More Thoughts on Glaciers, by Alexis M. Smith

When you really think about it, I probably shouldn't have been so surprised.

[start/quote]"
  
   If I'm going to be really honest: my feelings for "Glaciers" are slightly more complicated than I generally like my feelings for books to be, particularly because I've pressed myself to spit out a what-out-of-what-stars rating and review... A style of assessment I've found to be seldom honest or all that representative of what a book is or could be to me or anyone else when it really comes down to it.

     I'm a fairly straightforward person, inclined to the critical and often cynical side of things probably more than is expressly healthy for a 22 year-old. So that leads me to conclude that my uncharacteristically muddled feelings are either expressive of the huge amount of stress I've been under recently as a soon-to-be graduate or, in fact, are a testament to Ms. Smith's ability to evoke the same kind of romanticized and achingly bittersweet nostalgia and longing in me that her narrator so often relates to everything from melting glaciers, not-quite-found-and-too-soon-lost loves, and the 'perfect dresses' of the world that (when reasonably considered) will most likely never be seen by one's true love... That is, at least not on the first date. 

     Again with the being honest, but... I didn't actually connect with Isabel very strongly for about 3/4 of the novel. This is usually a huge problem for me and the main factor which very much applied to my less than average enjoyment (if we're going by general internet buzz standards) of "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" later this month. And so, you might imagine how surprised I was when I discovered that this distance from Isabel seemed to impact me hardly at all as I powered through "Glaciers" with more 'heedless pleasure' than I ever did poor, yuppy, for-some-reason-not-very-funny-to-me (probably because I was trying to take it, like everything else in my life, a shade and a half too seriously) "Bernadette." 
     So, despite my initially not-so-strong emotional connection to the thinks-very-hard-about-every-little-detail Isabel, it was the language and Smith's particular turns of phrase and expert way of painting pictures across the page that really kept getting me invested in visualizing one recollected memory after another past association after another childhood retelling after... You get the gist. 
     I honestly *could not* get enough and am now convinced that I would eagerly eat up a collection of Ms. Smith's short stories with a spoon and lick my fingers afterwards with minimum embarrassment whether said finger-licking occurred in public or no.
The thing I loved best about "Glaciers" is that you really *do* get the picture. Perhaps not entirely of Isabel herself (although I'd argue that the last 1/4 of the novel goes a long way towards rectifying that in a very short amount of time), but of her memories and the associations she's built that surround the significant objects which so populate and characterize her daily life, giving it a color and dimension that in my mind resembles watercolor paintings still wet to the touch.
     Admittedly, this book paints a very much romanticized picture of Portland, the 'vintage' label, relationships, books, and... Okay, basically everything, but which remarkably at the same time is the very thing about "Glaciers" that makes a certain type of person (see 'prone to nostalgia' or 'one who already has a fondness for endlessly romanticizing the past') fall head over heels for it.
     These little stories of Isabel's are both artistically and strategically knit together so that they run seamlessly back like little rivers to "Glaciers" unifying theme of love and eventual loss, taking you on a Dalloway-like journey that ends (but doesn't really end) in bittersweet longing for something set just out of reach. And perhaps it's because I'm one of those closet romantics (albeit an extremely unsuccessful one) who is easily beguiled by anything with a charming history that made me fall just a little bit in love whilst peeping through these little rose-tinted windows into Isabel's world of memories.
     An unabashed love letter to sentimentality and romance surrounding all the temporary wonders we encounter every day of our lives, I give "Glaciers" an unapologetic 4/5 stars for the genuinely surprising amount it was able to make me feel over the course of a few short hours on a Tuesday afternoon.

"[end/quote]

     
In any case, this is what I ended up writing in the little Goodreads' review box this morning. Who'd have thought I'd had so many more nebulous thoughts floating around inside of me about it. I guess it really did get to me more than I thought!

And again, I probably shouldn't have been so surprised.

Until I get up the courage and the wherewithal to review Where'd You Go, Bernadette,
Torey

Margins Review: Wild, by Cheryl Strayed

Hold on to your pants, girls; it's gonna be a wild ride!

  Disclaimer: a version of the following review was originally written for publication 

in Issue 19 of  The Willamette Collegian (@WUCollegian).

     This may come as a bit of a surprise to anyone who knows me, but I’m not a girl that’s caught crying over movies or books all that often. No matter how moving the scene, how compelling the plot, or how wibbly-wobbly I may really be feeling on the inside, my eyes remain blissfully dry nine times out of ten. The only reason I’m telling you this is so that you know exactly what kind of a mortifyingly big deal it was to have a friend surprise-interrupt me as I was in the ugliest phase of a middle school style emotional meltdown while reading the last quarter of Cheryl Strayed’s brilliant memoir.

