A Novel Idea is an excellent program that is put on by the Deschutes Public Library. The selection for 2011 is Kapitoil by Teddy Wayne. The idea is to have the local community come together to read the book and participate in different programs. It culminates with the author speaking at the Tower Theater.
I checked out this book and didn’t touch it for 3 weeks. I didn’t know much more than it was set in New York City and I’m kind of burned out on books set there. However, this book, as the author calls it, is a “pre-9/11 novel.” Karim Issar arrives in NYC to briefly work for Schrub Equities to help prepare for the Y2K bug. Remember that?
Karim has to adjust to a new culture and also appears to be slightly autistic. He develops a computer program, which he calls Kapitoil, that has the potential to make a lot of money based on instabilities elsewhere in the world. He almost immediately gets the attention of the president of the company and then has to make choices about the ethical uses of his program. He is also juggling his social interactions with his co-workers and others as well as issues back home.
Karim carries a pocket recorder everywhere and later analyzes what people say to him. He tries to incorporate all the new idioms he hears. Here’s an example of his narrating about working on his program.
“I made some progress, and soon I forgot about my nervousness with Rebecca and reentered the world of programming where I have ultimate control, and I worked through the night in my office, and I remembered how enjoyable it is to concentrate on a project that stimulates me, and by the end of the night I had hurdled some obstacles and received encouraging results, and once I finalize my program and presentation I will propose the concept to Mr. Schrub. If he was impressed with me initially, then this will bowl him over.”
Once I started reading it, I did really like this book. It brings up issues about assimilation and staying true to your own values. I’m looking forward to the author’s visit and hope I can get tickets to the free event. Here’s a quote from the DPL website by the author about his visit.
“I look forward to my visit to Central Oregon with great anticipation, because, as a writer, I work in a vacuum. I mean that literally; I have repurposed an industrial-sized Hoover vacuum as my writing room. It’s drafty and dust-choked in here, and I expect my time in your city to be stiller and cleaner.”
I’m also interested to see what kinds of programs the library puts together. Will the focus be on New York City, the financial world, Qatar, assimilation, Islam or something else altogether?
Monday, December 20, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
The Wilding by Benjamin Percy
Benjamin Percy was here for the Nature of Words a few years ago. He resides elsewhere, but has written short stories and now a novel set in Central Oregon. Percy grew up hunting in Central Oregon and that tends to be a big focus in his stories. In The Wilding a father, son, grandfather hunting trip takes some strange turns.
Justin, the father, reluctantly agrees to go hunting with his dad and brings along his twelve year old son. Justin, in his everyday life, is an English teacher at Mountain View High School. He is not getting along that great with his wife Karen and she’s rather relieved to see them go for the weekend. They head out to Echo Canyon in the Ochocos; it’s the last weekend before destruction of the area begins for a golf course community.
And, then, this is where the book becomes two distinct stories. One story follows the hunting party weekend, which rapidly deteriorates, especially when they realize something is hunting them. In juxtaposition to this Karen is simultaneously being stalked. It is interesting to compare the possible dangers in the forest to those in the city of Bend.
Here Percy captures how Justin can go from mild-mannered English teacher to exultant hunter throwing around deer viscera:
“Justin feels gripped by a reckless idea. The darkness of the woods and the thrill of the hunt and the wildness of his father have torn away some protective seal inside him; he cannot control himself. For a moment, just a moment, he forgets about his mortgage payment, his shaggy lawn, his Subaru and the groaning noise it makes when he turns left, his desk and the pile of ungraded papers waiting on it. All of that has gone someplace else, replaced by an urge, a wildness.”
The Wilding is a worthwhile read. It gives some insight into hunting, something I have never been tempted to do, and am even less likely to do after reading this. It also examines a culture shift that is going on in the west, where previously open wild areas are being turned into havens for the wealthy. I also reviewed and enjoyed Percy’s short story collection The Language of Elk.
Justin, the father, reluctantly agrees to go hunting with his dad and brings along his twelve year old son. Justin, in his everyday life, is an English teacher at Mountain View High School. He is not getting along that great with his wife Karen and she’s rather relieved to see them go for the weekend. They head out to Echo Canyon in the Ochocos; it’s the last weekend before destruction of the area begins for a golf course community.
And, then, this is where the book becomes two distinct stories. One story follows the hunting party weekend, which rapidly deteriorates, especially when they realize something is hunting them. In juxtaposition to this Karen is simultaneously being stalked. It is interesting to compare the possible dangers in the forest to those in the city of Bend.
Here Percy captures how Justin can go from mild-mannered English teacher to exultant hunter throwing around deer viscera:
“Justin feels gripped by a reckless idea. The darkness of the woods and the thrill of the hunt and the wildness of his father have torn away some protective seal inside him; he cannot control himself. For a moment, just a moment, he forgets about his mortgage payment, his shaggy lawn, his Subaru and the groaning noise it makes when he turns left, his desk and the pile of ungraded papers waiting on it. All of that has gone someplace else, replaced by an urge, a wildness.”
The Wilding is a worthwhile read. It gives some insight into hunting, something I have never been tempted to do, and am even less likely to do after reading this. It also examines a culture shift that is going on in the west, where previously open wild areas are being turned into havens for the wealthy. I also reviewed and enjoyed Percy’s short story collection The Language of Elk.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Tomato Rhapsody by Adam Schell
Tomato Rhapsody is a novel set in 16th century Tuscany. It is a fairy tale for adults. It was fun to read and it seems like the author probably had fun writing it. From the very first page we know who is the villain in the story, as well as who is the fool.
The author offers asides like this one:
“A romance’s conflict, unlike a love story, stems not from self-created issues of pride, but from the more severe burdens that family and society place upon the lovers. ‘Tis why the romance is predisposed to tragedy, for the whittling away of one’s vanity is often a comical affair, but the confronting of deeply held societal and familial prejudices, resentments, laws and traditions is an altogether different and all too often tragic set of challenges.”
The romance is this case involves a young Jewish tomato farmer, Davido, and a young Catholic olive grower, Mari. The tomato is new to this region of Italy and thought to be the “love apple” or what tempted Adam and Eve in the garden. The townspeople are afraid to try it. There are many descriptions of food in the book including the invention of pizza.
