Termination Shock (2021) by Neal Stephenson

Book Review

Termination Shock (2021)

by Neal Stephenson

   Always excited by a new Neal Stephenson novel.  I've dipped in and out of Stephenson's oeuvre over the decades.  Certainly read Snowcrash (1992) in paperback close to when it came out.  Cryptonomicon (1999) is part of the 1001 Books project.  I read Fall; or Dodge in Hell (2019) just because it sounded interesting, and it was, though also a mess.  And the rest of it- the apps- the collaborations, the three volume Baroque Cycle- I've skipped.  Termination Shock is another conventional novel- maybe he is finally settling down in that regard.  It is a barely science fictional plot about a crazy Texan who decides to fix global warming by himself by shooting sulfur into the air using a huge cannon he has built on his ranch in west Texas.  The very Stephensonian case of characters includes Red, a part-Comanche, part-African American ex-military, former farmer, current feral hog klling specialist, Saskia, the Queen of the Netherlands, Wilhelm, her part-Papuan all gay protocol assistant and Big Fish a Canadian-Sikh twenty something who travels to the Punjab to rediscover his identity only to find himself wound up in a Neal Stephenson plot.

   It should go without saying that there is plenty of exposition by the various characters, making parts of Termination Shock read like a New Yorker article.  The central conceit, that a crazy Texas billionaire could single handedly try to counter global warming by starting up an enormous sulfur cannon seemed so plausible to me that it barely required the suspension of disbelief I commonly associated with science fiction genre work.  Rather it is the behavior of the characters, who often seem like marionettes in a puppet show, where suspension of disbelief is required.   Regardless of weaknesses in the character development, I tore through Termination Shock- couldn't listen to the 27 hour Audiobook fast enough. which should tell you I loved it.  

The Morning Star (2020) by Karl Ove Knausgaard

Book Review

The Morning Star (2020)

by Karl Ove Knausgaard

   There are two major camps when it comes to Norwegian author and international auto-fiction sensation Karl Ove Knausgaard:  Those who have read one or more of his books, probably from the My Struggle cycle of six books, and love him and those who have HEARD of him and read ABOUT him and find him totally insufferable.  The number of people who have actually read one of his books AND find him totally insufferable seems to be pretty small.  Draw from that observation what you will, but I am with the the first group.  I LOVED My Struggle- all of it- even the last book with the 200 page essay about Hitler.  

    So I am very excited about The Morning Star, the first volume in what seems to be a multi-volume series modeled after, and I know this sounds strange, the works of Stephen King.  There's no reason that Knausgaard would be naive about the potential international sales appeal of his books and The Morning Star, which combines Knausgaard's characteristic grousing about the minutiae of day-to-day existence in contemporary Norway and Sweden with the possibility of the imminent arrival of some kind of supernatural demon, does indeed accomplish its goal:  Expand the international audience for Karl Ove Knausgaard.   Ironically, it seems like more of a critical success than a popular one. 

  Maybe the second volume, which seems to promise the kind of well described literary bloody mayhem you might associate with American Psycho, will generate the sparks necessary to elevate the popular profile of both books, but I, like other readers, was struck by just how little actually happened in The Morning Star.  I mean I did love every page, but still.

Intimacies (2021) by Katie Kitamura

American author Katie Kitamura

Book Review

Intimacies (2021)

by Katie Kitamura

  Intimacies by American author Katie Kitamura netted a National Book Award Longlist nomination this year.   It's a novel about a woman who was taken a year long contract to work as a French interpreter at the War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague, Netherlands.  While there she experiences the vicissitudes of interpreting for defendants accused of War Crimes (it's draining!) and has an ambivalent relationship with a separated but still married Dutch guy.

   My main attraction to Intimacies were the chapters dealing with the work of being a court interpreter at a court handling war crimes, probably the heaviest duty type of crime you could possibly work as a court interpreter.  In my work in Federal Court, I deal with court interpreters every day and  I know that they are incredibly proficient in what they do but that they have their own perspective, different than that of prosecutors, defense attorneys, court staff and security staff.  No one ever asks what an interpreter thinks about what they are interpreting, but surely they must have interesting thoughts.

  In that sense, I found Intimacies incredibly interesting, in the depiction of the Americanish expatriate translator and her Dutch boyfriend, less so, but overall it was an interesting listen, clearly deserving of the longlist nom.   Did you know she is married to Hari Kunzu?  Isn't that crazy.  If anyone reading this has read both Kitamura and Kunzu, they will get how crazy that it.  What fun they must be at dinner parties.