The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more

Book Review: The Man Who Tried to Get Away by Stephen R. Donaldson

Book #236 of 2019:

The Man Who Tried to Get Away by Stephen R. Donaldson (The Man Who #3)

In 1990, author Reed Stephens published this final book in an odd little mystery trilogy that seemed to care more about putting its detective characters through suffering and atonement than having them actually solve crimes. A decade later, Stephens was revealed as the pseudonym for Stephen R. Donaldson, a writer best known for his equally torturous Thomas Covenant fantasy series. He then released a fourth The Man Who volume under his own name, followed by the updating and rerelease of the original three.

Readers don’t necessarily need to know that background information to enjoy this story, just like they don’t need to have read the earlier books, but I think it helps to approach the narrative with an understanding of Donaldson’s recurring preoccupations and the knowledge that this isn’t Axbrewder’s last case. The setting may seem grounded, but it’s still a heightened reality with the texture of purgatory, wherein characters champion different ethical codes at one another and victory is measured as any tiny movement towards redemption. Replacing the language of epic fantasy with that of hardboiled pulp can only shift the authorial voice so much.

The latest plot finds our investigator protagonists appropriately trapped at a snowy lodge, trying to recover from their previous misadventure and singularly unprepared for the new mystery that eventually falls into their lives. (I won’t spoil the exact premise, since it takes so long to arrive, but there’s a definite Agatha Christie flair to the proceedings.) The atmosphere is claustrophobic to the point of occasional frustration, with a small cast repeating the same patterns over and over again. And the deductions are not particularly impressive, which somewhat weakens the mood.

Yet the novel improves as it goes along, and it eventually earns that hint of grace that illumines Donaldson’s best works. This really isn’t one of them, but at least it feels like it’s trying to be.

[Content warning for racial slurs and ableism.]

★★★☆☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

Book Review: The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino

Book #235 of 2019:

The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino

This 1957 Italian novel presents the whimsical tale of an eighteenth-century nobleman who climbs a tree as an obstinate child avoiding his dinner and then proceeds to spend the rest of his life up there. Roaming the countryside from branch to branch, he has a series of swashbuckling adventures that are fairly episodic but still good fun. I’m reminded of The Swiss Family Robinson, both for the treetop setting and the tendency for the text to focus on the logistics of this peculiar lifestyle rather than any pressing plot. It also sort of works as a metaphor for sticking to one’s own principles, but it’s all a bit too silly to take seriously. I would call it a good book for children were it not for the occasional arboreal sex scene.

[I read and reviewed this title at a Patreon donor’s request. Want to suggest books for me yourself (or otherwise support my writing)? Sign up for a small monthly donation today at https://patreon.com/lesserjoke!]

★★★☆☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

Book Review: This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

Book #234 of 2019:

This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

This is a lovely family drama with some important transgender representation, but I can’t help feeling that it would be a more powerful and honest story if it actually centered the character in question. Instead, most of the narrative is rooted in the perspective of a mother and father struggling to understand their child’s gender, and although that element is drawn from author Laurie Frankel’s experiences with her own daughter, it tends to position Poppy as a puzzle for others to solve rather than a dynamic protagonist herself. I also wonder whether her parents are unrealistically accepting, and I couldn’t stand the mentor figure who only exists in the plot to encourage them to be even more so.

But even if this novel is largely wish-fulfillment, it’s a topic that is rarely covered in popular literature, and Frankel definitely taps into the difficulties and uncertainties that accompany the parental responsibility for household decisions. Still, I think I want more of the little girl’s presence in a book that is nominally about her childhood dysphoria. I’d love to hear how trans readers have reacted to the text.

[Content warning for homophobia including slurs, transphobia, and gun violence.]

★★★☆☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

Book Review: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Book #233 of 2019:

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

I really enjoyed this biblical retelling, which takes the minor figure of Jacob’s daughter Dinah from Genesis and presents a possible version of her life’s story. In the process, author Anita Diamant goes far beyond what scripture has to say about either the heroine or her society, but the setting she conjures is immersive and compelling. I’m reminded of Jean M. Auel’s The Clan of the Cave Bear and Richard Adams’ Shardik in the ancient worldbuilding, as well as works like Gregory Maguire’s Wicked or Madeline Miller’s Circe in the reclamation of narrative by a maligned and forgotten figure. As with those latter books, Diamant’s novel offers both a different perspective of a familiar tale and the occasional claim that particular events have been misrepresented before now.

It probably helps to go into this title already knowing about Dinah and her family history, yet with an open mind for the inevitable divergences from the canonical record. Those who do will find a tough woman hurt by patriarchal attitudes and healed by the solace of female friendships. It’s not a very flattering depiction of certain men we expect to be heroic and/or devout, but that challenging aspect only makes it a more rewarding read in my opinion.

[Content warning for bestiality, incest, rape, sexualization of children, miscarriage, eugenics, and childbirth. All of which are present in the original text, but may be tougher to engage with at this level of detail.]