There are a myriad of other characters, including a very unusual priest and a Duke playing at being a farmer. The ways their lives entangle with the rest of the villagers and the main characters is entertaining. The villagers common use of rhyme in everyday speech would probably make this a fun book to read aloud.
Here the fool explains why he will not eat a tomato until the priest has eaten one a day for 13 days:
“'So, let the priest eat twelve, plus one. Then we’ll wait a twelve-plus-one-day week and at the feast we’ll have the truth we seek. So on the day of our patron saint, let us judge then if he be healthy or faint.’”
The author is currently a Bend resident and has done some readings around town. I haven’t made it to any, but I would guess they’d be fun.
The author offers asides like this one:
“A romance’s conflict, unlike a love story, stems not from self-created issues of pride, but from the more severe burdens that family and society place upon the lovers. ‘Tis why the romance is predisposed to tragedy, for the whittling away of one’s vanity is often a comical affair, but the confronting of deeply held societal and familial prejudices, resentments, laws and traditions is an altogether different and all too often tragic set of challenges.”
The romance is this case involves a young Jewish tomato farmer, Davido, and a young Catholic olive grower, Mari. The tomato is new to this region of Italy and thought to be the “love apple” or what tempted Adam and Eve in the garden. The townspeople are afraid to try it. There are many descriptions of food in the book including the invention of pizza.
There are a myriad of other characters, including a very unusual priest and a Duke playing at being a farmer. The ways their lives entangle with the rest of the villagers and the main characters is entertaining. The villagers common use of rhyme in everyday speech would probably make this a fun book to read aloud.
Here the fool explains why he will not eat a tomato until the priest has eaten one a day for 13 days:
“'So, let the priest eat twelve, plus one. Then we’ll wait a twelve-plus-one-day week and at the feast we’ll have the truth we seek. So on the day of our patron saint, let us judge then if he be healthy or faint.’”
The author is currently a Bend resident and has done some readings around town. I haven’t made it to any, but I would guess they’d be fun.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea
This novel is a surprisingly light-heartened and humorous look at illegal immigration from Mexico to the US. The main character, Nayeli, decides that her town needs to bring back men who have left for the US to find work. She puts together a team including herself, two girlfriends and a gay café owner, Tacho, to cross the border and bring them back. She’s backed by her aunt, the first female mayor of their town, and helped by Atomiko, a young man they meet at a garbage dump in Tijuana.
Nayeli’s group pins their hopes on a missionary boy who had stayed in their village for a few months and a long ago boyfriend of Nayeli’s aunt, both of whom do end up helping. Nayeli and Tacho also undertake a cross-country trip to try and find Nayeli’s father in a small town in the Midwest. Their descriptions of Las Vegas, Estes Park and other places are fun to read.
“They skirted the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains without knowing the name of what they were seeing. Nayeli thought of it as the Sierra Madre. Tacho thought of it as the Mountains. They didn’t care for Boulder – too much traffic, too many skinny people jogging in ridiculous clothes. At Lyons, they turned up the mountains and again found themselves climbing, among vast spikes of pines, dark, nearly black. Bright pale granite upthrusts. Butterflies burst from the weeds beside the precipitous highway like little scraps of paper.”
It is not all happy times. They meet people who feel threatened by them, but they do make it to Iowa and then back to San Diego. Nayeli’s aunt, nicknamed la osa, joins them to recruit men to return to their village. The other characters in the story are also interesting, especially Nayeli’s companions Yoloxochitl (Yolo) and Veronica (Vampi).
Urrea has also written a non-fiction book about crossing from Mexico to the US called The Devil’s Highway. It is hard for me to believe the same person wrote both of these books. Although both are about border crossings, Into the Beautiful North is a much less depressing and more hopeful read. Urrea was here for The Nature of Words one year and reading this reminds me that event is coming up soon!
Nayeli’s group pins their hopes on a missionary boy who had stayed in their village for a few months and a long ago boyfriend of Nayeli’s aunt, both of whom do end up helping. Nayeli and Tacho also undertake a cross-country trip to try and find Nayeli’s father in a small town in the Midwest. Their descriptions of Las Vegas, Estes Park and other places are fun to read.
“They skirted the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains without knowing the name of what they were seeing. Nayeli thought of it as the Sierra Madre. Tacho thought of it as the Mountains. They didn’t care for Boulder – too much traffic, too many skinny people jogging in ridiculous clothes. At Lyons, they turned up the mountains and again found themselves climbing, among vast spikes of pines, dark, nearly black. Bright pale granite upthrusts. Butterflies burst from the weeds beside the precipitous highway like little scraps of paper.”
It is not all happy times. They meet people who feel threatened by them, but they do make it to Iowa and then back to San Diego. Nayeli’s aunt, nicknamed la osa, joins them to recruit men to return to their village. The other characters in the story are also interesting, especially Nayeli’s companions Yoloxochitl (Yolo) and Veronica (Vampi).
Urrea has also written a non-fiction book about crossing from Mexico to the US called The Devil’s Highway. It is hard for me to believe the same person wrote both of these books. Although both are about border crossings, Into the Beautiful North is a much less depressing and more hopeful read. Urrea was here for The Nature of Words one year and reading this reminds me that event is coming up soon!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The novel Atonement is initially set in the English countryside prior to WWII. McEwan sets up the classic chaotic country house. It includes an ineffectual mother, an absent father, three cousins staying as their parents divorce, and the oldest son home for a visit with a friend. Briony is 13 at the time and constantly writing. McEwan captures a 13 year olds view of herself as the center of the universe perfectly.
Briony’s older sister, Cecilia, is home from college and trying to figure out why she’s having trouble getting along with Robbie. Robbie is the son of their cleaning lady and a friend since the age of 7. One of the things that McEwan does best is to describe feelings.
“This was what happened when they talked these days; one or the other was always in the wrong, trying to call back the last remark. There was no ease, no stability in the course of their conversations, no chance to relax. Instead, it was spikes, traps, and awkward turns that caused her to dislike herself almost as much as she disliked him.”
Cecilia and Robbie realize almost simultaneously that they are in love. They have one brief moment together before the events of that night unfold. Briony plays a role in separating them and the juxtaposition between the house in the countryside and Robbie fighting in the war is masterful. Robbie is involved in a horrific retreat from France and keeps flashing back to his former life.
“It seemed like another man’s life to him now. A dead civilization. First his own life ruined, then everybody else’s.”
