Tag Archives: Amy Cochran

On the shelf: ‘What is the What’ by Dave Eggers

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By Amy Cochran, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main Branch

 

Fact merges with fiction in this mesmerizing tale of a Lost Boy of Sudan. Valentino Achak Deng tells us in the preface that this is the “soulful account of his life,” of his flight from his destroyed village in Southern Sudan to years living in various refugee camps and eventual struggle to build a new life in the United States. The first-person voice and many of the events are based on Valentino’s personal experiences as told to Dave Eggers over a period of several years. Rather than helping Valentino pen a memoir, Eggers novelized his story, changing timelines and people slightly and adding dialogue while keeping many major events and feelings untouched.

 

Eggers presents Valentino’s story as if told silently to people he has encountered both past and present. The long and horrifying trek as a young boy from his shattered village of Murial Bai to the Pinyudo and Kakuma refugee camps is interspersed with Valentino’s more recent difficulty in adapting to life in America. As Valentino grows up, he goes to school while narrowly escaping being recruited as a boy soldier into the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army. He also relates several thrilling romantic experiences that would have been impossible in the stricter social structure of his village, contrasting these with the more sobering reality of living for years in a location designed to be merely a temporary home.

 

Once Valentino arrives in the United States, he and the other Lost Boys find the transition more difficult than they ever imagined. Minimum wage jobs, high rent, and unfamiliarity with basic elements of modernized life such as thermostats and refrigerators combine to make Valentino’s dream of getting into college seem like an impossible goal.

 

I found myself constantly wondering which aspects of the story actually happened to Valentino alone, rather than being pulled from the stories of other Lost Boys. Such is the power of Valentino’s story and Egger’s writing talent that, in spite of the fictionalizing aspect, Valentino’s voice still rings perfectly true and authentic. This book is an intense and eye-opening journey into the Sudanese refugee experience through the eyes of a man who keeps his faith in future stability and happiness despite obstacles at every turn.

On the shelf: ‘When Evil Came to Good Hart’ by Mardi Link

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By Amy Cochran, Grand Rapids Public Library, Seymour Branch

 

I’ve been reading many true crime and thrillers lately. One standout that I thoroughly enjoyed is Mardi Link’s thorough and sensitive exploration of a 1960s Michigan cold case that has never found firm resolution.

 

The little town of Good Hart in Northern Michigan was hit by tragedy in 1968 when the Robisons, a wealthy vacationing family from Detroit, were found murdered in their summer cottage. Nearly a month after the murders, the cottage caretaker Monnie Bliss responded to neighbor complaints about a bad smell and found all six of the Robisons, Dick and Shirley and their four children, shot to death and decaying in the cabin.

 

Link goes on to detail the unfolding investigation and how investigators ruled out the locals and turned their attention to Dick Robison, delving deep into his business dealings. Over the next few years, they followed multiple leads and created a case against Dick Robison’s employee Joe Scolaro, only to have the case fall apart due to lack of evidence placing Scolaro at the scene. Scolaro committed suicide a few years later, leaving a note behind that he had not killed the Robisons. The guns used were identified but ultimately never found, and many other leads went nowhere, such as mention of a mysterious Mr. Roeberts who was supposed to be financing a huge new deal for Dick Robison.

 

The details of the case are fascinating and all the more so since Link solidly grounds the narrative in the particular time and place. Investigation techniques and attitudes have changed considerably since the 1960s: for example, the mentally ill in the area were all considered suspects simply because of their disorders. Rules on crime scene preservation were very different as well: one of the responding deputies accidentally wiped any traces of evidence off of the only weapon still at the scene, a bloody hammer.

 

I found the sense of place to be particularly strong. Link sets the stage by describing Good Hart as a “northern coastal town of well-tended cottages, ancient trees, Native American legends and a clenched fist of locals” and devotes quite a bit of the narrative to the history of the town and the culture of its residents, including contemporary attitudes towards the murders. Link’s thoughtful treatment of this tragedy is not only a fascinating true crime narrative, but also serves as a window into a small northern Michigan community through the last four decades.

On the shelf: ‘The Shipping News’ by E. Annie Proulx

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By Amy Cochran, Grand Rapids Public Library, Seymour Branch

 

As the weather turns colder, I like to curl up with favorite reads of years past, especially books with settings that make me glad to be inside with a hot cup of tea. This year I turned yet again to The Shipping News and found myself as always completely immersed in the language and setting.

 

After losing his good-for-nothing wife to a car accident, Quoyle returns to his ancestral home in Newfoundland with his beloved daughters and an aunt finally ready to face her brutal upbringing.

 

This is the story of three generations of Quoyles working to climb out of past tragedy.  Proulx targets the bad choices people make in life as well as the choices that are forced upon them. Her prose style echoes the cold, tight-knit community that Quoyle settles into as she distills each sentence to its most essential message, as if relating a tale straight from the mouths of the village elders.

