Paula Yoo, Good Enough

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

6. Paula Yoo, Good Enough

Patti is a Korean-American high school student who plays classical violin but has a secret obsession with boy band Jet Pack. Her parents expect her to study hard, go to her church youth group, and not date, but she's interested in new student Ben Wheeler, who teaches her about groups like the Clash and encourages her to apply to Julliard instead of HarvardYalePrinceton. I really enjoyed both Patti's problems and their resolution; it felt very true to me. Just as a personal note, I always love it when I find a well-written intelligent character, and Patti very much is. Many books will tell the reader that a character is smart, but it's rare for me to find one that can actually show it.

This isn't a deep book, but it's fun and engaging. It had some very funny parts, particularly the silly chapter titles (like "How to Make Your Korean Parents Happy") and spam recipes (which, uh, actually sounded really tasty, and I hate spam). A great read for when you want something light but enjoyable.

The Water Cure by Percival Everett

[seekingferret.livejournal.com]

42. The Water Cure by Percival Everett

Um... I don't know what to say.

Every single day I picked up this book to read it, I had to make a decision about my mental state. "Should I read this, or should I read something that won't hurt so damn much?" More often than not, I ended up reading. I can't explain the compulsion that drew me on. I'm usually not a masochistic reader, but Everett somehow hooked me here.

This is a horrendous book. It's an inside glimpse at a mind that has snapped. Ishmael Kidder is the divorced father of an 11 year old girl who was raped and murdered. When the police release their number one suspect for lack of evidence, he kidnaps the man, duct tapes him to a board in his basement, and tortures him. The entire book consists of his torture. There is nothing else here.

Or maybe there is. Everett is a very sophisticated writer and he takes his complete lack of plot in a thousand different directions. It's a critique of the irresponsibility and brutality of the Bush administration's anti-terror doctrine. It's a look at what fatherhood means. It's a look at why we search for meaning.

But mostly it's a horrendous book, a powerful, hair-raising, monstrous book that I couldn't put down. I'd recommend you stay away.

tags: a: everett percival, african-american, postmodernist