Customer Reviews

Jamesland

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Michelle Huneven, relying on an exquisite use of language and a sharp sense of humor, has created a wonderfully bizarre love story that blooms from the City of Angels. Dysfunctional much of the time, but secure in their desire to improve themselves and find love in the right places (even if they hang around the wrong places a bit too long), Pete and Alice have every reason to disturb and rankle the other. But within the healing orbits of an unusually honest minister (Helen) and Alice's eccentric aunt, Kate, we can rejoice in their respective baby steps toward something resembling a "normal" life. Thrown into the mix is--almost literally--the ghost of William James and an assortment of Los Angeles inhabitants such as a jive-talking, white cross-dresser and a beautiful, aging movie star. Huneven, who simply is a brilliant writer, begins this novel with a haunting image that carries through until the final pages. This is a spectacularly successful work of fiction that deserves to be read.

Huneven writes novels of those consigned to the margins of society. In her first, very excellent, book, Round rock, the aspect that marginalized it's characters was alcoholism. The aspects of marginalization in this also excellent novel are more diverse--the thread that holds this book together is place--in this case, Los Angeles.

Jamesland is the story of three people living "on the edge" to varying degrees and for various reasons. Helen Harlan is an ordained minister of distinct spiritual inclination consigned to a largely secular, spiritually disengaged Unitarian congregation in LA. What should be a source of great personal satisfaction and a springboard to self actualization is instead a source of perpetual angst and dissatisfaction.

Alice Black is a lady of very modest means whose life has been a long exercise in personal unhappiness, attained largely through a series of disastrous liaisons with married men who treat her like dirt. She is slowly but surely becoming a mildly deranged recluse in her aunts old, rambling home. Pete Ross is a former chef of note who one day turned on his family in a burst of violent rage and destroyed not only his marriage but his sanity as well. Recently released into the custody of his mother-a nun-he is trying to reengage with reality and society.

As the book opens these three circle one another like moths at a porch light--flying around one another in close proximity without actual contact. Slowly but sure their universe begins to contract to where they do make contact. The book is, essentially a chronicle of how they come together and regain their bearings.

There is significant editorial commentary relating to other ways of engaging--particularly the paranormal--provided through the presence of Alice's aunt Kate. Both Kate and Alice are relatives of William James, a leading authority of the paranormal of the early 20th century. Aunt Kate's obsession with her ancestor provides a context for this aspect of the tale.

This is an unusual book. There really is no plot of substance to speak of-this is a character novel. To be kind, it's pacing would best be described as stately. There is not a lot of action. Yet the book is mesmerizing. Almost from the start we are captivated by these broken people and care about them. The book is compelling if not exactly a page turner.

I thought Round Rock was a bit better book-this is a much finer story. You can't go wrong reading either.

I first read an excerpt of this book in one of Los Angeles's local free newspapers, and I was shocked to discover that the book takes place in the neighborhood of Silver Lake/Los Feliz. I'm always fascinated and intrigued to read authors depictions of local areas, so I approached Jamesland with a great deal of interest and enthusiasm. The suburbs of Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Atwater Village and the city of Glendale form a kind of urban background to the action of the novel. There are also a couple of pivotal scenes taking pace at the LA River, and Griffith Park, where Huneven really manages to capture the beauty and colour of the surrounding areas - the flora and fauna, and the sunsets with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background. The gym where Pete works out, the gourmet café where he buys his food and the bar where Alice works all have a ring of familiarity.

Familiarity with all the locales aside, Jamesland is still a good, quirky and whimsical read. And very reminiscent of British author Patrick Gale in style, tone and plot. Like Heneven, he too, speckles his work with dotty, eccentric, likable characters, and uses the centerpiece of church and rectory life to present his story. Transpose Los Feliz for an English country town, and you have a story that is very evocative of Gale's Facing the Tank. It really surprised me how much both authors writings are alike.

The question "how to people live in this world?" is the thematic heart of the novel - a world that is rife with betrayals, sadness and injustices. The three main protagonists, Pete, Alice and Helen are forced to face this central question as they are forced to re-evaluate the choices they've made and remake their lives. Huneven adeptly infuses her story with religious symbolism to make her point, and weaves throughout the narrative various ideas on religion, spirituality, the afterlife, and the relationship between our soul and our body. The story does get a bit overly "chatty" towards the end, as Huneven seems to lose her focus on the narrative. And there's a particular scene in which all the main characters have a séance in an effort to talk to the spirit of William James, which doesn't quite work. But Jamesland still provides a good, solid and authentic account of living in a neighborhood spotted with eccentric people - people trying to cope in an extraordinary world. I would advice readers who enjoyed Jamesland should also check out anything by Patrick Gale.

Michael

As a Henry James fan, it is interesting to see the effect that his brother, William James, has had upon the world. James' ghost (literally and figuratively) is present throughout this entire novel. This is a very enjoyable read by Huneven and cements her talent on handling multiple storylines and distinctive characters as she does in her first novel, "Round Rock."

The characters have all suffered very real traumas, and are trying to find their way in the world. There are times when you feel that perhaps things are going along a little too pat and Huneven then throws you a curve. Some characters and their purpose for being in the novel seem little more than plot devices but I can handle that because the rest of the book is so enjoyable. I found myself not only enjoying the characters, but identifying with them. The only main character I found a bit much at times was Helen, who at times seemed a bit too intrusive and pushy. Plus, while her sermons are supposedly inspiring, one can see how they may have riled her congregation of staid worshippers. I do like the expose of the hypocirsy among the members of the church Helen presides over. Imagine being a secular church dedicated to the innate good of people, but never doing good works.

