During the course of a week, I read two books: Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon and Wild by Cheryl Strayed. Let's just cover them both in this one post because, honestly, I'm a little drunk and it took me far too long to figure out how to create a new post...
FIRST UP: MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH!!!
So I'm a big Chabon fan. Alright, maybe not big. I've read Adventures of Kavalier and Clay before this and loved it. ANYWAY, this cool dude at work lent me his copy so why the heck not! I'm from Pittsburgh and I dig this author. Fast forward 3 days later. (Well, this timeline is a little off. He lent me the book while I was still reading GDUBS. And now it's been about 2 weeks since I finished it, but for blogging sake, let's just call it three days, because I read it in such.)
This blog post is getting off to a bad start. Let's rewind. THIS IS A PRETTY GREAT BOOK.
Chabon really knows how to write. I was really impressed when I learned that he wrote this book in his attic at what sounds like a very uncomfortable desk because the writing was so beautiful. He has a way of turning such simple statements into a lyrical masterpiece. A+ for composition, my good sir.
Not too much happens in the plot. It's very Gatsbyesque. Summertime. New, troubled friends. Big drama. Death. End of summer and end of friendship. (Oh, should I have said spoiler alert there?) I like the modern twist on the whole Gatsby plot. It takes place in Pittsburgh during this dude's summer, which is cool because I love Pittsburgh. It follows his relationships with his new friends and the troubles that they cause. Oh and the gangster dad was cool.
I feel like I don't have a lot to say about this book. It's not necessarily a bad thing. Like I said, super well written, and the character development is superb. But I just don't feel like there are many opinions that I have about it. Related things that I have MANY, STRONG opinions about: The Great Gatsby, The Very Horrible, No Good Gatsby Movie Adaptation, and of course, the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. (WOAH. Just realized... The GREAT Gatsby. The AMAZING Adventures. Maybe I should only read books with such strong adjectives. If this were The STUPENDOUS Mysteries, maybe I would have had more opinions.)
In conclusion. Good book, worth reading.
Onto my rating system. If I'm remembering correctly, it's:
How much have I talked about this book while drunk? Not that much, actually. I've talked about Kavalier and Clay drunk way more. And I haven't had much time to get drunk since I've finished it. I have said that I need to write this book review, while drunk. Oh and I feel like my standard line about this book has been: I LOVE PITTSBURGH, OF COURSE I LIKE THIS BOOK. (Side note: I really don't feel like I'm selling this book. It's good! I swear!)
Would I recommend this book while drunk? I don't know, you tell me. Have I done a good job so far?
ON TO THE NEXT, ON ON TO THE NEXT: WILD. (This was also lent to me by a super cool guy at work. Not the same aforementioned guy. I work with a lot of cool guys.)
This book I have mixed feelings about.
When I started it, I was sitting at a pizza shop, sobbing. And I couldn't put it down. I walked from the pizza shop back to my office, still reading and still crying. I thought it was insanely captivating and emotional and fantastic.
So this woman loses her mother to cancer and basically loses the rest of her life in the process. Not to bring this down, because I OBVIOUSLY don't want to be a buzzkill, but I can totally relate. My mother (Jesus, my whole fucking family) are the greatest thing in the whole wide world so imagining what this woman went through is hell. And I can totally see why she did the things she did to cope.
After she basically ruins her entire life, this badass woman decides to hike from Mexico to Oregon. It's basically a test of her strength and a way to find herself after this terrible ordeal, and I must say it makes complete sense to me.
As she endures this insanity, the author reflects on the past, interweaving memories and stories to give life to what could probably become a little dull. And it's totally heart wrenching and at parts completely awful to read.
But my issue with the book is the end. Strayed spends basically half a paragraph getting over her mother, "seeing the light." And then puts a pretty bandaid over the rest by talking about the marriage and kids that happen over the next like, 15 years. After 300 pages of heartbreak and loss, it felt like kind of a copout.
I want to love this book because of how emotional it made me feel and how relatable I feel that it is, but the end kind of threw me for a curve. I spent a day reading the last third of the book and felt completely let down when I reached the end. I DO NOT CARE FOR BOOKS LIKE THIS.
So have I talked about this book while drunk? Yes. Absolutely. I talked a lot about this book. Up until the final pages, I would have been shouting from the mountaintops how much I enjoyed ( I don't know if I'd say enjoyed...) reading this. But then after I finished it, these talks would kind of turn into rants...
Would I recommend this book while drunk? During the time I was reading this, at about halfway through, I would take this book out of my purse and recommend it to everyone around me, while drunk. That is a very good sign in Drunk Book Report world. Since then, I've given a lot of caveats... This is why I refuse to recommend books until I've finished them. I've read some pretty awful pieces of shit that redeem themselves at the end. Or even books that I think are the greatest thing since sliced bread and end up hating because the end. That's not the case here. I just was a little, underwhelmed by her decision to end the book the way she did. I don't think that it needed the happy ending, it could absolutely stand on it's own.
MAN, that felt like a chore, writing two book reports at once while drunk. I WILL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN. I PROMISE TO ALWAYS STAY ON TOP OF MY DRUNK BOOK REPORTS, EVEN IF THAT MEANS GETTING DRUNK THE SECOND I FINISH A BOOK.
GOODNIGHT, FRIENDS!
