Archive for the ‘Grove Press’ Tag
Keiko, a 36-year-old convenience store employee in Tokyo, is the main character in Sayaka Murata’s poignant novella, Convenience Store Woman. She’s had the job for 18 years and is perfectly content with her life. The work gives her the structure she needs to feel valued – even though she’s the only one who sees it that way. She knows that she’s out of step with the rest of the world.
The problem is that her family and friends consider the job unsuitable for a woman Keiko’s age. They also question the fact that she’s unmarried and worry she has never had a boyfriend. This falls in line with the perception, both hers and others, that she doesn’t fit in. Yet, at the Smile Mart, she does. She’s a diligent, dedicated worker. She also has little to no social life outside the store. She’s unmarried, considered unskilled by those who don’t understand what she brings to the position and, perhaps most importantly, has no desire to conform.
When a new employee, Shiraha, is hired, Keiko is dismayed at his lack of motivation and disregard for company policies. Although he doesn’t last long at the store, he ingratiates himself into her life.
Murata provides a heartwarming glance into the power of believing in oneself, but not before having Keiko consider how culture and those around her, including the wormy Shiraha, make her question her self-worth.
This is a short work that’s long on ideas and feelings.
Convenience Store Woman
3.75 Bookmarks
Translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori
Grove Press, 2018
163 pages
Whether it’s referred to as a tome, an extravaganza, or even a whale of a novel, all are apt physical, and some are literary, descriptions of Abraham Verghese’s The Covenant of Water. At more than 700 pages, if nothing else, it’s a marathon of a read.
Set in southwestern India, it encompasses 1900 to 1977. The narrative follows three generations of a family whose members have a history of drowning, known as “The Condition.” Besides the expanse of time, much of what adds to the book’s length is the number of characters introduced, then seemingly discarded only to eventually resurface.
Big Ammachi is the (direct and indirect) loving force binding all of them together. It begins with her as a 12-year-old girl betrothed to a much older widower with a young son and thriving farmland.
The author’s fortes are evident in the descriptions of the numerous evolutions of the relationships among those populating the book. This is rivalled only by the portrayals of the characters and the imagery of the various landscapes visited in the novel. Along with the family’s farmland, the latter includes Madras and a leper colony. Everything is connected; it just takes a while to see how.
Indian history, the caste system, British Raj and medicine are significant elements.
Tragedies and joys abound throughout this epic, with themes of faith and resilience. After questioning whether so many characters, settings and, ultimately, pages were necessary, it’s difficult to see how the story could have been told any other way.
The Covenant of Water
Four-and-a-half Bookmarks
Grove Press, 2023
724 pages, including acknowledgements and notes
Shuggie Bain, the title character of Douglas Stuart’s debut novel, is heartbreaking. But, don’t avoid it. The characters, notably Shuggie and his mother Agnes, are vividly portrayed with hopes and flaws.
The story is bookended by 1992 when Shuggie is a young man. By contrast, most of the narrative occurs in the 1980s. The seamy parts of Glasgow are brought to life, complete with Scottish dialect, out-of-work miners, alcoholics and low-rent housing. The setting is as much a character as Shuggie and others.
Agnes is an alcoholic whose efforts at sobriety are rare. She left her first husband for Shuggie’s father, who in turn, leaves her. Her two older children find ways to escape the toxic home life, so Shuggie remains to care for his mother while dealing with her neglect. He’s optimistic she’ll change and be a proper parent. He also believes if this happens, he’ll become a normal boy.
Shuggie is effeminate, so he’s bullied, but never understands the insults nor reasons he’s taunted. In this regard, Douglas has crafted a beautiful character whose innocence is his downfall. When coupled with his devotion to Agnes as her caregiver, he’s not left with much of a childhood.
Because of her beauty, Agnes believes she deserves more in life but does nothing to attain it. Although it’s evident to everyone around her, she refuses to acknowledge her alcoholism. She’s also certain the right man will come along to save her. In fact, he’s been at her side all his life.
Shuggie Bain
Four Bookmarks
Grove Press, 2020
430 pages
In Lily King’s Writers & Lovers 31-year-old Casey Peabody has been working on a novel for six years. Her mother recently died, she’s in debt and she works as server. She’s ended one relationship and soon becomes involved with two other men.
There’s no smut here. Instead, King creates intrigue and empathy for Casey, who’s kind, good with dogs and kids, and lives on the fringe of Boston’s literary society. She has writer friends, becomes involved with Oscar, an established author, and Silas, a struggling writer, all while agonizing over her own work. King’s characters are warm, likable people.
If this were a play, Casey would be upstaged by Oscar’s two young sons. He’s published, widowed and is several years older than Casey. She deliberately shares little of her writing efforts with him, but his boys are awfully cute. Then there’s Silas who’s closer to her age, teaches and writes in his spare time. Silas is initially off-putting because shortly after meeting Casey and making arrangements for a date, he leaves town for an indeterminate time. Not a great way to make a good impression; although he does return, which when things get complicated.
Casey’s deceased mother is an important character. She’s who Casey would turn to about her life’s dilemmas. Instead, Casey’s left alone to figure out things for herself. The result is a back-and-forth sideline cheering for one man than the other, all while rooting for Casey to not only finish her novel, but publish it.
Writers & Lovers
Four+ Bookmarks
Grove Press, 2020
324 pages
Even with plenty of objectionable characters and situations, it’s easy to empathize with the narrator, known only as the captain, in Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer.
The captain is the sympathizer; he’s an undercover agent in Viet Nam just as the country falls to communist rule in 1975. Nguyen’s writing is of the step-on-the gas and honk-the horn variety. It’s thrilling, witty and poignant. It demands well-deserved attention.
The captain receives orders from his communist handlers to travel with a South Vietnamese general as part of his entourage to the United States. They’re among those on the last planes to leave the war-torn country. It’s in the captain’s nature to consider both sides and see the value and downsides in each. He is the son of a Vietnamese woman and a French Catholic priest. This and his western education make him an outcast. In Nguyen’s hands, the captain is kind, albeit sarcastic, and exceptionally intelligent. It’s not difficult to understand his situation.
It’s clear from the beginning that the captain has been caught. Most chapters begin addressed to the commandant and it eventually becomes clear that the captain is recounting the days that led to his capture. However, this is not before the captain’s loyalty to his friends, his love for his mother and a handful of questionable decisions and actions are detailed.
The aftermath of war, the stigma of not fitting in and the lengths people go through to survive are all addressed by Nguyen in this compelling narrative.
The Sympathizer
Four-and-half Bookmarks
Grove Press, 2015
367 pages
The Blue Page Special 
