Bonus Book! Burn

Burn by Patrick Ness

Fantasy (2020 - 371 pp.)

I don't usually read young adult fantasy novels, but when I do, the back cover of Patrick Ness's Burn sets up a clear winner of a premise:

On a cold Sunday evening in 1957--the very day, in fact, that Dwight David Eisenhower took the oath of office for the second time as president of the United States of America--Sarah Dewhurst waited with her father in the parking lot of the Chevron gas station for the dragon he'd hired to help on the farm...

My mind brimmed with possibilities. Historical labour relations fiction, like In the Days of the Comet? A sleek, sober take on the '50s, a la Queen's Gambit? A fresh take on dragons, like His Majesty's Dragon and Throne of Jade? Burn is also a very impressive book physically. My hardcover copy has a beautiful black dust jacket with flames and a stylized dragon on it, thick card stock-like paper, and fully black pages starting Part 1 and Part 2. It was all there for the taking...

...and to an extent, Ness takes it. The rural Washington State setting feels real. Sarah Dewhurst and Jason Inagawa, two misunderstood teenagers who aren't the right race at the right time, develop a palpable emotional connection. FBI agents Dernovich and Woolf, tasked to track Malcolm, have a good rapport for the first hundred pages. Kazimir the blue dragon, named as a "famous destroyer (of peace)", has a bouncier personality than his role as an independently contracted farmhand would suggest. The deal at the start of the book, in which Sarah's father Gareth negotiates Kazimir down to a quarter of the asking price up front because he can't afford the rest, immediately sets off a lightbulb in the reader's head that maybe there aren't a lot of good guys in this world.

The characterization falls apart whenever a character is only required to display a certain stereotype. Deputy Sheriff Kelby is a non-character, needlessly cruel and with no discernible motivation. Miss Archer, the librarian, seems to exist for the purpose of relaying plot-related gossip to the reader. Sarah herself is prophesied* to be present when potentially world-destroying events occur, signaling the presence of religious fanatic-slash**-assassin Malcolm and his newfound lover Nelson. Everyone is misunderstood and finding him- or herself, which I understand is a staple of young adult fiction, but I really wish they'd get on with it.

Ness succeeds with the '50s setting when it captures atmosphere and technology. With the advent of the smartphone rendering entire genres obsolete, writing a period piece is a convenient way to have characters be unable to reach the outside world. The agrarian setting also works in the '50s, given the Cold War uncertainty toward anything farther than house and home. The more Ness leans on these topics, the less on characters' soliloquies on social issues, the better.*** Ness's most incisive comment about his chosen time period comes right at the end of the book, capturing the spirit of Mutually Assured Destruction and the ambient buzz of paranoia that came with it: "All annihilation was mutual in the end." (367)

Similarly, when Ness discusses dragons, he clearly enjoys it, contrasting Russian blue with Canadian red, and dragon-cleared farmland to the interior British Columbia wasteland they call home. However, there are only two dragons with speaking parts in the entirety of Burn. The book has a dragon on the cover, and is ostensibly about dragons. As a reader, I want less chatter amongst the humans, more dealing with dragons. Call this the Snakes on a Plane Effect: when I see a movie called Snakes on a Plane, I want motherfucking snakes on a motherfucking plane. Similarly, when I read a book called Burn, that has a picture of a dragon on the cover, I want dragons. On the plus side, in a bizarrely academic turn, a dragon-turned-human explains Schrodinger's theory of alternate universes. (202)

Ness pulls off one-liners that keep Burn entertaining. Shortly after Malcolm and Nelson meet, Nelson says the eerie, "A world where you never wake up? Sounds like paradise." (82) This foreshadows the alternate universes existing in Part 1 and Part 2. When Agent Dernovich's daughter Grace notices Malcolm's movements toward the Dewhurst farm, he says to her, "Your eyes, sweetie... I should have them insured, they see so much." (289) Ness is clearly a talented writer, which makes Burn's highs high and its lows all the more head-scratching.

In Part 1, Gareth receives a blackmail letter that Ness never tells us who sends the letter or why, although we can certainly guess. Some questions are never meant to be answered, and some reader itches are never meant to be scratched. I like the lack of knowing; it's scarier that way. The triangle of tension between Sarah, Gareth and Kazimir jolts the story forward, putting our main characters in danger for the first time. That visceral, up-close danger is far scarier than a regular teenager having to save the world for the 34757039509th time. Ness hints at subverting that Hunger Games-esque trope when Kazimir tells Sarah, "What you must remember throughout all of this... is that you are not special", (119) but then she is. Of course she's special. You, reader, are too.

Ease of Reading: 9

Educational Content: 1

*I'm not even bothering to have Burn take the Fantasy Novelist's Exam.

**This is a brilliant pun. When you read far enough into Burn, you will know why.

***At one point, Ness, via the third-person omniscient narrator, teaches the reader the years in which Oregon and Idaho legalized interracial marriage. Burn is not set in either of those states.

