsty, nihilistic adolescent world. The adults can not connect with each other because of superficiality. The teens struggle to escape the superficial burdens of adulthood being forced upon them creating alienation and hostility between the generations. The teens are unable to connect with each other as they hide their true selves thinking that no one would truly understand them. There is a complete disconnection between any of the characters. I kept thinking of E.M Forster and "only connect" as I read Real World. I know I'm taking that phrase out of context, but if the characters could only connect ....

The atmosphere of Real World is oppressive. I would label this novel as extreme noir and, unlike Out, Kirino never breaks up this story with black comedy. The nihilism in Real World was almost unbearable and I really couldn't wait to get to the end of the story. I am glad I read to the end though ... there is a glimmer of hope.
This counts toward my reading for Japanese Literature Challenge 4

Mailbox Monday

I have been trying to keep the book buying down, but the last two months have not been very restrained! Here is what came into my house in September:



The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume I by Diana Wynne Jones; The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume II by Diana Wynne Jones; The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume III by Diana Wynne Jones; The House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones (to go with Howl's Moving Castle and Castle in the Air)



Blackout by Connie Willis (another of her time travel books); The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury (for the R.I.P. V Challenge); Corambis by Sarah Monette (book four of the Melusine quartet)

Mr. Linky for this week's Mailbox Monday is at Bermudaonion's Weblog.

From the Archive: Of Seasons and Marketing

Before I was a book blogger, I was a ... well ... I'm not sure what kind of blogger you would have called me; I wrote about what was on my mind mostly. Since most of you reading my blog now were not reading my blog back in the "whatever-I-feel-like-writing" days (circa 2006), I thought I'd pull this (still-very-relevant little bit that I wrote) from the archives. Apparently, things haven't changed weather wise here in So-Cal in the last 4 years. Yes, the original post was written during the month of September. And, yes, it is over 100 degrees here today. Hmmmph.


This last week Kvetch, at Kvetch Blog, wrote a piece called "A Fond Adieu to the White Shoe" and got me thinking about the seasons as a state of mind. As she puts it, seasons can be "meteorological or theoretical." For some, the seasons definitely tie in nicely with reality. For the rest of us? It's all in the head.

Having grown up in the deserts of Arizona and now living in Southern California, I have no reason to expect traditional seasonality. Here is what I SHOULD expect:

the not-hot-but-might-get-hot-any-minute-OR-might-rain season

the not-hot-and-probably-won't-get-hot-everything's-blooming-allergy season

the hot-hotter-than-hell-aren't-we-in-hell-smog-and-fire season

the hotter-than-hell-but-everyone-wants-to-pretend-it's-cool-and-crispy season

That's MY reality. If you need a translation, talk to an Angeleno.

OK, now that we've got Southern California seasonal expectations all sorted out, let's talk about marketing. Listen up you department store people. Do you really think we don't notice that the weather here rarely gets below 50 degrees fahrenheit?? What is with the bulky sweaters, three-layer look, and parkas rated for 30 below zero? A few stores that specialize in these cold weather items would be nice since some of us travel out of state or go to the mountains and play in the snow when it is available ... but ENTIRE MALLS FULL OF THIS STUFF??? We've got your number. You are $$banking$$ on our ancestral memories of actual seasons. And for those who don't have the ancestral-memory-thingy going on, there is always media reinforcement. Gorgeously photographed catalog depictions of laughing people wearing turtleneck sweaters as they frolic among multi-colored leaves and pumpkins. Or Scandinavian models hanging out in forests full of snow in their fur-trimmed snow boots and parkas. OR indoor shots of huggy couples in front of blazing fireplaces wearing heavy flannel, wool booties, and holding steaming mugs of, well ... something hot.

Since I don't live in any of the places depicted in these photographs, I'm lucky if I get to pull out some fall or winter wear for ... oh ... about a week before waking up one December morning to the radio telling me it will be a sunny 95 degrees out. If I was S-T-O-O-P-I-D enough to actually pack away my warm weather clothing, I will spend a frantic morning trying to find something to wear that won't send me into heat stroke the moment I walk out the front door.

Well, it is September ... and as I hear from friends that live in more traditionally seasoned areas of the country about the "nip in the air," I laugh while the Fall catalogs pour into my Southern California mailbox trying to tempt me into buying for the season. It is 103 degrees out. Can you hear me laughing?

