I digress.
I have been setting a series of goals for 2014. One of these is to really get back into reading. I have set a massively insane goal of reading 100 books this year. I realize that for some, this goal is most certainly attainable. The fact that I am a teacher of English should also make this much easier.
It won't.
I will try my best to deliver a review without spoiling story elements for potential readers. I will then rate each book from 1-5 certain items that may or may not fill the mood. This review, being a test of sorts, will be completely impromptu. I will attempt not to edit as much as I am attempting to create a baseline for future reviews.
The first in this list of 100 books is Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris.
Not being an avid Sedaris reader, I was not certain what to expect. In fact, the first time I had heard about this author was through the teacher I was working with during my student teaching in 2009. He told me to get all of his books because they were the best he had ever read. I, of course, stated my overall interest in getting these books that were so vehemently suggested. I found this one, about a year later, in the bargain bin at my local Barnes & Noble. I figured it was worth the couple of bucks and was totally digging the cover. The illustrations contained within contain the same sort of whimsical animals engaging in human situations. It took me about four years to finally take it off the bookshelf and read it. It was quite short and I got through it in little over a day.
The book itself is split into numerous short stories that are reminiscent of Aesop's Fables in an unusual way. Each story, meant to have some sort of moral by the end, are only a few pages long. After reading the first of these stories, I had a good chuckle. Few books give me that sort of "laugh out loud" sort of reaction that this one did. I was excited to dig a little deeper into this one.
Unfortunately, as I progressed, the stories moved from a sort of lighthearted humor to something much more dark. Many play with the notion on how humans treat each other and some actually made me uncomfortable. There is still that comedic undertone that comes with each story, but it is followed by a period of what I can only describe as self-loathing towards my species. The animals in each story have distinctly pronounced human foibles. Examples include a hen with a enormous lack of self-confidence and a hairdressing, compulsively lying baboon. As previously stated, it is assumed that there is some lesson learned by the character at the end of each story... even if that character is left a bloody heap of flesh by the end.
At times, however, it seemed that no moral is present and the character just dies. There is quite a bit of death imagery in this book. I did enjoy how Sedaris poked fun at death as well as life with everyday situations. I could actually relate to some of these stories on some level. Admitting this is just making me more uncomfortable.
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| Cat and Baboon |
The book is written with large font and interesting illustrations by Ian Falconer. In my opinion, the illustrations become increasingly more uncomfortable as you progress. This may have been planned to induce laughter, but just made me uncomfortable. In fact, for the first time that I can remember, finishing this book and setting it down left me with an extremely uncomfortable feeling. I wasn't sure how to reflect, if at all, about its events or morals.
I give Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris "Three Rhinoceroses" for reasons that you will understand if you take the time to read it. If you are looking for a quick and interesting read, I suggest picking this one up. Just be warned that it evoked some certainly strange reactions out of me... I have been informed by a co-worker that Sedaris's audiobooks of his works where he, himself, narrates are usually better than actually reading them. If I get my hands on the audiobook, I shall give it a listen.
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