The other day, a friend of mine posted a picture of her brand-new reading room (which I built, actually). It is a cozy little space with one long wall lined with bookshelves, some good lamps for soft lighting, and comfortable chairs on which to read. She noted she had something like 700 books and that she had read most of them. Then she said that if you have more than 1,000 books, you are officially a library.
Buy Nirvana Is HereI have something like 1,500 books (not counting the ones stacked in the garage, various cheap kids’ books, and some my wife has bought that haven’t been logged). But I haven’t read most of them. I love going to the bookstore and coming home with a small stack. I don’t imagine I’ll ever have time to read all the books I currently own, but that won’t stop me from buying more.
One of life’s great pleasures is finishing a book and then looking through your collection, trying to decide what to read next. I’d hate to only have a few books to choose from. There is an especially great feeling when you pick something up, read a few pages, and already know you have found something special. Bonus points if it’s from an author you’ve never read before.
That was the feeling I got when I began reading Nirvana Is Here by Mikael Ross. I’d never heard of the book or the author before an email came to my inbox announcing its arrival. On a whim, I made the request, and a few days later it arrived on my front doorstep. There is always a mix of anticipation and wonder when you begin a new book. You never know what you are going to get.
Within the first few pages of this book, I knew I was in for a treat. It follows 12-year-old Tâm and 14-year-old Dennis Nguyen, two Vietnamese siblings living in Germany. While leaving an open market just across the border in Poland, Tâm accidentally bumps a van with her bike, leaving a scratch. She writes her name and address on a note, intending to place it on the windshield. Then they realize there is a woman inside. She takes the note, then offers them what sounds like a lot of money for the cleaver they just bought. Dennis agrees, only to then discover she was offering Polish money, not Euros. But the deal is made, and they go home.
Later, their spy-movie-obsessed friend Alex discovers a backpack on the side of the road. Inside, he finds the note with Tâm’s name and address on it. Also, a severed finger. He tells Tâm and Dennis about the discovery, and Tâm is worried that the woman from Poland must be in trouble. Tâm plasters the area with fliers, hoping the mystery woman will find it and reach out for help. She does.
The woman is Hoa Bin. She’s also from Vietnam. She comes from a small, poverty-stricken village. One day, a man said he could take her to Germany where he could get her a job and she could send money home. Instead, he took her to Poland and forced her to do terrible things. She was trafficked. She used the cleaver to attack the man who kidnapped her, cutting his finger off in the process, but he’s still after her.
Tâm will help Hoa Bin, letting her at first stay on the roof of her apartment building and then in a neighbor’s garden allotment. Then they’ll try to figure out what to do with the man after her.
Mikael Ross mixes this very thrilling tale with slice-of-life stories. Dennis gets a girlfriend – a woman who is a bit aggressive and just a tad frightening. Alex is friends with an elderly woman who was once a famous actress, but now lives in her allotment. These stories are given depth. They are just as interesting as the more thrilling one. Each character is well developed. The artwork is excellent. Ross makes great use of shadows and inky blacks.
The story feels both timely and realistic. Tâm is just a kid; she can’t fix this terrible situation she finds herself a part of. The story doesn’t end with some great showdown with the kidnapper. Hoa Bi is old enough and smart enough to understand that. She’s not going to let Tâm even try to save the day. Not everything ends happily ever after. But it does end well, and fulfilling on a story level.
I loved it and am excited to read Mikael Ross’s other books.