Book Review Lists and the Alphabet

Good heavens! I read a lot of book titles that begin with the letter "G"! I was just looking at my Book Reviews by Title and Book Reviews by Author lists and noticing where I might have gaps. (Does this make me weird?) I was a bit surprised at the super abundance of "G" titles.

Anyway, I need to read and review some "L," "U," and "Z" authors and some "Q," "X," and "Z" titles. Want to help me choose? Which have you read and liked?

Here are some of the books in my collection with "L," "U," and "Z" authors:

L
Madeleine L'Engle (multiple titles)
Margo Lanagan (Tender Morsels; I began this and got distracted by "life" so need to start over)
John Lanchester (Fragrant Harbor)
Stieg Larsson (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Stephen Lawhead (Byzantium)
Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)
Gaston Leroux (Phantom of the Opera)
Kelly Link (Magic for Beginners)
Charles de Lint (multiple titles)
Lois Lowry (Gossamer)

U
Sigrid Undset (Kristin Lavransdatter)
John Updike (Too Far to Go - short stories)
Louise Ure (The Fault Tree)

Z
Ravi Zacharias (religion & philosophy)
Yevgeny Zamyatin (We)
Roger Zelazny (multiple titles SF/Fantasy)
Markus Zuzak (The Book Thief)

Here are some of the books in my collection with "Q," "X," and "Z" titles:

Q
Queen of the Night (J.A. Jance)
This is all I've got people. I'm short on Q's. Suggestions?

X
I have no X's! Suggestions?

Z
Zuleika Dobson (I've already read this, but never reviewed it so I could do a re-read.)
Suggestions?

The Gates by John Connolly

Eleven year old "Samuel Johnson and his dachshund, Boswell, are trying to show initiative by trick-or-treating a full three days before Halloween, which is how they come to witness strange goings-on at 666 Crowley Road."
-- Blurb from book cover

The Gates by John Connolly had me laughing and reading bits and pieces out loud to my husband for the entire book. Yes ... there are demons, witchcraft dabblers, The Great Malevolence, mayhem, and the possible end-of-the-world. I know these are not typically characters and topics that one would think of as funny, but in Connolly's hands they are screamingly so. It helps that there is a narrator who pops in, mainly in the footnotes ... Let me stop here for a moment and discuss the footnotes bit. I find footnotes to be quite distracting and usually do not appreciate them in my fiction. Heck, I can hardly stand them when I'm reading scholarly material, but I understand the necessity in that venue. But the footnotes Connolly writes into The Gates add to the hilarity. I couldn't help hearing the musical jingle from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy fade in and out as I read the footnotes. I also couldn't help hearing the narrator's voice from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy when I read the footnotes. I can probably attribute this to the fact that in both Hitchhikers Guide and The Gates the narrator is trying to explain the outrageous that really can't be explained. So, what I'm trying to say is that I didn't find the footnotes to be a distraction at all and thought they made the book even funnier. Anyway, moving on from the footnotes ...

Young Samuel Johnson is a little boy that you can't help but love. He is rather nerdy, wears thick glasses and tries really hard to please people. For instance, he thinks he is showing initiative (and don't adults love it when kids show initiative?) by getting a head start on the Halloween night crowds and going door-to-door three days early. Instead he simply baffles the adults who misinterpret his actions as obnoxious or, at the very least, see him as a bit daft. So when Samuel witnesses the beginnings of an invasion of earth by a horde of demons he has a difficult time convincing the adults that he is not just a little boy with an overactive imagination. YES! Impending doom! The end-of-the-world is coming! Caused by the intersection of the supernatural and science (this is where the Hadron Collider comes in; really, you just have to read it)!

Can little Samuel Johnson and his dog, Boswell, save the world?

I highly recommend The Gates for some laughs to go along with the R.I.P. Challenge chills!

This is another book not on my challenge list, but will count as one of my reads for the R.I.P. V Challenge.

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre begins with the wedding of the sisters Bennett to their respective husbands, Darcy and Bingley, and then follows Mr. and Mrs. Darcy as they go on their wedding tour. The wedding tour is supposed to be to the Lake District, but Darcy surprises Elizabeth with a wee change in plans -- they will be going to Europe instead. Relations between England and France are currently peaceful and Darcy uses this excuse to justify the change in plans. The real reason has to do with the title of the book which truly does give away the storyline. That is too bad since it would have been more fun to discover that Darcy is a vampyre. So ... now that you know this little tidbit, there isn't a whole lot to tell you since the storyline is all about waiting ... and waiting ... and WAITING for this fact to be revealed to Elizabeth. Really. More than two thirds of the book before SHE FINALLY GETS IT!!!

