I had a hard time sorting out what this book meant. At first I thought it was sci-fi, but it became pretty spiritual pretty quickly. Jesuit priests learn about the existence of another planet and head off to explore without really getting buy in from the rest of the planet. This is sort of they way they have operated throughout history so I guess that is why they got that job in this book.
Emilio Sandoz is the main character in the book and his journey to the planet Rakhat runs parallel with his journey to God. He is a good priest and linguist - he does everything right, but he doesn't feel a love for God like he feels he should. A group of people are assembled to accompany him. They all have talents to assist with the journey and they all either love each other, or come to love each other during the course of the journey. The concept of family is very strong in this novel, although not the traditional kind. The assembled, chosen family is what is represented.
The main idea I will take away from this book is that God watches what happens, but doesn't intervene, even if he loves the people who are involved. This point is illustrated by the Father General when he quotes Matthew ten, verse twenty-nine "Not one sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it." It is noted however that the sparrow still falls.
Many beloved characters are killed, but the more endearing they were, the more I knew they would have to die. It made it easier to relate to them and their likability. They were an obvious set up, but I loved them anyway.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Little Bee - Chris Cleave
How far would you go to save someone's life? What sacrifices would you make and can you really know that without the pressure and timing of the actual situation? A person's demise can be immediate and urgent, or slow and compounding over a great deal of time.
Would you consider their value before deciding? Would you consider how this could offer you benefit? Or, do you consider all life valuable without regard to how you are perceived in the whole saving decision thing?
This book made me think of these things. I sometimes put myself to sleep with rescue fantasies and in these fantasies I save and rescue because it feels like an ultimate good. The balance between good and evil should be tipped in the direction of good whenever possible and I find this work to be soothing. I like to go to sleep this way.
There were many horrific scenes in this pretty book. The doomed protagonist is funny, clever and surprisingly upbeat. She considers suicidal options in any new setting the way most people look for a second exit in case of fire. She does this in case "the men show up" and torture and murder her the way her sister was murdered. She struggles to survive in an environment where there is such a casual randomness of violence.
The violence has to do with the export of natural resources in Nigeria. The exporting business is conducted below the usual standard operating procedures that bored us when they were explained in Social Studies. This business stomps and kills any inconvenient human condition that poses an obstacle.
I would like to think that I would save someone - if presented with the situation. I hope I never really have to test that though. Living with a bad outcome could undo me.
Would you consider their value before deciding? Would you consider how this could offer you benefit? Or, do you consider all life valuable without regard to how you are perceived in the whole saving decision thing?
This book made me think of these things. I sometimes put myself to sleep with rescue fantasies and in these fantasies I save and rescue because it feels like an ultimate good. The balance between good and evil should be tipped in the direction of good whenever possible and I find this work to be soothing. I like to go to sleep this way.
There were many horrific scenes in this pretty book. The doomed protagonist is funny, clever and surprisingly upbeat. She considers suicidal options in any new setting the way most people look for a second exit in case of fire. She does this in case "the men show up" and torture and murder her the way her sister was murdered. She struggles to survive in an environment where there is such a casual randomness of violence.
The violence has to do with the export of natural resources in Nigeria. The exporting business is conducted below the usual standard operating procedures that bored us when they were explained in Social Studies. This business stomps and kills any inconvenient human condition that poses an obstacle.
I would like to think that I would save someone - if presented with the situation. I hope I never really have to test that though. Living with a bad outcome could undo me.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Ablutions - Patrick DeWitt
Some books have the ability to stain you with whatever they are made of. This book is made up of ugly, hopeless misery and I wore the stain for about a week. Work and daily living seemed like drudgery. Everyone had a motive that was designed to hurt me. Friends shook their heads and moved away for a while.
