The Queen's Lover: A Novel
by Francine du Plessix Gray
Like a sweet dessert (5/24/2012)
This book is brief for a historical novel, with little of the biographic and period detail one might expect.
Du Plessix Gray is a fine writer who sneaks in sideways glances at the truth of her characters. Our poor hero, Felsen, for example, is so besotted by Marie Antoinette he can't begin to comprehend why the people hate her even as he describes her unimaginable excesses, which he sees as adorable.
With lush prose, Gray presents an original view of Paris and Versailles during the Revolution. This is an enjoyable book for lovers of royalty.
1Q84
by Haruki Murakami
Mixed emotions (4/1/2012)
This is a fascinating book, with surprising and original elements that appear more surrealistically than magically. Two main characters walk their paths through these images, while trying to find a place in shifting realities. Like the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by the same author, this is a love story.
One character perceives a cat town, the other 1Q84, a play on Orwell's novel.
Fascism and cultism strive for influence in Murakami's fictional Japan. Yukio Mishima must be in the author's mind, and his novels or the excellent film about his life would be worth investigation (Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters).
Violence against women is a theme here as well, with women taking charge, sometimes successfully, sometimes not.
This book is very long, and there is a great deal of repetition, which increases toward the end. I have read that in Japan, where it was originally published, the novel came out in two parts originally. Then a third and final section was added. It may be that the rhythm was broken at that point, but you should read it for yourself and decide.
