Aruba's Books For 2010

2010 is still weeks away, and this already seems to be the busiest group on LT.

I'm happy to be back among so many fun and thoughtful readers. I will continue to try to read as many threads as I can (and I do read most of them) even if I don't comment much. I hope a lot of you will read and comment on this thread. Exchanging ideas about books is what it's all about.

I'm going to try to be a little more thoughtful about what I read this year, primarily in that I plan to choose most of my reading from the several hundred TBR books already on my shelves. Of course, it won't be possible read only from books currently owned, since there are so many great recommendations I will get here.

In 2010, I'm going to continue the group read of Proust I'm doing. At one volume every other month, we will finish at the end of the year. Other goals are to read (or reread) at least 2 Dickens, Zola, and Faulkner.

My "planned" reading for January, if I stick to it, is:

The Emigrants by Vilhelm Moberg for Reading Globally (Sweden)
Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton for RL book club
Half of a Faulkner novel for the group read in the Faulkner salon group
Half of Within a Budding Grove for Proust group read
Finish the rest of Les Miserables, which I began 12/1.

Glad to see all the familiar faces, and welcome to the new faces.

Deborah

FIRST QUARTER READING
1. The Emigrants by Vilhelm Moberg 5 stars
2. Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton 5 stars
3. Alamut by Vladimir Bartol 4 stars
4. Half of Man is Woman by Zhang Xianliang 3 1/2 stars
5. A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep by Rumer Godden 3 stars
6. Desparate Remedies by Thomas Hardy 3 stars
7. Light in August by William Faulkner 5 stars
8. Harp of Burma by Michio Takeyama 3 stars
9. The Help by Kathryn Stockett 3 1/2 stars
10. Generosity: An Enhancement by Richard Powers 3 stars
11. Greek Myths by Olivia Coolige 3 stars
12. Isle of Passion by Laura Restrepo 4 stars
13. Unto a Good Land by Vilhelm Moberg 3 stars
14. Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada 4 stars
15. The Case of Comrade Tulayev by Victor Serge 4 1/2 stars
16. Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates 4 stars
17. Chicago by Alaa al Aswany 1/2 star
18. Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips 4 stars
19. Within a Budding Grove by Marcel Proust 5 stars
20. A Time for Everything by Karl Knausgaard 4 1/2 stars
21. The Vagrants by Yiyun Li 4 stars
22. This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
23. Out of Egypt by Andre Aciman

SECOND QUARTER READING

24. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
25. From A to X by John Berger
26. Gather the Weeds by Patrick Killgallon
27. Santa Evita by Tomas Eloy Martinez
28. Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald
29. Nineteen Seventy-four by David Peace
30. Force of Gravity by R.S. Jones
31. Black Hearts: One Platoon's Descent into Madness by Jim Frederick
32. The Angel Maker by Stefan Brijs
33. Brodeck by Philippe Claudel
34. The Case Worker by Gyorgy Konrad
35. Desertion by Abdulrazak Gurna
36. Drohobycz, Drohobycz by Henryk Grynberg
37. Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo
38. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
39. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
40. The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust
41. Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts
42. Oxford Illustrated History of Greece and the Hellenistic World, Ed. John Boardman
43. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
44. The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell
45. Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant
46. The Law by Roger Vailland
47. Mara and Dann by Doris Lessing
48. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
49. The Kill by Emile Zola

THIRD QUARTER READING

50. Columbine by Dave Cullen
51. Fires on the Plain by Ooka Shohei

FOURTH QUARTER READING

Hi, Deborah! I'll be looking forward to your reads, especially since I'll also participate in the Reading Globally and Faulkner groups.

I like your idea of selecting books from different projects to read in advance. I'll do the same now.

Welcome back!

Look at all these smart people who think ahead to save posting space for their books! And I thought I was clever to save one! It's amazing how well Cry, the Beloved Country has held up over the years. Wasn't it first published over fifty years ago? I should read it again with you.

Glad to see you back, Deborah!

I like the way you've divided your reads by quarters. Something to keep in mind for a future challenge.

Greetings aruba! I got you starred. :)

Deborah,

I am coming over here to say I will look forward to your comments on Zola, in particular. I have Nana, Germinal and Ladies Paradise on the absolutely positively list for 2010. I also seem to have picked up on the French literature kick, since I also plan on Pere Goriot and The Plague.

Lisa

Of course I've got you starred! You're always reading the most unusual things... and unconsciously prodding me to try Proust.

Finally finished a couple of books, but they are 5 star books and well-worth the wait.

1. The Emigrants by Vilhelm Moberg (1949, 1951) 366 pp

This is the first volume of Moberg's four volume epic work of fiction about Swedish emigration to America. This book centers around Karl Oscar and Christina, a young farmer and his wife who despite back-breaking work fall deeper into debt each year. A devastating famine seals their decision to leave Sweden for the New World. Others who reach similar decisions for reasons of their own include Karl's brother, an indentured farm laborer, and Christina's uncle and his family, who are persecuted for their religious beliefs.

The first half of the book chronicles the hardships of these and other characters as they all reach the agonizing decision to leave behind the familiar for an unknown new life. The second part is the story of the dangerous sea voyage to America, as 78 emigrants are crammed into the hold of a ship only 40 paces long, and 8 paces wide for a trip expected to last for months. For many of the emigrants it is only during this voyage that they fully realize the enormity of what they have done, and begin to accept that there will never be a return voyage back to Sweden.

The prose is calm and understated, yet the angst and difficulties the characters suffer while reaching their decisions are palpable and real. The suffering of the sea voyage is vividly portrayed--I cringed during the entire episode of the first storm at sea encountered on the voyage.

I was not ready to leave Karl Oscar and Christina, and immediately ordered the second volume of this series. Highly recommended.

5 stars

> abw, at first i thought you were referring to W.G. Sebald's The Emigrants, a book which has been on my wish list for a long time now. apparently, there's a book with a similar title out there which i didn't know the existence of, whose author i've never heard of, and which promises to be a very good read as well! will take note of this, thanks.

2. Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton (1948)

This is the story of two fathers, an elderly black clergyman and a wealthy white land owner, who fiercely love their sons, and who come together under the most horrific of circumstances. It is narrated in beautiful, simple language that reads almost like a folk tale, although the story itself is more nuanced.

While the book explores the tragedy of the exploitation of the native African peoples by Europeans, there are no clear-cut villains portrayed. The tone of the book is unflinchingly hopeful, and is sympathetic to both African and Europeans. While its themes have held up remarkably well over the sixty years since it was published, the hopeful tone of the book has not been justified by the history of South Africa since 1948. Reading this book saddened me with the realization of just how much has NOT changed since the time this book was originally published. Highly recommended.

5 stars

I've got this one on my Tipping Tower of Tomes and your 5 star rating makes me look forward to reading it even more now.

Nice reviews of both books, aruba. I have the first one, and I may read it this month for the Reading Globally monthly read. I don't have the Paton, so I'll add that to my wish list.

I also wanted to mention a book that was one of the last I read for 2009. In case you didn't see my last entries on my 2009 thread, I highly recommend the book Genesis by Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano. This book is difficult to describe, but like parts of Dos Passos's USA Trilogy, it consists of a series of brief chapters or vignettes each retelling an event in the history of the Americas. (Mostly South and Central America). Genesis is the first volume of The Faces and Masks trilogy, and covers the period from pre-Colombian times until 1700. The writing is poetic, and the events described are fully documented. Historical characters, Spanish conquistadors and Aztec and Incan chieftans alike, appear and reappear, as the themes of greed and hubris are well, perhaps too well, illustrated. This is one I also rated 5 stars. (And in case you're new here, I rarely rate books with 5 stars!)

Thanks for the description of the Galeano books, aruba. Over the years, I've looked at several books of his in bookstores and never bought them, but with your encouragement (and rare 5-star rating!) I think I'll look at them again.

>16 arubabookwoman:: nice review of Cry, the Beloved Country. It was one of my top 5 in 2008. I found it so moving.
>18 kidzdoc:: I'm quite surprised you haven't read it kidzdoc!!

Me, too...although it's only been a few years since I've become an avid reader. I have a lot of catching up to do.

Me too - in the catching up department, that is.

Thanks, Deborah! I've got The Emigrants and Genesis on my wish list now.

I am adding the Moberg The Emigrants to the BlackHole. I just recently read the Sebald book by the same title.

Cry, The Beloved Country was on my memorable reads list in 2008. A wonderful book!

> 25 Stasia, how did you find the Sebald book?

I read Cry, the Beloved Country last year and found the story moving, but could not bring myself to give it 5 stars. Paton certainly had sympathy, and the Biblical allusions and language created the necessary effect. What bothered me, however, was that a sense of paternalism pervades the entire story -- the white man ultimately saving the black man. It fails to recognize the ability of the African to take up the fight himself.

#26: The theme of the book seems to be: '. . . Mental suffering is effectively without end. One may think one has reached the very limit, but there are always more torments to come. One plunges from one abyss to the next.' It was a good read, and I am certainly willing to read more of his books, but it was not the most uplifting book I have ever read.

> 27 thanks. it doesn't sound like something i want to pick up soon to accompany my current read, though. i'm several chapters into The Fatal Shore which is about Australia's founding -- and the theme you mention might as well be from this book's blurb too.

#28: The Fatal Shore has been on my list of books to read for oh, 10 years or so. One of these days, I may actually get to it. I look forward to your review. Maybe it will spur me to read it.

The Emigrants is now moving from the TBR pile to (the smaller TBR pile on) my bedside table!

Great to start your year with two 5 star-ers. Our book group will be reading Cry, the Beloved Country in a couple of months. I've been looking forward to reading it for awhile now.

deebee-I agree that Cry the Beloved Country had a paternalistic tone. However, as to the two white persons we become most familar with, Jarvis and his son, both seemed to act from a recognition that the Europeans had caused most of the problems and suffering of the African people, and therefore must bear a significant portion of the responsibility for righting those wrongs.

I was most engaged in the book as the personal story of two fathers who had every reason to hate each other, but who were able to come together. As a parent, I cannot imagine any more devasting fate for my child than that suffered by either of the sons. How does a parent begin to heal from such an event? Paton captured both the grief and the search for answers of both fathers.

Thank you all for your comments.

What a great start to your reading year! I've add Cry, the Beloved Country and Genesis to my neverending wishist. Thanks for the wonderful reviews!

Thank you Marcia.

Just noticed on the home page that Alan Paton was born on this day in 1903.

I am planning to start Cry, the Beloved Country tonight. I am currently reading A History of South Africa, but I cannot read that when there are other things going on in the house. I am glad to see you liked Paton's book. I am looking forward to reading it now. Though I will be sure to have some comfort food on standby in case I get too depressed. The history book is not very uplifting either and I just reached the 1800s. The stuff they actually have a lot of information on is just beginning to appear.

Regarding The Fatal Shore, it would be interesting to read about Australia's founding and the time when the Brits had control of S. Africa, since it is about the same time period. In fact I just learned that Britain tried to drop off some ex-convicts in South Africa too, but the settlers would not have it. In the history book I am reading, they compare how the different colonies (S.A., Australia, Canada, West Indies and India) were treated by the British government. That would be an interesting topic to really get into. They only touch on it a bit in this book. It seems the more white colonists that were in the colony, the more freedom the colony had from London.

I'm putting The Emigrants on my list. I am deep in tracing the geneology of my family - not Swedish, but Italian - and like most emigrants, they also came to the US for economic reasons. I'm sure their experiences are the same. My family never spoke of those experiences, so I am left to read that of others. Your review and this book sound wonderful.

jmaloney and catarina--thanks for stopping by!

3. Alamut by Vladimir Bartol (1938, 2004) 391 pp

Alamut was a timely and pertinent political allegory when it was first published on the eve of World War II; it is an appropriate political allegory for the time in which it is set, 11th century Persia as various Muslim sects vied for primacy; and it is equally pertinent today, in the age of terror following the events of 9/11 and the United States' extreme reaction to that event.

Hasan ibm Sabbah, an Ismaili leader who controls the fortress at Alamut, has devised and is implementing a plan to install himself as the leader of the Persian world. He is training and plans to manipulate a cadre of innocent young men, the fedai, by giving them a taste of paradise, thus ensuring that they will go willingly to their deaths on suicide missions. He has created a secret garden with glass pavillions and beautiful young women dressed in silk and jewels and well-trained in poetry, music, dance, and sexual techniques. The young men will be drugged with hashish and will wake up in "paradise" for one night, before being returned to be sent on a suicide mission.

The novel raises philosophical, moral and social issues. Hasan is actually a Machiavellian figure, and his motto is "Nothing is true; everything is permitted." At times it is unclear whether he is insane or brilliant. Beyond raising issues to ponder, however, Alamut is an exciting and well-written story, somewhat of a cross between an adventure story and a fairy tale, as the stories of the fedai, the women in the secret garden, and the ruthless leaders are told in alternating chapters.

While historical developments since 1938 have raised serious questions about the factuality of the underlying story, there was a fortress at Alamut (its ruins remain), Hasan is a historical figure, and stories of fedai or assassins were described by Marco Polo.

4 stars

4. Half of Man is Woman by Xianliang Zhang (1986, 1988) 237 pp

Xianliang Zhang is a novelist and poet who at the age of 21 became a political prisoner and spent the next 22 years in jail and labor camps. The story of the protagonist of this novel mirrors Zhang's experiences.

At the time it was released in China, the book was considered shocking, since it raised sexual issues (impotence), which it tacitly linked to the emasculation of the intelligensia during the Cultural Revolution. The position of the intelligensia is illustrated by this description:

"At the beginning, the nickname people gave him was 'stupid.' Unfortunately, at that time, the adjective 'stupid' had taken on a complimentary character, and was used as a term of commendation. For example, the person who came daily to clean the Headquarter's toilets--this person was encouraged and praised as being 'stupid.' He had previously been a hydraulic engineer, and had with some difficulty overcome the appellation 'intellectual.' Now after much work, he had obtained the glorious status of 'stupid,' and been allowed to enter the Party.

