The Harry Potter series of books by J. K. Rowling are said to have influenced the current generation to read much more than otherwise. My generation had The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. There is tremendous age gap between those last two, and only recently did I realize there are many well-written books that can entertain kids who are not quite ready for The Lord of the Rings or even the later, and darker, books in the Harry Potter series.
Tamora Pierce has written a number of books, most notably the Song of the Lioness, Protector of the Small, and the Immortals series. These are science fiction books set in a realm where otherworldly powers are common. The protagonists are generally strong, female characters. Also, each series usually has four books in it giving readers lots of engaging material. Another author who puts girls at the center of his books is Phillip Pullman, most known now for science fiction series His Dark Materials, which includes The Golden Compass. Less well known is his Sally Lockhart trilogy, set in Victorian England. Although, this series may not be for younger readers as it does include an opium addict.
Other adventuresome fantasy/science fiction series for kids include the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini with book number 3 still on the way. Dragons play a major role in these books. Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series is still timely even though it was published many years ago. These books are set in Wales, which adds an interesting dimension. The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander are another good series if you missed them. These are for younger readers and often found in the children’s section of the library as opposed to the young adult section.
For a non-science fiction adventure series try The Tillerman Series by Cynthia Voigt. Four siblings try to stick together after their mother can not take care of them any longer.
My kids are just starting The Chronicles of Narnia. It is so fun to finally be reading literature with them that takes more than a single sitting to get through and has a complicated plot. I can’t wait to introduce them to the books mentioned here.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Death Without Company by Craig Johnson
This author was recently in Bend for The Nature of Words. His mystery series centers on Walt Longmire who is a sheriff in a small Wyoming town. Death Without Company is the second in this series. Lucian Connally, the former sheriff and a current resident of the Durant Home for Assisted Living, is convinced a fellow resident did not die a natural death. His convictions are complicated by his past relationship with the woman, Mari Baroja. The sheriff investigates Lucian’s allegations while also delving into the past.
A major strength of the book is that Johnson introduces an incredible number and variety of characters. The town doctor is not just the local doctor, but a survivor of a concentration camp. Here Sheriff Longmire describes his deputy, “I looked at my recently divorced deputy, a beautiful, intelligent woman with a body like Salome and a mouth like a saltwater crocodile.” (pg 151) Johnson makes it seem like each person in this fictional Wyoming town is interesting in a unique way. Mari Baroja and her family’s identification as Basque is mentioned; more information on that transplanted culture would add to the book.
The writing is enjoyable. Some of it is just quirky and gives you a sense of the main character. “I pulled my pocket watch out and consulted it as to lunchtime; we concurred that it was early but acceptable.” (pg 54) At other points there were phrases that I almost missed and then wondered what they really meant. For example, “I smiled as the feathers brushed the inside of my chest like they always do when I get irritated.” (pg 42)
The mystery from the past was almost too easy to figure out. The present day problems with increasing violence and danger keep one interested in the plot. There are some dream sequences that I felt did not really mesh with the rest of the book.. It helps with background to have read The Cold Dish first.
A major strength of the book is that Johnson introduces an incredible number and variety of characters. The town doctor is not just the local doctor, but a survivor of a concentration camp. Here Sheriff Longmire describes his deputy, “I looked at my recently divorced deputy, a beautiful, intelligent woman with a body like Salome and a mouth like a saltwater crocodile.” (pg 151) Johnson makes it seem like each person in this fictional Wyoming town is interesting in a unique way. Mari Baroja and her family’s identification as Basque is mentioned; more information on that transplanted culture would add to the book.
