Review Catch-Up

I'm an idiot. I totally promised you guys several reviews that I never got around to writing. So, here's a quick recap of entertainment whatnot I've enjoyed over the last month that I never wrote about.

The Arcade Fire at the Troubadour

This was such a fucking amazing show! I can't believe I never wrote about this! I just got so distracted by all the funny articles about eliminating vagical wetness or something.

Anyway, this ragtag band of musicians from Montreal played a thoroughly enjoyable, intense 90 minute set of their unique brand of indie rock for a stunned crowd at West Hollywood's Troubadour in early January. The band's 8 assembled members pounded their way through the entirety of their debut LP (and Pitchfork's #1 album of 2004), the incredible "Funeral." Though the album's mainly a meditation on the temporary, ethereal nature of human life, you wouldn't know that just by listening to the music, which tends towards the bombastic, catchy and exuberant. And the show matches this spirit, using the band's explosive energy and enthusiasm to its utmost. One of the most fun concerts I've been to in years.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

I meant to give you all a full write-up on this terrific novel, but what can I say? I'm good at reading books and not nearly as good at commenting thoughtfully on them. I'm much better with the film analysis (at least, I hope so). Typically, when I start talking about prose, I wind up repeating the same trite, cliche judgements. Like "he's got such good dialogue" or "I liked the characters" or "it was under 300 pages."

But this was one of those rare novels that made me want to talk about it with others. It's the story of a 15 year old autistic boy, Christopher, who discovers a murdered dog during one of his strolls around the neighborhood. At first, everyone assumes he's guilty because of his condition, so he becomes determined to solve the mystery of who killed the dog. Unraveling the clues eventually sends him on a journey of self-discovery, in which he finds out as much about himself as about the murderer.

The first-person narration provides a more clear, nuanced, convincing portrait of mental illness than in any other book I have read. Author Mark Haddon spent years working with autistic children, and this experience has given him unbelievable insight and above all empathy for these brilliant people whose minds just work differently from everyone else's. Haddon develops Christopher's problems with physical contact, with troubling displays of emotion and with obsessive compulsions in such a way that, though the reader can't relate to his bizarre behavior, we can begin to understand Christopher and what motivates him.

Haddon truly disappears into this character, and I found myself completely engrossed by this brief novel. It took me all of two days to read it cover to cover, and I have since read it a second time. A truly wonderful book. I haven't enjoyed a book this much since Dave Eggers' "Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" several years ago.

Pepsi Holiday Spice

This is the most disgusting soda ever. I know it's not really an entertainment product, but I just wanted to offer the message as a public service. It tastes like they ground up about 100,000 pine cones into a vat of warm Pepsi that had been sitting out in the sun for a few days. And it's an unappetizing reddish brown color, as if the sun-soaked vat of Pepsi were covered in rust and grime.