The Emissary by Marc Pietrzykowski

Set in a nursing home where ex-worker Cam Wright often visits to record the residents telling vignettes from their life stories, The Emissary follows a handful of characters as they encounter death in numbers suspiciously higher than expected for the average nursing home.

Head nurse Carol Ann DeFazio is caring but a stickler for rules; nurse Angela Padilla is a kindhearted single mother and Cam's love interest; and several of the nursing home residents, such as Tom Kinney, Magoo, and Mrs. Treadwell, all have their odd quirks and sometimes mysterious personalities. All the characters in this novel are well-rounded and offer something unique and significant to the plot of the book, even when they are simply sitting there dictating an unusual tale to Cam's voice recorder. Cam is a protagonist to root for, a typical video-game-playing loser sort with artistic talent that could one day make him rich and happy. Angela is also a sympathetic character, as are her two daughters, and when she dies (poisoned by a plate of cookies) and Cam is arrested for her murder, the suspense goes through the roof.

The plot of The Emissary is original, quirky, and unique, putting fairly normal characters into a fairly normal setting but tossing in an odd motive for the sneaky, twisted serial murderer. At the start of the book, the plain setting and characters make the reading slow, but after a chapter or two, when the deaths begin and the characters start questioning some people and defending others, the murder mystery is what drives the story forward.

Thematically, The Emissary can be hard to pin down, but author Marc Pietrzykowski certainly had some thematic intent, as evident by his often literary writing style. The plot of the story is only the surface of the text; there is obviously something deeper behind the events in the book. Reading into the story is a bit tricky occasionally, though, with references to architecture, storytelling, and the desire for death appearing often but not very concretely. Not having the thematic intent so blatantly portrayed in the text is a nice move on Pietrzykowski's part, however, because it is easier for the reader to get something out of the book themselves rather than being told what the moral of the story is.

Pietrzykowski writes with wit and a dark sense of humor that is definitely this novel's strong suit. The way the pieces of the puzzle fall together (even though you'll definitely guess the murderer pretty much from the outset of the story), the interesting and funny characters, and the humorous writing style make this book very much worth reading. I reviewed Marc Pietrzykowski's previous novel, Music Box Dancer, a while back, and it has a similar writing style, evidence that this author has developed his own, unique voice.

Books I Read This Month - January 2014

I had a bit of time to read this month, but I'm not expecting that in the next few months, as I wrap up my university studies. Here are the first books I read in 2014!

Memoirs of an Imaginary Best Friend by Matthew Dicks

I really, really wanted to like this book. I had high expectations because of the fascinating premise—the story of the kidnapping of an autistic child told from the perspective of his imaginary friend—so perhaps that is why I didn't enjoy it as much I thought I would. The premise is brilliant, but the characters were not nearly fleshed out enough for my liking, even the imaginary narrator. The autistic boy hated a few things passionately, and he loved other things just as passionately, but he did not have much personality aside from his quirks. The imaginary friend and narrator was a bit one-sided for being a narrator, even if he was simply the product of a child's imagination. The writing is great, and the plot is amazing, and I will admit to getting teary-eyed at a few points, but I expected more depth from the characters. People who love suspense and stories with children as the main characters will enjoy this, though.

The Waves by Virginia Woolf

I've read one other work of Virginia Woolf's before, and I had the same opinion of it: a bit jumbly, lofty, and hard to understand. This is another book I really wanted to like, though I didn't feel cheated as I did with the previous novel, just a bit disappointed in myself rather than with the book, since I had a hard time following the plot. This book is told from the perspectives of six different people, told through their thoughts over the course of a couple years after they graduate high school. It is definitely eye-opening as to the experiments writers can succeed in when writing perspective, but it's hard to get something from it if you don't read slowly and closely. I tried, and I think I succeeded to an extent. Definitely recommended for writers.

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

I read Karen Russell's short story collection, Vampires in the Lemon Grove, recently and simply died of envy of her writing abilities. This novel, runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize last year, did not disappoint in the least, except for the ending was vague and did not wrap up the story very well. I feel like I need to say that as a warning to people who read it. You should definitely, definitely read it, especially if you are a writer, but just be warned that the ending drops off. Sorry if this is a spoiler, but I don't want you to have your expectations up and then be disappointed; I want you to love this novel too! It takes place in an alligator theme park in Florida, where a family lives on a remote island. When the mother and alligator wrestler dies of cancer, thirteen-year-old Ava (the narrator) hopes to follow in her mother's footsteps and save the park from financial ruin. Some pretty weird stuff goes on, such as Ava's older sister falling in love with a ghost and Ava being kidnapped, sort of, by a man who works with the birds on the island, and Karen Russell does a brilliant job of making the reader believe that these things are true and good, as the young characters believe. A child's perspective on life is significant to the story, and it is a coming-of-age story in this sense, as the bleakness of reality is slowly revealed to the reader over the course of the novel, as Ava slowly realizes it as well. The ending was a sad lead-in to adulthood for the siblings, but the journey there is mystical and well-wrought. Russell's writing is flowery, but only in the good ways.

