Susanna and the Spy

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www.barnesandnoble.com

Susanna and the Spy
Anna Elliot
2011

The Summary

Susanna Ward, a young governess who finds herself near penniless and bereft of any occupation, has recently learned of the death of her estranged grandfather - a death which, she discovers, was no accident.

On her return to Rutherford Hall, her grandfather's estate, to speak with her distant relatives, however, a man stumbles into her bedroom apartment at night.  Known as Captain Clark, he is a smuggler, a fraud, and a potential traitor to the crown of England - and he has all the trappings to turn Susanna's life upside-down.

The Good

Anna Elliott's novel is both fun and entertaining.  Delightfully adventurous and enjoyably romantic, Susanna and the Spy can capture and keep your attention with its swashbuckling nature and riveting tale.

Besides its enjoyable story, Elliott's book is well-written and splendidly attractive for its clean-cut plot, its clearly depicted characters, and its suspenseful story design.  In some ways, it reads like a good detective novel, providing twists and turns you might never see coming and offering a strangely satisfying conclusion.

The Bad

Susanna and the Spy does take some considerable time to build-up to the aforementioned satisfying conclusion, but, as that appears to be the point, it isn't inappropriately paced or excruciatingly difficult to endure the occasional tangent or random anecdote.

Some of the characters, like Caroline or Sophia, however, sometime seem like mere caricatures of a particular stereotype.  Annoying, and sometimes distressingly oblivious or vindictive, they are people who don't necessarily detract from the overall story, but merely make the world in which they exist a more dangerous or brutal place.

The Ugly

Admittedly, there is a bit of espionage and murder involved.

After all, it's not all fun games for Susanna and Captain Clark.  They both face the very real threat of being hanged for treason - or simply shot by the local police.

Bonus: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot

T.S. Eliot
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www.nytimes.com

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
T.S. Eliot
1915

The Summary
A poem about growing old and growing gray - and all the strange and unfortunate flaws that come with it.

The Good
I found T.S. Eliot's poem particularly lovely and insightful, if only a little morbid and slightly strange. The words of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" are beautiful and the imagery evocative, lingering in the mind and melding myth, reality, and dream into a single, complex entity.

While a little lengthy, the poem creates a unique and surreal world populated with human worries and illusory characters that compels one to read it again and again.

It is quirky, but beautiful for its strangeness and ambiguity.

The Bad
For all intents and purposes, Eliot's poem remains a little vague. It combines dream-like imagery with a complex and heady brew of vocabulary, fashioning an unsettling situation and an even stranger, more ambiguous setting.

The Ugly
The idea of reality imposing itself upon the individual - crushing, drowning, and, in essence, destroying the individual you have been and you continue to be or wish to be - is a distinctly terrifying and worrisome notion that Eliot forcefully highlights in his poem.

Reality, and age, are inescapable.

[Visit The Poetry Foundation for the full version of Eliot's poem.]

A Family Affair

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www.barnesandnoble.com

A Family Affair
Mary Campisi
2011

The Summary
For Christine Blackworth, learning her father died was hard enough. And learning he has had a fourteen year affair - and a child with another woman - has been nigh unbearable for Christine and her family.

But, when Christine visits her father's second family in Magdalena, she's in for a surprise to learn that her father's life in Chicago may not have been the one he cherished after all - and, soon, her own choices come into question as she commutes back and forth and learns more about her father's life, and her own half-sister.

The Good
A Family Affair is nicely paced, moving at a steady speed and providing readers with a fairly simple, straight forward format. Additionally, Mary Campisi's novel proves to be of a manageable length and fairly well-written.

It's enjoyable, sweetly endearing, and easy to read, perhaps not eating up more than a leisurely afternoon or two.

The Bad
Although Campisi forms a nice story overall - appropriately combining elements of suspense and romantic fiction, culminating in an endearing story of family bonds and loving beyond the usual limits - the characters do not always seem fully formed.  Occasionally, they appear vague and indistinct, (emotionally speaking, that is).

More to the point, dialogue between characters seems spotty in one or two areas with some characters having their statements split apart at strange intervals.  Additionally, certain characters sometimes appear to overlap, making it difficult to distinguish one character's thoughts and actions from another.

The Ugly
The past is a difficult thing to reconcile.

For Christine and this new extension of her family, it may be all but impossible with past indiscretions and strict, traditional notions of family standing in the way.

Bonus: This Be the Verse by Philip Larkin

Philip Larkin
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www.bbc.co.uk

"This Be the Verse"
Philip Larkin
1971

The Summary
"This Be the Verse" is a poem about life and growing up, growing old, and growing more like your parents every day.

The Good
Philip Larkin's poem is simultaneously outrageous and amusing. Crass, perhaps, but ultimately enjoyable and hysterically funny.