The atmosphere of the book is alternately sunny, then gloomy, then sunny, then suddenly gloomy. Yes, plenty of back and forthing going on. And of course when the weather and scenery is sunny and pleasant Elizabeth tells herself that the gloom, menacing characters, and howling wolves is really nothing but her imagination run wild and all is truly well with her world.

OK ... something good about the book. Well, the author did a fair job keeping Darcy and Elizabeth consistent with Austen. And I really, really, really liked the descriptions of the masquerade ball with elaborate masks, Venice, and some very colorful characters. Did I mention that there are some colorful characters? I love colorful characters. There is a particular "spooky guy" with mesmeric abilities that quite added to the strange exoticism of the masquerade ball. He had a GREAT mask. The story might be worth it just for that image alone. That and Mme Rousel who reclines on a chaise longue framed by the entrance "like a living portrait." And the Parisian women who "undulate ... across the rooms with the sinuous beauty of snakes." Ah, such decadent images!

All in all Mr. Darcy, Vampyre was a pleasant enough way to spend a couple of afternoons. I think I expected a different story than the one I got though.

I did not put this book on my challenge list, but will count it as one of my reads for the R.I.P. V Challenge.


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Venetian Mask photo credit: graur codrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

"The Old Nurse's Story" by Elizabeth Gaskell

"The Old Nurse's Story" is the first tale in Elizabeth Gaskell's collection of short stories and novellas titled Tales of Mystery & the Macabre. Many of the nine Victorian Gothic tales in this book were originally published in Charles Dickens' weekly Household Words. Gaskell wrote "The Old Nurse's Story" at the request of Dickens for a ghost story to be published in the special 1852 Christmas issue of his publication.

It is a tale that immediately grabbed me as the type that would be told around a campfire at night with all the attendant flickering shadows and night noises that go with such a setting. "The Old Nurse's Story" features a young orphan girl left in the care of her nanny and an old Aunt and the Aunt's small staff of servants. The story starts out normally enough, but with each passing page it becomes clear that there are dark secrets and strange goings-on in the old manor. The East wing is closed off and must not be entered; someone plays the old organ in the great hall on stormy nights, but it is no one currently residing at the manor; ghostly beckoning figures appear outside windows and doors. "The Old Nurse's Story" is a Victorian ghost story of the first order.

Mrs. Gaskell is better known for her social novels than she is for tales of the macabre. Her novels capture the injustices of society, the poverty stricken, and the vulnerable positions of many women and children and I did not anticipate that these themes would appear in her supernatural tales. I'm not sure why I thought this, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that she did integrate a bit of social commentary into "The Old Nurse's Story."

I encourage you to read "The Old Nurse's Story" ... preferably on a dark and stormy night!

This reading counts toward the Short Story Peril for the R.I.P. V Challenge.

R.I.P. V Challenge!

It's almost autumn and that means ... time for the Readers Imbibing Peril Challenge!!! This is the fifth year in a row that Carl V. has hosted this reading that focuses on what he refers to as a "very broad definition of scary." Reading that fits into the R.I.P. Challenge would be:

Mystery
Suspense
Thriller
Dark Fantasy
Gothic
Horror
Supernatural

I especially appreciate Carl's very simple rules for the Challenge:

Have fun reading
Share that fun with others

I will be joining two Perils this year:

This peril involves reading one book that fits within the R.I.P. definition.

This peril involves reading short stories that fit within the R.I.P. definition.

Here is my potential list of reads to draw from:

Novels
Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin
(Fevre Dream would be a re-read. I believe it to be one of the best vampire novels ever!)
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
Any of the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
(Yeah. I read this every year. I guess it's a bit of a ritual for me. Nothing says "October" like this book!)

Short Stories
Nocturnes by John Connolly
The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre by John Polidori
Tales of Mystery & Macabre by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Virago Book of Ghost Stories
(I bought The Virago Book of Ghost Stories last year from the gift and book shop at The Huntington Library. I visit The Huntington each October for my birthday and then run amok in the book shop after having tea at the Tea Room. This is yet another October ritual of mine. And I am really looking forward to this year's trip!)

Non-fiction
The Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler

You too can join the R.I.P. fun!