The story is the simple depiction of day-to-day life on the labor farm. Most of the inhabitants feel themselves lucky to be beyond the notice of the excesses of the Cultural Revolution. With few exceptions (the loudspeaker announcing communal meals, the broken-down tractor), the laborers could be living and working in the 19th century. As a former member of the intelligensia, the protagonist feels alone and isolated. He discusses political issues and his personal problems with a talking horse.

The book is poetically written, and I recommend it. However, I have yet to read any work about China as lyrical and as informative as Wild Swans by Jung Chang.

3 1/2 stars

Two great reviews, Deborah! You make me want to read both books--but I guess I better finish Wild Swans first. :-)

Yes, two great reviews...and three books for my wish list!

Zhang Xianliang also wrote an excellent book about his time in the labour camps, Grass Soup. He wasn't allowed paper but managed to save a few scraps on which he made very abbreviated notes. After his release, he was able to reconstruct the notes into this diary/memoir.

I may as well just put all the books from your thread in the BlackHole. Unfortunately, like the books on Darryl's thread, yours are never available at my public library. *sigh*

Thanks Bonnie, Darryl and Stasia, and thanks for the information wandering star--I'll try to look for that book.

I seem to be plodding along at about two books a week. Here are this weeks:

5. A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep by Rumer Godden (1987) 243 pp

All the talk recently on LT about Godden's The Greengage Summer, which I read as a teenager and loved, inspired me to read this autobiography, which I have had on my shelf for more than 10 years (maybe even 20).

In A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep, Godden describes her life from childhood until she was 38. Her stories of her early life in India with her 3 sisters and her Fa and Mam are magical:

"The feel of the sunbaked Indian dust between sandals and bare toes; that and the smile. It was the honey smell of the fuzz-buzz flowers, of thorn trees in the sun, and the smell of open drains and urine, of coconut oil on shining black human hair, of mustard cooking oil and blue smoke from cow dung used as fuel; it was a smell redolent of the sun, more alive and vivid than anything in the 'West.'

After a brief sojourn in England for the minimal education she received, she returned to India for her debut and the social whirl of the next few years as a privileged young woman of the Raj. She became pregnant, and married a man who at the beginning of World War II left her for another woman, as well as leaving her with huge gambling debts, which she paid with the bulk of her royalties from Black Narcissus. She then wondered what if: "instead of living to get money to spend, we lived by not spending? Somewhere away, where it would be so quiet and simple that a little would go a long way?"

She and her daughters moved to Kashmir, which she describes so, so beautifully that at times I felt I was there, and moved into an abandoned house, which she fixed up enough to make habitable. There was no running water, no indoor plumbing, and no electricity, and they grew most of their own food. She continued to write, now the sole support of her family. The book ends with the end of World War II.

While Godden has been praised for her depictions of the details and the panorama of life in India, in this book the Indian people are depicted only as servants. Even when she was so "poor" in Kashmir that she had to grow her own food, she had a cook (who in an interesting side story tried to poison her and her daughters by putting ground glass and opium in their food). Here's an example of how I see she viewed her relationship with the Indian people:

"The Bloomfield's own home was in one of the wide tree-shaded roads of New Dehli, with spacious houses and gardens, even the roundabouts set with fountains and flowers, all seeming so rich that it was a shock to see an old woman, in a tattered grey-white sari, sweeping up dust and leaves with a twig-broom; to see among the gleaming cars and carriages rickshaws pulled by straining little men, sweat pouring down their faces, muscles over-bulging on their poor thin leg; few rickshaw men survive after they are thirty years old." Of course, the rajahs are quite another matter.l

I enjoyed the feel of the natural beauty of India Godden is able to convey. However, given the time at which Godden wrote the book (1987), I am appalled at her failure to acknowledge her position as a privileged member of the Raj and that she did not truly know "the real India," nor did she apparently care to.

Although she has written a second volume, A House With Four Rooms, which describes her life in England after World War II up to her 70's, I probably won't read it.

3 stars

6. Desparate Remedies by Thomas Hardy (1871) 362 pp

Desparate Remedies, Thomas Hardy's first published novel, is a story of blackmail, murder and romance. When Cytherea, a newly impoverished young woman, takes a position with Miss Aldclyffe as a ladies' maid, she is surprised to learn that Miss Aldclyffe also bears the unusual name of Cytherea. Is there a mysterious connection between the two women?

Before becoming Miss Aldclyffe's maid, Cytherea was in love with Edward. She still loves Edward, but has had to break off the relationship when she discovered he had other obligations. Mr. Manston, Miss Adlclyffe's steward, admires and ultimately falls in love with Cytherea. Although he is dark and brooding (influenced by his name, probably, I pictured him as Charles Manson), Miss Aldclyffe unaccountably favors him and urges Cyntherea to accept his offers of marriage. Why is Miss Aldclyffe so anxious she marry Mr. Manston? Is there something going on between Mr. Manston and Miss Aldclyffe?

This novel has most, if not all, of the elements of the Victorian "Sensation Novel": bigamous marriages, misdirected letters, romantic triangles, heroines in physical danger, drugs/potions/poisons, characters who adopt disguises, strained coincidences. On top of these melodramatic elements, there is an incident that can only be described as a lesbian love scene--at least to me it seemed to go far beyond what I've read of the affection Victorian women displayed to one another.

Much less titillating is the scene in which Cytherea and Edward first recognized their love for one another, as they are rowing in a boat:

"The boat was so small that at each return of the sculls, when his hands came forward to begin the pull, they approached so near to her that her vivid imagination began to thrill her with the fancy that he was going to clasp his arms around her. The sensation grew so strong that she could not run the risk of again meeting his eyes at those critical moments, and turned aside to inspect the distant horizon; then she grew weary of looking sideways, and was driven to return to her natural position again. At this instant he again leant forward to begin, and met her glance by an ardent gaze. An impulse of girlish embarassment caused her to give a vehement pull at the tiller-rope, which brought the boat's head round til they stood directly for shore."

And then: "She breathed more quickly and warmly; he took her right hand in his own right: it was not withdrawn. He put his left hand behind her neck til it came round to her left cheek; it was not thrust away. Lightly pressing her, he brought her face and mouth towards his own; when at this, the very brink, some unaccountable thought or spell within him suddenly made him halt--even now, and as it seemed as much to himself as to her, he timidly whispered, "May I?""

Ah--they don't write love scenes like that anymore, do they? Still, this book is much weaker than Hardy's other novels. Cytherea is innocent and artless. I much prefer Sue of Jude the Obscure, or Bathsheba of Far from the Madding Crows or Eustacia of Return of the Native, Desparate Remedies would be of interest to an academic, or to someone who wants to read a Hardy novel with a happy ending; for indeed all ends well in this book.

3 stars

Simply stopping by to say hi.

Godden's book sounds interesting, Deborah. I like biographies for the "truths" they tell--especially the ones that the authors are not always aware they're telling.

#43/44: I am adding both of those to the BlackHole despite your reservations. I have never read the one by Hardy, although I have read several of his later works (Jude the Obscure being my favorite), and I am just interested in Godden.

I've never heard of that Hardy before - sounds interesting. At some point I'm going to launch a new assault on Hardy (I never quite managed to forgive him for what he did to poor Tess) and I shall bear it in mind.
Chloe

I'm finally catching up on a bunch of threads - including yours - and wanted to let you know I've added The Emmigrants to my wishlist. I'm the granddaughter of Swedes who came to Minnesota in the 1890s and I've never heard of the books - shame on me!

#47: Jude the Obscure is my favorite too. Hardy is one of my favorite authors. There was a time when I could not read enough.

Thanks to all for stopping by. Jude the Obscure is my favorite Hardy too. I've read it several times.

I've just finished the second volume of Moberg's Emigrants Quartet, Unto a Good Land, and will review it later.

Right now I am away for a long weekend with Husband at one of the most beautiful places in the country--the Oregon coast. I'm looking out the window watching the tide come in, frothing around the sea stacks, birds circling, foam playing on the beaches. I could stay here forever. It's beautiful even when rainy and grey, as it is now.

For my February reading, I will read The Help for my RL book club;
Hard Times by Charles Dickens for the monthly author reads;
The Harp of Burma for Reading Globally (jungle theme);
and hope to complete Light in August and Within a Budding Grove. Then I will read whatever catches my fancy.

I'm also reading lots of Greek myths for my weekly art history group. Since last May, we've progressed from Pre-historic art, and are now up to Classical Greece. As part of this endeavor, I'm listening to an entire semester course in Ancient Greek History on ipod university (free) that was given at Yale University by Donald Kagan. Maybe in twenty years or so we'll finally be up to the 20th century, or at least the Impressionists!

7. Unto a Good Land by Vilhelm Moberg

The emigrant families I became emotionally involved with in my first read of the year, The Emigrants, have finally landed in New York harbor, and, not fully aware of the vastness of their new country, must make their way to Minnesota. Unto a Good Land, the second volume of The Emigrants Quartet, relates the story of their travels by train, which none of them have seen before, boat through the Great Lakes, and finally on foot. They arrive in Minnesota too late in the season to plant a crop, and must somehow endure their first winter in Minnesota with inadequate food supplies and shelter.

I was not as impressed with this volume as the first volume, but I'm still interested in the characters and the story of their first years in America, so will probably get to the next two volumes soon.

3 stars

I'm not a football fan, but since I lived in New Orleans for 18 years, I watched the second half of the Super Bowl, which has just ended. The Saints won, as you know, but I kept holding my breath because the last time I paid attention to them (20 years ago) they somehow could always manage to mess up a lead. I half jokingly told my husband that maybe Archie Manning, who was QB for the Saints for many years, and who is also Peyton's father, told his son to throw that interception.

Those were the old (S)Aints, these are the new Saints! I went to several Saints games in the late 70s & early 80s, when they were known as the Aints, and you could walk up to the Superdome just before kickoff and get a ticket. I think that Popeye's, the fast food restaurant, gave away coupons for discount tickets to Saints games if you purchased a chicken dinner. I never thought I'd see the day when the Saints even reached the Super Bowl, nonetheless won it going away.

Who Dat!

8. Light in August by William Faulkner

Light in August begins with pregnant Lena Grove arriving in Jefferson, Mississippi in search of Lucas Burch, the father of her child. As we meet her, she is thinking, "I have come from Alabama: a fur piece. All the way from Alabama a-walking. A fur piece." The novel ends with Lena thinking, "My, my. A body does get around. Here we ain't been coming from Alabama but two months and now it's already Tennessee."

As calm, matter of fact, and single-minded as Lena seems to be, explosive events occur all around her as she waits to give birth in Jefferson. By the time she arrives in Jefferson, Joanna Burden's house is on fire, shrouding the town in an ominous veil of smoke. Miss Burden is the descendant of Northern abolitionists, and is shunned by the townspeople of Jefferson. Joe Christmas, the central character, is also an outsider in Jefferson. As an infant, he was abandoned on the steps of an orphanage, and was later adopted by a fundamentalist and physically abusive farmer. Since his arrival in Jefferson three years before Lena, he has lived in an abandoned cabin on Miss Burden's property, and to the townspeople remains brooding, enigmatic and somehow threatening figure.

Gail Hightower, another central character, also lives on the outskirts of Jefferson society. He is a former minister who has remained in Jefferson even after the scandal that defrocked him. His only contact with the outside world is Byron Bunch, a worker at the lumber mill. Bunch and Hightower connect the apparently separate plot strands. Bunch is a saintly character who feels compelled to rescue both Lena and Christmas, and Hightower delivers Lena's baby and makes a futile effort to save Christmas.

This is one of Faulkner's most accessible novels. It is not linear, and there are long flashbacks, but the story is not hard to follow. We often learn of important details of a character's past or plot from one character relating the story to another. This results in a novel in which there are many stories within stories, narrated by different characters. In fact, we learn the final fate of two of the main characters when an anonymous furniture dealer tells his wife, as they are in bed, of a curious experience he had while on the road.

As has been said before, the novel follows in the tradition of Southern oral story-telling. You can almost see a group of elderly men sitting on the dusty front porch of a general store on a town square discussing the story of what happened in Jefferson between the day Lena Grove came to town and the day she left.

BTW--I meant to say Light in August is a 5 star read.

9. Harp of Burma by Michio Takeyama

Written shortly after the end of World War II, this novel follows a group of Japanese soldiers lost in the jungles of Burma. When they are surrounded by a group of British soldiers, they learn that the war is over. The British soldiers tell them of an isolated group of Japanese soldiers who refuse to surrender. One of the captured Japanese soldiers is sent to try to convince the hold-out soldiers that the war is over. The rest of the group remains in a jungle POW camp for a year. They hear nothing from their friend who was sent on the mission for the British, and are left wondering whether he is dead or alive. Over the year they come to know the Burmese villagers, including several monks.

This is a contemplative book, and it raises issues of why some cultures are war-like (Japan) and some are peaceful (Burma).

3 stars

Great review, Deborah! I'll probably start reading Light in August next week.

#55: I am adding Light in August to the BlackHole. It has been a long time since I read Faulkner (20+ years), but I really liked his Absalom, Absalom!.

>55 arubabookwoman:: Lovely review! I started reading Light In August early last month, but put it on hold until there was more action in the Salon du Faulkner group. Time to get back to it. After reading that wonderful quote, I am tempted to start the book over and read it straight through.

Daryl, Stasia and Donna--Hope you get to read Light in August soon. Faulkner really is one of the greats! I love The Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom too.

10. Isle of Passion by Laura Restrepo (1999, 2005) 294 pp

Isle of Passion is the first novel by Columbian author Restrepo. She began her career as a journalist, and during an exile in Mexico, she learned of certain events that had occurred in the early 20th century on Clipperton Island, also known as the Isle of Passion. The Mexican president at that time, fearing that the French, who also claimed ownership of the island, would invade the island, sent a small contingent of soldiers and their families to the uninhabited island to protect it. The island was remote, desolate, barren, and inhospitable, and its new inhabitants were entirely dependent on regular supply shipments of food and other necessities. Unfortunately, when the Mexican Civil War broke out, they were forgotten, and were left to fend entirely for themselves.

