Aimee likes geeks. Smart sciency types are definitely her type, between The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and An Invisible Sign of My Own, I draw this conclusion. And so, if you like smart sciency types, you might really like this book. If you like Literature, as a genre, then you might like this book. If you like drama drama drama, angst angst angst, sadness sadness sadness! then you will probably like this book.
It is not all about sadness. Angst or drama; and it's not snooty. But sadness is in the title and features pretty prominently. If you are having trouble, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I found the second half of the book to be a lot more fun than the first. But it is a book that generates very mixed reviews. In my own immediate circle it scored a love, a like, an ok, a meh and a hate. I like that type of feedback. It suggests to me a level of quality even if I did not perceive it. It has an ability to mean very different things to very slightly different people; who knows what it could mean to you.
In other words, disregard the rest of this review. If ya wanna read it, the best thing to do is read it. Otherwise, don't.
I found the characters in the book to be a little flat and too adult. Eight year olds talk like they are 30. The world's people tend to be governed by one emotion: angry people are angry, annoyed people are annoyed, boring people boring, distant people distant. Everyone seems to have a communication problem, even the empathetic people (who are always perceptive)... and no one is happy. No one. In the entire world. None. Maybe because they don't know how to talk to each other. Only a little bit of an exaggeration. In the second half of the book, characters are revealed to have more depth than I first thought and it is revealed that, surprise!, there are some people who are fairly content and maybe even happy. There are some curious people. Some people who love. It takes some waiting to find these non-depressed folks.
The Peculiar Sadness of Lemon Cake is nothing if not bizarre, for that is Aimye's aim. Her style of shooting. And the target she is aiming for is unutterable allegory. Like a Zen Buddhist, Aimee doesn't seem to have much faith that standard verbal fare can project her myriad messages to the audience. Nor does she seem to feel like a realistic story is her game. She goes for a fantastical reality which you must interpret for yourself. This is my favorite aspect of her story. But I don't know what messages Aimee is going for. I am certain that I didn't get them all. I see something about people choosing to become furniture in their own houses--becoming lost in their own private pursuits, not interested in living. I have met these people and I don't understand them in reality any more than in this story.
For me, this story feels very small. But it has a good chance to mean more to you. So disregard all of this drivel. Read a synopsis. If it sounds good, then try it for a while.
Scientific Analysis (spoilers comin'):
Nothing changes. No one communicates. They only commiserate inside themselves in a lonely monologue. Rose is 12 years old and can count 2 conversations with her father. There is no life outside this story besides what you read. The characters don't know each other any better than you do, despite living decades within the same household as each other. Every discovery she has about her father is told in a 200 page book. Likewise with her brother. And her mother. And George. Everything she knows, you have seen her discover. It is so small.
That is my main problem with it. It is too much just a story. It exists only within itself more dependently than epic fantasy. She can only taste emotions when it is palpable for the story. She doesn't taste her mother's affair until it starts. Why is there no lead up? Her mother is bringing snacks to some guy for years and it doesn't come off in her baking emotions? Why not?
It is not all about sadness. Angst or drama; and it's not snooty. But sadness is in the title and features pretty prominently. If you are having trouble, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I found the second half of the book to be a lot more fun than the first. But it is a book that generates very mixed reviews. In my own immediate circle it scored a love, a like, an ok, a meh and a hate. I like that type of feedback. It suggests to me a level of quality even if I did not perceive it. It has an ability to mean very different things to very slightly different people; who knows what it could mean to you.
In other words, disregard the rest of this review. If ya wanna read it, the best thing to do is read it. Otherwise, don't.
I found the characters in the book to be a little flat and too adult. Eight year olds talk like they are 30. The world's people tend to be governed by one emotion: angry people are angry, annoyed people are annoyed, boring people boring, distant people distant. Everyone seems to have a communication problem, even the empathetic people (who are always perceptive)... and no one is happy. No one. In the entire world. None. Maybe because they don't know how to talk to each other. Only a little bit of an exaggeration. In the second half of the book, characters are revealed to have more depth than I first thought and it is revealed that, surprise!, there are some people who are fairly content and maybe even happy. There are some curious people. Some people who love. It takes some waiting to find these non-depressed folks.
The Peculiar Sadness of Lemon Cake is nothing if not bizarre, for that is Aimye's aim. Her style of shooting. And the target she is aiming for is unutterable allegory. Like a Zen Buddhist, Aimee doesn't seem to have much faith that standard verbal fare can project her myriad messages to the audience. Nor does she seem to feel like a realistic story is her game. She goes for a fantastical reality which you must interpret for yourself. This is my favorite aspect of her story. But I don't know what messages Aimee is going for. I am certain that I didn't get them all. I see something about people choosing to become furniture in their own houses--becoming lost in their own private pursuits, not interested in living. I have met these people and I don't understand them in reality any more than in this story.
For me, this story feels very small. But it has a good chance to mean more to you. So disregard all of this drivel. Read a synopsis. If it sounds good, then try it for a while.
Scientific Analysis (spoilers comin'):
Nothing changes. No one communicates. They only commiserate inside themselves in a lonely monologue. Rose is 12 years old and can count 2 conversations with her father. There is no life outside this story besides what you read. The characters don't know each other any better than you do, despite living decades within the same household as each other. Every discovery she has about her father is told in a 200 page book. Likewise with her brother. And her mother. And George. Everything she knows, you have seen her discover. It is so small.
That is my main problem with it. It is too much just a story. It exists only within itself more dependently than epic fantasy. She can only taste emotions when it is palpable for the story. She doesn't taste her mother's affair until it starts. Why is there no lead up? Her mother is bringing snacks to some guy for years and it doesn't come off in her baking emotions? Why not?
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