Sounder (William H. Armstrong)

Hardcover

This book is, in a word, melancholy.  There's not a lot of dialogue and years pass in the scant pages, but the sparse style works to tell this simple story.

When there's no food to be found through honest means, the head of a poor black family gets some on the table dishonestly.  The police cart him off and shoot the titular coon dog in the process.  The remaining family makes do while the eldest son searches for the dog and, later, for his father.

I saw the movie about a week ago, so it was fresh in my mind.  The changes and additions certainly weren't bad ones, but they changed the story so completely that they probably should've changed the name too.  The movie has a fundamental joy that the book doesn't pretend.  The movie shortens the sentence while the book stretches out the punishment for a crime of a few dollars to years.  The book also contains vivid passages of revenge daydreams in which the son indulges when cruelty is visited upon him -- daydreams that would've been impossible to recreate on film but which, for me, were some of the most important passages in the pages.  The movie was good, but the book is definitely superior.

B+

Finding Emma (Steena Holmes)

Kindle Edition

I'm so annoyed -- I made this my once-a-month checkout from the Kindle lending library because it was listed as "non-fiction" and I'm behind my goal of 13 non-fictions this year.  Turns out it's neither true NOR well-written.

Emma's been missing since her third birthday, two years ago.  Her mother Megan's kept the hope alive while her dad's busy punishing Megan for not moving on.  We meet "Emmie," a little girl living with her "grandparents," and quickly understand what's going on.

Just ugh.  Lazy, predictable, and in sore need of an editor.  A huge waste of time that might have been OK if the story were true.  Since it's not, it's just a tied-up-in-a-bow happy ending falsehood.  Blech.

D-

Drive (James Sallis)

Hardcover

Style to spare and some great lines and descriptions that almost knocked me off my feet -- at one point he mentions a block of buildings that put one in mind of computer punch cards.  I mean, that's a way with words right there.

The story's great and the vibe is cool baby cool, but I had a problem following the timeline and the narrative.  It was like a stream of consciousness that included dreams and memories.  I felt tossed around and lost my footing several times...and I had to just give up trying to remember who was who and what was happening when and just plow on through.  For a book this slim, it's kind of a feat for the author to let his readers get all turned around in its pages.

B-