Strange Pictures

Uketsu. Strange Pictures. New York : HarperCollins 2022. Print.

 

First Sentences:

All right, everyone, now I'm going to show you a picture.


Description:

What a compelling opening sentence. Who could not read at least a few more lines to have a peek into that picture and why this person wants to talk about it? The simple, perfect hook for readers. 

 

I absolutely cherish any book that when, after reading the very last line, all I can think about is going back to the beginning and re-reading the whole story again. 

This time, I think, I will catch the subtle hints about the characters, what's about to come, and the significance of overlooked actions and words as the story slowly unravels anew before me. 

It's like watching a great movie that you re-watch again and again for the plot, the characters, the foreshadowing, and the still-surprising actions (like in Jaws when you can never really expect nor avoid jumping when the dead man's skull drops down in the hole in the sunken boat hull).

 

In Strange Pictures by Uketsu (Note: please click here to read about this mysterious Japanese YouTuber/Author sensation whose identity is unknown as he always wears a masks and black body suit when pictured), we are presented with four seemingly unrelated stories as well as nine drawings. All seem distinctly separate from each other, including the art work. 

 

But after coming across an obscure blog called Oh, No, Not Raku, two college students in Japan are captivated by the drawings in this blog and the diary entries from its author. Raku's daily postings center around his family but contain drawings by his wife. These are quick sketches which seem somehow related, but pose many puzzling questions to the college students, especially after Raku posts that his artistic wife died during childbirth of their daughter

When faced with true sorrow, people lose even the strength to shed tears.

Next we jump to a story centering on an unusual picture drawn by a pre-schooler for his mother. It depicts the boy and mother standing in front of a six-story building. The strange part of the picture is that the apartment room where they live is smudged out. Why would that be? If someone could explain this "intentional" blurring in the drawing, they might therefore understand the boy and his mama, and possibly the history of each.

 

The two other stories also involve drawings, but their plots focus on character studies, broken relationships, crimes and mysteries where the drawings might contain a valuable key. 

 

But best of all, somehow all these stories, people, and situations have a connection to each other. Slowly, ever so slowly, readers begin to unravel confusing clues, clarify relationships, and uncover overlapping timelines in this seemingly simple, yet wildly entertaining book.

 

It's one of the most unusual, gripping, and puzzling books I have ever read. Cannot wait to start it all over again in the very near future, maybe next week. Uketsu has another book out now as well, Strange Houses, so I'm definitely checking that one out as well. Highly recommended.

 

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

Hallett, Janice. The Twyford Code.

Probably the most complex, yet completely engrossing mystery I've ever read involving the search for a children's book which might contain in its text the secret to a lost stash of money. Highest recommendation. (Previously reviewed here.)

Happy reading.

Fred

Click here to browse over 470 more book recommendations by subject or title (and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader).

 

The Puzzler

Jacobs, A.J. The Puzzler: One Man's Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life. New York: Crown. 2022. Print.

First Sentences:

One winter morning several years ago, I got an email with some ridiculously exciting news. Or so I thought.

Description:

 

The newest immersive living and exploration book from A.J. Jacobs is The Puzzler: One Man's Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life. 

 

He's one of my regular go-to authors whenever I need to read something interesting, humorous, off-beat, and uplifting. He always writes about his full-bore immersions into lifestyles and topics such as health (Drop Dead Healthy), reading the entire encyclopedia (The Know-It-All), self-improvement (My Life As An Experiment), and even following religious edicts (The Year of Living Biblically). Each of these quirky tales of inquiry and pursuit is highly recommended.

The Puzzler follows Jacobs' personal tried-and-true writing pattern: 

• pick a lifestyle or question that interests him;
• research the history, quirks, important people, and current state of that topic;
• interview the major figures in this field;
• challenge himself to incorporate their suggestions and immerse himself, with the goal to understand and hopefully become a better person and solve the toughest problems.

The Puzzler explores the intriguing facets of a wide variety of puzzles, including crosswords, anagrams, mazes, secret codes, Sodoku, chess, riddles, puzzle hunts, and many more. Some of these you may not have even heard of much less have an interest in. But in Jacobs' capable hands, he gently guides you so wittily and thoroughly to new challenges and experiences that by the end of each chapter you may want to tackle more of these puzzles for yourself. Fortunately, he includes examples of each puzzle at the end of chapters for you to try, with answers in the back of the book.

