All Consuming : Kaivalya

Waiting by Ha Jin (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 02:40:53 GMT

by Ha Jin

The motto of this books seems to be ‘Be careful what you wish for because you might get it.’

Lin is a doctor and an officer in the Chinese Army. His aging parents arrange a marriage for him, to a local girl in his home village. Shuyu is plain and simple. He doesn’t love her, but they conceive a child and she cares for his parents devotedly, while he works in the city. Lin falls in love with a nurse, Manna and after 17 years of an unfulfilling marriage to Shuyu, he asks her for a divorce. At the last minute she refuses.

And so it goes. Each summer, Lin returns to his village to divorce the loyal and loving Shuyu and each year she refuses at the last minute. Lin and Manna continue their futile friendship, while Shuyu and her daughter live their lives without Lin.

I was lukewarm about this novel as I read it because the plot seemed so meandering, but the meandering is true to the story. As you read, you get a sense of Lin’s frustration, Manna’s determination and Shuyu’s gentle devotion. The book provides a fascinating portrait of everyday life in communist China and the ending is heartbreaking.

A Fine Daughter by Catherine Simmons Niven

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:39:46 GMT

A Fine Daughter (Fiction)

by Catherine Simmons Niven

All at once Cora stands. The butterflies explode from her long arms, her shoulders, cascade from her hair. Cora atop a large stone with the brilliance of a thousand butterflies lifting in waves around her body. A field of living energy.

Cora, with butterlies slipping around her, begins to move. He watches her uninhibited dance, Cora dancing for him like a river. Flury, watching her pure unrestrained movement, believes that until now, he has been asleep. The doctor’s son steps toward Fran’s girl, arms extended. Here, thinks Flury, is where I begin. (page 157)

The plot of this novel is uncomplicated: A pregnant teenager goes to live in a prairie town, works in the general store and gives birth to a daughter. Fran refuses to give up her child, instead choosing to raise her in the judgmental town. She finds support from the owner of the general store and his ailing mother.

Like all small towns, Little Cypress has secrets and as these unfold, the characters in this book come to life. There’s plenty of nostalgia in this story for anyone who has grown up on the Canadian Prairies, but there’s also magic, drama, and wonderful writing.

The book moves along swiftly and smoothly, carrying the reader from one story to another. Each chapter portrays the perspective of a different character, intricately linking them so that by the end of the book, their lives create a delicate web.

The Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran (editor) (rated 5 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:38:22 GMT

The Bhagavad Gita

by Eknath Easwaran (Editor)

The Self cannot be pierced by weapons or burned by fire; water cannot wet it, nor can the wind dry it. The Self cannot be pierced or burned, made wet or dry. It is everlasting and infinite, standing on the motionless foundation of eternity. (Page 11)

In 2006, I’ve read 100 books. I wanted my 100th book of the year to be symbolic, so I chose the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture that’s very meaningful to me. In truth, I’ve probably read this book several times over the course of the year. In particular, I studied Chapter 6 in-depth, learning and memorising the verses in the ancient Sanskrit language.

This translation of the Gita, by Eknath Easwaran, remains my favourite although I’ve read numerous others. The Bhagavad Gita is a small part of a larger work called the Mahabharata. It describes an epic battle between two warring clans, the Kurus and the Pandavas.

Arjuna, a warrior, hesitates in battle because he sees friends and family fighting on both sides; he doesn’t wish to kill those he loves and respects. Luckily for Arjune, his charioteer, Krishna, is actually an incarnation of Divine Consiousness. In this moment of indecision, Krishna instructs Arjuna, revealing the paths to unity with God:knowledge, devotion, action, and meditation and persuading him that he must follow his Dharma and fight the battle.

The story is a metaphor for the struggle that exists within each one of us to find our own path and find meaning in life. Eknath Easwaran calls it ‘the war within.’ The battle is between two parts of human nature and we choose between them every day. According to the Gita, our destiny is in our own hands and we shape it by our choices, by how we choose to live.