 

I enjoy watching Quoyle grow as a father and a man as he becomes a decent writer for the local paper, learns to love squidburgers and various types of bologna dinners and gradually surpasses his grief in order to look ahead to the future. I especially like the dark humor infused in every page, the horrifying stories melded with the amused resignation and jokes of the residents.

 

Quirky characters, a setting that sticks in the mind, and stark yet descriptive language make this a book I will continue to reread, probably during the winter, for years to come.

On the shelf: ‘Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell’ by Susanna Clarke

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By Amy Cochran, GRPL, Seymour Branch

 

Every time I read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark, I find myself completely immersed once more. Despite numerous efforts, I have yet to find another novel that so perfectly mixes the elements I especially love in a story: Jane Austen-style English manners, British history and subtle fantasy. 

 

In early nineteenth century England during Napoleon’s heyday as a major threat, two magicians work to bring magic back to the world. Quiet, mousy Mr. Norrell and his increasingly successful and confident apprentice, Jonathan Strange find themselves beset both by their own competitive natures and long-forgotten powers that have taken an interest in the mortal world once more. 

 

Clark took took ten years to research and write this huge, complex story, and the effort shows in every intricately laid-out detail. She has painstakingly created a Britain where magic has been intertwined in politics and life for centuries, and gives plenty of fascinating hints to the hidden world that lies behind our own.

 

There is a sly and witty sense of humor in descriptions of situations and characters, and extensive footnotes fill in what we need to know about this slightly different, magical Britain. I happen to love footnotes, especially fictionalized ones, plus I find it difficult to resist any book that makes me feel as if I’m in an ancient, snowy wood where anything could happen.

On the shelf: ‘Demon of the Air: An Aztec Mystery’ by Simon Levack

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By Amy Cochran, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main

 

When I viewed Apocalypto in the theatre, I was intrigued by the Mayan city and glimpses of a complicated society behind the bloody sacrifices, although I still was firmly on the side of Jaguar Paw and his people. In the spirit of learning more about a civilization that practiced blood sacrifice, and in search of a page-turning mystery, I picked up Demon of the Air: An Aztec Mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed the solid mystery but loved the way the author paints a vivid portrait of a complex and brutal society in the last years before it is swept away by European conquerors.

 

Rumors of men with pale skin have just started to reach Mexico/Tenochtitlan, making for an uneasy and paranoid environment among the elite of the great city. We first meet Yaotl, our dubious hero, in a tight spot. As an ex-priest and now a slave, his master has ordered him to escort a doomed man to the temple of the war-god for execution, but the erstwhile sacrifice breaks free and dives to his death over the side of the pyramid. Yaotl barely escapes when the priests would just as soon sacrifice him instead of a useless dead body.

 

As he returns to his master’s house, Yaotl is summoned to a meeting with Emperor Montezuma, who orders him to find several missing sorcerers or end up in prison himself.

 

In his search for the sorcerers, Yaotl must navigate through a society with an elaborate class structure based almost solely around prowess in battle and a belief in the importance of sacrifice and ritual eating. He is soon caught up in a power struggle between the emperor and Yaotl’s own master, an embittered old man who believes he should have been emperor instead of Montezuma.

 

Mysteries such as why the families of the missing sorcerers are being slaughtered and how Yaotl himself is connected to the underlying plot make for an interesting read. But I especially enjoyed the many details of life in the Aztec city, such as how hair length and style depends on your level in society, and how an auspicious date of birth determines your destiny. This is a fun mystery with insights into a lost culture.

 

On the shelf: ‘Sharp Objects’ by Gillian Flynn

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By Amy Cochran, GRPL-Seymour Branch

Gillian Flynn’s disturbing and enthralling first novel delves into the dark heart of a small town and the complex relationship between a mother and her daughters. Camille hasn’t been back home in eight years and is eking out a meager existence as a reporter for Chicago’s fourth-largest paper. In search of a prize-winning scoop, Camille’s editor persuades her to return to her southern Missouri hometown and search out the connections between the murder of a girl the year before and the recent disappearance of another little girl. It’s not long before the missing girl is found dead in a manner strikingly similar to the first death, meaning there is a serial killer in the town.

Busy searching for leads, Camille delays going home as long as possible, but finally shows up on her mother’s doorstep, where she is given a half-hearted and vague welcome. She clumsily attempts to get to know her teenage half-sister Amma and becomes messily involved with the detective handling the investigation.

In one sense, the novel is a mystery, as the search for the girls’ killer provides the framework for everything that happens to Camille. But it is also a story of why certain families’ wounds never heal. Flynn only gradually unveils why it is so hard for Camille to go home and why she has chosen to live far away from her mother. There are hints early on that she is damaged—for example, she can only take baths because the shower spray gets her skin to buzzing and she has a specific coping mechanism that she keeps a secret. But the longer Camille stays in Wind Gap, the more her hard-won emotional distance slips away and she finds herself more involved with her family than she had planned.

Sharp Objects is appropriately named. It is not a comfortable book to read, but the sharp edges in both the characters and the setting add to the power of the novel. Flynn’s portrayal of Wind Gap is nicely full of details that highlight the setting of a small Missouri town and she paces out the revelations perfectly for a sense of suspense. This is a mystery that got under my skin and even missing a traditional happy ending has nonetheless stuck with me as one of the more thought-provoking reading experiences I’ve had this year.