April's Book: A Gentleman in Moscow

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Historical Fiction (2016 - 462 pp.)

In A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles follows the life story of the fictitious Count Alexander Rostov, sentenced to life imprisonment in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow by the newly formed Soviet Union in the aftermath of World War I. The book spans the 1920s through the 1950s, featuring characters as diverse, and hilarious, as Emile the head chef, Audrius the bartender, Anna the actress, Nina the young girl who takes Rostov on a tour of the hotel, and an antagonist known as the Bishop.

I tend not to say this, but I wish I'd thought of A Gentleman in Moscow. Considering my love of old architecture and of European history, it seems like a natural fit. I especially love that Towles stayed at luxury hotels while writing the book. That said, Towles was 56 when A Gentleman in Moscow was released, and I'm only 33, so there is time yet. Much of the Metropol looks as it would have in that era. The next best thing, of course, is that I'm a discussion leader for the University of Alberta Alumni Association book club, where many of my fellow alumni are discussing the book.

Reading A Gentleman in Moscow during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the associated lockdown orders, made me simultaneously identify with Rostov and feel as though his experience is alien to mine. On the identifying side, I've certainly been cooped up, although thankfully, I purchased a treadmill in December and have run over 665 miles on it. On the other hand, the simple joys Rostov experiences at the hotel restaurant and bar, which form much of the action, are now foreign to me.

My apartment in downtown Toronto: decidedly not the Metropol Hotel, but then again, Rostov doesn't have my laptop, exercise equipment, or access to online shopping. With a little work and some creative ergonomics, it's cozy enough, though.

As I said last week to the U of A book club, Rostov starts the book surprisingly unexcited to explore the hotel, which is the first thing I would have done:

At first, he seems at a loss as to what to do. The fact that he needs Nina to inspire curiosity in him, despite him still being quite young at the time (he starts the book as a 33-year-old), made me sad when I read it. If I’d been imprisoned in the Metropol, I would have been darting around the place like a weasel.

I can relate to the “gilt cage” feeling in a big way. The lockdowns and stay at home orders effectively erased my lifestyle. My ROM membership is pointless. Last month, when retail stores were more open, I frantically used up my Winners/Homesense gift cards, having no clue when I’d be back. (I did actually need the items, though!) That said, I spend every day being thankful I have a nice apartment, my parents’ house and the cottage, plus enough money in the bank to survive, fitness equipment, kitchen gadgets, all the books and movies I can manage, and online shopping.

When staying in hotels, I make a point of exploring them, from any available fresh air (why is Rostov not constantly on the balconies?) to every amenity the hotel offers. I also love climbing stairs, which Rostov doesn't seem to take too seriously until four years into his stay.

The historical context is jarring; by being imprisoned in the Hotel, Rostov is effectively insulated from World War II. While millions of his countrymen were perishing on the Eastern Front, led by a government the polar opposite of what Rostov believes, he can lounge in the hotel restaurant with his old friend, the poet Mishka. To think that Rostov is almost executed at the start of the novel, but then is able to salvage a charming but silly life story including a lengthy stint as a waiter, makes the power plant scene all the brighter. (414) For all those decades, though, Rostov is incapable of visiting anyone else, so he is entirely at the mercy of his visitors' schedules, especially Anna's and Nina's.

Towles's prose flows effortlessly, replete with one-liners. Some of Rostov's funniest observations occur when he runs into his ever-changing cadre of friends. He first meets Anna in the hotel lobby, where she is incapable of commandeering two large wolfhounds that chase the hotel's one-eyed cat to the edge of the carpet. The dogs, suddenly on tile, slide almost all the way out of the hotel. (111) The Bishop always moves diagonally. (220) A peppered moth is used as a metaphor for the lightning-fast industrialization of the USSR. (336) 

A Gentleman in Moscow jumps around a bit, but is otherwise written in an easy, accessible way. I learned a fair bit about the Metropol Hotel, which made me feel transported to Moscow in a way I can't go anywhere right now. Nonetheless, fans of The Grand Budapest Hotel should like A Gentleman in Moscow well enough.

Ease of Reading: 8

Educational Content: 3

On Louder Sound's Top 20 Metal Albums of 1992

As Louder Sound recently pointed out, 1992 was a huge year for heavy metal. Mostly in the USA but also in Europe, metal bands ruled the pop music roost in a way rarely seen before or since. Megadeth's Countdown to Extinction hit #2 on the Billboard Album Chart, for example, and Alice in Chains's Dirt hit #6. Other highlights include alternative metal acts like Faith No More, rap metal like Rage Against the Machine, crossover thrash like Body Count, groove metal like White Zombie, and the utterly chilling black/death metal of Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky.

I get ahead of myself, though.

I repeat, here is the list.

