"The Hours" by Michael Cunningham

Review by Dave Karp

            “Yes, she thinks, this is probably how it must feel to be a ghost. It’s a little like reading, isn’t it-that same sensation of knowing people, settings, situations, without playing any particular part beyond that of the willing observer.”

            This is probably one of the most haunting lines that stuck with me from Michael Cunningham’s fantastic novel, The Hours. A friend/mentor of mine let me borrow the book, knowing that I so much loved Virginia Woolf’s novel, Orlando: A Biography, which made me fall in love with Woolf. And, after reading The Hours, I can tell you this: This is one of the most haunting books I have yet to read, but in a unique way that maybe Mrs. Dalloway did for her generation, though I have yet to read the famous Woolf novel yet. The novel has been made into a movie as well, directed by Stephen Daldry and starring Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Meryl Streep as the leading ladies (and, may I add, a haunting score by Philip Glass). I recommend the movie, as it was a very good adaptation of the book and brought the haunting atmosphere the novel did to the screen, and stayed true to most of the book. But, back to the novel!

            Cunningham takes the day in the life of three different women in three different time periods. There is Virginia Woolf herself in the early 1920’s in a suburb in London. Then, there is Laura Brown in 1950’s suburban Los Angeles. Last, but not least, is Clarissa Vaughan in New York City, 2001. Woolf is beginning to write Mrs. Dalloway, Laura deal with the disenchantment of suburban life with her husband, son, and another child on the way, and Clarissa is trying to get a party put together for a very dear friend and poet. We are thrown into the lives of these characters as well as their ghosts and troubles, and at the end of the novel, we find how all three of these stories and these lives come chillingly together.

            This is a novel rich with not only story, but description. We look at the world these characters are living in almost poetically, and it works. Of course, there is dialogue, but the imagery that Cunningham gets on the page is very rich and he makes you see everything clearly as you are brought into the lives and environments of these characters. It’s some of the strongest description I have read in a while, and it really brings a whole other layer to the story, one that really makes you feel as if you are an “observer” or a “ghost”.

            The story is one that you become quite curious and enriched in, and is very well written. The thoughts of these characters come out on the page amazingly as well, which makes us feel for them even more, and we understand their struggles all the more. The three women are haunted by many things, and we see that clearly, almost as if in some way it mirrors the lives you and I are living, and questioning how much happens within a day of the lives of everyone.

Which brings me to the thing I may have liked about it the most and was one of the most haunting aspects for me: It was an epic about the everyday life. Such as what Woolf did with her novel Mrs. Dalloway, Cunningham brings into his novel and adds his own flair to it. He brings out the power and the epicness of everyday thought, worries, and questions. With the question the three main characters have, you can’t help think about your own life and your own time you are occupying. The book gets even philosophical about living day after day, and why life is, in a way, both tragic and beautiful. But we are left with remembering that we have many days, many hours, and we should always remember that there are good things and bad, luck and bad luck, but that also, strangely, life is a beautiful thing and the only real enemy is time.

            
         

Jessica Abel's "La Perdida"

Review by David Karp

            Jessica Abel’s graphic novel, La Perdida, follows the adventure of Carla, a Mexican American, and her move to Mexico City to learn more about herself and her identity. She crashes with her ex-boyfriend, Harry, who is following the steps of the likes of William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac and crashing in the city, struggling to find inspiration for his writing. Disenchanted by each other, they come to an inevitable clash and Carla goes to join her new friends, natives Memo, Oscar, and others. Carla eventually finds herself “in too deep” in the Mexican underworld and her good intentions of trying to be a part of the culture and no longer an “outsider” gets her into trouble.

            Ok, I loved this graphic novel for many reasons. One of the reasons is the cultural aspect of the novel the story and the artwork brings. We are brought with Carla on her journey through the good and the bad Mexico City, and it is done with careful detail and enriched language. The use of Spanish is very cleaver, and it’s brought to any non-Spanish speaking readers in a very helpful, easy to grasp, and even information and educational way (parts of the novel also having subtitles which is fun!). Any words or phrases that one would need help defining are in a convenient glossary in the back of the novel.

            The story is very compelling, and the characters are certainly very outspoken. I honestly don’t think there was a character I didn’t get frustrated with at one time or another in the novel because of their words or not-so-wise decisions, but you end up getting to know the character’s views and dreams very intimately.

            That’s the other thing about this novel; it’s very conversational (which I love to read in any type of novel). Yes, it’s a graphic novel, so yeah it’s going to be, but this was in a very unique, almost (at least in the beginning) in a Woody Allen like way in its philosophy and its political/cultural undertones.  The characters very much express their views (especially the character Memo, who seems to always get into arguments with everyone) and have very thoughtful conversations about the differences of Mexico and America as well as the culture of Mexico and what it is to live as a real Mexican, which is, of course, one of the big themes of the novel, as well as Carla’s goal.

