The inspiration provided by this year's amazing slate of novels, the great support and participation of The King's English has almost been enough to keep our little tourney moving at a regular pace.
Almost.
As life would have it, work and family and fundraising and numerous other obligations have kept the tournament from clipping along at the pace we might have hoped for back in February. Or even March or April, for that matter. So here we are again in May, lurching toward a conclusion and pleading for those of you who may have been following along but have not donated to Book Wagon yet to do so now with big hearts and open wallets.
There are few certainties in life, particularly these days. But one is that the Ides of March Madness Charity Book Reading Tournament will go slowly, lasting well past anything even remotely resembling March or the middle thereof. Anyone who followed last year (thanks, mom) would know that we are still well ahead of our inaugural pace.
Another, more important fact is that in these economically challenging times, kids need books more than ever. Reading and literacy can open the door to a lifetime of learning and education, and education is--in our not-so-humble opinion--the greatest weapon against social and class warfare, racism, ignorance, intolerance, and not knowing which is the men's bathroom and which is the women's.
A fair number of you have donated, and we have passed the $1,000 in support of this proposition. We ask you who have not, now, to consider one more time that the opportunity you might provide a child with one $20 donation. Plus, the field has narrowed considerably and you have a greater chance than ever of correctly guessing the tournament outcome and thereby winning a load of really, really good books.
Enough, then, of the sermonizing. On to the first review and decision from the quarterfinals. If ever there might be a scandal here, Jenn Northington dishes it up below. Read on.
Quarterfinal Match One: 2666 (Bolaño, 7/2 odds) vs Telex from Cuba (Kushner, 7/2 odds)
Reading Judge: Jenn Northington
Review and Match Decision:
2666: I read somewhere (of course I can't remember where) that while 2666 is an incredible book, it's a bad novel -- and I have to agree. Bolano was brilliant, that much is clear from page one. As I settled into 2666, I periodically stopped to marvel over sentences or characterizations and wondered to myself what reading the original would be like. His characters are intriguing, an indefinable sense of menace permeates the plot from the start, and his deep grasp of culture and politics inform every sentence -- every sentence in a 900 page book. The inexplicable murder of hundreds of women in the Sonoran desert is, purportedly, the main focus of the novel. However, I found myself far more interested in the book's opening characters, a set of sexually frustrated professors revolving around their one female counterpart, and their quest to find the enigmatic, mysterious, and possibly very tall writer they idolize. As culturally rich and creepifying as the passages in Mexico were, I found myself drifting off and wondering about the sub-plot until eventually I realized that, although I had turned many pages, I couldn't quite remember what had happened in them. I hang my head in shame as a judge to confess that I did not get all the way through. I tried, I really did, to finish it, I absolutely wanted to find out what happened at the end. But when push came to shove, the journey to find out was just too labyrinthine. For me, this was a case of "too many cooks" -- too much going on, for too long, without enough cohesion to hold it all together.
Telex from Cuba: This is a first novel, and I could tell. I mentioned in my earlier review that Kushner presents a huge variety of narrators, with an incredible range of perspectives. For the most part she pulls it off with grace and aplomb, but (especially in the children's passages) there is some unevenness of voice, a hesitation of dialogue or a stilted exchange. However, that unevenness is negligible to begin with, and when you consider the scope of Telex and what it accomplishes, it dwindles to nothing. Kushner presents an incredibly rich view of 1950s Cuba, without demonizing or idolizing the players on either side of the political and economic tumult -- something most novelists and even historians are notoriously unable to do. As the best writers can do, Cuba becomes a character of its own, a strong one replete with sensory details. Plus, it would make a stunning movie. I can see it now -- Fernando Meirelles directing, with Ray Fiennes as the ex-Waffen arms dealer and Michelle Rodriguez as the Club Tokio prostitute, Elle Fanning and whoever the new Haley Joel Osment is as the American children... Hollywood, take note! Telex from Cuba gets the highest praise I can bestow on a book: it made me want to read more.
WINNER: TELEX FROM CUBA
