The Crystal Fountain and Other Stories by Malachi Whitaker (review by Andrew R. '17)

The Crystal Fountain & Other Stories by Malachi Whitaker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sometimes being forgotten is almost an honor in the literary world. It’s an invitation to be rediscovered decades after one’s death, then to enjoy revival as a cult favorite before breaking triumphantly back out into the mainstream market. When I read my first Malachi Whitaker short story, “Landlord of the Crystal Fountain,” I was sure I’d stumbled upon one of these forgotten masters: despite the near-impossibility of finding any of her work, which hasn’t been collected since the mid-1980s, the story’s flowing language (not to mention its intriguing title) indicated that Whitaker’s work deserves much more attention than it’s been given. The Crystal Fountain and Other Stories is one of very few collections by Whitaker that’s still in circulation, so I sought it out and devoured all its stories over the course of a few days, searching for the quality that had made the title story so appealing. What a disappointment to discover that the other stories were nearly indistinguishable in their plots: rural Britain, lonely working-class woman, innocent dreams developed for several pages then suddenly crushed. That’s not to say the stories weren’t enjoyable, but, unlike “Landlord of the Crystal Fountain,” they weren’t quite worth the effort taken to procure them. - Andrew R. '17

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Fortress Besieged by Qian Zhong Shu (review by Andrew R. '17)

Fortress Besieged by Qian Zhong Shu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It’s a sad fact of English-language literature that the number of books translated from English and shipped around the world far outstrips that of books translated into English from other languages. That means the pool of books available to American readers in translation from, say, Mandarin is relatively limited—only works of scholarly interest, unusual acclaim, or specifically Western appeal make their way to our libraries. Fortunately, Qian Zhongshu’s classic Fortress Besieged meets all three criteria. Not only has it been the object of intense study and widespread consumption in the seventy-five years since its publication, but its consistent references to Western proverbs and literature make it uniquely relatable to an American audience. (The excellent translation by Nathan K. Mao and Jeanne Kelly also helps.) The reader follows Fang Hung-Chien, a graduate student returning home from Europe, as he stumbles through a sticky love triangle, an exhaustive trip to China’s interior, and finally a bitter and loveless marriage. The author’s intent sometimes seems to be to poke fun at every subject he can come up with, from the Chinese to the Jews, from government officials to university professors, from bachelors to husbands to women of every age. None of this, though, changes the novel’s unique and undeniable cultural value. - Andrew R. '17

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Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A. S. King (review by Mrs. Vaughan, Harker librarian)

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Glory O'Brien is about to graduate from high school but her future remains uncertain despite her apparent talents and a supportive single father. Glory remains haunted by the suicide of her artistic and even more talented mother fourteen years previous. Confident in her tendency to eschew the passing trends celebrated by teens around her, Gloria is nonetheless crippled by the fear that she harbors some unidentified trait that will lead her down the un-understandable path her mother traveled long ago. In a bizarre twist, Glory acquires the ability to see people's futures and a terrifying dystopia, in which girls and women are reduced to less than chattel, reveals itself in sudden flashes as she encounters friends and strangers. By accident of circumstance, Glory not only needs to reconcile her identity and future, but ward off the impending devolution of society.

The beauty of King's story is the character of Glory -- a fully realized personality that subtly draws the reader into what at first seems a compelling coming-of-age story. Indeed, the much more frightening threat of societal dissolution is beautifully cloaked in the power of Glory's story. Glory is a character drawn of perfectly believable contradictions: she simultaneously exudes self confidence and self questioning. She is both determined and terrified. Little does she know that the mystery of her personal circumstances may unlock more than her own salvation.

King's is not a fantastic tale. Beyond the convention of the future visions, the existing discomfort in Glory's life, the misogynistic forebodings and the novel's satisfying ending are grounded in reality. Readers who enjoyed Chbosky's Perks of Being a Wallflower and Lockhart's We Were Liars, as well as King's Please Ignore Vera Dietz will be thoroughly pleased with Glory O'Brien's History of the Future. - Mrs. Vaughan, Harker librarian

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I Am a Strange Loop by Douglas R. Hofstadter (review by Andrew R. '17)

I Am a Strange Loop by Douglas R. Hofstadter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In I Am a Strange Loop, Pulitzer Prize-winning professor Douglas Hofstadter proves that nonfiction doesn’t necessarily have to be built on fact; without much more than a lattice of elaborate metaphors and classical allusions to support the credibility of his arguments, he makes a case that’s both cogent and convincing. It boils down to this: in a brain comprised of complex neural symbols, the concept of “I” (also referred to as the “soul” or “self-symbol”) is a self-referential feedback loop of indefinite duration. Hofstadter presents a host of comparisons to better illustrate his abstract point, invoking repeatedly the ideas of a spring-loaded domino circuit, a video camera that points to its own screen, and, most effectively, a famous self-referential theorem by the mathematician Kurt Gödel. (Three chapter are spent providing mathematical context alone.) It’s in these creative metaphors that Hofstadter is most at home, and every time he spins off on a bizarre tangent you can be sure he’ll twist it to make his point even more forceful. In the end, his most abstract ideas were a little hard to swallow, but it’s easy to respect and value his arguments without totally agreeing with them. - Andrew R. '17



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Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story of survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff (review by Akshay B. '16)

Lost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lost in Shangri-La is the incredible true story of the "Gremlin Special," which crashed on May 13, 1945, in the uncharted New Guinea region referred to as Shangri-La. Of the original twenty-four officers, only three survived and struggled with their grief and injuries, all while fighting to survive in a harsh and unforgiving jungle surrounded by tribes rumored to be cannibals and Japanese soldiers infamous for their brutality. The narrative's greatest strength comes from the honest fortitude of the trio, but at the same time Zukoff critiques the Americans for completely altering the way-of-life of the New Guineans. Ultimately, the interaction with the natives mirrors the destructive conflicts between American settlers and Native Americans, in which the latter were at the outset the saviors of colonists but eventually were ruined by them. Thus, though the exterior reality of the rescue tale resounds within the reader, the deeper undertone condemns the methods in which the rescue was achieved. - Akshay B. '16

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