Tournament of Books

For some years now, I have been religiously following The Morning News' Tournament of Books, a literary competition (of sorts) styled after March Madness brackets, a self-described "annual battle royale between 16 of the best novels published in the previous year." While in New York, I would try to convince my fellow bookclub members to actually participate in a pool - usually to no avail. But even from rainy Brussels, I can follow the proceedings, which also involve a "Zombie round," in which previously defeated books with the greatest popular support are given one more chance, right before the finals (imagine if this happened in the NCAA). Best of all, the winner receives an actual, live Rooster - in honor of David Sedaris' brother by the same nickname in Me Talk Pretty One Day. This year,  I was saddened by the early defeats of Netherland and Unaccustomed Earth, but will definitely stay tuned tomorrow when the results of the championship match are announced.       

Vampire City (As Opposed to Weekend)

I will go ahead and admit that I have been reading Twilight. Yes, it is poorly written and at times more than slightly idiotic, but it's also not a bad way to pass time in a city that in many ways seems a safe haven for vampires. (Interested, Cullens?)

I also am embarrassed to say that it wasn't until the second book that I understood how a vampire series could be written by (and this is an assumption, but she did go to BYU) a Mormon. Eternal marriage, duh! (But then again, she - the writer, not Bella - is married to a guy named Pancho. Can anyone explain?)

L'il Sis also picked up the book (partly my fault, I have to admit; sorry, Serious Readers of the World) and brought up a good point: Why do the Cullens have to be rich? Why does this point seem so important and . . . souligné? Feel free to weigh in - and admit that you've been reading the series, too.

It's Not Okay

I must admit I was intrigued when I read the outsize praise received by (the now Man Booker-snubbed) Netherland. The book was written by Joseph O'Neill, an author born to Turkish and Irish parents who attended school in the Netherlands and currently lives in New York. Being born to Chinese parents in Texas, raised in the Netherlands, and living in New York at the time, I wondered if I would experience any kind of natural affinity.

The short answer was yes and no. Descriptions of a biking-heavy Dutch adolescence rang familiar, but I didn't really enjoy or identify with the book's eventual dénouement. One scene, though, that stayed with me was the one in which the protagonist and his (ex-) wife leave a London dinner party prematurely because of a comment one of the guests (or was it the host?) makes regarding 9/11.

Which brings me to what's not okay. Notice to Europeans dealing with Americans, particularly those who lived in New York at the time: It's not okay to suggest that we deserved 9/11, that we may have brought it upon ourselves in the first place. It's not okay to comment that perhaps Americans should view 9/11 as an incident in which they received some "useful feedback" from the rest of the world. The latter, in fact, is exactly the argument that was presented to me in a job interview the other day.

I agree that many atrocities take place around the world on a daily basis that suffer the fate of the proverbial tree that falls in the woods. I also agree that the lamentable actions of our outgoing administration have not helped us make any friends - particularly in this context. And yet these are no excuses for trivializing what happened in New York on September 11, 2001.