“The Two Loves of Sophie Strom” by Sam Taylor

When I'm down and troubled . . . all I've gotta do is read. It's been a rough week, but I had a day off work today, and I used it to its best advantage: I read an awesome book. 

You may find it difficult to avoid taking me for a shill, considering the fact that the author is also my co-blogger (and my co-everything, really), but nothing can change the fact that this is SUCH A GOOD STORY. I mean, I actually did read several different renditions prior to this finished one (which is part of the reason I didn't re-read it as soon as I could get my hands on it--I just needed a little time for the forgettery to set in first, so that it could seem almost new for me) and while every draft I read was great, this beautiful, polished, shiny version was the best. 

This is one of those excellent books where it's so real that you live it, and then there's the extra whipped cream and cherry on top: that one thing that makes it different, better, more intriguing than real life. That one little magical twist, something that couldn't actually happen in real life except maybe, JUST MAYBE, it really could? 

The story starts with Max Spiegelman growing up in Vienna just before the second World War. One night changes his life completely. One night changes his life completely. (Once you've read the book, you'll understand that wasn't a typo.) Max is half Jewish, which ends up a much more significant matter as time goes by. And Max's story is so rich and complex and compelling that I'm just sitting here trying to figure out how I can sum it up in a few sentences without spoilers and I'm utterly failing. And where does Sophie Strom fit in, you ask? She's only the love of Max's life . . and his other life . . .

Unfortunately, if you are in the U.S., you are unlikely to find this novel in a bookstore near you. It has only been published by Faber in the UK and Commonwealth. But if you have a chance to pick up a copy, I highly recommend it. 

Somebody totally needs to make a movie out of this book. Or, actually, a TV series! That's the way to go these days. 

“All That Is” by James Salter

Sam suggested All That Is for me, so I was a bit disappointed that this book and I were not friends through the first chapter. Lucky for me the rest of it wasn't about war, so I ended up liking it a lot more.

Would it be insulting to Salter to say that his writing is Hemingway-esque? Not that there's anything wrong with Hemingway's writing by any means, but that I imagine Salter would want his writing to be its own thing rather than derivative. Anyway, it's been far too long since I read A Farewell to Arms, but this book reminded me of that book--in tone and style if not in plot.

All That Is had more tentacles, though. Not in the sense of hooks by which it grabbed me (although it did that too), but in the sense of the way it spread out into side stories. Reading this book was like meandering through a big house, going from room to room and learning about the people who lived in each one. I'm trying to run them back through my memory and figure out--were they all linked to the main character, Bowman, in some way? I'm inclined to say yes, although with my memory you never know. But all of these people who were technically minor characters were fully fleshed. 

If I had to sum this book up in one phrase, I would say it's about all the sexual escapades in one man's life, but there's so much more to it than that.