Into the Beautiful North - Luis Alberto Urrea

Before them, a vast smear of smoke. Not smoke. Birds. Aloft. Suddenly, as one, they turned, vanishing in the air like the louvers of God's own opening window blinds. Appeared. Vanished. Appeared. Swept away to stubbled fields.
They clattered to a stop in Topeka. They felt like they had sandpaper in their shorts, old glue in their mouths.

I very much enjoyed The Hummingbird's Daughter by this author. After hearing Urrea discuss this book at a bookstore, I expected to enjoy this one. Unfortunately, I can't say I did.

Urrea is a good storyteller in person. This book, however, is not well written and didn't work at all for me. The story has a great premise--women from a small village in Mexico will travel north to get some men to help them drive out some gangsters. I kept reading it, feeling like I do when watching a bad TV sitcom, just to see how an interesting storyline will pan out. That ended up being a huge disappointment when the story doesn't really come to a conclusion, even with an epilogue.

The characters are not well-developed, the book covers a lot of ground, but none too well, it is overburdened with cliches and stereotypes. If you get a chance to see Urrea in person, go, but don't bother with this book.

The Power and The Glory - Graham Greene

The mule suddenly sat down under the priest. It was not an unnatural thing to do, for they had been travelling through the forest for nearly twelve hours. They had been going west, but news of soldiers met them there and they had turned east; the Red Shirts were active in that direction, so they had tacked north, wading through the swamps, diving into the mahogany darkness. Now they were both tired out and the mule simply sat down. The priest scrambled off and began to laugh. He was feeling happy. It is one of the strange discoveries a man can make that life, however you lead it, contains moments of exhilaration; there are always comparisons which can be made with worse times: even in danger and misery the pendulum swings.

A great book on so many levels--excellent writing, an exciting story, intriguing thoughts to ponder, fascinating characters, a unique place setting, human weaknesses and strengths, revolution and inner peace. This is considered to be Graham Greene's masterpiece and after reading it, I understand why.

The story takes place in rural Southern Mexico in the 1930s. Greene lets us see the dignity and humanity of the poor and downcast. Telling the story of a priest hunted by revolutionaries opposed to the church, the author takes us on a wild adventure. Much of the focus in on the relationship of priests with the people. How strange it feels to read about illicit sexual acts of priests being accepted as common experiences in the 1930s.

Greene's writing shows us a raw and uncensored life of a priest, both loved and despised by the people. The inner conflicts of the priest are gently woven into the story as we follow a long and bizarre journey.

The History of Love - Nicole Krauss

When they write my obituary. Tomorrow. Or the next day. It will say, LEO GURSKY IS SURVIVED BY AN APARTMENT FULL OF SHIT. I'm surprised I haven't been buried alive. The place isn't big. I have to struggle to keep a path clear between bed and toilet, toilet and kitchen table, kitchen table and front door. If I want to get from the toilet to the front door, impossible, I have to go by way of the kitchen table. I like to imagine the bed as home plate, the toilet as first base, the kitchen table as second, the front door as third: should the doorbell ring while I am lying in bed, I have to round the toilet and the kitchen table in order to arrive at the door. If it happens to be Bruno, I let him in without a word and then jog back to bed, the roar of the invisible crowd ringing in my ears.
I often wonder who will be the last person to see me alive. If I had to bet, I'd bet on the delivery boy from the Chinese take-out. I order in four nights out of seven.

I seem to be on a roll with good books and this one certainly deserves my highest rating. Krauss writes a very creative story which gives the reader a satisfying and enriching experience. Her style is refreshing and contemporary. It is imaginative and fresh from beginning to end while remaining driven by the story and characters.

I found myself smiling a lot when I read this book. It isn't so much humorous as it is surprisingly unique throughout. The main character is unlike any I have seen in other books. It is about love, but not in the typical way the title might imply. It shows the mystery of a strange mind along with a real mystery the characters must solve. This is a book that makes the reader ponder love lost and lost possibilities rather than warming the heart with love fulfilled. However, it is one that is well worth spending some time reading.

Dreams of My Russian Summers - Andrei Makine

I also knew that I should do my very best not to talk about books. And that we would talk about them all the same, a great deal, often till late at night. For the France that had appeared one day in the middle of the steppes of Saranze owed its birth to books. It was indeed essentially a bookish country, a country of composed of words, whose rivers flowed like the lines of verse, whose women wept in alexandrines and whose men quarreled in broadsides. That was how we discovered France as children, through its literary life, its verbal substance, shaped into a sonnet and honed by an author. Our family mythology attested that a little volume with a battered cover and a tarnished gilt top traveled with Charlotte on all her journeys. As the last link with France. Or perhaps as the constant possibility of magic....We confused France with her literature. And true literature was that magic, a word, a verse, a chapter of which transported us into a changeless moment of beauty.

A lush, poetic book which is a true pleasure to read. Each paragraph is crafted like a poem, each chapter like a book unto itself. The author beautifully contrasts France, where his grandmother grew up, and Russia where the author and she lived most her life. While it is easy for anyone to reflect on the stark contrasts between a remote Russian village and Paris, it is difficult to imagine a writer doing it so deeply and thoughtfully. He contrasts the inner experiences of the two places that makes the reader pause to let the experience reverberate inside.

The book is a love story of French life as well as a grandson for his exotic grandmother. Coming of age with the two contrasting cultures leads to a compassionate understanding of life. This is a book I imagine reading again, for like a good poem, it is too powerful to fully absorb once through.

Flight - Sherman Alexie

I take careful aim. Then I laugh. This journey started when I shot a bunch of strangers in a bank. A horrible, evil act. And now I'm lying in the dirt, getting ready to shoot a bunch of strangers. This time in self-defense and in defense of the two boy who are riding farther and farther away from me.

Is there really a difference between that killing and this killing? Does God approve of some killing and not other killing? If I kill these soldiers so that Small Saint and Bow Boy can escape, does that make me a hero?

I don't know. How am I supposed to know? I don't even have a good guess.

I love Sherman Alexie's writing which is usually quite humorous. Like previous books, this one centers on the plight of an American Indian. Unlike his other books, this one is not humorous. It is a very powerful tale of that covers an amazing array of ideas and emotions in a short novel- homelessness, juvenile delinquency, murder, karma, racial tensions, coming of age, foster parents, terrorism, the plight of American Indians, time travel, love, and more. Yes, he really does cover all of this, and it works. Told from the perspective of a teenage boy, the language is simple and easy to read, but the impact of what is being said is not easy to digest.

This book left a lasting impact on me. It has been a while since a book made me examine my thoughts and ponder so many subjects for so long. A great piece of writing that can be read in a few hours, but will keep you thinking long after.