Next, I’ll be checking out Flynn’s second novel, Dark Places, which also deals with past tragedies and the often bizarre interior world of families.

On the shelf: ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ by Joe Hill

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By Amy Cochran, Grand Rapids Main Library

It’s been a long time since I was genuinely spooked by a ghost story, but only a few chapters into Heart-Shaped Box, I actually had to set the book down and take a short break. Hill’s first novel is a doozy, a ghostly revenge story that is highly effective in the chills and thrills department, with a bit of gore and some flawed but sympathetic characters thrown in.

It’s been years since two of Jude Coyne’s band mates died and he retired from a highly successful career as a death-metal singer and role model to Goths everywhere (think Alice Cooper and biting the heads off rats). Now he lives with his two devoted dogs, personal assistant, and an ever-changing procession of much younger female companions that he flippantly refers to by the state they are from.

Jude’s a collector of the macabre, and he is bored enough that he jumps at the chance to buy a supposedly haunted suit off an Internet auction. When the suit arrives in a heart-shaped box, he figures he’s been conned and doesn’t think any more about it until strange things start happening in the house. Current girlfriend Georgia (her real name is Marybeth) finds the suit on the bed next to her, smelling of decay, and Jude begins to catch glimpses of an old man with a swinging silver razor and a mysterious purpose.

I won’t give away any more of the plot, since half the fun comes in the discovery of how Jude’s past has literally come back to haunt him. Forced to confront his childhood, 54-year-old Jude finally starts to grow up, and his relationship with his girlfriend undergoes a just touching enough turn as a result of their ordeal. Jude’s dogs stay loyal to the very end (Warning to sensitive pet-lovers: keep away if you can’t take bad things happening to animals).

Hill is the son of Stephen King, a fact he kept hidden until just before the book was released, and he has inherited King’s gift for tweaking traditional horror elements into a narrative that is impossible to put down. This book is an excellent non-stop thriller that makes the traditional ghost story scary again.

 

On the shelf: ‘The Magic Room …’ by Jeffrey Zaslow

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By Amy Cochran, GRPL Seymour Branch

The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for our Daughters is a story of eight different brides and how they came to be looking for their dresses at Becker’s Bridal, a shop in Fowler, Michigan, that has been open since 1934.

I enjoyed reading about how Grandma Eva added a few wedding dresses to her in-laws’ general store and over the years slowly transformed the store into a bridal shop. As Eva passed the business to her son and daughter-in-law, and they passed it on to their daughter and granddaughter, every generation of owner has had to keep up with changing trends and buying patterns of brides and their families. They have also struggled with the price of pouring their hearts and time into keeping the family business alive and prosperous.

Zaslow intersperses the story of the shop with tales of brides whose journeys to marriage are not easy. There is the young woman who is in a debilitating car accident a week after getting engaged. There is the woman who lost her mother several years before and leans on her grandmother for comfort. And the woman who lost her first beloved husband to a heart attack and has now found a new man to share her life with, much to the dismay of her four daughters.

And the magic room? An old bank vault that current owner Shelley Becker-Mueller has turned into a softly-lit viewing paradise for finding the perfect dress.

This is an inspiring and interesting read with local flavor, since several of the brides are from Grand Rapids. The details Zaslow relates about specific relationships between mothers and daughters and fathers and family are truly heartwarming. And there is extra poignancy in the fact that the author, who talks about his own daughters and his hopes for them throughout the book, was lost in a tragic car accident just this past winter.

On the shelf: ‘The Forever War’ by Dexter Filkins

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By Amy Cochran

Grand Rapids Public Library, Seymour Branch

 

The prologue sets us down in a Falluja street in 2004 with an invading Marine unit. All is chaos, Marines are falling, snipers are everywhere and it isn’t clear who is enemy or friend until they start shooting. New York Times correspondent Dexter Filkins doesn’t pull any punches in his book The Forever War, an extraordinarily haunting account of his experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq. He highlights what a mad mess everything was—from the rise of the Taliban in 1998 to the deterioration of Iraq into civil war in less than three years.

 

Filkins has written a collection of in-the-moment vignettes loosely organized by date. From a story on the Taliban court of justice to an exploration of the history of torture and murder in Iraq, he profiles an astonishing number of individuals and situations that illuminate the bigger picture of war in the region. In Iraq in particular, we meet individuals who try to hold back chaos, but fail over and over again when up against their neighbors’ overwhelming urge for revenge of past wrongs. These stories effectively demonstrate how the euphoric early days after the fall of Saddam Hussein could deteriorate into widespread violence and divisiveness.

 

Filkins leaves political views and history lessons out of his narrative and lets the situations speak for themselves. The personal Iraqi and American experiences are by turns horrifying and hopeful. Give yourself plenty of time to read this powerful book, to ponder and digest and recuperate before moving to the next chapter.