Recursion by Blake Crouch
–Lojo
Kafka On the Shore by Haruki Murakami
I’m about a quarter of the way through Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore, an unabashedly weird novel, a story The New Yorker has described as a “metaphysical mind-bender.”
Its split narrative follows Kafka Tamura, a bookish teen, on the run from an ominous fate that plagues his dreams, and Nakata, a simple-minded pet detective (no relation to the Jim Carrey character) after a lost kitten. The two, on the verge of some tremendous discoveries respectively, encounter a secret whispering wood, talking cats and a mysterious government inquiry into strange wartime happenings.
These disparate parts form the basis of this irresistibly readable maze of wonders. Somehow it all ties together and I am fully invested in piecing together this jumble of absurdity!
(P.S. I haven’t even gotten to the part where fish fall from the sky or souls begin ejecting themselves from bodies!)
–Uriel
Before Watchmen: Minutemen/Silk Spectre by Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner
Well, whether or not it happened that way, Watchmen spawned a critically acclaimed movie, a bevy of prequels, and is now being slowly incorporated into the vast DCU. While these last are the least of the Watchmen flowers, the prequels, Before Watchmen, deserve attention from any Watchmen, or for that matter, any comics, fans.
I read Darwyn Cooke’s and Amanda Conner’s offferings in the Before Watchmen: Minute Men Silk Spectre Deluxe Edition. Cooke’s evocative cartooning brings the perfect tone to Minute Men’s story of innocence destroyed among the very heroes who protect it. Connor tackles Silk Spectre’s generational service and the inherent conflicts involved.
Like the rest of the Before Watchmen series, each creator has worked to honor the original material and has lead directly up to the original Watchmen, with interlocking images, details and sheer auteurship.
Full color: large format: hard bound: worth it!
–Griffin
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