 

For an example, in one section he decides to explore crossword puzzles. He is already a fanatacal New York Times crossword puzzle solver, setting his alarm nightly for 10:01pm when the next day's puzzle is posted online so he can complete it before going to sleep. He feels proud that his name was famous enough to be an answer to a Times crossword puzzle. That glow lasted briefly until he learned that, as a Saturday puzzle, only the more obscure references are used and therefore his fame really was not so widespread. He interviews Peter Gordon, puzzle maker "known for his creativitiy and deviousness," who shows him the first crossword puzzle from 1913 (reprinted in this book for you to solve). Armed with solving tips from Gordon, Jacobs gets to work on and eventually solves Fireball #9, Gordon's toughest crossword.

For each puzzle, Jacobs follows a similar pattern of description and immersion, ending with his tackling the toughest version of that puzzle. He buys a 48,000-piece jigsaw puzzle (since it is the world's largest); competes with his family in the international jigsaw puzzle tournament (as representatives of the United States since no one else had entered); and learns that the normal Rubik's cube has 43 quintillion combinations, while the 33 x 33-block version, the Octahedon Starmix, has "2-followed-by-137-zeroes combinations." Of course, he has to buy a Starmix, but after recognizing the time involved and his own limitations, farms it out to be solved for him by a Super Cuber, someone who can solve a Rubic's cube in mere seconds.

There are many other puzzles, riddles, and posers to challenge readers. All are presented in Jacobs' witty style full of information and humor. For example, here's one of the tough rebus symbol puzzle he offers for readers to try:

                    B

 

(Sorry, the answer is not "A Bee" - the real answer is below) 

 

Puzzles, to Jacobs, provide the concept of a single solution which is highly satisfying to all of us facing a myriad of problems and answers in our daily lives. A clear-cut right answer is deeply reassuring. Jacobs shares that even Barak Obama fantacized about "opening a T-shirt shop on the beach that only that sold only one item: a plain, white T-shirt, size medium. Freedom from choice."

 

Highly engaging, challenging, fun, and humorous. I just love every adventure Jacobs takes me on. The Puzzler is a fine addition to his immersion lifestyle writings.

 

       [Rebus Answer:   ABOLONE - (a "b" alone). Told you it was a toughie.

 

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One.   

When the eccentric, incredibly rich developer of a virtual reality world dies, he leave his fortune to whomever can solve his mysterious puzzle clues that lead to his treasure. Of course, there are good as well as bad people trying to decrypt his obscure hints, and the chase is on.   (previously reviewed here)

Two Across

Bartsch, Jeff. Two Across. New York: Grand Central 2015. Print.

First Sentences:

"Charlatan."

Vera took a step forward, put one hand on her hip, touched the microphone stand with the other, and said, "Excuse me?"

"Charlatan," said the official pronouncer, Mr. King, exactly as he had the first time, with Old Testament rectitude.

Description:

Two very serious teens meet in the finals of the National Spelling Bee in Jeff Bartsch's delightful debut novel, Two Across. Stanley Owens and Vera Baxter return to attend the Bee each year, eventually sensing an attraction to the other's intelligence and quirkiness despite their different lifestyles. Stanley lives in a hotel suite with his mother in New York City while Vera's world consists of temporary homes i cheap hotels on the never-ending road while her mother sells computer equipment to clients across the United States.

Both Vera and Stanley want to escape their lifestyles and the plans their mothers have for them.Stanley's hits on the idea to enter with Vera into a fake marriage (with documents signed in disappearing ink), collect expensive wedding presents from wealthy hotel friends, return the gifts for cash, divide the loot, and then proceed with their own lives ... separately.

For Stanley, who dreams of avoiding college and support himself as a crossword puzzle creator, the plan is perfect. For Vera, whose ambitions include a college education and then a mathematics professorship at a major university, the plan is a means to an end. That is, until she realizes how much she misses Stanley, her "husband," who she sees rarely, and then never, as they drift away from each other.

But they share a love of crossword puzzle creation and continually submit them to papers throughout the United States. As they new lives progress, occasionally they discover coded messages in a puzzle's questions and answers that lead them to a rendezvous with their mate. And then, who knows?

A love story? Yes. A coming of age tale? Of course. A laugh riot? No, never. While there is humor and unpredictability, Two Across is first a clever tale of two wildly interesting people and the everyday obstacles they encounter (or put up themselves) that keep them apart. There is a sadness over these two as they deal with the repercussions of their fake marriage deal and the changes they undergo separately.

I was completely taken in by this book and loved the characters for their flaws, their dreams, and their cleverness. It is simply a wonderful book, full of emotion, expectation, frustration, and love. Can't wait for the next book by this new author, Jeff Bartsch.

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
About The First Sentence Reader blog

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Simsion, Graeme. The Rosie Project  

A quirky geneticist creates a 100-question test to find a perfect wife. But when Rosie, an equally quirky grad student, through a mix-up, is mistaken for a candidate, a funny, endearing, and wonderfully unexpected relationship develops. Excellent. (previously reviewed here)