Following character arcs, Cristina García's A Handbook to Luck (2007+) provides glimpses of life in the USA, El Salvador, Cuba, Iran and Korea. Many of the characters are discontented with their situations, whether because of poverty, political turbulence, personal or family constraints; they either do something about their discontent or try to. I found the novel sad, culturally enlightening, and well-done.
A Handbook to Luck is not tied into a neat bow; rather, we follow parallel arcs, ones that intersect and ones that touch only tangentially. Overall, the book is absorbing. I particularly like García's economical technique of visiting her characters sporadically, from 1968 to 1987; one perceives the interrelated threads of history, and luck, and personal choices, things discerned more clearly through a contemplation of time's passing.
Today's Rune: Strength.
4 comments:
A Handbook To Luck sounds interesting. I am thinking of taking a course at BU taught by Ha Jin on the literature of migrants. It focuses on the diaspora in which many (most?) of us find ourselves. I have always felt like a stranger but the question is: where is home?
This post just made me realize I judge books by the cover. That book looks awesome and I want it.
I thought Cormac McCarthy used luck in an interesting way in No country for old men.
This book sounds interesting to me. The one on the Fed is killing me. The only time I felt this discombobulated reading a book was when I picked up my kid's math text. I don't speak math well at all, lol.
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