The Forger's Spell - Edward Dolnick

This is the true story of a colossal hoax. The con man was the successful art forger of the twentieth century, his most prominent victim the second most powerful man in Nazi Germany. The time was World War II. The place, occupied Holland.
Everything about this case was larger than life. The sums that changed hands soared into the millions; the artist whod inspired that frenzy of buyinig was one of the best-loved painters who ever lived, Johannes Vermeer; the collectors vying for masterpieces included both Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering.

Dolnick has written a fascinating tale. He details the intricacies of creating a forged painting and the psychology behind those involved. We see that the motivations can more than simply money. In the events detailed in this book, we see that becoming a successful art forger involves much more than simply trying to copy a painting or imitate a painter. It seems strange that people paying millions of dollars could be fooled by forgers, but the author does a great job of enlightening the reader on the complexities of a successful sale- art critics, art dealers, art houses, collectors, museums, and more. Like a good magic trick, there is more than meets the eye going on with this deception.

Much of the book covers the Nazis and particularly Goering who obtained this painting in WW II. I knew the Nazis pilfered much art, but didn't begin the extent and organization behind their acquisitions. If you enjoy art, this book will keep you entertained and leave you will a greater understanding of the art world.

Falling Man - Tom DeLillo

She talked about the tower, going over it again, claustrophobically, the smoke, the fold of bodies, and he understood that they could talk about these things only with each other, in minute and dullest detail, but it would never be dull or too detailed because it was inside them now and because he needed to hear what he'd lost in the tracings of memory. This was their pitch of delirium, the dazed reality they'd shared in the stairwells, the deep shafts of spiraling men and women.

I wasn't sure that I wanted to read a book about 9/11, even after many years have passed. I am very glad I did. DeLillo has created a superb book. It is the type of book you want start all over again after finishing it. It begins with a man struggling out of the ashes of the Twin Towers. He is in a daze as is the rest of the city. The novel moves through a surreal time with life and death and the meaning of it all confronting us like a bucket of cold water thrown in our face.

The writing in this book is masterful. It is a pleasure just to see how DeLillo constructs a paragraph. This book places the reader in the minds of those who suffered after 9/11 as well as the minds of the hijackers. It didn't make me relive the terror, but reconnected me with the psychological impact that is so easy and tempting to block out. Highly recommended!

The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments - George Johnson

These experiments were designed and conducted with such straightforward elegance that they deserve to be called beautiful. This is beauty in the classical sense-- the logical simplicity of the apparatus, like the logical simplicity of the analysis, seems as pure and inevitable as the lines of a Greek statue. Confusion and abiguity are momentarily swept aside and something new about nature leaps into view.

Perhaps I should first confess that I love science, especially the history of science. That being said, this is a great little book. One that can be easily read in a sitting or two. The author avoids the failings of many science writers and knows how to tell a story. If you have any interest in science you will enjoy this book.

The ten experiments, admittedly chosen by the author as his personal favorites, all show the creativity and inquisitiveness of the famous scientists. As simple as some experiments appear, such as Galileo's ramp for measuring the speed of rolling balls, Mr. Johns delves into the complexities of thought behind each experiment. He also lets us know a little about the personal lives of these men (he apologizes for not including any women). It is fascinating to learn about the mistress of some famous scientists who called herself the "Bride of Science".

Regeneration - Pat Barker

I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority, because I believe the war is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it.

I am a solder, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers. I believe that this war, upon which I entered as a war of defence and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest. I believe that this war, upon which I entered as a war of defence and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest. I believe that the purposes for which I and my fellow soldiers entered upon this war should have been so clearly stated as to have made it impossible to change them, and that, had this been done, the objects which actuated us would now be attainable by negotiation.

I have seen and endured the suffering of the troops, and I can no longer be a party to prolong these sufferings for ends which I believe to be evil and unjust.

I am not protesting against the conduct of the war, but against the political errors and insincerities for which the fighting men are being sacrificed.

On behalf of those who are suffering now I make this protest against the deception which is being practised on them; also I believe that I may help to destroy the callous complacence with which the majority of those at home regard the continuance of agonies which they do not share, and which they have not sufficient imagination to realize.

S. Sassoon

July 1917

Pat Barker has written a moving and thought-provoking historical novel. The main characters, including the soldier who wrote the above letter, were real people caught in the nightmare of World War I. The book does not cover the war itself, but how it has affected the people involved. The primary focus is on the psychological effects of horrific events. A wonderful interplay between a psychiatrist, a protesting soldier, and a battle injured poet is introduced in this first of Barker's trilogy on the insanity of WWI. It is an anti-war novel developed through the experiences of a few individuals. Their experiences, sometimes described in gruesome details, show that any mind would be greatly challenged by the temporary insanity of war.

