Read It. Watched It.

Happy New Year! Hope 2023 is off to a good start for everyone. I have lots of book and movie reviews to catch you up on.

I normally don't read suspense novels, at least in part because I'm not fond of plot twists, but I recently read two of them. The first was The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz. I absolutely loved the way this one started off. Jacob was once a promising up-and-coming writer, but after his first novel was a blockbuster and his second one barely got off the ground, he's kind of floundering. He has no ideas for a new book, so he's barely making ends meet by teaching writing at some dumpy MFA program and loathing everyone there (including himself). He has one student, though, who tells him the plot to his proposed novel, and it is a stunner. Some years later Jacob hears that the student has died and apparently never wrote the book, so what does he do ... yup. This is all info from the ad blurbs, but I won't say anymore about the plot (yes, pun fully intended, as throughout the book). The writing was terrific, the main character was perfectly portrayed, and I was just loving how clever the whole thing was. Then I got to the ending and nearly threw the book out the window. I later read a bunch of reviews online, and lots of people saw the twist coming, but not me. And I didn't like it one bit. It felt cheap. So I can't say whether I recommend this book or not. I enjoyed the first 300 pages of it so much but really hated the last 25. Has anyone else out there read it?

However, I also read The Wife and the Widow by Christian White, and this one just blew me away. It takes place in the dreary off-season on a vacation resort island in Australia. You know the main characters from the title, so I'll tell you that the widow is Kate, whose husband has just been murdered, and Abby, whose husband appears to have been caught red-handed. The chapters are told in alternating fashion between the two. The author does a great job with that—you really get a feel for both of them. And in this case the twist is AMAZING. It was all I could do not to start the book all over again from page 1 to try to figure out how the author managed it. Really, really smart writing and plot development. I'm eager to read White's earlier book, The Nowhere Child.

I've always enjoyed Tessa Hadley's short stories in The New Yorker, so I thought I'd give her latest novel, Free Love, a try. It's 1967, and Phyllis is a wife and mother living in an affluent suburb of London. She seemingly has it all. But there must be something missing, because when the twenty-something son of an old friend impulsively kisses her one evening after a dinner party, all hell breaks loose. I mostly enjoyed reading this book, which advances at a very leisurely pace, but then it just kind of ended, and I didn't feel like there was any kind of resolution to anything. I have no doubt that's the point, but I found it unsatisfying. 

Next up was The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The book starts off with Monique, a wanna-be journalist desperate to make her name in the world, who is mysteriously hand-picked to write the tell-all memoir of the most famous movie star of all time. Evelyn Hugo is nearly 80 by this point and willing to reveal all to Monique, not just about her seven husbands but also all the struggles and sacrifices required to make it in show biz, and the one true love no one ever knew about. This felt like a beach book, which isn't a bad thing, and I gladly read the whole thing, but it's not by any means great literature. I enjoyed my time while reading it and then promptly forgot about it. It's that kind of book. 

Finally, I just finished English Creek by Ivan Doig. It's the sequel to Dancing at the Rascal Fair, which you know I adored. Even though Doig wrote English Creek first, I'm glad I read them out of order, because it takes place after Dancing at the Rascal Fair and thus contains spoilers (particularly about some characters you might have thought would or wouldn't be dead). This has just as much gorgeous nature writing, and we really get to know our narrator, Jick and some of the other main characters. I just love the way Doig writes, so even though it's another long one, I was happy to pick it up each evening and settle in for a few chapters. If I had to say, I guess I preferred Dancing at the Rascal Fair, but maybe that's just because it was my first exposure to Doig and I was so smitten. I will most likely read the third book in the trilogy, Ride with Me, Mariah Montana, although it has not gotten quite as much praise as the first two in online reviews.

As for movies, on Christmas Eve we enjoyed our Chinese food while watching Glass Onion, the next installment in what I hope will be a full-blown Knives Out franchise. I loved the first one, so I was eager for this one. Once again we have Daniel Craig as quirky private investigator Benoit Blanc, and another star-studded cast—this time including Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Janelle Monáe, and more—plus a dozen or so really hilariously placed celebrity cameos (from the likes of Hugh Grant, the since-departed Stephen Sondheim and Angela Lansbury, Serena Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, etc.—if you've seen the movie and wondered if you missed some, check out this cheat sheet). It's all great fun, and I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't get a kick out of it.

The next day, with our leftover lo mein, we watched Bullet Train. OMG I loved this! It has all the campy, bizarre, gory excitement of a Tarantino film (though it's not)—plus Brad Pitt at his most adorably self-deprecating, as a down-on-his-luck hit man on an assignment that seems to just keep getting more complicated. Two British actors I'd never heard of, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry, as "Tangerine" and "Lemon," were both excellent. If you like comic book violence and breakneck pacing, you will find this incredibly entertaining. If you can't bear the sight of blood and are looking for Deep Meaning, maybe skip it.

I have adored Michelle Yeoh since I first saw her in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon all those years ago, and couldn't wait to see Everything Everywhere All at Once. It was incredible! From the trailer, I thought it was going to be sort of a straightforward sci-fi movie mixed with martial arts, but there was nothing straightforward about this at all. I don't even know how to explain it. Here's the tag line from IMDB: "A middle-aged Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure in which she alone can save existence by exploring other universes connecting with the lives she could have led." It was really mind-blowing. Oh, and don't forget Jamie Lee Curtis as a murderous IRS clerk! I don't know anyone who didn't love this—although, to be fair, the kinds of people who would go see it are a pretty self-selecting group.

And you, what have you read or watched lately? Comment below or on Facebook, or email me, or send me a postcard, or just pick up the phone and call me for heaven's sake.

Comments

[Amy W]

I completely agree about The Plot. You expressed my thoughts exactly. I don’t mind a good plot twist, especially when it serves as a comeuppance and allows someone to get what they deserved. In this case, it definitely felt cheap and like a parting shot from the author towards any empathy readers might have developed for the MC. I don’t mean to spoil anything here, but the plot twist elevated a clear “winner,” but nothing about the story made this feel like a @win.”

[Beth F]

I haven't read any of your books, though I've read other Doig books. Seven Husbands has been on my list for a while now. I like the sound of the Widow one too.

We really liked Glass Onion and agree that we hope there will be other movies to come. So much fun. Adding Bullet Train and Everything, Everywhere to our list.

[Margaret]

I absolutely hated the ending of "The Plot." It made me angry that I'd wasted so much time on it. I did figure out the twist about half-way through but was hoping I was wrong about what would happen. I wasn't. I love Doig also; he is such a beautiful writer. I wasn't as fond of Glass Onion as of Knives Out but it was still a romp. Daniel Craig is one of my favorites. I just finished "Demon Copperhead" for Book Club and am now reading "The Marriage Portrait."

[Elena]

I'm going to put some of those books on my list! My husband hated Glass Onion. He walked out (of our family room) while my son and I were watching it, so there you go. I can't understand why anyone wouldn't like it.