The writing is enjoyable. Some of it is just quirky and gives you a sense of the main character. “I pulled my pocket watch out and consulted it as to lunchtime; we concurred that it was early but acceptable.” (pg 54) At other points there were phrases that I almost missed and then wondered what they really meant. For example, “I smiled as the feathers brushed the inside of my chest like they always do when I get irritated.” (pg 42)
The mystery from the past was almost too easy to figure out. The present day problems with increasing violence and danger keep one interested in the plot. There are some dream sequences that I felt did not really mesh with the rest of the book.. It helps with background to have read The Cold Dish first.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee
Check this book out at the library to read at least the first chapter. Min Jin Lee does an amazing job of capturing the family dynamics while introducing the four members of the Han family. This chapter is told from four points of view. Casey Han is the central character. She is living at home after recently graduating from Princeton. Her younger sister, Tina, is on break from MIT. It would appear to be every parent’s dream to have two such bright and successful daughters. Leah and Joseph, the parents, married, had Casey and Tina right away, and then immigrated to the United States. They manage a dry cleaning business. The author pulls the reader in and it becomes obvious that this family dinner is heading in a troublesome, but not unanticipated, direction. It is clear that each family member has a role to play and knows what is coming.
The story continues following Casey as she struggles with what to do in her life after college. Her conflicts with her boyfriends, her interactions with a businesswoman who has repeatedly helped her, her financial issues, and her continuing struggles with her family are the backdrop to her main struggle with choosing a career and getting along in the larger world. Here she reacts to a kindness from her boyfriend’s mother. “Casey swallowed, unable to speak. Her parents had never said anything like that in her entire life. Korean people like her mother and father didn’t talk about love, about feelings-at least this was how Casey and Tina had explained it to themselves for not getting these words they wanted to hear.” (pg 75) She spends a great deal of time thinking about her clothing. This is not something that I am into, but I could appreciate her view. “Through clothing, Casey was able to appear casual, urbane, poor, rich, bohemian, proletariat. Now and again, she wondered what it’d be like to never want to look like anything at all – instead, to come as you are.” (pg 219)
The story is told from multiple points of view. At times I wished the story would focus more on Casey rather than, for example, the thoughts of her mother’s choir instructor. It is a long story and does not keep the intenseness of the first chapter the whole way through. As I was nearing the end of the book, I started to wonder how everything was going to be wrapped up. I realized that like real life, the story of Casey Han, her friends and family, her co-workers and acquaintances, was not going to end neatly. And that was okay. It is a good read, especially if you are in the mood for a longer book.
The story continues following Casey as she struggles with what to do in her life after college. Her conflicts with her boyfriends, her interactions with a businesswoman who has repeatedly helped her, her financial issues, and her continuing struggles with her family are the backdrop to her main struggle with choosing a career and getting along in the larger world. Here she reacts to a kindness from her boyfriend’s mother. “Casey swallowed, unable to speak. Her parents had never said anything like that in her entire life. Korean people like her mother and father didn’t talk about love, about feelings-at least this was how Casey and Tina had explained it to themselves for not getting these words they wanted to hear.” (pg 75) She spends a great deal of time thinking about her clothing. This is not something that I am into, but I could appreciate her view. “Through clothing, Casey was able to appear casual, urbane, poor, rich, bohemian, proletariat. Now and again, she wondered what it’d be like to never want to look like anything at all – instead, to come as you are.” (pg 219)
The story is told from multiple points of view. At times I wished the story would focus more on Casey rather than, for example, the thoughts of her mother’s choir instructor. It is a long story and does not keep the intenseness of the first chapter the whole way through. As I was nearing the end of the book, I started to wonder how everything was going to be wrapped up. I realized that like real life, the story of Casey Han, her friends and family, her co-workers and acquaintances, was not going to end neatly. And that was okay. It is a good read, especially if you are in the mood for a longer book.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas
The End of Mr. Y begins with a very vivid and accurate depiction of a poor graduate student. Ariel Manto is obsessed with many things, including theoretical physics and obscure writers. At a conference she meets a professor who shares her fixation on the author Lumas and decides to undertake graduate studies with him. At the start of this book Burlem, the professor, has been gone for months; he’s vanished. By a series of unexpected happenings, including a building collapsing into a tunnel, Ariel stumbles upon the last book by Lumas, which has the same title: The End of Mr. Y. The book is very rare with only one known copy. It is also rumored to be cursed.