After researching the historical archives and speaking to survivors and their descendants, Restrepo decided that there were too many open questions about what actually happened on the island to write the story as nonfiction, and so she wrote this fictionalized account.

When they initially arrived on the island, the life of the soldiers and their families was idyllic. Restrepo vividly describes this time period, and then the deterioration of their society that follows when the supplies stop coming. While the adults struggle to survive, not only against the elements, but also against the evil members of their group, the children live in blissful ignorance, happily chasing the crabs and birds and playing on the beach.

Clipperton Island is now an uninhabited French possession, administered from French Polynesia. I highly recommend that you view the photo gallery at www.clipperton.fr if you have read or would like to read this book. You won't forget the stark beauty of the island (actually an atoll), and you can readily see where all the important events in the story occurred.

Highly recommended

4 stars

Light in August sounds great! I enjoy Faulkner a lot, but have not read this one. Added to the mountain. ;)

#60: Isle of Passion looks very good. I note that Restrepo has written another book as well, The Angel of Galilea. Have you read that one, Deborah? If so, would you recommend it too?

As usual, you are reading some excellent books that inspire better reading habits in me. Someday. After I get through my own TBR piles. I am taking notes, though.

Hi Berly and Chris--thanks for stopping by!
Stasia--I haven't read anything else by Restrepo, but based on Isle of Passion I intend to. Last year, several LT'ers read and raved about Delirium by Restrepo, but I haven't heard of The Angel of Galilea. I'll look for it.

11. Generosity: An Enhancement by Richard Powers (2009) 296 pp

"Enhancement. Why shouldn't we make ourselves better than we are now? Why leave something as fabulous as life up to chance?"

"All good science pauses."

Richard Powers, winner of the National Book Award, and recipient of the MacAurthur Genius Award, is one of my favorite contemporary authors. He is erudite and hip at the same time. His novels often raise important ethical and philosophical issues, but are never preachy, are always peopled with characters who are human and believable, and have plausible and engrossing plots.

In Generosity, he tackles issues raised by current genetic research. Russell is an adjunct professor of creative writing at a Chicago art college. From the first class session, he is dazzled and intrigued by Thassa, one of his students. She is a Berber refugee from the Algerian Civil War. She has suffered many hardships, including the loss of her parents, yet she is always upbeat and, well, "happy."

In the meantime, Thomas is an entrepeneur whose biomedical research company is on the verge of identifying and isolating the "happiness" gene. When the company learns of Thassa, her world is turned upside down.

I enjoyed this book, and although it is as well-written as I would expect from Powers, it had a major flaw for me. I was not convinced that Thassa was so special that anyone meeting her would know within minutes that she was one in a million. Thassa is definitely an engaging character, upbeat, optimistic, encouraging, positive, fun to be around, yet she never comes across as uniquely so.

Despite this flaw, I still recommend the book, or anything by Richard Powers.

3 stars

12. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (2009)

Unless you've been isolated in an underground bomb shelter for the last year or so, you've heard of this book, which covers a year in the lives of a group of black maids and the white housewives who employ them in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960's.

Stockett has said that she grew up being nurtured by her family's black maid, and it was only later as an adult that she began to wonder what the black maids really felt about the families they worked for and the conditions under which they worked--i.e. the babies and children of the white families were entrusted to their loving care, but they were not allowed to use the same toilet as the rest of the family. As far as I can tell, the world she creates is accurate, although she has said that she only interviewed one black maid of the era in researching the book.

As has been noted elsewhere, there are some glaring anachronisms in the book, i.e. references to "Shake N Bake" which had not been invented at the time this book was set. I was particularly jarred when one of the white characters experienced an epiphany when she heard Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" on the radio.

This is a highly readable book, well-plotted and with wonderful characters. However, I don't see it as an "eternal" book, a classic, a book that will be around in 25 years, a book like To Kill A Mockingbird. So, I recommend it, but I am not one for whom this is one of the best books I've read.

3 1/2 stars.

13. Greek Mythology by Olivia Coolidge (1949) 245 pp

I read this for my art history study group. It retells many of the well-known myths, as well as some I had never heard of. Since I have not read the "gold standards," Bullfinch and Edith Hamilton, I can't really comment on the relative merits of this collection. We are continuing to explore Greek history, myths and art.

3 stars

#65 I bought and read The Help last year after hearing a serialisation on the radio. It's a very good read but I agree with a lot of your comment. I'm a terrible book hoarder but I think I'll probably put this up as a swap book once I've written a review.

Deborah, I haven't read anything by Richard Powers - what do you recommend? Generosity sounds interesting.

I'm already on the lookout for The Help because Bonnie loved it. I like it when my LT friends disagree!

Well, I really did love reading it, Cushla, but can agree with Deborah, too, that it's not necessarily going to be a 'classic/eternal book' like To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee's Book regularly makes people's Top Ten of all-time lists!

Hi elkiedee and bonnie--thanks for stopping by. I have The Help on kindle, so I'll be keeping it. Otherwise I agree it would be one to swap.

Cushla-- Richard Powers is one of my favorite contemporary novelists. I liked Generosity, but not as much as most of his others. My favorite is Operation Wandering Soul, which is about a young children's surgeon and his patients and their effect on him. Sections of it tie into the Children's Crusade, the Pied Piper story, and Peter Pan. Another one I highly recommend is Galatea 2.2, which is about trying to teach a computer human feelings by feeding it (or feeding "her"--her name is Helen) literature, and discussing the emotions portrayed. The Goldbug Variations, generally considered his best, is his longest, and although it may be his most difficult to read, it is still highly readable and I highly recommend it. Almost all of his books relate in one way or another to science issues.

I've completed several other books in February, and hope to review them soon (this weekend):

Every Man Dies Alone
The Case of Comrade Tulayev
Within a Budding Grove by Proust
Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates

If I read really fast I might finish A Time for Everything by Karl Knausgaard, an intriguing book reimagining encounters between angels and humans through the ages, by February 28.

I was about to pick up a copy of The Help but overheard 2 people discussing it at the bookstore and they said it was trite and carried too many anachronisms so I left it alone. I suspect from your review, that I made the right decision.

#70: I have had Fallada's Every Man Dies Alone in the BlackHole for a while now. I am looking forward to your review, Deborah.

I mentioned on another thread the Every Man Dies Alone} and The Case of Comrade Tulayev were two of my favorite books of the year in the years I read them.

Ooh, I look forward to your review of The Case of Comrade Tulayev - I like Victor Serge's work.

Cameling--The Help was a quick read and I didn't particularly dislike it. Not so much trite, as pedestrian fluff.

Stasia, rebecca and elkiedee--better late than never with my reviews, such as they are.

14. Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada (1947, 2009)

Every Man Dies Alone was inspired by the real life story of Otto and Elise Hampel, who scattered anti-Fascist postcards in various locations around Berlin during World War II. Fallada, who spent the war in a Nazi insane asylum, wrote the book in 24 days in 1946, and died before its publication in 1947.

In the novel, the Hampels become Otto and Anna Quangel, an uneducated working class couple who begin their campaign distributing postcards after the death of their only child at the front. While they hoped to inspire rebellion, unbeknownst to them almost every postcard they perilously distributed was turned over to the police immediately upon its discovery.

When Otto first decided to distribute the subversive postcards, Anna asked him whether their actions would be worth it, whether such small steps could make a difference, especially since even such small actions would lead to death if they were caught. The response was, "Whether the act was big or small, no one could risk more than his life. Each according to his strength and abilities, but the main thing was that you fought back." In the end, the postcards had the greatest (perhaps their only effect) on the Gestapo, which was stymied and frustrated by being unable to track down the perpetrators of "the postcard crimes" for many, many months.

During the course of the novel, Fallada portrays a vivid slice of life in war-time Berlin--an elderly Jewish woman whose husband has been taken away, a retired judge who does what he can to help the woman and others like her (and the Quangels after their imprisonment), a drunken family whose brutal teenage son aspires to join the SS, two low-life criminals who game the corrupt system with petty theft, the Gestapo officer in charge of the Quangel's case as he wrestles with his conscience.

Primo Levi has called this book the best book written about the German resistance. It is indeed an excellent book, and highly recommended. I had two issues with it, however, which make it a 4 star book rather than a 5 star book: I felt the book devoted far too much time to the two low-lives, who at most played a peripheral role in the novel. More importantly, the ending was contrived and unrealistic. Apparently Fallada wanted a "hopeful" ending, for which I can't fault him. However, I could not see the ending he chose as ever happening.

4 Stars

Hi - I've had Every Man Dies Alone frozen on my library hold list for about 10 months now. I think I'm going to have to read it soon even though the ending might disappoint. Thanks for the review!

15. The Case of Comrade Tulayev by Victor Serge (1950, 2004)

The Case of Comrade Tulayev is set during the late 1930's, at the height of the Stalinist purges. Comrade Tulayev, a high party official, is assassinated in a random, unplanned crime of opportunity by an anonymous clerk. The system demanded convictions, and thus began a series of prosecutions of innocent long-time party members. They are arrested and interrogated. In some cases, false confessions are elicited. Some of those arrested are exiled; some are executed.

No one is exempt. Even High Commissar Erchov, who was the official initially conducting the investigation, is arrested. Even men who were close friends with Stalin. Even Deportee Ryzhik, who prior to his arrest, had lived for many years thousands of miles from the scene of the crime, in exile in a remote Siberian village peopled only by a few peasants and one government official stationed there as his guard.

This book was recommended by rebeccanyc last year after I read The Whisperers, a nonfiction history of the Stalinist years and its effects on ordinary Soviet people. While The Case of Comrade Tulayev explores similar issues, the people it focuses on are, ironically, some of the very people who created the system that allowed the purges to occur. Highly recommended.

4 1/2 stars

Great reviews, Deborah. I'll add the Serge to my wish list, but I'll pass on the Fallada.

Darryl--I'm still highly recommending the Fallada, and I think you'd like it. I just didn't like the ending--but that doesn't come til the end, so there's a lot of good reading to be had there. :)

#77: Yes, I need to read that one too, so into the BlackHole it goes.

I was a big fan of the Fallada; I thought it introduced a sweeping array of characters, some vile, some cowardly, some opportunistic, some noble and honorable, all of whom are affected by and react to the horrors around them, and that it was their reactions that were so interesting. Fallada was in the "hospital" for the criminally insane during the war because of his drinking; he depicts this fictionally in The Drinker which he wrote while he was imprisoned, writing back and forth on pieces of paper. It is not up to Every Man Dies Alone but is both grim and remarkable too.

Every Man Dies Alone was one of my best reads last year. I will have to look for the Victor Serge Book. Thank you!

Thank you for your excellent reviews. I have to move Every Man Dies Alone up to the top of the pile as it has languished there too long. The Serge book looks great too.

Thanks; I'll add the Fallada to my wish list, as well.

>75 arubabookwoman:: The Help...pedestrian fluff.

Ooh! That wounds! ;-)

>77 arubabookwoman:: Gees! I've been reading and/or reading about so many stories like this lately. This is why I have so little interest in apocalyptic/dystopian novels. Real life is scary enough.

Hello all:

Rebecca--I'll be looking for The Drinker. Thanks for the recommendation.
Brenzi--I'll be interested in what you think when you read Every Man Dies Alone.
Torontoc--I'm glad you liked Everyman Dies Alone
Bonnie--Oops--you weren't supposed to see my comments about The Help. (Just kidding).

I can't find my copy of A Time for Everything by Karl Knausgaard so I will wait to write my review until it turns up, which I am sure it will in a few days, other than to say it is wonderful. I mention it because the featured review in today's NYT Book Review Magazine is of Angelology by Danielle Trussoni. (And the illustration accompanying the review looks suspiciously like what I recollect the cover art if A Time For Everything to be, but I could be wrong.)

The book refers to the "Nephilim," who are the offspring of angels and humans, and who also appear in A Time For Everything. There appear to be some other similarities between the two books, so I'm definitely going to be looking for Angelogy.

16. Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates

This book is not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach, no matter how much of a Joyce Carol Oates fan you are (or no matter how much a fan of the zombie genre you are). This is not World War Zombie. Here we are in the mind of QP, as Quentin calls himself, a sexual psychopath serial killer who would like to have his own personal zombie to cater to his peculiar and unique needs, even if he has to use his own methods to create one.

We accompany QP as he engages in his unspeakable crimes, all the while convincing his parole officer, his psychiatrist, his parents, grandmother and sister that he has at last turned his life around. This is truly one of the creepiest books I have ever read. I liked the book, but I had to keep telling myself it was only a story. Unfortunately, I fear that people like Quentin really exist.

4 stars

17. Chicago by Alaa al Aswany

This is one of the worst books I've read in years. It was described as the story of a group of Egyptian medical students and their professors at a medical school in Chicago. Clash of cultures, kind of interesting, hmm?

Instead, we follow several groups of cardboard stereotypes who never come together to make a complete, unified story, but who stay in their own little worlds in a series of short vignettes.

The characters are stereotypes, and the prose is leaden. For example, Shaymaa, a female medical student in her 30's, freaks out when Tariq, a young man she has been seeing for several months tries to put his arm around her waist:

"Shaymaa banged the tray down hard on the table. Some Umm Ali scattered out of the plate. She looked at Tariq combatively and said, panting in agitation, 'How dare you permit yourself to touch me?'
His face turned completely pale and he mumbled in a soft voice, 'I'm sorry.'
'Listen Tariq, if you think I'm an easy girl. You are mistaken. If you misbehave again you will never see me again. Do you understand?'
He remained silent and bowed his head as if he were a naughty child who had broken a very expensive vase. He took his leave and left and she followed him with a reprimanding look until he closed the door behind him."

If you like this kind of writing, there's plenty more where it came from.