This volume is my favourite translation of the Gita, but there are many. Another that I often recommend is Jack Hawley’s ‘The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners.’ This short, profound little book has changed my life in so many ways. I reread it every year and recommend it to everyone I know.

Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi (rated 5 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 03:36:24 GMT

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

by Marjane Satrapi

I found this sequel to Persepolis to be even more engaging than the first book. I was told that the first book is a prerequisite to the second and I agree; the first book sets the stage for the second.

I found the second book even more interesting than the first because, as a young adult, Marji has a more sophisiticated understanding of what’s going on around her. In this book, she leaves her childhood home in Iran and goes to school in Vienna, Austria, where she encounters and entirely different culture. She frequently experiences racism and this shapes her experience.

When she returnes to her country, she sees the restrictions and hardships through new eyes. I particularly enjoyed her observations about the culture of Iran. The history of the country’s conflicts were less interesting to me, but I learned a lot about Iran in reading this book.

I found that the book was very ‘real’ in the way it portrayed the author’s experiences. I can’t imagine this book being written without the art; it absolutely shines as a graphical novel and the author is masterful in her use of art to tell her story.

I’m deeply impressed by both books and can’t recommend them enough!

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (rated 5 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 03:35:14 GMT

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

by Marjane Satrapi

This is my first foray into the genre of ‘graphic novels.’ I picked this one on the glowing recommendation of Nuke, and because I’d heard that even non-comic-book people enjoy this author/artist’s work.

In fact, I did enjoy the book a lot. Reading a graphic novel was an adjustment for me. At times, I found it choppy and hard to focus on what was going on. But the story – a memoirs of Marjane Satrapi’s childhood in war-torn Iran – was so compelling that it held my attention.

The art is excellent – it illustrates the story without being overwhelming. As I became absorbed in the story, I soon forgot I was reading a graphical novel and the images and words merged to create a mood as well as a story.

This was a quick read, but by no means a frivilous one. The book is honest, hard-hitting and, at times, heartbreaking. I genuinely enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to starting the sequel.

A Trial by Jury by Graham Burnett (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 00:01:08 GMT

A Trial by Jury

by D. Graham Burnett

“We associate truth with knowledge, with seeing things fully and clearly, but it is more correct to say that access to truth always depends on a very precise admixture of knowledge and ignorance. This is nicely captured by the traditional figure of justice, a blind-folded woman holding a scale. With her balance she can assess certain things, with her eyes closed she cannot see certain other things. True justice depends as much on her blindness as on her ability to discern.” (Page 82)

This book has received very mixed reviews, with many critics noting that the author used bloated language and was scornful of his follow jurors. More than one critic suggested that he should have taken the time to interview his fellow jurors after the trial.

I disagree. This book is about one person’s experience of being on a jury. The author portrays his own perception of this experience and in doing so, reveals all of his doubts, prejudices and intellectual warts. Far from finding him pompous, I thought that the told his story simply and without fanfare. I liked his writing and found the book easy and enjoyable to read. Through the book, I found myself speculating about what it would be like to be on a jury, how I might act, what preconceptions and predjudices I might bring into such an experience.

Let me be clear: the author is snobbish and dismissive as only a Princeton professor can be. But he is upfront about his flaws. For example, he admits that he tried to sway the group (indeed, every member of that jury took a turn at trying to sway the others) and states clearly that he came into the deliberations having already made up his mind.

Interestingly, the author reveals how it ended – the jury’s verdict – before he tells the story. I think it might have been more interesting had I not known the outcome. The trial itself is interesting, but not compelling enough to carry the book. What carries the book is the descriptions of the scene inside the jury room. The author’s own struggles and how his perceptions of his fellow jurors change over time are intriguing.

In the end, I don’t necessarily like the author. But I found his experience and the lens through which he views the world very compelling.

Citizen Girl by Emma McLaughlin (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 23:56:00 GMT

Citizen Girl

by Emma McLaughlin

This book is yet another one of my forays into the infamous ‘Chick Lit’ genre. I read ‘The Nanny Diaries’ by these same authors a few weeks ago. Since I found that book reasonably amusing, I thought I’d give this one a go.

