Crash

This certanly isn't the generic, shallow 2005 Haggis "Racism is bad" film. Cronenberg has always been absolutely obsessed with technology, and this manifests itself not in the sexiness of ars, or sex in cars, which is generally accepted, especially in Hollywood, but in the fetishization of car crashes. This leads to a lot of gratuitious imagery, particularly involving scars and wounds. I had a lot of strong reactions to the imagery (primarily disgust and repulsion, particularly because I'm squeamish), however, I was mostly bored. Cronenberg created a lot of controversy over his imagery, but thematically, this isn't all that interesting.

1/5

The Hanging Garden

This is a prime example of over the top Canadian melodrama, where you can hardly hear dialogue over overlapping shouting. The supernatural elements are fairly confusing and add little to what is a pretty typical Irish--specifically Cape Breton Irish--family drama. The characters are not particularly believable, nor are any motivations particularly believable themselves. This film adds little to a very common Canadian genre.

1/5

Sherlock Holmes

I have always associated Guy Ritchie with gritty films. And while the mis-en-scene was there, regardless of a downright silly Naziesque get-up for the--Pre-Nazi--villian, the way the film was carried out was downright silly. Gratuitious slow-motion, expensive fight scenes that fail to compell, and a boring case don't do Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr any favours, despite their effortless rapport with one another. Sadly forgettable.

2/5

Anagrams

Lorrie Moore is so wonderful. Her take on the novel is rooted in short stories, looking at, well, anagrams of what the protagonists could be. Moore enlivens what could be a typical narrative--middle age woman, now single, juggling a child and a relationship with a student--with clever language, interesting changes in point of view, sharp humour, and an imaginary(!) child instead of a real one. Moore refuses a typical narrative and a typical novelistic structure, and instead makes something better.

4.5/5

Beebo Brinker

This is a lesbian pulp novel from the 60s, one I am reading for a queer writing course. I was surprised by the fact it wasn't terrible prose, however, that happy surprise was mitigated by characterization that's impossible to believe. Character motivations seem false, and there are three (three!) instances of love at first sight that are not earned or believable. Also, honestly, for a book whose main purpose is to titillate, there should really be more sex.

Giovanni's Room

This is a little gem, quickly consumed, sparkling with brilliantr prose, realistic, well-rendered characters, and a gorgeous, devastating ending. I'm not sure why I haven't read James Baldwin before now, but I will make a point of devouring more of the novels from his tremendously prolific career.

5/5

Mole

This is an amateur work in every way. From clumsy popcorn related metaphors in an ode to Nicole Kidman, to cliche-ridden poems on subjects that have endlessly been tread, this was an awkward slog. The only interesting thing about this collection is the cover.

1/5

Middlesex

This is a massive, sprawling story spanning three generations, explaining how the protagonist, Calliope becomes the protagonist Cal. I really enjoyed this experience, if maybe a little more in the beginning, finding Cal's grandparents the most interesting characters within. The idea of an almost omniscient first person narrative is so fascinating, and I had none of the qualms with Middlesex that I did with The Virgin Suicides. If Eugenides continues to write like this, I will continue to read him.

4/5

Self-Help

Lorrie Moore's stories continually astound me. This collection, hinging on break-ups and endings, made me laugh, cry, and other cliches. I desperately want to devour everything she has ever written, and I hope that doesn't sound as creepy as it seems.

5/5

Running in the Family

Ondaatje's memoir of his family history s rich with the amount of detail you find in his novels, and because he has an extremely fascinating family, feels like a novel about an exceedingly eccentric family. He breaks the prose with some poetry, including the famous "Cinnamon Peeler's Wife", and, in bits and pieces, creates a vivid portrait of a time and place where happening--snake shooting, a magnificant drowning, the hold up of a train--are so crazy that they're true.

4/5

The Telling of Lies

I feel like every book Timothy Findley writes is a disappointment after I saw what he was capable of with The Wars. This is no exception. It's a neat little murder mystery that does keep you reading, with interesting moments in flashbacks to World War II, but the mystery wasn't satisfying in the way it would be in the hands of a mystery writer, and the tidbits of a compelling history did not sustain the otherwise lacklustre story. Yet again, I am waiting for a novel it seems Findley could only write once.

2.5/5

Up in the Air

This was well done, if a little empty. The humour is well executed, cameos are funny, Clooney is, as always, a likeable rogue, and I was pleased they did not end with the easy, annoying happy ending. But, like Reitman's Thank You For Smoking and Juno, there isn't much substance under the surface.

3/5

The Virgin Suicides

I was sadly underwhelmed by this; atmospherically it's lovely, and I am quite excited to see the film, now, but I feel this masks a fundamental weakness in the story. The feeling of myth surrounding the storytelling is interesting, however, I'm not entirely sure it was utilized effectively. Overall, I don't see the huge appeal.

2.5/5

Designs From the Interior

While this is an interesting artifact as a collection of queer poetry in the midst of the AIDS crisis, it does not stand up well as simply a collection of poetry. The writing is a little pedestrian, and no poem stands alone as a gem. I was, unfortunately, rather bored by it.

