 A young woman trying to establish her independence spends a year with an older, distant relative.
Chizu is a twenty-year-old who finds her life at a crossroads. Her mother has taken up a job in China, and the expectation is that Chizu will go to university, but she has other ideas. Against her mother’s wishes, she decides to take up a string of part-time jobs and eke out a living independently. That’s not so easily done when you’re young, with the cost of living in Tokyo going through the roof. So Chizu’s mother organises for her to stay with a distant relative, the seventy-one-year-old Ginko. The two develop a rather rudimentary, if ambivalent, relationship. Ginko goes to her dance classes and has a gentleman friend, who visits regularly. She cooks for Chizu and in her mild mannered way offers company and desultory conversation. For Chizu’s part, she’s going through a round of unsatisfactory boyfriends. She enters these relationships with low to zero expectations, and has them depressingly fulfilled. When her mother comes back from China, and the two try to catch up, the two women struggle to find anything in common. If anything, Chizu feels perhaps abandoned when her mother announces a Chinese man wants to marry her. Where will that leave Chizu? Nanae Aoyama is a young Japanese novelist. She has garnered an impressive slew of awards for her writing. A Perfect Day to Be Alone was originally published in 2007 and is now translated into English by Jesse Kirkwood. While the subject matter of A Perfect Day to Be Alone sounds grim and arid, it’s actually a very engaging and often funny book, filled with uncannily realistic dialogue. Chizu has an appealing, self-deprecating style, admitting to meanness and duplicity (she’s a petty thief, hoarding bits of useless junk she’s pilfered). The novel’s chief charm is its intimacy and candidness. The reader becomes absorbed in Chizu’s world, and while we sometimes wonder about her reliability as a narrator (her view of the world is often skewered), these concerns are corrected by her willingness to show her worst side. In many ways, A Perfect Day to Be Alone is reminiscent of the writings of Sally Rooney, another writer of vulnerability who quickly draws you into her world. There are even flashes of The Bell Jar’s Esther Greenwood in Chizu’s sassy sense of humour mixed with her sense of alienation. A satisfying, cathartic experience. Let’s hope more of Nanae Aoyama’s books are translated into English. A Perfect Day to Be Alone, by Nanae Aoyama. Published by MacLehose Press. $22.99 Review by Chris Saliba  Nick Bryant explains how America has always been a deeply divided country, and has little prospect of changing.
British journalist Nick Bryant has long had a love affair with the United States, a fascination that began when he was a teenager. He first visited the country in the late 1980s, armed with a student visa. He would later spend years living in New York covering the Trump presidency. Over his many decades as a journalist he has not only lived in the US, but studied its history. The Forever War mixes the personal experience of the outsider with impressive historical research. He argues that America’s current toxic political divide - a cold civil war threatening to turn hot - has strong historical antecedents. Moreover, America, Bryant argues, has never reconciled itself to its racist, fractured past. The culture war over critical race theory, he argues, is excessive. The reality is the country was built on a racist scaffolding. From enslavement, to Jim Crow, and in our own day, voter suppression. The picture Nick Bryant paints of America, past and present, is a carnival of violence and mayhem. Political assasinations, lynchings, mass shootings, children murdered at school, children unwitting killers themselves, handling guns they shouldn’t, in any rational world, have access to. And yet gun laws are deeply entrenched, in part due to a selective reading of the constitution. We often think of America as a premier global democracy, but this is a myth. In an exhaustive dissection of the electoral system, we are exposed to a deeply flawed democracy that aims more to stop people voting than encourage it. The vagaries of the electoral college system means American democracy is unrepresentative. This is a country where everything is politicised, especially cultural issues. The courts - even the supreme court - which should be impartial, are openly politicised as well. There is not much cheery news in The Forever War. Nick Bryant, a one time fan, describes leaving his New York apartment and travelling to JFK airport, but not looking back nostalgically to the Manhatten skyline, which he once thought was studded with diamonds. As the title suggests, America’s war with itself will continue on, its many historical issues unresolved. If violence does break out, Bryant suggests it won’t be a full blown civil war, but more like violent spot fires. The one half of liberal voters who believe in the evidence based law will keep the country from going off the rails. A sobering portrait of the real America so often obscured by its glossy, rich, wonderland-like side. The Forever War: America's Unending War With Itself, by Nick Bryant. Published by Viking. $36.99 Review by Chris Saliba  The esteemed economist and public policy analyst Joseph Stiglitz argues that we need rules and regulations in order to maximise freedom for all.
Joseph Stiglitz, if he needs any introduction, is an American economist whose work mainly concentrates on bringing more fairness and equity to modern economies. The title of his latest book, The Road to Freedom, is a play on Friedrich Hayek’s hugely influential The Road to Serfdom (1944), which argued in favour of free markets and individual liberty. It was Hayek and American economist Milton Friedman who ushered in the age of neoliberalism, an economic philosophy (critics would say dogma) of no holds barred capitalism. Formidable politicians such as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan gave these ideas flesh and bone, implementing neoliberal policies. In The Road to Freedom, Stiglitz argues that unfettered freedom is a myth. One person’s liberty impacts on the freedom of others. We need regulation and government intervention to ensure the utmost freedom for all, so wealth does not become too concentrated and the poorer in society not exploited. One of the basic premises of neoliberalism is that markets work with crystal clear transparency, a perfectly level playing field. But Stiglitz argues there are multiple power imbalances that corrupt outcomes and work towards consolidating wealth in the hands of the few. While The Road to Freedom is ostensibly a book on economics, it also deals with other interesting areas, such as how belief systems are formed and the internet’s ability to reinforce and entrench false narratives. This is a work of philosophy as much as it is one of economics. Impassioned, urgent and written in Stiglitz’s usual accessible style, The Road to Freedom explains why we cannot continue under the current system of extreme wealth to individuals and excessive power to corporations. A must read for all students of economics and politics. The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society, by Joseph Stiglitz. Published by Allen Lane. $36.99 Review by Chris Saliba  A famous literary character tells his own story.
