Lost

I was intrigued when I first started reading Lost. For one, unlike the other books by Gregory Maguire that I've read, it's set in the contemporary world. Secondly, it began by making me ask questions: Who is Winnie Rudge? Why is she here? What is she trying to accomplish? Those questions drew me in and kept me reading.

Unfortunately, none of them were really answered. The novel is full of things started and not completed. Is it supposed to be somewhat of a moral tale like A Christmas Story? Or is it more of a ghost story? I don't really know. Maguire kept building up the story of the supposed "ghost" only to tear it down and say that it was all in Winnie's imagination.

The story is interrupted by plain text that's supposed to represent Winnie's novel that she's in the midst of writing. Except that she never writes anything down so why the different text? Maguire often uses quotes from classic children's literature to let Winnie describe her surroundings or what she's thinking. It comes off as pretension and the author comparing his own work to the classics. The prose is too melodramatic to compare favourably.

In the end I was disappointed by the book. Winnie was not a likable character and I didn't like the voice of the author. The story didn't so much end as peter out.

The Indianna Jones Handbook

How can one resist a book that advertises how to avoid the wrath of God?

Sure, the book is written as a joke but there's actually some handy tips in it. Not tips that you could use everyday but the kind that impress at cocktail parties. I had a good laugh reading it and that's what I was looking for.