Here's Louder Sound's list, stripped of all the descriptions (follow the bolded link above for those). Note that this list is unranked. I think that's a smart move given how diverse metal had become by 1992; while you say with confidence that Iron Maiden was greater than Saxon, how do you compare them to a thrash or death metal act?

Alice in Chains - Dirt

Body Count - Body Count

Cannibal Corpse - Tomb of the Mutilated

Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky

Dream Theater - Images and Words

Exhorder - The Law

Faith No More - Angel Dust

Godflesh - Pure

Helmet - Meantime

Iron Maiden - Fear of the Dark

Kyuss - Blues for the Red Sun

Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction

Ministry - Psalm 69

Napalm Death - Utopia Banished

Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power

Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine

Rollins Band - The End of Silence

Sleep - Sleep's Holy Mountain

Stone Temple Pilots - Core

White Zombie - La Sexorcisto

There they are, all twenty.

Here are my RateYourMusic ratings for 1992 albums, for reference as I set out my thoughts. I've also mentioned Megadeth and Alice in Chains on this blog, referencing their 1990 song "Five Magics" and their 1995 self-titled album respectively.

In the spirit of this entry being about a list, here are my thoughts, in bullet point form, as they come to me. Of course, they're unranked:

• If EPs are eligible for this sort of list, Tool's Opiate is a glaring omission. Its running time is 26:52, only a minute and a half shorter than Slayer's iconic 1986 album Reign in Blood. Longer EPs are more like albums than singles, so I'd put Opiate on the list.
• For extreme music, I'd like to have seen Brutal Truth's Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses and Demolition Hammer's Epidemic of Violence included. They're both better than Utopia Banished. For a more obscure pick, Aversion's Fit to Be Tied is great, but given most of the entries on the list, I suspect it's meant for more widely known names.
• Why 1992, why now? Thematically, it seemingly makes more sense to pick a notable anniversary, so the 1991 list would be released now, the 1992 list a year from now, and so on. I consider 1992 arguably the best year in recorded music history, though, so here we are.
• I'd pick Fear Factory's Soul of a New Machine over Godflesh's Pure, but they aren't far apart, and the industrial metal scene is covered either way.
• Although Fear of the Dark has the anthemic title track, it doesn't have enough other strong songs to place it in my Top 20. Sorry, Iron Maiden, but 1992 wasn't the '80s for you. Similarly, Helmet's Meantime isn't strong enough front-to-back, despite the awesomeness of "Unsung".
• The only one of these albums I haven't yet heard in full is the Rollins Band's The End of Silence. I was about to rectify that situation while writing this entry, but the album is somehow not on Spotify. Fiddlesticks.
• For more tripped-out music, Melvins' Lysol and Neurosis's Souls at Zero would have been good editions. While neither was a chart hit, both were at least as notorious as Exhorder's The Law, which I'd omit, considering Pantera and White Zombie are both clearly better groove metal bands. I'd also take Melvins or Neurosis over Sleep, but that's a stylistic choice.
• For more death metal, Obituary's The End Complete and Solstice's self-titled album should both find a way onto this list. The lack of FLDM is another omission. Fun fact: Solstice singer/guitarist Rob Barrett joined Cannibal Corpse in 1994. In one of the more puzzling decisions in death metal history, the band didn't prod him into singing. I consider Barrett a better singer than George Fisher. That said, we're still in 1992 here, when Cannibal Corpse still had Chris Barnes...
• Is Core really metal? It's certainly at the hard end of hard rock, especially in songs like "Crackerman". Although Core might be a top 5 album from 1992 in rock music in general, it's tempting to disqualify it here in order to open up a spot for a more purely metal album. I'll leave it on, if only because albums like Angel Dust are often softer than Core. Seeing two California alternative bands headline a Best of 1992 list doesn't offend me in the least.

My drops:

• Exhorder - The Law
• Godflesh - Pure
• Helmet - Meantime
• Iron Maiden - Fear of the Dark
• Napalm Death - Utopia Banished

I wouldn't include Rollins Band if I were making my own list from scratch, but I can't recommend dropping an album I haven't heard in full.

My adds:

• Brutal Truth - Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses
• Demolition Hammer - Epidemic of Violence
• Melvins - Lysol
• Obituary - The End Complete
• Tool - Opiate

Genre-wise, I've kept the distribution roughly the same. Think of replacing Exhorder with Demolition Hammer as maintaining the thrash/groove balance, replacing Helmet with Tool doing the same for alternative, and the rest being a slight tilt toward sludge and doom metal. Obituary is mandatory.

It'd be a failure to not include some auditory evidence for my adds, so here's Demolition Hammer's "Skull Fracturing Nightmare":

Here's Obituary's "The End Complete", which, unbeknownst to me until now, has a music video:

Not top 20-worthy, you say? Well, you'd be wrong.

Hopefully I didn't miss anything...