Then there's the American teenage daughter of one of the professors who at the age of 17 runs away with a cocaine-snorting low-life to live with in the ghetto. Her father just happens to visit them at 2:30 in the morning, is mugged on his way across the street from where he parked, ignores that, but just before he rings the doorbell decides that he should check to make sure he won't wake his daughter and boyfriend. So he peeks through the window and watches as they take cocaine and make wild, ferocious love.

There's also a former hippie professor who was at all the cool places in the 60's--Woodstock, the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. Although he's still known as a "radical" he keeps his momentos of that time in a locked chest and only looks at them behind locked doors. His girlfriend is a Black woman just fired from her job SIMPLY BECAUSE SHE'S BLACK. Do this independent, strong Black woman and her radical white boyfriend do anything to remedy the illegal action (it's the 21st century after all)? Nope. She just goes out on the job interviews and keeps getting rejected SIMPLY BECAUSE SHE'S BLACK.

Then there's the medical student who's actually an agent for the Egyptian secret police. As such, he doesn't believe he has to actually do any studying. (Have you ever heard of a medical student who gets to his third year without ever studying?) One of his professors asks him to do some overdue school work:

"'I don't have time this week.'
'How can you be a student and not find time for your studies?'
'I am not an ordinary student. I am the president of the Egyptian Student Union in all of America."
'What does this have to do with your research?'
'My time is not my own. It belongs to my colleagues who've given me the responsibility....I expect you to take my political post into consideration.'"

Oh and there's so much more, but you get the picture I hope. Don't waste your time on this book.

1/2 star

As I said, I'm with you on this one, Aruba. What especially irritated me was that the stereotypes were not only stereotypes but were decades out-of-date stereotypes.

As for The Drinker, it isn't up to Every Man Dies Alone and it is one of the grimmest books I've ever read (and I read a lot of grim books); it is definitely the cry of a lost soul.

18. Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips

After the Chicago disaster I am pleased to report that Gods Behaving Badly is a delightful read. It is a very funny and original book. The Olympians are alive and living in London in a decrepit house. However, since no one believes in them anymore their powers are somewhat weakened and must be preserved. No mortal can cross their threshold. Some of them must hold down jobs to keep the family going--Artemis is a dog walker, Aphrodite is a phone sex operator.

Unlike the depiction of the gods in a lot of current books and movies as heroes and role models, the gods in this book are more like the gods in the Greek mythological tales: selfish, jealous, promiscuous and vindictive. Thus, when a young woman on the street refuses to comply with Apollo's request for oral sex, he turns her into a tree. Aphrodite, sick of Apollo's antics, convinces her son Eros to cause Apollo to fall into unrequited love with a nondescript mortal. One thing leads to another, and before you know it the whole world is at risk. A real hero must step forward to save the world.

All the major Greek gods play a role in this book. I loved it and read it in one day. I think you would enjoy it most it you are familiar with the Greek gods and their attributes, but it's probably pretty funny even if you're not. Highly recommended.

4 stars.

Sounds good - onto the to read list;-)

My libraries got that one!

19. Within a Budding Grove by Marcel Proust

I forgot to mention that I finished the second volume of Proust's masterpiece last week, and am still loving the experience. I won't be reviewing my Proust reading since I think you need to be a Proust scholar to do so.

In Within a Budding Grove Marcel falls in and out of love with Gilberte. She has been such a vivid and important character, I wonder if she will reappear in later volumes.

Marcel then spends the summer in Balbec at the shore, where he meets Albertine and her gang of young beauties. I loved the descriptions of the sea and its various moods. Marcel's time at Balbec shimmers.

On to The Guermants Way, which I'm a week behind on.

Gods Behaving Badly sounds delightful, and The Guermantes Way was one of my favorite of the Proust volumes.

Wow, Chicago sounds horrible! I have it, but I'll give it to my local library.

Needless to say, any medical student that stopped studying would fail his exams in very short order.

Usually when I visit your thread I'm adding books to read, but I'll skip Chicago.

@88: I'll join the virtual chorus of "pass, thanks."

@90: I think I may even buy that one sight unseen on the strength of your recommendation. The question is whether it will be for me or my querido, who is something of a classicict. He also loves, Loves, LOVES American Gods, and this may be a very interesting contrast.

An interesting aspect of the Chicago story, which came up in discussions here on LT some time ago, is that since the book was originally written in Arabic and published in Egypt (where al Aswany's previous novel was a wild success), many Egyptians (perhaps including the author) must have a very distorted view of of what contemporary life in the US is like.

kidzdoc and whisper--good decision!

chris--just a warning--Gods Behaving Badly is very different than American Gods, which I didn't particularly like. Maybe because Gods Behaving Badly never takes itself too seriously.

rebecca--I think that applies to most books we read in translation, and I can't recall reading anything so off-kilter. Maybe he intended it only for Egyptian readers??? Or maybe this is just another example of the lack of good editors at publishing houses these days being discussed somewhere on LT. Somehow I can't believe it's gone that far.

@98: Thank you for the warning, though I certainly am not interested in a similar approach, simply a similar topic. We both can enjoy a book that doesn't take itself too seriously, though sometimes I need to be reminded.

@87: I've never read any Joyce Carol Oates, but from your description, Zombie might be the one to jump in with both feet. I'll be adding that to my TBR list.

#87: I, on the other hand, will not be reading Zombie. I definitely qualify for the weak of stomach.

#88: It sounds like I can miss that one without any regret whatsoever.

#90: Roni did not like that one and you like it, so now I am definitely going to have to read it!

#92: I still do not think I am ready for Proust yet. I am glad you are enjoying the experience of reading him though.

#98, aruba, I think he wrote it for the Egyptian audience and didn't bother to update whatever impressions he had from his time in Chicago as a student (not sure when that was). The editor would have been an Egyptian editor, so he (or she, but probably he in Egypt) wouldn't necessarily have known more about the US than al Aswany.

Conversely, I'm sure I could think of some literature written in English in which foreign characters are stereotyped, but at this hour of the morning without coffee that part of my brain isn't working yet.

I definitely agree with the assessment of Zombie! It's easily one of the most disturbing books I've ever read, and I'm a fan of horror and such. It was way too real-feeling and I have no idea how Oates lived in that headspace long enough to write the book.

Message 87

When reading Zombie I was reminded of Jeffrey Dahmer...
see link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer

I didn't think Gods Behaving Badly was all that funny when I read it, but reading your comments made me laugh remembering those episodes and a few others. I get annoyed with the Greek Myths, themselves, so I wasn't really a good audience for this book. The last part of Gods Behaving Badly, in particular, held no tension, or interest, for me (for obvious reasons if you know me, but I don't want to be a spoiler here), and that impacted my impression of the whole book, but for most people that wouldn't be a factor, so I bet your other LT friends are going to like it.

I have a copy of Gods Behaving Badly around here somewhere, but for some reason it's never compelled me... hmm... maybe this year? I read Chicago last year when I (thankfully) received it as an ER and thus didn't have to pay for it, and I also found it pretty disappointing. I might have been easier on it if we'd at least had some kind of resolution at the end, but really, it just... ended.

I remember sitting there thinking "uhh... what? that's it?". Very disappointing.

calm, justchris, cauterize,alcottacre, drneutron, whisper, bonnie, dk_phoenix, rebeccanyc, and kidzdoc (I think I got everybody)--Thanks for dropping by and leaving your comments. I'm feeling very popular and love to hear from every one.

Re Zombie--whisper the wikipedia article about Jeffrey Dahlmer you linked to was spot on about QP. I noticed that at the end the article it even said that Oates based Zombie on his life. For those planning to read Zombie, who don't like spoilers, don't read the wikipedia article first.

Re Gods Behaving Badly--I see there are several dissenters in the group. I think one of the reasons I was so taken with it is that my art history study group is now up to ancient Greece, and we've been studying mythology for the past several weeks. I didn't care for mythology when I was younger, and so didn't retain much of whatever exposure I had to it then. Now, especially in the art context, I'm finding myself fascinated with mythology. The plot of Gods Behaving Badly was by no means a "serious" plot, but I loved how it was faithful to the attributes of the various gods, which I am now familiar with: I could say, oh yeah Aphrodite was Hephastes's wife, and he was ugly, and she didn't like him, etc. etc. I also loved how it emphasized that the Greek gods weren't necessarily all that heroic--they were often rather nasty people, full of themselves and disdainful of mortals. I'm not a serious fantasy reader, and Gods Behaving Badly may even have even been a parody of sorts, so I can understand that if you approach this book expecting something that fits within the conventional fantasy genre you will not have the same reaction I did.

Reading Elegance of the Hedgehog now for RL book club.

@107: Thanks, I love reading your comments as well! I'm definitely not weak of stomach, and I think that if I am going to try a new writer, then might as well try a 'hard' book of theirs that you recommend. Plus, I trust your assessment of such things, specifically how we both didn't like Elementary Particles. LOL, though I must confess that I am a 'dissenter' on Gods Behaving Badly. I didn't hate it and I appreciated for things you mention, but I wanted it to go so much further than it did.

I came to visit your profile and thread after your lovely compliment! How could I resist? Comyns has a gift for seemingly being casual and random while sneaking up very steadily on her target..... very disarming! Your desert island list is very intriguing -- those are books to keep the mind busy indefinitely. As for 2010 I loved Cry the Beloved Country am a Faulkner fan, and have written down several titles for my wishlist..... like I need those! I am impressed by the level you maintain.... I seem to need to read all over the place, high low, different types of things to keep my mind ..... uh..... focussed or something?

Coming to your thread for a catchup and so pleased that you are well underway with your Proust read. I read The Case of Comrade Tulayev many years ago and really enjoyed it - it was a gift from one of my brother's friends, completely out of the blue.
If I can handle The Wasp Factory I'm sure that I can do Zombie, so am noting the title for when I eventually start reading Oates' books.

Thanks Cauterize.
Sibyx--Thank you for your comments and for visiting--I hope you come back.
Kerry--I think Zombie is creepier than The Wasp Factory, but in the same vein, so I think you'll appreciate it. It's not the most representative Oates (not sure there is such a thing), but it is fairly short.

Well--I still can't find my copy of A Time for Everything--Those cats sure hid it well--so I'll do the best I can to review it from memory:

20. A Time for Everything by Karl O. Knausgaard

As a young boy in the early 16th century, Antonious Bellori came across two angels. These angels were not beatific; they were grotesque and frightening, with claws and ashen faces, and they were greedily gnawing on raw fish. The encounter compelled Bellori to devote the rest of his life to the study of angels, and to seek an answer to the question "Where did the angels go?" After a lifetime of research, he published The Nature of Angels in 1584.

After describing Bellori's encounter with the angels, the middle portion of the novel consists of retellings of several stories from the Bible in which angels engage with humans. Most prominent are the story of Cain and Abel and the story of Noah and the Flood, each of which is in and of itself novella length.Knausgaard's versions, however, are like no Bible stories you've ever read.

The Cain and Abel story's setting is akin to 19th century Norway, and is filtered through the lens of a modern psychological viewpoint. In this version, the reader questions which of the two brothers deserves to die.

The story of Noah's Ark is told almost entirely from the viewpoint of Noah's sister, It's not a spoiler to say that in the end she dies. In Knausgaard's reimagining she stands shoulder-deep in water holding her grandchild above her head watching the ark sail away. Noah, too ashamed to face his sister's pleas for help, is hiding below deck.

The next part of the book returns to Bellori's life and his final days. He continues to contemplate and to resolve his theories relating to the existence of angels. He also continues to seek contacts with them, with some unsettling results. The final 50 or so pages of the book involve a morose man, living on an isolated island in modern day Norway, who is seeking salvation for an undisclosed crime, and who has some theories about angels himself.

This is a unique book. There are some theological ponderings, but they are bearable, and don't interrupt the flow of the story. The surprising conclusions reached about the existence and nature of angels may disturb some believers. However, I highly recommend this book to everyone.

4 1/2 stars

21. The Vagrants by Yiyun Li

In the late 1970's in Muddy River, China, a young woman, Shan, is executed for being a counter-revolutionary. The Vagrants portrays the effect her execution has on a diverse cast of vividly drawn, mostly sympathetic characters.

For Shan's parents, Teacher Gu and Mrs. Gu, their daughter's execution results in a reversal of their roles, as Mrs. Gu takes a more activist role to try to make sense of their daughter's senseless death. The unwitting actions of Tong, a lonely and bewildered seven year old boy searching for his missing dog, cause his father to be beaten into a vegetative state by the state authorities. Kai, a celebrity radio announcer who lives a privileged life, risks everything, including her infant son, to expose the injustice of Shan's death; Kai's husband Han is the party official who arranged for the removal of Shan's kidneys while she was still alive for transplant to an elderly dignatary. The vagrants of the title are Mr. and Mrs. Hua who have settled in Muddy River to earn their living as street sweepers and trash collectors for recycle. Over the years, they rescued seven unwanted female babies who had been abandoned to die, and raised them as their own daughters, until one day the state decided they were unsuitable parents and removed the girls from the Hua's home.

This may sound like just a soap opera with an exotic setting. It's not. These, and the many other characters we meet, are deeply and truly drawn. Their stories are very real and the conditions of daily life in China at the time appear to be authentically drawn. This is a beautiful, but sad, book. Highly recommended.

4 stars

Thanks for the review of A Time for Everything. it's been on my TBR since I received it from Archiplelago, and I must say the fact that it's about angels (as well as its length) has put me off a little. But your discussion makes me think that I will eventually get to it.

Great review of A Time for Everything, Deborah. I agree with Rebecca's comments about its length and its topic, but I'll also move it higher on my "must read" list. I also have The Vagrants, and will try to get to it this year or next.

#111: A Time for Everything intrigues me. I will look for that one.

#112: I just received a copy of Li's book of short stories the other day. I will look for a copy of The Vagrants after I am done with A Thousand Years of Good Prayers.

Thanks for the recommendations, Deborah.

Time for Everything has gone onto my list...... nice review.

