Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Were I a well-known pithy book reviewer I might have titled this review "Fall of Giant".  But I'm not, so suffice it to say this was not one of my favorite books this year. 

The premise is appealing:  Follett sets out to write a trilogy of books about a large set of characters (five families' worth although I lost count) spanning the 1900s and multiple continents.  This first book in the trilogy follows several characters during the outbreak and length of WWI. 

Except Follett's skill as an epic storyteller, so perfectly executed in The Pillars of the Earth, was missing.  The characters were thinly developed, and every third page had someone conducting an illicit affair.  The descriptions of battle were incredibly boring while those of diplomacy were tedious.  And there was no flow to the book as a whole - perhaps that is what happens when you know you are writing a trilogy at the beginning of Book One.

As a Follett fan, I am bummed.  I wanted to like this book but it missed the mark entirely for me.  Too bad, too, that I have to sit out his next two before I can read something new of his again.  Good thing I still have World Without End sitting unread in my bookcase to tide me over.

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

I like Jennifer Egan - I think she is one of the most creative writers of our time.  All her books start off straightforward then take a 90 degree turn into something I never expect. 

Goon Squad was no exception - it was an interconnected set of stories centering around a woman who is an assistant to a music producer, but the further into the book you get, the more ancillary the characters you thought were central become.  In fact, reading this book felt like idly clicking on hyperlinks on the web and finding yourself pages and pages away from what it was you started out to research.  I suspect that was by design - Egan provides some strong commentary on our technology-obsessed world towards the end of the book.

Also present was a theme Egan likes to return to - our society's obsession with beauty and celebrity a la Look at Me: A Novel.  In one chapter, she describes a has-been PR agent who has taken on a very unusual client.  One of the most unforgettable scenes in the book was the story of how that agent became a has-been. 

The other characters in the book were also compelling - they are seriously flawed.  Once is a kleptomaniac, one eats gold dust, and that is not actually the most interesting thing about either of them.  Egan's ability to develop characters is strongly on display in this book.  She has more characters than usual given the format, and yet they all come alive off the page.

I liked this book, but be warned of two things - first, take notes.  I had to keep track of who's who after the first three chapters.  Second - don't expect a neat and tidy ending.  There isn't one.