Monday, February 28, 2011

The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith

One of the most delightful literary works that I have recently stumbled across is the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Set in Botswana, the adventures of Precious Ramotswe not only present an uplifting vision of Africa, but also tell the stories of a wonderful set of characters that are positive, kindhearted and interesting.

That it why I was so disappointed with this dud of a book, which is the fifth installment in the series. To begin with, the main mystery to be solved (i.e. a rich woman hires Precious to check on the backgrounds of some possible suitors for marriage) is a bit ho-hum. The character development and story flow, meanwhile, lacks the sparkle that made the earlier books such a gem to read.

Now it is true that certain parts of the book are enjoyable, such as Mma Potokwane's unconventional idea of having a fundraiser for her Orphan Farm through a parachute jump. With great skill, Mma Potokwane is able to convince Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni into jumping from an airplane, only to have Rra Matekoni (through the clever assistance of Precious) convince his older apprentice to jump in his place. Then there is the question of when Mr. Matekoni will finally marry Precious after such a long engagement.

These flashes of fun, however, are undermined by a book that is, to be frank, a bit dull. Not much happens in this fifth installment of the series, making it by far the weakest novel of the first five. When I finished reading this book, I couldn't help but compare it to a poor episode of an otherwise excellent TV series. In other words, I definitely won't "watch" this book as a "re-run," but I will certainly continue with the rest of the series.

2 1/2 of out 5 stars

Another Day by Harvey Pekar

A few years ago I watched the film American Splendor, an intelligent and award-winning biopic on the life of Harvey Pekar, who is best-known as the creator of the comic book series of the same name. Starring Paul Giamatti as Harvey, the film introduced me (as well as tens of thousands of other people) to this groundbreaking comic book series.

I always intended to read American Splendor, but for one reason or the other (e.g. work, travel, reading other books) I always put it off. Finally, after several years, I picked up a copy of Pekar's Ego and Hubris, a work that is not related to American Splendor but which I simply loved. This book inspired me to go to my local library where I picked up Another Day, which contains a series of short-stories, sometimes only 2-3 pages long, that are illustrated by different animators.

This collection of stories revolve around ordinary events in the life of Harvey Pekar in the aftermath of the release of the film American Splendour. Whether it is performing simple errands like going to the post office, listening to friends discuss their jobs, or driving through a snow storm to pick up his foster daughter Danielle, this book is an honest, unvarnished view of daily blue-collar life in Cleveland. What makes this comic so interesting, however, is how simple (some may even say mundane) events are transformed into high drama.

With that in mind, if I had one complaint with this book is that some of the stories were too short. Instead of letting the characters and situations breath, too often I felt like I was reading whimsical thoughts by Pekar that quickly disappeared into the air. On the other hand, reading this collection of stories made me realize why Pekar became an underground comics star so many years ago, and why he has received so much critical praise. It also convinced me to finally go and read the American Splendour series cover-to-cover.

3 out of 5 stars