I'm adding A Time for Everything. It looks very intriguing and your description is wonderful!

Hi, sorry to hark back to the discussion on Chicago, but I am just catching up. I haven't really seen a single good review of this book, but I do want to say that I hope people won't give up on Al Aswany because of it. The Yacoubian Building was a really good book, and I feel like he was pressured into rushing out a second one too fast. Second books are often not very good. I also read his short stories, written earlier but published after, Friendly Fire, which I thought was okay but not very very good. However, I have heard him on the radio, and I think he is thoughtful, cares about people and characters, and wants to write good/better books. I just think when/if his next novel comes out we should be open minded, not reject it on the basis of Chicago.

Thanks for the input, Janet! Maybe I'll look for the Yacoubian Building and give him another try. I'm skeptical... but you make some good points. I won't count him out just yet, but I'm going to be cautious about picking up his works in future.

As I think I mentioned above, I really did love The Yacoubian Building and that's partly why I was so disappointed by Chicago. But reading Chicago did make me wonder whether the characters in TYB were just as incorrectly stereotyped as the ones in Chicago -- I would have no way of knowing since they were Egyptian.

The film adaptation of The Yacoubian Building is very good. I've not read the book, but on the strength of the film I certainly plan to.

A Time For Everything sounds like something I'd like. Maybe angels are going to be the thing this year. Angelology is getting lots of press but it sounds more bestseller thriller-esque.

Been away for a while. Thanks to all for stopping by. Re The Yacoubian Building I have heard from several people that it's quite good, so I might give it a try some day. Re Angelology, I picked it up, and it does look more like a best-seller thriller book than A Time For Everything (it entered the NYT bestseller list today in fact), so I hope I don't regret it.

I was away at my quilt retreat on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula for 5 days--very restful. And my exciting news is that I'm going to be a grandma--my oldest daughter is having a baby in September. We are so excited, and can hardly wait.

Despite all this, I've been in kind of a book funk, and haven't read much. For what I've read, I've been procrastinating writing reviews, which makes me put off reading more, etc, etc. So I'm just going to say a few words about the books I've read recently, and move on to greener pastures:

22. This Earth of Mankind by Pramoidya Ananta Toer

This is the first volume of the Buru Quartet, and was written while the author was in prison. It's the story of the son of a native nobleman who falls in love with the daughter of a Dutch merchant and his native concubine. At first I felt the characters were merely props to make political points, but as the novel progressed, the characters became more three dimensional and the story more engaging. I got a real sense of what life in colonial Indonesia in the early 20th century was like for a broad spectrum of its society.

#123: Sorry to hear that you have been in a book funk, Deborah. I hate those as I am sure you do.

This Earth of Mankind looks interesting. I will see if I can locate a copy.

Nice to see you back!

23. Out of Egypt by Andre Aciman

This is Andre Aciman's memoir of growing up Jewish in 1950's Alexandria, Egypt. An only child, he was showered with attention from a large and eccentric assortment of great aunts and uncles. The city of Alexandria shimmers, and is itself a character in the book. Aciman's family was expelled from Egypt in the early 1960's, and his bittersweet nostalgia for his Edenic childhood permeates the book.

24. From A to X by John Berger

This book consists of a series of letters from Aida to Xavier, her lover who is serving a life sentence for being a terrorist. Aida describes a day-to-day life punctuated by the sounds of Apache helicopters and Humvees, but the power of this book is the language through which the deep love of Aid and Xavier is expressed.

#125: Another one for me to add to the BlackHole. *sigh*

25 Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

I read this for my RL book club. I can't say I didn't like it, but it had nothing new to say. There are three story-lines: fierce environmentalist forest ranger Deanna falls for a he-man rancher/hunter who wants to kill coyotes; Lusa, a newly married city-girl, must decide whether to stay and farm her husband's family farm after his untimely death; two elderly neighbors quaintly quarrel, one insisting on using pesticides, the other going strictly organic. At least once on every page, there is a story, fable, comment, or aside to remind us that all living things have their place in Mother Nature's cycle, and that we should stay out of Mother Nature's business as much as possible. Despite the heavy-handed dogma and predictable story-line, the characters were endearing, and it was an engaging read.

Hi Stasia--are you at work?

26. Gather the Weeds by Patrick Kilgallon

The "weeds" are those people who are born less than perfect. The characters in this book are deaf, epileptic, wheelchair-bound, mentally challenged, etc. All "weeds" are removed from their families at an early age, and raised in a large compound with other weeds. They are given make-work chores each day, and "something" happens to them when they reach age 18. I abandoned this book after 150 pp. I realize that in many books, a lot is left unsaid and the reader must make inferences, but this book just did not seem logical or cohesive. It was written in a stream of consciousness, largely unpunctuated, and difficult to follow. Most of the characters were mean and nasty, so I just gave up. (Even though I really want to know what happens when they turn 18. lol).

#129: Hi right back. Yes, I am at work.

Sounds like I can skip Gather the Weeds.

>128 arubabookwoman: - I just read Prodigal Summer too. I liked it, but didn't think it was one of Kingsolver's best. I couldn't quite articulate why, but I think that you hit the nail on the head when you commented "it had nothing new to say." It was a nice story, but it didn't come away with any earth-shaking revelations.

I really loved Prodigal Summer when I read it a while back. It was the first kingssolver I read so maybe that was the difference. I particularly liked the story of the mountain woman and the story of woman who ran her own farm.

I listened to Prodigal Summer on audio tape about ten years ago and Barbara Kingsolver was the reader. She is one of my favorite writers but her narration grated on me like fingernails on the chalkboard. Dreadful. That may be why this is my least favorite Kingsolver book, which is still saying a lot.

Hi Deborah...
It is so good to see posts from you.

Congratulations on your impending grandmother status! Truly, there is nothing like it! I'm the grandmother of four...all born within 14 months. My love for each of them is overflowing. They are unique individuals.

I was blessed with a wonderful grandmother who raised me. I knew she loved me, but truly it wasn't until I became a grandmother that I understood the depth of her feeling.

Regarding Angelology, Kath recommended this book and raved about it. I was able to obtain a copy from my library and will read it soon.

I'm just back from 10 days visiting my mother in Texas. Her computer was so slow I rarely used it so I have a lot of catching up to do. I also got a lot of reading done (for me--maybe some Stasia vibes wafted over my way while I was in Texas), so I will try to review the books I read over the next several days.

27. Black Hearts: One Platoon's Descent Into Madness in Iraq by Jim Frederick (2010)

If you are mad about the U.S. invasion of Iraq, this book will make you madder.
If you are mad about the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians and the disruption, dislocation and turmoil in the lives of millions of others, this book will make you madder.
If you are mad about war crimes committed by Americans (yes, I know the other side commits them too), this book will make you madder.

But sometimes we need to get mad.

You may remember a news story from the spring of 2006 about a 14 year old girl who was raped and brutally murdered by a group of soldiers, who then set her body on fire in an attempt to cover up the crime. They also brutally murdered her parents and 4 year old sister. This was not a crime of chance, but was fully premeditated.

The soldiers were members of the 1st Platoon of Bravo Co. which had arrived in Iraq in October, 2005. This book explores the platoon's psychological isolation and breakdown, day by day, week by week, month by month from its arrival in Iraq until those horrific events. The book does not excuse the war crimes, but it does try to explain them. It is written in factual, almost too unemotional terms. In his introduction, the author states that the book's purpose is to tell "the story of how fragile the values that the U.S. military and all Americans consider bedrock, really are, how easily morals can be defiled, integrity abandoned, character undone."

The 1st Platoon was based in the most dangerous and remote part of Iraq's Death Triangle. It was constantly undermanned, undersupplied and lived under the most primitive conditions. The soldier who first reported the rape and murders described the stress the platoon members suffered:

"Let me put it to you this way. Take something you do everyday, like go to the mailbox. Everyday you go to the mailbox. Now say that every time you go to the mailbox there was, say a 25% chance that the mailbox was going to blow up in your face. The explosion might not be big enough to kill you. But it could be. You just don't know. Either way, you do know that there was a one-in-four chance that it was going to blow right the f--- up in your face. But you have to go to the mailbox. There is no way you cannot go to the mailbox. So, I ask you: How many times do you think you could go to the mailbox before you started going crazy?"

To further explain the Platoon's breadkdown, the author refers to Achilles in Vietnam by Jonathan Shay which noted that the long term debilitating effects of combat are exacerbated exponentially when a soldier's sense of "what's right" is violated by his leaders. "Shortages of all sorts--food, water, ammunition, clothing, shelter from the elements, medical care--are intrinsic to prolonged combat....However, when the deprivation is perceived as the outcome of indifference or disrespect by superiors, it arouses 'menis' (the Greek word for indignant rage) as an unbearable offense. Shay writes that this rage is instrumental in the soldiers' loss of humanity that is essential to the commission of war crimes."

The point that comes through loud and clear is that the responsibility for this war crime reaches far above the 4 soldiers who actively commited the deed, and who have been punished.

4 stars

Coming soon-- Reviews of: Santa Evita by Tomas Eloy Martinez, Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald, Nineteen Seventy-four by David Peace, Force of Gravity by R.S. Jones and The Angel Maker by Stefan Brijs

Excellent review of Black Hearts: One Platoon's Descent Into Madness in Iraq, Deborah! I'll add this to my wish list. I was going to thumb your review, but I don't see it yet.

I'm eager to get your take on Santa Evita and Nineteen Seventy-four, in particular.

Deb..
What an incredible review!

Welcome back! Nice to see that you made it home safely. I hope you had a lovely visit with your mother.

You should post your review on the review page, it's great.

Very very moving review. I remember that incident. Bravo for having the courage to read the book and write it up.

Thank you all for the compliments on the review. It was a very powerful book.

28. Santa Evita by Tomas Eloy Martinez (1995, 1997)

Eva Peron, wife of Argentine dictator Juan Peron, is a somewhat mythical figure in Argentine history. After her death from cancer at the early age of 33, she became a cult figure--almost a saint--to the people of Argentina. On orders from Juan Peron, her body was preserved, and an elaborate shrine, similar to the Lenin mausoleum in Red Square, was planned for the display of her body to the masses. However, before the shrine could be built, Peron was ousted, and in 1955 Eva's body was seized by the military junta that took control of the country. Her body disappeared for the next 16 years.

In this novel (a novel in the sense that In Cold Blood is a novel), Martinez narrates a version of what happened to Eva's body during the 16 years it was missing, and the effects she had on those who were involved with the protection/hiding/transport of her body. It is not clear where fact ends and fiction begins. Martinez interviewed many of the participants and observers of this dance. The book has been called a "postmodern fictional montage," yet it is cited on Wikipedia as a factual source. At the very least, the book fills in some of the blank spaces in those mysterious 16 years. At the most, it is a fascinating recreation in life and in death of a unique woman and the country she so heavily influenced. Highly recommended.

4 stars

29. Brodeck by Philippe Claudel (2007, 2009)

This book begins as quietly as a whisper, albeit with a murder, and I almost thought it was going to be boring. But the author so cleverly peels away layer after layer of the facade of the idyllic mountain village in which this novel is set, that I was stunned by the rotten core ultimately revealed.

Brodeck has just returned to the village after surviving an unnamed war in a horrific prison camp. He endured the dangers and degradations of his internment by focusing on his beloved wife Amelia back in the village. Shortly after his return, the "Anderer" (the Other) arrives in the village. It is the murder of the Anderer that occurs in the opening pages of the novel, and Brodeck is required to write an official report to explain the "Ereignies", "a curious word, full of mists and ghosts; it means more or less, 'the thing that happened,'...a word to describe the indescribable."

This book is a fable about how and why people do evil things; it is about the innate fear of the unknown, even the unknown within ourselves, and it is about remembering, not forgetting. Highly recommended.

4 stars

30. Force of Gravity by R.S. Jones

I picked this book up after seeing it described as a charming exploration of character moving between emotional sensitivity and florid paranoia.

And indeed, Emmet is a caring and likeable person, and on one level his descent into madness is humorous. He feels compelled to document everything wrong in the city, and so he memorizes the municipal code, "although sometimes now, he grew overburdened by all he had learned. He found evidence of lawlessness every time he left his apartment. Even when he opened the back door to shake lint from a rug into the neighborhood air, he knew from his pamphlets that he was committing a crime."

After a friend told him that there were cameras in the department stores where he shopped, Emmet became concerned. He "knew he acted suspiciously even when he was alone. He imagined that there were rolls and rolls of vegatives of him stored in tin cannisters in darkrooms through-out the city."

As the summer progressed, Emmet's madness deepened, and he began to believe that his neighbors are watching him in shifts from their porches and sidewalks: "Whenever they sensed something out of order, an alarm swept through them like a code tapped through prison walls. People he had never met had begun to nod at him knowingly, as if they had read a dossier in a file somewhere and been made to memorize his photograph. Emmet believed he was the subject they spoke about over dinner, and even, as the days wore on, the person they wrote about in letters to friends and relatives he would never meet."

The second part of the book takes place after Emmet is institutionalized. His roomate believes that Emmet is John Lennon incognito, and begs Emmet to let him in on the secrets of the White Album, and whether Paul is really dead. Other inmates are also vividly and lovingly drawn.

There are serious undertones to this book--mental illness is not all fun and games. However, Emmett is one of the more colorful and engaging characters I've come across recently. Highly recommended.

4 stars

Hey, Deborah! Great review of Black Hearts..., You're preaching to the choir as far as I'm concerned, but would like to read it and send it on to my son. Looking forward to getting together and hearing all about your trip. Happy Mother's Day!

You are doing such thought-provoking reading lately, Deborah. of some books that are off my radar that I must look into.

I read The Good Soldiers in February and thought the author did a good job telling about the insanity of the war in Iraq and what our troops go through. I'm very interested in Black Hearts when I get up the courage to read it.

Btw, my autumn grandbaby is going to be a girl! Do you know what you're going to have yet?