I was three chapters into it before I finally grasped the fact that the main character’s actual ‘name’ in this novel is ‘Girl.’ (before this realization, I was horribly confused when her supposedly feminist boss kept screaming “GIRRRRRRRRLLLL!”). Although the authors are obviously trying to be clever and unique, this just fell flat.

The weird names continued in subsequent chapters with the introduction of Girl’s new boss, ‘Guy’ and Girl’s new boyfriend, ‘Buster.’ Confusingly, other characters had normal names, like ‘Doris’ or ‘Stacey’ so it was a bit disorienting. Half-way through, I felt so uncomfortable with this poor character’s lack of a name that I simply gave her one: Sarah. I mentally referred to ‘Girl’ as ‘Sarah’ throughout the rest of the book.

Sarah (aka: “Girl”) is a 24-year-old recent graduate trying to build a career in New York City. After a stint with a feminist non-profit, she lands her first job in the private sector, working for a dot com start-up.

The plot revolves around Sarah’s struggle to retain her own values in the face of the ‘company vision’ and inevitable office. Rising quickly to the rank of ‘Vice President,’ Sarah finds herself in myriad uncomfortable situations, including promoting a marketing strategy at a bikini-clad gay pool party in L.A. and entertaining a sexually aggressive female client at an exclusive New York City club.

Like ‘Nanny Diaries,’ parts of this book were hilariously funny and spot-on. I found myself nodding and laughing out loud. Other parts of the book dragged on, though, and I found it less clever and a bit more tedious than the authors’ previous effort. In the last chapters of the book, the plot moves from quirky to ridiculous.

This isn’t great literature, but it’s a light, fast read, amusing, but not memorable.

Black Faces, White Faces by Jane Gardam (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 23:33:25 GMT

Black Faces, White Faces (Abacus Books)

by Jane Gardam

“All that interested me was Jolly Jackson and I watched him and watched him, so beautiful, out of the back window of the car, getting smaller and smaller. And he waved and waved and waved to me as he danced and danced. d He danced and danced not moving his feet , but with all his body and his lovely smiling face. He was dancing and dancing and dancing and dancing in the very middle of the big main road. That was the best day of my Easter holidays.” (page 20)

I found this paperback sitting in a ‘Free! Take one!’ box on the sidewalk last summer and thought it looked interesting.

Each chapter of the book presents a different ‘story’ with different characters, some of them reappearing and often connected to one another. The book mostly takes place in Jamaica, and explores the relationship of the English elite to the place and the people.

The most memorable stories were those told from the perspective of a young boy, Ned (the quote above is in his voice). I found that his description on the Jamaican people was the most sympathetic and magical. The other characters are typical English snobs, involved in affairs, dramas and conflicts with each other (and the Jamaicans). I found many of their stories inane and forgettable.

I didn’t love this book, but I also didn’t dislike it. It’s interesting and more-or-less readable. I did enjoy the quirkiness and eccentricities of the characters.

The Body Artist by Don DeLillo (rated 1 star)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 23:25:22 GMT

The Body Artist: A Novel

by Don DeLillo

“She took a bite of cereal and forgot to taste it. She lost the taste somwhere between the time she put the food in her mouth and the regretful second she swallowed it.” (page 21)

This was one of the rare books that I could not bring myself to finish. I followed my usual practice to of reading half-way through, then the last chapter. This is a short book, so it’s notable that I found it so ‘long.’

The book revolves around character development and setting a scene more than building any intricate plot. Lauren, a body artist, is widowed when her husband Rey commits suicide. After his funeral, she retreats to the summer home they once shared and encounters a haunting young man – seemingly mentally retarded – who seems to embody Rey and Lauren’s relationship. The young drifter recalls conversations Lauren and Rey once had and his presence evokes feelings of wonder and pain.