Following the book’s instructions Ariel ventures into homeopathic remedies that lead her into the troposphere. The troposphere is Lumas’s term for the world of the mind. It is possible to move from mind to mind in this space. The book becomes a thriller with former agents from America trying to retrieve the book so they can make more of the remedy to enter the troposphere. The agents are after Ariel physically and in her mind. They employ KIDS to try and hurt her mind. She is saved by a mouse god named Apollo Smintheus. Ariel is helped in her endeavors to escape the agents by Adam, a former priest.
This book has some really great descriptive writing in it. The intertwining descriptions of quantum theory and religion are interesting to read, especially the multi verse versus the godverse theory. This is rare to find in a novel. I personally found the story much more interesting when it stayed in the physical world than in the troposphere. Ariel’s interactions with her lover, Patrick, are complex and seem to not correlate with the actions of an intelligent person. She keeps referring to what’s happening as only happening to her body so it doesn’t really matter. She would prefer to live a life in books, “Real life is physical. Give me books instead: Give me the invisibility of the contents of books, the thoughts, the ideas, the images. Let me become part of the book; I’d give anything for that.” (pg 117)
I’d highly recommend reading this book if you’re interested in science or religion or simply in how other people’s minds might work. As I mentioned earlier, I was not thrilled with the troposphere part of the book. I also was disturbed at the idea of the KIDS being autistic kids who were sent out to perform missions. However, the descriptions in some parts were intensely real with Ariel being able to feel the pain of the mind she was inhabiting. Here she is in her housemate’s mind, “I was facing the door; I’d placed myself there like a little welcome mat ( ) waiting for him to wipe his feet on me. So he sat there sipping his coffee, looking beyond me to the wall, covered in postcards from Paris, and I just watched people leave like bacteria looking for a new host to infect.” (pg 176)
Following the book’s instructions Ariel ventures into homeopathic remedies that lead her into the troposphere. The troposphere is Lumas’s term for the world of the mind. It is possible to move from mind to mind in this space. The book becomes a thriller with former agents from America trying to retrieve the book so they can make more of the remedy to enter the troposphere. The agents are after Ariel physically and in her mind. They employ KIDS to try and hurt her mind. She is saved by a mouse god named Apollo Smintheus. Ariel is helped in her endeavors to escape the agents by Adam, a former priest.
This book has some really great descriptive writing in it. The intertwining descriptions of quantum theory and religion are interesting to read, especially the multi verse versus the godverse theory. This is rare to find in a novel. I personally found the story much more interesting when it stayed in the physical world than in the troposphere. Ariel’s interactions with her lover, Patrick, are complex and seem to not correlate with the actions of an intelligent person. She keeps referring to what’s happening as only happening to her body so it doesn’t really matter. She would prefer to live a life in books, “Real life is physical. Give me books instead: Give me the invisibility of the contents of books, the thoughts, the ideas, the images. Let me become part of the book; I’d give anything for that.” (pg 117)
I’d highly recommend reading this book if you’re interested in science or religion or simply in how other people’s minds might work. As I mentioned earlier, I was not thrilled with the troposphere part of the book. I also was disturbed at the idea of the KIDS being autistic kids who were sent out to perform missions. However, the descriptions in some parts were intensely real with Ariel being able to feel the pain of the mind she was inhabiting. Here she is in her housemate’s mind, “I was facing the door; I’d placed myself there like a little welcome mat ( ) waiting for him to wipe his feet on me. So he sat there sipping his coffee, looking beyond me to the wall, covered in postcards from Paris, and I just watched people leave like bacteria looking for a new host to infect.” (pg 176)
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Free Fire by C. J. Box
Somehow I had never heard of this author until Free Fire was published. It is the seventh in a series of mysteries staring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett. The game warden’s wife, Marybeth, and their two children are also well-developed characters. The language is not eloquent, but to the point as in this example.
“But in a job where nearly every man he encountered in the field was armed as well as pumped up with testosterone- and calling backup was rarely an option- playing dumb was a survival skill. And Joe, much to Marybeth’s chagrin, could play dumb extremely well.” (pg 76)
It is very much a departure from many mysteries in that the action primarily takes place far removed from where most people live.
