This enormous tome was really two separate books, but with the same characters. The first is a collection of short stories, each about a character and how their story is tied to a tree; further stories are sometimes about the original character’s child or descendant, but the trees remain the heart of the stories. (The depiction of the blight of the American chestnut, and the steamrolling impact it had on American lives, is beautifully conveyed.) In the second part of the book, the stories of some (but not all) of the characters begin to converge, each in their own way moved to take action against humanity’s selfish, careless assault on nature. Although the writing was polished and beautiful, the overall book was very uneven for me; after the sharp focus of each of the introductory stories, the plot moved jerkily between the nine (!) protagonists’ viewpoints, staggering from one story to the next, eventually breaking off without really reaching a solid conclusion.
Tag: length-doorstopper
At the Feet of the Sun, by Victoria Goddard
Sequel to The Hands of the Emperor, which is one of my favorite books of all time and therefore admittedly a hard act to follow. Sadly, I found this one a bit of a drag. Both Cliopher and the former Emperor, layered and powerful characters from the previous books, find themselves struggling to come to terms with their new circumstances and relationship, which is doubly frustrating when you consider how effortlessly they managed to communicate in the prequel. Cliopher’s journey also expands, from reclaiming the myths of his heritage to actually expanding them, which (although beautifully rendered by Goddard) didn’t really work for me either. Although I liked the characters’ arcs, I feel like they could have gotten to the same place with half the melodrama.
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell, by Neal Stephenson
This book is classic Stephenson: a firehose of ideas mixed together in a doorstopper of text, geeky theories of near-future technological advancement sharing space with lengthy ruminations on the utterly mundane. Really, I feel like this is three books, clumsily mashed together: 1) ultrarich game developer dies, inadvertently funding the R&D necessary to scan and upload brains; 2) an honestly quite fascinating road trip through an America where people have banded into groups that all embrace different realities based on the news feeds they subscribe to; 3) an actual retelling of the Bible, or at least the Paradise Lost bits, with God and the angels as amnesiac uploaded minds, that ends up positing that the future of humanity will end with souls existing eternally in a self-imposed uploaded afterlife, as long as server farms exist to maintain them. It was probably too much to cram into one book, but hey, I expect nothing less from Stephenson. Personally I think it’s the middle section that will stick with me the longest; the ideas felt the strongest and most germane to current events.
The Hands of the Emperor, by Victoria Goddard
I loved this book so much. It begins when Cliopher Mdang, secretary to His Radiancy the god-Emperor, wonders if his employer might want to come on vacation with him. It sounds trivial, but that simple gesture ends up affecting the entire system of government that Cliopher and His Radiancy have worked so hard to build. Politics and court drama are hinted at, earthshaking events in history are implied, but mostly this is a 900+ page tome full of either conversation or quiet reflection, which results in absolutely stellar character development and moments of total emotional perfection. Cliopher is a really self-effacing and humble narrator who tries his best, and you just want to alternately hug him, high-five him, or tell him to go take a much-needed nap. The emperor His Radiancy as seen through Cliopher’s eyes is full of such generosity and good humor, but wound so tightly with power and stress and responsibility, that you also want to hug him (but that would be taboo, and that’s also a problem). It reads like a really comforting slow burn of a love story, but if said love was utterly platonic and built on mutual respect and fond worry and decades of working patiently together towards the greater good. Also, Cliopher’s dynamic with his family and friends is just incredible, full of history and the kinds of misunderstandings that can only arise when you don’t wish to hurt the ones you love the most. I would recommend this to everyone, except let’s be real, most people would look at the length and back away. But I thought this book was amazing and you’ll probably see Victoria Goddard’s name frequently here as I chase down literally everything else she’s written.
The Stand, by Stephen King
For book club. I get why people call this an American post-apocalyptic classic, it’s the sheer ambitious scale of it. (Paradoxically, reading King’s pandemic actually made me feel a little better about our current pandemic, because ours is so much less deadly! yay?) King focuses on individual human stories to tell the story of a nationwide tragedy, and then gradually pivots to make it an even bigger story of good vs. pure evil. It really, really didn’t work for me though; it’s too obvious that King is a white guy writing from the whitest state of America. His people of color get to be stereotypes and/or stale tropes; I couldn’t even quietly envision myself in the cast, because if a character isn’t white or heterosexual, King will. point. it. out. The origins and government mismanagement of King’s pandemic also didn’t sit well with me; I know it wasn’t his intent at all, but to me, by painting the government as untrustworthy and inept in the face of a pandemic, it feels like he’s encouraging the real people who are prolonging this pandemic by ignoring the government’s advice on masking and vaccination, ugh. Bad timing, I guess. Also, despite a really patient and gradual buildup of good vs. evil, the climax of the conflict felt pointless and unsatisfying. In short: boy am I the wrong audience for this book.
Horse Heaven, by Jane Smiley
Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley (recommended by KS) turned out to be a really leisurely, sprawling epic following a group of racehorses through their various owners and trainers, and incidentally also the lives of said owners and trainers, and I enjoyed it way more than I initially thought I would. Both humans and horses are given depth and personality, and although the cast of characters is big, I was able to follow the action without problems.