Morrison, Toni - Beloved

I first read this as an assignment in tenth grade, which was not optimal in many ways, one of the foremost being how tenth-grade boys will giggle at the mention of the word "fuck," particularly when it has to do with cows. The other is that Morrison's prose is very dense, so much so that I had a difficult time following it even now. Technically, it's not actually the prose that's dense, but the way Morrison will slip from one timeframe to another in a sentence, go on for a few pages, and then return.

I think I would have done much better had there been manga-esque black borders marking each flashback.

Sethe is an escaped slave with a past more horrifying than most, and when her old friend Paul D shows up, the ghostly presence haunting her house begins to get a little less ghostly and a little more physical. This is a story about how the past haunts us, figuratively and literally, how it can steal into the present and poison it, how something like slavery just keeps echoing and echoing and echoing.

I admired the way Morrison slipped from past to present; even though it was confusing, it felt very appropriate for the book, since Sethe and Paul D can't keep themselves in the present all the time as well. I also liked the feeling of love so thick it suffocates, both Beloved's and Sethe's. Denver was always my favorite when I read it for class, and she remains so on rereading. I like that she's the one to not just avoid the past (Paul D) or succumb to it (Sethe), but goes out to do something about it, balancing between remembering the past without being consumed by it.

I wish I had more to say about this book -- I felt like I missed tons while reading it, as it is not a good book to read when one's brain is not working, like mine.

Liu, Marjorie M. - The Red Heart of Jade

Several people have already mentioned that this is a very flawed book, and how!

People are getting burned alive in Taiwan, and Dean Campbell of Dirk & Steele goes to investigate. He soon discovers that his childhood best friend and sweetheart Mirabelle Lee is actually alive, not dead as he's believed for twenty years. There is a lot of plot that involves dragons, several different factions, magical stones, mummies, strange memories, and probably some other things as well. It feels like Liu threw in everything and the kitchen sink, and despite the long exposition at the ending, I'm still not sure what happened. The book could have used about five fewer plots and been much more coherent.

That said, I actually enjoyed this a lot. I generally don't care that much about plot anyway, and given everyone's warnings, I felt free to completely ignore the plot and focus on the characters instead. It helped that the book included Taiwan (yay!), a heroine who lives in Bay Area and is Chinese, my favorite Dirk & Steele agent from the previous books, a lot of banter, childhood romances, romantic reunions and second chances. Given how cynical I am in real life about romantic reunions, I am not sure why this hits my buttons so hard, but it does.

Also, best lines ever:

"There, there." Miri patted his back. "If you like, I can touch your throbbing manhood and make it all better."

"Maybe I should handle your weeping flower. Water it with my hot man-juice. Caress your love grotto with my swinging showerhead."

I love Dean and Miri so much. I think they are my favorite couple so far, largely for the banter contrasting with the twenty years of angst.

And now, nitpicky things that only matter to me!

I was completely confused by the romanization of "Ni Ni" (grandma), as the book mostly seemed to be going with pinyin ("Nai nai"). I briefly thought it might be Canto or Taiwanese, except I'm pretty sure Miri only speaks Mandarin. (Dean does too! Awesomesauce!)

The Taipei still feels a little too shiny for me, though I liked the mention of stray dogs, Dean's observation that Taipei 101 looks like takeout cartons stacked on top of each other, National Taiwan University looking like concrete blocks, and the detail of the Far Eastern Hotel. Having spent part of an internship in that building, I squeed a bit when Liu mentions the bakery in the lobby.

Too bad Dean and Miri didn't have enough time for street food, what with all the demons and shapeshifters and people out to kill them.

Anyway, the plot is a total mess and the ending feels like a deus ex machina, I'm still confused as to why Dean can't sense Miri, and I'm not sure what the resolution means for the Dirk & Steele universe, but I am happily keeping the book anyway for good banter and sex that actually sounds like fun.

Links:
- oracne's review