I highly recommend Atonement and it is on my list of my favorite 10 novels. I don’t usually like reading about war, but the story here is so interesting the war scenes are worth it.
Briony’s older sister, Cecilia, is home from college and trying to figure out why she’s having trouble getting along with Robbie. Robbie is the son of their cleaning lady and a friend since the age of 7. One of the things that McEwan does best is to describe feelings.
“This was what happened when they talked these days; one or the other was always in the wrong, trying to call back the last remark. There was no ease, no stability in the course of their conversations, no chance to relax. Instead, it was spikes, traps, and awkward turns that caused her to dislike herself almost as much as she disliked him.”
Cecilia and Robbie realize almost simultaneously that they are in love. They have one brief moment together before the events of that night unfold. Briony plays a role in separating them and the juxtaposition between the house in the countryside and Robbie fighting in the war is masterful. Robbie is involved in a horrific retreat from France and keeps flashing back to his former life.
“It seemed like another man’s life to him now. A dead civilization. First his own life ruined, then everybody else’s.”
I highly recommend Atonement and it is on my list of my favorite 10 novels. I don’t usually like reading about war, but the story here is so interesting the war scenes are worth it.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Maus : a survivor's tale by Art Spiegelman
It was only recently that I noticed there was a section for graphic novels at my local library. I wasn’t sure if they were mainly for kids or a whole new genre. Were they comic book like? Even when I was a kid I didn’t read many comic books. I asked a friend for a recommendation and am glad I did.
Maus is primarily the story of Vladek Spiegelman as told to his son Art. Vladek is living in Poland before the war where he meets and marries Anja Zylberberg in 1937. Soon Anja and Vladek, along with their new son Richieu, are struggling to survive together with their families. A twist is that throughout the story the Jewish people are mice and the Nazis are cats.
The story doesn’t gloss over the hardships and atrocities that Vladek witnessed during the war. I don’t know that it makes it any easier to look at because all the dead bodies are mice. Vladek and Anja do end up in Auschwitz and eventually Dachau. Art only has Vladek’s account because his mother, Anja, committed suicide when he was twenty.
The relationship between Vladek and Art is also depicted. Vladek is a difficult, old man. Is he difficult because of the Holocaust or would he have been difficult no matter what? And, does going through something like that give (or should it) Vladek extra privileges? One scene with Vladek and Art where Vladek returns food sticks in my mind. Art is sure he’s going to be kicked out of the store and they do see the manager yelling at Vladek, but he comes out to the car with more food for only $1.
Vladek:”He helped me as soon as I explained to him my health, how Mala left me, and how it was in the camps.”
This took place sometime in the 1980’s. Of course, the pictures add greatly to the scene.
This book didn’t tell me anything new about the Holocaust, but I’m probably not the target audience. This would be a reasonable introduction to a difficult topic for a mature pre-teen.
Maus is primarily the story of Vladek Spiegelman as told to his son Art. Vladek is living in Poland before the war where he meets and marries Anja Zylberberg in 1937. Soon Anja and Vladek, along with their new son Richieu, are struggling to survive together with their families. A twist is that throughout the story the Jewish people are mice and the Nazis are cats.
The story doesn’t gloss over the hardships and atrocities that Vladek witnessed during the war. I don’t know that it makes it any easier to look at because all the dead bodies are mice. Vladek and Anja do end up in Auschwitz and eventually Dachau. Art only has Vladek’s account because his mother, Anja, committed suicide when he was twenty.
The relationship between Vladek and Art is also depicted. Vladek is a difficult, old man. Is he difficult because of the Holocaust or would he have been difficult no matter what? And, does going through something like that give (or should it) Vladek extra privileges? One scene with Vladek and Art where Vladek returns food sticks in my mind. Art is sure he’s going to be kicked out of the store and they do see the manager yelling at Vladek, but he comes out to the car with more food for only $1.
Vladek:”He helped me as soon as I explained to him my health, how Mala left me, and how it was in the camps.”
This took place sometime in the 1980’s. Of course, the pictures add greatly to the scene.
This book didn’t tell me anything new about the Holocaust, but I’m probably not the target audience. This would be a reasonable introduction to a difficult topic for a mature pre-teen.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
In the prologue to this book the author states:
“American Wife is a work of fiction loosely inspired by the life of an American first lady. Her husband, his parents, and certain prominent members of his administration are recognizable.”
This immediately caught my attention. As I began reading the book I couldn’t identify the first lady, but she seemed a very sympathetic character. Her life is shaped by a car accident she is in as a high school student that kills another student. She also loves books and becomes a librarian. At this point I’m thinking this must be about Laura Bush, but it is set in Wisconsin.
The character, Alice Lindgren, meets a very handsome, gregarious son of a former governor. He also seems like a good guy, but is from a wealthy privileged family with quite a difficult mother. He doesn’t do much outside the family business until he becomes managing partner of a baseball team. So, this must be about Laura and George Bush. It was hard for me to sort out fiction from non-fiction.
Alice Blackwell is a democrat and remains a democrat throughout even Charlie Blackwell’s presidency. She openly states her pro-choice opinion. When Charlie first runs for president and their finances are investigated, he is given credit for her donations made without his knowledge.
“These were, of course, the modest donations I had made surreptitiously; when our financial records were first vetted and this bit of duplicity emerged, Charlie and Hank were both thrilled. ‘God bless your sneaky liberal ways!’ Charlie exclaimed.”
I didn’t realize until recently that it is slightly unusual to be in a mixed political family. I grew up with a mother who was a democrat and a father who was a republican, and there are obviously examples of couples that work on different sides. It did not seem to be a big deal in our household, except during presidential elections. It never occurred to me, though, that the wife of former President G. W. Bush might be a democrat. To support someone running for president I would think you’d have to support their views and policies. This book is about how Alice Blackwell does support Charlie while not being a republican.
American Wife is worth reading and almost, almost makes me want to read a biography of Laura Bush.
“American Wife is a work of fiction loosely inspired by the life of an American first lady. Her husband, his parents, and certain prominent members of his administration are recognizable.”
This immediately caught my attention. As I began reading the book I couldn’t identify the first lady, but she seemed a very sympathetic character. Her life is shaped by a car accident she is in as a high school student that kills another student. She also loves books and becomes a librarian. At this point I’m thinking this must be about Laura Bush, but it is set in Wisconsin.
