Review: Zero K: A Novel

ZERO K: A Novel by Don DeLillo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let me just start out by saying don’t ever get yourself cryogenically frozen.

The title Zero K refers to a unit of temperature associated with bionic cryostorage. People choose to get themselves preserved in such a way that they will emerge at a future date in a better world. Which begs the question: if we don’t freeze ourselves, what can we do to ride out the apocalypse?

The story begins just before the protagonist’s step-mother, Artis, is to be taken down to a secret sub-level cyber-secure area in a hidden facility in a forgotten corner of the planet, and put into a cold capsule to wait things out.

Jeffrey, the protagonist, is the observer – the “privileged witness” – and it is through his eyes that this chilling story unfolds. Jeffrey’s father Ross is a billionaire who helped fund this cutting edge facility, so Jeffrey gets to stay there for a time and take it all in.

Until reading Zero K, I thought every aspect of the question of who am I had already been explored. But DeLillo delves into it in a whole new way. If people can be frozen and then unfrozen, does that mean they can live forever? One of the facility’s founders says, “With individual death no longer inevitable, what will happen to the lurking idea of nuclear destruction?”

Zero K can’t be categorized. On what shelf could you possibly put it? Narrator Jeffrey explores the issue of the nature of consciousness as Artis is finally “taken down to the lower levels” and prepared by a team of futuristically surgical-looking white-coated scary people.

And then, in the one chapter not through Jeffrey’s eyes, we are inside Artis’ mind. She has been frozen, but we’re not sure if that means she’s alive, or conscious, or dead, or sleeping, or what. And in this chapter we don’t know if Artis is thinking, if her brain is thinking, if words are floating through some sort of mind. It’s absolutely brilliant.

“Am I just the words,” we think Artis thinks, “or is there someone thinking these words… Why does the brain keep going like this?”

This is why I say don’t get yourself frozen.

Also in this super futuristic underground facility, Jeffrey tries to figure out what part of us makes up our identity. This question of course has been asked for centuries, but in Zero K, it is new. How much of my name contributes to my identity, and what happens if I change my name? There are living sculptures hidden in back rooms; weird performance art in the otherwise cold, lifeless hallways; otherworldly statues asking whether they are form or content.

Reading Zero K is like being on an intellectual cross-fit course, a mind playground. And yet, I wouldn’t call it science fiction or fantasy. It’s futuristic, but it’s in the present.

DeLillo’s writing style is breathtaking. There’s not one unnecessary syllable, not one tiny nano-description that doesn’t have ten more meanings buried beneath. It’s perplexing and chilling. The book is indescribable, breaking new grounds between story and philosophy, and the nature of visionary art.

Review: An Enlightening Quiche

An Enlightening Quiche by Eva Pasco
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Tapestry of Culture, History, and Blue Ribbon Quiche


For a deep, warm read, settle in with a cup of cafetière a piston and a creamy slice of hot quiche, and retreat to the inner sanctum of Eva Pasco’s Proustian search for the meaning of family in the Rhode Island mill town of Beauchemins.

Weaving together synchronicity and history, karma and chance, Pasco reveals the breathtaking story of two women living in a tightly knit French Canadian community – Augusta, a Canuck native and Lindsay, a journalist from Cambridge, Mass. As Lindsay probes the captivating culture of Beauchemins, both women explore their roots and make discoveries that change their lives forever.

An Enlightening Quiche is a study in both the details of what makes a life story, and the big picture of how our lives are affected by those around us. A non-judgmental look at what lies beneath the surface, this first-person narrative embraces cultural differences and varied historical timelines to seek the ties that bind us together as one human race.

Review: A Reunion of Ghosts

A REUNION OF GHOSTS by Judith Claire Mitchell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, like for geese it’s a gaggle; for horses it’s a herd; for bees it’s a swarm. For ghosts it’s a reunion.

Lives pass through a rent-controlled New York City apartment in A Reunion of Ghosts by Judith Claire Mitchell. Three sisters, and then an aunt. Their lives are directly affected by previous generations – I can’t give too many details for spoiler reasons – and the sisters, burdened by what came before them, give it their best try.

Generations pass stuff down to generations, and how the new generations absorb the history, how they work it – or are unable to work it - into their own lives, is the crux of this incredible story.
As the apartment hosts the lives that pass through it, the stories and traumas that pass through it come to life. Linear time doesn’t exist, even when you put together a detailed family tree – because a grandfather’s choices affect the sisters directly. A mother’s coping skills affect the sisters’ coping skills. We pass emotional and spiritual DNA along, without realizing the impact we have on people not yet born.

And the sisters must live with the spirits of their elders. Or must they? Is it a choice? Or is it already written.

This is an engrossing book about the impermanence and subjectivity of our choices. I couldn't put it down!

Review: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I almost never read a book more than once. This will be my third time through Anne Lamott’s inspirational, super-smart, funny, practical, and ethereal writing guide.

