Teo Degas' Books & Decks

I always crave books in English from other cultures, so I was thrilled to find this one in my local library.

The book is very entertaining, unpretentious, a feel-good story, charming and fresh. Very cinematic, like a soap opera, no wonder the book was brought to the big screen in India.

The story chronicles the adventures of a mixed group of night-shift young workers at an Indian Call Centre. We are introduced into their family, personal and work lives, aspirations and problems, dreams and daily lives.I think it reflects the aspirations of the working and middle class Indian Youth, who we rarely see well represented in Western films and literature.

I truly hated the empty vacuous criticism of Americans and the American way of life, mostly based on crappy stereotypes which border with racism. I am not an American, but I found funny that the author, through his characters, vilifies Americans but the create characters that are very "Western". On the other hand, I think it reflects well the opinion of many young people in India, whose only exposure to the Western world comes through TV and their work at these centres.

This is a translation, so it is difficult to see whether the quality of the vernacular language used by the author was way better. The English used in this book is simply but effective, and the work is well composed and structured.

This is one of those books that I call summer book, unsubstantial literature that one enjoys while holidaying and lying by the beach.

Anya's Ghost is a story of young Russian immigrant Anya in High School, coming to terms with her background, her mum, who she is as an individual, her curves, and the ghost girl she has just found. 

The book is entertaining, it flows well, and it reads easily, and beyond the coming of age story there is the added twist of the ghost story, which turns darker at the same pace you turn your page. 

This is a traditional comic book in format and narrative, very well drawn, very dynamic, with an use of black and white that I absolutely love, especially the blue-ish greys the author uses to create depth and texture.

Having said that, the book is full of narrative and character stereotypes.

Perfect for teenagers.

The novel tells the story of a couple of New Yorkers, who are separating and in a process of personal alienation from each other, which see their lives turned upside down by the events of September/11. The novel also reflects on the different ways that different people cope when destruction and trauma hits their lives.

The novel is well written, well composed and with a great atmosphere; it is also raw and honest, but emotionally engaging. DeLillo uses a concise but precise English, and he is able to describe emotional and psychological states in few words still portraying the depth of the character's feelings, emotions and thoughts with credibility. They feel real and close to the reader, even if the reader is not an American or has lived the trauma of the 9/11.

My favourite part of the book is the first one of the three, in which the husband narrates in first person his experience, physical and emotional, when the attacks happened, and also the account, in the 3rd person, of what happened to a female friend who happened to be in the World Trade Centre.

I did not find necessary, the pages devoted to the recreation of the terrorists' planning and psychology. These chapters are really distracting, they do not help to build atmosphere or chisel better the main characters; also, they drive the reader away out of the main story without necessity. We don't need to know what motivated the terrorists, but on the effects of their attacks on the people who suffered them. On the other hand, we have to praise DeLillo for not letting himself be carried away, because he does offer a non-judgemental realistic composition of these characters and their own process of alienation.

I found the third part of the book -in which we see the outcome of the situation between the couple- a bit different in mood and connectivity to the other two, not as believable, and a bit of let down.

A very good read, overall.

Calling Dr Laura is a raw and honest memoir of graphic artist Nicole J. Georges from her childhood to this day and her life in Portland Oregon. The novel focus on her search for her natural father, her coming out of the closet as a queer, and the process of finding who she is as a person. The book has a good deal of her childhood memories and family related issues, which are not adorned or sweetened, but presented in a very naive straight forward way. She could have demonized her mother for the whole story related to her natural father, but she does not. She does not hide anything bad about her life, experiences or people she comes across, but she does not judge them and focuses more on how she felt or feels. How difficult to do and so well done! The narrative alternates the present with episodes of her childhood. The parts about her childhood are really wonderful but also a bit sad.

The reading is very engaging. That is so because the book is well paced regarding the subjects she presents and how she presents them, the u-turns she does but still coming back to the main road, so to speak. The story is never bland or boring. Although the mystery in the novel is resolved in the epilogue, it lingers throughout the whole book without being overpowering.

I liked Georges' style and versatility to use different graphic languages and even fonts to convey meaning and create atmosphere. Although most of the book is set in interiors, I love her road and urban landscapes. The drawings of her childhood episodes, which are very child-like, are just lovable, and very different from the more elaborate and arty ones done for the present day  narration. I think this is one of those books that would be been great in colour, as the book cover image is.

My favourite scenes are her story of her intestinal problems when she was a kid, the one of the boat when Radar dumps Nickie, and Nickie's fight with her mother in the car about she being a selfish brat. I also love the dog's language balloons she adds when she communicates with her dogs or they don't know what is happening - very cute.

My main complaint about the book is not the book, it is its rendering for Kindle format. I have read the book with a magnifying glass(no kidding) because the pages are fixed in size, so one cannot enlarge them. Vignettes can be individuated by double clicking, but the zooming is minimal. Amazon should be doing something about these issues because they affect the reading and enjoyment of this and other books and we are paying full price for them.

The novel narrates the story of the last days of a compulsive erotomaniac (an unhealthy f*cker and narcissist womaniser, if you prefer it), Bunny Munro, a door to door beauty-products salesman, and his road trip with his 9y.o. son Bunny Junior.

The novel is provocative, like waking up by a jar of cold water dropped on your bed, if you allow me the simile. This is a story for adults with a stomach. If yours is too sensitive, avoid, because the situations described in the book are not politically or morally correct, but life is sometimes like that no matter how much we dislike it.

