Books

Shopgirl by Steve Martin

One of our country's most acclaimed and beloved entertainers, Steve Martin is quickly becoming recognized as a "gorgeous writer capable of being at once melancholy and tart, achingly innocent and astonishingly ironic" (Elle). Beautifully written, this novella reveals a different side of Martin, one that is unexpectedly perceptive about relationships and life and profoundly wise when it comes to the inner workings of the human heart.

Mirabelle is the "shopgirl" of the title, a young woman, beautiful in a wallflowerish kind of way, who works behind the glove counter at Neiman Marcus "selling things that nobody buys anymore..."

Slightly lost, slightly off-kilter, very shy, Mirabelle charms because of all that she is not: not glamorous, not aggressive, not self-aggrandizing. Still, there is something about her that is irresistible.

Mirabelle captures the attention of Ray Porter, a wealthy businessman almost twice her age. As they tentatively embark on a relationship, they both struggle to decipher the language of love -- with consequences that are both comic and heart-breaking. Filled with the kind of witty, discerning observations that have brought Steve Martin critical success, Shopgirl is a work of disarming tenderness.

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Ever since Harry Potter had come home for the summer, the Dursleys had been so mean and hideous that all Harry wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature who says that if Harry returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.

And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor and a spirit who hants the girls' bathroom. But then the real trouble begins -- someone is turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects...Harry Potter himself!

With a book written about magic, especially one so centered on a world full of magic, the author could easily abuse his or her creativity. One thing for which I applaud Ms. Rowling is how well she maintains her focus in this series. While it is easy for us to get lost in her world, she never seems to miss a beat.

I love one of the minor themes addressed in these books: magic is everywhere, but as long as you believe it does not exist, you will never see it.

The Chamber of Secrets is the second book and thus Harry's second adventure. The main characters, who will comprise the nucleus of the plot going forward, are back. There are also enough new names and faces to keep the story fresh.

I like Book 2 more than Book 1. I surely give credit where it is due, so I appreciate Book 1 introducing Harry Potter, but I feel that Book 2 is more exciting. In Book 2 Ms. Rowling was able to delve more deeply into the magical world rather than spend time building up to it like she did in Book 1.

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"A child embarrassed by his mother," she said, "is just a child who hasn't lived long enough."

Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleanic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britain's defense by taking to the skies...not aboard aircraft but atop the might backs of fighting dragons.

When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future -- and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarefied world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France's own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte's boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.

I loved Naomi Novik's dragons. It is always interesting to see a different author's take on the fabled creatures. She wrote hers with grace. Novik's dragons are strong, intelligent (well some are anyway) and incredibly charming. However, I feel like she spent so much time creating these dragons who interact in this war-time environment that....well, she didn't have enough time left over for other development. We get to know both Captain Laurence and his dragon, Temeraire, well. Beyond them, there is little-to-no character depth. The fight scenes are slightly hard to follow in the minute military details, but they are still exhilirating. It is such a fresh perspective to imagine dragons used as legitimate means of war. I also felt that those same fight scenes were over as quickly as they began. I am not sure I would actually want them to be any longer, but the feeling I had was that they were very abrupt encounters.

I thought that the rigidity with which Laurence adhered to codes of honor was beginning to get old, but seemingly at the right moment it was brought up less often. He was hard to enjoy for how quick he was to defend his honor and that of others, but he does relax some.

I feel like Ms. Novik wanted to write Temeraire as a female dragon, but for her self-imposed limitation that female dragons want female riders, and a male protagonist had been chosen. Too often I felt like I read exchanges between Temeraire and Laurence as male-to-female interaction only to be reminded of Temeraire's gender a moment later. It might have been how frequently Laurence called him "My dear."

It may just be the dragon lover within me that enjoyed this new take, but the book was still entertaining. It is the inaugural installment in a series that I will continue to read. I am hoping for additional character development and maybe some closure in my battle scenes, but I won't hold my breath.

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