A Review of The Most Beautiful Book in the World: 8 Novellas by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt (translated by Alison Anderson)

The Most Beautiful Book in the World: 8 Novellas
4 out of 5: Although labeled “novellas” in the subtitle, these eight pieces are true short stories; each one contains only a few key characters and spans roughly twenty pages. In the broadest sense, these stories uncover the hidden sources of humanity’s best qualities: happiness, forgiveness, love, and generosity. Schmitt’s tormented characters stumble upon these redemptive qualities in the unlikeliest of places, often despite their own reprehensible behavior. In “Wanda Winnipeg,” a wealthy divorcée anonymously gives hundreds of thousands of dollars to her destitute first lover in an uncharacteristic showing of generosity and consideration. In “A Fine Rainy Day,” a “cynical and disenchanted” widow discovers her buried optimism. An ironical deathbed gift turns into a much-needed fortune in “The Forgery.” All eight stories in The Most Beautiful Book in the World are tightly constructed and concise without sacrificing a deep sympathy for humanity’s dark moments and a celebration of its redeeming acts.

Schmitt’s simple and artful prose captures his characters' most intimate and raw moments without melodrama. In this example from “Odette Toulemonde,” Balthazar, a wildly successful novelist, recognizes the falsity of his life:

[H]e owned an apartment in the center of Paris which left many people feeling envious, but did he really like it? There was nothing on the walls, windows, shelves, or sofas that he himself had chosen: a decorator had done it all. In the living room there was a grand piano that no one played, a laughable symbol of social rank; his study had been designed with magazine publication in mind, because Balthazar actually preferred to write in cafes. He realized he was living in a décor. Worse than that—a décor that wasn’t even of his own making.

Schmitt relies too often on tidy endings—several stories involve conveniently-timed medical emergencies, for example—but such occasional contrivances cannot overshadow this collection’s masterful depiction of the messy but wonderful human condition.

A Review of The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

The Imperfectionists

4 out of 5: In this collection of linked short stories, each story follows the perspective of an employee (or, in one case, a devoted reader) of an international English-language newspaper based in Rome. As a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and with experience as a foreign correspondent stationed in Rome, Rachman is well-qualified for his subject. Every story is graced with his first-hand knowledge of the industry and his obvious love of the profession. Many of the same characters appear in several stories, creating a book that falls somewhere between a short story collection and a novel.

With lightening-quick prose that’s heavy on dialog, Rachman catches his characters at tense, often life-changing, moments. On the whole, these are energetic and suspenseful stories, filled with crises and stress. I often found myself disappointed at the end of each one, not because the stories aren’t good but because they’re almost too good. I wanted each one to continue. The stories of Rachman’s full-fledged characters could support several full-length novels, and these brief glimpses into their chaotic lives left me craving more. The Imperfectionists confronts some of life’s most difficult moments without ever losing its snappy and entertaining style.

The Literary License Family is Growing/Schedule Change

My husband and I are expecting our first baby in late August. We're excited for her arrival, but my reading for Literary License is now frequently interrupted with baby books, trips to baby stores, and an increased number of visits to family and friends. As a result, I'm unable to maintain my weekly review schedule for the time being and will be switching to a looser schedule of two to three reviews a month. I will post reviews as I finish books, rather than targeting a particular day of the week. Thanks for being flexible during this busy time!

A Review of The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano (translated by Shaun Whiteside)

The Solitude of Prime Numbers: A Novel

4.5 out of 5: Physicist Paolo Giordano’s debut novel, The Solitude of Prime Numbers, won Italy’s premier literary award, the Premio Strega, in 2008. Now available in the U.S. in an English translation, The Solitude of Prime Numbers explores the poignant relationship that develops between two misfits, Alice and Mattia. Alice, an anorexic with a limp left over from a childhood skiing accident, resists forming trusting relationships, and Mattia, carrying a lifetime of guilt over the early loss of his twin sister, is forever surrounded by a “contagious air of tragedy.” Beginning with their teenaged years, Alice’s and Mattia’s lives progress in mostly parallel narratives with only occasional, and often awkward, intersections. Over time, Alice and Mattia build “a defective and asymmetrical friendship, made up of long absences and much silence, a clean and empty space where both could come back to breathe ….” Like for prime numbers, which are always sandwiched between ordinary numbers, “solitude is the true destiny” for Alice and Mattia.

Giordano’s elegant and understated prose perfectly matches the elegiac tone of Alice’s and Mattia’s story. Shot through with poetic passages that resist shading into extravagance, Giordano’s sentences are a joy to read even if the novel’s episodic presentation, along with the accompanying substantial gaps in time, is sometimes unsatisfying. The novel’s graceful conclusion resists smoothing over the wonderful and confusing complexity of human relationships. Overall, The Solitude of Prime Numbers is a haunting and rewarding read.