PositiveNPRI can\'t remember the last time I read a book so disorienting. Half the time I didn\'t know what was happening. Who was speaking. Whether or not they actually existed. But I can tell you, reading this book is a blast ... Duplex is a traditional love story tucked inside an adult fairy tale, wrapped in science fiction ... Thankfully, the laws of quantum mechanics do not power Duplex\'s magnetism. Instead, it is Davis\'s beautiful prose, her psychological awareness ... Speed-readers, skip sentences at your peril — if only because something will happen that won\'t make sense for fifty pages, then turn out to be an essential narrative hinge. Halfway through, I put the book down for two days. When I picked it up again, I had to start all over just to understand what the hell was going on. Still, I wouldn\'t take back one minute of reading. Sometimes really good company, the interesting, mind-expanding kind, leaves you scratching your head.
Laura van den Berg
PositiveNPRIt\'s a small book, but it feels much bigger. I could have kept reading for days ... In a way, each one is a detective story, sometimes literally and sometimes not. The main character is always a youngish woman, trying to figure out what the hell happened to her life ... There are one or two duds in here. When you can tell van den Berg spent more effort writing than storytelling, they become a little brittle. But after the first story, when the book gets rolling, she\'s completely on her game ... Plenty of authors write with this sort of detachment. It can be divisive ... But for those of us who do love them, Laura van den Berg is a new name to add to the list.
PositiveNPRColombia. The drug trade. Multiple plane crashes, drive-by shootings, Peace Corps hippies who peddle drugs, and an actual hippo on the loose. Despite all of that, there's actually not much plot to this novel. This is more of a metaphysical detective story where cause and effect can be difficult to pin down — a book where the events that matter most occur inside the characters … The Sound of Things Falling is that unique detective story where we're more interested in the narrator's inner life than the mystery surrounding him. Vasquez has taken the psychological novel and made it political. Turned mystery fiction into contemporary history.
Rabih Alameddine
RaveNPRIt's a portrait of an isolated woman with a dazzling mind as she comes to grips with getting old ... Her life is pretty bare, mostly about books: reading constantly, then, once a year, translating a favorite volume into Arabic ... And that is pretty much the entire novel's plot ... Aaliya is thoughtful, she's complex, she's humorous and critical ... Aaliya's also devoted to Beirut, its gossip and turmoil. She makes the reader want to love her city, too, even while relating what it was like to live through years of fear and violence ...An Unnecessary Woman is about nothing at all — and, at the same time, about everything that counts.
Herman Koch, Translated by Sam Garrett
RaveNPRIn his new book, The Dinner, Dutch author Herman Koch structures his entire plot around a five-course meal, going from aperitif to digestif ... It's the story of two couples meeting for dinner in a sophisticated Amsterdam restaurant, the type of place where every item on the menu practically comes with a birth certificate, and in very small portions ... Half the pleasure of reading The Dinner is feeling the author's steady hand on the story as secrets are revealed ...the second reason why I so enjoyed this novel. The Dinner is an alarming drama ... Their crime could take place in Nebraska as easily as the Netherlands. But it's their parents' behavior that's even more chilling ... The best part about The Dinner was this tension taking place above the plates. As the meal wore on, I realized I couldn't get up from the table.
Marlon James
PositiveNPRBe prepared: it is a busy book. Characters include the would-be assassins, various gang bosses, journalists and CIA officers. There's the ghost of a politician, and an even more ghostly Bob Marley himself … A Brief History is, with dozens of characters and motives, impressively dizzying. Ultimately, it's also a beautiful mess … Sometimes figuring out what the heck a character is talking about feels like a contest of will — but when you work out why they feel and think a certain way, you realize: that's literature working. And that's a moment rare enough in any book, let alone one so fun.
