I recently read The Calamity Club and Mona's Eyes, both new, popular books, and they hit me entirely differently. Can you guess which of these I loved and which I didn’t finish?
The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett:
Well -- suspense over -- I loved this one. Absolutely loved it. I almost didn’t start it, despite getting a review copy from the publisher Spiegel & Grau. The description on the back about three misfit women bonding together to “claim what’s rightfully theirs” gave transgressive vibes that didn’t appeal to me. I just wasn’t in the mood for Thelma & Louise set in Depression-era Mississippi. But I gave it a go and could not have been more wrong in my interpretation of the cover description!
Stockett’s story is plot-driven historical fiction at its best. The POV switches between 10-year-old Meg, stuck in an orphanage with a cruel superintendent, and 25-year-old Birdie who is stuck solving the dire financial problems of her extended family. Their stories connect through Charlie, a woman whose tragic past drives her to an audacious plan to save all three of them. The characters are compelling, the setting authentic, and the plotting steadily builds to a satisfying conclusion. It’s exactly the sort of shaggy adventure I love.
Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser:
I made it through the first third then gave up. I only wish I hit the DNF button earlier! Mona's Eyes is the contemporary story of 10-year-old Mona who may or may not go blind following a medical scare. Her grandfather decides to teach her about art, so if she goes blind, she will have good images in her mind. Under the pretense of taking her to a child shrink, he takes her once a week to a museum to study one piece of art and discuss it with him. Every chapter is their viewing and discussing one work of art.
It’s like sitting through Art History 101, but without the slides and the laser pointer. Reading about someone else looking at art is as boring as it sounds. Unlike plot-dense Calamity Club, Mona’s Eyes has no plot, at least not in the first third that I read. There are little scenes interspersed between art lessons – Mona at school or with her friends, mom worrying about Mona’s health, dad drinking and running his vintage collectibles business into the ground. But those are just scenes, not story. Maybe they will tie together to suggest a plot at some point. There's a glimmer of something involving Mona finding a secret stash of valuable figurines in her father's storeroom -- maybe he can sell them and save his business. But that is two short scenes out of 150 pages. Otherwise, I feel like I’m sitting in class.
NOTES:
Have you read either of these? What did you think?
My book club is reading Mona's Eyes for our next meeting. I am dying to know what the other ladies think, although I won't be surprised if they loved it. Several of them are really into art and may love it just because it is a book about art. I like art as much as the next person, but if I want to learn about art, I'll read an art book or watch an art appreciation class on YouTube. I want my fiction to tell a story, not educate me.
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