This particular mystery is set in Yellowstone National Park. Joe has been fired from his normal position of game warden in the Saddlestring area, but has managed to become known to the new governor as someone who stirs things up. The governor hires him to investigate a mass shooting in an area of Yellowstone, which is now being called the Zone of Death as the shooter is released on a technicality. The park is under federal control so the governor sends in Joe unofficially.
The plot is convoluted and involves the unique setting of Yellowstone with its geysers, paint pots, and wildlife in all forms. The book can be read on its own without reading any of the preceding mysteries. However, there were enough hints to prior activity that I felt compelled to read the rest of the books in the series. Also, I wonder what will happen to the Pickett family in the future and look forward to the next in the series. I liked these mysteries so much that I'm adding Box to my list of top ten writers of mystery series.
“But in a job where nearly every man he encountered in the field was armed as well as pumped up with testosterone- and calling backup was rarely an option- playing dumb was a survival skill. And Joe, much to Marybeth’s chagrin, could play dumb extremely well.” (pg 76)
It is very much a departure from many mysteries in that the action primarily takes place far removed from where most people live.
This particular mystery is set in Yellowstone National Park. Joe has been fired from his normal position of game warden in the Saddlestring area, but has managed to become known to the new governor as someone who stirs things up. The governor hires him to investigate a mass shooting in an area of Yellowstone, which is now being called the Zone of Death as the shooter is released on a technicality. The park is under federal control so the governor sends in Joe unofficially.
The plot is convoluted and involves the unique setting of Yellowstone with its geysers, paint pots, and wildlife in all forms. The book can be read on its own without reading any of the preceding mysteries. However, there were enough hints to prior activity that I felt compelled to read the rest of the books in the series. Also, I wonder what will happen to the Pickett family in the future and look forward to the next in the series. I liked these mysteries so much that I'm adding Box to my list of top ten writers of mystery series.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Imagine a world where crazed fans battle over whether Shakespeare really wrote those plays or where the removal of a minor character from a classic book is a national crisis. Thursday Next is a Literary Tech in England in 1985 and her job is to protect books. She faces some complex personal issues such as whether she should forgive the man she loves, Landen Parke-Laine, for telling the truth about her brother during the war. This is the ongoing war, in its 131st year, between England and Russia over the Crimean Peninsula. She faces some incredible issues in hunting down Acheron Hades and battling the Goliath Corporation. Here she has told Landen that she is too busy to go out with him.
“I could see he didn’t believe me. I couldn’t really tell him I was on the trail of a master criminal who could steal thoughts and project images at will; who was invisible on film and could murder and laugh as he did so.” (pg 118)
This book is a crazy mix of fiction, science fiction, action thriller, and a whole new genre where books are at the center of life. The science fiction part is well done and interesting. For example, Thursday’s uncle invents a car that can change color and even become invisible using liquid crystal technology. This is just one of many of his inventions and another, the Prose Portal, becomes important to Acheron as well as the Goliath Corporation, and potentially devastating to literature everywhere. The Eyre mentioned in the title refers to the book Jane Eyre. The characters in Jane Eyre become endangered characters in this book.
This is the first in a series of books with Thursday Next as the protagonist. I enjoyed reading this book with its many convolutions and look forward to the second in the series, Lost in a Good Book. I wonder if the author can continue to invent such outrageous scenarios. I did think that some of the characters in this book spoke in clichés, especially Acheron, and whether this was on purpose by the author or not, it did not help develop them as characters. The action also slowed down dramatically at the end of the book.
“I could see he didn’t believe me. I couldn’t really tell him I was on the trail of a master criminal who could steal thoughts and project images at will; who was invisible on film and could murder and laugh as he did so.” (pg 118)
This book is a crazy mix of fiction, science fiction, action thriller, and a whole new genre where books are at the center of life. The science fiction part is well done and interesting. For example, Thursday’s uncle invents a car that can change color and even become invisible using liquid crystal technology. This is just one of many of his inventions and another, the Prose Portal, becomes important to Acheron as well as the Goliath Corporation, and potentially devastating to literature everywhere. The Eyre mentioned in the title refers to the book Jane Eyre. The characters in Jane Eyre become endangered characters in this book.