The character, Alice Lindgren, meets a very handsome, gregarious son of a former governor. He also seems like a good guy, but is from a wealthy privileged family with quite a difficult mother. He doesn’t do much outside the family business until he becomes managing partner of a baseball team. So, this must be about Laura and George Bush. It was hard for me to sort out fiction from non-fiction.
Alice Blackwell is a democrat and remains a democrat throughout even Charlie Blackwell’s presidency. She openly states her pro-choice opinion. When Charlie first runs for president and their finances are investigated, he is given credit for her donations made without his knowledge.
“These were, of course, the modest donations I had made surreptitiously; when our financial records were first vetted and this bit of duplicity emerged, Charlie and Hank were both thrilled. ‘God bless your sneaky liberal ways!’ Charlie exclaimed.”
I didn’t realize until recently that it is slightly unusual to be in a mixed political family. I grew up with a mother who was a democrat and a father who was a republican, and there are obviously examples of couples that work on different sides. It did not seem to be a big deal in our household, except during presidential elections. It never occurred to me, though, that the wife of former President G. W. Bush might be a democrat. To support someone running for president I would think you’d have to support their views and policies. This book is about how Alice Blackwell does support Charlie while not being a republican.
American Wife is worth reading and almost, almost makes me want to read a biography of Laura Bush.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon
Manhood for Amateurs is a collection of essays by one of the most well-regarded living authors in the US today. It is subtitled The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son. I enjoy Chabon’s fiction writing and The Yiddish Policemen’s Union was my favorite fiction book read in 2008.
This is an interesting book to pick up if you’d like to know more about Chabon’s family and his thoughts about random things like Jose Canseco or using a murse (a man purse). I think the best essay in the book is the first one entitled “The Loser’s Club.” It’s about 10 year old Michael Chabon and the comic book club he initiates by writing a newsletter and advertising in the paper. You get a hint of how determined he is and yet it is a somewhat depressing view into his life at that age.
He reflects on what he learned then:
“Success, however, does nothing to diminish the knowledge that failure stalks everything you do. But you always knew that. Nobody gets past the age of ten without that knowledge.”
I liked the essays that were about his father or other father figures in his life, like his father-in-law from his brief first marriage. I didn’t enjoy the essays that were more rants about legos or books today and how his children are experiencing a different, more commercialized, childhood than he did. It seems like he could take action to change that.
Chabon lives with his wife Ayelet Waldman, also a writer, and their four kids in Berkeley. She has a memoir out as well, but it focuses more on parenting. It is called Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace. She wrote it after some controversy about a NY Times article she wrote where she stated she loved her husband more than her children.
Chabon has this to say about being a parent in an essay about the Obama family entitled “The Binding of Isaac”: “Being a father is an unlimited obligation, one that even the best of us, with the least demanding of children, could never hope to fulfill entirely.”
This is an interesting book to pick up if you’d like to know more about Chabon’s family and his thoughts about random things like Jose Canseco or using a murse (a man purse). I think the best essay in the book is the first one entitled “The Loser’s Club.” It’s about 10 year old Michael Chabon and the comic book club he initiates by writing a newsletter and advertising in the paper. You get a hint of how determined he is and yet it is a somewhat depressing view into his life at that age.
He reflects on what he learned then:
“Success, however, does nothing to diminish the knowledge that failure stalks everything you do. But you always knew that. Nobody gets past the age of ten without that knowledge.”
I liked the essays that were about his father or other father figures in his life, like his father-in-law from his brief first marriage. I didn’t enjoy the essays that were more rants about legos or books today and how his children are experiencing a different, more commercialized, childhood than he did. It seems like he could take action to change that.
Chabon lives with his wife Ayelet Waldman, also a writer, and their four kids in Berkeley. She has a memoir out as well, but it focuses more on parenting. It is called Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace. She wrote it after some controversy about a NY Times article she wrote where she stated she loved her husband more than her children.
Chabon has this to say about being a parent in an essay about the Obama family entitled “The Binding of Isaac”: “Being a father is an unlimited obligation, one that even the best of us, with the least demanding of children, could never hope to fulfill entirely.”
Monday, May 10, 2010
The Husbands and Wives Club by Laurie Abraham
Have you ever been completely surprised by an announcement that a couple you know is separating or divorcing? “But they seemed fine,” is always the refrain. Usually no one knows what is really going on in a marriage other than those involved. Well, The Husbands and Wives Club is a book that lets you peak into other people’s marriages. In this non-fiction book the author follows five couples for a year as they attend monthly group counseling sessions.
I don’t remember where I heard about this book, but it might have been on literarymama.com. In a fun section called Essential Reading various editors comment on what they are currently reading.
This book is interesting as it doesn’t just follow one couple and the couples all have some serious issues.
“Before the year is out, the couple for whom I perhaps least expected it will be weighing divorce. Another pair will be confronting the husband’s attraction to men, while a third will make a stunning turn for the better. There will be miscarriages and infertility to confront, job loss and betrayal.”
The book intersperses dialogue and incidents from the therapy sessions, which were all recorded, with current research on the effectiveness of therapy for couples. I didn’t find the research parts so interesting and they seemed more like asides. It doesn’t seem like therapy can be easily evaluated in general.
One couple in particular is exceptionally difficult. A bump by her husband during a class exercise sends the wife out the door obviously furious. The therapist feels that these individual crises help the group bond and allow for other couples to grow while concentrating on someone else’s problems for a bit.
I can’t imagine why any of these couples agreed to have all their issues aired publically. Maybe readers will be comforted by the thought that their marriages are nowhere near that bad.
I don’t remember where I heard about this book, but it might have been on literarymama.com. In a fun section called Essential Reading various editors comment on what they are currently reading.
This book is interesting as it doesn’t just follow one couple and the couples all have some serious issues.
“Before the year is out, the couple for whom I perhaps least expected it will be weighing divorce. Another pair will be confronting the husband’s attraction to men, while a third will make a stunning turn for the better. There will be miscarriages and infertility to confront, job loss and betrayal.”
The book intersperses dialogue and incidents from the therapy sessions, which were all recorded, with current research on the effectiveness of therapy for couples. I didn’t find the research parts so interesting and they seemed more like asides. It doesn’t seem like therapy can be easily evaluated in general.