#142: That one has been in the BlackHole for a while now. I am hoping that my local library will eventually get a copy.

#143/144: I am adding both of those to the BlackHole.

Thanks for the reviews and recommendations, Deborah!

Your thread was lost but now it's found! I'm adding Brodeck's Report to my wishlist now! We live next to Alsace, so I'm curious about exactly where the village is (although it sounds like it's imaginary?).

Huh, while I'm here I'm adding Out of Egypt as well...

And congratulations on looming grandparenthood.

(Just ignore this - I only posting so his thread to show up on the "Your Posts" list - and I can maybe catch up sometime)

Hello to all. Donna my grandchild is going to be a boy. They're going through the process of picking names. By the way, when my daughter was visiting a couple of weeks ago we saw the movie Babies--it was wonderful--for new parents/grandparents or anyone else who likes cute, and also wants to see the different ways babies are raised in Mongolia, a village in Africa, the US, and Japan.

I'm going to try to catch up with all my reviews/comments today. I hate being behind. I'll be doing them in reverse order.

31. Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo (1955)

I read this for Reading Globally's Mexico month. In fact, I read it twice, and I will probably read it again in the future. It is a book that, despite its brevity, will continue to reward and enlighten a reader with each successive reading.

It is the story of a son's quest for the father he has never known. Juan Preciado promised his mother on her deathbed that he would seek his father, Pedro Paramo. He travels to the town of Comala, where he has been told his father lives.

At first Comala appears to be deserted and abandoned. It is actually a place "swarming with spirits: hordes of restless souls whoe died without forgiveness, and people would never have won forgiveness in any case..." Comala is a town permeated with rain, fog, falling stars, and murmurs.

From the murmurings, Juan learns the story of his father. The story is told with seamless shifts in points of view; it is non-chronological and non-linear. In that sense, it reminded me of Faulkner, but without the dense and wandering prose. Rulfo writes in simple language, as in a fable or fairy tale.

The novel is intense, surreal, and almost hallucinatory. It was extremely influential on Latin American writers who followed Rulfo, including Donoso, Vargas Llosa, and Garcia Marquez. In fact, Marquez said that he had memorized the entire book.

Highly recommended.
5 stars

32. Drohobycz, Drohobycz by Henryk Grynberg (2002)

Drohobycz is a town located in that area of Europe that has been batted back and forth between Poland and the Ukraine. At the start of World War II, nearly 50% of its population was Jewish. Grynberg is a child survivor of the Holocaust, and most of his 26 books of prose, poetry, and fiction deal with the Holocaust and its aftermath.

Drohobycz, Drohobycz consists of 13 "True Tales of the Holocaust and Life After." Because of Drohobycz's location, a few of the stories also relate to the Stalinist purges.

The stories read like interviews that have been transcribed into narrative form. In each, the individual character of the narrator is fully realized and clearly distinguishable from the narrators of the other tales, although their experiences parallel each other. In the title story, the murder of the writer Bruno Schulz by the Nazis is described by the narrator, who was one of Schulz's former secondary school students. The murder is almost an aside to the other horrific events that unfold in the account.

I have read many books, fictional and factual, on the subject of the Holocaust, and this is one of the best.

Highly recommended.
4 1/2 stars

33. Desertion by Abdulrazak Gurnah (2005)

Gurnah, born in Zanzibar, is the author of two books I previously read and liked very much: Admiring Silence and By the Sea. Regretfully, I cannot say the same for Desertion, although it deals with similar themes.

The novel begins in 1899 when an Englishman who is near death stumbles out of the desert near Mombasa and is rescued by a Muslim Indian shopkeeper. As he recovers, the Englishman begins to fall in love with the shopkeeper's sister. Rather abruptly, after more than 100 pages of build-up, we learn in a few short paragraphs that the Englishman finally contrived a way to meet the sister alone (although we aren't told how), that they live together in Mombasa for a while, and that the Englishman eventually returns to England, abandoning the sister.

The second half of the book shifts 50 years into the future at the time of Zanzibar's independence to relate the story of two brothers. Rashid leaves Zanzibar to study in England, and does not return to Zanzibar. Amin stays behind, having had to terminate a love affair with an "unsuitable" woman. The divergent paths the lives of the two brothers (and their sister) take are explored.

The two parts of this novel feel like two entirely separate books. The parts are loosely connected by the theme of desertion (and, as is revealed seemingly only in passing, through a familial connection), but the two parts of the book do not amount to a cohesive whole.

2 Stars

34. The Case Worker by Gyorgy Konrad (1969, 1974)

Hungarian writer Gyorgy Konrad has been called the "true heir of Kafka," and this, his first novel, was one of the books added to the list of 1001 books to read before you die in 2008.

The case worker, a child welfare worker in Budapest, has become increasingly dissatisfied with his job. As he tries to resolve the situation of a brain-damaged child who has spent his entire life chained to a feces-smeared crib, and whose parents have just committed suicide, he ruminates on his life:

"My defensive reflexes are slack, more and more often the blows hit me in the pit of the stomach....Other people's sufferings have been affecting me lately: my head is full of their stories, my dreams are live with them....What can I do in the face of this frenzied squirming, which gets nowhere and regularly ends in defeat? Nothing, or next to nothing. I observe it, I draw parables from disaster, and compile records of failure...My job is to sell indifference and normalcy."

This is how he describes his job:

"I must huddle and render judgement. Don't throw the newborn into the garbage pail. Don't let your infant starve. If baby is ill, call a doctor. It is not advisable to tie a baby to his crib, sit him down on a hot stove, shut him up in the ice box, put his finger in an electric socket, or beat him with a trouser belt, rolling pin, chair leg, carpet beater, wooden spoon, broom stick, clothes line or shoe heel. Refrain from raping teenage girls, particularly your own. While making love do not crush your sleeping child against the wall. Do not feed him brandy, don't pawn his winter coat, don't give your girl friend his supper, don't let him be devoured by lice, don't call his mother a whore or his father a bastard, don't threaten him with your service pistol, don't send him out begging, don't sell him to elderly queers, don't urinate in his school bag, don't leave him behind on the train, don't cheat him, don't laugh at him, don't shout him down, don't bellow at him, don't shame him; in a word, as far as possible respect the innocence of his beginnings."

He comes to the final realization:

"Actually, what I do amounts to nothing. I regulate the traffic of suffering, sending it this way and that, passing on the loads that pile up on me to institutions or private citizens."

This is a bleak and grim book. I know there are lots of readers who quite understandably prefer not to read books like this. But if you can handle it, the writing is stellar, and the questions raised are profound.

Recommended
3 1/2 stars

35. The Angel Maker by Stefan Brijs (2008)

When Victor Hoppe is born with a cleft lip and is developmentally delayed, his parents believe it best that he be institutionalized. He is placed in a Catholic institution for children who it is believed will never be able to live on their own. In actual fact, Victor is a genius who has merely chosen not to speak or otherwise communicate or interact with others.

His upbringing in the institution results in Victor's concluding that God is the embodiment of evil. After he leaves the institution, he studies and becomes a brilliant and respected scientific researcher. However, he believes himself to be in competition with God, and he believes he will win. We know that such hubris can only lead to tragedy.

The book begins when Victor returns to the mountain village of his birth shortly after the death of his parents. He brings with him his infant identical triplet sons, and mysteriously refuses to speak of their mother. As the babies grow, they are isolated and are not allowed to interact with other children in the village. There is constant speculation as to what is really going on behind Victor's closed doors.

This book explores issues of religion, of medical ethics, and of what it means to be different, among other things. It is very readable--not quite a thriller, but definitely a page-turner.

Recommended.

3 1/2 stars

36. Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald (1959)

This book, a contemporary of On the Beach, was for some reason categorized as "science fiction," rather that as "literature'" as was On the Beach, and so perhaps has not had the respect it deserved. It has, however, been continously in print, and J. B. Priestly called it "easily the most powerful attack on the whole nuclear madness."

The story takes place in a bunker that was built to protect people in the event of nuclear war. The country in which the bunker is located is unnamed. The more "valuable" a particular group of people is determined to be, the lower the level in the bunker they will occupy. Level 7 is the deepest and most sacrosanct level, and it is reserved for the people who will "push the button" to launch the nuclear warheads. They have received extensive training to obey orders without question.

This book was written near the height of the cold war, and is perhaps dated in its concept that a world-wide nuclear war between super-powers is the most likely scenario in which such weapons would be deployed. What has not changed, however, is the effect such nuclear exchanges will have on humanity, and the folly of believing that putting people in bunkers is a solution.

Recommended.

3 stars

37. Nineteen Seventy-four by David Peace

This is the first in the "Red Riding Hood Quartet" of murder mysteries, but it is also a stand-alone mystery. The setting is bleak Northern England, and the plot involves the murder of a child and a "dirty" real estate deal. Police corruption is rampant, and pervades the story. (There is an unforgettable scene of police brutality against a group of gypsies). The crime-solver, a rookie reporter, is an anti-hero, who also does not have clean hands. This is definitely not a cozy mystery, but a grim, bleak, and, I suspect, realistic account of the solving of a crime. I will be reading the other three mysteries in the series, titled, not surprisingly Nineteen Seventy-seven, Nineteen Eighty and Nineteen Eighty-three.

Recommended

3 stars

Phew--I did it--I'm all caught up. Currently reading The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet which is great so far.

You have certainly been reading some interesting books, none of which I had previously heard of, although I also enjoyed Gurnah's By the Sea. I'll definitely be looking for several of them, especially the Rulfo.

Nice reviews, Deborah. Like you and Rebecca I enjoyed By the Sea and Admiring Silence, but I haven't read Desertion yet. After your description of it I'm in no hurry to read it.

I'm very eager to get your take on The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, as I'll probably read it in the next week or two.

#151: Adding that one to the BlackHole, Deborah.

Congratulations on the new grandson! I hope everything goes well in the next few months pending his arrival.

I haven't heard of Grynberg before, but now I'll have to find out more.

>153 arubabookwoman:: Oh, man! That was tough to read just that much. So, Deborah, what made you decide to read that book?

Bonnie--in 2008, the list of 1001 books to read before you die was revised to include a lot more "foreign" books, and this was on the list. It sounded interesting--life of a child welfare worker behind the Iron Curtain--and it was just a couple of dollars at Third Place Books. Want to borrow it? (Just kidding!)

This is an ER book, so I have to do a "real" review of it.

38. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell (2010)

In 1799, Jacob de Zoet arrived in the Dutch East Indies to seek his fortune; he intends to remain in the east for 5 years, then return, a wealthy man, to Holland to marry the woman he loves.

Jacob is a principled, prim, moral, and somewhat humorless young man. He seems particularly well-suited for the job to which he is assigned: he is to audit the books to expose the rampant corruption of the outgoing Dutch East Indies Company's administrators at Dejima, the Company's remote trading post with Japan.

Dejima is a man-made island in Nagasaki harbor. It is 200 paces long and 80 paces wide, and contains 25 buildings. It is connected to mainland Japan by a closely-guarded bridge, and it is the sole window for trade between Japan and the West. While contacts between the Westerners on Dejima and the Japanese are severely restricted, Jacob catches sight of a young Japanese woman shortly after he arrives, finds himself intrigued, and perhaps in love with her. Otori is a Japanese midwife whose extraordinary talents saved the lives of Nagasaki's highest governing official's infant son and his mother during childbirth. As a reward, Otori has been granted the privilege of studying medicine with the Dutch doctor on Dejima.

The story of Jacob's first months on Dejima, with its portrayal of the trade practices (and corruption) on both the Dutch and Japanese sides is fascinating. Otori's story, in particular the historical details of medical practices at the time, also forms a fascinating narrative.

Mitchell writes poetically; he frequently uses short one sentence paragraphs which read like blank verse or haiku. Through-out the book he uses a technique of alternating thoughts/descriptions in short sentences or phrases. For example, here is Jacob, in the Company's offices among its specimens of various lifeforms from its realm, recalling his final conversation with his future father-in-law:

"A pickled dragon of Kandy bears an uncanny resemblance to Anna's father, and Jacob recalls a fatal conversation with that gentleman in his Rotterdam drawing-room....'Anna has told me,'her father began,'the surprising facts of the situation, de Zoet...
"The Kandy dragon's neighbour is a slack-jawed viper of the Celebes.
"'...and I have, accordingly, enumerated your merits and demerits.
"A baby alligator from Halmahera has a demon's delighted grin.
"'In the credit column: you are a fastidious clerk of good character...
"The alligator's umbilical cord is attached to its shell for all eternity.
"'...who has not abused his advantage over Anna's affections.
"It was a posting to Halmahera from which Vorstenbosch rescued Jacob.
"'In the debit column, you are a clerk: not a merchant, not a shipper...
"A tortoise from the Island of Diego Garcia appears to be weeping.
"'...or even a warehouse-master, but a clerk. I don't doubt your affection.
"Jacob touches the jar of a Barbados lamprey with his broken nose.
"'But affection is merely the plum in the pudding: the pudding itself is wealth.
"The lamprey's O-shaped mouth is a grinding mill of razor-sharp Vs and Ws."

The next part of the novel shifts to mainland Japan and focuses on Otori. After the death of her father, she is sold to a remote and sinister monastary/nunnery. Here, the story becomes melodramatic, and somewhat less believable. Instead of the more intellectually engaging first section, Mitchell now presents a sort of adventure story.

The third part of the novel involves the attempt by the British to wrest control of Dejima from the Dutch. A large portion of this section is narrated from the point of view of the gouty sea captain of the British vessel attacking Dejima. Jacob once again plays an important part in the story.

Mitchell is one of my favorite contemporary British novelists. I have read all of his books, and Cloud Atlas is on my list of desert island books. In Cloud Atlas, Mitchell plays games with the reader with a series of apparently unrelated narratives, each in a different genre. He brilliantly unifies the narratives however. Here, the "adventure" part of the novel just didn't come together with what I saw as the more interesting aspects of the story--the clash between East and West, the trade practices and political milieu of the time and place, and the other historical narratives. For that reason, while this is an entertaining and highly-readable book, and I have no problem in recommending it, I can only rate it at 3 1/2 stars.