This is the first in a series of books with Thursday Next as the protagonist. I enjoyed reading this book with its many convolutions and look forward to the second in the series, Lost in a Good Book. I wonder if the author can continue to invent such outrageous scenarios. I did think that some of the characters in this book spoke in clichés, especially Acheron, and whether this was on purpose by the author or not, it did not help develop them as characters. The action also slowed down dramatically at the end of the book.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
I picked up The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America for a couple reasons. First, it was recommended in a writing group I belong to as a book that everyone in a diverse book group liked. Next, a book group I am in picked it as one of the books to read this fall. Third, from what I heard it was a murder mystery set at a World’s Fair. I like mysteries, in general, and decided to read it earlier rather than later.
I was quite surprised when I found the book at the library in the non-fiction section. I had not realized it was a true story. I assumed I would be interested in the mystery part and not really in the World’s Fair part when I realized that was going to be mainly about building the fair. It turned out to be quite the opposite.
I never would have picked up a non-fiction book about the World’s Fair in 1893. Adding in the secondary story did prick my interest enough to start reading the book. I’m glad I did as it described a part of American history and a profession (architecture) that I had very little prior knowledge or even interest in. The impact of the Columbian Exposition of 1893 was enormous. Products introduced there or innovated during the building of the fair included spray paint, Cracker Jack, the Ferris Wheel (an amazing story on its own), and the zipper among many others. The pledge of allegiance was even written for the dedication day.
The inspiring story of building the fair is alternated with chapters about a serial killer. There is no mystery as Erik Larson makes it clear that Holmes is a killer from the beginning. Holmes (an alias) is in Chicago at the time of the fair and builds a hotel ostensibly to house visitors to the fair. No murders by Holmes ever happen at the fair, so I do not think the book is aptly titled. Holmes and the fair never really intersect except when he takes a current wife and her sister there. I do not like reading about true crime. It has none of the uplifting spirit or resolution of fictional mysteries where the perpetrator is usually caught before too many evil things happen. I felt that the book alternated between a soaring, grandiose story and a sordid, tragic one.
I would recommend reading this book and skipping the chapters on Holmes, unless you like the true crime genre.
I was quite surprised when I found the book at the library in the non-fiction section. I had not realized it was a true story. I assumed I would be interested in the mystery part and not really in the World’s Fair part when I realized that was going to be mainly about building the fair. It turned out to be quite the opposite.
I never would have picked up a non-fiction book about the World’s Fair in 1893. Adding in the secondary story did prick my interest enough to start reading the book. I’m glad I did as it described a part of American history and a profession (architecture) that I had very little prior knowledge or even interest in. The impact of the Columbian Exposition of 1893 was enormous. Products introduced there or innovated during the building of the fair included spray paint, Cracker Jack, the Ferris Wheel (an amazing story on its own), and the zipper among many others. The pledge of allegiance was even written for the dedication day.
The inspiring story of building the fair is alternated with chapters about a serial killer. There is no mystery as Erik Larson makes it clear that Holmes is a killer from the beginning. Holmes (an alias) is in Chicago at the time of the fair and builds a hotel ostensibly to house visitors to the fair. No murders by Holmes ever happen at the fair, so I do not think the book is aptly titled. Holmes and the fair never really intersect except when he takes a current wife and her sister there. I do not like reading about true crime. It has none of the uplifting spirit or resolution of fictional mysteries where the perpetrator is usually caught before too many evil things happen. I felt that the book alternated between a soaring, grandiose story and a sordid, tragic one.
I would recommend reading this book and skipping the chapters on Holmes, unless you like the true crime genre.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Gasa-Gasa Girl by Naomi Hirahara
This is an excellent novel with a mystery at the core. Mas (Maseo Arai) is asked to come to New York by his daughter. He is a 70-year-old gardener. His self-deprecation and practicality allow him to help his daughter the best he can without really knowing what she wants or how she feels about him. His son-in-law and daughter both work for a Japanese-American man trying to restore a traditional Japanese garden. When their boss is killed, they are both suspects.