            Admittedly, I have not read that many graphic novels in my life, and being introduced to La Perdida has made me want to explore more, and more specifically ones that fuse different cultures into it. Yes, the fusion of culture in Abel’s novel is very good and the story makes us think about our own views towards other countries and the differences of being a tourist and being an “insider”. The form of a graphic novel was a very cool way to see this kind of cultural story play out, as I like the idea of introducing culture through both words and pictures.

            Of course, the artwork of the novel is really good. It captures the story, characters, and culture of Mexico City really well as the pictures guide us through the stories and the emotions. The artwork is black and white, which brings another unique feel to it; a rawer storytelling feel which I like. It also brings an urban air to it, which fits well into the setting of Mexico City and its darker side as you progress in the novel.

            So, all and all, I really suggest checking out this graphic novel, as you will not only be introduced to some Mexican culture, but also thrown into a unique journey and a different viewpoint of Mexico City that makes you think, all through the awesome art of graphic novel.

Interview with The Toucan's Liz Baudler

Well this interview has taken several months to bring to the wide-wide web! In fact-and Dave and I aren't afraid but TOTALLY embarrassed to admit this-we conducted this interview while attempting to create our first project together (that started great but kinda went nowhere...) Never mind that, the past is past and now we are Writers, Writers without a home! Which is more fitting when interviewing the co-creator of a literary magazine instead of for a podcast...So here it is! The interview long overdue! Justin Vaisnor and Dave Karp featuring Liz Baudler! Enjoy!

The Family of Man

Review by David Karp

        I believe that the title says it all about what this amazing collection of photographs is about. The Family of Man. One must ask, what does that mean? Well, once you go through the book, you find out. The family of man is the family of the world.

            The book, originally an exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC put together by Edward Steichen,  explores people that we see every day in America throughout time and then, we also travel the world to various different countries to see the everyday men and women of that particular country. We see how people live and express their emotions to one another.

            This collection’s aim, I believe, is to knock down borders and show that we, as in everyone in the world, are all a family. We are all citizens of the earth, and we are all human, so why are we blowing each other up and acting like someone different is an enemy? I’ve seen this all too often in my life, and it doesn’t make much sense to me.

            I’ll start here: The picture that struck me the most was on page 70 of the man who is on the steel part being hoisted up in the sky, probably trying to get that onto a larger structure that was soon to be a building. The reason why I liked this picture so much? It reminded me of home.

            I grew up in New Jersey. I know, a lot of people believe that New Jersey is basically what you see on Jersey Shore or The Real Housewives of New Jersey or other stupid reality shows like that. Believe me, we are not all like that! In fact, though I am from suburban North Jersey, I grew up around a lot of working class people! There were a lot of blue-collar workers around my home that I got to know, and they all seemed to have some sort of brotherly/sisterly bond to each other that I really admired. They seemed the most realistic, yet the most loving. I remember when I was younger and I would always be fascinated with the people who were high up building buildings or fixing stuff, whether it was somewhere in Jersey or just across the river in New York City. But I was always fascinated by them. Hell, I still am! I believe that’s what the picture I mentioned reminds me so much of home…because of the people around me that considered each other family.

            Not only does the collection showcase the various kinds of people in the world, but it also showcases the different types of human emotion, which is why I believe these photos were picked to be in the book: the emotion is at the rawest form and brings the “reader” to the emotion itself. It lets us know how human we are and lets us connect with the different people in the book, and we ask the question: How different are we really if I feel what she/he is feeling in this picture. We feel love, fear, anger, hope, uncertainty, and more and we relate to the people in the photos even if we don’t know them! It doesn’t get much more human than that! It just proves that we all have the ability to help and relate to each other, so why is the state of the world the way it is today? That’s a question that I don’t believe anyone can fully answer. It’s just the absurdity of life.

            So, all and all, I really enjoyed taking a look at this collection and the having the questions it brought to me posed. It really does make you think about life and love and why we can’t just all realize how silly it is to be so angry with each other.

Still, with all the questions it poses, in the long run, The Family Of Man really made me feel at home, and this past weekend, I realized how happy I am to have any type of family and that sometimes, we have to make our own family and learn to know how lucky we are to just have hope. And yes, I believe there is some hope left in this world. I may be pessimistic at times, but deep down, I still have some hope. The Family of Man is another example. It’s a family album, just of the bigger family you may have not realized we had. We are all in this together, and we are just another photo in the family of man.

This may not be a “book” book, as there are not that many words to read, but the pictures are its own kind of story and the quotes in the book speak as loudly as a million words. I truly believe that this collection is worth a look for those who love history, culture, literature, and photography!