Carefully crafted into a short, lyrical form that follows a strict beat, "This Be the Verse" is quirky and ingenious and brilliantly observant. It's a short but insightful poem that speaks levels to every generation and everyone who has ever had that sudden moment of realization, when they think, "I'm just like my parents."

The Bad
While Larkin proves adept at poetical maneuverings, he does use some strong language that some people may not find suitable.

Personally, I find his language easy to overlook - amusing, in fact, and accurate in some way - but I wouldn't recommend this particular poem for a younger audience or if you find yourself offended by some very colorful language.

The Ugly
It just might be true.

In fact, one might argue that it probably is.

[Visit The Poetry Foundation for a full version of Larkin's poem.]

Postponed?

Possibly.

Since my access to the Internet over the next few weeks will be spotty at best, and nonexistent at worst, I have decided I will post a bonus review this upcoming week and, afterwards, an extra review when I have the opportunity.  Besides which, I've decided to experiment with something special for the bonus reviews and take some time to read literature of a shorter, more lyrical nature:  poetry.

While I can't say how well such reviews will stand up to the typical form seen on this blog, it seems like a fine opportunity to take the chance and just-go-with-it.  Reader's Reach receives extra reviews, and I can try some experimentation.

A win-win, don't you think?

As always, good reading.

- The Scrivener

The Secret Life of Prince Charming

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www.debcaletti.com

The Secret Life of Prince Charming
Deb Caletti
2009

The Summary
Quinn Hunt has spent her life making "Good Choices" and learning how to shield herself from heartbreak, learning from the failed attempts at love by her mother, grandmother, and closest friends. More importantly, Quinn has her father back in her life - and she has every intention of being the good daughter everyone anticipates.

But, when Quinn discovers that her father has been keeping secrets - stealing hearts and taking mementos from his former flames - she sets out on a karmic quest with her younger sister and a half-sister she never knew existed to set things right and face the sometimes damaged, sometimes incredible women her father has forgotten.

The Good
The Secret Life of Prince Charming is enjoyable and simultaneously gratifying for its precise pacing, endearing characters, and intriguing plot. Wrapped around a familiar coming-of-age story, Deb Caletti's novel combines familiar elements with a unique narrator and rousing story of adventure that both resonates on a psychological level and appeals to the emotional.

More importantly, the narrator which Caletti fashions out of Quinn makes the story all the more addictive. Quinn lays her life bare and tells her tale, word-for-word, encapsulating not just another simple journey but her own desperate search to find a place of belonging and reflecting on her internal growth as daughter, as a sister, and as a friend.

In short, it's a nice story to read. Sometimes, it borders on heartbreaking, but, more often, it's so well rendered and so completely endearing as to keep you glued to the pages. It's fun, and it's temptingly real and exciting.

The Bad
You will find some mild language in Caletti's novel and a sprinkling of teenage angst, as well as a hint of sexual innuendo. But, strictly speaking, such things are relatively minimal and not particularly invasive.

The Ugly
For Quinn's father, her actions will be considered a betrayal - a betrayal for which he may never forgive her, a betrayal through which she may never perceive him in the same way.

The Sisters Brothers

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www.booksamillion.com

The Sisters Brothers
Patrick DeWitt
2011

The Summary
Patrick DeWitt chronicles the unfortunate misadventures of Eli and Charlie Sisters, the infamous Sisters Brothers who have made a name for their work as professional murders.

Now, working for a man known simply as Commodore, Eli and Charlie are headed for Sacramento in search of Hermann Kermit Warm, in order to kill the man and bring back what he's stolen from the Commodore.

But Eli has begun to question their journey and his brother's motives for wealth and fame - and he wonders whether his life is the one he wants or the one he has been forced to take.

The Good
DeWitt's novel, to say the least, is not your typical western.  (Perhaps, "spaghetti western" would be a more appropriate term?)  Strangely compelling and slightly absurd, The Sisters Brothers has a ring of oddity and truth to it that makes it simultaneously humorous and dark.

More than merely fashioning an odd tale about a pair of bickering and violence-prone brothers, DeWitt's books explodes with unique and off-kilter characters that are strangely likeable, Eli included.  Seemingly the sanest individual of The Sisters Brothers, Eli is a compelling and heart-warming narrator with a story to tell and a hatchet to bury and a life of his own.

The Bad
To be honest, The Sisters Brothers is absurd to the degree of being almost annoying.  Sometimes, it's just plain weird and strangely melancholy - and you have to wonder whether this pair of unfortunate brothers will ever catch a break.

Arguably, DeWitt's novel is very well-written, nicely paced, and enjoyably suspenseful with intricate, if unusual, characters.  But, personally, I didn't find this story spectacularly compelling or addictive.  It's a fine read, but not particularly exceptional.

The Ugly
Murder, insanity, bloodshed, mayhem, cursing and swearing, and death.  I think it's fair to say that there is a disproportionate amount of misfortune and death - of humans and animals alike - within the brothers' lives.  In short, they don't exactly escape unscathed.