One couple in particular is exceptionally difficult. A bump by her husband during a class exercise sends the wife out the door obviously furious. The therapist feels that these individual crises help the group bond and allow for other couples to grow while concentrating on someone else’s problems for a bit.
I can’t imagine why any of these couples agreed to have all their issues aired publically. Maybe readers will be comforted by the thought that their marriages are nowhere near that bad.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach
I recently read this book after hearing about it from a friend multiple times. I have to admit the premise is very interesting; Washington, Oregon and Northern California secede from the United States to become Ecotopia. Also interesting is that it was published in 1975. It is written from the point-of-view of a reporter, William Weston, who is the first American allowed in the country in twenty years. The book alternates between his columns he is sending back to the US and his journal writings.
Many of the ideas in the book are beginning to be implemented now. For example, in Ecotopia all the plastics are made from plants. Weston reports what happens if these plastics come in contact with the soil:
“However, by chemical advances that have so far remained secret, Ecotopian scientists have built into these molecules “keyholes,” which can be opened only by soil micro-organisms! Once they are unlocked, the whole structure decomposed rapidly.”
And, here is what happened with dams in Ecotopia:
“The new government even went so far as to dynamite some of the dams which had been built on the rivers – on the dubious grounds that they prevented ‘white-water’ recreational boating or interfered with the salmon runs – which have been reestablished with great effort and enjoy much public support.”
We are currently seeing debate about dams all over the Pacific Northwest. And, salmon ladders are routinely added to dams these days. We’re talking about turning a small dam area here in Bend into a kayak or rafting throughway. Biodegradable plastics or compostable products are also more commonly being used. I think the most radical event in Ecotopia was that after the secession cars were immediately banned and a public transit system instituted.
I think this book raises some interesting ideas to think about. Actually I’d recommend just reading the dispatches and skipping the journal entries. The journal entries are in italics so that is easy to do. The plot involving the personal life of the journalist seems rather weak and can only really go in one direction. Will Weston fall in love? Will he stay in Ecotopia? If Ecotopia is all it seems to be, there can only be one reasonable decision.
Many of the ideas in the book are beginning to be implemented now. For example, in Ecotopia all the plastics are made from plants. Weston reports what happens if these plastics come in contact with the soil:
“However, by chemical advances that have so far remained secret, Ecotopian scientists have built into these molecules “keyholes,” which can be opened only by soil micro-organisms! Once they are unlocked, the whole structure decomposed rapidly.”
And, here is what happened with dams in Ecotopia:
“The new government even went so far as to dynamite some of the dams which had been built on the rivers – on the dubious grounds that they prevented ‘white-water’ recreational boating or interfered with the salmon runs – which have been reestablished with great effort and enjoy much public support.”
We are currently seeing debate about dams all over the Pacific Northwest. And, salmon ladders are routinely added to dams these days. We’re talking about turning a small dam area here in Bend into a kayak or rafting throughway. Biodegradable plastics or compostable products are also more commonly being used. I think the most radical event in Ecotopia was that after the secession cars were immediately banned and a public transit system instituted.
I think this book raises some interesting ideas to think about. Actually I’d recommend just reading the dispatches and skipping the journal entries. The journal entries are in italics so that is easy to do. The plot involving the personal life of the journalist seems rather weak and can only really go in one direction. Will Weston fall in love? Will he stay in Ecotopia? If Ecotopia is all it seems to be, there can only be one reasonable decision.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Having Faith An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood by Sandra Steingraber
I’ve read a number of books by mothers about having children over the past few years, so I was surprised I had not heard of this book by Sandra Steingraber, especially since it was published in 2001. It was an interview with the author in The Sun in January that first caught my attention. Steingraber has a Ph.D. in biology and is also a cancer survivor. She is passionate about environmental toxins and the problems they cause. I have yet to read her first book entitled Living Downstream: A Scientist’s Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment. In the introduction to her interview with The Sun she takes issue with the idea that her cancer stemmed from genetic causes.
“Years later, when cancer research began to focus on genetic causes, she submitted to doctors’ questions about her family history. She would recount her mother’s breast cancer, her uncles’ prostate and colon cancers, and her aunt’s bladder cancer. The doctors would nod knowingly. Then she would reveal that she was adopted.”
So, Having Faith is not your typical memoir about having a first baby. In fact, I would not recommend it to anyone who is currently or soon to be pregnant. It starts off gently. I completely agree with her complaint about gestation and how obstetricians consider you pregnant two weeks before you are pregnant, not because it is accurate, but because it is easier. She also gives some interesting historical perspectives. For example, morning sickness used to be considered a psychological problem.
“In one hospital in the 1930s, pregnant women prone to sickness were confined to bed and forbidden visitors and vomit bowls until they showed improvement. As further incentive for recovery, the nurses who cared for them were instructed to refrain from changing their sheets promptly.”
The book is initially organized with a chapter devoted to each month of her pregnancy. The really scary stuff starts in Chapter 3 where she looks into four different problems from the past and their impact on pregnancies. Her examples of rubella, thalidomide, Minamata (a town in Japan with mercury waste in the water), and diethylstilbestrol are not for the faint hearted. Thalidomide was given in the late 50s to quell morning sickness, however, it results in what is called reduction limb deficit, which is exactly what it sounds like. The day that thalidomide was taken would correspond to different birth defects, for example, a pill taken on days 35-37 of the pregnancy would result in a baby with no ears, and this is mapped out for which limbs would be lost depending on what day the drug was taken.
Her main point is that the fetus is very vulnerable to environmental toxins, but this is rarely discussed with pregnant women, instead the focus is on possible genetic problems.
“The most troubling aspects of prenatal testing still seem to me the single-minded search for rare genetic defects and the concomitant disregard of environmental threats to pregnancy. For expectant mothers over thirty-five, the hunt for chromosomal trisomies has become a routine part of prenatal care. But ask if your amniotic fluid contains pesticides, and if, so, how this contamination may affect the development of your baby, and you are likely to be met with blank stares. Genes and environment are two partners in a dance of creation.”
The second half of the book, immediately prior to and once her daughter Faith is born, is easier reading and tends to sound more like a memoir. She begins to wonder if a birth at a renowned teaching hospital is the best idea, especially one where epidurals and episiotomies are routine. She quarrels with the idea that pregnant women are sick and should be treated as patients.
