Books I Read This Month - February 2012

(Read: Books I Read Last Month)

Hey there. Sorry it’s been so long. With the all the events of the past month, my blog has not been on the top list of my priorities. But now my schedule is simmering down to its normal density, and I am planning to get back on top of things. To catch up, here are the books I read in February!

The Pregnant Widow – Martin Amis

A young man and a group of his friends vacation in a castle in Italy for a summer. With his typical prose style, Amis explores the development of sexual identity and the effects of aging on one’s sense of self and one’s role in the world. The last two books of Amis’ I read let me down a little bit because of their over-the-top raunchy content, but this book restored my faith in him as a writer. I enjoyed it very much.

Gravity’s Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon

This is a long book, a bit dense, and I’ll admit I didn’t really get it. It takes place in Europe at the end of World War II and is considered one of the greatest American novels ever written. The postmodern prose is sometimes hard to follow, and I feel I may have to reread it eventually to get the full effect of the story.

Beijing Coma – Ma Jian

A young Chinese man is shot in the head during a communist protest in the 1970s and is left in a coma under the care of his mother. Told in flashbacks while the main character lies in bed dying in his comatose state, the story is suspenseful and lyrical, though the pacing is quite slow. We are left wondering if he will awaken from his state, and though we know the results of the characters’ actions on the Chinese government, it is the characters and their relationships that create the intricate story.