MixedSpectrum CultureIt’s a potent metaphor that goes beyond an external mass delusion that may resonate in any era, and particularly in one where truth has become a subjective construct. Yet there’s destructiveness here that’s more than simply the delusion of one flawed human being. There’s the power of the (metaphorical and literal) jungle to destroy everything, and this seems to tug at Herzog’s very life’s work ... One can’t fault Herzog’s vivid prose ... It’s beautiful prose, sure, but such breathlessness, which on film might have translated to a series of indelible images, can feel corny on the page. And, at least as translated by Michael Hoffman, sometimes sound like self-parody ... Over the course of a sweeping novel of the jungle, or a harrowing film, The Twilight World’s imagery might gain the necessary power, but over a sparse 144 pages, one hardly gets the sense of futility that comes from Onoda’s 29 years spent in exile, in vain. At his best, Herzog the director has taken us to impossible places, and left us feeling we have travelled a long distance. So it’s too bad that his first novel feels like it’s just scratching the surface of a much deeper fount.
Elif Batuman
RaveSpectrum CultureA semi-autobiographical novel of her college years (like her protagonist Selin, Batuman attended Harvard). But while that format seems like so much navel-gazing, Batuman questions, prods and interrogates the form. If Either/Or doesn’t consistently achieve what Selin’s friend Lucas describes as semi-successful literature that is \'good on a sentence level,\' that’s by design. The shaggy, sprawling narrative...ingeniously, thoughtfully ties everything together.
Haruki Murakami, Trans. by Philip Gabriel
PositiveSpectrum CultureTime and again, the Japanese author strikes an elusive, signature tone that’s at once dreamlike and crystal clear. It’s useless to resist ... Murakami walks a tightrope to achieve this tone, and when it works it delivers something wonderful. But it doesn’t always come through, and English readers may not know how much that’s due to the author and how much to the translator ...At a time when it can be hard to concentrate on anything, Murakami, by means of his translators, encourages us to focus on the little mysteries of life, but he doesn’t give us any solutions; allowing room for mystery is part of what makes these stories so rewarding.
Ben Katchor
PositiveSpectrum CultureDense with historical information and illustrated with Katchor’s signature line-and-ink wash drawings, the book may tell you far more than you thought you wanted to know about its subject. But the text and artwork complement each other for a tasty and heavy meal ... Katchor’s lines feel casual, his washes creating a soft depth ... the unassuming visual observations here create a gentle tension between the sometimes dry historical content and the playful yet off-kilter images. This perfectly suits work that can come off like an anxiety dream that pops up in the middle of a history course ... Thoroughly researched ... the author doesn’t wallow in nostalgia, and sometimes has a wry sense of humor about it ... endearing.