The main character is a bartender in LA and this book is about his life among the regulars. The story is told in second person. This made it feel like an embarrassing acquaintance standing next to me at a party. I kept feeling like I was in biology class with a microscope and each scene moves up a magnification with a nearly audible click. Crazy drunk person - crazy drunk person with an issue - crazy drunk person with an issue that feels hopelessly familiar. You get the idea.
When literature affects me like this, I remember why I love to read so much. I liked being stained for a while - I like being touchable.
The main character is a bartender in LA and this book is about his life among the regulars. The story is told in second person. This made it feel like an embarrassing acquaintance standing next to me at a party. I kept feeling like I was in biology class with a microscope and each scene moves up a magnification with a nearly audible click. Crazy drunk person - crazy drunk person with an issue - crazy drunk person with an issue that feels hopelessly familiar. You get the idea.
When literature affects me like this, I remember why I love to read so much. I liked being stained for a while - I like being touchable.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Safer - Sean Doolittle
This was a kind of mystery about a literature professor (Paul Calloway) who has been framed for sexually abusing a 13 year old neighbor girl. The book opens with his embarrassing arrest in the middle of a Christmas party he and his wife are throwing. At that point, you don't know any of the details - you don't know for sure who is setting him up - you feel sorry for the guy.
After a while you learn that Roger, the crazy vigilant neighbor is behind the frame. His son was murdered 10 years earlier and his wife killed herself in the aftermath of grief. He has made it his life mission to protect his community and keep everyone strong and safe. He has learned that Paul had a one nighter with another neighbor and decides that Paul is not the kind of guy you want on the block and tells him he has to move - or else.
Paul is almost likable. He never quite gets there though and I struggled over who to root for. In the end, the back story about Roger and who killed his son took over in a really confusing way with lots of murder and confounding resolution. Things get wrapped up, but I am not sure what happened. The cool characters like Maya Lamb, the smart reporter or Brit the worldly 13 year old drop off the story and out of sight.
It felt like Sean Doolittle had to finish the story in a hurry. He seemed to have a cool beginning and an ending with lots of action, but connecting these two things was a lot of work.
After a while you learn that Roger, the crazy vigilant neighbor is behind the frame. His son was murdered 10 years earlier and his wife killed herself in the aftermath of grief. He has made it his life mission to protect his community and keep everyone strong and safe. He has learned that Paul had a one nighter with another neighbor and decides that Paul is not the kind of guy you want on the block and tells him he has to move - or else.
Paul is almost likable. He never quite gets there though and I struggled over who to root for. In the end, the back story about Roger and who killed his son took over in a really confusing way with lots of murder and confounding resolution. Things get wrapped up, but I am not sure what happened. The cool characters like Maya Lamb, the smart reporter or Brit the worldly 13 year old drop off the story and out of sight.
It felt like Sean Doolittle had to finish the story in a hurry. He seemed to have a cool beginning and an ending with lots of action, but connecting these two things was a lot of work.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
How to Steal a Dog - Barbara O'Connor
I grabbed this book to read to my 6 year old before bed. It is a Scholastic book that he got at the last book fair. He was bored after the first page, but I was hooked and had to finish it.
I thought it would be about kids who want a dog and they try to steal one, but learn a valuable lesson about responsibility and honesty. Oh no - nothing like that. It was about a couple of kids who were living in their car with their mom. They thought if they stole a dog, they could return it for some reward money and that might be enough money to put down as a deposit on an apartment.
Well, as it turns out, the person that they stole the dog from wasn't well off enough to offer reward money. She was also heartsick from losing such a dear companion. The kids make friends with her and now they have to decide what to do. (they give the dog back with a tearful explanation)
The homelessness was told with realism and clarity. The embarrassment at having dirty hair and clothes, combined with slipping schoolwork (you can't easily do your homework in the car) was carefully described and not watered down for kids.
I was surprised and pleased to see this offered for children. I am urging my 9 year old son to read this so we can talk about it more from his perspective.