Deborah, great review. I just wishlisted Cloud Atlas today after reading an LT hot review of it. I think I'll definitely read that one first!

#163: I really want to read that one. I am sorry you did not enjoy it more, Deborah.

#163: I have just skimmed your review, as I'm reading The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet now. I'll look at it again after I finish it, but I'm sorry that you didn't like it more.

I think I need to learn to write more clearly. :) I didn't mean to imply that Jacob de Zoet is not a worth-while book.

3 1/2 means a very good book with something a little extra that made it special. 4 and up means it has that something special, AND, it's a book I wouldn't mind reading again, or would make a special effort to read again.

Overall, the book is very well written, engaging, interesting etc., and I liked it a lot. It just wasn't perfect, IMO, because the adventure section, well-written in and of itself, seemed a little out of place, and less believable to me than the rest of the book. Also, it's possible that I would have rated it higher if it had been written by someone other than David Mitchell.

Anyway--I still recommend the book. But if you are only going to read one David Mitchell book, read Cloud Atlas.

I will almost certainly get Cloud Atlas in the very near future, as I expect that I am becoming to become a David Mitchell fan after Jacob de Zoet.

Thanks for those additional comments.

I nabbed Cloud Atlas yesterday at my big giant book sale and have already moved it up. The only other Mitchell I've read was Black Swan Green, which I loved and understand is very different from Cloud Atlas.

I'm about half way thru The Thousand Autumns, and thus about half way thru the second section and I would agree that it "is a little out of place". I haven't read any of the other books by Mitchell but I requested this thru Early Reviewers because of my interest in Japan. I'm actually a little annoyed with the second section, with the "engifting" - gruesome, sexist and really unnecessary to the story and a detraction from the quality of his writing. That said, it's still a good book and I'd agree with 3 1/2 stars.

kidzdoc and brenzi--I sure hope you like Cloud Atlas. It is very different than either Black Swan Green or Jacob de Zoet. All I can say is don't give up in the first section, which a lot of people find difficult to get through. In fact, if you're really having trouble reading the first section, go on to the second--I'll guarantee you'll want to go back and read the first section after you finish the book.

catarina--Since you know a lot about Japan, I was wondering how accurate the history is. I know Mitchell lived in Japan for quite a while, and I believe he would have conducted extensive research, but because of that second section I was wondering if he got the rest of it right.

39. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas

Aisha and Hector give a barbecue attended by family and close friends. At the barbecue, Hugo, the four-year old son of Aisha's close friend, a spoiled brat who has never been disciplined, raises a bat to threaten Harry's son. Harry, Hector's cousin, steps forward and slaps Hugo, who, astonished, drops the bat. End of the matter? No. Hugo's parents file criminal charges against Harry for assaulting their son. The remainder of the book is narrated in separate sections by eight characters, each of whom had been at the barbecue. Some adamantly support Harry, some adamantly support Hugo's parents, and a few are somewhere in-between. It should be noted that Harry apologized profusely to Hugo's parents for his momentary lapse of "adult" self-control, stating that he feared for the safety of his own son. In addition, Hugo was in no way harmed.

The eight narrators, including Aisha and Hector, raise interesting issues: Should it make any difference that Harry is known to have a violent temper? That Hugo is in some ways being abused by his own parents: his father is a raging alcoholic and his mother is so oblivious to Hugo's need for boundaries that she breast feeds him whenever he cries "Boobie," no matter where there are? Should it matter that one of the characters is also a child abuser, carrying on a torrid love affair with an underage teenage girl?

What I really didn't like about this book, it sounds so prudish to say it, is that it's vulgar. There are frequent and gratuitous explicit scenes of often violent, usually extra-marital sex. Drug use among both the adults and the teenagers is rampant. Most of the adults in the book are supposed to be upstanding suburban middleclass professionals with young children; yet they, seemingly routinely, fortify themselves with drugs before bringing their children to something like a family barbecue. The mother of one of the teenagers who is going to an end-of-school dance almost seems to congratulate her daughter on the daughter's plan to celebrate the event by taking drugs (ecstasy).

These complaints may be just with the subject-matter of the book. But I also felt there were problems with the way the book was written. Tsiolkas chose to use eight different narrators, who range from teenagers to an elderly Greek emigrant. While the diverse narrators obviously have different thoughts and opinions, they all sound the same. None of them has an individual, unique voice, and that does not make for a successful book.

2 1/2 stars

40. Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts (2009)

I was intrigued by the premise of this novel. In the 1930's, Stalin, fearing that the Soviet people would lose their unity once their common enemy, the West, was overcome, sought to create a new common enemy for the people to unite against. He brought together a group of respected science-fiction writers and asked them to create a credible scenario for an alien invasion.

The writers do as they are asked, but are abruptly disbanded and told to forget everything they have just done. Several of the writers disappear. Flash forward to the 1980's. One of the writers is working as a lowly translator when a series of events occur which mirror the events the group wrote about in the 1930's. Things start to move quickly, and the writer is hounded by the Moscow police, the KGB, a taxi driver with Aspbergers, a couple of Scientology adherents, and (perhaps???) aliens.

I would describe this book as madcap and surreal. It didn't always make sense and I didn't really connect with it, but if this sort of thing intrigues you, try it, you might like it.

By the way, one of the funniest parts of the book comes when we learn the significance of its title. You might be able to guess what that is if you speak Russian. I don't, and I was wondering most of the way through if the title had any meaning.

3 stars.

41. The Oxford Illustrated History of Greece and the Hellenistic World, Ed. John Boardman et. al. (2001)

My art history study group has finally completed our study of Greek art, and we are moving on to Etruscan and Roman art. (We've been together for a year now, and started with Paleolithic Art).

I read this book as a good summary of what we have learned. It is, however, more than a summary of art, and is divided into the various Greek historical periods (Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic). Within each of those periods there are separate chapters on the history of the era, and also on the important cultural subjects of the era. For example, in the Archaic section, there are chapters on Homer, Myth and Hesiod, Lyric Poetry, and Early Greek Philosophy. The Classical section has chapters on Greek Drama, Life and Society, Classical Greek Philosophy and Greek Art and Architecture. The Hellenistic section has chapters on Hellenistic Culture and Literature, Hellenistic Philosophy and Science, and Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman Art. Each of the chapters is written by a particular expert in the subject matter covered by the chapter.

I am by no means a Greek scholar, but I was impressed with this book.

4 stars

42. The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust

I finally finished the third volume of In Search of Lost Time. I am reading Proust as part of a year-long non-LT group read pointed out to me by Aviatahk (sp?), and still thoroughly enjoying it, although I am a few weeks behind the group. The Guermantes Way focuses primarily on Marcel's entree into the upper echelons of Parisian society. (200+ pages of the 800+ page book are devoted to one dinner party).

5 stars

I am now reading Olive Kitteridge for my RL book club-almost finished,
Sodom and Gomorrah for the Proust read,
The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell, the controversial tome covering WW II from the point of view of the main character, a former SS officer.

If I can, for the rest of the month I want to read: The Kill by Zola, volume II of Rougon-Maquart series,
As I Lay Dying, which I failed to read (actually reread) for the March/April Faulkner Group,
Wizard of Crow for Reading Globally Dictator month, and
The Maias by Eca de Queiros, unless I decide to choose it for my book club to read over the summer.

I'm impressed at the progress you are making on the Proust. Some years ago (well, many years ago) two friends and I did an old fashioned group read (I mean, before the internet, and when it was even to expensive for me to call them in the US from England, so we just agreed milestone dates and sent each other encouraging letters) of it. Our deadline was one of the three's wedding, when we would all meet up for the first time since we started (it took longer than a year). Well, I finished the day before I got on the plane, and when I got there, both of them were still reading it. The friend who wasn't getting married finished it as we were getting dressed to go to the church, and I'm fairly sure the one who was getting married took it on her honeymoon! (The marriage only lasted 3 years - maybe some connection there!) We were so proud of ourselves, and couldn't have done without the other two pushing us along. I wish I could say I would read it again, but there's just too much else to read, although I did love it.

That is an impressive list of current and upcoming reads, Deborah! I'm sorry to learn that The Slap, which I recently received, was such a disappointment. I'll remove it from the top of my list for now, but I will read it sooner if it is longlisted for this year's Booker Prize (it's eligible, but the reviews on the 2010 Man Booker Prize have been mixed).

Daryl--when you do read The Slap, I'd be really interested in your take, as a pediatrician, on Hugo's parents' child-raising methods!

Hope you are enjoying the de Zoet book.

Janet--the Proust is probably a book(s) you can keep reading over and over again. I know I miss a lot, even when we have a leader who points out stuff to us.

I am still debating on whether I am ready for Proust yet. I do not think I am smart enough.

You are definitely smart enough!

It took me years and many tries to be able to read Proust: I tried in my teens, 20s, and 30s, skipped the 40s, and finally succeeded in my 50s! I took a long time reading ISOLT, mixing it in with other books, and really enjoyed it although I'm sure I missed a lot. Proust can be surprisingly (to me, anyway) funny. I read the recent translation in which different translators translated different volumes, and they were a little uneven, but overall it was a great experience. I do feel I should read it all over again, but am not sure when, if ever, I will work my way up to this. Stasia, give it a try!

So glad that you are still with the group read of Proust. I will get there one day.
Regarding The Slap, I heard Tsiolkas read aloud from the book at last year's book festival when the Commonwealth Prize was awarded in Auckland. I didn't like what I heard at all, especially compared to the other shortlisted writers. I do want to try his Dead Europe though.

I'm interested in how you find The Kindly Ones.

So, Deborah, maybe we can read Wizard of the Crow together, since neither one of us seems to be progressing with Naguib Mahfouz. What do you say?

No, wait a minute, I have 10 books to pick up at the library. Bit of a conflict there.

#184: Wizard of the Crow is a dandy! I hope you read it, Bonnie (and you too, Deborah.)

Still unsure about Proust, despite the pats on the back. I will see if PBS has any copies available. I think I will definitely need to take my time with him, and checking the books out of the library would not seem the best course of action.

Well Bonnie--Let's try Wizard of Crow. I'm not set on reading it this month, and I can read it whenever you're ready.

Stasia--You definitely need to own Proust while you read it. I'm not too sure how fast you'd read it, but I have to do it at only 10-20 pages per day, which, slow as I am, is slower than my normal pace. It does take some digesting.

Kerry--Glad to hear I'm not the only one who didn't like The Slap. What have you heard about Dead Europe?

dead europe sounds really spooky and horrific so I thought I might give it a try at some stage.

>1 arubabookwoman: I'm very interested in Proust but I notice there isn't much activity on the Proust Group. Wonder why?

P.S. I'm still a newbie and have only yet listed a very small number of my books.

>182 rebeccanyc: Proust is difficult to read but well worth persevering. Pity there is so little activity on his Group..

Aruba - I found this thread very late (it's outside my normal home on Club Read 2010 :) ) and have been slowly working my way up. I just read your comments on Black Hearts (post #135, way back on May 2), which are leave an powerful and disturbing impression. I'm not sure I could read that book, maybe, but thank you for your comments. Consider posting as a review, as the book currently doesn't have any LT reviews.

Due to requests above--I posted my review of Black Hearts since there were no other reviews.

43. The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell (2006, 2009)

This nearly 1000 page tome is everything you've probably heard about it: gruesome, disgusting, repulsive, difficult to take. It is also gripping, intelligent, informative, insightful, and well-written. It is the story of World War II through the eyes of Max Aue, SS officer. Aue is with the Nazis when they invade Poland; he's at Babi Yar and the Battle of Stalingrad; he's with Eichmann at the concentration camps; he's in Hungary near the end of the war when the Germans proposed "blood for trucks;" and he's in Hitler's bunker in April 1945. When we meet him, in present time, he is a well-respected French lace manufacturer with a past no one questions. He is also unrepenetant.

Aue is a cultured and intelligent man, but never a sympathetic character. His personal life mirrors the depravity of the war--he is sexually obsessed with his twin sister and acts out this obsession in homosexual affairs. His mother and stepfather are brutally murdered. And, as you may have read elsewhere, there's a lot of diarrhea, blood, vomit and guts.

When Aue is not on the frontlines, he is a bureacrat--a clear manifestation of the banality of evil. His job involves such things as determining how much food a concentration camp inmate should get daily. What is the optimal amount of time to keep a concentration camp inmate alive so as to maximize the benefit of his labor vis a vis the cost of his upkeep? Should Jews get less food than other types of prisoners, since they are destined for execution anyway?

There are also endless discussions with "racial anthropologists," linguists, and other experts as to what circumstances make a person or group of people Jewish, which would almost be silly if these weren't life or death matters for the people under discussion. There's even the discussion among the starving soldiers at Stalingrad as they consider cannibalism on whether they should eat a dead Russian or a dead German. If they eat the meat of a Slav or a Bolshevik, won't they become corrupted? On the other hand, wouldn't it be dishonorable to eat a German?

Aue is clearly a psychopath. I don't know if all SS officers were psychopaths, or whether some were just temporarily insane. This book isn't The Diary of Ann Frank. You will know whether you can stand to read something like this or not. If you can stomach it, and you want to try to understand how and why the Germans did what they did, it is a book you should read.

4 stars

#191> This sounds fascinating and I'll definitely keep it on my tbr list. I think I first read about the 'science' behind the minimum food detail in The Good German but The Kindly Ones looks like being an altogether more complex read.
edit: touchstone

I am adding The Kindly Ones to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Deborah.

Superb review of The Kindly Ones, Deborah. You've certainly made a compelling case for reading it.

ETA: Could you post your review on the book's LT page? It certainly deserves to be recognized and thumbed.

Deborah, The Kindly Ones sounds abhorrent as well as compelling. Great review. Onto the pile it goes.

