A re-imagination of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Percival Everett’s rendition of Twain’s story is told from the perspective of the slave, Jim. A re-imagination of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Percival Everett’s rendition of Twain’s story is told from the perspective of the slave, Jim. For Huck, this may have seemed a great adventure, but for Jim it is a harrowing run as a fugitive slave away from the prospect of being sold. While shining a harsh spotlight on cruelties of slave life, and especially on a runaway slave, the story is told with some humor and even well-placed compassion. It seems like an authentic telling.
This is the second novel I have read by Everett. He is a skillful writer and I will probably read more by him. I will also go back to Twain’s version for a re-read, since it has been maybe 40 years since the last reading. I am now curious to see just how I would take it in, after reading James....more
I’m giving this book 3.5 stars. Although I knew it was a crime novel, I was not prepared for its graphic detail and felt as though I was watching SweeI’m giving this book 3.5 stars. Although I knew it was a crime novel, I was not prepared for its graphic detail and felt as though I was watching Sweeney Todd. (At some point, are their degrees of awful?)
Nevertheless, it did hold a lot of secrets which I did not totally get until the end of the book, so as a plot-driven novel it was carefully crafted. At one point, I thought, well, we should be at the end (what more was there to tell?) but I was only maybe 3/4 through. So, then it kept unfolding more and more.
It also had moments of lovely prose. The characters, even the likable ones, are all somewhat weird. If you like crime novels and graphic details don’t upset you, then this book might appeal; it is engaging. ...more
Father Odran Yates is a simple, perhaps a naive Irish priest who wants to believe in the best of people and of his church. The novel transverses his lFather Odran Yates is a simple, perhaps a naive Irish priest who wants to believe in the best of people and of his church. The novel transverses his life, jumping around a bit in time, and builds with compelling tension to the end of the novel.
This novel is about child sexual abuse (thankfully not described in detail), the cover up of the crimes at all levels of the Catholic church, and especially of the complicity of individuals from the Pope down through the ranks to the lowliest priests. The story takes place in Ireland, but as we know, could have happened and did in fact happen in various communities throughout the United States. It takes the full length of the novel for Father Yates to fully realize his own complicity and it ends with a stunning final scene.
This is an author who understands the craft of storytelling, character development, searing dialogue and elegant prose. This is a novel which will stay with me, even though I feel quite removed from the religion, its hierarchy and its people. It is not an easy subject and not a quick read, but as the story advanced, there were surprises and revelations that kept me engaged to the very last sentence.
A cross between Atonement (Sara reminded me) and Brideshead Revisited, The Go-Between is about a young boy named Leo who visits his classmate’s wealthA cross between Atonement (Sara reminded me) and Brideshead Revisited, The Go-Between is about a young boy named Leo who visits his classmate’s wealthier family one summer. He becomes enamored with his friend’s older sister and innocently becomes the go-between, carrying secret messages between the young lady and her lover. The story takes place in England just about the turn of the twentieth century.
It is a sweet tale, told as a remembrance by a much older Leo. The characters are richly drawn and the plot held me in suspense throughout the story as Leo became more entangled in the situation, suffering misgivings and humiliation as he awakens to the truth of his circumstances. Throughout the novel there is the theme of class distinctions and class prejudice which richly textures the story.
As this is the third book I have read in Updike’s Rabbit series, I am finding it harder to write this review to say something fresh about it that hasnAs this is the third book I have read in Updike’s Rabbit series, I am finding it harder to write this review to say something fresh about it that hasn’t been said in the previous two. He continues the theme is life’s entrapments, for various characters, even to the extent that he says the Pope is trapped and is “running scared... like everybody else.” Harry just doesn’t “like getting boxed in.” And he now sees that he is trapped by his wife’s fortune.
At 46, he muses, “…if a meaning of life was to show up, you’d think it would have by now.”
Certainly at the beginning of the novel, he still sees the world only through his own lens of self absorption, such as this thought he has: “A man f**ks your wife, it puts a whole new value on her, within limits.”
Perhaps, Harry is in a slow process of change, or at least acceptance. Not that he is very hopeful about it. “Life is too big for us in the end.“ He thinks “…we’ll all be dead soon enough, already we’re survivors…” and “the planets keep their courses no matter what we do.” If Harry can accept his circumstances, perhaps he can begin to enjoy them, and not feel like a trapped rabbit wanting escape. Not in this novel, though.
Updike’s writing is still so concrete, so descriptive and puts the reader exactly into the American culture of the novel’s time. Witness when Harry’s wife makes this play: “Naked, she lurches onto the bed where he is trying to read the July issue of Consumer Reports and thrusts her tongue into his mouth. He tastes Gallo, baloney and toothpaste while his mind is still trying to sort out the virtues and failings of the great range of can openers put to test over five close pages of print.”