I disliked this book. It had a surreal, nightmarish mood and I found the use of language slippery and monotonous. Although I don’t doubt that Don DeLillo is an extremely talented author (and I am not disputing the quality of the writing), this book just wasn’t my ‘cup of tea.’

Death be not Proud by John Gunther (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 02:04:28 GMT

Death Be Not Proud (Perennial Classics)

by John J. Gunther

“All that goes into a brain – the goodness, the wit, the sum total of enchantment in a personality, the very will, indeed the ego itself – was being killed inexorably, remorselessly, by an evil growth! Everything that makes a human being what he is, the inordinately subtle and exquisite combination of memory, desire, impulse, reflective capacity, power of association, even consciousness – to say nothing of sight and hearing, muscular movement and voice and something so taken for granted as the ability to chew – is encased delicately in the skull, working there within the membranes by processes so marvelously interlocked as to be beyond belief. All this – volition, imagination, the ability to have even the simplest emotion, anticipation, understanding – is held poised and balanced in the normal brain, with silent, exquisite efficiency. And all this was what was being destroyed. It was, we felt, as if reason itself were being ravaged away by unreason, as if the pattern of Johnny’s illness were symbolic of so much of the conflict and torture of the external world. A primitive, to-the-death struggle of reason against violence, reason against disruption, reason against brute unthinking force – this is what went on in Johnny’s head. What he was fighting against was the ruthless assault of chaos. What he was fighting for was, as it were, the life of the human mind.” (page 101-102)

Amusingly, I could only find this book in the ‘large print’ edition so throughout, I had a sneaky feeling that the author was yelling at me.

I really wanted to be wonderfully moved by this book, I truly did. In the past year, I’ve faced the death of two people, including a beautiful and inspiring 9-year-old girl. I sought out this book as a kind of closure.

Although parts of the book are well-written and thought-provoking, I struggled to move through the pages. Of course every parent of a lost child wants to memorialize the person their child was and could have been. I felt this book went a bit too far out on that limb

Part I was a cringe-inducing example of this. The author, Johnny’s father, sings his son’s praises in great and excrutiating detail. At this point in the book, the reader has absolutely no sense of Johnny or sympathy for his plight. First recommendation: Skip Part I and move right onto Part II.

The most fascinating thing part of this book for me was reading about World War II era cancer treatments. It’s absolutely incredible how much progress has been made in the treatment of cancer since then. It’s also amazing how much remains exactly the same: the same push and pull between doctors and parents, the necessity of parents to research their own child’s disease and find solutions outside of traditional treatments (and all of this without the Internet!!!), the wonderful doctors and the not-so-wonderful doctors, the interminable hospital stays and the wonderful nurses.

This book will be fascinating to anyone who has ever watched a child go through cancer treatment and I imagine would be very affirming and moving to someone who has ever lost a child to the disease.

Baby Proof by Emily Giffin

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 02:02:04 GMT

Baby Proof

by Emily Giffin

“I know I don’t want any,” I say, and then open my birth control packet at the bathroom sink.

Ben furrows his brow and says, “How about you stop taking those things? Can’t we just see what happens? See if it’s meant to be?”

I tell him that this plan of his sounds akin to the Christian Scientist approach to modern medicine.

He gives me a blank stare.

“I have a better idea,” I say. “Let’s hold hands and jump out the window and see if we’re meant to die.”

Then I take my pill. (page 17-18)

This is another ‘chick lit’ book. I picked up this one specifically because of the theme: a woman struggles with her relationship because she does not want children. Since I’ve never wanted kids, don’t have kids and yes, I’ve been pressured to have kids in a relationship, I was intrigued. The author is a mother of two; even more intriguing.

Claudia, our child-free heroine, is thrilled when she meets Ben, the perfect man and her soulmate. When they first marry, Ben has no interest in children but he soon changes his mind and Claudia is faced with an agonizing choice: procreate or seperate. They divorce and move on with their lives.