St. Lucy's Home for Girl's Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell

I simply had to read Karen Russell's other short story collection, and I loved it as much as the other one. She has a way of making the really out-there, fantasy-like plot lines and events seem normal, and by making the normal things seem strange. The stories are so original, and I have no idea how she could possibly come up with this stuff. Anyway, highly recommended.

In the House upon the Dirt between the Lake and the Woods by Matt Bell

This is another very lofty, high-attention-required novel, which I read mostly because the author is a professor at one of the MFA programs I have applied to for the fall, but I heard about the book before I heard about the program and thought it sounded interesting, just didn't get around to reading it until now. The narrator, a newly wed who moves with his wife to a secluded area in the woods where they build a small house near a lake, is extremely introspective. His wife suffers several miscarriages, which come to define the trajectory of their marriage. Some strange, dreamlike events which do not seem real in the least make this read more like an allegorical tale rather than an actual story, but, if this was the author intent, then he succeeded. The book is loaded with dualities: male/female, urban/rural, human/animal, land/water, young/old, parent/non-parent, forest/clearing ... I could go on. The writing style is quite experimental, not recommended for the light-of-heart, but worth a read if you are interested in different methods of storytelling and especially in symbolism and allegory.

The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan

Ah, Ian McEwan, one of my favorite writers of whom I have not (until now) read any of the earlier works. This, his first novel, has a good dose of weird and creepy, as four siblings deal with the death of both their parents without telling anyone they've died, so as to stay together and avoid the foster system. It's a bit gross, but engrossing, a bit awful, but awfully intriguing. Another one not recommended for the weak stomached, but it's a quick read for those who enjoy psychological books and the exploits of misbehaving children.

The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan

An unmarried couple goes on vacation to an Italian city and meets another mysterious couple, who introduces them to their odd sexual appetites. I found the voice of this novel to be the most engaging, and it inspired me to write a short story with a similar, suspenseful and psychological voice—though definitely not with a similar theme or premise. McEwan is odd, often labeled "macabre," which I suppose I didn't really understand until reading these two books, having only read some of his later, more mature works until now. This novel just as unsettling as The Cement Garden, but it has not put me off of Ian McEwan at all. I look forward to reading some of his other novels in the future.

Books I Read This Month - December 2013

The Gin Closet by Leslie Jamison

This novel begins with twenty-something Stella helping her grandmother, who is going downhill with dementia. After her death, Stella searches for her long-lost aunt and fins her an alcoholic living in a trailer park. The two women are both struggling through some difficult psychological and emotional issues, and they learn by attempting to help each other that they can only really work to help themselves. This book is depressing, very angsty, and takes some mental effort to get through, but the payoff is well worth it. The writing style is gorgeous and leaves you with a sad but overall reassuring feeling.

Let the Dark Flower Blossom by Nora Labiner

Strange and mysterious, this novel is a unique twist on the writer's experience of life, tracing the days of a writer and his twin sister during a relationship with their college friend and past his murder. The style is odd and winding but beautifully renders emotions through single-sentence paragraphs and evocative word choice. It often has the appearance of poetry but is definitely prose, detailing the inner life of this writer as he dives into his sister's and friend's minds, discerning the motives behind murder. This is a literary mystery with a confusing but surprising ending.

American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell

This collection of short stories is set in Michigan (my home state) and follows a handful of characters through some rough and raw experiences. There are meth addicts, domestic violence victims, and people living in poverty in these pages, each possessing their own degree of likability. Some are hard to understand because of their inconsiderate decisions, others are hard to pity be of their self-destructiveness. Overall, though, each character reveals something subtle about the human condition.

Brief Encounters with the Enemy by Said Sayrafiezadeh

Each of these short stories has a similar plot line and writing style, leaving each one feeling not quite unique from the collection. However, this sameness is necessary to reveal the themes of the book, more a novel in short stories than a short story collection. The inhabitants of a city, usually lower-class men in their twenties or thirties, tackle the mundaneness of 9 to 5 life, the predictability of relationships, and the blindness of war. The writing is bleak and straightforward which, in the case of the themes, is perfect for the stories. It's tough to get through and emotionally harrowing, and this book left me with residual emotional anxiety from the reminder that my life is not all that different from the young people in these stories. It's very affecting and depressing, not suggested for the lighthearted. Needless to say, the writing style is effective.