After a summer of ups and downs, the cool air has finally arrived, and so have books I’m actually enjoying (hopefully I’m not putting the cart before the horse here by saying that). After a week of romance and a little break, I kept reading Fox by Joyce Carol Oates and started the audiobook Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff. The first is dark, intense literary fiction, while the second is fantasy — also dark, also intense. I’m not usually a big reader of this genre, but every once in a while I like to test the waters, see if I can find a saga that really pulls me in.
There’s something undeniably compelling about vampires, isn’t there?
In print
- On my nightstand: Fox by Joyce Carol Oates.
- Scattered thoughts: I’m past the halfway point of this doorstopper and still completely hooked. The story opens with a mystery: a body and a car found at the bottom of a cliff, mangled by wild animals and by the fall itself. The body of a young man, unrecognizable, with no ID and no distinguishing features. In the small American town, rumors start flying almost immediately — disbelief, shock. Many are convinced it’s the body of Mister Fox, a teacher at the local private school, a charming man admired by parents and students alike, funny and discreet. A man with more than one secret to hide. Written without any frills, Fox is a book about the darker side of human nature — the predator hiding in a bare studio apartment with no paintings, no decorations, nothing on the walls at all.
In audiobook
- For walks through the breezy countryside: Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff.
- Scattered thoughts: I’d been holding onto this saga for a while, and it felt like exactly the right moment for it. There are no shy teenage vampires here like in Twilight, no statuesque, vengeful Salvatore brothers either. The world Kristoff has built is a hopeless one, where the sun gives no warmth, where the air is always gray — a warning to stay alert, to stay locked indoors. The first book is narrated by Gabriel de León, whom we find locked away in a dark prison, surrounded by vampires. Three hours in, I’d say this audiobook has passed the test — though fair warning: probably best not to listen to it in the dark.
A saturday at Pordenone Legge
In the end, I made it to the presentation of I Lazar by Nelio Biedermann, even though I nearly didn’t make it into the room. The event started at noon, I got in line at 11:15, and I was the second-to-last person let in. After 45 minutes of queuing under a strangely hot mid-September sun, I think that — if I’d been left standing outside — for the first time in my life I might have actually raised my voice in public. I walked in just as the interview with Biedermann was already underway and, after making three people stand up to let me through, sat down in the second row, somewhere between a mild crick in my neck and a girl with gorgeous dark curls.
What can I say? The young Swiss author knows exactly what to say, has a gentle voice and a sly smile, and knows how to hold a room. Among other things, he talked about how I Lazar is based on stories his family has passed down for generations, how what his grandmother used to tell at the dinner table turned into a book full of emotion, one that doesn’t shy away from darker elements either. With a few spoilers narrowly avoided, it was lovely listening to an author talk about his passion for both writing and reading. Naturally, I bought the book, even though (unfortunately) I’ve seen some mixed opinions about it online. Now I’ll get to form my own.
It was a Saturday spent wandering up and down the streets of Pordenone, flipping through books and eating noodles. Next year, though, I think I’ll actually pay to reserve my spot at the events I care about, just to avoid pointless queuing in the sun. And I think I’ll spend the whole weekend at the festival, not just the Saturday, like I did this year to keep my husband happy too. Next year, for all three days of Pordenone Legge, I’m sending him up to the mountains instead. What do you think?
Leave a Reply