I’ve just summed up the best part of the book and it happens in the first few chapters. The rest of the book limps along, with Claudia in a rebound relationship, Claudia cyber-stalking Ben, Claudia coping with a friend’s pregnancy, Claudia wanting Ben back.

This is where it all falls apart and I really don’t think the author really ‘gets it.’ I think the ‘child-as-identity’ characters in this book really need to meet the ‘child-as-fashion-accessory’ characters in ‘The Nanny Diaries’ because no one seems to grasp the idea that these are little people and a lifetime committment we’re talking about.

In other words, deciding to compromise on children is a far, far cry from deciding to compromise on which DVD you’re going to rent this weekend.

The ending was stupid. The book was a solid ‘mediocre.’

Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat (rated 5 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 02:00:00 GMT

Breath, Eyes, Memory

by Edwidge Danticat

“There is a girl going home,” my grandmother said. “You cannot see her. She is far away. Quite far. It is not the distance that is important…If your soul is linked with someone, somehow you can always feel when something is happening to them.” (page 152)

This is an absolutely amazing book. It’s beautifully written and flows like poetry, but it’s also achingly real.

12-year-old Sophie Caco is sent from her home in Haiti to New York City to join her mother, who fled the country after being emotionally ravaged by a brutal rape. Sophie is the child of that rape and this horrific event defines their relationship.

Years later, Sophie goes back to Haiti with her infant daughter and visits the beloved aunt who raised her. She confronts her aging grandmother about the well-meaning, yet damaging abuse her mother suffered at her hands (and that Sophie suffered at her mother’s hands). She struggles to find meaning in the poverty, violence and political turmoil of the country she left behind. Her return to Haiti ultimately defines the course of Sophie’s life, allowing her to reconcile with her mother and embrace her family, including her husband and child.

I literally couldn’t put this book down – it’s absolutely spellbinding. I will definitely seek out other books by this author.

Fake ID by Hazel Edwards (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 22:49:45 GMT

Fake ID (Takeaways)

by Hazel Edwards

” ‘Which name?’ I was getting so confused. Was my gran an informer? That sounded really bad. Much worse than just telling on someone, or white lies or even cheating. But maybe it also meant speaking out when others kept quiet. I hoped so.” (page 98)

This young adult book by Australian author Hazel Edwards is yet another pick from the ‘recommended books’ table at a middle school library one of my classes is held in.

I selected this book because I liked the premise: a young woman finds out that her recently deceased grandmother was hiding a secret identity throughout her life.

The book is intended for teens but I found it was far to ‘young’ to appeal to that age group. The main character, Zoe, is supposed to be 15-years-old, but in her language and level of maturity, she comes across more like a gradeschooler.

I suppose for this reason, I didn’t like the book. I found the language and ideas too simplistic, almost as if the author was talking down to the reader. I found that it was choppy and didn’t flow well. The plot felt unnecessarily ponderous and heavy, especially considering the rather anticlimatic ending.

The characters were poorly developed. I would have liked to know more about Zoe’s grandmother and reasons and details behind the choices she made. Rather than develop these characters and plotlines, the author tends to repeat ideas that have already been explored, leaving loose ends hanging in the end. There was so much the author could have done to explore the relationships between the characters, but the pace and the level of sophistication of the book doesn’t allow for it.

This book is far more appropriate for the 9 – 12 age group. On the plus side, it does a great job of portraying technology in a realistic way and the ‘sleuthing theme’ may inspire young people toward geneaology (or perhaps bellydancing – another theme that’s explored in the book!).

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (rated 4 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 22:29:45 GMT

The Nanny Diaries

by Emma McLaughlin

I go into Granma’s bedroom to use the salmon-pink Princess phone on the night table, moving aside a few of her needlepoint pillows to sit on the sateen bedspread. As I punch the answering machine code into the keypad the soft light reminds me of sleep-overs from my childhood when she would leave the lamps on until I fell asleep. Mrs. X’s voice comes through like ice cubes dropped down the back of my dress.

