Book Review: The Broken Teaglass [2009]

I was very keen to read The Broken Teaglass when I first heard about it. After all, it has a lot of elements that I find appealing: lexicography, mystery, and local interest--the author currently lives in nearby Shelburne Falls and worked at Merriam-Webster, right up the street from the central library in Springfield. Despite the fact that first-person narrator Billy, a recent college graduate with a secret in his past, is male, a lot of the narrative details seem drawn from Emily Arsenault's own experience. The details of lexicographical work at the "Samuelson Company" certainly do not disappoint, and in many ways the public service aspect (Billy and a co-worker field calls and letters from inquiring dictionary users for definitions and clarifications) reminded my of my own job as a reference librarian. However, I have some lingering uncertainty as to the lasting power of the "mystery" itself. Billy and his co-worker Mona fall into a friendship as they pursue the curious citations from a non-existent novel called The Broken Teaglass, which seems to be about some former Samuelson employee's deadly encounter. As they learn more about each other, and work to uncover what happened in 1985, it becomes clear that the novel is less about the mystery itself than about Billy's struggle to find a place for himself in the post-college world. I have certainly read my share of twentysomething angst books disguised as genre fiction (The Magicians comes to mind as a recent example), and that wasn't really what I was looking for here. However, I have already used at least one quote in conversation:

"Oh, Billy," she said, opening her door. "Don't hate words. Hate the people who misuse them."

Overall, I found the book engaging and its premise fascinating, despite the fact that the narrative sometimes seemed to be backtracking.

Grade: B

Random Thoughts: What happened to the character of Tommy? He seemed so present and mysterious in the first half of the book, and then appeared only briefly in the second act as an ex machina character to move the plot along.

Why didn't Billy and Mona ever pursue the question of where Mary Anne went after she left Samuelson?

I doubt I will ever open a dictionary and not think of this book.

Meme-licious

I haven't posted in a while, since I've been reading one particular book for some time, so why not a little meme action to fill up the time? I picked a random one and edited out the lamest questions.

1. What is the color of your toothbrush?
What a weird question. It varies. My upstairs toothbrush is one color (maybe orange) and my downstairs toothbrush is probably green or something. Plus there's my fancy Sonicare toothbrush (much neglected of late), which is a boring white.

2. Name one person who made you smile today.
George, when he smiled at me despite being congested and cranky.

3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
Sleeping, thankfully.

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago?
Answering chat reference questions from around the country.

5. What is your favorite candy bar?
Today, Snickers. Tomorrow, something else. A Butterfinger sounds good about now.

6. Have you ever been to a strip club?
Yes.

7. What is the last thing you said aloud?
"And it's only common sense."

8. What is your favorite ice cream?
Chocolate.

9. What was the last thing you had to drink?
Orange Vitamin Water.

10. Do you like your wallet?
Yes, of course. It's black leather.

11. What was the last thing you ate?
A Tootsie Roll.

12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
Sadly, no. I think there's probably still a clothing-buying embargo on me.

13. The last sporting event you watched?
Yesterday's Pats game. At least they won this one.

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?
Caramel, despite the fact that it once caused me to lose a tooth.

15. Ever go camping?
Of course. But not enough and not recently.

16. Do you take vitamins daily?
It's a goal. A not very often realized goal.

17. Do you go to church every Sunday?
I'm an atheist. So, no.

18. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza?
It's a close call, depending on my mood. Right now I prefer either to cooking anything at home.

19. What are you doing tomorrow?
Going to work. Cleaning. Playing with a baby.

20. Favorite color?
Blue or green.

21. Look to your left; what do you see?
A pile of junk on my desk.

22. What do you think of when you hear “Australia”?
D.E.B.S.

23. Would you strip for money?
No, because I'm sure I wouldn't make that much.

24. What is your favorite number?
77.

25. In how many states have you lived?
Five. And three countries.

26. Biggest annoyance right now?
Inability to finish current book.

27. Last song listened to?
Touching the Ground, Brandi Carlile.

28. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
LL Bean comfort mocs.

