The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
6 — Wednesday, September 8, 2021
With the return of school comes heavy
books, dense nonfiction and endless essays.
To balance the hefty academic reading, the
Daily’s Book Review writers have compiled
a list of six must-reads for the back-to-
school season. Some are summer releases
that might’ve slipped under your radar,
while others have been on your to-read list
for years. These books are exciting, sharp
and fast-paced: From celebrity memoirs to
gruesome thrillers, the recommendations are
perfect to combat the incoming fall semester
fatigue and keep you reading for pleasure.
— Lilly Pearce, Daily Book Review Editor
‘A Deadly Education’ by Naomi Novik
Wonderfully funny and sharp, Novik’s
novel is a post-Harry Potter fantasy
response to “what if (insert all-powerful,
big bad villain type here) grew up in a
loving hippie household” and then went to
a dangerous wizard school. The concept
is ridiculous, but the novel works because
it doesn’t take itself too seriously; at the
same time, Novik’s novel is more than
an experimental Harry Potter clone. “A
Deadly Education” boasts a compelling cast
of characters and brilliant world-building,
and reveals Novik’s deep understanding
of fantasy conventions. Some pop culture
familiarity will help readers catch some of
the more tongue-in-cheek references, but
the novel’s charm holds even without it.
— Elizabeth Yoon, Managing Arts Editor
‘Interior Chinatown’ by Charles Yu
An intellectual successor to Viet Thanh
Nguyen’s “The Sympathizer,” “Interior
Chinatown” prods at what it means to pass
through life unseen, reduced to tropes
and epitaphs. Yu’s main character is an
actor playing “Generic Asian Man,” but he
aspires to be “Kung-Fu Guy.” Each epitaph
and character comes with a predetermined
plot and role. Primarily dialogue and
formatted as a script, the novel delves
into all the hot topics in Asian-American
discourse: marginalization, the perpetual
foreigner syndrome, the fetishization of
Asian women. However, what sets the
novel apart is its keen understanding of
internalized racism and the bounds of self-
rationalization.
— Elizabeth Yoon, Managing Arts Editor
‘Greenlights’
by
Matthew
McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey’s “Greenlights”
captures both the dramatic exhilaration
of a celebrity memoir and the sincerity
of a philosophical work of nonfiction. He
reflects on his 50 years of life, starting
with the tale of his family and his
boyhood growing up in Texas. It’s fast-
paced, hilarious and authentic all at once.
McConaughey’s humor is perhaps the
book’s greatest captivator — the audiobook
does the book greater justice with
McConaughey’s
spontaneous
laughter
and gasps, making the book an experience
rather than a simple read. His easy
Southern accent provides an additional
layer of warmth to his genuineness which
wraps the reader in an intimate recollection
of his past: memories from his first gigs,
travels to rivers he swam in, dreams and
rites of passages he failed and fulfilled. It’s
the kind of book you read twice: First, to
laugh and listen; second, to learn.
— Lilly Pearce, Daily Book Review Editor
‘One Last Stop’ by Casey McQuiston
The New York Times best-selling
author Casey McQuiston’s “One Last
Stop” is a contemporary queer romance
set in New York with an interesting twist.
It begins with August, a 20-something
transfer student, fleeing her mother and
her obsession with her brother’s cold case.
August is a self-proclaimed loner but finds
it difficult to fight her solitary tendencies
when she starts to fall for the girl on the
train, Jane Su. The problem is that Jane
can’t get off the subway, nor can she
remember how long she’s been on it. With
the help of her roommates, August tries to
solve the mystery and help Jane — but it
might mean that saving her means they’ll
never see each other again. McQuiston
does a wonderful job balancing the
fantastical elements of unsolved mysteries
with the realistic sentiments of romance
and friendship, making “One Last Stop” a
must-read.
— Lilly Pearce, Daily Book Review Editor
‘Goodbye, Again: Essays, Reflections,
and Illustrations’ by Jonny Sun
Throughout
Sun’s
debut
essay
collection, plants pop up repeatedly:
Their resilience is described in “Cactus,”
their struggle for stimulation is detailed
in “Pothos” and their sensitive nature is
profiled in “Air Plant.” In “Succulent,” Sun
writes, “Never water a succulent to try to
get it to grow faster. It will not grow faster.