It’s 1861 and Jim, an enslaved Black man in America’s deep south, finds out he’s to be sold. The news is terrifying. It means most likely he’ll end up with a sadistic owner fond of viciously beating his “property”, but worst of all, it means he will be forever separated from his wife Sadie and daughter Lizzie. His only hope is to find freedom in a northern state and make enough money to buy his wife and child. He promptly runs away, knowing all the time that capture would most certainly mean death, a grisly one, perhaps involving lynching. Jim’s young white friend, Huckleberry Finn, it turns out has run away too - he has a violent father - and the two take a raft and try to make their way to the northern states along the Mississippi River. They experience many adventures along the way - often terrifying for Jim, who cannot be seen in public without a white “owner”, a role Huckleberry occasionally fills. Often the scrapes Jim and Huck find themselves in are beyond surreal, like when Jim is asked to sing in a minstrel group. He must play a white man, pretending to be black. Finally Jim’s wanted status catches up with him, and in desperation he must use his wits to foment rebellion on a “breeding” farm - a place where enslaved Blacks are forced to reproduce. James is Percival Everett’s reimagining of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, this time from the enslaved Jim’s perspective. Indeed, the book is written in his highly engaging, idiosyncratic voice. Language, we learn early on, is important. Jim speaks in two voices - an enslaved voice, one he puts on for whites. They expect stupidity, obedience and submissiveness. In this perverse masquerade, the enslaved must not appear intelligent or perceptive, as it would threaten the white status quo. Jim’s other voice is his real one, the one he uses with fellow enslaved Blacks, and in imaginary conversations with famous philosophers. In this real language, Jim prefers to be addressed by the more dignified “James”. Language shows how the enslaved must be careful with their words, maintaining the illusion of wilful subservience. But James can read and write, skills he must keep secret. Percival Everett has managed to create both an entertaining and instructive novel about the brutality and depravity of the slave trade in 19th century America. He cleverly balances comic episodes and delusional white characters against a background of brutal racism and pervasive violence. A brilliant accomplishment. James, by Percival Everett. Published by Mantle. $34.99 Review by Chris Saliba  A joyous children's novel of bustling family life.
The Wilkey family are a bustling clan with plenty to keep them busy. Ferris (so-named because she was born beneath a ferris wheel), whose main fault is that she tries too hard to please others, is dealing with life at a transitional phase, just before entering fifth grade. Her grandmother, Charisse, who lives with the family, keeps seeing a ghost. She has some health issues and the ghostly visions could mean something darker, perhaps a summons from the world beyond. In other family developments Uncle Ted has left his wife and taken to the Wilkey family’s basement, to pursue his work as an artist. Then there is the youngest member of the Wilkey brood, six-year-old Pinky, who runs around terrorising people in a black cape, announcing she has become an outlaw. Award winning children’s author Kate DeCamillo’s latest novel is a sheer delight. She perfectly captures the dynamics of chaotic yet joyful family life, with extended family members living under the one roof. The comic scenarios involving Pinky are laugh-out-loud good and the close friendship between Ferris and young pianist Billy Jackson is especially sweet. A feelgood book that also deals with serious issues of grief and mortality. Ages 9-12 Ferris, by Kate DiCamillo. Walker Books. $19.99 Review by Chris Saliba  An argument against extreme wealth.
Ingrid Robeyns is a Dutch and Belgian (she holds dual citizenship) philosopher and economist. In her book Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth, she suggests a wealth limit that no citizen should cross. For Robeyns, that figure should be around 10 million dollars. There are many reasons why wealth should be limited, beyond the very obvious one that greed is not good. Extreme wealth has multiple negative effects, ones we often don’t think of. It has a corrosive effect on public policy (the rich have an undue influence on law making), is bad for the environment (promoting rampant consumption) and weakens democracy. Interestingly, even the wealthy don’t enjoy their good fortune. They suffer feelings of guilt, associate only with other rich people, are socially isolated and stressed trying to maintain their fortunes. The irony of extreme wealth is that beyond a certain point, money becomes useless. You can’t spend billions of dollars, only show your bank balance to other billionaires. Written in a plain, easy to understand style, Limitarianism mixes ethics and economics into a convincing argument on why limiting wealth is critical for the health of society and the world. Limitarianism, by Ingrid Robeyns. Published by Allen Lane. $55 Review by Chris Saliba  The final novel from Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Anna Magdalena Bach, a middle-aged woman, is married and has two children. Every August she takes a trip to the Caribbean island where her mother is buried and leaves flowers. One year on this trip she meets a man in a bar and boldly asks him up to her room. For several years after, she repeats this act of infidelity, but with a different man each time, and in differing circumstances. Eventually Anna Magdalena discovers a secret her mother has long held, one which adds particular meaning to her own double life. Gabriel Garcia Marquez was working on Until August in the years before his death, during which he was suffering from dementia. It’s a surprisingly enjoyable read, an absorbing if minor story about a woman’s meditation on her mother’s death and her quest for self-discovery. While the story sounds sordid (Anna Magdalena’s betrayals are never interrogated; in fact, they seem almost an open secret), Marquez manages a breezy, morally uncluttered atmosphere. The book perhaps most resembles the work of Anais Nin, an explorer of female sexuality and heightened consciousness. The clever, surreal ending will surprise readers with its indelible, Dali-esque image of death and desire. Until August, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Published by Viking. $35 Review by Chris Saliba |
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