I thought it would be about kids who want a dog and they try to steal one, but learn a valuable lesson about responsibility and honesty. Oh no - nothing like that. It was about a couple of kids who were living in their car with their mom. They thought if they stole a dog, they could return it for some reward money and that might be enough money to put down as a deposit on an apartment.
Well, as it turns out, the person that they stole the dog from wasn't well off enough to offer reward money. She was also heartsick from losing such a dear companion. The kids make friends with her and now they have to decide what to do. (they give the dog back with a tearful explanation)
The homelessness was told with realism and clarity. The embarrassment at having dirty hair and clothes, combined with slipping schoolwork (you can't easily do your homework in the car) was carefully described and not watered down for kids.
I was surprised and pleased to see this offered for children. I am urging my 9 year old son to read this so we can talk about it more from his perspective.
Tran-sister Radio - Chris Bohjalian
This tried to read like a documentary. There was an NPR context to the narrative, but this is a work of fiction. This is a story about a male to female gender change.
Dana is the main character and she didn't even have to change her name because - hey - it works both ways! When she was a he, she started dating a single woman (Allison) with a grown daughter and an ex-husband who was still stuck on her. Dana considered herself to be lesbian, but Allison considered herself to be straight.
The small Vermont town where Allison teaches 6th grade really freaked out about this change and the attempt at keeping the relationship together. I found that to be somewhat unrealistic, but perhaps I am somewhat sheltered in my liberal SE Portland neighborhood. They eventually break up and people stop giving Allison a hard time.
The most unrealistic part happens at the end though when Allison's ex husband, Will, falls in love with Dana. No freaking way. Will could not have moved from disgusted and repelled to hubba hubba in any time frame, let alone 6 months or so.
The things about me that make me feel feminine have nothing to do with skirts, soft sweaters or make up. This may be just a way I don't relate to someone who is transgendered. I imagine that Chris Bohjalian put a lot of effort into researching transgendered issues and threw the plot together as an afterthought.
Dana is the main character and she didn't even have to change her name because - hey - it works both ways! When she was a he, she started dating a single woman (Allison) with a grown daughter and an ex-husband who was still stuck on her. Dana considered herself to be lesbian, but Allison considered herself to be straight.
The small Vermont town where Allison teaches 6th grade really freaked out about this change and the attempt at keeping the relationship together. I found that to be somewhat unrealistic, but perhaps I am somewhat sheltered in my liberal SE Portland neighborhood. They eventually break up and people stop giving Allison a hard time.
The most unrealistic part happens at the end though when Allison's ex husband, Will, falls in love with Dana. No freaking way. Will could not have moved from disgusted and repelled to hubba hubba in any time frame, let alone 6 months or so.
The things about me that make me feel feminine have nothing to do with skirts, soft sweaters or make up. This may be just a way I don't relate to someone who is transgendered. I imagine that Chris Bohjalian put a lot of effort into researching transgendered issues and threw the plot together as an afterthought.
Running with Scissors - Augustin Burroughs
Augustin Burroughs has one of the most bizarre childhoods you could imagine. He tells stories about his alcoholic father and psychotic mother with a great deal of humor. I laughed out loud more times than I could count. I felt so often like I was sitting right beside him as he watched the strange cast of characters in his life.
When he was 13, his mother gave him away to her very unorthodox shrink. He lived in filth with no rules or limits with a group of people who were endearing, unhealthy, disgusting and very self centered. He was sexually abused and completely liberated in every possible way.
His life could not be described in any way except damaging and horrifying, but Augustin made it seem fun and entertaining much of the time. I was attrated and repelled in equal measures.
When he was 13, his mother gave him away to her very unorthodox shrink. He lived in filth with no rules or limits with a group of people who were endearing, unhealthy, disgusting and very self centered. He was sexually abused and completely liberated in every possible way.
His life could not be described in any way except damaging and horrifying, but Augustin made it seem fun and entertaining much of the time. I was attrated and repelled in equal measures.
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