Monday, December 04, 2006
Shadow of the Wind by Carols Zafon
This book was so-so. It reminded me a bit of any book Anne Rice would write. I think I liked it best of all the people in my book club. Most everyone hated it and didn't finish it.
The time is the 1950s; the place, Barcelona. Daniel Sempere, the son of a widowed bookstore owner, is 10 when he discovers a novel, The Shadow of the Wind, by Julián Carax. The novel is rare, the author obscure, and rumors tell of a horribly disfigured man who has been burning every copy he can find of Carax's novels. The man calls himself Laín Coubert-the name of the devil in one of Carax's novels. As he grows up, Daniel's fascination with the mysterious Carax links him to a blind femme fatale with a "porcelain gaze," Clara Barceló; another fan, a leftist jack-of-all-trades, Fermín Romero de Torres; his best friend's sister, the delectable Beatriz Aguilar; and, as he begins investigating the life and death of Carax, a cast of characters with secrets to hide. Officially, Carax's dead body was dumped in an alley in 1936. But discrepancies in this story surface. Meanwhile, Daniel and Fermín are being harried by a sadistic policeman, Carax's childhood friend. As Daniel's quest continues, frightening parallels between his own life and Carax's begin to emerge. Ruiz Zafón strives for a literary tone, and no scene goes by without its complement of florid, cute and inexact similes and metaphors (snow is "God's dandruff"; servants obey orders with "the efficiency and submissiveness of a body of well-trained insects"). Yet the colorful cast of characters, the gothic turns and the straining for effect only give the book the feel of para-literature or the Hollywood version of a great 19th-century novel.
The time is the 1950s; the place, Barcelona. Daniel Sempere, the son of a widowed bookstore owner, is 10 when he discovers a novel, The Shadow of the Wind, by Julián Carax. The novel is rare, the author obscure, and rumors tell of a horribly disfigured man who has been burning every copy he can find of Carax's novels. The man calls himself Laín Coubert-the name of the devil in one of Carax's novels. As he grows up, Daniel's fascination with the mysterious Carax links him to a blind femme fatale with a "porcelain gaze," Clara Barceló; another fan, a leftist jack-of-all-trades, Fermín Romero de Torres; his best friend's sister, the delectable Beatriz Aguilar; and, as he begins investigating the life and death of Carax, a cast of characters with secrets to hide. Officially, Carax's dead body was dumped in an alley in 1936. But discrepancies in this story surface. Meanwhile, Daniel and Fermín are being harried by a sadistic policeman, Carax's childhood friend. As Daniel's quest continues, frightening parallels between his own life and Carax's begin to emerge. Ruiz Zafón strives for a literary tone, and no scene goes by without its complement of florid, cute and inexact similes and metaphors (snow is "God's dandruff"; servants obey orders with "the efficiency and submissiveness of a body of well-trained insects"). Yet the colorful cast of characters, the gothic turns and the straining for effect only give the book the feel of para-literature or the Hollywood version of a great 19th-century novel.
A Thread of Grace by Doria Russell
It opens with a group of Jewish refugees being escorted to safe-keeping by Italian soldiers. After making the arduous journey over a steep mountain pass, they are welcomed into a small village with warm food and clean beds. They have barely laid their heads to rest when news is received that Mussolini has just surrendered Italy to Hitler, putting them in danger yet again. This opening sequence is a grim foreshadowing of the heart-breaking journey these characters will experience in their struggle for survival.
The rich fictional narrative is woven through the factual military maneuvers and political games at the end of WW II, sharing a little-known story of a group of Italian citizens that sheltered more than 40,000 Jews from grueling work camp executions. Rather than the bleak and hopeless feeling that might be expected, the novel has the opposite effect; it reminds us that just as there will always be war, crime, and death, so too will there be good people who selflessly sacrifice themselves to ease the suffering of others. Perhaps best of all, Russell succinctly opens and closes her writing with short pieces that bookend the story with the force of a freight train. Her moving finale wraps up her narrative in the present day, with a death bed scene that's sure to rip the heart out of readers of every faith and ancestry.
The rich fictional narrative is woven through the factual military maneuvers and political games at the end of WW II, sharing a little-known story of a group of Italian citizens that sheltered more than 40,000 Jews from grueling work camp executions. Rather than the bleak and hopeless feeling that might be expected, the novel has the opposite effect; it reminds us that just as there will always be war, crime, and death, so too will there be good people who selflessly sacrifice themselves to ease the suffering of others. Perhaps best of all, Russell succinctly opens and closes her writing with short pieces that bookend the story with the force of a freight train. Her moving finale wraps up her narrative in the present day, with a death bed scene that's sure to rip the heart out of readers of every faith and ancestry.
Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle
I loved this book!
Boyle's The Tortillia Curtain differs from other books of his that I have read in that it tackles a serious set of social issues head on. It is important to make the point that he doesn't present either the Yuppie Californian family or the Mexican immagrant family as a symbol. They are real people. They don't stand for anything else. And while the extreme dichotomy posed between the wealth and well being of the one and the poverty and marginal health of the other do serve the purpose of highlighting the issue of the extreme inequities in the distribution of goods and services in this country, Boyle does not suggest a solution. Rather, he is interested in showing us what happens when these extremes come into contact in unexpected circumstances. What he has given us is a story of people in different circumstances responding as they likely would - as their training and experience have prepared them to. If we want to make an allegory of it, I don't think that is what he intended. I think that all he is saying is that extremes of expectation, in conflict, will generate extremes of behavior.
Boyle's The Tortillia Curtain differs from other books of his that I have read in that it tackles a serious set of social issues head on. It is important to make the point that he doesn't present either the Yuppie Californian family or the Mexican immagrant family as a symbol. They are real people. They don't stand for anything else. And while the extreme dichotomy posed between the wealth and well being of the one and the poverty and marginal health of the other do serve the purpose of highlighting the issue of the extreme inequities in the distribution of goods and services in this country, Boyle does not suggest a solution. Rather, he is interested in showing us what happens when these extremes come into contact in unexpected circumstances. What he has given us is a story of people in different circumstances responding as they likely would - as their training and experience have prepared them to. If we want to make an allegory of it, I don't think that is what he intended. I think that all he is saying is that extremes of expectation, in conflict, will generate extremes of behavior.
Parchment of Leaves by Silas House
I very much liked this book.
In 1917 rural Kentucky, a young Cherokee woman named Vine, rumored to cast spells on unsuspecting men, falls in love with local Irishman Saul Sullivan, whom she eventually marries. This second novel by Appalachian writer House (Clay's Quilt) tells the story of Vine and Saul's tender relationship and the prejudice they face and eventually overcome. While Vine was not raised according to Cherokee customs, she is still aware of being seen as an outsider when she leaves her Cherokee community to be with her husband. People are drawn to her gentle and generous personality, however, and soon she forms enduring friendships with her hard-working mother-in-law, Esme, and feisty and independent midwife Serena. When World War I erupts and Saul temporarily takes a better-paying job far from home, Vine finds herself trying to ward off the unwanted advances of Saul's restless younger brother, Aaron, who declares his own love for Vine. A deep respect for the natural world and the enduring spirit of the human heart are what make this book worth reading and remembering.
In 1917 rural Kentucky, a young Cherokee woman named Vine, rumored to cast spells on unsuspecting men, falls in love with local Irishman Saul Sullivan, whom she eventually marries. This second novel by Appalachian writer House (Clay's Quilt) tells the story of Vine and Saul's tender relationship and the prejudice they face and eventually overcome. While Vine was not raised according to Cherokee customs, she is still aware of being seen as an outsider when she leaves her Cherokee community to be with her husband. People are drawn to her gentle and generous personality, however, and soon she forms enduring friendships with her hard-working mother-in-law, Esme, and feisty and independent midwife Serena. When World War I erupts and Saul temporarily takes a better-paying job far from home, Vine finds herself trying to ward off the unwanted advances of Saul's restless younger brother, Aaron, who declares his own love for Vine. A deep respect for the natural world and the enduring spirit of the human heart are what make this book worth reading and remembering.
Falling Anges by Tracey Chevalier
Everything starts with two families from different walks of life who visit their family's graves, which happen to be next to each other. The Coleman's grave is decorated with an urn, which becomes a symbol of their beliefs and modern social views, while the Waterhouses's grave is ornate with an angel representing their traditional beliefs. Their daughters of similar age, the quiet Maude Coleman and the spoiled Lavinia Waterhouse start playing together around the graveyard and meet one of the digger's son, Simon Field. Their lives are linked closer even more when the Waterhouses move next door to the Colemans.
The story revolves around the graveyard and its diggers and director, John Jackson, between the Coleman and Waterhouse families, and between traditional and modern views applied to their lives.
The girls become good friends and grow up together, but their lives revolve around the graveyard and their friendship with Simon. Society also changes little by little, with suffragetes's movement pushing for more liberties for women. Kitty Comeman, Maude's mother, after an abortion about which her family knows nothing, decides to be part of the movement and throws herself completely into it neglecting her duties to he family. Her decisions and those of Gertrude, Lavinia's mother, who wants to be different front Kitty, although she secretly admires, envies and despises her at the same time, change their family's lives irremediably during the first suffragettes public meeting.
