6.29.2006
Alentejo Blue: to Read or Ignore?
Monica Ali's new novel Alentejo Blue has been garnering mixed reviews, but I have to say, if it's different from her first, Brick Lane, which was amateurishly executed and ridiculously overhyped, that wouldn't be a bad thing. It's not that Brick Lane was the worst book, but the fact that it was selected, text unseen, to be published raises some suspicion as to the publisher's motives. Was it just another example of the faddish "marketing the margins" trend to have swept the book industry in the past few years? Bah, who knows, maybe I just didn't get it. Judging from the NY Times review, Blue sounds promising:
"Its chapters are told from the points of view of different inhabitants of or visitors to the region [Alentejo]: an ancient, closeted gay pig farmer; a fat, dimwitted cafe owner; a poor, scatty Englishwoman and her slovenly family; a predacious, alcoholic English writer; a local girl who wants to be an au pair; vacationers of varying ages and conditions."
After five hundered pages of the detestable, then pitiable, then constructed-as-pitiable, then exhausting character Chanu from Brick Lane, I'm a bit weary of her talent for characterization, but I might give this one a try, precisely because the reception has been so much more critical and she still seems to be faring okay.
