The King of Pain by Seth Kaufman

Both comic and tragic, both a series of stories within stories and a long, treacherous journey toward redemption, Kaufman’s novel is a gruesome yet sharply funny portrayal of numerous types of torture and the bliss of release.

Though he is thoroughly aware that most everyone hates him, Rick Salter doesn’t quite care. With his reality television show called “The King of Pain,” which makes entertainment of torturing contestants, pushing them to their limits until they have a mental break down, Rick actually feels as though his friends, family, and co-workers have the right to hate him. But when he wakes up pinned beneath his home entertainment system and realizes no one will be there to rescue him for at least two days when the cleaner arrives, his only hope of surviving without going crazy thinking about how perhaps no one would particularly want to save him if they could is a collection of short stories by a one Seth Kaufman lying next to him. A gift from his assistant before she resigned, and paired with a cryptic note saying the stories are “meant” for him, A History of Prisons distracts Rick from the pain for a while, though as he becomes more involved in the stories, the note just seems more ambiguous.

Rick’s narcissistic yet light-hearted tone in the face of his predicament will pull you in right away, but there are many layers to the story that make this novel un-put-down-able. First and foremost is Rick’s imprisonment beneath his symbolic entertainment system; his difficulty in facing the facts and deal with his situation says a lot about his character, and as he dives into the book he has no choice but to read, he dives into other prisoners’ lives.

The ten short stories pulled from the text of Rick’s two-day stint are, by possessing intricate themes and individually developed characters, complete in their own right. While reading these stories—each taking place in some sort of prison, all across the globe—readers may feel as though they are trapped under that wall unit with Rick, trying to push the life-threatening circumstance from their mind and getting wrapped up in each story. “The Gizless Days of Thomas Binder” is perhaps the most absorbing and thought-provoking.

The third plotline of the novel, told in flashbacks—Rick’s pondering while he’s trapped with nothing better to do—is the story of “The King of Pain” and its participants. The contestants are a quirky bunch, some putting up personae for the camera, some only there to prove a point, and all attention-seeking and humorous. Readers may find themselves viewing the flashbacks scenes as a guilty pleasure, as they would a reality show; however, since the characters are starved, branded, and mentally tortured, you are not just turning pages to find out who will win and who will crack but to learn how this deeply flawed protagonist, Rick, will realize his mistakes and atone them.

On the surface, this novel is a satire on reality TV creators and hosts, but beneath the surface it is more than even a warning of what could lie ahead in the TV genre; it is also a discourse on empathy and the discovery of bliss and freedom after being trapped in a stifling mindset for far too long. With scathing humor and a clever revelation of plot, The King of Pain will excite those who find reality shows irritating and will perhaps incite a change of heart in those who believe they enhance society more than they demean it. 

Eyes behind Belligerence by K.P. Kollenborn

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, over one hundred thousand Japanese-Americans were forced to leave their homes and were relocated to internment camps scattered across the American west. Centering on two families with differing loyalties, this historical novel traces the events and relationships of a community of Japanese-Americans in the context of WWII racism, from the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor through the three years they spent in the Manzanar internment camp, as well as the consequences they faced upon their release.

Both Goro “Russell” Hamaguchi and Jim Yoshimura must face decisions concerning who to trust, who to defend, and who to perceive as an enemy, and both their personalities and family backgrounds influence their choices to a great extent. Tight-knit and following strict, yet largely unsaid, rules, especially after his brother’s suicide, Jim’s family is less entwined in society than Russell’s; Russell, as a matter of fact, has adopted an American nickname, only called Goro by his immediate family. With more freedom than Jim, Russell is less focused on his studies and has a non-Japanese girlfriend, as well as American friends. While some characters, in particular both of the boys’ mothers, are often clichéd, their purposes are evident.

But after the attack on Pearl Harbor, both teenage boys encounter racism and gang violence from those who trusted them before the attack, and even by fellow Japanese-Americans who struggle with their identity. Because Jim is introverted, he sticks to the beliefs with which he was raised, focusing on the past, while Russell, who has been immersed in American culture his entire life, fights the prejudice that appeared seemingly overnight with all his conviction. At Manzanar, Jim and Russell find themselves focusing on the same aspects of their lives they did before their internment (girls, friends, family arguments) but with racism, violence, and unjust uprooting as a new background to their day-to-day problems.

While loyalty to America versus loyalty to Japan is the most apparent divider between the groups at the camp, it is, in the end, a matter of consequence. More important than taking sides during the war is discovering a personal identity in the face of oppression. Though Russell continues to assert his American loyalty and Jim questions the intentions of American society, it is not the choice of side one takes (American or Japanese) but it is the loyalty to one’s beliefs and the courage to forgive both sides fighting in the war that mark an individual as “good” or “bad.”

At 450 pages (with quite small font) Eyes behind Belligerence goes into great detail about the relationships between family, friends, and the community, though it can be slow and often engage clichéd dialogue. Frequent and unnecessary similes scatter the text, and grammatical errors occasionally distract. Because the setting of the novel—especially within the internment camp—is incredibly important, both physically and socially, the reader may often be left wanting in this regard. The length of the novel does not make it "epic;" it simply makes it long. It's the profundity of a novel that puts it into the category of epic, and this book is not quite there.

However, the beautifully developed characters, their incredible relationships, and their emotional bonds and histories transcend the downfalls in the mechanics of the writing, bringing to light a sense of community. The reader can easily point out the thematic intricacies of the story, which were certainly Kollenborn’s purpose in this thoroughly researched novel, but a more profound message has the potential to reveal itself if a tighter focus—particularly concerning setting and dialogue—enhanced the relationships between the characters.

Despite its flaws, Eyes behind Belligerence is an inspiring story of loyalty, not to a national identity but to the family and friends in the community, with whom one shares a bond of suffering. 

Books Released This Month - September 2012

The Nostalgist by Mark Kratina
28 September 2012
Fiction
An attorney suspends his legal career to run for the Nebraska senate. 

The Dangers of Proximal Alphabets by Kathleen Alcott
11 September 2012
Fiction
Three children growing up in single-parent households become solid friends, but as they mature, their sibling-like bond begins to change. 

We Monks and Soldiers by Lutz Bassman

1 September 2012

Short stories

Translation from the French of short stories about the line between fantasy and reality in our darkest moments. 

Seven Houses in France by Bernardo Atxaga

4 September 2012

Literary Fiction

Calling on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, this novel takes place in the Congo of  1903, where a captain's desire to own a new house each year he is abroad in interrupted by the arrival of a new officer.

As It Is on Earth by Peter M. Wheelwright

15 September 2012 

Literary Fiction

A young college professor in New England attempts to untangle the mess of his Puritan family history when he finds himself falling in love with an Israeli woman.  

With Blood in Their Eyes by Thomas Cobb

September 13 2012

True Crime/Western

From the author of Crazy Heart, this is the story of a John Power, of 1918 Arizona, and his engagement with the Graham County Sheriff Department after a violent shooting.