She Treads Softly: Impossible Views of the World

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Impossible Views of the World

Impossible Views of the World by Lucy Ives
Penguin Publishing Group: 8/1/17
eBook review copy; 304 pages
ISBN-13: 9780735221536

Impossible Views of the World by Lucy Ives is a so-so novel about a hipper-than-you-or-me art curator.

This is a week in the life of Stella Krakus, a curator at Manhattan's renowned Central Museum of Art. Her friend and colleague, Paul, has gone missing. Her mother, the world renowned glamorous art dealer Caro, wants to have lunch with her. Her soon-to-be ex-husband is stalking her. She's been having an affair/fling with her boss. And she's uncovered several different secrets, including an intriguing map, that she wants to research and solve the mystery.

Billed as a mystery, it really isn't, so if you are a fan of mysteries you might want to by-pass this selection. Sure she discovers some answers to the questions she raises about her discoveries/encounters along the way, but it never has the feeling of a true mystery. To make following the mysteries more challenging is the fact that Stella's not very likeable, or perhaps I'm just not as cool as she is.

I'll go with a so-so rating, conceding that small glimmers of hope for the quality of future novels appear in the pages. Honestly, I struggled to finish this one but kept reading for one reason alone - some of the descriptions in the writing. Not all of the writing is worth the struggle, but there are small, subtle gems hidden among the dregs of way-too-much. The problem was in the way-to-much. It isn't always satisfying to read a novel that seemingly strives for pretentiousness.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of the Penguin Publishing Group.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.