The writing is very seductive. But I hope Rabbit comes to rest in the next one. 4.5 stars rounded down to 4....more
I enjoyed this novel but not as much as Fair and Tender Ladies. Establishing motivation for one of the main plot drivers was its weakest elements. TheI enjoyed this novel but not as much as Fair and Tender Ladies. Establishing motivation for one of the main plot drivers was its weakest elements. The audio version was enhanced with some singing of traditional songs. 3 stars plus a half for the tunes....more
Emily Wilde is a Cambridge academic visiting a Northern frozen village to learn about and catalog the local faerie folk for her unpublished encyclopedEmily Wilde is a Cambridge academic visiting a Northern frozen village to learn about and catalog the local faerie folk for her unpublished encyclopedia. Wendell Bambleby is a more successful colleague who intrudes on her fieldwork, inserting himself into her pursuit, which annoys her.
I found this novel to be overly long. I was mostly bored, but occasionally and thankfully amused at times with this book. Admittedly, faeries and folktales are just not my thing, but I do try to broaden my reading life from time to time. I may have too practical a mind and find it too difficult to suspend belief in reality to accept fantastical enchantments. Feeling generous, three stars....more
This was a sweet tale about a racehorse, reminding me somewhat of Black Beauty. Definitely rated G for general audiences, you could read it aloud to 1This was a sweet tale about a racehorse, reminding me somewhat of Black Beauty. Definitely rated G for general audiences, you could read it aloud to 10 year olds, I think. I thought it dragged a bit in the beginning, but it picked up, and although there were no real surprises, it held my interest to end. Still, a good to read during the triple crown season. I love a good horse race....more
Wendell Berry is a terrific writer. In this book, there is a wonderful defense of the small family farm. Other than that, I found the book somewhat deWendell Berry is a terrific writer. In this book, there is a wonderful defense of the small family farm. Other than that, I found the book somewhat depressing, especially at the start. On the whole, I wouldn’t start reading this author with this book. But if you are already a fan, this could flesh out some Port William backstory. ...more
When a book or story breaks through to me, and touches me in a memorable way, I generally give them a better rating than an averagely enjoyed book. ThWhen a book or story breaks through to me, and touches me in a memorable way, I generally give them a better rating than an averagely enjoyed book. This book did that.
I understood many of Frankie’s feelings. For example, like her, I was called by name that boys were generally given: Terry, T E R R Y- spelled just like a boy. When I was a child, I dreamed of having a romantic name like Cecelia. As I was growing up, I read novels with romantic names like Scarlet or Amber. The heroines never had pedestrian names. Jasmine would have done just fine for me. But like Bernice says, I was stuck being myself.
I also understood F. Jasmine’s longing to see the world and to do something, to be something. I knew the world was out there, but it seemed beyond my grasp. On that Sierra mountain, when there was a storm, I could listen to a radio station from LA. The movies, the television, the 1960s news — they spoke to me of possibilities that seemed undoable to a young girl who lived 5 miles up a mountain from a small town. My horizons seemed limited to marriage and babies. So like a wolf who bites off a leg to escape a trap, I ran away from home.
I was so young. I looked grown up, but I was not, not really. I had the confidence and optimism of youth but also the naïveté. In years, I was older than Frances. In many ways, I was like that 12 year old girl.
Carson McCullers, who also has a boy’s first name, and wrote this wonderful book, understands the inexpressible yearnings of a young girl. Frankie, F. Jasmine, Frances, cannot find words. I couldn’t either. I still don’t know how we make it through those years alive.
The Coast Road is a character driven novel about women’s autonomy in the 1990s, pre-divorce Ireland. Taking place in a small town on the rugged coast The Coast Road is a character driven novel about women’s autonomy in the 1990s, pre-divorce Ireland. Taking place in a small town on the rugged coast of County Donegal, the book follows the lives of three married women with children. Collette is a poet who left her husband Sean and suffers when her husband does not allow her to see her children. Izzy is a bored and frustrated housewife who is stuck married to a controlling, heavy handed, low level politician named James who manipulates circumstances to his own ends. And Delores is overwhelmed with babies and married to the town’s philanderer, Donal, who is a really despicable narcissistic character.
They each represent a range of education and class with Delores and Donal seemingly at the bottom. Without the support of her rich husband, the educated and beautiful Collette has very little income from her books of poetry, and in her new circumstances resorts to giving writing workshops to locals. Izzy, who once had her own floral shop business, given up when her first child came and now denied by her husband, takes Collette’s class to relieve the monotony of her life now that her children are school age. Delores and Donal, with few resources, do have a cottage on their land which they agree to rent to Collette to bring in a little extra income to their ever expanding family. Other minor characters include a Ann, woman who has taken up with Sean, Brian, a priest who is a friend to Izzy and a policeman who ultimately helps Delores.
The women characters all seem flawed but also very real. The men in the book are the catalysts for the plot, with none of the husbands behaving very well. The priest and the policeman are the only likable men in the book. The local high school principal is also not very nice. A few of the children have minor roles, and they are also authentically portrayed in their words and actions. The small town plays a part in the book as well, where everyone knows everyone else’s business, or at least they think they do. There is small town gossip about everyone and sex shaming of Collette.
It took me awhile to get into the novel, but by the end, it was almost a page turner with surprises, tragedy and final resolution without resignation. Although it could be characterized as historical fiction, the aspect of passing a divorce law in Ireland is underplayed. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, this male first-time novelist has written authentically and compassionately about these female characters, without the over-bearing feminist ideology, a tone that might have been struck by a feminist writer of the 1970s. Bravo to the author!