Mas uses his connections and his friends' connections throughout the Japanese community in New York and Los Angeles to try to determine the killer. It is an intriguing glimpse into this community. Internment camps and Mas's experience in Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped are discussed, but not dwelled upon. They are treated as rather matter-of-fact events that happened. The Japanese terms sprinkled throughout the book added to the interest. It was surprising to me that there was a special word, kibei, for people born in the US who grew up in Japan.
It is a good read as a novel and a bonus if you like mysteries as well. The writing is excellent with little gems thrown in here and there. For example, when observing his daughter's friends as they come to help when her young son is sick, "Mas could almost see all the kimochi that was being woven around his daughter and son-in-law like bolts of fabric, cocooning them from harm. But Mas knew those cocoons, no matter how saturated with love, were still fragile and vulnerable; anyone could still tear through and reach the soft parts." (pg 243)
Mas uses his connections and his friends' connections throughout the Japanese community in New York and Los Angeles to try to determine the killer. It is an intriguing glimpse into this community. Internment camps and Mas's experience in Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped are discussed, but not dwelled upon. They are treated as rather matter-of-fact events that happened. The Japanese terms sprinkled throughout the book added to the interest. It was surprising to me that there was a special word, kibei, for people born in the US who grew up in Japan.
It is a good read as a novel and a bonus if you like mysteries as well. The writing is excellent with little gems thrown in here and there. For example, when observing his daughter's friends as they come to help when her young son is sick, "Mas could almost see all the kimochi that was being woven around his daughter and son-in-law like bolts of fabric, cocooning them from harm. But Mas knew those cocoons, no matter how saturated with love, were still fragile and vulnerable; anyone could still tear through and reach the soft parts." (pg 243)
Saturday, September 1, 2007
The Quiet Game by Greg Iles
I loved reading mysteries as a kid. I did not read many in high school or college, but a friend re-introduced them to me in grad school. Thanks Deborah! A good mystery, for me, has to have an interesting main character as well as a good plot. Greg Iles is a writer I just started reading and I highly recommend The Quiet Game.
The mystery at the heart of this thriller is the 1968 murder of a black man, Del Payton, in Natchez, Mississippi. Penn Cage, former attorney and now best selling author, inadvertently brings this case to the attention of an attractive newspaper publisher, Caitlin Masters. The resulting uproar in the town leads Penn and Caitlin to further investigate the murder. Various characters emerge to either help solve the case or keep it buried. The town is divided mostly along racial lines, although there are exceptions. Those who were in power 30 years ago are still in town and adamantly against anything being done. Most of the cops who investigated the killing are still alive and so are the FBI agents who were brought in. The action is fast-paced and involves side trips to Texas and Colorado. Greg Iles does a remarkable job showing different sides of Penn, including as a devoted father, widow, and son. A side story that has some implication for the overall plot involves Penn and his father. A complication to the emerging romance between Penn and Caitlin is the presence of his former lover, Livy Marston, and unresolved issues between them. This book is billed as a legal thriller, but very little action takes place in the courtroom.
I have a few quibbles with Iles about the likeliness of some escapes and the timing of some revealed evidence, however, it is overall, an excellent book. It kept me up past 10 pm and it is a rare book that does that these days. I have never been to Natchez, but the descriptive power of Iles allows me to almost think I have. There is a second book with Penn Cage as protagonist (Turning Angel) and two more set in Natchez (Blood Memory, True Evil).
The mystery at the heart of this thriller is the 1968 murder of a black man, Del Payton, in Natchez, Mississippi. Penn Cage, former attorney and now best selling author, inadvertently brings this case to the attention of an attractive newspaper publisher, Caitlin Masters. The resulting uproar in the town leads Penn and Caitlin to further investigate the murder. Various characters emerge to either help solve the case or keep it buried. The town is divided mostly along racial lines, although there are exceptions. Those who were in power 30 years ago are still in town and adamantly against anything being done. Most of the cops who investigated the killing are still alive and so are the FBI agents who were brought in. The action is fast-paced and involves side trips to Texas and Colorado. Greg Iles does a remarkable job showing different sides of Penn, including as a devoted father, widow, and son. A side story that has some implication for the overall plot involves Penn and his father. A complication to the emerging romance between Penn and Caitlin is the presence of his former lover, Livy Marston, and unresolved issues between them. This book is billed as a legal thriller, but very little action takes place in the courtroom.