1.5/5

Regeneration

I was a little underwhelmed by Regeneration, considering the fact it has gotten such glowing praise. It felt a little shaky, on the prose front, to be considered a modern classic. However, the characters, real and fictional, are compelling, and I will pick up the next in Barker's trilogy, not for the story, but for her characters.

2.5/5

Mercy Among the Children

It's hard to give a good rating to a book you desperately want to end another way, any other way. This is one of the most depressing stories I have ever read, with a look at hopeless poverty, the futility of honour, and desperate people doing horrible things to other desperate people. There are no happy endings here, and I didn't expect one, but oh, I wanted one so badly. Regardless, this is a trainwreck of a book, and I mean that in the best way: you want to shield your eyes, but you can't bear to stop watching.

4/5

Who Do You Think You Are?

A well-woven collection of short stories, loosely chronological, with the same protagonist. Early, the stories have a brutal quality, with devastating moments thrown in almost casually. Unfortunately, as the protagonist grows, there are fewer and fewer of these moments. Regardless, it is worth reading for the picture of frustrated poverty it paints in te beginning, even if the picture fades later.

3/5

As For Me and My House

You certainly couldn’t say As For Me and My House is uplifting, but it is beautifully written, skilfully plotted, and immensely satisfying. I have never seen the journal format work to better effect than it does in this novel. I can see why this was considered one of this first likely Great Canadian Novels.

4/5

Fool

I have heard much about Christopher Moore’s send-up of the bible, however, I couldn’t find a copy of Lamb at the library, so I picked this, a send-up of King Lear instead. There is no love lost between King Lear and I, so I certainly wasn’t offended, however, while Moore is amusing, honestly, I think he’d be more amusing with his hands on something original, not with one of the most beloved works of literature ever.

2.5/5

Dead Snow

I hate horror films. I’m a wimp, I’ll admit it, but Dead Snow, a campy film about zombie Nazis, didn’t scare me. It made me laugh quite a bit and compare it to Evil Dead, but it didn’t scare me. And in the end, despite the fact I was dreading being scared, I was a little disappointed that it didn’t deliver.

2/5

Girl With the Curious Hair

I have heard many great things about David Foster Wallace, especially in regards to Infinite Jest, and I picked this up, because I’m a sucker for the short story. But these were abysmal. When Wallace isn’t aping real life people as characters in what feels like sanctioned, literary fan-fiction, he’s writing stories about punks that only really serve to remind me how little I like the idea of that scene. Wallace sometimes shocked me, but he just as often bored me, and this all just left a bad taste in my mouth.

1/5

Naked

Lord I dislike this film. We begin with sexual assault in an alley-way, and discover, within minutes, that the one committing this act is, hey, our protagonist! And we’re supposed to sympathize with him! Save it. I found almost every single character inhabiting this film intolerable, and while much of that was purposeful, I believe I was supposed to find small grains of empathy, or at least tolerance, for them. Well, I didn’t.

1/5

The Stranger

While The Stranger didn’t hit me as a masterpiece, which it is frequently touted as, it is a well-developed, tight little character study, written in unpretentious, spare prose. I did enjoy it, though I still cannot stand when stories are written from the point of view of a detached narrator. What’s the fun if there’s no emotion in it?

3/5

Nightwood

I really dislike modernism sometimes, and this would be one of those times. T.S. Eliot loved it, so I got excited, and I was quite upset when I found a novel with the flimsiest slip of a plot, the most detestable characters in recent memory, and a great deal of philosophizing that both does not fit into the situations it occurs in, and is also absolutely impenetrable. I don’t know if this means I’m too stupid for her, or if she’s just too pretentious for me. I hope it’s the latter.

2/5

First Love and Other Novellas

Samuel Beckett upsets me with his abilities. These were originally in French, Beckett’s second language, though I read the versions translated by him. And even in translation, they have a flow and style that feels unique, and very Beckett. Beckett loves the destitute and the men who never quite fit in, and he does them wonderful service in these four tiny stories, each containing much more than that which their page count would attest. These are dense, and they are lovely. However, Beckett does fall down occasionally, and eventually these stories began to blend, as Beckett sticks quite closely to themes. While he is a great stylist, he should look into a new subject sometime.

3.5/5

Flowers For Hitler

Leonard Cohen is one of my personal heroes, and while the quality of both his music and his poetry has declined significantly in the past twenty-five years, Flowers for Hitler reminds me why he has such a place in my heart. This is not a smooth read by any means; there are certainly a fair number of duds. However, the pearls, of which there are many, are luminescent, and that is why I’ve still never quite given up hope that Cohen will return to form.

4/5

The Diviners

There is nothing wrong with Margaret Laurence’s The Diviners. But I can’t quite enjoy myself. While the story is interesting, and the characters sympathetic, I can never entirely embrace the novel. And around page five-hundred, when it has worn out its welcome, it comes to such a neat little closure, everything fitting together, that I can’t help but feel bored.

3/5