After I read a review of the novel, I suggested it for our book club and it was selected. It will stand as one of my favorites of the contemporary novels that we read.
Jack McCall has taken his daughter Leah to live in Rome after his wife’s suicide and a bitter custody battle with the wife’s parents. He and Leah are Jack McCall has taken his daughter Leah to live in Rome after his wife’s suicide and a bitter custody battle with the wife’s parents. He and Leah are grieving, but eventually need to reconcile with the family left behind in South Carolina.
Conroy is great at creating and describing characters. Here he is describing his friends, especially the one named Jordan.
“ Jordan‘s gift was both madcap and daredevil, and while Capers came to distrust Jordan‘s recklessness, Mike and I prized it. Jordan‘s love of daring and his rash need to live on the edges of things, his reaching for experiences that went unnoticed by other people gave us adventures that summer that previously would have been unimaginable. Throughout his life, Jordan‘s greatest fear was that he would be buried alive in that American topsoil of despair and senselessness where one felt nothing, where being alive was simply a provable fact instead of a ticket to a magic show. It was not that Jordan was a thrill seeker, but that he found an elegance in action that he found nowhere else.“
As with all of his novels, you get the sense that he cares a lot about every word in every sentence, such as this one: “… a sense of smell was better than a yearbook for imprinting the delicate graffiti of time in the memory.“
I always love it when an author talks about writing in a novel. “No story is a straight line. The geometry of a human life is too imperfect and complex, too distorted by the laughter of time and the bewildering intricacies of fate to admit the straight line into its system of laws.“
This was for me a 4.5 star book, rounded up to 5. It was written about 30 years ago. It holds up well....more
Kate Quinn writes plot driven novels which are historical fiction, many of which I have read with my book club. They are easy reading and enjoyable, aKate Quinn writes plot driven novels which are historical fiction, many of which I have read with my book club. They are easy reading and enjoyable, and this book was no exception. In this case, the Phoenix Crown was jointly and seamlessly written with Janie Chang, an author whose books I have never read.
The Phoenix Crown is a headdress worn by elite Chinese brides; a looted art treasure. The story takes place in San Francisco before, during and after the 1906 earthquake and fire. (The obvious metaphor is the mythical bird rising from fire.) The story features four women: a Nebraskan soprano in the chorus of the traveling Metropolitan Opera, an older, an accomplished botanist who is fearless in her passion for her scientific obsession with cataloging plants, an unconventional lesbian painter who has gone missing and a Chinese embroiderer trying to avoid an arranged marriage. They all fall into the range of a particularly greedy, narcissistic and very dangerous art collector who is a threat to their lives. While most of the book takes place in San Francisco, there is an important piece at the end which is set in Paris and Versailles.
I give this novel 3.5 stars, rounded up to a Goodreads 4. I found the book to be a bit better than an averagely enjoyable experience. I am pretty sure my rating will disappoint those in my book club who love plot driven novels. The rounding up reflects my interest in the historical aspects, which are further explained in the bonus afterward, and the familiar settings, since I called San Francisco my home for about six months in 1968, loved my 2006 trip to Paris and then took the train to Versailles to look at the gardens.
This historical novel presents the lives of various people who went to Panama to make money or a name for themselves, along with the lives of a handfuThis historical novel presents the lives of various people who went to Panama to make money or a name for themselves, along with the lives of a handful of Panamanians.
The story is told mostly through the workers‘ points of view and does not show a very pretty picture of the Americans or the government in Panama City. The Americans brought the bigoted culture of the early twentieth century with them — racism, sexism and anti-worker sentiments.
I hadn’t realized that so many of the workers came from the Caribbean islands such as Jamaica, Haiti or Barbados. While some of the history was interesting, I found it difficult to get truly interested in most of the characters. ...more
I give 2 stars to books that I finish, but don’t much enjoy. This audiobook might have been better if narrated by a younger man, but the derp baritoneI give 2 stars to books that I finish, but don’t much enjoy. This audiobook might have been better if narrated by a younger man, but the derp baritone of someone who seemed like he was in his 60s, just didn’t work for me.
Mostly, I was just bored by the story. I finally figured put that I could be at least amused in this way: every time the word “poop” was used, which was often, I pictured one of those poop emojis that look like a brown cloud, and it turned a boring sentence into one I could laugh at....more
Charles Dickens writes books that are always very good experiences for me. In this case, it was also a history lesson about the French revolution. SomCharles Dickens writes books that are always very good experiences for me. In this case, it was also a history lesson about the French revolution. Some of the scenes were a bit gruesome when he wrote about the guillotine, and Madame Defarge was a fearsome character, although she might have been a symbol of empowered women — certainly not the kind of equality I would aspire to. Overall, it was a very satisfying novel and I am glad I finally got around to it.
I listened to the Audible version narrated by Simon Callow. He was very good, but perhaps a bit too authentic to my American ear when speaking in one of the English dialects spoken by Mr. Cruncher. Otherwise, Callow has quite a range. ...more
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