“Oh Nanny…” (page 247)

This is a funny – and deeply disturbing book. The plot is simple: an NYU student, struggling to pay rent in Manhattan, takes on various gigs as a part-time nanny, caring for the children of people who have more money than they do common sense (or common decency).

The book is written with a dry humour that doesn’t gloss over the difficulties of a care-giver trying to do justice to the children she’s caring for while juggling the eccentricities of her employer. As you read this book, you find yourself saying “No! Nobody could possible be that shallow or stupid.” But on a gut level, you know that the authors’ inspiration was taken from experience.

The book has many, many laugh-out-loud moments and it’s extremely engaging. It’s a fun book and probably deserves the attention it has garnered based on entertainment value alone. But it also has an important point to make about money, relationships and families. I found parts of the book deeply distressing and unbearably sad. The book points a bleak picture of New York City’s elite and the underclass of hired help who serve them.

As a doglover, I’m profoundly grateful to the authors for the ‘happy ending.’ I don’t think I could have slept at night had there been a different outcome. But I was left wondering, “What will become of the children?”

The Tapestries by Kien Nguyen

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 12:56:26 GMT

The Tapestries

by Kien Nguyen

“The little girl laughed, clapping her hands together and spilling the soap liquid on the floor. She glided and pirouetted across the room until she came face-to-face with her new present. Shyly, she reached out and wiped a tear off his face. Dan stepped back. ‘Don’t cry’ the girl whispered. The plastice lopped in her hand traced along the side of his cheek, forming a small bubble that smelled like flowers. He forgot himself and grinned at her.” (page 87)

The quote above describes young Dan’s first encounter with his mistress, after he is sold into slavery. This book is a fascinating portrait of the cultural and customs of old Vietnam during the imperial era. Dan is the son of an aristocratic family. At age seven, he is ‘married’ to Ven, a woman 17 years his senior. Wife in name only, she becomes his guardian and protector, as is customary.

When Dan’s father is murdered and his family flees, Ven hides her young charge in the safest place she can imagine – by selling him to the family of the man who murdered his family. There, Dan grows up as a slave to the lovely Tai May and falls in love with her. His love is nearly his ruin – and hers. The story follows Dan’s life as he struggles to reconcile his love of the enemy’s daughter with his obligation to avenge his father’s death by killing his murderer.

If you enjoy historical fiction, you will very likely enjoy this book. Fans of ‘Snow Flower and the Secret Fan’ and similar books will find much to love in this one. This is a detailed, fascinating book. It’s a bit formulaic, but I’ll forgive that flaw because I so enjoyed the lush scenes the author paints with words and the complex, multi-layered characters.

Little Stranger by Kate Pullinger

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 02:53:47 GMT

Little Stranger

by Kate Pullinger

“I didn’t mean to be mean. But I couldn’t help myself. Sarah did that to me. She always did that me; when I was around her I’d take up sarcasm and malice as though they were second nature to me. Having a baby turned me into a shouter; having a sister turned me into a bitch. Families.” (page 180)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There was something very down to earth and real about the characters and the state of their lives. Fran is a expat Canadian living in London with her husband Nick. With the birth of their child, Louis, she becomes a stay-at-home mom and struggles with the monotony and the responsibility of her new life.

One day, fed up and exhausted, she takes the tube out to Heathrow and gets on a plane to Las Vegas. Nick is left to cope with their one-year-old son on his own. Fran must find a way to survive and come to terms with her past.

I think this book resonated with me because Fran’s mother, Ireni, is an alcoholic. I could easily understand and relate to the heartbreak and frustration of Ireni’s family as she deteriorated.

The characters are vividly depicted. At different times through the course of the novel, I related to Fran, who was very emotional and flighty and spontaneous but also to her sister, Sarah, who was more stable, orderly and pragmatic. I found that these two characters captured two different extremes of my own personality.

Fran’s burgeoning friendship with Leslie, a woman she meets in Las Vegas, provides a fascinating counterpoint to the story. By helping Fran, Leslie is able to come to terms with the demons from her own past.

