I've been busy and sad. One recent night, I dreamed I was lost, far from home and wearing the wrong shoes. Deaths in the family and a transition at work have me struggling to find the tools to cope with changes. Finding the time to write has seemed unmanageable and unimaginable. Reading, however, transports me.
Since I last posted, I have read:
"Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen. I borrowed it in hardcover from my friend Randy. Members of a white, middle-class suburban family make each other miserable. I loved it.
"What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal" by Zoe Heller. I got it from PaperBack Swap in CD. Hilarious, sarcastic, dark story of a teacher who has an affair with her teenaged student, then falls under the power of a so-called friend. The British-accented reader's (Nadia May) take on the friend made this book. I loved it.
"My Life as a Fake" by Peter Carey. I borrowed it in CD form from Dekalb County Public Library. Poetry magazine editor unravels the mystery of a writer who invented a great poet Frankenstein-style, then, Frankenstein-style, regretted it. I didn't like it. I didn't like Shelley's Frankenstein either. Though, I admit, I read that in high school and thought it was boring. Perhaps I should rethink.
"The Sorrow of the Elves" by Brian Bouldrey. I bought this in paperback from Gemma Media. This is my friend Brian's lovely and sad story written for adults learning to read. When illiterate adults learn to read, they would like to read something more grown-up than the "Magic Tree House" series. Ever think of that? Brian did.
"Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage" by Hazel Rowley. I read this with my book club in hardcover. Ann organized a group purchase from Amazon.com with free shipping. I was shocked to learn that Rowley died today. Everybody in my book club loved the book, which is pretty rare. It's a fascinating, detailed peek at the Roosevelts' unconventional marriage. It also reveals a lot about what life was like for the very rich and powerful in the early 1900s.
"A Lion Among Men" by Gregory Maguire. I borrowed the CD version from Dekalb County Public Library. It's the third book in the "Wicked" series, which is Maguire's reinvention of the Wizard of Oz story for grown-ups. Don't bother reading if you haven't read the first two. I didn't love it, but I enjoyed it. If there's a fourth book, I'll read it.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Giraffe by J.M. Ledgard
Why I chose to read this book: It's about a mass slaying of giraffes in communist Czechoslovakia, based on a true story. Sounded good.
How I first learned about this book: Browsing on PaperBackSwap.
Where I got it: PaperBackSwap. Even though it's a used book site, it came to me brand-new, wrapped in plastic.
What format I read it in: Audio. 6 CDs.
What my husband made for dinner: Chicken Ragu over linguine
What I think:
I found this a very difficult book to read. It was more like a really long poem than it was a story. The language and descriptions were beautiful. It was profound and moving in parts. However, it lacked a lot of the conventions we're used to when we read a story.
For one thing, everything happened in present tense. Except for revealing the ending, the giraffe slaughter, there was little foreshadowing or flashback. Some of the characters kind of ran into each other, but didn't really interact in meaningful ways. As events unfolded, there was no clue from the context how important anything was. Everything was written in a monotone.
Two clear metaphors compared people living under communism to sleepwalkers and to the giraffes. I most wanted to learn more about the day-to-day lives of ordinary people living under communism, but there was very little of that in the book. Except the message that they were all depressed. I was also fascinated by the very few descriptions of the physiology of giraffe anatomy. It had never occurred to me how profound the circulatory and skeletal differences had to be, just to keep such tall animals alive.
Overall, I was disappointed by the book. But the ending, and I don't think I'm giving anything away by saying it describes the giraffes' slaughter, was almost powerful enough to save it. It was that good.
How I first learned about this book: Browsing on PaperBackSwap.
Where I got it: PaperBackSwap. Even though it's a used book site, it came to me brand-new, wrapped in plastic.
What format I read it in: Audio. 6 CDs.
What my husband made for dinner: Chicken Ragu over linguine
What I think:
I found this a very difficult book to read. It was more like a really long poem than it was a story. The language and descriptions were beautiful. It was profound and moving in parts. However, it lacked a lot of the conventions we're used to when we read a story.
For one thing, everything happened in present tense. Except for revealing the ending, the giraffe slaughter, there was little foreshadowing or flashback. Some of the characters kind of ran into each other, but didn't really interact in meaningful ways. As events unfolded, there was no clue from the context how important anything was. Everything was written in a monotone.
Two clear metaphors compared people living under communism to sleepwalkers and to the giraffes. I most wanted to learn more about the day-to-day lives of ordinary people living under communism, but there was very little of that in the book. Except the message that they were all depressed. I was also fascinated by the very few descriptions of the physiology of giraffe anatomy. It had never occurred to me how profound the circulatory and skeletal differences had to be, just to keep such tall animals alive.
Overall, I was disappointed by the book. But the ending, and I don't think I'm giving anything away by saying it describes the giraffes' slaughter, was almost powerful enough to save it. It was that good.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Back When We Were Grownups
Why I chose to read this book: I was intrigued by Breathing Lessons and thought I might like this too.