29. Are you jealous of anyone?
Of course.

30. Is anyone jealous of you?
I'd like to think that people are jealous of my beautiful hair, my charming smile, and my obvious intelligence, but I strongly doubt it.

31. What do you usually do during the day?
Answer people's questions and help them print things.

32. Do you hate anyone that you know right now?
Hate is a strong word. I don't currently know anyone that's worth that much negative energy.

33. Do you use the word hello daily?
Yes. Again, what a weird question.

34. What color is your car?
Green. Or black. Depends on the car.

35. What size wedding ring do you wear?
Um, 6 1/2? 6 1/4? Apparently I don't know my ring size.

36. Have you ever been to Six Flags?
No, but I have a fear of roller coasters that would probably make it a money-waster anyway.

37. How did you get your worst scar?
I ran through a door. And that should be "scars" plural. There are a lot of other candidates, but I think those are probably the worst.

Book Review: The Gathering Storm [2009]

Publication of The Gathering Storm, the 12th book in Robert Jordan's epic (in many senses of the word) fantasy series The Wheel of Time, was long overdue. The last volume, Knife of Dreams, was published all the way back in 2005, before the author's untimely death in 2007. I have to take a moment to reflect on the series, because since the first book was published (1990), my investment has slowly moved from "hey, this is a neat story, let's see where it goes" to "DAMMIT, I read all the others, I have to see this through to the end! Please promise me there will someday be an end?" A fantasy-reading endurance test, if you will. I am happy to report that The Gathering Storm is an improvement over some of the later installments of the series, particularly in terms of pacing and action. I do believe that Brandon Sanderson is absolutely the right author to continue and conclude the series (based on what is reputedly a large body of unfinished work left by Jordan). Sanderson's skill at big-picture plotting is vital to the task of bringing a giant mess of characters, motivations, and events to some kind of coherent endpoint. And if he can actually do it in the next two years/two volumes, well, I salute him.

The Gathering Storm, as its name suggests, sets the stage for the Last Battle between Rand al'Thor (the Dragon Reborn) and the Dark One. Despite being rather heavy on the storm imagery, and omitting or reducing some viewpoints (Elayne, for example) that have been prominent in previous installments, the action moves along quickly and several large plot points are resolved. Mat is relegated to a comic relief role, Perrin hardly appears, and, PS, The Last Battle is coming! I don't have the energy to summarize the details here, but the reader spends a lot of time with Egwene, who is trying to restore the White Tower to unity, and Rand, who is (as usual) struggling with his sanity and becoming more and more of a pain in the ass à la Harry Potter in The Order of the Phoenix. There is a lot of moping and staring people down. As is customary after I take a multi-year break from this series, if I had a nickel for every minor character I had to look up (particularly various Aes Sedai), I'd have at least $2.00 right now. However, there's no way that I'm going back and re-reading every freakin' book again, because this is my Year of Not Re-Reading. Also it would take forever. I was satisfied with the character development and plot movement in this volume, although the urge to smack Rand upside the head was often very strong, and the ending seemed appropriate to the trajectory of the plotlines, leaving me optimistic about the next (and penultimate) volume. Bring it on!

Grade: A-

Random Thoughts:

Look, if you've read the others, you might as well read this one. Just do it.

I always struggle with Jordan's representation of women. On the one hand, there are some great, complex female characters, and we get to spend a lot of time with them. On the other hand, they almost universally seem to think that men are "wool-headed" idiots. Then there's the question of homosexuality. In a fictional world as huge as The Wheel of Time, it seems a bit odd that none of the viewpoint characters are gay. I read an interesting article at the Thirteenth Depository about "pillow-friends" (same-sex attraction and sexual activity among the Aes Sedai and others), but I'm convinced that the world could benefit from additional viewpoints beyond the men-are-stubborn-but-noble and women-love-those-ornery-men dichotomy.