ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE by Gail Honeyman

Eleanor Oliphant is socially awkward but has a decent job in Glasgow, where she lives alone and drinks lots of vodka to get through the weekends.  Then a computer virus causes her to meet Raymond, the IT guy at her company.  The two become oddball friends, but Eleanor has developed a crush on a local rock singer.  She bears scars on her face from a fire but her sudden interest in the singer inspires her to cut her waist-length hair and undergo a makeover.  She may be able to conceal the facial scars, but she has managed to bottle up deeper emotional scars that ultimately lead her to question her self-worth.  We don’t learn the details of the fire or, for that matter, the horrors of her childhood at the hands of a physically and emotionally abusive mother, until very late in the novel.  Her friendship with Raymond, however, leads her to come out of her shell somewhat and meet his mother, as well as the family of an elderly man whom they assist after a fall.  In some ways this novel reminded me of Bridget Jones’s Diary, in that Eleanor is focused on impressing the wrong guy and drinks too much, and Eleanor is just as predictable as Bridget but not nearly as funny.  Actually, Eleanor’s childhood trauma is so severe that I’m not really sure if this books is supposed to be funny, although a number of reviewers have described it as hilarious.  In my opinion she is also delusional, with regard to her crush, among other things, and I suppose her delusions are a result of the horrors she suffered as a child, but I didn’t quite get the connection.  As for the book’s predictability, there’s only one remotely surprising revelation near the end, and I had to kick myself for not having seen it coming, as it mirrors a similar revelation in The Woman in the Window.

LESS by Andrew Sean Greer

Arthur Less, a gay novelist, is about to turn 50, and his younger ex-lover Freddy is getting married.  The last thing Arthur wants to do is go to the wedding, but he also can’t bear to stay home.  The only solution is to leave the country, and he embarks on a series of junkets that will occupy him through his birthday and Freddy’s wedding.  This trip includes an interview of a sci-fi writer, a literary prize ceremony, teaching a class, and a few other adventures and obligations.  He soon finds that his publisher is declining his latest novel, forcing him to rethink its storyline and, more importantly, his own life.  Arthur is plucky and open to new experiences, and his escapades are humorous at times, especially when he is butchering the German language in Berlin.  He’s going through a very melancholy period, though, and then he has to take it on the chin for other things besides his writing.  Sometimes, Murphy’s Law keeps biting Arthur, but he’s a lovable guy, and his soul-searching is poignant and honest.  He realizes that he is better known as Pulitzer-prize-winning poet Robert Brownburn’s former lover than for any of his own accomplishments.  One of my favorite characters is Marian Brownburn, Robert’s ex-wife, who has a soft spot in her heart for Arthur, despite his having stolen the heart of her husband.  This is not exactly a page-turner, but Arthur just kept growing on me.  He never wallows in self-pity, and he takes advantage of opportunities as they present themselves.  His is a lonely journey, and I was happy to experience it along with him. 

THE OVERSTORY by Richard Powers

This novel is mainly about trees, but there are some human characters as well.  The author introduces the people in the first third of the book, and I was pleased that the table of contents provides a list of the main characters with page numbers for their sections.  Most of these characters’ lives intersect in a protest against the harvesting of giant redwoods for lumber.  In fact, two people spend over a year in the top of one such tree. The characters run the gamut—a property attorney, a video game entrepreneur, a college student or two, a botanist, and more.  They fall in love with each other and with trees and ultimately face consequences for an act of rebellion that has tragic collateral damage.  The real revelation, though, is that trees protect one another as well as the rest of the planet.  The people, on the other hand, are not always so protective of one another and eventually have to make some very tough decisions in the face of betrayal.  The primary challenges with reading this book are its length, its pace, and characters that are sometimes hard to recall.  The last 100 pages or so are the most suspenseful and have to do more with human interactions and failings than with trees.  The writing is beautiful and profound but often dense and even ponderous when the author is waxing eloquent about trees.  That said, this is an important book, as deforestation is one of the many contributors to global warming, not to mention more obvious disasters, such as mudslides.  More trees could in fact help reverse climate change, as they absorb carbon dioxide.  Even if this book does not inspire you to dissidence, I guarantee it will inspire you to look at trees with a lot more appreciation.

ORFEO by Richard Powers

I wanted to love this book, but really it’s a little haywire.  Peter Els calls 911 when his dog dies, and this unfortunate error in judgment causes him big trouble.  When the first responders arrive, they find that he has a slew of petri dishes in which he is experimenting with bacteria.  For him it may be a hobby, but for the powers-that-be, it’s a big no-no and reeks of possible criminal activity, such as cooking up anthrax or smallpox.  What he’s really trying to do is insert music into DNA code, and I have to confess that I really don’t quite understand what that means.  In any case, Els embarks on a cross-country road trip in an effort to avoid arrest and revisit the past.  The book flashes back to how Els got to this point, and he realizes too late that he probably missed his calling in chemistry.  Instead, he pursued music composition, eternally seeking to create something super-original.  His quest eventually costs him his marriage and his relationship with his daughter when he reunites with his avant-garde collaborator, Richard Donner.  The project in question is an opera whose theme coincides with the Waco debacle, which takes place right before opening night.  This book has some good moments, and the writing is beautiful, but it’s a bit too cerebral for me.  As for the music angle, I think this book is a too technical for the average reader, and most people probably think that music is something to be listened to for its beauty or for the emotions or awe that the listener experiences.  There’s a lot of analysis here that seems unnecessary and even burdening to some degree.

VISIBLE EMPIRE by Hannah Pittard

This novel takes place against the backdrop of a real event—a 1962 plane crash in which over 100 wealthy Atlanta art patrons perished.  Civil rights issues also figure largely into the plot, and one of the main characters is Piedmont Dobbs, a young black man whose life changes radically after he drives two intoxicated white men to a private airplane hangar near Athens, GA.  One of those white men is Robert Tucker, a newspaper editor whose young mistress was aboard the ill-fated flight.  He is despondent over her death and abandons his pregnant wife Lily, whose parents died in the crash and who now finds herself penniless.  I found the writing to be adequate and the storyline to be captivating, although perhaps a little far-fetched.  Due to some rather odd circumstances, Piedmont and Lily become acquainted and bail each other out of difficult situations.  Having lived in Atlanta for over 30 years, although not in 1962, I enjoyed revisiting some of the area surrounding the governor’s mansion, which was occupied by segregationist Ernest Vandiver in 1962.  Ivan Allen was mayor of Atlanta at the time, and he favored integration.  He is a lesser character in the book, who has a difficult time comforting his wife Lulu, who, at least in this novel, becomes severely depressed in the aftermath of the plane crash, which killed so many friends and prominent Atlantans.  Coincidentally or not, the Allens’ oldest son committed suicide at the age of 53.  This was a fast read and somewhat light, despite the weighty subject matter.  It’s hard for me to say whether it would appeal to someone without an Atlanta connection.