Beartown

Beartown by Fredrik Backman     418 pages

The saga of a small town and the ripples that one action causes all unfold from the various viewpoints of the grownups and children in Beartown.

This is a deep story, iceberg deep. On the surface is the story of the Beartown hockey team. Below it are all the different stories, complex and intricately told, of the people and children who make up the town and the team. Watching the different story lines unfold is one of the beauties of Backman's writing. Every character has their own voice, their dreams and their fears, and together, each voice paints a picture of the town. It's sad and it's bleak, it's hopeful and it's full of love. 

If you're into realistic fiction, especially of the small-town variety, this book is for you. Even if you don't appreciate or know anything about hockey, Backman draws you in, because this is not just about a hockey town, it's about the people that make up this hockey town. I found it infinitely frustrating, yet valuable, to read each character's reactions to/handling of rape, from the parents on down to the children. It will break your heart, but in the end, it's important because this story is build on empathy. 

The writing is beautiful, heartbreaking, and so well done. Though it was painful to get through in some parts, in the end, I feel it was worth the struggle. I highly recommend it. I listened to the audiobook of this story, which was very well done, and I'd recommend it, too.

Human Acts

Human Acts by Han Kang      218 pages

In the midst of a violent student uprising in South Korea, a young boy named Dong-ho is shockingly killed.

This story is told through six perspectives, with the writer's perspective at the very end in an epilogue. It begins with Dong-Ho and it ends with his mother, but each individual person is some how tied to Dong-Ho. The story focuses on the rise of Chun Doo-Hwan as South Korea's leader, who instated martial law and ruled as a dictator. Dong-Ho and each of the people in this story all were involved in the student demonstrations in Gwangju - it became known as the Gwangju Uprising and it led to a brutal crackdown from the military under the guise of a Communist plot sparked by North Korean spies. This led to the violent killing, torture, and wounding of Korean citizens, some who - like Dong-Ho, were merely high-schoolers. 

With this book, Kang wanted to show the many layers of this uprising, from the work and dedication of innocent children to the abuse and torture suffered by others, to the mourning of parents, all of which were in violation of human rights. Kang's main focus is to showcase humanity - how each person handle's the stripping of humanity or rises above it. The book is also in memory of the young boy who's country did not allow him to grow into an adult, who took his life needlessly and brutally. It was a very sad story, but it really resonated with me. 

Alice in the Country of Hearts

Alice in the Country of Hearts Volumes 1-6 by QuinRose, 1142 pages (6 books)

Alice in the Country of Hearts is a manga loosely based on Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. In QuinRose’s version Alice is abducted by Peter White, who has bunny ears and can turn into a rabbit, and is brought to Wonderland or more specifically the Country of Hearts. The Country of Hearts is split into three warring factions; the Queen of Hearts named Vivaldi, the Hatters who are led by Blood Dupre or The Hatter, and finally the Amusement Park run by the Duke Mary Gowland. At the center of these three factions is the Clock Tower. It is there that Alice comes to reside while she figures out how to get back home.

I suppose this manga would fall under the harem qualification as Alice is basically the only woman and most of the men pine for her affections. Besides harem, I would also add in action and romance.

Alice in the Country of Hearts was well worth the read. The characters were believable, especially considering that this takes place in Wonderland, and were quite well fleshed out. By the end I only had one complaint, it ended too soon.

What Did You Eat Yesterday? vol. 1

What Did You Eat Yesterday?, vol. 1, by Fumi Yoshinaga, 200 pages

This is a mash-up of three types of manga that I thought worked really well together- slice-of-life, gay romance, and food.  Combining those three distinct genres made for a really subtle work that didn't feel like any specific one of the genres.  Shiro and Kenji appear to be pretty different- Shiro is a hard-working, serious, closeted lawyer, while Kenji is a fun-loving, openly gay hairstylist.  But what matters the most is that Shiro loves to cook elaborate, thoughtful Japanese dishes and Kenji loves to eat them.  The story here is not much of anything, being a slice-of-life, but there are recipes throughout that sound delicious and it offers a sort of fascinating glimpse into a section of contemporary Japanese culture.

Exquisite Corpse

Exquisite Corpse, by Penelope Bagieu, translated by Alexis Siegel, 124 pages

Zoe is a rather directionless young woman- working at a job she hates and living with a boyfriend who she similarly despises, all the while thinking that there must be more to life.  When she meets Thomas, a reclusive oddball who lets her crash in his life, she thinks that things are turning around.  But Thomas has his secrets, and Zoe has to learn that the most important relationship is the one that we have with ourselves. 

Descriptions of this (and I'll admit- the artwork) made me think that this would be a cutesy little romantic graphic novel; and while there are cute elements, overall, the story is a little darker and a little more adult than it appears.  There is some really thought-provoking stuff in here about relationships that I am glad exists.

Princess Mermaid

Princess Mermaid, by Junko Mizuno, 144 pages

In the absolute loosest of terms, this is a re-telling of "The Little Mermaid" story.  In less loose terms, it is about a group of mermaids who seek vengeance on humans for having murdered their mother by opening an underwater brothel where they sleep with men in order to have future mermaid babies and then eat the men for sustenance.  Until one of them begins to doubt if this is the best course, and meets a human man and... well, you get the idea.  But however you think a story like that ends, you're wrong.  Like Cinderalla before, this is one of those fairly bizarre, very adult works of graphic fiction where I wasn't totally sure where the story was going or where I was when it got there, but the art is pretty and it was so different that I think I liked it.

Cinderalla

Cinderalla, by Junko Mizuno, 144 pages

Okay, this is a super-adult, super-weird, kind of grotesque, wait- really grotesque, loose re-telling of the Cinderella story.  Cinderalla runs a yakitori restaurant with her dad, who dies, but becomes a zombie, as the dead do.  He falls in love with a fellow zombie who also has two zombie daughters.  Cinderalla is soon constantly making pancakes for her new zombie stepmother, making bras for one of her step-sisters and keeping the other from performing lap-dances on customers (note: see the first sentence).  Also, everything is drawn in a very cute manner, but belies the fact that it's pretty darn gross most of the time.  And despite all of that... I found this utterly fascinating.  Also, kind of humorous if you can get past the gross and weird and unsettling.  A pretty fascinating read on a fairytale retold in a very unique manner.

Blacksad: Amarillo

Blacksad: Amarillo (Blacksad #5), by Juan Diaz Canales, ill Juanjo Guarnido

Everyone's favorite cat-man-detective Blacksad is back on the case.  This time, he's got a sweet gig driving a beautiful car across the country- so maybe his never-ending bad luck has ended?  Oh, you sweet, wrong individual- of course not.  First the car gets stolen and then the hijinks turn, as they always do, in the direction of murder. 

As usual, the illustrations are really well-done, the story is bittersweet, and you will be VERY interested to see who the translator was (hint: she works here! and is super talented!)