From the first page of the introduction, where the author acquaints us with her childhood and her parents (they were all avid readers and her dad was a writer) to the last page of the final chapter, we are taken on a journey into the workings of the creative mind.

Ms. Lamott is as much a teacher as she is a writer. Her gift is that she makes us all feel special. She establishes a personal relationship with each person who reads BIRD BY BIRD, just as I’m sure she does with each of her workshop students. She trusts us with the tiny details of her writing life, and we in turn trust her. She combines the practical (how to find your unique voice) with the creative (how to scan the far corners of your vision to find material) with the daily how-to’s (how to not get sued for libel) to the emotional (how to stay sane through the process of getting published).

Reading BIRD BY BIRD is like luxuriating in a one-on-one therapy session with someone who knows you very well, wants you to succeed, and actually shows you how. Each time I read it, I discover new things I didn’t see in the previous read. It’s kind of magical that way.

Suzann Kale

Review: Gone Girl

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Yes, it's a psychological thriller. Yes, you absolutely cannot put it down. And yes, it's perfectly plotted. But more than that (?!), it's a brilliantly written thesis on relationships. "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn gets inside the minds of a husband and wife. Who is to say they are dysfunctional? (They probably are, but...) They are so close that each of their quirks becomes a part of the other's way of seeing the world. I don't want to say too much because of spoiler issues, but "Gone Girl" is a magnifying glass, letting us see the smallest details of the marriage connection.

"The once plentiful herds of magazine writers...

...would continue to be culled— by the Internet, by the recession, by the American public, who would rather watch TV or play video games or electronically inform friends that, like, rain sucks! But there’s no app for a bourbon buzz on a warm day in a cool, dark bar. The world will always want a drink."

Flynn, Gillian (2012-06-05). Gone Girl: A Novel (p. 10). Crown/Archetype. Kindle Edition.

Review: My Name Is Lucy Barton

My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Written in the first person in the form of a memoir, the novel is delicate and deep. The writing style is direct and focused, and most of the time I forgot that this wasn't someone's actual private journal. As Lucy Barton tells her life's story, it's a time in her life when perhaps she is older, more settled and safe, and a successful writer. But most of her focus is on a particular time when she was a young mother and had to spend many weeks in the hospital. Her hospital room looked out over Manhattan and every night she looked at the lights from the Chrysler Building. Her estranged mother came to stay with her during this time, and she and her mother were able to rebuild their relationship.

The novel is about love, really. She details her life as she describes the different people she loved over the years.

Review of THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern

An Enchanted Novel Written by a True Magician

Reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is like being in a lucid dream. A part of you realizes you're reading a book, but mostly you're lost in its depths.

I have to say, be careful where you read this thing. It's totally possible to forget where you are, how to cross a street, how to stir the soup, or whatever it is you are trying to do while reading. The book takes you over. 

But let's marvel at the magician – I mean the writer. How does one even begin to write in the second person, at times the first person, and the third person – all in the present tense? All with a rich, turn-of-the-century feel, an attention to detail, and a story and timelines that run on many levels? With places and settings you can walk through yourself, not just watch the characters walk through it. With characters that are sorcerers and real people, at the same time? 

And even with all this sorcery, the experience feels as smooth as resting your head on a pillow. 

This is a sweet, dreamy read. I was hoping it would never end. 

Added later: 

I'm in heaven. The Night Circus is total joy. I am immersed in the story, carried away by the magic, and lost in the marvelous imagery. 

In her interview with GoodReads, Ms. Morgenstern says she was influenced by Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes . I read it when I was very young, and it's been a part of the unfolding of my life ever since.

The Night Circus will stay with me always, too.

(c) 2015 Suzann Kale

Review of THE SENSE OF AN ENDING by Julian Barnes

I totally could not put this book down. I got so lost in it, the characters became part of my life. It's clever and witty, and also devastatingly sad, all at the same time. Written in the first person in memoir-style, it is above all, surprising. 

THE SENSE OF AN ENDING tells the story of lives that are woven together through both choice and circumstance. 

More review details follow when I get the chance, but I just wanted to get this out there in case anyone was on the fence about whether to read it or not.

Review of MY SPLENDID CONCUBINE by Lloyd Lofthouse

This most amazing book took me on a journey that was deep, vivid, and brilliantly written.

I felt like I was part of the exotic odyssey of Sir Robert Hart, the 19th century British Inspector General of China's Customs Service. So well-written was the book, I was there, side-by-side with Hart, discovering the Chinese culture along with him, learning about the joys and dangers of colonial China just as Hart learns of them.

Because author Lloyd Lofthouse is a master at infusing fact with story, mixing "scene and sequel," action and thoughtfulness, all that I learned alongside Sir Robert was fascinating, jaw-dropping, heart-pounding, and deeply satisfying.

