The Fabulous Life of Old New Yorkers

Upon looking at the cover of this book, and yes I judge books by their covers as do you (you’re a liar if you say you don’t!), all I could think of was F. Scott Fitzgerald. In all honesty, that’s not a bad assumption. The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles is about Katey, a young New Yorker, and her life in the year 1938 navigating the upper echelons of the rich.

The Depression hit and slowly the Manhattan economy is coming back, but for some people, the money never ran out. Welcome to the world that Katey and her friend Eve find themselves thrown into after by chance meeting a rich young banker, Tinker. Katey may be a secretary, but suddenly new opportunities, fabulous parties, and the crème de la crème of New York are waiting to discover her. In this year long journey, we meet a number of characters who introduce the reader to the upper crust of late 1930s society and we watch as Katey ascends the ladder.

As I read this book, I saw visions of fabulously dressed people dancing the Charleston across the page. Very Gatbsy-ish indeed! There were numerous reminders of Fitzgerald, the first being the subject matter and the second being the characters. It’s about the rich and those who are lucky enough not only to look in on them, but actually become a part of their elite society. Katey is a young woman who can hold her own and is not intimidated or in awe of those above her in station. She has no problem fitting in with her new found friends. Katey is a character reminiscent of Nick from The Great Gatsby. She isn’t rich, she isn’t from an age old society family, but she happens to meet the right people. She sees the ups and downs of how the other half lives and then is able to make her way out nearly unscathed. I enjoyed the vivid images of old New York, the stores, bars, and apartments. Towles made it easy to imagine the glamor of the time period, while simultaneously showing the regular working class side of the city.

The other characters in this book have strong voices. It isn’t often that you find a book where the secondary characters can stand on their own, and Towles wrote his characters so they were rounded. People are complicated and he had no problem with exploring their flaws. There were times when he suddenly went on winding monologues about different sports, places, or activities. They added to an understanding of the period and the people, but I’d think to myself, “Is the author just trying to be stylish?”. If he was, he did it damn well and I applaud his first novel.

If you enjoy literary fiction, the life of the rich and fabulous, and this novel, here are some suggestions:

Eve in Hollywood by Amor Towles

The follow up to The Rules of Civility, this novel follows Eve, after she heads to California and looks at her life amongst the heart of Old Hollywood.

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

Much like Rules this novel takes place in New York City in the 1920s/30s. It’s about a young Louise Brooks, the soon to be silent movie star, and her chaperone, Cora, who travel to New York where they discover  the rapidly changing city and society.

Doc by Mary Doria Russell

Although still historical fiction, this novel is a bit of a flight from Rules, but still has well developed characters and a strong sense of place. In the Old West, the reader gets to meet a young Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp before they were famous.

Another Paranormal YA Romance

Cassandra Clare takes on her first YA novel with a series called “The Mortal Instruments”. Book One is City of Bones. You can tell this is a first novel. The crappy side of YA literature shines through in this attempt at writing.

I’m being harsh? Perhaps. But I’m tired of crap being pedaled off as Young Adult literature. It seems all authors have to do these days is come up with a paranormal romance plot, add a mysterious boy and a girl who discovers an alternate world she never knew existed, and BOOM! You got yourself a best seller. Why are they selling and so popular then if they’re crap, you ask? Well it’s because they’re compelling. You want to know what’s going to happen. They’re world building and that creates a mystery of what these other people, this other world, is like. So even though I found myself rolling my eyes while reading this book, I kept going because I had to hear the ending.

Clary is a fifteen year old whose world has just flipped on its side. She sees a murder of something not human by three teens who no one else can see except herself. Then a day later, her mother is kidnapped and Clary is attacked by a demon. Suddenly, her eyes are opened to a world that was hidden to her from birth: the world of the Clave, Shadowhunters who are descended from angels to protect humans from demons. She meets Jace, a mysterious Shadowhunter with golden locks, who brings her into his world and helps her find her mother, who has been stolen by Valentine, a Nazi-esque ex-Shadowhunter.

Ok I’ll start with the good, so you don’t think I’m a one sided bitch. The plot is a rich one, kind of Constantine-esque (the movie with Keanu Reeves). I wanted to read the book when I found out it is being made into a movie. There’s a lot to build on in this plot: God versus Satan, the ultimate good versus evil, creepy and frightening creatures, and a world that encompasses so many aspects of the supernatural. This is a plot that keeps moving and keeps you interested. I completely understand why the book is popular.

