The main characters of this sweet story are Armpit and X-Ray. They were characters from Sachar's earlier book, Holes. This isn't a spin-off of Holes, but more like a side street.
Armpit has formed a friendship with a neighbor girl with cerebral palsy. She is quickly judged by her appearance and has learned to deal with prejudice by applying a straightforward approach. Armpit learns a bit from her when he faces similar prejudice.
There is a young pop star and some ticket scalping that tests the integrity and loyalty between X-Ray and Armpit.
Redemption and kindness are two big themes. There is some predictable stuff here about the dangers of racial profiling, but I really wish someone would have the courage to write about the tendencies for racial profiling. It's not like this stuff comes out of nowhere. It is correct and responsible to predict future behavior on past behavior. Just don't get swayed by hype and don't turn your brain off.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
I Have the Right to Destroy Myself - Young-Ha Kim
This was a short sparsely written book. The narrator finds people who seem to have an inclination towards suicide and helps them accomplish the task. The story was told around the lives of brothers C and K. They meet strange, hopeless, attractive young women who eventually kill themselves. Sex is compulsive and void of any real passion.
It was an easy read and very compelling. Discussions of art and the business of capturing images - do we do this out of fear of the blank canvas, or to hide behind. All in all, not very uplifting stuff.
It was an easy read and very compelling. Discussions of art and the business of capturing images - do we do this out of fear of the blank canvas, or to hide behind. All in all, not very uplifting stuff.
Hide & Seek - Clare Sambrook
This was a hard book to read. It was about a family dealing with disappearance of 4 year old Daniel from a school field trip to Legoland. The author knows full well how the news of the disappearance will affect the reader and teases out the full drama by first having another child turn up lost. Harry (the 9 year old narrator) is Daniel's older brother and you can feel the hot dread as he scans the bus looking for his little brother. When he finds him and cradles him, you fully realize the horror of possibly losing this child. They find the first kid and the bus stops for a bathroom break. It is here, that Daniel is lost.
The rest of the book is about how Harry and the rest of his family cope with the nightmare. His mother becomes untethered to sanity and his father moves out. Harry also becomes unhinged but seems to straighten somewhat. They simply have to face life knowing that this terrible thing will never ever go away. Daniel is never found and the book lets off at the end with this terrible knowledge.
The rest of the book is about how Harry and the rest of his family cope with the nightmare. His mother becomes untethered to sanity and his father moves out. Harry also becomes unhinged but seems to straighten somewhat. They simply have to face life knowing that this terrible thing will never ever go away. Daniel is never found and the book lets off at the end with this terrible knowledge.
Walk the Blue Fields - Clarie Keegan
I found this book by wandering around the library picking up thing that looked interesting. I used to do that when I was a kid and it is still the most rewarding way I find good things to read. I am off of work this week and with the kids at school and spouse at work, I can enjoying reading all day if I feel like it.
This was a collection of short stories taking place in Ireland. Most of the main characters were tough, interesting women. Although each character suffered adversity, they all seemed to have secret hidden weapons. Life is hard in these stories. Viewing one hardship after another (because that is how you view a collection of short stories) left me feeling a bit gritty and blue.
Night of the Quicken Trees was my favorite story. It read like a song. A young girl named Margaret has a priest's baby (he was also her cousin) and the baby dies of SIDS. She loses her fertility and most of her mind after that. Not much is told about her youth, but when she is not quite 40 the priest dies and leaves her his house. It is really a duplex and they guy living on the other side is really a hoot. He has never been with a woman and his main relationship is with a goat named Josephine. Loving him and joining the houses into one restores her fertility and she has another baby. Margaret eventually leaves this place with her son when the local people turn unfriendly. The boy's father does not go with them. Doom and heartache again.
This was a collection of short stories taking place in Ireland. Most of the main characters were tough, interesting women. Although each character suffered adversity, they all seemed to have secret hidden weapons. Life is hard in these stories. Viewing one hardship after another (because that is how you view a collection of short stories) left me feeling a bit gritty and blue.
Night of the Quicken Trees was my favorite story. It read like a song. A young girl named Margaret has a priest's baby (he was also her cousin) and the baby dies of SIDS. She loses her fertility and most of her mind after that. Not much is told about her youth, but when she is not quite 40 the priest dies and leaves her his house. It is really a duplex and they guy living on the other side is really a hoot. He has never been with a woman and his main relationship is with a goat named Josephine. Loving him and joining the houses into one restores her fertility and she has another baby. Margaret eventually leaves this place with her son when the local people turn unfriendly. The boy's father does not go with them. Doom and heartache again.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Loving Frank - Nancy Horan
I tried not to be too harsh on Mamah Borthwick Cheney for leaving her kids for Frank Lloyd Wright because this was the whole point of her message. It was hard for me though, because my own filter on the world sees things as what is best for my children.
This historical fiction novel attempts to tell the story of Mamah - who she was and what her influences were. She was an early feminist and a translator for a Swedish feminist, Ellen Keys. The time period was between 1907 and 1914, but I had to keep forcing my mind back to that time period. The issues that women face today regarding individualism are still fresh and when you lay her story over a modern time frame, it is hard to understand her struggles. Divorce was very uncommon and if you chose that path, you would almost certainly lose your children.