Jamesland is a great, unique read. This is definitely a book worth holding onto.

Jamesland opens with Alice, great-granddaughter of philosopher William James, having an odd waking dream of a deer in her house. Alice fixates on the deer as a portent of a coming change in her life, and the very next day her life begins to change slowly and inexorably. The book does not dwell on the supernatural, though it does have a bemused dialogue with the otherworldly throughout. Mostly it is about three forty-somethings whose social and professional lives are deteriorating and reconfiguring. I'd call it a mid-life crisis, but these characters have that quality, peculiar to Californians, of being youthful, unserious adults. The book is mostly set on the East Side of Los Angeles in neighborhoods that I know well. It was great to read a book that addresses a somewhat larger Los Angeles than usual. Movie stars are around, and Hollywood is nearby, but they are just parts of the great stew of the city, things that are noticed but after a while not accorded any greater importance than things like Griffith Park or the LA River. The only other book that I have read that successfully turns LA's flashy side into just another bit of peripheral scenery is T.C. Boyle's The Tortilla Curtain. Huneven is well-known in Los Angeles as the food critic for the LA Weekly, and the way she writes about food in this book is magnificent. Pete (who along with Helen, a modern sort of minister, are the other two wayward adults) is a former near-celebrity chef who is recovering from a nervous breakdown, suicide attempt combo. His character is both abrasive and charming, the type of person who makes you nervous the moment he steps into the room. His background as a chef is the venue for Huneven's descriptions of foods. It was nice to see that Huneven did not place this book firmly in the world of food and restaurants in the way that many writers tend to crib from their day jobs. Instead, Huneven manages to weave her knowledge skillfully into the larger narrative. The book itself is a rather satisfying meal, best taken over a few languorous days on a sunny balcony or sitting on a park bench.

I really liked this book. Funky, real-world characters, interesting LA setting and history, and religious/mystical/psychic threads. I especially took to Pete, the down and out former chef who says what's exactly on his mind even if it's politically incorrect.

I love Huneven's writing and her first book Round Rock, but I think Jamesland could have used some more editing. Seemed like the same things were happening over and over. Like how may times do we have to hear about another off-beat religous presentation at the Wed. night church gathering? Or Pete walking by another house huffing and puffing or the three friends gathering for another meal. I almost started scanning at a few points, but I'm glad I didn't.

Also, the ending was pulled together too much. It seemed like it was rambling forever and then all the loose strings are neatly tied and then it ends.

I'm looking forward to Huneven's next book. She's definitely one of my favorite authors and I know she has a lot of good stuff to come...

"Walking down the street teetered on unbearable: the greens in trees, the friendliness of dogs, the expressiveness of the human face -- all of it asked far too much. The fragility of being alive sickened her, and she described her state to Perry as a nausea of the heart. The keenness of these sensations eventually receded into a dull ache, which Perry identified as compassion."

Michelle Huneven is an optimistic, sweet treat of a fundamentally spiritual novelist grounded in the exquisite pleasures of everyday life on our nonetheless troubled Earth and won't be a buried treasure much longer.

An Iowa Writers' Workshop graduate, master culinary critic and (plainly) once aspiring Unitarian Universalist minister from Altadena -- the Pasadena area home of the somewhat similarly spiritually ecstatic physicist Richard Feynman -- she sweetly weaves what appear to be her (just short of idealized and naive) fundamental themes: Friendship, especially hard won among the fragile misfits to whom she gives great dignity and, ultimately, wholesomeness, and "How do people live in this world?" In both Round Rock and Jamesland, the gratifying real question is: How do people (and, yes, "stars") really live in Los Angeles, the most misrepresented, insulted city in the world?

With a key character from Round Rock making comic cameo appearances in Jamesland, we can hope that this is the second in a series of comically understated, generously poignant novels about real life in Southern California. In Round Rock, the center holds in a rehab facility outside Ojai; in (William) Jamesland, the center holds in a Unitarian Universalist church in Los Feliz. Read Round Rock first and become a spiritual and culinary Michelle Huneven fan -- while learning about the real neighborhoods of the real Los Angeles.

Quite frankly, this is one of the best books I've read this year. A total joy from beginning to end.

One of the reviews (PW) called the narrative ``slow going." Not so. Perhaps stately, but never boringly slow. Good wise stuff, plus plenty of charm on every page. Two characters, of a type not always easy to make appealing, really work well. One is Pete, the obsessively blunt, often bizarre, sadly awkward failed chef. The other is Kate, an elderly aunt to main character, who drifts into Jamesland, a state in which she's living in a couple of centuries. Very funny stuff on New Age-y-ness, mediums. Very wonderful concrete evocation of the real Los Angeles. Very wonderful evocation of great meals. And good advice: a handsome nice guy with an adorable dog is not necessarily the answer to one's prayers.

A strong thread of spirit runs through this book in the form of religions, visions, seances and psychic flashes, but in truth, the reader is completely free to dismiss it as "pure hokum." The book takes some time to get going. It seems like it would be difficult to love these troubled, hurting characters; a haunted bartender with no taste for joy and a hunger for married men, a brilliant and suicidal man with muliple restraining orders, a perky pastor who absolutely hates her church. But when the author loves her characters as much as Huneven does, we have no choice. We have to love them. This is a thoughtful, sweetnatured read, full of small details and tolerant affection. I never laughed out loud, but I smiled plenty. It's that kind of book.