Review 409: Chang and Eng

Chang and Eng by Darin Strauss
My rating: 1.5 of 5 stars



This book was truly bad in so many ways. Not sure why I was so compelled to finish.

to explain myself a little: I finished this in June while travelling. I wasn't going to finish this book, but when my trip came up I wanted a book I could leave behind and not care, so I went ahead and finished this. What can I say, the author did a horrible job at writing this historical biographical story. This book was truly bad in so many ways. I got the book in March 2001, when I was in one of those book clubs that send you the book if you don't respond. For many years I thought this was a true story, a biography about the real conjoined twins, but no, this is a fictional one and poorly done at that. 

Edit (Feb.2024)

Whenever I come across this title I just cringe...it truly has been one of the worse reads in a while...although it not alone, unfortunately.

Review 408: Waypoints

Waypoints: My Scottish Journey by Sam Heughan
My rating: 2.5-->3 of 5 stars

This is an autobiography from an actor, which is not a typical read for me, but it looked like here it was about walking the West Highland Way in Scotland. That sounded interesting! Nature, hiking and Scotland which I plan on visiting later this year, all is interesting.

While that is the frame of the book, the bulk turns out to be about his acting life, which I didn't have much interest (despite being a fan of the tv series Outlander. I just don't fan over actors/actresses/sports figures/etc. maybe a few authors...) Anyway, there were many generic statements, particularly about the long hike, that made me disappointed in this book.

I ended up rounding up to the three stars, due to the humor, which added immensely to my enjoyment and had me getting through the book instead of setting aside. Also there was bonus material in the audio (I checked with an eBook). This was mainly Heughan speaking at the end of the each day during his hike into his phone, with that minute or two added to the chapter. We hear the rain, his hard breathing if still hiking the last bit before the finishing up for the day, the wind, etc. These were the most real part of the entire book.

Review 407: The Employees

The Employees by Olga Ravn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This short novella is heavy with ideas. It is a series of responses by employees, workers on the Six Thousand Ship. As we quickly find out, some are human, and others are humanoid. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.

I found it interesting that each response is numbered, but not necessarily in order, yet generally moves forward. It makes me wonder about what is missing from the record.

It’s a fascinating book. Short enough to read in a day.

Review 406: Them

Them by Joyce Carol Oates
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The setting is Detroit covering three decades from 1937-1967. Well, it starts in a unnamed town, moves to the county ending in Detroit with the riots.

The book is centered on a family that is poor, that has tragedy at every turn. Not always from drinking, but there is that too. Loretta’s dad is an alcoholic, but she doesn’t blame him. The Depression is what caused it, he lost his job and lost himself. At age 16 Loretta takes up with a guy, a boyfriend and loses her virginity, that night she awakes suddenly, and found him shot dead by her brother Brock.

In trying to fix this situation she runs into someone she knows from the neighborhood, happens to be a policeman but not on duty. He fixes it and takes her as a bride. They have three children, the first two, Jules and Maureen, who become the main characters of the book.

The writing is mostly exposition, not a lot of dialogue. The inner thoughts of these people are repetitive and somewhat hard to grasp at times. They seem to not think clearly but are smart, they don’t understand love or many feelings. They often are outside of themselves, it is all strange.
None of the characters are likable, their behavior unpredictable. Jules starts out as one destined to always be in trouble with the law. Maureen maybe unstable, being crazy is brought up a lot. Not just with her, it started with Loretta’s mother. People come in and out of their lives.

The language and mores of the book don’t fit with the times of today. It is a bit shocking at moments, but it’s a 50 year old book. It isn’t a pleasant book by any means, yet you want to find out what will happen to these people. I’m not sure I’m satisfied, there’s shifts in the book and the afterward the biggest shocker in my approach to the whole work.

The author’s note at the beginning frames this book as a semi-fictional book, taken from the life of a student she had one semester. The woman felt compelled to tell Oates her life story and this book is the result. Well, this too is a fiction, but I didn’t know that while reading and thinking about the book.

This was the first book by Joyce Carol Oates I’ve read, perhaps not the best place to start. I’m interested in other books of this "Wonderland" quartet, although all older and perhaps her later books are more enjoyable?

Review 405: Factory Girls

Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book takes place in Ireland, the summer of 1994, during the time of the troubles. The Protestants and Catholics do not mix, instead they bomb each other.

Maeve and her two friends get a job for the summer at a shirt factory while awaiting their exam results. Getting good marks means they can leave this small town, go across the water to university.

The shirt factory is unusual as both groups work side by side. Maeve had never been around ‘Prods’ before and finds they are just like them. However, with so many killings between them, it’s hard to know how they can truly be desegregated.

Several times in the book we get Maeve’s memories, of her first riot, bombings she’s been near, or heard about nearby. It is something that is personal in everyone’s lives. Now, there are boyfriends, possibly, the manager of the factory, and saving money while waiting for those results. Yet, the job is the center of the book.

Maeve and Caroline get an apartment together, right across the way from the factory gates. The three’s friendships change during this summer, an end of an era for them.

Maeve is a brave, outspoken girl, she is a strong character born out of the bomb debris. The book feels a bit course at times, which fits the time, location and the character.

A strong book with a bit of humor to it as well.