Half Life

I have the urge to start comparing this book to other books-- two other specific books, to be exact. I want to compare it to Oh Pure and Radiant Heart by Lydia Millet and Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. The comparisons are, in their own way, cheap shots. Both books have an obvious point of overlap in the subject matter (the interest in the bomb testing grounds in the Millet and the idea of reclassifying normal personhood in the Dunn). All three books seem to me to do the same thing (to greater or lesser degrees) where they paint themselves into a corner with their good ideas. As you can guess from this description, I found the second part of Half Life somewhat disappointing. While I enjoyed the obvious energy and skill of the writer, the prose pyrotechnics (lists, poetry, dream sequences, etc.) started to grate at a certain moment. In the first half of the book, I found the various non-standard narrative elements exciting. By the second half of the book it felt busy, and a distraction from the too-obvious fact that the plot was not holding up very well. I still enjoyed reading the book, but I just cared less and less about the fate of Blanche and Nora. At least a little bit less would have been more for this reader. (If you don't know, Jackson is writing about a hypothetical world where siamese twins start being born on a regular basis-- a proper mutation, nearly, rather than a freak. This story asks what happens when siamese twins just can't get along in the same body. It is not as silly of an idea as it sounds, and Jackson handles the conceit rather well-- aside from the concerns that I note here. The world building was very well done.) Three-and-a-half stars, really. In the end I rounded up rather than down for the energy of the author.

I can understand the haters on here who cry about how there's no characters worth cheering for or whatever Dick Francis-Stephen Kingish things they're expecting from a "good read." Sirs, it's only that, well, you see, Jackson is a writer, the same way Faulkner or Joyce or that guy who wrote Tristam Shandy or Proust or Woolf were writers. I thought this book was hilarious, sly, cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it might be too much for some readers, but for those willing to bend their minds and enter new territory it's got untold riches and rewards to offer. Jackson's artistic voice is so original and unique it might frighten some. Maybe we're still not used to female writers so uninhibited and fearless in their addressing of feminine issues and amoral desires. Brave new future of literature, thy name is SHELLEY JACKSON!

This is a big, fun ambitious book! Yes, it lags in places and threatens to completely fall apart at the end with all it's third act problems. So, why the 5 Star rating? First of all, I really enjoyed HALF LIFE. I liked holding it, the colors and texture of it's cover, even it's typeface seemed very appealing. Also, as a long time San Franciscan, it was fun to recognise not only the neighborhoods and street where I live and work but the very nature of living within San Francisco Values, the duplicity inherent in the rules and political infighting within a society set up as liberal and open minded, the bowing to group conciousness forced on some individuals in the name of being good for "the individual". Anyone who has lived in SF or through the 1970s should be able to relate to a great deal of this story. Ms Jackson knows when her tale is getting away from her and even describes it in the scene in the taxidermy museum where the animals look lumpy where they should be lean and hollow where they should bulge with sawdust sifting out of them onto everyting around them. She even describes the taxidermist (as many would describe her writing) as "not very skilled...but certainly prolific". This story is overstuffed- like the grandmother's bra- with potent ideas which are left lying around not from inherent wastefulness but from an overabundance of riches. Not every idea can germinate but many do and in surprising ways. Plus, if you like bad puns, you could be laughing out loud. When deciding whether to read this book you have to weigh for yourself whether you'd like to sink your teeth into a wildly ambitious, overblown mess of a home made novel that attempts way more than might even be possible. I found it to be incredibly delicious and much more deeply satisfying than safer genre work from more respectable craftsmen. Maybe you will, too.

Nora and Blanche are a set of conjoined twins. The yin-yang/black-white/alive-comatose sisters of a fallout radiated future. Sisters of the highest degree. I really liked this book. It was odd and disjointed and full of crazy life. A carnival ride in a taxidermy museum of a story. I can't remember the last time a book brought so many questions to mind.