Fairy-Tale Freak-Out

This was a book I read looking for escapism...and it worked. I have always loved fantasy and fairy tales. This novel fullifilled that love. The story is based on all the various traditional fairy tales, red riding hood, Hasel and Gretal; but they are much darker than what most may remember. I started out the book thinking it was a young adult book. But it was not long before Connolly demonstrated how adult this book really is. I was delightfully surprised by the dark turns the story took. I was, in particular, surprised, and moved by the scenes with the huntress and the woodsman. They were disturbing and moving, in that order. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, despite my prejudices against it when I started reading. In fact it passed a test that i have started with books that I read. I ride the bus to and from work every day, and during this time I read. I was reading this book on my way home from work. I was so wrapped up in it that I missed my stop and had to get off on the next stop and walk a bit more to get home. This started a new test for me. A book that can engross me to the point that I miss my stop, has to be a good book.

South by South Bronx

This is a novel that I read for a book club I am a part of at Sam Weller's bookshop. I do not quite know what to think of this book. The first hundred pages leave one confused. It also is still not clear to me who the protagonist is supposed to be. Mink and Monk, one a writer, the other a painter, are both inspired by the same blond woman Ava. She is on the run from cops and terrorists whom she works for, or double-crossed, or both. She climbs into the open window of Alex, who is passed out in bed, and climbs in with him.

Also, alternating this story is the story of Sanchez, a chain-smoking (perpetually trying to quit) cop. He teams up with Meyers, a CIA operative who may be in deeper than he claims. At the same time Sanchez is a conflicted character, and like any good crime-noir the stark black and white tones meld into various hues of gray. These cop sections are printed in a different typeface.

This leads to the final aspect of this novel that makes it unique. It is an experimental novel in many ways. there are sections were none of the words are capitalized, especially proper names like mink and monk or ava and alex. starts sentences in the middle and cuts... Anyway in the context of the story some of these flourishes are more effective than others. The opening section, I feel, is the most effective. The choppy, short paragraphs and phrases reflect the confusion of the woman at the beginning and inforces her own confustion and fear.