Over the past couple months, I’ve read a few books — not that many, for the same reason that I’m not going to write an essay about them; no time. The Stars My Destination (Alfred Bester), Bios and Blind Lake (Robert Charles Wilson), and The Housekeeper and the Professor (Yoko Ogawa). Might have forgotten one or two things.
EDIT: added some offhand thoughts in response to Facebook query; cross-posted after the jump.
Strongly recommend the Bester for sci-fi fans. Not only is it good, but I found it a real learning experience about the genre: what things were like; paths not taken; how original are stories today; etc.
Bios and Blind Lake are recommended for people who really like the story that Robert Charles Wilson tells in every one of his novels. But they are not the best introduction to that story; the best first Wilson novel would be Spin, which is really really excellent — among my favorite SF ever, and I try only to read the good stuff.
The Housekeeper and the Professor was enjoyable, but I might limit it to one thumb up. It wound up seeming a bit conventional to me?
Those are my thoughts-while-cramming-for-Conflict-of-Laws.
(Addendum: the most obviously successful elements from Ogawa’s other English-published book, The Diving Pool, all seem to be missing from The Housekeeper and the Professor. There’s no lurking menace; it seems simply wistful. I would recommend the Diving Pool more strongly.)