The Water Cure

by Sophie Mackintosh
Oct 15-21, 2019

I don't get it. Dystopia? Nope. Sadistic women? Totally. But with vague descriptions and insinuations of the world around them, this book leaves the reader with more questions than answers, and not in a good way. Although I tore through The Water Cure, it was only because the writing was so shallow and asked very little of its readers. The author seemed to be under the assumption that the reader would know what the hell she was talking about.

The plot centers around three sisters and their parents living remotely on an island to supposedly shield themselves from toxins on the mainland and the violent men who inhabit it. But there is no solid proof that it's a dystopian society, and no real desire to find out more. Instead, it's a tactic that attempts to add intrigue and fails. What in truth is flat-out abuse in a cult created by ruthless parents, filling space with the abstract of "what is really happening in the world" was only distracting and really confusing.

"I am always alternating between invincibility and the sick fear of dying."

I think readers who are true fans of the dystopian genre are far more outraged than I am. I'm simply annoyed by all the hype and false comparisons to better novels.

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A Ladder to the Sky

by John Boyne
Sept 19-Oct 14, 2019

This book pulled a protagonist-fast-one on me. For whatever reason, I was ready to abandon it within the first 50 pages, mistaking its intention, when suddenly the pace picked up with no turning back. What at first appeared to be about an old German writer, Erich, changed dramatically in tone when the true lead, Maurice, took center stage.

Wow, what an utterly pathetic human being. I have never read a more dislikeable character, nor have I read such a skillful build-up and decline of a person. Just when I thought I couldn't like him any less, Maurice became even more despicable. Just when I thought, "oh no, he can't possibly," he did. Boyne was superb at bringing Maurice to life and creating a story that simultaneously could and couldn't ever really happen.

“... he was essentially talentless, nothing more than a good-looking hack, and that only charm and sycophancy could keep him in the game.”

The surprise appearance of Gore Vidal was clever and made me want to pick up a couple of his higher-praised works. The book constantly leaves the reader questioning the proverbial good vs. evil. Are Maurice's actions really that of a sociopath, or of cunning, calculated success? The fact that Maurice had absolutely zero self awareness answers that question with the former.

And then, out of nowhere, this:

“You’ve heard the wonderful news, I presume?” “No. Has Mr. Trump died?”

Ha! One could only imagine that world.

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