Pethricks

You Shall Know Our Velocity | Dave Eggers

I’ve heard a lot about Dave Eggers via the NYT Book Review and the like and so was pleased to find this novel in the stacks at the Stratford Library.

I’ll be honest with you, after the first couple of hundred pages or so, it was pretty hard going. Not that struggling with a book is not an enjoyable nor worthwhile pursuit, but after all is said and done, you expect a little bit of reward for hanging in there and I’m afraid, I was left wanting a little more payoff when I turned the last page of this one.

There’s no doubting Eggers’ writing chops, it’s just that, like many talented folks, these are best employed with discretion to provide readers like myself, with a bit of space to appreciate what they’ve just experienced. I’m not talking about the plot being more literal here, rather that there are a few more pointers to remind the reader that they are still on the right path!

That all said, I haven’t given up on Eggers and having thoroughly enjoyed watching “Away We Go” recently, which he co-wrote, I’ll look for a copy of his perhaps more acclaimed novel “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.”

Rag Man | Pete Hautman

I was pleasantly surprised to find a bunch of Pete Hautman books at the Stratford Library having read “Doohickey” a few years back. “Rag Man” is a tidy read that dwells upon what happens when an individual, part through choice, part through circumstance, decide to change what they value and how they value others.

The book kept me intrigued and I like the way the author situates his novels in places where he resides, you get a feel that can only be conveyed through a little local knowledge.  For mine however, Hautman brings ‘the plane in to land’ a tad too quick and so I was left feeling a little rushed and unresolved over the last few pages.

J-Pod | Douglas Coupland

I like a good Coupland read, having enjoyed “Miss Wyoming” and “All Families Are Psychotic” as well as the obligatory “Generation X” in the the past. “J-Pod” had been on my To Read list for some time and while it was one that I have and will recommend to others, it’s not a must read.

The workplace references made me laugh and cringe at the same time, being all a little close to home at times. Coupland was perhaps just a little too self-indulgent featuring himself in his own novel and devoting a good chunk of the book to the almost predictable page fillers of spam, brand names, prime numbers etc. Math junkies should buy the book for the 41 pages devoted to decimals of pi – as for me, I’m glad I borrowed it from the library!