Conclave, by Roberto Pazzi; Please Stop Laughing at Me, by Jodee Blanco

[maribou]

Conclave is a book about a papal election that goes on for a very long time, complete with magic-realist touches. It seemed at first to be mainly written as an intellectual amusement, so I was surprised at the end by how moving I found it, how much I cared for the various characters. I was very impressed. The translation was a bit sloppy, but I think it was a matter of being done quickly rather than being done poorly.

Please Stop Laughing at Me was both heartbreaking and inspiring (two adjectives I generally try to avoid). Someone who is now a successful publishing executive wrote her story of having been bullied throughout her school years, without pulling any punches. Having experienced first and second hand the way that bullying is glossed over by society at large, I thought it was brave of her to confront denial by telling things exactly how she remembers them happening. Book put me in a bad mood for a couple days (I kept flinching for no real reason), but it was worth it.

(23,24/200)


(edited to note that I actually meant to post this to 50bookchallenge but misposted. but maybe I'll start crossposting now.)

Comments

DING DING DING QUESTION HERE

[raisinbottom.livejournal.com]

Did the other papal candidate not concede victory and take it all the way to the Celestial Court only to lose to the more conservative pope??????????????? Art imitates life

[doctorpepper.livejournal.com]

Conclave! I had seen a book at the library at one point that had something to do with papal elections, and then when I actually had time to read it I couldn't remember the title. That's got to be it. It's translated from Italian, then? (I'm assuming from "Pazzi.")

Re: DING DING DING QUESTION HERE

[maribou]

Er, NO.
Silly alien.

Re:

[maribou]

Yup, translated from Italian. There've been a whole slew of books about papal elections out recently, but the other ones are more of the thriller-written-by-people-with-strong-political-views-about-the-direction-of-the-church type, so if you are thinking of a literary Italian novel, this is probably your only candidate.

Re:

[raisinbottom.livejournal.com]

A slew? A metric or English slew?
But seriously it makes me wonder if these are being written in expectation of the demise of Most Holy John Paul the II. His Holiness is called back home, the College of Cardinals dicker and debate in the Sistine Chapel in regards to the successor. The rest of the world starts talking about what could be going on and these books will become more visible in the public eye for those who are curious about the secrecy and ceremony, living vicariously through the fictions. Of course this means every news outlet will pick out one book which they will claim is the definitive tale regarding papal elections. Fox, of course, will choose the sauciest one.