Id heard good things about Cecil Castelluccis Beige, so I attempted extra lengths to get my hands on it. A copy popped up at Paperbackswap.com before I could get to a bookstore and wouldnt you know, but its the latest in a year-long epidemic of books showing up with water stains (despite my clear request that these sorts of books NOT be sent my way. Sigh).
Still, a little water will only prevent me from re-listing the book at PaperBackSwap. It wont prevent me from reading it with a canister of albuterol handy. Water damage invites mold into a book, people!
It was hard to put Beige on the Read Soon pile (as opposed to the ToBeRead mountain range in my office). It didnt linger long, a scant two months. Maybe two and a half.
In the end, I have to say I was disappointed with Beige. Its not that its not a good book. It is. Its not that you cant feel the music in these pages. You can.
Its that it reminds me so much of one of my all-time favorite books, Fat Kid Rules the Earth, that Beige seems like a derivative female version of the same story. Oh, there are differences: Katy comes to LA, expecting to spend two weeks with her father the legendary punk rocker. She meets a cast of characters who should have been vibrant and wonderful, but didnt live and breathe as much as Id have liked them to. I left this book wanting to know more about Garth. More about Trixie, and her relationship to The Rat. And I left it hoping that Lake would become less of the cliche she is in these pages. Leo, too. Talk about the perfect jock whos into one-night stands before he loses his virginity.
Still, if you either cant draw the comparison with Fat Kid or if you dont want to, the way Castellucci draws the music for the reader is well done. As Katy begins to understand it, so do we. Its a slow surrender, a slow realization of what music is and how it operates. And why its so important to so many of us.
I loved, too, the idea of the pool as the gathering place. In fact, I wish the final group scene had been set down at the pool. It became a strong metaphor for Katys transformation. But not just Katys. Her friends, such as they are, transform also, as the best characters in the best books do. Lake grows. Garth changes, although hes still too much an enigma. I want more Garth! (I can easily see him holding court in his own book, in fact.)
In a switch from most plots aimed at kids and teens, I honestly thought there was one adult who stole the show: The Rat. Man, the visual I drew of him was of Tommy Lee, all skinny arms and legs and tattoos. But hes also a man struggling with a past that continues to stalk him, a past that he built his legacy on. It can stalk him all it wants; hes going to continue to find ways to work it. His band wasnt a flash-in-the-pan. Theyre coming back.
And still, The Rat bangs his drums to deal with his addiction cravings. He bangs his drums because he doesnt get his own daughter. He wants, he needs, he cant wash his dishes.
Here is one point where Castellucci doesnt sink into the cliche: Katy doesnt clean up The Rats apartment. She finds a way to dwell in the filth and eventually, it stops bothering her. Maybe she even grows comfortable in it.
Fat Kid definitely ruined this book for me. The two are very similar; theres no doubt about it. Overall, I think the themes of acceptance within an often ill-regarded subculture were better done by KL Going. But theres plenty going on within Beige to recommend it, also. This is one of those books that could spin off sequels and series entries although part of its magic is that its complete as is. We close the cover and wonder whats ahead for these people. And we hope its all good.
One last note: Yep, I recommend this book, despite finding it falls short. Ive been talking about it since I finished it, Ive been thinking about it. Above all else, that is what sets the great books apart.
Still, a little water will only prevent me from re-listing the book at PaperBackSwap. It wont prevent me from reading it with a canister of albuterol handy. Water damage invites mold into a book, people!
It was hard to put Beige on the Read Soon pile (as opposed to the ToBeRead mountain range in my office). It didnt linger long, a scant two months. Maybe two and a half.
In the end, I have to say I was disappointed with Beige. Its not that its not a good book. It is. Its not that you cant feel the music in these pages. You can.
Its that it reminds me so much of one of my all-time favorite books, Fat Kid Rules the Earth, that Beige seems like a derivative female version of the same story. Oh, there are differences: Katy comes to LA, expecting to spend two weeks with her father the legendary punk rocker. She meets a cast of characters who should have been vibrant and wonderful, but didnt live and breathe as much as Id have liked them to. I left this book wanting to know more about Garth. More about Trixie, and her relationship to The Rat. And I left it hoping that Lake would become less of the cliche she is in these pages. Leo, too. Talk about the perfect jock whos into one-night stands before he loses his virginity.
Still, if you either cant draw the comparison with Fat Kid or if you dont want to, the way Castellucci draws the music for the reader is well done. As Katy begins to understand it, so do we. Its a slow surrender, a slow realization of what music is and how it operates. And why its so important to so many of us.
I loved, too, the idea of the pool as the gathering place. In fact, I wish the final group scene had been set down at the pool. It became a strong metaphor for Katys transformation. But not just Katys. Her friends, such as they are, transform also, as the best characters in the best books do. Lake grows. Garth changes, although hes still too much an enigma. I want more Garth! (I can easily see him holding court in his own book, in fact.)
In a switch from most plots aimed at kids and teens, I honestly thought there was one adult who stole the show: The Rat. Man, the visual I drew of him was of Tommy Lee, all skinny arms and legs and tattoos. But hes also a man struggling with a past that continues to stalk him, a past that he built his legacy on. It can stalk him all it wants; hes going to continue to find ways to work it. His band wasnt a flash-in-the-pan. Theyre coming back.
And still, The Rat bangs his drums to deal with his addiction cravings. He bangs his drums because he doesnt get his own daughter. He wants, he needs, he cant wash his dishes.
Here is one point where Castellucci doesnt sink into the cliche: Katy doesnt clean up The Rats apartment. She finds a way to dwell in the filth and eventually, it stops bothering her. Maybe she even grows comfortable in it.
Fat Kid definitely ruined this book for me. The two are very similar; theres no doubt about it. Overall, I think the themes of acceptance within an often ill-regarded subculture were better done by KL Going. But theres plenty going on within Beige to recommend it, also. This is one of those books that could spin off sequels and series entries although part of its magic is that its complete as is. We close the cover and wonder whats ahead for these people. And we hope its all good.
One last note: Yep, I recommend this book, despite finding it falls short. Ive been talking about it since I finished it, Ive been thinking about it. Above all else, that is what sets the great books apart.