“As more than one advocate of natural childbirth has pointed out, if labor and delivery were viewed less as medical events and more as Olympic ones, this distinction would be obvious. Who, after all, would rush up to a marathon runner in the final stretch with a needleful of narcotics?”
She does return to environmental toxins and makes the point that man is not at the top of the food chain, but rather a breastfeeding infant resides there. She examines toxins found in breast milk and looks at studies for how these toxins impact children later in life. Should we tell women, not just pregnant ones, but any 10 year old considering ever having a child, to behave in certain ways and avoid certain foods, or should we clean up those foods? It seems clear to me that we would all be much better off with the cleaned up foods.
Her book reminds me of an article in National Geographic where the author was tested for 320 different chemicals. It would be so interesting for each person to know this information for themselves, but obviously not feasible considering the $15K price tag. I think this is a book I’m going to purchase and set on my shelf next to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.
“Years later, when cancer research began to focus on genetic causes, she submitted to doctors’ questions about her family history. She would recount her mother’s breast cancer, her uncles’ prostate and colon cancers, and her aunt’s bladder cancer. The doctors would nod knowingly. Then she would reveal that she was adopted.”
So, Having Faith is not your typical memoir about having a first baby. In fact, I would not recommend it to anyone who is currently or soon to be pregnant. It starts off gently. I completely agree with her complaint about gestation and how obstetricians consider you pregnant two weeks before you are pregnant, not because it is accurate, but because it is easier. She also gives some interesting historical perspectives. For example, morning sickness used to be considered a psychological problem.
“In one hospital in the 1930s, pregnant women prone to sickness were confined to bed and forbidden visitors and vomit bowls until they showed improvement. As further incentive for recovery, the nurses who cared for them were instructed to refrain from changing their sheets promptly.”
The book is initially organized with a chapter devoted to each month of her pregnancy. The really scary stuff starts in Chapter 3 where she looks into four different problems from the past and their impact on pregnancies. Her examples of rubella, thalidomide, Minamata (a town in Japan with mercury waste in the water), and diethylstilbestrol are not for the faint hearted. Thalidomide was given in the late 50s to quell morning sickness, however, it results in what is called reduction limb deficit, which is exactly what it sounds like. The day that thalidomide was taken would correspond to different birth defects, for example, a pill taken on days 35-37 of the pregnancy would result in a baby with no ears, and this is mapped out for which limbs would be lost depending on what day the drug was taken.
Her main point is that the fetus is very vulnerable to environmental toxins, but this is rarely discussed with pregnant women, instead the focus is on possible genetic problems.
“The most troubling aspects of prenatal testing still seem to me the single-minded search for rare genetic defects and the concomitant disregard of environmental threats to pregnancy. For expectant mothers over thirty-five, the hunt for chromosomal trisomies has become a routine part of prenatal care. But ask if your amniotic fluid contains pesticides, and if, so, how this contamination may affect the development of your baby, and you are likely to be met with blank stares. Genes and environment are two partners in a dance of creation.”
The second half of the book, immediately prior to and once her daughter Faith is born, is easier reading and tends to sound more like a memoir. She begins to wonder if a birth at a renowned teaching hospital is the best idea, especially one where epidurals and episiotomies are routine. She quarrels with the idea that pregnant women are sick and should be treated as patients.
“As more than one advocate of natural childbirth has pointed out, if labor and delivery were viewed less as medical events and more as Olympic ones, this distinction would be obvious. Who, after all, would rush up to a marathon runner in the final stretch with a needleful of narcotics?”
She does return to environmental toxins and makes the point that man is not at the top of the food chain, but rather a breastfeeding infant resides there. She examines toxins found in breast milk and looks at studies for how these toxins impact children later in life. Should we tell women, not just pregnant ones, but any 10 year old considering ever having a child, to behave in certain ways and avoid certain foods, or should we clean up those foods? It seems clear to me that we would all be much better off with the cleaned up foods.
Her book reminds me of an article in National Geographic where the author was tested for 320 different chemicals. It would be so interesting for each person to know this information for themselves, but obviously not feasible considering the $15K price tag. I think this is a book I’m going to purchase and set on my shelf next to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Each year the Deschutes County Public Library picks a novel and encourages the whole community to read it. This year’s “A Novel Idea” is The Help. This novel is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s and focuses on the lives of black maids in white households.
This was a very interesting novel to read. It was not a tradition to have maids where I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and so this is a window into a whole different life where a woman invites another woman into her house to clean it and to raise her children. Added to the mix is that the maids were always black and that segregation was in full force during this time period. One of the maids in the story, Aibileen, has to listen to a discussion about building a separate bathroom for her in the garage so that she won’t “contaminate” the inside bathrooms.
The main plot is that a white woman, Skeeter, has returned home and is hoping to break into journalism. She sees how Aibileen is treated at her friend’s house and comes up with the idea of writing the stories of black maids. Aibileen agrees to do it and after much coercing and some traumatic events finds other maids that are also willing to talk with Skeeter. During this time period Medgar Evers is shot in Jackson and the author brings that into the story. It highlights the danger these maids are exposing themselves to by simply telling their stories, even anonymously.
It did take me some time to get into the dialect used in parts of the story. The story is told by alternating from the points of view of Skeeter, Aibileen, and another maid Minny. I also found it hard to believe the characterization of some of the white women in the story. For example, Skeeter’s friend, Elizabeth, seems to really dislike her own child. It is an interesting look into the everyday lives of people who were not actively engaged in the civil rights movement, yet were impacted by it, either by trying to keep the old ways of segregation or by trying to live in a different, and at that time, unacceptable way.
In looking at the events the library will be putting on around this book, it is great to see there will be some discussions about segregation and civil rights leaders as well as demonstrations of Southern cooking. I’m hoping they’ll add some events for kids.
Escape to Books
This was a very interesting novel to read. It was not a tradition to have maids where I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and so this is a window into a whole different life where a woman invites another woman into her house to clean it and to raise her children. Added to the mix is that the maids were always black and that segregation was in full force during this time period. One of the maids in the story, Aibileen, has to listen to a discussion about building a separate bathroom for her in the garage so that she won’t “contaminate” the inside bathrooms.
