Category Archives: publishing

THE MONDAY BOOK: Collections of Nothing – William Davies King

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Jack offers the Monday book on Tuesday this week

 

This is a very weird book!

I started off not believing that the title was what the book was actually about – that it was some kind of metaphor. But, no, this is a book by a guy who collects pure detritus. Things of no value and of no particular interest.

But then it begins to turn into a different kind of book. More of a sad family history that explains how he got to be that ‘collector of nothing’.

I actually found many of the stories in the book really depressing and I have a feeling it was written as a form of therapy. King flies above the story from time to time and comments on his writing and the development of the book, which apparently took a very long time and which he laid aside frequently.

We get the author’s life story, his relationships with his handicapped sister, his parents, his ex wife and newer girlfriends.

So if you are collector and think this might be for you? Definitely not!

If you like memoirs and the vicarious thrill of observing someone else’s problems then is the book for you!

The Monday Book: Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper

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etta-and-otto-and-russell-and-james-9781476755687_lgLet me start by saying: I don’t like magical realism. Never have, never will. By gosh and by golly, I want to know what’s REALLY happening in a book, and to whom.

So why did I like this book? Beats me.

Well, first of all, it had a good introduction: a dear friend loaned it to me. One sort of feels obligated to give things more chances than otherwise in that situation, doesn’t one? Because when I read the words “magical realism” on the back, I thought, Nah. But Teri loaned it to me. Teri has good taste.

And then I really kinda liked it. Regular readers know what a sucker I am for good characters. Etta and James are amazing. Etta is the 80+year-old heroine who starts walking east across Canada. On the way she meets up with a talking coyote named James (he only talks to her) who may or may not be there. As Etta’s fame grows by newspaper and radio account of the crazy woman walking across Canada, she and James talk more and more.

I was hooked.

Russell and Otto are Etta’s two loves, Otto her husband, Russell their mutual best friend. Except when you get to the end of the book, who is who kinda all meshes together in something that would be obscene in a French setting, but just takes a sharp dive away from reality in this Canadian one. The sparse, almost bleak writing and the sweet, sometimes sappy sentimental, sometimes bitter and scary story compliment one another.

The end is frustrating for people like me. WHO? WHAT? WHY? Ah, never mind, just enjoy the ride. Or in this case, walk. Two paws up for Etta and Otto and Russell and James, and the story they share between them.