MixedThe Washington Independent Review of BooksKalfus has taken on two huge themes — the destructive nature of political tribalism and the alienation of the refugee — in a very slim novel. Unfortunately, while the book provides some incisive commentary on both topics, neither is fully expounded upon. In particular, the details of the civil war — presented through found documents rather than personal accounts, and feeling cribbed from dystopian predecessors like Atwood and McCarthy — as horrific as they are, lack immediacy. The war and its atrocities are already treated as history by the refugees, which puts distance between them and the reader ... The author is more successful in bringing a new perspective on the plight of refugees to an American audience. By making a U.S. citizen the nationless wanderer, the novel is aimed squarely at Americans who can’t imagine ever suffering such displacement ... There is poignancy in Ron’s plight as he struggles to see the world around him, even to the point of not recognizing faces that should be familiar. His story has more power early in the book, as he pushes through his own fog to create a life, than it does later on, when he’s dragged into the proxy sectarianism of Little America ... In the end, the social commentary in this novel is particularly sharp, and there is much to contemplate, though its broader context is sometimes a distraction rather than a benefit. The dissolution of the United States and the end of American exceptionalism feels all too credible in Kalfus’ hands. But much like Ron, the reader may come away a bit disoriented by the story itself ... Kalfus has taken on two huge themes — the destructive nature of political tribalism and the alienation of the refugee — in a very slim novel. Unfortunately, while the book provides some incisive commentary on both topics, neither is fully expounded upon. In particular, the details of the civil war — presented through found documents rather than personal accounts, and feeling cribbed from dystopian predecessors like Atwood and McCarthy — as horrific as they are, lack immediacy. The war and its atrocities are already treated as history by the refugees, which puts distance between them and the reader ... The author is more successful in bringing a new perspective on the plight of refugees to an American audience. By making a U.S. citizen the nationless wanderer, the novel is aimed squarely at Americans who can’t imagine ever suffering such displacement ... There is poignancy in Ron’s plight as he struggles to see the world around him, even to the point of not recognizing faces that should be familiar. His story has more power early in the book, as he pushes through his own fog to create a life, than it does later on, when he’s dragged into the proxy sectarianism of Little America ... In the end, the social commentary in this novel is particularly sharp, and there is much to contemplate, though its broader context is sometimes a distraction rather than a benefit. The dissolution of the United States and the end of American exceptionalism feels all too credible in Kalfus’ hands. But much like Ron, the reader may come away a bit disoriented by the story itself.
Joe Hill
PositiveWashington Independent Review of Books\"While many introductions shed little light on the work they precede, Hill’s raucous and too-brief telling of his life story is required reading.
As for [the] stories, all but two of which have been previously published as far back as 2007, they are a mixed bag, as is almost always the case with retrospective collections like this. The two stories that [Hill] wrote with King...are among the weakest ... Similarly, the stories where Hill seems to be tailgating in his father’s lane are the least interesting ... Where this collection goes right, in some cases thrillingly so, are the stories where Hill diverges from the classic horror tropes by slyly subverting them, or when he writes in a different genre altogether ... All in all, Full Throttle is an enjoyable romp through the vivid imagination of an accomplished literary heir to the throne. But while the stories are worth reading, here’s hoping Hill will someday write that memoir.\
Sara Stridsberg, Trans. by Deborah Bragan-Turner
MixedThe Washington Independent Review of Books... beautifully written but ultimately frustrating ... In a prologue to the prologue, Stridsberg stresses that this is a work of fiction and that even the character of \'Valerie Solanas\' should not be confused with the real person. But in reading the book, which jumps back and forth in time through nearly a hundred short chapters, it’s hard not to feel that some knowledge of Solanas’ life is necessary to understand Stridsberg’s fascination with her ... to some extent, Solanas herself is kept at arm’s length from the reader. We are expected to accept her literary prowess without being allowed a view of her creative process ... Stridsberg, despite claiming liberties, is trapped by a need to be faithful to the maddening trajectory of Solanas’ life. The fragmented mind of the subject leads naturally to a fragmented novel ... sad and arresting.
Leah Franqui
PositiveWashington Independent Review of BooksAmerica for Beginners by Leah Franqui provides a new twist on this usually aimless, meandering genre: the pre-paid, package-tour novel ... Without the backstory on Pival’s son, this might have been a screwball comedy in the best Bollywood tradition... Luckily, the stories of these characters’ lives, which are woven throughout the novel in flashbacks and asides, are compelling in ways that the tour itself is not.
Paul Tremblay
PositiveThe Washington Independent Review of Books\"Tremblay’s strength is his ability to ratchet up the tension while consistently confounding the reader’s expectations. The reactions of the family are believably predictable, but the motivations of the intruders are complicated and, at times, maddeningly vague ... While The Cabin at the End of the World can be read as a straightforward thriller, it also can be viewed as a meditation on truth. Every time it appears that something has been explained rationally, doubt is cast upon the logic ... The twists toggle between intriguing and infuriating. This is not necessarily a problem given the relentless action and suspense in the novel, but the reader will need to have a high comfort level with ambiguity to not feel adrift before this book is over.\
