On The Nightstand – Miss Subways – 6/9/2018

“Finishing A Good Book Is Like Leaving A Good Friend”

William Feather

I always know when I’ve been touched by a book – when it’s done more than just entertain me or amuse me or enlighten me.  Every once in a while you read a book that leaves you still – silent – balanced – reflective – thankful – crushed – uplifted – by the final page.  For me, it sometimes manifests in a reluctance to put it down – a desire to run my hands across the cover – as though that small touch will prolong whatever feeling I was left with at the end.  At other times, a book’s touch can manifest in an inability to move on or close – to clear it from your thoughts – a belief that if you sit and continue to think – you’ll get to a better understanding of what you’ve just read.  However it manifests, it’s usually just a desire not to acknowledge the fact that you’ve finished.

This was just such a book and I’m very thankful to JenniferTarHeelReader for gifting it to me through her review.  It likely would never have penetrated my pre-occupation with all the fine new science fiction and fantasy that I want to read had it not been for her intriguing review.

In retrospect, I’d also have to say that this book came at a perfect time.  It was a week characterized by the loss of someone as successful – as well known – as talented – and as seemingly in touch with the world around him as Anthony Bourdain – and the existential questions that kind of loss can’t help but raise.  It was a week consumed by my own preoccupation with difficult professional choices.  In a week like that, it was a small but meaningful blessing to spend a quiet Saturday afternoon finishing a book with such a profoundly hopeful message – one that emphasizes the potential in all choices we might make and denies the inevitability of unhappy endings.

I found so many things to like in this book. First and foremost – Emer – the protagonist – was just delightful. She’s simple on the surface – in her priorities and the patterns of her daily life – but rich and engaging and lovable when experienced through the lens of her thoughts, her emotions and the way she relates to those around her – both the natural and the not so.  In that respect, she reminded me a bit of Myfanwy Thomas in “The Rook” by Daniel O’Malley – another book and character that I truly enjoyed.  Emer is so straightforward, open, centered and guileless in all that she does – both in her mundane life as well as her supernatural experiences – that I couldn’t help but be charmed.

I really enjoyed Duchovney’s writing.  For me, it was witty, sharp and impactful – it hooks you and holds you – it pulls you along.  I loved the ambiguities that sit within the earlier parts of the narrative – the possibility that some of what Emer perceives may not be as real as it seems due to her past medical condition.  I loved the characters that surround her.  Sid / Sidhe was a consistent delight in both his incarnations, Emer’s declining father and the contrast between who he was and who he becomes as a result of that decline, Ging Ging, Madame Wong, Han – even Corvus – the crow that she saves – all had something to add and did it in a delightful way.

Finally, I loved the mythology of the book – that we bring our Gods with us wherever we go – that our belief creates them and sustains them – that America and it’s immigrant culture has made it a melting pot of Gods from all religions and all corners of the world.  It’s the same concept you find in Gaiman’s “American Gods” – with a kinder, far gentler face.  Duchovney’s world is one where we live in the unrecognized but constant presence of Divinity – a world with room for endless interpretations of that Divinity – and one where that Divinity is bound to us in such a way as to make them partners – for both good and bad – in the conduct of our daily lives.

It was a wonderful book that came to me at the perfect time.  Thanks to David Duchovney for a much-needed, uplifting read.