I have a few quibbles with Iles about the likeliness of some escapes and the timing of some revealed evidence, however, it is overall, an excellent book. It kept me up past 10 pm and it is a rare book that does that these days. I have never been to Natchez, but the descriptive power of Iles allows me to almost think I have. There is a second book with Penn Cage as protagonist (Turning Angel) and two more set in Natchez (Blood Memory, True Evil).
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Dispatches From a Not-so-Perfect Life by Faulkner Fox
Sometimes, rather than reading about an unfamiliar culture or life choice, I like to find out more about what people in similar situations to mine think. Memoirs about mothering are quite popular these days, but finding really interesting ones is more of a challenge.
This “momoir” by Faulkner Fox is insightful, interesting, and amusing to read. Her first few pages pulled me in,
“When I hit my maternal low, I was in a situation that, I think, is considered totally normal for a person who has a baby and a three-and-a-half-year-old: Every day for the past three and a half years, at least one small, cute, and needy person woke me up at 6 A.M. or earlier.” (pg 4)
Fox is able to discuss in-depth her difficulty in adjusting to being a new parent, and, in particular, her need to be with her children conflicting with her need to write. Her anguish comes through loudly. She marries an avowed feminist, but still finds herself doing the majority of the childcare and housework after her child is born. She wonders how this could possibly happen when she has prepared herself to avoid this exact situation her whole life. She takes to making charts of the time she is putting in versus her husband.
She is also lonely as she in unable to make friends with other new moms. The reasons are complex, but seem to stem from her own judgmentalness and her fear of being judged. She is aware of these issues and her self-awareness makes the reading interesting.
“I felt that my loneliness came from some complex bundle, a personal or structural sickness perhaps: the disturbing inability to feel connected to loved ones who were standing right by me because endless domestic tasks – laundry, dishes, trash, vaccinations, taxes, cleaning the fish bowls- seemed to be always calling my name; a dearth of wandery, deep conversations with those who knew me well; and inadequate involvement in the social movements I cared about.” (pg 32)
Fox takes the radical step of not being a public mom for a year. She doesn’t go to birthday parties or out to the park with her kids. She avoids other mothers, going so far, as to hang out a McDonald’s where she is sure she won’t run into anyone she know. Her dark humor also didn’t seem to go over well with casual acquaintances. “ ‘This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,’ I said honestly, ‘and my last job, director of a pro-choice organization, involved death threats.’” (pg 145)
I’d highly recommend this book for new mothers, especially those who are taking time off from a high-powered career or an undertaking that is extremely important to them. Or for any mother who looks around the playground and wonders what she is doing there.
This “momoir” by Faulkner Fox is insightful, interesting, and amusing to read. Her first few pages pulled me in,
“When I hit my maternal low, I was in a situation that, I think, is considered totally normal for a person who has a baby and a three-and-a-half-year-old: Every day for the past three and a half years, at least one small, cute, and needy person woke me up at 6 A.M. or earlier.” (pg 4)
Fox is able to discuss in-depth her difficulty in adjusting to being a new parent, and, in particular, her need to be with her children conflicting with her need to write. Her anguish comes through loudly. She marries an avowed feminist, but still finds herself doing the majority of the childcare and housework after her child is born. She wonders how this could possibly happen when she has prepared herself to avoid this exact situation her whole life. She takes to making charts of the time she is putting in versus her husband.
She is also lonely as she in unable to make friends with other new moms. The reasons are complex, but seem to stem from her own judgmentalness and her fear of being judged. She is aware of these issues and her self-awareness makes the reading interesting.