Review of: Impulse

Perfection, is ugly. It is unobtainable, for everything changes so even the idea or notion of perfect will change. But there will always be those striving for it.

After reading the book Impulse by Ellen Hopkins I couldn’t help but think this. The book, with vivid characters written in verse novel, (written in poetry form rather than prose) delves into the lives of maturing teenagers in a mental ward sounding like a nice thirst-quenching retirement home: Aspen Springs. The book holds the reader’s attention by switching-but staying in first person-to the thoughts of one of the three main characters: Tony, Conner, and Vanessa, all   had attempted suicide. The “cure” for each involves drugs, group therapy, and individual therapy by trying to coup with the problems hidden in their past.

Ellen Hopkins has written poetry and several nonfiction novels. She explores everything from belief and belief in love to nature and nurture. The reader witnesses pain and the reason the characters may strive for it, just to feel. There is beautiful imagery and wonderful rhymes spaced throughout the book. The book Impulse has more than 600 pages! But when written with five or less stanzas a page it would take a fast reader a day and a half ride on a quiet el train to finish. Hopkins is great with not only descriptive imagery, but conversations and flashbacks to painful memories in the characters past as they try to change themselves in the present. Try.

And why I began with thinking perfection is ugly, is because of the strive in some of the character’s lives to be perfect and perfect in the way others want them to be. Some strive for perfection without wondering what that would entail and what cost that may come by. If one strives to do what they love and achieve what they want, then maybe that is perfect, perfectly understanding one self and their place in this world.

Ellen Hopkins has written other verse novels and New York Times Bestsellers like: Crank, Glass, and Identical; and also Burned and Tricks. She has a way with words and the form on the page like that only seen in writers when they try a new style, but this she is mastering and exploring as she goes.

Impulse is a brutally graphic and beautifully constructed long short story that discomforts the reader when in the mental ward, and yet that sickening prison becomes a home where all are accepted for being fucked up and not just pretending they aren’t messed up. Again, it is a quick and beautiful read, I highly recommend it! In two weeks check for my review of Aristotle’s Politics.

Justin Vaisnor

Review: A Moveable Feast

Review By David Marcus Karp

I finally finished A Moveable Feast today, and I’m ready to move to Paris once I’m out of college.

            Whether that’s a feasible and wise decision on my part is questionable, but I will say that Ernest Hemingway’s memoir does nothing more than makes you fall in love with Paris. With the walks along the River Seine, the many cafes, the bookstores, the food, the society (though some things may have changed since the 1920’s, of course), the European mindset, and whatnot, how could you NOT want to go to Paris?

            But the memoir tells about 1920’s Paris so vividly and perfectly, it’s almost surreal. The book really reads like a novel, with its flowing narration, its simplicity prose, it’s moving but clear imagery, and it’s “character” development. The way that each chapter tells a different story/experience in Paris yet they all connect to the theme of a writer in 1920’s Paris is a really cleaver way to write a memoir. I felt like I was looking through a photo album of his time there, each part having something unique but just as interesting a story to tell!

            The book does a great, great job with description of the scene Hemingway came to love. The balance of action and description is built like a Hemingway novel, which I believe is why it’s so readable. The linear structure is that of a short story collection of expanded but beautifully told instances but keeps the reader engaged in the tales of Paris’s literary writing scene, Paris’s “golden age” and some of the most interesting interactions between Hemingway and the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, Ezra Pound, and, of course, the great Gertrude Stein (which Hemingway had some of the best conversations with, in my opinion)!

            The memoir didn’t take me too long to read, partially because I could not put it down and partially because it’s not the longest book in the world (coming from a pretty slow reader), but it’s just the right length (unless you get the restored 2009 edition, which has a few new edits, additions, and other new stuff, along with a forward by Hemingway’s second son himself, Patrick Hemingway. I happened to read the original version).

            When you read the book, it feels like you are walking side by side with Hemingway on his adventures through Paris. The narrative brings the classic feel of Hemingway to a real life account, which is also entertaining and thought provoking. Of course, Hemingway was a café guy in his free time, which I can very much relate too, so this is one for café lovers, as well as book lovers and Hemingway fans. In fact, this was the first thing I ever read from him, and I’m glad it was, since these were taken from journals written before even finished and published his first novel, The Sun Also Rises. I got to see what Hemingway was like off of the page just as his writing career is starting, which brings a lot to context, and brings for a great introduction to his writing style and his personality both on and off the page.

            So all and all, this memoir is a must for anyone who reads. It has now made me fall in love with Hemingway and is ranked as one of top favorites. The book will make you want to go to Paris and hope the same thing happens to you that did to Owen Wilson in Woody Allen’s Midnight In Paris.

            Look out for Justin’s next review on Ellen Hopkins’s Impulse!