The main plot is that a white woman, Skeeter, has returned home and is hoping to break into journalism. She sees how Aibileen is treated at her friend’s house and comes up with the idea of writing the stories of black maids. Aibileen agrees to do it and after much coercing and some traumatic events finds other maids that are also willing to talk with Skeeter. During this time period Medgar Evers is shot in Jackson and the author brings that into the story. It highlights the danger these maids are exposing themselves to by simply telling their stories, even anonymously.
It did take me some time to get into the dialect used in parts of the story. The story is told by alternating from the points of view of Skeeter, Aibileen, and another maid Minny. I also found it hard to believe the characterization of some of the white women in the story. For example, Skeeter’s friend, Elizabeth, seems to really dislike her own child. It is an interesting look into the everyday lives of people who were not actively engaged in the civil rights movement, yet were impacted by it, either by trying to keep the old ways of segregation or by trying to live in a different, and at that time, unacceptable way.
In looking at the events the library will be putting on around this book, it is great to see there will be some discussions about segregation and civil rights leaders as well as demonstrations of Southern cooking. I’m hoping they’ll add some events for kids.
Escape to Books
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
NutureShock by Bronson and Merryman
This book is touted as a readable review of new research on children; it’s subtitled New Thinking about Children. If you read the newspaper or keep up online, you’ll likely have seen some of the studies. The authors make the point, though, that there are so many new studies it is often difficult to determine what information or practices will really make a difference in your parenting.
For example, I did read about a recent study that suggested lying in a 4-year-old is actually a sign of intelligence. But what do you do with this information? The authors recommend not putting your young kids in situations where they lie to avoid punishment, otherwise they’ll just become much better at it. They discuss this in a chapter called “Why Kids Lie” that looks at preschool to early elementary age kids. They hit this topic again in “The Science of Teen Rebellion.” There are other points in this later chapter, but what struck me was research showing teens routinely lie to their parents on 12 of 36 different topics, and their parents have no idea.
Another chapter that I found particularly interesting is called “Why Hannah Talks and Alyssa Doesn’t.” I think most parents have heard that talking to your kids helps with their language development. The most current research says, though, that they’ll advance most if you respond to their sounds. That is rather than parent-initiated talk, it is really the baby-initiated babble and subsequent responses that lead to significant gains.
I found this book to be one of the most interesting parenting books I’ve read in the past few years. I really like the way the research findings are discussed in practical ways. Another topic considered is testing for gifted programs and reasons why all kids should really be evaluated after a few years and moved around. Some schools actually offer remedial help for gifted students. Wouldn’t it be much better to simply move them to a regular program? And, testing for gifted kids in kindergarten just doesn’t work.
“… if a school wanted the top tenth of students in its third-grade gifted program, 72.4% of them wouldn’t have been identified by their IQ test score before kindergarten.”
Other chapters address why you should explicitly talk to your kids about race and why watching Arthur is worse for your kids’ peer relationships than watching more physically violent shows like the Power Rangers. NutureShock reminds me of one of my favorite parenting books, The Scientist in the Crib, but it goes beyond studies done with babies and is also relevant for parents of older children.
Escape to Books
For example, I did read about a recent study that suggested lying in a 4-year-old is actually a sign of intelligence. But what do you do with this information? The authors recommend not putting your young kids in situations where they lie to avoid punishment, otherwise they’ll just become much better at it. They discuss this in a chapter called “Why Kids Lie” that looks at preschool to early elementary age kids. They hit this topic again in “The Science of Teen Rebellion.” There are other points in this later chapter, but what struck me was research showing teens routinely lie to their parents on 12 of 36 different topics, and their parents have no idea.
Another chapter that I found particularly interesting is called “Why Hannah Talks and Alyssa Doesn’t.” I think most parents have heard that talking to your kids helps with their language development. The most current research says, though, that they’ll advance most if you respond to their sounds. That is rather than parent-initiated talk, it is really the baby-initiated babble and subsequent responses that lead to significant gains.
I found this book to be one of the most interesting parenting books I’ve read in the past few years. I really like the way the research findings are discussed in practical ways. Another topic considered is testing for gifted programs and reasons why all kids should really be evaluated after a few years and moved around. Some schools actually offer remedial help for gifted students. Wouldn’t it be much better to simply move them to a regular program? And, testing for gifted kids in kindergarten just doesn’t work.
“… if a school wanted the top tenth of students in its third-grade gifted program, 72.4% of them wouldn’t have been identified by their IQ test score before kindergarten.”
Other chapters address why you should explicitly talk to your kids about race and why watching Arthur is worse for your kids’ peer relationships than watching more physically violent shows like the Power Rangers. NutureShock reminds me of one of my favorite parenting books, The Scientist in the Crib, but it goes beyond studies done with babies and is also relevant for parents of older children.
Escape to Books
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Amagansett by Mark MIlls
The novel, Amagansett, is focused on events happening in and around the town of Amagansett, which is located on Long Island. One of the main characters, Conrad Labarde, immigrated to the United States as a small boy with his father and brother. After returning from fighting in WWII, he continues to earn a living fishing. The book opens with Conrad catching a body in his nets.
This town is also a popular place for New Yorkers to have summer homes. The tension between longtime fishing residents and summer-only visitors is exacerbated with this death of a daughter of a prominent summer family. Tom Hollis, an officer with the small town police force, suspects this is not a simple drowning. Tom is a former New York City detective sent to Amagansett as a punishment, and is not really accepted or trusted by either the fishermen or the summer people.
The author does a good job of moving between the different characters. Unlike many detective novels Tom does not spend every waking moment on the case, which seems more realistic. He even takes a day off to walk around the island with a woman he has just met.
I liked this book because it is a standalone well written mystery. It also examines what can happen when people are dropped back into their lives after serving in a war. I reviewed a more recent book by Mark Mills entitled The Savage Garden. It is also set after WWII, but in Italy. It is remarkable to me that the author was able to really capture each of these very different places.
This town is also a popular place for New Yorkers to have summer homes. The tension between longtime fishing residents and summer-only visitors is exacerbated with this death of a daughter of a prominent summer family. Tom Hollis, an officer with the small town police force, suspects this is not a simple drowning. Tom is a former New York City detective sent to Amagansett as a punishment, and is not really accepted or trusted by either the fishermen or the summer people.
The author does a good job of moving between the different characters. Unlike many detective novels Tom does not spend every waking moment on the case, which seems more realistic. He even takes a day off to walk around the island with a woman he has just met.