Thank you all for the compliments. It is a book that inspires very divided reactions--it seems to be either violently hated or greatly admired. The French critics almost uniformily praised it (it won the Prix Goncourt). American and German critics mostly panned it. It's an investment of time to read it, and it does drag in places (i.e. you can get bogged down in names and ranks of various German officers who walk in and out of the story), but very worth it.

I went ahead and posted my review even though there are already 40 others posted, and mine probably doesn't say anything new.

Here's some more reading:

44. The Law by Roger Vailland (1957)

I'm not sure I can do this little gem of a novel justice. It's the story of life in a small village in Apulia, "that wild, remote heel of the Italian peninsula." It proceeds at a leisurely, meandering pace, yet each paragraph and each section fit as perfectly within the book as pieces fit within a jigsaw puzzle: I can't imagine any other way to have put it together.

The book is funny and, at times, a little sad. It centers around Marietta, who on the verge of womanhood, inspires lust in all the men in the village. Several old lechers argue among themselves about who will "take" her virginity. I'm happy to report that Marietta outsmarts them all, in more ways than one.

The plot involves 500,000 lira that was stolen from some Swedish tourists. The Judge, Allesandro, is getting pressure from above to solve the case, but is stuck with a corrupt and lazy police chief. The Judge's beautiful wife, Dona Lucrezia, meanwhile, is secretly in love with Francesco, a naive young student, who is the son of one of the "capos" in town. However, this is not a mystery novel, but a novel of characters, and these characters and others charm, enchant and amuse us. Vaillard brings this small village at a time shortly after the end of World War II to vivid life.

And, then there's the sinister game of "The Law," which is apparently played in the bars and taverns of Southern Italy, and which in this case motivates some of the characters to take the actions they do, and in other cases serves to illustrate their true nature.

The New York Times said that this book deserves every reading it will get, and I agree.

4 1/2 stars.

45. Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant (1885)

George Duroy is a penniless ex-soldier when this novel opens, but he is amoral and ruthless as he climbs his way to the top of Parisian society. His good fortune is due primarily to the mistresses he chooses and discards as his needs dictate. He's not a "family values" kind of guy; his nickname, Bel-Ami is kind of a cross between "handsome" and "lover-boy."

Although written in the 19th century, this book reads like a modern novel, and it caused quite a scandal when first published. De Maupassant's sympathies are quite clearly with the women. Their characters are fully developed and very believable. Although some of the women are definitely more accomplished and more intelligent than Bel-Ami, de Maupassant is able to make us understand to a certain extent why they put on blinkers where matters of love are concerned.

This was an easy read, and kept me fully engaged at all times (none of those long 19th century digressions here).

4 stars

46. Mara and Dann by Doris Lessing (1999)

Nobelist Doris Lessing's early fiction was often set in Africa where she grew up. In Mara and Dann, she returns to Africa, but an Africa hundreds or thousands of years in the future known as Ifrik. There is a new Ice Age, and everything north of the Mediterranean is solid ice. Northern Ifrik is a frozen tundra, and southern Ifrik is experiencing terrible drought and rapidly evolving into desert.

The novel begins when Mara and her brother Dann are wrenched from their parents at a very young age, and sent to live with the "Rock People." Their childhood is characterized by the hardship conditions of drought--not enough food, not enough water, with resultant starvation and illness. One by one, the Rock People begin to migrate to the North, where conditions are supposed to be better. Mara and Dann leave for the North after the death of their caregiver. They don't know what is there, only that it has to be better than life in the south.

The book chronicles their journey. Lessing is a wonderful writer, and she has created coherent, imaginative and very believable cultures and societies that Mara and Dann encounter on their journey. Unfortunately, the plot quickly devolves into somewhat repetitive silliness: Mara and Dann travel through danger; they are separated, imprisoned or both; they escape and find each other and move on. Then it starts all over again. Along the way, they keep running into the same people, who turn up in the strangest places under the strangest circumstances. Then there's the evil Kulik, who is pursuing them to the ends of the earth for no apparent reason. And the ending is downright sappy.

I kept reading because I so enjoyed Lessing's depictions of the future landscapes and societies, and the characters' speculations of how people in the past might have lived based on relics from our time. I wish the plot had had some integrity and had made sense.

2 1/2 stars

47. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Most people have either read or heard of this book by now. It's a series of interconnected short stories focusing on Olive. Some are told from Olive's point of view; some from the point of view of another inhabitant of Olive's small Maine town, who may hardly know Olive. Despite her faults, I liked Olive. She was stubborn, prickly, and never admitted to being wrong about anything. But her heart was mostly in the right place.

3 1/2 stars

I thought Olive was so human, with all her faults right up front for all to see. She was endearing to me for that reason. And yes, she was no apologist.

#197. Thanks so much for this - I've never heard of The Law but it sounds really good.
Glad you enjoyed the Maupassant - I was completely obsessed with him 20 odd years ago and must revisit some of his stuff soon.

>180 alcottacre:

Judging from your list of favorite authors, I second msg 181

You have certainly read lots of interesting books lately. I'm trying not to add many more to my list, but I am definitely going to add The Law, at least.

Delurking to thank you for such a wonderful list of interesting and compelling reads. I especially like that you posted the book's date of publication and cameos of the authors when available. This placed the books within context for me and made your thread unique. Happy reading.
Velma

Hello arubabookwoman, I'd like to join the chorus of appreciation and thank you for your review of Bel-Ami. I've had it on the shelf for quite a while, but have kept putting it off because I have it in French and fear that my French vocabulary might not be up to the task. You've made it sound so enjoyable that I'm now impatient to start it!

Well, I'm going to read The Law (can't find the right touchstone), but know I'll be too irritated by the main character in Bel-Ami to enjoy it. Loved your description of him, and the book, though.

Aruba, I finally caught up! Great stuff, especially your review of The Kindly Ones - although that is not a book I'm going to rush out and read. Congrats on your Proust progress. I'm nearing the end of Swann's Way, having taken your 20 pages a day to heart.

>180 alcottacre: (alcottacre)

Not at all. Judging by your favorite authors, you are well capable of reading and enjoying him. Besides, great writers are often quite easy to read.

#209: Thanks for the vote of confidence! I just got my copy of Swann's Way a couple of days ago, so I am going to take it a little at a time.

Welcome to cjwallace, bookmonk, rebekki and velma--hope to see you often.

Hi to bonnie 1 and bonnie 2, stasia, and dan.

Last two books in June: The Kill by Emile Zola and Scoop by Evelyn Waugh. Back to review soon. Reading Columbine now. Bone-chilling.

I read Columbine last year - it was one of my memorable reads. I agree with you - it is chilling.

I will be curious to see what you think of Scoop. I just got that one recently through PBS.

*sigh* It looks like The Law is going to get another reading. I just ordered it from amp while I wait in the queue at pbs for The Kindly Ones. Thank you, Awom. ("LBJ took the IRT down to 4th {?} St. USA...."

You've chosen some amazing reads lately and I've added The Law, Ben-Ami and yes, even The Kindly Ones to my wishlist, also I double checked to see if I ever added Olive Kitteridge, which I had not. So thanks for all the recommendations.

I could not find The Law to add to wishlist so I just added Vaillard.

#211 (arubabookwoman)

I read a lot of Evelyn Waugh many years ago. Loved him. Must re-read some again, although I have so many other good books to read.

The little bit of Waugh that I've read I've liked. I've heard wonderful things about Scoop which just might fit into my openended summer reading "schedule." Again, I am reading what I want, when I want, where I want. Very hedonistic -- but it works for me!

Deb.

I lost your thread and found it again this morning. Harmonic convergence is in the air. You mentioned Evelyn Waugh and I finished Brideshead Revisited early this morning.

I'm anxious to hear your comments regarding Scoop.

Hello all--thanks for visiting.

By the way, there is no touchstone for The Law in LT. When I entered it into my library, I did it manually, and my entry in my library links to the correct book.

I think I'm going to disappoint a lot of people with my review of Scoop. I've liked what I read of Waugh in the past. (Brideshead Revisited and The Loved One). Not so much Scoop.

48. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh

This book starts laugh-out-loud funny, as through a series of misunderstandings and blunders a mild-mannered nature columnist is sent by a newspaper to be its ace reporter covering a bloody civil war in Africa. It's also kind of funny at the end, as the nature reporter seeks to avoid the limelight, and the newspaper seeks to honor him with a banquet and a knighthood. It's the in-between part I have big problems with.

Sometimes literature from certain eras will use negative, racist terms and words to describe a person, peoples or practices. And sometimes in the context of such books we can read around this, as simply being chronologically representative of the way things were then. These terms and words are used in profusion in Scoop. Here, however, the attempted humor of the book too frequently depends on the reader's acceptance of the negative characteristics implied by the racist terms. In other words, if the reader doesn't accept the blatant racism of some of the "humor," it's not easy to find anything to laugh about. There are a few zingers about the way the press sometimes manufactures news, but not enough to ignore the cringe-inducing remainder of the reporter's African adventures. Not recommended.

2 stars

49. The Kill by Emile Zola (1871)

I've read several of Zola's well-known classics, some of which constitute part of his 20 volume Rougon-Macquart series. Each novel in the series is stand-alone, and they do not have to be read chronologically. However, I decided to read/reread the entire series in order. I read the first volume last December and found it only so so. The Kill is the second volume in the series, and it is magnificent.

The Kill (La Curee in French, which means something like 'the division of the spoils') focuses on Aristide Rougon, although his brother Eugene and sister Sidonie play prominent roles as well. Aristide has assumed the surname of his first wife, Saccard, and has come to Paris to make his fortune. Through his brother, he obtains a bureaucratic position as the assistant surveyor of roads for Paris. While initially disheartened by his nominal salary, he soon realizes that his position could enable him to make a fortune in real estate, as the boulevards and throughfares of Paris are just being platted and the property through which they will run is being acquired by the city at grossly inflated prices. However, he can't use his insider information, because he has no capital to invest.

This problem is solved when he is offered the opportunity to marry a rich heiress (she is 'damaged goods'), even as his first wife is still on her deathbed. The Kill chronicles the rise and fall of Aristide as an unscrupulous, dishonest real estate wheeler dealer with his second wife Renee, an extravagant, selfish socialite. They flaunt their wealth in their obscenely opulent mansion, Renee's exquisite wardrobe (300,000 F dressmaker bills are not uncommon) and the lavish galas they host. Still, Renee is bored, and seeks something more to make her feel alive. She begins a love affair with her stepson, Aristide's son from his first marriage.

This book ran afoul of the censors when it began appearing in serial form in 1871, for its outrage to "public morals" and "gross materialism." Today, I think it is particularly relevant as we continue to feel the after-effects of our own real estate bubble and rampant over-consumption. Although not as comprehensive and wide-ranging as some of Zola's other novels, it is as well-deserving of readership, and I highly recommend it.

5 Stars

50. Columbine by Dave Cullen (2009)

This book has made the (well-deserved) rounds on LT, and I don't have much to add to what has already been said. For the most part, I found it riveting and bone-chilling. As a parent who was deeply involved in my kids' schools (their high school was a "sister school" with Columbine), I've had occasion to wonder why sometimes seemingly wonderful parents have deeply problematic children. This book did an excellent job of portraying Eric, a psychopath, and Dylan, a follower, and helping us to understand how and why Columbine happened. At times, I felt the book was a bit repetitious, but overall I highly recommend it.

4 Stars

51. Fires on the Plain by Ooka Shohei

The end of World War II is approaching, and the Americans have arrived on the island of Leyte in the Phillipines. The Japanese are fleeing to the west coast in hopes of being evacuated. Tamura was separated from his unit when he could no longer carry his weight foraging for food due to his illness. He is sent away, with one grenade to kill himself with, if he can't find a hospital unit to take him in.

As he travels, Tamura sinks deeper into degradation and madness. He cannot decide whether he prefers to live or to die; sometimes he cannot decide whether he is alive or dead. He wonders if there is a God, and if there is, where that God has gone:

"Why, when after all these years I had again been stirred by religious feelings and even been drawn to them by this village, should I have been forced to see only the mangled corpses of my fellow soldiers and the tortured body of Jesus painted by some unskillful artist? Was it fate that had contrived this cruel jest, or did the fault lie within myself?"

While this is an anti-war novel, and there are graphic scenes of death and destruction, the novel's focus is the philosophical and existential exploration by one soldier trying to determine his place in the world, rather than an examination of more universal issues.

Thanks to lilisin for recommending this.

4 stars

Deb
You are clipping along at a fast pace. Thanks for the comments regarding Scoop. I'll pass on that one.

While I liked Brideshead Revisited, there are other works by Waugh that I thought were snobbish and too overly ostentatious.

I'm recommending Fires on the Plain to my partner who reads a lot of WWII books.

This thread is becoming quite dangerous for my wish list. I'm adding The Kill and Fires on the Plain. Thanks for those nice reviews!

Too bad about Scoop, which I had set aside to read this year. I may just go ahead and get it out of the way and then dispose the book.

I will definitely add The Kill to the BlackHole, since I loved Germinal. Thanks for the recommendation of that one.

Fires on the Plain looks too good for me to pass by as well, so into the BlackHole it goes.

Just caught up on your thread, and I've added quite a few of your reads to my lengthy wishlist. Your choice of books is always thought-provoking, and your reviews make me interested in books I would never normally pick up. Thanks!

I must say I loved Scoop when I read it many years ago -- to the point where I started copying the "up to a point" phrase for a while. I do recall that there was a lot of racist stuff in it, and I guess I just took it as a reflection of the era; it would probably bother me a lot more now.

I haven't read any Zola -- ever, I think -- and I will have to remedy that.

Just ordered Scoop, one of the few Evelyn Waugh books I haven't read. Considering all the rave reviews about it on this thread, I thought I'd get the scoop on it :)

Hi Deborah,

You have done some outstanding reading. I've never read any Zola so I'm going to take your recommendation and look for The Kill. I've already got Columbine on the pile. Thanks for your fabulous reviews.

I've started a new thread here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/94498