The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more

Book Review: Bounce by Megan Shull

Book #133 of 2020:

Bounce by Megan Shull

This middle-grade body-swap / time loop novel really doesn’t work for me, unfortunately. I don’t necessarily need to know the mechanism behind why our tween heroine keeps waking back up on Christmas morning as a different girl — it can be a Yuletide miracle, or even just a dream, whatever — but I do need some sense of what she thinks is going on. Frannie, though, evinces no panic, no curiosity, and no real urgency about her situation, which essentially reduces her to just a glorified spectator in those other lives. She sometimes worries that she won’t be able to do some specific task that’s asked of her, only to inevitably find that muscle memory kicks in to save the day. But readers are never given any indication of why she’s hiding her true identity from each new family, just as we’re never told why she doesn’t try to figure out or stop what’s happening, make contact with a confidant, etc.

The protagonist’s home life is incredibly toxic and abusive beyond her power to express, and I can almost see this book as a reverse A Christmas Carol, wherein a nice Scrooge is rewarded for her troubles with visions of tender happiness. But if that’s author Megan Shull’s intent for the narrative, it lacks the discipline to connect its arcs in any meaningful way. Instead there’s just a kid with mean parents who has a vague supernatural experience that eventually leaves her with more unearned confidence or something. It’s not a very satisfying story.

[Content warning for skin tones repeatedly described in food terms.]

★★☆☆☆

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TV Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 5

TV #22 of 2020:

Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 5

Another reasonably solid season of late-twentieth-century science-fiction, delivering a handful of great episodes like “Conundrum,” “Cause and Effect,” “The Next Phase, and “The Inner Light” along with the all-time classic “Darmok” (which I’d first heard about in college linguistics classes over a decade ago). Unfortunately, as usual, these better outings are balanced by a few weaker hours, and most of the run ultimately falls somewhere in between. New arrival Ensign Ro adds a fun prickly dynamic onboard the Enterprise — although she’s absent from the action more than I’d like — but there are once again way too many child guest stars of questionable acting ability running around the ship this year. I would have hoped that aging up and writing off Wesley Crusher outside of the occasional cameo would have helped cure that plotting impulse, but ‘wacky space kids’ is apparently just one of those tropes that TNG will never fully discard.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: A Ceiling Made of Eggshells by Gail Carson Levine

Book #132 of 2020:

A Ceiling Made of Eggshells by Gail Carson Levine

I expected to enjoy this historical fiction novel more than I did, both for its focus on a family of 15th-century Spanish Jews and on the strength of other titles I’ve loved from author Gail Carson Levine over the years. Unfortunately, the setting is more interesting than the characters or the plot, which constitutes a fairly aimless bildungsroman as the heroine grows from age seven to sixteen. (I’m also not clear on the intended readership, since the book is rather long and uneventful for the simpler tone of the writing.)

The action picks up in the last third of the text with the issuing of Spain’s Alhambra Decree, a royal proclamation that required all Jewish residents on pain of death to either immediately convert to Christianity or flee the country without their money. That’s a moment in European history that doesn’t get discussed enough, and it’s neat to see it depicted even in a fictional guise. I only wish there were more of an engaging storyline here to showcase it.

[Content warning for various acts and attitudes of antisemitism.]

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B. Tyson

Book #131 of 2020:

The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B. Tyson

An informative account of the famous 1950s lynching case, including a rare interview with the white woman who accused the black fourteen-year-old of whistling at her and new details from a recovered courtroom transcript of the subsequent trial of his murderers. The facts surrounding Emmett Till’s death are uncomfortable to read and depressingly familiar, from the extrajudicial killing itself to the difficulty of holding the perpetrators accountable even in the face of overwhelming evidence. As we continue to see in similar incidents today, the flimsiest of excuses are seized upon both to justify executing the victim in the first place and then to avoid punishing his killers.

I do think this would be a stronger text if (white) author Timothy B. Tyson had brought a wider scope to the discussion, emphasizing more of the historical forces of bigotry and institutional inequality that led to the crime and their continuity through our own era. Although the epilogue contains some belated gestures in that direction, the modern parallels are largely left as an exercise for the reader; for the most part this 2017 book feels uninformed by the earned insights of the Black Lives Matter movement and paternalistically positioned as a dispassionate record of distant events.