I liked this book because it is a standalone well written mystery. It also examines what can happen when people are dropped back into their lives after serving in a war. I reviewed a more recent book by Mark Mills entitled The Savage Garden. It is also set after WWII, but in Italy. It is remarkable to me that the author was able to really capture each of these very different places.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan
Subtitle: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East
A friend recommended this book on her blog quite a long time ago. I finally got around to reading it and it is worth the time. This non-fiction book is about the history of the formation of Israel. The history is told by examining the lives of two individuals and their families. Dalia Eshkanzi immigrated to Israel at the age of 1 from Bulgaria. Bashir Khairi is a Palestinian whose family was forced to leave their hometown when he was around 6 years old in 1948. Dalia’s family ends up in the house that Bashir’s family has left.
I found myself referring to the three maps in the front of the book over and over again. First is the 1936 map of Palestine under the British Mandate. The second map shows the United Nations Partition Plan in November 1947. The town that Bashir’s family lives in, Al-Ramla, is in the Arab State, but borders the Jewish State. This is only a technicality as almost immediately this town is taken over by Israeli forces. The 2005 map of Israel and the Palestinian Territories shows Ramla as clearly being part of Israel.
This book really shows the impossible situation that anyone who lives in this area is in. Bashir is almost constantly being arrested and put in jail as he insists on the 1948 United Nations right of return plan. Yet, how can he return to a place where someone else is now living? And, for many Palestinians their homes no longer exist. Dalia meets Bashir and over many years they have many discussions, yet can never resolve anything. Dalia cannot go back to Bulgaria and she wants Bashir to accept the idea of Israel. Once her parents die Dalia even turns the house into an Arab kindergarten called Open House to foster Arab Jewish interactions.
I’d encourage you to read this book, if like me, you’ve read about the violence in Israel, but don’t really understand how it came about.
A friend recommended this book on her blog quite a long time ago. I finally got around to reading it and it is worth the time. This non-fiction book is about the history of the formation of Israel. The history is told by examining the lives of two individuals and their families. Dalia Eshkanzi immigrated to Israel at the age of 1 from Bulgaria. Bashir Khairi is a Palestinian whose family was forced to leave their hometown when he was around 6 years old in 1948. Dalia’s family ends up in the house that Bashir’s family has left.
I found myself referring to the three maps in the front of the book over and over again. First is the 1936 map of Palestine under the British Mandate. The second map shows the United Nations Partition Plan in November 1947. The town that Bashir’s family lives in, Al-Ramla, is in the Arab State, but borders the Jewish State. This is only a technicality as almost immediately this town is taken over by Israeli forces. The 2005 map of Israel and the Palestinian Territories shows Ramla as clearly being part of Israel.
This book really shows the impossible situation that anyone who lives in this area is in. Bashir is almost constantly being arrested and put in jail as he insists on the 1948 United Nations right of return plan. Yet, how can he return to a place where someone else is now living? And, for many Palestinians their homes no longer exist. Dalia meets Bashir and over many years they have many discussions, yet can never resolve anything. Dalia cannot go back to Bulgaria and she wants Bashir to accept the idea of Israel. Once her parents die Dalia even turns the house into an Arab kindergarten called Open House to foster Arab Jewish interactions.
I’d encourage you to read this book, if like me, you’ve read about the violence in Israel, but don’t really understand how it came about.
Monday, January 11, 2010
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
In this fiction book Vida Winter is a popular author. She had one book published many years ago called Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation, however, the book only had 12 stories. She’s since lied to everyone who’s asked about what that thirteenth tale could be. She’s now dying and asks a relatively unknown biographer, Margaret Lea, to hear her tale.
The Thirteenth Tale is a gothic tale, by that I mean there is an old family, an old house, incest, servants, scientific experiments, babies, and a fire involved. Jane Eyre is the classic example of a gothic romance tale. This tale is not a romance, but rather a tale of family. The whole story is somewhat unbelievable when viewed from afar, but the writing is excellent and draws one in.
In Vida’s letter to ask Margaret to visit and write her biography Vida mentions how she fooled a reporter.
“I didn’t tell him the truth. How could I? I told him a story. An impoverished, malnourished little thing. No sparkle, no sequins, just a few dull and faded patches, roughly tacked together with the edges left frayed. The kind of story that looks like real life. Or what people imagine real life to be, which is something rather different.”
To ensure that Vida is telling the truth this time, Margaret asks for three things to verify her story. This leads to Margaret’s entanglements with people who are still living in the town where Vida grew up.
Margaret does move in with Vida and begin listening to her story. However, Margaret has her own secrets and her own story that gradually comes out along with Vida’s. Here Margaret contemplates her birthday:
“Unhappy birthday. From the day I was born, grief was always present. It settled like dust upon the household. It covered everyone and everything: it invaded us with every breath we took. It shrouded us in our own separate miseries.”
I think this novel compares favorably with Jane Eyre and is at least as compelling. I highly recommend it and it is on my list of top ten fiction books.
The Thirteenth Tale is a gothic tale, by that I mean there is an old family, an old house, incest, servants, scientific experiments, babies, and a fire involved. Jane Eyre is the classic example of a gothic romance tale. This tale is not a romance, but rather a tale of family. The whole story is somewhat unbelievable when viewed from afar, but the writing is excellent and draws one in.
In Vida’s letter to ask Margaret to visit and write her biography Vida mentions how she fooled a reporter.
“I didn’t tell him the truth. How could I? I told him a story. An impoverished, malnourished little thing. No sparkle, no sequins, just a few dull and faded patches, roughly tacked together with the edges left frayed. The kind of story that looks like real life. Or what people imagine real life to be, which is something rather different.”
To ensure that Vida is telling the truth this time, Margaret asks for three things to verify her story. This leads to Margaret’s entanglements with people who are still living in the town where Vida grew up.
Margaret does move in with Vida and begin listening to her story. However, Margaret has her own secrets and her own story that gradually comes out along with Vida’s. Here Margaret contemplates her birthday:
“Unhappy birthday. From the day I was born, grief was always present. It settled like dust upon the household. It covered everyone and everything: it invaded us with every breath we took. It shrouded us in our own separate miseries.”
I think this novel compares favorably with Jane Eyre and is at least as compelling. I highly recommend it and it is on my list of top ten fiction books.
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