Now the bad!! Goody goody, there’s so much to say. First I need to go with the characters. I didn’t feel attracted or sympathetic with any of them. They were so 2D. There was nothing that felt real about them.  As in a lot of YA novels, their emotions were so overly dramatic and their characteristics were stereotypical. The mysterious, hot guy who tries to shut out the world until the main character comes around. O wait he’s sarcastic. Who would have guessed!? The girl who’s artistic and doesn’t feel like she really belongs…because she doesn’t! Wow. Revolutionary!  The main guy, Jace, is the mysterious warrior man, but upon meeting Clary, our main character, he just starts telling her about this secret world. REALLY!!?? If he’s so secretive why is he doling out this information to a complete stranger? It feels like it’s going against the character’s personality and against the underworld society.

The plot. Warning, I’m going to spoil the plot here so STOP reading if you do not want to hear it. Clare, the author, stole from Star Wars! She took that whole Luke and Leia plot line and put it in her book along with the whole evil father part. First, dude, you can’t just steal stuff from Star Wars and then crap on it. Not Cool. Second, what is up with incest as a plot line these days? Creepy. O and Clare completely cops out on the religion aspect of the story. Obviously if there are demons, there is a demon leader, i.e. Satan, and if there is a Hell and a Satan, then there is a Heaven and angels (Newton’s Law). I mean the Shadowhunters are supposedly descended from angels, but Clare denies the existence of one God. Instead, Jace doesn’t know if he believes in God and no one actually knows if angels exist. Come on Clare! If you’re going to write a book that’s essentially about angels and demons, you got to adopt some sort of overarching belief. I don’t care if it’s the Flying Spaghetti Monster and his beer volcano, but there needs to be a heaven and a hell, thus rulers of both.

The writing. The story is narrated from Clary’s perspective. She is the main character, and as the reader, you’re discovering everything at the same time she is. That makes sense. I got angry when out of the blue, one chapter was partially written from Jace’s perspective. Then back to Clary’s. You can’t just throw that in out of nowhere! Come on! The writing was juvenile. He said, she said. Discovering characters' names, personalities, and plot points in the most obvious of ways. There was no artistry here.

I’ll give Clare props for putting out a bestselling first novel, but that’s about it. My coworker tells me Clare’s “Infernal Devices” series is much better, and after giving myself some time away from this genre, I think I’ll give her other series a read. I know many people love this series. People also enjoy bathroom humor. It has its audience, but it’s certainly not polished or thoughtful.

This was a very long review. Sorry, I just needed to get that venom out of my system and onto the internet. You’re welcome world!

More Ordinary than Curious

I recently attended the American Library Association's annual conference in New Orleans where I had the pleasure of meeting and receiving complimentary copies of authors' books. One such book was "The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno" by Ellen Bryson. This is a book I saw on a B&N shelf not too long ago and thought it looked interesting. Well what with me thinking the book looked good, and having met the author, I was all ready to enjoy this novel....Anytime now...Crap.

I didn't.

The novel is about Barnum's Museum of Curiosities in New York City post Civil War (1865+ for you Canadians). The main character, Bartholomew Fortuno, is the world's thinnest man. We meet and see the daily lives of several other "curiosities", such as the fat lady, the elastic man, and a strong man, but one day a mysterious woman is added to the museum and Barty's world is tipped upside down. I applaud Ms Bryson for getting her first novel published. The idea is original and interesting, but it fell flat, like her characters.

The characters and plot were 2-D. They didn't jump off the page at you and I didn't feel there was anything or anyone to grab onto. The author made attempts at going beyond surface level, but I'm sorry to say her attempts failed. The main character, Barty, is annoying. He's like that whinny kid in class with no backbone. He knows all the rules by heart and isn't afraid to let everyone know it. I never warmed up to him and found his personality agitating.

The "mysteries" within the novel were not riveting. To say the least I was not turning the pages to figure out what happened. Had I not felt obligated to finish the book I would have put it down ages ago and been better for it. Nothing in the book moved me. Pieces of the plot felt loosely strung together and the "great reveals" were lacking. I wasn't surprised or intrigued.

I found nothing transforming about Bartholomew Fortuno. The author should have explored her characters more, made their relationships deeper, and their perspectives more pronounced and weighty. The curiosities are people who are outcast by the rest of society, but find a home in the Museum among others like them. This is a perspective that reaches all of us in one way or another, but I felt alienated from her characters and I don't feel Bryson tried to make the connection between her audience and the characters. Bryson tried to probe Barty's philosophy on the curiosities and how their presence in the world was a tool, but she never fully latched on to it.

After reading this book, I've decided to take Nancy Pearl's advice: if after 30-50 pages the book doesn't grab or interest you, just put it down. The world is full of books worth reading and life is too short to waste your time on an uninteresting read.