It also ends on the appealing but inaccurate claim that a tired Rosa Parks was thinking of Emmett when she refused to give up her seat and sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, when in actuality she was a dedicated civil rights activist who had carefully planned the organized action with her confederates. Outrage over the Till affair may have played a role in this and other cries for justice, but Tyson’s framing erases black agency and raises questions as to the veracity of his reporting throughout.

[Content warning for graphic violence / torture and racist slurs.]

★★★☆☆

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TV Review: Shameless, season 4

TV #21 of 2020:

Shameless, season 4

Well, it took a while to get here, but Shameless has finally grown into the sort of show I always wanted and sensed it could be. There are still a few of the characteristic over-the-top developments this season, but for the most part those more outrageous elements are kept in check by a tight focus on the character arcs and serious family drama. This is a bit of a lonely year for the Gallaghers, who all spend long stretches isolated in their own storylines by choice or by circumstances. But that relative quietude acts to strengthen their respective characterizations, and it pays off in magnificent catharsis anytime the siblings come back together again.

I like Lip’s piece of the narrative a lot, especially seeing him shoulder more responsibilities as the de facto head of the household when Frank and Fiona each prove less reliable. (I’m trying, as ever, to avoid major spoilers in this review.) Ian gets some interesting material too, although he’s also absent a lot and generally positioned like Frank as more of a figure for the others to react against than an active protagonist himself. And it’s neat that Debbie and to a lesser extent Carl are aging into young adults — even if that leads to some boneheaded immaturity — rather than the writers continuing to treat them as little kids. I suspect that this will be a series like Harry Potter or Game of Thrones that inadvertently acts as a bit of a time capsule for these child actors that we’re watching grow up before our eyes.

But the heart of this season of course belongs to Fiona herself, who goes to her highest highs and lowest lows in a way that genuinely surprises me as a longtime viewer and represents an outstanding showcase for actress Emmy Rossum. I did not think Shameless as a program would tamper as much with its traditional status quo as it has throughout this run, but I’m quite pleased with the results and — give or take some misgivings over the final scene — looking forward to seeing what happens next.

[Content warning for rape, incest, domestic violence, drug abuse, self-harm, child endangerment, racism, and slurs.]

★★★★☆

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Book Review: Click Here to Start by Denis Markell

Book #130 of 2020:

Click Here to Start by Denis Markell

I like how this middle-grade adventure novel manages to educate readers about America’s Japanese internment camps while maintaining its lightweight tone, but the characters make a few too many lucky guesses that happen to pan out, especially for a treasure hunt that’s supposed to be meticulously planned. There are just so many spots in this narrative where the trail could / should have gone completely cold, and not enough explanation behind certain developments that verge on science-fiction (like an online escape-the-room game that only the protagonist can access, which mirrors his own life in uncanny detail). It’s a story that’s fun in the moment but falls apart the longer you think about its mysteries, and although there’s some indication at the end that a sequel might follow to clear more of that up, I’m not sure this volume is satisfying enough to merit trusting the author for level two.

★★★☆☆

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TV Review: The Good Wife, season 2

TV #20 of 2020:

The Good Wife, season 2

This legal drama’s sophomore outing is even more fun and confident than its initial run, deftly mixing interesting weekly court cases with some enjoyable political intrigue (both in law firm maneuvering and the actual district attorney’s race). We do spend a little too much time on Kalinda’s rival investigator Blake — played by a Scott Porter who has somehow grown even smarmier since Friday Night Lights — but the promotion of Alan Cumming’s Eli Gold to the main cast yields dividends in terms of the entertainment value, energy, and different focus that he brings to his scenes. Cary also gets a neat arc as a minor antagonist this year, and of course series star Julianna Margulies continues to add subtle nuances to her portrayal of the title protagonist.