You will drown its roots and the roots will
rot and then the plant will die.” It’s a line
I’ve been thinking of often. Plants often
represent the self, and this essay collection
is no exception. Sun describes his previous
struggles with self-preservation while
describing plants with care. Ultimately,
“Goodbye, Again” sneaks up on you. It
doesn’t make any large promises, and
maybe that’s part of its charm. Sun
reflects on the mundane, offering up a
carefully-guarded piece of himself. Don’t
tear through the book like I did (the first
time); Sun’s labor of love deserves to be
savored in tender, comforting chunks.
In “Peperomia,” Sun writes of a rebirth:
“Over time, with a little bit of watering a
few times a week, a tiny sprout grew, with
two tiny, fragile leaves reaching up. And
now something else is growing, a new
plant, in the same spot as my first plant.
Like some sort of rebirth.” “Goodbye,
Again” is Sun’s unmissable transition into
an essayist.
— Meera Kumar, Daily Arts Writer
‘Gone Girl’ by Gillian Flynn
I’m not sure if I read Gillian Flynn’s
“Gone Girl” the way it was intended to
be read. Don’t get me wrong, I love the
concept of the death of the author — in fact,
one of my favorite aspects of literature is
its allowance for observers to take away
meanings that are radically different from
the author’s intentions. But I’ve read some
interviews by Flynn, and the themes I
pulled from the novel were clearly not
intentional on her part. Yet that’s what
makes “Gone Girl” so exhilarating for me.
This psychological thriller follows Nick
Dunne, a suspect in the disappearance
and presumed murder of his wife, Amy.
Without spoiling anything, there comes
a point in the novel when you’re clearly
supposed to feel bad for Nick — many
people I’ve talked to can vouch for this
— but I never did. But, in all honesty, this
made the novel all the more captivating,
because it was so fleshed out that it took
on a life of its own, independent of Flynn’s
imagination. Flynn’s ability to write
complex and morally dubious characters
and build tension by contrasting Nick
and Amy’s perspectives resulted in
an explosive novel I finished in one
sitting. And, in spite of how delightfully
tangled the characters’ schemes and
webs become, Flynn manages to craft
the perfect ending, so uniquely hopeless
yet appropriate that it reminds me of
masterpieces such as Jean-Paul Sartre’s
play “No Exit.” Needless to say, my
experience reading this novel will stay
with me for a long time.
— Tate LaFrenier, Daily Arts Writer
“Annette” tries to throw the
audience off from the outset.
Over a blank screen, a voice
tells the audience that noise of
any kind, including breathing,
will not be tolerated during the
film. This transitions right into
the opening number, asking
the audience for permission to
start the film while introducing
the main characters. It’s an
opening that will either have
you immediately hooked or
rolling your eyes and looking
for the exits.
The film is not afraid to take
bold risks, and once it has you
in its grasp, it refuses to let go.
“Annette”
follows
the
marriage
of
comedian
Henry
McHenry
(Adam
Driver,
“Marriage
Story”)
and
opera
singer
Ann
Defrasnoux (Marion Cotillard,
“Inception”). These professions
perfectly convey the film’s
tone with the combination of
the sadistic, dark comedy of a
shock comedian and the big,
emotional melodrama of an
opera singer. The couple has a
child named Annette, portrayed
by a wooden puppet, the center
of tension between Henry and
Ann. By making Annette a
puppet, the filmmakers avoid
gambling on the performance of
a child actor, while enhancing
the themes of Henry’s control
in all domains of life.
Director Leos Carax (“Holy
Motors”)
bombards
the
audience
with
unexpected
twists, yet almost none of
them would work without the
completely committed central
performances of Driver and
Cotillard. It doesn’t matter
what
kind
of
ridiculous
nonsense Carax asks them to
do in a given scene; both actors
are fully on board and give
everything they have to get
earn the emotional investment
of viewers.
Driver delivers one of the
best
performances
of
his
already illustrious career as he
compels you to be on the side
of a truly despicable man. The
physicality of his performance,
aided by his tall frame and full
use of his remarkable skill as an
actor, captivates the audience.
