Homeland Elegies, Pakistani-American playwright and Pulitzer recipient Ayad Akhtar’s most recent work, bears some comparison with Olive, Again. It is described as a novel but is more comfortably thought of as linked stories. Ayad explores the Pakistani-American’s experience in the United States in a book that some readers will think of as autofiction (fictionalized autobiography). The exploration of identity, and the cost of acceptance, provides the frame for Akhtar’s larger consideration of American culture, in particular, capitalism and politics — through the loving but fraught interactions of Akhtar and his physician father. Look for the book’s story of Akhtar’s relationship with a Muslim hedge fund manager to become a made-for Netflix streaming film.
Douglas Stuart’s first novel Shuggie Bain (Grove, 2020) won this year’s Booker Prize. Set in 1980s Glascow – the Thatcher years of retrenchment — Stuart juxtaposes the story of Agnes, a preternaturally beautiful, alcoholic mother on the dole, and her young son, Shuggie. The novel evokes the chaotic domestic world of drinkers without a scintilla of sentimentality. Shuggie understands the chaos and, from a very early age, tries to control it. He tells Agnes, “I would do anything for you,” never understanding that his love will never be enough for Agnes. [There are some interesting Freudian questions in this novel]. Like Homeland Elegies, Stuart’s novel is autobiographical fiction and raises the question of when and why writers opt for fiction over non-fiction — or vice versa, as do earlier domestic classics such as Norman Maclean’s, A River Runs Through It (University of Chicago Press, 1976), and Alistair MacLeod’s No Great Mischief. (Norton: 1999)
Film buffs will be pleased to learn of a new biography of Hollywood’s Mankiewicz brothers: Herman, journalist and screenwriter and Joseph, film writer and director. Sydney Stern’s beautifully written The Brothers Mankiewicz: Hope, Heartbreak, and Hollywood Classics presents a fascinating dual portrait of the brothers best known to us for their contributions to movies such as Citizen Kane, All About Eve, The Ugly American, and Cleopatra. The brothers were extraordinarily gifted but also struggled with alcohol abuse, gambling, and womanizing. Stern wrangles their conflicting attributes into a well shaped biography that draws upon new interviews and archival sleuthing. [For added fun, watch the newly released film about Herman Mankiewicz and the writing of Citizen Kane — Mank — in theaters or on Netflix].
Two great crime reads landed on my desk this year — one from Japan, the other a British classic. Riku Onda's The Aosawa Murders (translated by Alison Watts in 2020, Bitter Lemon Press), deserves the praise that it has been receiving. Set in the Sea of Japan area, the story opens with a birthday party at which 17 people die of cyanide poisoning. Onda employs a Rashomon-like technique of possible explanatory narratives as she excavates for the agent of this murder. The book has an appropriately dark, haunting tone that is very satisfying. The Aosawa Murders pairs well with Agatha Christie’s mystery, The Pale Horse (Dodd Mead, 1961). Tone is also central in the telling of Christie’s classic, a story in which she plays with the presence of the supernatural. Well received when published, The Pale Horse deserves new audiences. [For fun — regardless of the film’s ending — stream the Amazon Prime remake of The Pale Horse in which Rufus Sewell plays Mark Easterbrook].
What’s my next read? Sue Miller’s recently published novel, Monogamy.
©2020 Jill Norgren for SeniorWomen.com
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