This talent that Mr. Lofthouse has of making the reader feel like a part of the story, makes the characters and the scenes come to life. Yes, I'm reading a book, but yes, the characters jump out of the pages and live their lives in front of my eyes.

Mr. Lofthouse researched his real-life historical character, Robert Hart, extensively - so the reader gets an "inside" look at this profound man's life.

And although Hart's story takes place over a century ago, it is timeless. It's the story of a man who embraces a new culture without judgment, embraces love without hesitation, and ultimately teaches the rest of the world how it may be possible for us all to live together in peace.

Writer Anchee Min says in the book's forward, Robert Hart "was the father of China's modernization." Not because Hart forced western ideas into China, but because he made it his life's work to learn the Chinese languages, learn the literature, and become part of the Chinese world. From inside - that's how he made changes.

To me, "My Splendid Concubine" is writing at its best. I can't recommend this book strongly enough. It's fascinating, it draws you in, and it stays with you long after you've finished the read.

(c) 2014 Suzann Kale

Review of UNDERLYING NOTES by Eva Pasco

Reading Eva Pasco's novel about a woman's mid-life transition was, for me, engrossing, fascinating, and complex. It left me informed and deepened.

Carla Matteo worked with her husband Joe since their marriage, building a successful business together. But she chose to pursue the business, even after she had trained for a career of her own, because she made the personal decision to show her love by working along side Joe to grow his company; his dream.

With midlife, however, complexities arose: in marriage, in family secrets revealed, and in friendships. With Carla there was also a restlessness. Carla wasn't sure she wanted to live out the rest of her days without having explored her own dreams, her own career. And so she quit the business she had been such an integral part of, and began her adventure.

Carla's was an internal adventure, filled with nuances, layers, secrets revealed, and "underlying notes" - just like the array of perfumes she's collected, studied, and befriended since childhood. When Carla "takes to the bottle," she's talking about the perfume bottle!

I found Carla's story captivating, not just in its content, but also because of author Eva Pasco's talent. Pasco's writing is like the scented labyrinths of her perfumes - we are treated to different layers of the story at different times. And when a "note" - or a story segment - comes together, it's as if the last piece of a puzzle turns the fragments into a whole picture.

Like the many layers of a fine perfume, all the pieces of Carla's seemingly separate puzzles do come together - and we see, along with Carla, how her life makes sense, how her transition into her new life comes to be.

I love the almost poetic style of Eva's novel. I love the obsession with and references to the perfumes her character has loved and lived with throughout her life. And Eva skillfully weaves in captivating "notes" about many of the perfumes' origins and the details of their ingredients.

Eva's attention to detail, too, was almost life-changing for me. How her character Carla went about calmly and carefully solving the mysteries of her life was an inspiration.

The essence of Underlying Notes will stay with me always. I totally recommend it 100%

Review of RULES OF CIVILITY by Amor Towles

What a wonderful writer Amor Towles is. I saw his Goodreads Live video, too, which added to the richness of his "voice".

And richness is what this book was all about, for me. The story, the characters, the descriptions - it was all textured and layered to the point where the scenes pop off the page and play themselves out like a movie.


(I guess I write short reviews. The book is a page-turner, I couldn't put it down, and finished it in about 2 days.)

Review of MR..PENUMBRA'S 24 HOUR BOOKSTORE by Robin Sloan

Review 1 of 2: I'm only halfway through it but I had to post.

It's a joy to read Robin Sloan. He has "It": perfect plotting, delightful characters, 3-dimensional settings and descriptions, incredible wit and humor, and - for me the most important - a voice, an attitude, a way of being in the world that could be cynical but chooses not to be.

Sloan's metaphors are amazing. We all try to think up great metaphors, but Sloan's read smooth and easy, and at the same time surprise you to the point of having to re-read them just to experience their high again!

Will post more in a few days.

11/16/12 It's a few days later:

Loved it, voted for it for the Goodreads awards, am recommending it to all my friends. It was absolutely delightful, brilliantly crafted, and totally inspired. 

(c) 2016 Suzann Kale

Review of THE FEAR INDEX by Robert Harris

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Robert Harris' THE FEAR INDEX was one of the most exciting books I've read. From the first paragraph, I was hooked - and I couldn't put it down until the last page. What a brilliant writer Mr. Harris is. He is able to keep the action going at a fast pace while still creating a 3-dimensional atmosphere. When he describes a place, I am there - I can feel myself in that place. It's quite amazing. I personally love to be transported when I read a novel, and I'm always looking to experience places, settings, moods. I like detail. I like lighting, weather, colors, spaces. To be able to keep a story moving without skimping on the details is quite a skill.

I'm not going to get into the plot, because there are layers upon layers of it, all possible "spoilers," but in general it's a story about technology and the world stock markets, and a guy who totally understood how to merge the two.

It was how I would define the genre "thriller." 

(c) 2015 Suzann Kale