The biggest element going against this program has always been its network-mandated length, as needing to fill 22+ episodes each season leads to some inevitable padding and slow-moving subplots. A tighter storyline could have been possible under different constraints — and I’m sure there are lists out there recommending which hours to watch and which to skip — but even when the main narrative gets sluggish, there are generally enough original wrinkles to how the episodic content is presented to keep it from feeling too formulaic.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Book #129 of 2020:

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski (The Winner’s Trilogy #1)

I picked up this book on the strength of author Marie Rutkoski’s later novel The Midnight Lie, which features a different cast in a different area of the same fantasy setting (sort of like the relationship between the Grisha trilogy and Six of Crows, which I also read out of chronological order). But this earlier effort is so misguided throughout that I’m not only quitting its series after the first volume but also now considering not even bothering with the forthcoming TML sequel as well.

The concept of a love story between an enslaved person and their enslaver is inherently fraught, but any possibility of careful nuance here is squandered by Rutkoski at every turn. Her heroine does not come to any realization / rejection of her society’s abuses or her own role in maintaining them. (We learn offhandedly that she has freed one of the people from her household while keeping several others, so it’s not even as though the idea of abolition is foreign to her.) The specific dynamic with the second protagonist is consistently framed as a simple star-crossed romance rather than anything coercive. And when his oppressed underclass eventually rises up against the occupiers, that revolt is depicted as brutal and animalistic in ways that their system of slavery never is.

The writing is technically competent, but neither the worldbuilding nor the plot is ever interesting enough to distract from the sheer awfulness of the underlying philosophy. This sort of apologia has no place on my shelves, and I cannot recommend it for anyone else.

[Content warning for a rape attempt against the main character.]

★☆☆☆☆

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Book Review: Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

Book #128 of 2020:

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram (Darius The Great #1)

A charming YA novel about an American teenager traveling to his family’s home in Iran for the first time, rich in #ownvoices details drawn from debut author Adib Khorram’s mixed-race Persian heritage and struggles with mental health. (In an afterword, the writer notes how he wanted to tell a story in which depression is a fact of life that can be managed, rather than fodder for tragedy.) I’m grateful for that representation, although it seems like there are other areas of the protagonist’s characterization that could have been spelled out more explicitly as well, such as a few indications that he may be queer and on the autism spectrum.

This is verging into spoiler territory that I usually avoid in my reviews, but there’s an intense homosocial friendship in this book that feels like it could easily tip over into romance, and never openly discussing either kid’s sexuality adds a tension that I’m not sure is intentional or beneficial to the text. And since the blurb for the forthcoming sequel directly states that Darius has a new boyfriend, it feels like a real missed opportunity to not talk about that aspect of him here.

But I really like our viewpoint figure, and I’ve enjoyed seeing the world through his eyes. It probably helps that he keeps making nerdy references to The Lord of the Rings and Star Trek: The Next Generation, two series that I’m currently working my way through myself. Although the plot in this introductory volume is rather minimal, he and the other characters shine throughout.

[Content warning for fatphobia, bullying, a close relative diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, and discussion of suicidal ideation.]

★★★★☆

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Book Review: The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

Book #127 of 2020:

The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings #1)

As a foundational text of the fantasy genre that’s inspired countless homages and knock-offs — and as a product of the mid-twentieth century — you might expect The Lord of the Rings to seem generic and stodgy to modern eyes. Yet returning to the series for the first time in a decade, I’m utterly transported by this opening volume’s immersive atmosphere, thrilling adventures, and enchantingly endearing characters. (I’ve also found the pacing to be rather brisk once events get going, in contrast to my memory and conventional wisdom.) The worldbuilding is elaborate but never daunting, conveying the deep history that author J. R. R. Tolkien has toiled over for the setting without ever confusing the reader or distracting from the plot. These books will never have the hold on my heart of their standalone predecessor, but they represent another beautifully-rendered journey across a dreamland of wonder and peril.

My two most substantive critiques of The Fellowship of the Ring are hardly original, yet they do impact my appreciation for the novel, so I may as well mention them here. First, the unnecessary subplot with Tom Bombadil is not just tediously unrelated to the larger storyline; it also actively undercuts its stakes and saps all early momentum of the narrative. And second, although an improvement over the complete lack of female representation in The Hobbit, the roles of women in this first sequel are still fairly minimal and constrained.

It’s to Tolkien’s credit that these flaws are easy to set aside in the propulsive glamour of the work, and on reflection, I don’t think either merits a lowered rating for the title. Reading it afresh has again swept me away to Middle-Earth, and I cherish that experience immensely.

★★★★★

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