She chose Frank over the kids. I found myself hoping that they would be okay and everything would work out for them - they would come to understand their mother's choice and even respect her courage when they were grown. That wasn't possible though because she and the children were murdered in 1914 by one of the workers at her home during a summer visit with her kids.
Anyone for more sorrow? Man alive - that was an unexpected ending. Did I learn anything new about the rights of the individual woman for erotic true love? Not really - I think I gained a bit of compassion for Mamah and reminded myself that every situation has a story. Don't be too quick to judge.
This historical fiction novel attempts to tell the story of Mamah - who she was and what her influences were. She was an early feminist and a translator for a Swedish feminist, Ellen Keys. The time period was between 1907 and 1914, but I had to keep forcing my mind back to that time period. The issues that women face today regarding individualism are still fresh and when you lay her story over a modern time frame, it is hard to understand her struggles. Divorce was very uncommon and if you chose that path, you would almost certainly lose your children.
She chose Frank over the kids. I found myself hoping that they would be okay and everything would work out for them - they would come to understand their mother's choice and even respect her courage when they were grown. That wasn't possible though because she and the children were murdered in 1914 by one of the workers at her home during a summer visit with her kids.
Anyone for more sorrow? Man alive - that was an unexpected ending. Did I learn anything new about the rights of the individual woman for erotic true love? Not really - I think I gained a bit of compassion for Mamah and reminded myself that every situation has a story. Don't be too quick to judge.
In the Woods - Tana French
I figured out the ending about halfway through and was pretty frustrated that dimwitted Rob, the detective, couldn't get there. At the end he made it seem like an assumption that we were just as tricked as he was. I found myself muttering "Idiot..." every few pages. Cassie, his partner, was perfect in every way and ended up with the short end of the stick a the end. A stick that I wanted to beat Rob over the head with, by the way.
There were two mysteries in this book. One was solved and the other, older mystery was not. Why even put that one in the book?? It's only function was to illustrate how messed up Rob was, and why.
The pace was fast and I liked that. The plot was predictable, but it moved well and that was also very welcome. I got a fresh perspective of modern Ireland - I was sort of stuck in the 1700s with that place. This was a good snack - but it didn't change my life.
There were two mysteries in this book. One was solved and the other, older mystery was not. Why even put that one in the book?? It's only function was to illustrate how messed up Rob was, and why.
The pace was fast and I liked that. The plot was predictable, but it moved well and that was also very welcome. I got a fresh perspective of modern Ireland - I was sort of stuck in the 1700s with that place. This was a good snack - but it didn't change my life.
Three Junes - Julia Glass
This story is told through the perspective of a man and later, his son. It tells the story of love, being understood and learning to live without regret. I just have to ask though, do all love stories involving gay men have to be doomed, sad and decoratively tasteful?
The book opens in June (of course) and is written from the perspective of Paul, a widower on a cruise. He is trying to branch out a bit, but he typically hates these kinds of things. He is looking back on his life a bit and develops a crush on a young woman on the boat.
The wife and mother in this story raised Collies in Scotland and probably had an affair with the neighbor. She wore bright red lipstick and an irreverent attitude. She was Catherine Hepburn in my mind. She had three sons and the book takes the perspective of her oldest son as the book moves on to the second June.
Both parents have died at this point and Fenno, the oldest son, moves the narrative back and forth between the present and his past in Manhattan. He has a strong friendship with Mal, a witty Opera critic who is dying of AIDS with dignity and stifled rage. Fenno has an affair with Tony, but they never bring this relationship into the light. They never develop beyond the secret sex.
The last June is told from the perspective of Fern - a young woman on vacation in the Hamptons with Tony. Here we learn that Fern is Paul's crush from the cruise. Fenno shows up with one of his brothers and the story ties up here.
All the images presented in this story were beautiful - colorful bookstores and doting mothers, just to name a couple. Love and sex didn't live comfortably though.
The book opens in June (of course) and is written from the perspective of Paul, a widower on a cruise. He is trying to branch out a bit, but he typically hates these kinds of things. He is looking back on his life a bit and develops a crush on a young woman on the boat.
The wife and mother in this story raised Collies in Scotland and probably had an affair with the neighbor. She wore bright red lipstick and an irreverent attitude. She was Catherine Hepburn in my mind. She had three sons and the book takes the perspective of her oldest son as the book moves on to the second June.
Both parents have died at this point and Fenno, the oldest son, moves the narrative back and forth between the present and his past in Manhattan. He has a strong friendship with Mal, a witty Opera critic who is dying of AIDS with dignity and stifled rage. Fenno has an affair with Tony, but they never bring this relationship into the light. They never develop beyond the secret sex.
The last June is told from the perspective of Fern - a young woman on vacation in the Hamptons with Tony. Here we learn that Fern is Paul's crush from the cruise. Fenno shows up with one of his brothers and the story ties up here.
All the images presented in this story were beautiful - colorful bookstores and doting mothers, just to name a couple. Love and sex didn't live comfortably though.
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