I found the portrayal of Fran’s husband Nick to be less skillful than the female characters, but it was interesting to see how he handled his new responsiblities as a suddenly single father.

This is typical ‘chick lit’ – sappy, emotional, character driven and a bit fluffy, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It made me think about my own family, and how my experiences in childhood have shaped me as an adult.

Call it Courage by Armstrong Sperry (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 01:53:03 GMT

Call It Courage

by Armstrong Sperry

“It was the sea that Mafatu feared. He had been surrounded by it every since he was born. The thunder of it filled his ears; the crash of it upon the reef, the mutter of it at sunset, the threat and fury of its storms – on every hand, wherever he turned – the sea.” (page 8)

Every Wednesday, I teach adult yoga in a middle school library. As I wander around adjusting postures and observing my students, books will occasionally catch my eye, particulary those on the ‘recommended’ table.

Armstrong Sperry was awarded the Newberry Honour for this book in 1941. It’s not long and would probably be appropriate for an advanced reader as young as 7 or 8. It’s a good story – exciting and well-told. It held my interest and kept me guessing.

However, this book is a product of its time – it was written two years before my own mother was born. Put simply, it’s sexist, racist and biased against pacific cultures. The bias is not subtle – islanders are depicted as mad cannibals and a carved statue on an island described as ‘a grotesque idol, hideously ugly’. Incredibly, women do not even seem to exist in this island culture. The only reference to females is a disparagement of ‘women’s work.’

But the book portrays the main character, the boy Mafatu with sympathy and warmth. After losing his mother to the sea, Mafatu is frightened and his fear prevents him from fishing and proving his worth to his community in seafaring. Mafatu runs away and uses the skills he learned on his island (including the dreaded ‘women’s work’ to survive and return home.

This is a great book for young people to read in order to understand cultural relativism and how cultural bias can even taint a simple story.

The End of Food by Thomas Pawlick (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 22:49:19 GMT

The End of Food: How the Food Industry is Destroying Our Food Supply--And What We Can Do About It

by Thomas F. Pawlick

I didn’t hate this book, but I didn’t love it either. After finally, painfully finishing it, my overall sense was that it needed a good editor. The writing was spotty and repetitive. It could have been half the length and more effective pared down.

It’s a shame the book wasn’t better organised because the topic is an important and timely one: thanks to genetic modification of vegetables, use of pesticides/herbicides/chemicals, plus the depletion of our soil, food is less tasty and less nutritious.

When food became ‘big business’ and agricultural monoculture the norm, decisions about the quality and desireablity of certain types of vegetables and their identifying characteristics were made based on what produced the ‘toughest’ crop (to be harvested by machine) or the most productive (creating the greatest yields). Not only has the quality of food suffered, but the actual nutrition of our foods has been compromised.

This book is very important and informative. I just wish it was better written.

The Secret Supper by Javier Sierra (rated 2 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 22:17:36 GMT

The Secret Supper: A Novel

by Javier Sierra

Master Leonardo, standing in the thrid row of the platform, kept a keen eye on everything and, from time to time, scribbled mysterious jottings in one of the notebooks he always carried with him. It seemed to me that he paid the same attention to the faces in the crowd as he did to the sound of Santa Maria’s organ, or to fluttering banners of different groups in attendance. Someone had told me that the previous afternoon he had fallen into ecstatic contemplation over the flight of four hundred pigeons released in the Piazza del Duomo, and that he had listened with rapt delight to the cannon blasts from the city walls that the papal nuncio had ordered in honor of the late dutchess. For Leonardo, everything merited attention, everything held within itself traces of the secret science of life. (page 135)

If the entire book reflected the quote above, I would have been entranced by this book. Sadly, it did not. The book is not about Leonardo Davinci so much as about a minor fictional figure named Father Agostino, a Papal Inquisitor who is investigating the possible heresy of use of symbols in Leonardo’s work.

In the media, this book was presented as a smarter alternative to The Davinci Code. Frankly, I liked The Davinci Code better and I’m not a great fan of Dan Brown.

