Mo-Mo's Book Report

The Invisible Mountain by Carolina De Robertis

It's an odd way to describe it, but The Invisible Mountain is a delicate tour de force of a novel.  Beginning at the turn of the 20^th Century in Uruguay, it follows the lives of three generations of women, their love for their country and how the as their country changes it shapes each of them.  Simply put, I loved this book.  It is passionate, powerful and poetically (how’s that for alliteration) written.

Monte. Vide. Eu.  I see a mountain, was one of the first things said by European arrivals in Uruguay.  The mountain is invisible in this book, but always present.  At times magical, at times all too real the characters in this book endure and triumph as though they had scaled a much greater peak.  The Invisible Mountain ends as it begins, full of hope and promise, despite the trials of the past.

I wish I could take credit for finding this book, but the credit must go to Holly of Elliott Bay Book Company, who oversees the Maiden Voyage First Edition program.  Holly chooses six (typically delightful) novels each year from first-time authors to send to subscribers.  If you're looking for an introduction to new voices in fiction, I highly recommend you give it a try.

 

This book is good for:  Everything; please read it.

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

If you sift though the dregs of your past, are you going to be proud of what you find?  If you don't, is it something you can, or even want to change?  The past, deeds done or not done weigh heavily in Nick Horby's newest book.  In the end some characters find a different path, a way to move forward toward something redemptive.  Others are content to stick with the path they're on, happy to be who they are and have been. 

Tucker Crowe is a semi well known musician with one great album, Juliet to his credit.  He walks from a men's toilet in Minnesota while on tour and quits music all together.  The cause and the events that led up to such a decision are the source of endless speculation by his few, dwindling die hard fans known as Crowologists.  Annie's boyfriend, Duncan, is one such Crowologist, perhaps even the world's preeminent, or at least extremely vocal about it.  When an acoustic version of the Crowe's great album Juliet, Naked is released, the lives of Tucker, Annie, Duncan, Tucker's four ex-wives and five children all converge. 

Other reviews of this book talk about how Hornby gets back to his musical roots with this book.  I found that while music is the vehicle, the book is less about music (no top fives here), and more about the notions of fandom, what constitutes art, and how art makes people feel, including the artist themselves.  What we find is, according to Hornby, no clear definition of any of the above, and really isn't that how it's supposed to be?  How often do we hear, someone declare that they love a song and the person standing next to them replies they feel as though 
  their ears are bleeding.  I had a friend announce to me the other day that they hate Pink Floyd.  My response was incredulous.  You can hate certain Pink Floyd songs, Money and Time for example, but you can't hate Pink Floyd in its entirety, it's not possible.  Alas, it is. 

Juliet, Naked is a fast and enjoyable read.  The discourse between Tucker and his young son Jackson alone are worthy of more than one out loud laugh.

This book is good for: Beaches and long weekends.