Cave's construction of the characters, atmosphere and prose are dazzling. The atmosphere has elements of the life in the 1950s and attitudes of the 1970s harmoniously mixed.

Bunny Jnr's character is just wonderful, very well drawn and composed, almost alive; he is a sweet projection of his father's character but with much more spine and emotional maturity than he has at times. The grandfather character is also great; his appearances in the story are episodic and short, but key to understanding many of the things happening in the story.

I absolutely loved the last two chapters, which are very oneiric and hallucinogenic, and a brilliant ending to a brilliant book.

The book is sad, confronting and sweet at equal doses, but also a wonderful piece of literature.

I got this book from my public library, and I was in love with it from the first pages. I read it about 5 years ago, and I still remember it, something I can rarely say of most books I read.

The book tells two parallel stories. One is the story of a writer who is engaged in a research project for his next novel, which is based on a real story that appeared in the news in the early 1920s. The second one is the story of the character the writer is researching. The chapters alternate, one corresponding to each character.

The historical part was by far my favourite for many reasons. The story is not only more engaging for the reader, is is better rounded regarding mood, character construction, action and narrative. I was entranced by this part, and I found it fantastic, so much so that I did not want this part to end! However, the modern part is also interesting but the mood and writing is not as bold, to me.

The book deals with many interesting issues: xenophobia, poverty, human nature, personal story and context, writing as as a way of living and as a cathartic exercise, among many others.

I am not a Jew, so the book made me reflect and feel in my heart the suffering of generations of human beings (in this case Jews) who lived the most brutal pogroms in Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th, generations of people who never experienced peace, respect or a decent life.

Having said that, the book does not seek the sympathy of the reader, it calls your attention on the fact that your personal story and the historical circumstances in which you leave affect the first deeply, so much so that it takes an act of conscious willingness to be just you, and how important is having the possibility of facing life, not life facing you, if that can be said.

Despite Hemon being a Bosnian his English in fabulous: incredibly rich, elegant and precise.

Hurry Down Sunshine is the true story of Michael Greenberg's family when his teenager daughter started to have mental problems and especially after she was interned in a psychiatric isolation ward.

This could have been one of those soapy self-pity sympathy-seeking books that one find everywhere, but it is not. This is a raw memoir that reflects on how mental illness affects everybody (the sick, their families, their entourage and the health professionals) without adornment but elegance.

Greenberg portrays the reality of madness masterfully. He shows an extreme sensitivity and empathy towards all parts involved, without hiding the contradictory feelings that such situations brought to his life. He is able to make us feel the pain, despair, impotence and heartbreak that he found at being unable to deal with the problems that his daughter brought to life, but also the strength, hopes, awareness and depth of feelings that they came with.

This is the best Memoir I have ever written regarding the literary qualities of the writing. The book is superbly written (after all Greenberg is a reputed translator and writer), his English is refined and precise, and his narrative and composition clear, engaging, fresh and profound.

I read this book a few years ago, and it is still in my memory. It is just a great book.

I was given this book for my birthday, as Amelie Nothomb is one of my favourite non-English writers. I love the freshness of her style, black sense of humour, and the playful wickedness and irreverence that permeate all her stories and characters.

Sulphuric Acid is set in a near future where the world is dominated by reality shows, especially one. Individuals aleatory chosen are kidnapped and brought into the reality show - a concentration camp where some of them become slaves, are terrorized and have to pass tests in a game for their life; those losing the game are killed live.

Sulphuric Acid is less playful and more contemplative, more philosophical and less personal than others novels by Nothomb. The book offers a sarcastic view of our modern society, the impact of mass media in our private lives, the Big Brother kind of society we are building up, and how humans need little to become a nasty flock of wolves. The themes and approach reminded me of the most modern Saramago, and it is reminiscent of some issues mentioned in old classics of the Science Fiction (like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 for example).

The book reads well and it is very entertaining. The style is simple but effective, right to the point, without any flourish or unnecessary wording.

Sulphuric Acid is a very short novel, entertaining, and food for thought.

I got this book in a bookshop in Japan, having never heard of Mineko Iwasaki's story before, after having chased down Geishas in Tokyo and Kyoto, and having always being fascinated by their refinement.

The book is a Memoir, lets remember that. It is an honest memoir, though. Mineko Iwasaki tells us her story the way she lived it but without masking her self, her opinions or way of being, without artificially sweetening anything, not even herself. She does not pretend to be better than she is, and shows her strong character and temper; in fact, she does not hold her tongue when expressing her opinions on some famous Western people who visited her. One has to admire her for being so frank. However, what the reader will find more fascinating is the world she describes: the world of a high-end Geisha, of which she was part of from a very early age. Through her memoir, we learn what Geishas are, how they are educated and instructed, the values they stand for, the ways they act, the pass-over ceremonies and rituals, the difficulties and personal relationships, and the nitty-gritty of selling their services.

This Memoir was written as a Mineko's reaction to the publication of Memoirs of a Geisha. Mineko had been been the main informant, revealing some secret information under the promise of her name being never revealed. When the novel came out, her name was mentioned, and many facts related to the Geisha life were just distorted and changed. Mineko's reputation was damaged. She decided to write her memoir, and the real story, the way she had lived it.

Mineko tells us her story from her introduction into a Geisha house when she was still a kid and until her retirement. The world that Mineko describes is just amazing.

I found the book really fascinating and absorbing. The book is simply written, so it is not a literary delicacy, but it is an unforgettable memoir.