     After her mother died of cancer at 45, Strayed was left alone and parentless at 22. Finding herself separated from her husband, living in a tiny apartment, working as a waitress, shooting heroin and feeling “as low and mixed-up as I’d ever been,” she decides to take on the Pacific Crest Trail in search of what she calls “radical aloneness.” So, equipped with only an overstuffed backpack, ill-fitting hiking boots, a few dollars and very little experience, Strayed sets off to reinvent the life she feels she’s already lost. But my waterfall of tears and the resulting revocation of my ‘cold & heartless’ reader badge notwithstanding, I don’t mean to imply that Wild is any kind of a downer, because it’s definitely not! What it actually is, though, is one hell of a heart-wrenching, pillow-punching, yell-at-your-friend-to-leave-so-you-can-pick-up-the-broken-pieces-of-your-shattered-dignity good read. Strayed spends much of the book recounting her bizarre adventures in the wilderness as well as her strange interactions with the people she meets along the way, writing with fierce prose and sharp humor about some seriously dire situations which involve everything from her being pitted against the elements, wild animals and her own inexperience, to her tragic inability to afford a cheeseburger.

     Desensitized by heavily jargoned theoretical readings and eye-bleeding amounts of thesis research, I came to Wild with a heart that beat more out of habit than feeling. Strayed’s captivating tale of self discovery and healing in the Pacific wilderness repeatedly stomped on that listless contraption and gave it a good kick to the proverbial curb. Somewhere in the process of reading about this brave, reckless, and grieving young woman’s trials, my reader-self was transformed into something that felt more like it wanted to start exploring the wilds and damn the consequences rather than spend one more evening watching the world passively walk by a cafe window.

     Even in the life of the most prolific reader, there are only so many books you can honestly say have really made an impact on you or changed the way you thought about the world. For me, your typical jaded and cynical college girl living in the era of text-message breakups and melodramatic blog diaries, Wild is one of those rare mind-altering exceptions. It tells the insanely personal story of one individual’s much-needed spiritual regeneration found through the complete surrender of past identities and a deep immersion into nature in all its brutality, a life experience of Strayed’s that turns out to be indirectly responsible for unleashing a powerfully influential voice upon the literary world 17 years later.

And so, without reservation, I give Wild... 
... five red-laced, kick-ass Raichle hiking boots out of five!

* * * * * 

5 / 5

Margins Review: Glaciers, by Alexis Smith

The following review was originally written for publication in The Willamette Collegian (@WUCollegian).

          To begin, “Glaciers” is not a story about melting icecaps or old ships wrecked at sea. It’s about a young woman who is beginning to understand that life as we know it is only temporary and will one day become the distant past, leaving behind only remnants to be remembered by. Isabel is a collector of these remnants, and the plot of “Glaciers” is fueled by her desire to find the perfect vintage dress for a party that she believes will play a decisive role in her future. Populated with just as many beautifully constructed sentences as dresses, “Glaciers” is an eloquent love letter to the antiquated charm of times gone by and a work that stresses the symbolic importance of preserving the past. But, before I delve into any more of that, let me introduce you to the narrator.

          Isabel is a 20-something Portlander who lives on the second floor of a rambling Victorian house with only her cat and an eclectic assortment of old-fashioned knick-knacks to keep her company. Working in the dimly lit basement of a public library, it’s her job to tend the ‘wounded,’ or damaged, books and knit them back together again after years of being neglected. Reminiscent of “Mrs. Dalloway,” the novel’s main plotline follows Isabel’s mental journey as it unfolds over the course of a 24-hour period, broken up by a series of snapshot-like scenes featuring past conversations and reflections on memories from her childhood in Alaska.

          The cast of characters is small, but includes Isabel’s co-worker and forlorn love interest, recent war veteran Spoke. Smith’s subtle way of portraying their restrained, but quietly hopeful relationship is both insightful and endearing as she painstakingly constructs the little moments that work to bring these two lonely people together as well as those that persist in keeping them apart. Mid-way through the narrative, Isabel muses that to experience infatuation is to enter into a kind of heightened “awareness” that “suddenly sharpens your senses, so that the little things come into focus and the world seems more beautiful and complicated.” This description also serves as an accurate representation of Smith’s overall writing style as she utilizes poetic language to transform seemingly mundane scenes into inseparable parts of the overarching message; namely that moments, when studied carefully, are like photographs that allow us fleeting glimpses into the lives of others, and so deserve to be cherished and remembered.

          Essentially, this is the kind of book you can have a brief, yet satisfying romance with without having to worry too much about time commitment or being thrown into any kind of emotional turmoil. It’s the literary equivalent of a glass of wine after a long day and would serve as the perfect palate cleanser for a reader caught between best sellers and draining reading assignments. 

  
And so, since it’s definitely the kind of sweet & sentimental read well suited for getting into the Valentines Day spirit, I’m giving “Glaciers” a solid...

 ... three and a half lovely vintage dresses out of five. 

~ * * * .5 ~

____