Welcome to Hell

Welcome to Hell by "Bad" Billy Pratt, 178 pages

Repeatedly, in the collection of blog posts that make up Welcome to Hell, author Billy Pratt earnestly declares the mission of the writer to be the arduous distillation of truth from experience.  Given such a seemingly grandiose conception of his vocation, the reader might expect a diatribe against contemporary illusions and delusions.  Whether attracted or repelled by that prospect, what he will find if he dares to open the book is a series of vignettes, some funny, some poignant, some simply depressing, most of them defying cheap moralizing and instead inviting understanding.  What emerges is a portrait of Hell, a realm of aging adolescent consumers searching ever more desperately for validation or just the next dopamine fix, having already pawned their youth and healthy relationships.

An obvious trap for a collection of this kind is for the entries to become numbingly repetitive, but Pratt's descriptive approach avoids this entirely.  At the same time, the strong thematic unity and the unmistakable voice of the author keeps it from feeling disjointed.  The whole reads less like a haphazard bunch of essays than a carefully constructed novel in the tradition of Zola, albeit one holding up a mirror to a very different world.

Lemon

“Lemon” by Kwon Yeo-sun; translated from the Korean by Janet Hong 168 pages

During the summer of 2002, eighteen-year-old Kim Hae-on was murdered. Although the police investigated and had two notable suspects, the cases quickly grew cold.

Cold that is for the police, but for Hae-on’s family and friends, the case burned white hot. Her sister, Da-on has been traumatized by the event and is unable to move past it. Seventeen years later, Da-on and two of Hae-on’s friends, who were also deeply affected, decide to conduct their own investigation.

This short novel moves between Da-on and the two classmate as narrators, but it is almost impossible to determine who is speaking. You can imagine how confusing this was to read! Still I was able to piece it together through the chapter titles. I think.

This is a crime novel which is unlike any other crime novel I have ever read. “But identifying the perpetrator is not the main objective here: Kwon Yeo-sun uses this well-worn form to craft a searing, timely exploration of privilege, jealousy, trauma, and how we live with the wrongs we have endured and inflicted in turn.”

Sometime I felt as if I had read this book twice by the time I was finished with it because I had to read most chapters twice to really understand what was happening. I was intrigued with the format.

However, by the end, I’m not sure if the killer was named, and if it was, who it was.  Therefore, “Lemon” receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

The Sleepwalker

The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian  304 pages

In his twentieth novel, mega-bestseller Chris Bohjalian weaves his most suspenseful not yet (and heck, I didn’t think he’d be able to surpass his previous novel, The Guest Room). This time he tackles the subject of parasomnia, a sleep disorder category that happens between dreaming and waking. I’m always amazed at the topics Bohjalian chooses for his novels. Get ready to stay up way past your bedtime as you won’t want to put this one down.

It’s the fall of 2000. That time frame is established in Chapter One’s opening paragraph is one of the most beautiful he has ever written…and I have ever read.

When Lianna Ahlberg and her sister, Paige, awake that morning, their mother Annalee has disappeared without a trace. Immediately the girls know what has happened. Their father is out of town at a poetry conference and Annalee has parasomnia. They search their home (Bohajalian always refers to it as “the red Victorian”---I loved that) and their neighborhood with no luck. They even head down to the river where years earlier Lianna saved her mother from falling off the Gale River bridge.

A search party combs the nearby woods and the girls’ father, Warren, hurries home. No luck. Liana blames herself; she knows that her mother sleepwalks when her father isn’t home, but she was sure she’d hear her if she had gotten out of bed. Although the police find a scrap of clothing, the search is called off when a body, alive or dead, cannot be located.

One of the subplots develops when the lead detective has a more-than-healthy obsession with the case. Gavin Rikert has a connection with Annalee and is now attracted to Lianna.

I wasn’t quite sure how much time passed in the novel, but that is the only drawback I can make. I do have to talk about the brief, brief passages that occur before the start of a new chapter. While the novel is narrated by Lianna, I was never clear who was narrating these passages. This added to the mystery and suspense, and it came as quite a shock (in a good way) when readers discover who is behind the voice.

The Sleepwalker receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.