The book is a foggy chaos of poorly developed characters, a scattered and complicated plot and vague details which, for the most part, went right over my head. The premise is fascinating but it ultimately fell flat. It didn’t help that I actively disliked the main character and found the author’s depiction of the ‘spiritual life’ of the monks of Santa Maria to be pretty bleak.

One positive observation: The author positively bashes the Catholic Church and everything it stands for. I enjoyed this angle of the book and the various historical elements.

But overall, the book fell flat for me. How much did I hate this book? I didn’t even finish it. I had a mere two more chapters to go and I just couldn’t do it.

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 02:03:46 GMT

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets

by Eva Rice

They would soon throw me back onto the streets once they realized that under the expensive coat lurked a girl with no trust fund, no guaranteed income, and no decent jewels. I pulled out the powder compact I had stolen from Mama’s dressing table and blinked at msyelf. My hair needed a comb (I hadn’t one) and there was an ink smudge on my chin, but my eyes flashed back at me, defiant. Make the most of this, I thought. I was aware, for the first time in a long while, that I was alive.” (page 9)

Penelope Wallace is 17, and lives a sheltered life outside of London with her recently widowed mother and her musician brother Inigo in a family mansion, Milton Magna, that is literally falling to pieces. Inigo and Penelope are obsessed with saving their home – Penelope hopes to marry well, while Inigo hopes to make a fortune as a rock and roll musician.

Penelope’s life is turned upside down when, on a rainy day at a bus stop, the confident and unconventional Charlotte Ferris asks her to share a cab. Penelope spontaneously goes to tea with Charlotte’s Aunt Clare and there she meets Harry, Charlotte’s ecentric magician cousin. Penelope is quickly drawn into their orbit and Harry uses her as a decoy to win back his true love, a socialite named Marina.

The story unfolds, with parties, Hollywood producers, Elvis and guinea pigs in a vibrant post-war London. The plot is not complicated, but it’s bright and lively and fun.

The author’s lush descriptions, along with engaging and carefully developed characters make it a pleasurable read. I found myself savouring this book, slowing down so I could capture the incredible detail and examine the relationships. Aunt Clare and Penelope’s mother, Talitha, hold most of the secrets, but in the end, Penelope carries a secret of her own.

This is a fun and thoroughly absorbing book – recommended!

The Stolen Prince by Hugh Barnes

nobody@allconsuming.net (Kaivalya) — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 01:20:56 GMT

The Stolen Prince: Gannibal, Adopted Son of Peter the Great, Great-Grandfather of Alexander Pushkin, and Europe's First Black Intellectual

by Hugh Barnes

“He uttered a monosyllabic word: not FUMMO, no even close. I must have looked a bit crestfallen, because he asked what the problem was.

“Fummo,” I said.

“Fu-mow,” he repeated eagerly, placing the emphaisis on the second syllable. “It’s a Kotoko word.”

I looked at him, with astonishment. “What does it mean,” I asked.

“Homeland.”

Abram Petrovich Gannibal was born as a slave in Africa, brought to Europe by slave traders and adopted by Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia. He was given the best education available, brought up in the wealth and intrigue of the Russian Court and became a soldier, diplomat and spy.

In this historical reconstuction, the author is trying to grasp a life that has nearly been erased. Few records remain of Gannibal’s life and the only known portrait was revealed to be a fake. This scarcity is due, in part, to Gannibal himself: In fear of retaliation by Catherine the Great, he burned is own memoirs.

The story is compelling and Gannibal is an interesting figure, so I was disappointed by how dully written, scattered and unfocused this book is. The first half was literally excruciating and I had to force myself to read it. The second half was better, but only because I skimmed parts.

However, despite whatever reservations I have about the writing, the content of the book – the work that Hugh Barnes has done to highlight the life and accomplishments of Europe’s first black intellectual – is commendable. His research is excellent and parts of it read like a good detective novel, with Barnes carefully uncovering the clues that reveal more about Gannibal and his life.

This isn’t a great book, but it’s an important one.