The Bandit Wind: Poems (The Struga Series of Macedonian Poetry)

#380
Title: The Bandit Wind: Poems (The Struga Series of Macedonian Poetry)
Author: Slavko Janevski
Translator: Charles Simic
Year: 1991
Publisher: Dryad Press
Country: Macedonia
80 pages

An engaging collection of poems by Macedonian Slavko Janevski, generally better than many I've read recently because it's translated by the excellent poet Charles Simic. A helpful introduction situates the poet in Macedonia's historical and geopolitical context. This is a dual language Macedonian-English collection, permitting an examination of Simic's translation with the original (and for the to find Russian-Macedonian cognates and loan words). Some notes on the poems follow their presentation. The poems themselves are generally vivid and imagistic, not pastoral, and quite visceral (literally--the last set is from a collection called "Anatomy"). An interesting and enjoyable collection.

Sunshine

#379
Title: Sunshine
Author: Robin McKinley
Year: 2004
Publisher: Jove Books
405 pages

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I loved the story, I loved the progression of events, I loved the world-making. I loved the unseen aspects of this world that the characters referenced matter-of-factly and to which  the reader was not privy. This aspect reminded me of David Brin's Glory Season. Yet at many points, the narrative is so loosely woven that that plot falls right out of it. At the end, I was sure there was a sequel--I couldn't imagine that McKinley's editor would let her leave so many gaping holes. Alas, there is no sequel and none is planned. Threads that could have been looped back in are not, leaving the reader with the impression that McKinley is lazy, a cheater, or both. Characters and relationships that appeared to be important or to have greater significance are discarded, showing that they were just devices to advance the story and that the reader's investment was misplaced. This lack of even tidying up, much less resolving plot tensions, reeks of sloppiness and contempt for the reader, and dissuades me from reading McKinley again. If you choose to read Sunshine, enjoy it for what it is, but don't expect secondary plots to bear fruit, and don't interpret the mystery of it as skill--it's just imagination without adequate craft to make something elegant of the whole. What a shame.

The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific

#378
Title: The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific
Author: J. Maarten Troost
Year: 2004
Publisher: Broadway Books
Country: Kiribati (place holder)
288 pages

Kiribati.

A placeholder, I hope.

No sex, no cannibals, but Troost is certainly adrift. While his girlfriend does work, which I'd actually like to read about, Troost hangs around, surfs, makes minor repairs, doesn't write a novel, misses beer when the shipment doesn't come, complains more than admires, and makes pronouncements about the people of Kiribati. Every once in a while he hits it just right, but his attempts to be worldly or arch mostly fall far short of the goal. One hope Troost's style and focus have matured in subsequent books. One hopes his girlfriend writes a book one of these days.

Catching Fire: The Hunger Games #2

#377
Title: Catching Fire: The Hunger Games #2
Author: Suzanne Collins
Year: 2009
Publisher: Scholastic
391 pages

As in the first installment, poor Katniss just wants to be left alone. Following her success in the Hunger Games, her relationships are strained and she is under scrutiny. Though she tries hard to be unobtrusive and to do as she's told for the sake of her family and community, she is caught up in the political whirlwind her victory unwittingly caused. Frightened and disgruntled, she must again compete for her life.

Some reviewers complain that this volume doesn't advance the romantic plot, but I believe it does, in that no matter what the protagonist does, it's a problem. That sense of helplessness and frustration is important to the overall plot as well as this sub-plot. Whether Collins can resolve this dilemma without resorting to too much convenient deus ex machina remains to be seen. The projected release date for volume 3 is August, 2010.

A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth

 
#376
Title: A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth
Author: Samantha Weinberg
Year: 2000
Publisher: HarperCollins
Country: Comoros (place-holder)
240 pages

Weinberg describes the discovery of the coelacanth (or perhaps the "discovery," since the fishing communities knew it was there even if scientists didn't). The story is engagingly told and contributes to the reader's understanding of the historical and political context of the fish as well as its natural history. An easy and interesting book. Some reviewers have notes some inaccuracies; I can't speak to this, so caveat emptor.

It's not clear how much time Weinberg spent in Comoros, so this will be my placeholder for that country until I read something else.