"Night Film" by Marisha Pessl

Night Film by Marisha Pessl follows the story of disgraced journalist Scott McGrath as he attempts to unravel the mystery behind the death of the daughter of an enigmatic horror film director, Stanislas Cordova. To solve the mystery of Ashley Cordova's death, McGrath must also unravel the mystery of Stanislas Cordova himself--an endevour previously undertaken by McGrath, which resulted in the loss of both his marriage and his career. In his attempt to expose Cordova, McGrath enters "a hypnotic, disorientating world, where almost everyone seems afraid" (Goodreads).

***

If, during the course of this novel, you begin to experience a very faint case of déjà vu, you wouldn't be alone. The descriptions of Stanislas Cordova and the films for which he is famous in this novel, are a bizarre hybrid of Alfred Hitchcock meets Orson Wells; a deliberate choice on the part of Pessl, I believe, in order to allow the reader to be able to have a sense of familiarity with this enigmatic, elusive character (never seen, but always talked about) right from the start of the story. Stanislas Cordova might not be a real person in outside of this novel...but he stands as a representation of familiar figures in the suspense/horror film industry. He stands as such a powerful figure of mystery and questionable action, that it almost is possible for McGrath's question to uncover the mystery of Cordova to be carried without the addition of the mysterious death of Cordova's daughter. Almost.
   The questionable death of Ashley Cordova brings into the story what it would lack without it--namely, a reality check. McGrath seeking answers regarding the death of Ashley reinforces the idea that Cordova is in fact a singular person who marks the lives of those around him. Without Ashley and her death, it would have been easy to explain Cordova away as just the face of an massive organisational conspiracy, but not actually a real person. Ashley confirms to the audience that Cordova is a real person, steep in mystery, but a tangible person nonetheless. Ashley keeps the story grounded in reality.
      Sort of.
   I say "sort of" because eventually you'll reach a point in the novel where it starts to read like the most intense H.P. Lovecraft story ever written, and reality flies right out the window. This is right around the time that people in the story are lacing everything with powerful hallucinogenics, diving into dark magic, and summoning demons.
However, it is still a compelling story that I am glad I stuck with until the end. It is a story about a man who chose dark suspense films as his artistic medium, and in the process of revealing his character, reads just like one of those dark suspense films--giving the reader the same adrenaline rush.

***

Night Film by Marisha Pessl is available at the Ocean City Free Public Library.

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

For some reason, I felt like it took me forever to finish this one, which is strange because it was a rather cute little story. Truly is a heroine of enormous proportions - she was born big (which ultimately kills her mother and turns her father into an alcoholic) and continues to just grow and grow throughout her life in upstate New York. All of this is compounded by the fact that her older sister, Serena Jane, is beloved by the rest of the town for being little, dainty, beautiful and perfect. Despite all of these hardships, Truly remains a kind figure, if something of an outcast. However, after her sister's untimely demise, Truly must move in to take care of Serena's nefarious husband and child. And this is where things start to get a little...crazy. There's lots more to this story than I'm describing - betrayal, murder, mysticism and true love. The pacing is quick and Baker does a nice job of characterization. Overall, a good read.

OCFPL Book Club - January

Welcome to the 2023 OCFPL Book Club season. We chose quite the range of books this year. We hope you can join us in our monthly virtual discussions as we set off on this year's reading adventure. This month we discussed The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan. Overall many members of our book club enjoyed this book. They loved how the stories of the various characters intertwined with each other. Bridging the past to the present. Going back and forth with these stories at first does not make sense until the end, when the final puzzle piece is placed do you see the whole picture and it is quite delightful to see all that unfold. One of the elements of this book is the story of how random things that are found have stories to them. A lost puzzle piece found on the road or a random hair bobble found on the ground in the park may mean nothing to a simple person who may walk right past it. Yet for Anthony, our keeper of lost things, revered these items. Carefully recorded where and

OCFPL Book Club - February

This month we discussed Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Most of our discussion group enjoyed this book. They loved how the story started with two sisters and how the lineage grew with each of them but at the end, those who were once separated have found their way back to each other. Also, seeing the impact and development of history throughout the generations in this story. While the book only touched the beginnings of the history of Ghana, we discussed how through this book we learned more about slave history that what we knew before. It was eye opening and though provoking. The element of trauma that can cause a generational fear in the family was interesting to see unfold through the story. How the fear of water was caused by a drowning from the past and the fear of fire was caused from a massive fire from another past trauma through in the family. It may seem insignificant but it led to the discussion of how we reflect on our own fears and the fears off our parents or family members

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