Book reviews: 'Kite Runner' and 'Water for Elephants'

I tried; I really tried.

Rita Faye thrust Kite Runner upon me, and I got to page 72 before declaring “terminus”!

Ditto Water, however, I did not progress that far.

What is it about contemporary fiction that it is so bloody awful? I mean, do you suppose it’s because the intended readership is illiterate and is unable to comprehend more than two syllables?

Kite Runner is especially offensive, and is an affront to anyone having an education beyond the sixth grade. (I am sorry, Rita Faye.)

Several years ago the New York Times recommended The Alienist 

by Caleb Carr as one of its Top Fiction Books for whatever year it was. The few pages I managed to read convinced me that the book review pages of the Times are nothing more than pages given over to friends of the reviewer/the newspaper/the publisher/whatever in exchange for what? Let your mind soar.

A recent case in point: Last year’s Denis Johnson's Smoke Tree, whoops, Tree of Smoke. Rave reviews! Everywhere. Two friends rushed out and bought it (“I like the author so much,” said one). “Sniff” they both said afterwards. Not finished. Discarded. “So boring,” they said. “Nothing to it.” Hhmmmmm, what relationship, pray tell, does the author have to the reviewers? Do the reviewers even read half the garbage about which they write?

These books are so terribly written; it is a reminder of just how far the U.S. has sunk in terms of writing and English skills. And how meaningless book reviews generally are, as far as quality of content.

When there are so many “good” (i.e., classic, you know, the ones which e n d u r e ) books, all of which few have read? (List? You want a list?)

Can you imagine anyone even remembering The Alienist or Smokebomb five years from now, other than the sheer mediocrity of both? And the wasted money spent on them?

The last really good “contemporary fiction” book I read which has e n d u r e d was Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, published only 23 years ago.

Is it any wonder that advertising in book sections continues to fall, along with the number of pages, the number of readers of book review pages, the number of readers, and, the decline in quality of the written word? How low can we go?

Must we all become part of the mass?

Please let me know your recommendations for “good” contemporary fiction.