★★★★☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

Book Review: Defy the Fates by Claudia Gray

Book #232 of 2019:

Defy the Fates by Claudia Gray (Constellation #3)

I still enjoy the debut of this sci-fi YA trilogy enough that it’s fun to spend more time with the characters, but the action of the next two volumes feels far more rote by comparison. In this final book especially, our protagonists don’t really seem to have a coherent throughline for what they’re trying to accomplish, which significantly undercuts the tension. They and their enemies also unwittingly give one another what turns out to be major respective weapons, and I wish author Claudia Gray had made those moments feel more motivated. I would have liked greater interrogation of an issue with bodily autonomy and consent to medical intervention, too. Overall I’d say the novel works as an adequate conclusion to the series narrative, but it doesn’t quite live up to the promise of its start.

This book: ★★★☆☆

Overall series: ★★★☆☆

Book ranking: 1 > 2 > 3

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

Book Review: Little Weirds by Jenny Slate

Book #231 of 2019:

Little Weirds by Jenny Slate

I have a newfound appreciation for actress Jenny Slate’s command of figurative language, but I confess that this collection of her writing is too disjointed for me. I think I was expecting either essays or short stories from the book, when in fact most of its entries are more like stream-of-consciousness free-verse poetry. And, true to the title, they are fairly minimal in length, with some lasting only a single sentence. Still, the author has a lot of interesting things to say, especially about the sexist expectations that society puts on women. I would read longer prose from her in a heartbeat.

Three stars, which is my standard rating for a work that I didn’t love but I can easily imagine others will.

★★★☆☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

Book Review: Homerooms & Hall Passes by Tom O’Donnell

Book #230 of 2019:

Homerooms & Hall Passes by Tom O’Donnell (Homerooms & Hall Passes #1)

This middle-grade adventure story is lightweight but pretty fun, tracking a band of thirteen-year-old heroes who get magically trapped in the setting of their favorite tabletop roleplaying game, which happens to resemble a middle school of our reality. I have some issues with the worldbuilding that keep me from embracing the novel wholeheartedly — like how generic the characters’ home realm is, or how the text is inconsistent on whether the players have access to local knowledge like computer skills or not — but I’m not sure if any of that would bother a younger reader.

I’d recommend the book for kids who like Dungeons & Dragons or the fantasy genre more broadly, but I don’t know that I need to check out the forthcoming sequel(s) myself.

★★★☆☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

Book Review: The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

Book #229 of 2019:

The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3)

I still sort of feel like I’m waiting for the Percy Jackson series to really hit its stride, but this third novel offers enough character growth and plot progression amid the latest romp through Greek mythology that I’m happy I’ve stuck with it. The growing darkness and hints of prophecy remind me of my love for Harry Potter, and it looks like author Rick Riordan has mostly abandoned the unfortunate stereotypes in the previous volume, give or take a few gendered digs that are still popping up. (Would an age-old titan really say that a goddess fought well “for a girl”? That doesn’t feel like a necessary line in a children’s story, even coming from a villain.) But the action is exciting, the humor is pretty funny, and overall I’m intrigued by where the larger narrative is headed next.

★★★★☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

Book Review: The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

Book #228 of 2019:

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

I think this novel has my favorite protagonist and premise of any Ruth Ware thriller yet, but the major twists are telegraphed so early that I feel I’ve spent most of the book impatiently waiting for the characters to catch on. It doesn’t help that the plot hinges on a few misconceptions that could be easily cleared up by a simple conversation, with no particular reason provided for why most people aren’t talking or why they’ve innocently phrased things in such a misleading fashion. I would have liked more insight into the ultimate villain’s psychology, too. Ware has so much potential that I keep coming back to her writing, but she’s still unfortunately yet to really wow me.

★★★☆☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter

TV Review: Veronica Mars, season 3

TV #37 of 2019:

Veronica Mars, season 3

Aging a television setting up from high school to college is a tricky prospect, with inevitable cast turnover, different plot beats to work out, and more mature storytelling possibilities. And for the most part, Veronica Mars manages that transition well. The heroine herself is recognizable yet played in an interesting new key, and Hearst College gradually comes to feel as lived-in as Neptune High with its own unique subgroups and demographics. If the show hadn’t been canceled, there could easily have been more to explore there.

I also like the structure of this season’s narrative, which forgoes the central mystery approach of the first two outings to offer one major case that gets resolved around the midpoint while organically setting up another. I’m less enamored of the five fairly arc-free hours that close out Veronica’s freshman year, but even they present some fine character work.

On the other hand: the relationship drama falls into several aggravating patterns, the new cast members are not particularly engaging, and the episodes often struggle to incorporate Wallace and especially Weevil. And unfortunately, the writers haven’t gotten any better at addressing sexual assault, given their hamfisted treatment of the Heart rapist investigation. Campus rape is a very real threat, but it’s overwhelmingly carried out by people’s known associates, not by someone like this serial predator who prowls in the shadows and luridly shaves his victims. Nor do feminist student activists at all resemble the strident stereotypes regrettably depicted here.

In short, this was a time of growing pains for the series, and it’s unfortunate that we never got to see it reach its full potential, the unexpected reunion movie and subsequent Hulu pickup notwithstanding. Overall I don’t exactly love this last original run of Veronica Mars, but I think I mostly get what it’s trying to do.

★★★☆☆

Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter