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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Customer Comments
Eddie Presley has commented on (3) products
The Bone Clocks
by
Mitchell, David
Eddie Presley
, October 23, 2014
David Mitchell creates another puzzlebox of a book that is a literary feast. Each section focuses on different characters at different times that connect to an over arching storyline. Each section is compelling and each first person protagonist engaging. You read this wanting to know who these people are and how they fit together. It's a linearly progressing story so you aren't lost across time and it's heroine shows up in each section so you are never totally out at sea, lost as to what's going on. This is by far the best book of the year from the level of writing, to the concept and execution. I would love to see him tackle a truly genre type book next. Amazing stuff.
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The Great Glass Sea
by
Weil, Josh
Eddie Presley
, September 06, 2014
This is a literary feast of ideas. I'm not sure it all works as well as the buzz and hype would lead one to believe. The writing is sumptuous and definitely thought out, but that may be the problem. It is, in places, over written instead of being 'poetically written' which is I'm sure what Weil was going for. You almost feel the author winking at you. After a chapters worth of that style of writing, the reader reflects back to find that the bulk of what he just read - particularly through the first 200 pages - is nothing but lavishly written side bars and flashbacks. In a literary work, I understand its not important to be constantly pressing forward with the action and plot, but often it feels like the author is just writing his heart out trying to find a voice. Now, the story itself is not a bad one and when Weil deals specifically, directly in the present with the twin brothers and the drama of their lives it is most compelling. The idea of creating a constant daytime, a greenhouse over a land that doesn't have to stop growing and the great sea of glass that has to be built to make it happen, is a good idea. The idea of two brothers losing their connection to each other due to the politics and the changing culture of the time is also a good story. The snippets of direct interaction and plot can be so brief though that I found myself skipping a head to the next sign of "...dialogue..." because I wanted more of it - I wanted to see what was happening with this monstrosity they were creating and how it was affecting the brothers lives and the communities lives. There is a strong story here yearning to crest over the tide of wordplay. There is a good story here perhaps in spite of the wordplay. In fact, this story, in my opinion, would make a wonderful stylistically crafted animated film. The other thought I had when reading it was if you took one of the early chapters and set it on its own as a short story, it would be brilliant. It would say everything I think the author was looking to say and the wordplay and characters would be far more impactful in fewer words and it would leave more to swirl in the readers imagination. The Great Glass Sea is an author finding his way. I looked forward to the next one to see how far he's come in that journey.
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California
by
Edan Lepucki
Eddie Presley
, July 21, 2014
The hype for this book is remarkable and so it was with a bit of anticipation that I ordered it. It is a debut novel and it very much reads like one. It doesn't have its own vocabulary and as a writer we don't know Lepucki's. It is touted as a literary / dystopian / survivalist / end of the world type of novel and it is trying to be one with all its might. It does not have the depth of character development to make it a character study and it is not adept enough with words to make it a literary novel that just happens to be about surviving as the world unfurls. It's not bad either - in fact, it was engrossing enough that I pulled through to the end and wanted to find out what was happening. I'm even interested enough to see what her next book will be, but it isn't a revelatory reading by any stretch. The genre does need a literary voice, a female voice to rise up alongside Cormac McCarthy's The Road which, in literary terms has said everything this book has to say along with what the 100 other titles in this genre had to say. The biggest issue is that nothing happens. In character study literary works, this is isn't a big issue, but the shallow depth here means we are focused in on the "mystery" of the Land and what's happening... and nothing happens. There's no twist, no reveal, no overcoming, no deaths, no wresting control... it just ends the way we knew it was going to end. As soon as it's pointed out there are no children, the reader automatically jumps to the logical conclusions of what happened to them and unfortunately... we are right. At that point, it's just waiting for it to be over. The other HUGE HUGE con of the book is the crutch and overuse of drawing room drama and soap opera cliches of no one being able to give a straight answer. It's always, 'I could tell you, but I'm not going to...' for any of a dozen reasons. It happens so often that it's almost a deal breaker for continued reading. People do not act that way; and eventually what happens is the other dreaded cliche of huge monologues from characters info dumping 'the shocking information'... which isn't too shocking because we already guessed it. Also, the villain of the piece isn't a villain. He's doing what he has to do and these peoples lives are better for it... in its weird logic of the story world. As in the Deadwood HBO series and the brothel owner being the defacto government of Deadwood. He is a rough character, but he is hardly a villain. It's just how things worked and peoples lives there were better for it. So, in the end a good read, a summer read for sure, and that's not a horrible thing.
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