Book seven of the 48-hour Book Challenge binge!
Miriam is tired of her boring life, her boring town, and the inbetween-ness of being fifteen. She wants something to happen–and that’s just what she gets with the new girl, Laura. Miriam is oddly fascinated with Laura, but it’s not until Laura kisses her while they’re both stoned that she realizes why.
This is a hard book to blurb, because not a lot really happens–everything unfolds in a cloud of ennui and a series of slow, deliberate steps where small things take on huge emotional and symbolic weight. It’s like CanLit, but German! I am going to assume it’s a good translation (by Shelley Tanaka), because the text definitely has its own distinctive voice and town. I also appreciated that it was definitely set in Germany, and not translated into some generic North American setting. Way more casual smoking than I’m used to seeing–maybe it’s a European thing? I would have liked more closure at the ending (yes, I was disappointed when I didn’t find out why Laura’s obssessed with gumball machines) but I think that’s more indicative of my tastes as a reader than any inherent flaw in the story. This book isn’t going to appeal to a wide audience because it reads like high literary fiction to me, but I think that when it finds the right readers, they’re going to love it fiercely.
June 7, 2009 at 3:27 pm
[...] 6:40 – 7:15, Girl from Mars by Tamara Bach [...]
July 8, 2009 at 10:30 pm
[...] Girl from Mars by Tamara Bach, translated by Shelley Tanaka. “Miriam is fifteen and she has lived in the same little town her whole life, going to school with the same kids who know everything about her. But now she’s in high school and wishing she lived in a big city where she could meet new people and see new things. In other words, like fifteen-year-olds everywhere, Miriam is desperately waiting for her life to start happening. Something, anything — a first love, perhaps. And then love comes, in a completely unexpected way, when Miriam meets a new classmate, Laura. Suddenly, life is very complicated and unsettling, as Miriam finds herself lying to her girlfriends, avoiding her brother’s probing questions, and second guessing every move she makes. At the same time she’s constantly on edge trying to figure out Laura’s moods and exactly how her arrogant friend Philip fits into her life. Then Philip, Miriam and Laura take a weekend trip to the big city — a trip that makes everything clear, and more confusing than ever.” [...]