Dream Boy

Well, this was an odd experience. I'm not going to spoil the ending, though I'm not sure what that would ruin, however, the ending was sort of a confused attempt at lack of closure, and a lot of the threads picked up in the story, such as what appears to be a case of molestation, are hinted at, then suddenly disappear. Grimsley doesn't seem sure whether he wants a love story, a ghost story or a story of child abuse, and frankly, I'm not sure either.

2/5

Salvation Army

My stodgy side reappears! A memoir that ruminates for a long time on the author's giant crush on his older brother, and doesn't really contain much other than that, except his parents' fights and this Swiss guy he fucks for awhile, and then doesn't. There isn't much of substance here, and I am willing to admit that the incest threw me out of the narrative, but frankly, there wasn't much of a narrative to begin with.

2/5

The Red Badge of Courage

I read the great illustrated classics version of this when I was about seven or so; the only reason I remember that is because it absolutely haunted me, with its stories of death. This time around, Crane doesn't haunt me. Crane doesn't even affect me. He has created such an unlikeable protagonist, a coward who takes all of the credit and none of the blame, a man who looks the injured in the eyes and sees himself as equal, that I could barely get through this. It doesn't help that it's downright boring a lot of the time.

2/5

The Hurt Locker

Hurt Locker is rendered in a world of beige, taupe and tan, a world that seems washed out, which works wonderfully with its narrative. In this bleached world, slow moving and then frenetic with motion, every action has extreme importance, except when it doesn't. My favourite moment, a moment in a grocery store washed in brilliant colours, shows how out of place soldiers are in that world, busy with nothing meaningful, and this moment serves as an allegory for what is an extremely rich study of monotony and danger, often at the same time.

4/5

Sexing the Cherry

I was excited by this, as I'd love Winterson's previous outing, however, there were serious issues in this narrative. The first, and most irritating, was the use of two point-of-views, a choice that would not bother me had Winterson differentiated the voices used. As it is, however, it is impossible to immerse yourself in a story when every time the point of view alters, you spend several pages trying to decide who is speaking.

3/5

Oranges are not the Only Fruit

For its tiny size, Oranges packs a lot of delight. Winterson's cutting humour about her life, her masterful inclusion of fairy-tale like fragments, and her sheer ability make this one of the biggest pleasures I've read all year.

5/5

Obasan

Obasan was read in a straight rush before class, a three hour drag at the library. I actually don't remember much of it, but I can't think I was missing much, as the lectures rang of making something out of nothing, pulling posttraumatic stress and histiographic metafiction out of a very simple narrative of the mistreated. Yes, Kogawa was the first to address the treatment of Japanese Canadians during World War II, and Obasan wrought change in policy, which is impressive, but as a novel, as a piece of artwork, Obasan adds little to the genre it has fallen into.

2/5