“I felt that my loneliness came from some complex bundle, a personal or structural sickness perhaps: the disturbing inability to feel connected to loved ones who were standing right by me because endless domestic tasks – laundry, dishes, trash, vaccinations, taxes, cleaning the fish bowls- seemed to be always calling my name; a dearth of wandery, deep conversations with those who knew me well; and inadequate involvement in the social movements I cared about.” (pg 32)
Fox takes the radical step of not being a public mom for a year. She doesn’t go to birthday parties or out to the park with her kids. She avoids other mothers, going so far, as to hang out a McDonald’s where she is sure she won’t run into anyone she know. Her dark humor also didn’t seem to go over well with casual acquaintances. “ ‘This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,’ I said honestly, ‘and my last job, director of a pro-choice organization, involved death threats.’” (pg 145)
I’d highly recommend this book for new mothers, especially those who are taking time off from a high-powered career or an undertaking that is extremely important to them. Or for any mother who looks around the playground and wonders what she is doing there.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling
I definitely recommend this book. I initially picked it up simply because the author is coming to Bend for The Nature of Words. It is a depressing story, but not a depressing book to read. It starts out slow, but once you get into the rhythm of the story it becomes very intriguing.
The events described in Perma Red take place on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana. It is a time, probably late 1940’s, when Indians were still sent away to boarding schools. The main character, Louise White Elk, is a reluctant attendee who is often chased down by Charlie Kicking Woman, a police officer. She tries to escape this life by marrying Baptiste Yellow Knife, but her problems only become more complex.
Louise’s relationship with Baptiste has a long history and is quite complex. Of Baptiste the author writes, “He became an Indian who was not afraid of being Indian, the worst kind, the kind nobody liked, neither the Indians nor the whites, the kind of Indian who didn’t care if he was liked.” (pg 134) Louise lasts only four days in her mother-in-law’s house, before she runs off. The importance of visions and long held beliefs about power permeate the book. By the time I reached this quote in the book, at first it did not even seem unusual, “The snakes would be lazy here, without power. She didn’t think they would strike her in her mother-in-law’s house because it would be like striking themselves. She had married snake’s blood.” (pg 126) The pace of the book seems slow and melodic, yet tragic events happen often at breakneck speed.
The novel alternates chapters about Louise with chapters told in the first person by Charlie Kicking Woman. Charlie’s problems are not the same as Louise, but almost seem more real and plausible. “I was sick and tired of those calls, sick of the sign above every small bar and tavern across the state of Montana and beyond, anywhere there was an Indian, no dogs or Indians allowed. Tired of being the authority charged to uphold a law that forbid me to enter a bar when I wasn’t in uniform.” (pg 117) Charlie, like Baptiste and other men in the story, is also obsessed with Louise to his own detriment.
I would have appreciated more chapters focused on Baptiste Yellow Knife and his thoughts throughout.
The events described in Perma Red take place on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana. It is a time, probably late 1940’s, when Indians were still sent away to boarding schools. The main character, Louise White Elk, is a reluctant attendee who is often chased down by Charlie Kicking Woman, a police officer. She tries to escape this life by marrying Baptiste Yellow Knife, but her problems only become more complex.
Louise’s relationship with Baptiste has a long history and is quite complex. Of Baptiste the author writes, “He became an Indian who was not afraid of being Indian, the worst kind, the kind nobody liked, neither the Indians nor the whites, the kind of Indian who didn’t care if he was liked.” (pg 134) Louise lasts only four days in her mother-in-law’s house, before she runs off. The importance of visions and long held beliefs about power permeate the book. By the time I reached this quote in the book, at first it did not even seem unusual, “The snakes would be lazy here, without power. She didn’t think they would strike her in her mother-in-law’s house because it would be like striking themselves. She had married snake’s blood.” (pg 126) The pace of the book seems slow and melodic, yet tragic events happen often at breakneck speed.
The novel alternates chapters about Louise with chapters told in the first person by Charlie Kicking Woman. Charlie’s problems are not the same as Louise, but almost seem more real and plausible. “I was sick and tired of those calls, sick of the sign above every small bar and tavern across the state of Montana and beyond, anywhere there was an Indian, no dogs or Indians allowed. Tired of being the authority charged to uphold a law that forbid me to enter a bar when I wasn’t in uniform.” (pg 117) Charlie, like Baptiste and other men in the story, is also obsessed with Louise to his own detriment.
I would have appreciated more chapters focused on Baptiste Yellow Knife and his thoughts throughout.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)