How I first learned about this book: Browsing on PaperBackSwap.
Where I got it: PaperBackSwap.
What format I read it in: Audiobook. 8 CDs.
What my husband made for dinner: Sofrito Paella
What I think:
This is a very Anne Tyler book. It's about a woman's mid-life crisis, about ordinary people and their ordinary unhappiness and regrets. It's about the epiphany of learning to accept the way things are. Nothing really happens, but it's still interesting to watch.
I liked Rebecca, the main character, and the way she dealt with her big, blended family. And I felt comfortable immersed in the world of the Baltimore row house and professional party-giving that Tyler created. I hated the nicknames every character had, hated them so much it almost ruined the book for me. Consider: NoNo, Min Foo, Patch, Jeep, Zeb, Biddy and Poppy. Rebecca herself is called "Beck" until she stages an extremely mild rebellion, with limited success.
One of the themes in the book is how you transform from your younger self into your older self, and the nostalgia and also the weirdness of bridging the years. Rebecca reconnects with an old boyfriend who satisfyingly remembers the girl she was, but annoyingly makes assumptions about the woman she now is.
Another theme is loss and grief. Dispite his silly nickname, 100-year-old Poppy is profoundly wise when he says, ''People imagine that missing a loved one works kind of like missing cigarettes. The first day is really hard but the next day is less hard and so forth, easier and easier the longer you go on. But instead it's like missing water. Every day, you notice the person's absence more.''
How I first learned about this book: Browsing on PaperBackSwap.
Where I got it: PaperBackSwap.
What format I read it in: Audiobook. 8 CDs.
What my husband made for dinner: Sofrito Paella
What I think:
This is a very Anne Tyler book. It's about a woman's mid-life crisis, about ordinary people and their ordinary unhappiness and regrets. It's about the epiphany of learning to accept the way things are. Nothing really happens, but it's still interesting to watch.
I liked Rebecca, the main character, and the way she dealt with her big, blended family. And I felt comfortable immersed in the world of the Baltimore row house and professional party-giving that Tyler created. I hated the nicknames every character had, hated them so much it almost ruined the book for me. Consider: NoNo, Min Foo, Patch, Jeep, Zeb, Biddy and Poppy. Rebecca herself is called "Beck" until she stages an extremely mild rebellion, with limited success.
One of the themes in the book is how you transform from your younger self into your older self, and the nostalgia and also the weirdness of bridging the years. Rebecca reconnects with an old boyfriend who satisfyingly remembers the girl she was, but annoyingly makes assumptions about the woman she now is.
Another theme is loss and grief. Dispite his silly nickname, 100-year-old Poppy is profoundly wise when he says, ''People imagine that missing a loved one works kind of like missing cigarettes. The first day is really hard but the next day is less hard and so forth, easier and easier the longer you go on. But instead it's like missing water. Every day, you notice the person's absence more.''
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson
Why I chose to read this book: My book club selected it for our January meeting.
How I first learned about this book: My friend Cheryl chose it for book club.
Where I got it: Borders at Northlake. I had a coupon.
What format I'm reading it in: Paperback. 307 pages.
What my husband made for dinner tonight: Shitake and Bacon with Penne
What I think:
This was not a page-turner. It's one of those books where every word is carefully chosen and every sentence carefully crafted, so you have to read it slowly and savor everything. I could have loved it, but its themes became tedious. It was very hard to get into, then it started to get good, then it got boring again. The ending was unsatisfying.
The book is about three men who are friends. Two are Jewish and have both recently lost their wives. The other is constantly looking for his soul mate. What it's really about is what it means to be Jewish, antisemitism, Israel and Palestine. I don't imagine anyone not Jewish would be interested at all.
It's also a very male-centered book. Men talking about women, aging, Jews, Israel. I wasn't interested in what they had to say. However, the writing is beautiful, the characters are realistic, and many of the lines of dialog are so funny I laughed out loud. But I think, only funny if you're Jewish.
How I first learned about this book: My friend Cheryl chose it for book club.
Where I got it: Borders at Northlake. I had a coupon.
What format I'm reading it in: Paperback. 307 pages.
What my husband made for dinner tonight: Shitake and Bacon with Penne
What I think:
This was not a page-turner. It's one of those books where every word is carefully chosen and every sentence carefully crafted, so you have to read it slowly and savor everything. I could have loved it, but its themes became tedious. It was very hard to get into, then it started to get good, then it got boring again. The ending was unsatisfying.
The book is about three men who are friends. Two are Jewish and have both recently lost their wives. The other is constantly looking for his soul mate. What it's really about is what it means to be Jewish, antisemitism, Israel and Palestine. I don't imagine anyone not Jewish would be interested at all.
It's also a very male-centered book. Men talking about women, aging, Jews, Israel. I wasn't interested in what they had to say. However, the writing is beautiful, the characters are realistic, and many of the lines of dialog are so funny I laughed out loud. But I think, only funny if you're Jewish.
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