The narrative is told from the point of view of different characters, even from that of the Colemans's maid and cook. Thus, the multiple perspectives endevour to add to the story, bring details about the characters telling the story and about how they view what is happening around them and to the others.
The story revolves around the graveyard and its diggers and director, John Jackson, between the Coleman and Waterhouse families, and between traditional and modern views applied to their lives.
The girls become good friends and grow up together, but their lives revolve around the graveyard and their friendship with Simon. Society also changes little by little, with suffragetes's movement pushing for more liberties for women. Kitty Comeman, Maude's mother, after an abortion about which her family knows nothing, decides to be part of the movement and throws herself completely into it neglecting her duties to he family. Her decisions and those of Gertrude, Lavinia's mother, who wants to be different front Kitty, although she secretly admires, envies and despises her at the same time, change their family's lives irremediably during the first suffragettes public meeting.
The narrative is told from the point of view of different characters, even from that of the Colemans's maid and cook. Thus, the multiple perspectives endevour to add to the story, bring details about the characters telling the story and about how they view what is happening around them and to the others.
Lipstick Jihad by Azadeh Moaveni
Parts of this book were really good, and parts of it dragged on. It was an ok all around book.
Time reporter Moaveni, the American-born child of Iranian exiles, spent two years (2000–2001) working in Tehran. Although she reports on the overall tumult and repression felt by Iranians between the 1999 pro-democracy student demonstrations and the 2002 "Axis of Evil" declaration, the book's dominant story is more intimate. Moaveni was on a personal search "to figure out my relationship" to Iran. Neither her adolescent ethnic identity conundrums nor her idyllic memories of a childhood visit prepared her for the realities she confronted as she navigated Iran, learning its rules, restrictions and taboos—and how to evade and even exploit them like a local. Because she was a journalist, the shadowy, unnerving presence of an Iranian intelligence agent/interrogator hovered continually ("it would be useful if we saw your work before publication," he told her). Readers also get intimate glimpses of domestic life: Moaveni lived among family and depicts clandestine partying, women's gyms and the popularity of cosmetic surgery. Eventually, Moaveni became "more at home than [her mother] was" in Iran, and a visit to the U.S. showed how Moaveni, who now lives in Beirut, had grown unaccustomed to American life, "where my Iranian instincts served no purpose."
Time reporter Moaveni, the American-born child of Iranian exiles, spent two years (2000–2001) working in Tehran. Although she reports on the overall tumult and repression felt by Iranians between the 1999 pro-democracy student demonstrations and the 2002 "Axis of Evil" declaration, the book's dominant story is more intimate. Moaveni was on a personal search "to figure out my relationship" to Iran. Neither her adolescent ethnic identity conundrums nor her idyllic memories of a childhood visit prepared her for the realities she confronted as she navigated Iran, learning its rules, restrictions and taboos—and how to evade and even exploit them like a local. Because she was a journalist, the shadowy, unnerving presence of an Iranian intelligence agent/interrogator hovered continually ("it would be useful if we saw your work before publication," he told her). Readers also get intimate glimpses of domestic life: Moaveni lived among family and depicts clandestine partying, women's gyms and the popularity of cosmetic surgery. Eventually, Moaveni became "more at home than [her mother] was" in Iran, and a visit to the U.S. showed how Moaveni, who now lives in Beirut, had grown unaccustomed to American life, "where my Iranian instincts served no purpose."
Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern
I really liked this book. It's a murder mystery that involves an autistic boy as a witness. It especially hit home since Lisa worked with autistic twins over the summer. It really makes you see the struggles of being a parent of an austic child.....
A child has been murdered, and the only witness won't talk. This is fairly common stuff in murder mysteries, but this witness is a boy locked up by autism. Adam's view of the world around him is interesting, and the plot itself is thought provoking since the reader hears about an assortment of people with communication challenges as the mystery untangles. Julia Fletcher offers a flawless reading that steps back to allow the listener to become absorbed in the story. Unobtrusive and clear, Adam's voice calmly sheds light on the difficulty of moving through a complicated world searching for one's strengths.
A child has been murdered, and the only witness won't talk. This is fairly common stuff in murder mysteries, but this witness is a boy locked up by autism. Adam's view of the world around him is interesting, and the plot itself is thought provoking since the reader hears about an assortment of people with communication challenges as the mystery untangles. Julia Fletcher offers a flawless reading that steps back to allow the listener to become absorbed in the story. Unobtrusive and clear, Adam's voice calmly sheds light on the difficulty of moving through a complicated world searching for one's strengths.