During
the
scenes
where
Henry is performing stand-up,
Driver expertly navigates the
conflict with both the crowds
at his shows and himself, and he
perfectly portrays the character
losing his mind.
As expected from a film
that swings for the fences
almost every second of its
141-minute
runtime,
some
choices strike out. The songs
are surprisingly weak for a
musical, and while they work
fine within the context of the
film, they aren’t going to be
stuck in your head for weeks
after hearing them.
The film also drags on a bit
in the second half. A new plot
development at the midpoint
means it takes time to ramp up
a new conflict, killing the film’s
existing momentum. Once the
new tension between Henry
and his daughter is developed,
“Annette” once again becomes
entirely engrossing, but the
tedium may lose viewers who
weren’t totally sold by the film
from the start.
“Annette”
has
been
a
polarizing film since it opened
the Cannes Film Festival back
in July, which isn’t unexpected
given the outlandish choices the
film makes. However, these are
exactly the kinds of films that
make the medium so wonderful.
It’s a film that doesn’t play it
safe and isn’t concerned about
crashing and burning. It’s a film
that, if enough people were to
see it, should spark fascinating
discussions for months, if not
years.
Not all of it works, but
“Annette” is one of the best
films of the year so far precisely
because not all of it works. It
makes for a far more interesting
and
invigorating
experience
than something that aims lower
and succeeds.
‘Annette’ is an
audacious, chaotic,
mesmerizing tragedy
Six reads for the back-to-school season
MITCHEL GREEN
Daily Arts Writer
LILLY PEARCE, ELIZABETH YOON,
MEERA KUMAR, TATE LAFRENIER
Daily Book Review Writers & Editors
Design by Megan Young
puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com
By Mark McClain
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
09/08/21
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
09/08/21
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Wednesday, September 8, 2021
ACROSS
1 Chess result
5 “NASCAR on
NBC” analyst
Earnhardt Jr.
9 Metalworker
14 Cancún coin
15 A party to
16 Island near Maui
17 *Devoted ESPN
viewer
19 Uneasy feeling
20 Word after box
or law
21 Bullish sound?
22 Wail
23 *Spec for
sandpaper or salt
27 Coll. near the Rio
Grande
29 Hard rain
30 Dance class topic
31 First name in skin
care
33 Caddie’s offering
35 Make a wrong
turn, say
36 *Quarry that
supplies
aggregate
40 Guys
43 Jai __
44 Quebec’s __
Peninsula
48 Racecourse
shape
50 Ready for bed,
briefly
53 Long-running
CBS series
54 *Garden walkway
component
57 Malarkey
58 Pachelbel work
59 Treasury
secretary Janet
61 Sahara features
62 Last player
selected for
a Wimbledon
ranking ... or part
of each answer to
a starred clue
65 Locale
66 Heck of a hike
67 Dell rival
68 Brings in
69 Actor Grant
70 Drive-__
DOWN
1 MLB rally killers
2 Researchers’
publications
3 To date
4 Klingon officer in
the “Star Trek”
franchise
5 ’70s hot spots
6 Strengthen, as
glass
7 Seuss’ Cindy __
Who
8 Suffix with exist
9 Language
student’s
challenge
10 Medieval estates
11 Thankless sort
12 Preferable,
gastronomically
13 Major success
18 Half a mint?
21 Contrived plot
22 Alert for an actor
24 Checkout printout
25 Unload, say
26 “Morning Edition”
airer
28 Alternative to
Margie
32 Noted period
34 Important
37 Square up
38 Hotel shuttles
39 Light earth tone
40 Short flight
41 Hurricane
mandate
responder
42 Tropical
grassland
45 Sudden stop
sound
46 Trailblazer
47 “C’__ la vie!”
49 Umpire’s
pregame request
51 Olympic star
Jackie __-Kersee
52 Deceptive
55 Wine qualities
56 Building wing
60 Challenge for an
atty. wannabe
61 TiVo, for one
62 Agcy. concerned
with fraud
63 Gershwin
brother
64 R&B’s __ Hill
SUDOKU
4
9
5
3
6
7
1
6
3
8
6
3
9
4
4
5
7
9
8
8
2
1
4
3
7
4
6
8
6
9
3
1
4
1
2
7
WHISPER
“Classic
yellow.”
“Game day!”
WHISPER