Barker has included interactions with town folk outside of the mental institution central to the book. These present the reader with other challenging issues such as class and sexism which were part of life in 1917. The book constantly challenges the reader. Barker never takes the easy or expected twist of events to make a point. She packs a lot into this great novel.

Wings of Madness - Paul Hoffman

He was a tortured genius, a free spirit who strove to escapes the confines of gravity, the peer pressure of his aeronautical confreres, the isolation of his rural upbringing, the small-mindedness of science's ruling elders, the conformity of married life, the stereotypes of gender, and even the fate of his own cherished invention.

This book is a very entertaining biography of one of the pioneers of aviation. Well-written and nicely paced throughout. It doesn't bog down in details as like some biographies on scientists and inventors. Santos-Dumont is an intriguing and idiosyncratic character whose quirks help keep the story interesting.

What a sight is must have been to see Santos-Dumont pilot the world's first powered flying machine down the camps d' Elysee in 1900. He even parked his one man helium filled airship while eating dinner at Paris bistros. A wealthy Brazilian fascinated by air travel, he was the toast of Paris, and much of the world, at one time. He is a largely forgotten, but important figure in the history of manned flight. The author has used his character and the times to create a fascinating book that is a pleasure to read.

Embers - Sandor Marai

"I hate music." His voice rises, and for the first time this evening he speaks with a hoarse intensity. "I hate this incomprehensible, melodius, language which select people can understand and use to say unihibited, irregular things that are also problably indecent and immoral. Watch their faces and see how strangely they change when they're listening to music."

Embers is written by a Hungarian writer originally published in 1942. I agree with other critics who call the writing masterful. The book is full of passion and intrigue- all dispensed by the primary character while seated in a heated discussion with an old friend. Yes, it is somewhat reminscient of the movie "My dinner with Andre", but this book delves deeply into inner thoughts and feelings on love, betrayal, revenge, friendship, anger and much more.

The story and message are timeless in this great book. The author is intelligent and original. There are great lines through out the book, such as, "When he listened to music, he listened with his whole body, as longingly as a condemned man in his cell aches for the sound of distant feet perhaps bringing news of his release." Embers is the perfect title for this about about burning passions that consume humans.

Life Class - Pat Barker

...what people don't realize is that knowing that you're your own worst enemy doesn't automatically turn you into your own best friend. Insight. The psychologist Mother had insisted on sending him to, when he was fifteen, had gone on and on about insight. Rubbish. He had insight by the bucketful and it did him no good at all.

This is a well-crafted book covering the lives of several art students as World War I is breaking out. Like other books by Barker, the interplay of war on the lives of individuals is the focus. I liked the contrast of students in a school for the arts as the inhumanity of war moves into their insular world. Barker is an excellent writer and the winner of a Booker Award for a prior book. She is intelligent and creates interesting characters.

The time period in England, and later in Europe, is depicted in a realistic style. The writing is straight-forward whether describing art or war. The horrors of war and how it changes lives is both enlightening and disturbing. The book examines how humans react to war and what compels us to artistic expression.

Chavez Ravine, 1949 - Don Normark

To Vin Scully, KTTV and the Whole Dodger Organization:

I want to let you know at the start that I am a very big fan of the Dodgers and Vin Scully, but how dare any of you call Chavez Ravine a wasteland or a dump. Every time anyone talks about Chavez Ravine before the Dodgers came along they seem to forget that many families made their homes there! No one wants to acknowledge the fact that people lived there. Maybe it wasn't Beverly Hills, but it was home to a lot of people, my family included. Doesn't anyone want to acknowledge us because we are Mexicans? Or is it because we were told that our homes would be destroyed to make room for low rent housing?

...

Great photos of Chavez Ravine before the houses were bulldozed to create a baseball stadium for the LA Dodgers. The area was referred to in the book as a "poor man's paradise". The black and white photos were taken in 1949 and are largely portraits of the residents. They are reminscient of Dorothea Lange's depression era photos, although these residents are not impoverished, but living well on modest incomes. The people lived in time and place far removed from today. Normark has done a fantastic job of capturing the flavor of the community and the personalities of the residents.

The text is composed largely of interviews of former residents. Their stories are touching and help to the reader to imagine this former community close to downtown Los Angeles. The introduction describes the author's involvement with Chavez Ravine and its people. It also explains what happened through corrupt politics, including the McCarthy era anti-communism hatred, to destroy the beautiful neighborhoods. If you enjoy this book as much as I did, I highly recommend Ry Cooder's CD entitled Chavez Ravine.

The Bonesetter's Daughter - Amy Tan

Having never read Amy Tan but knowing her good reputation as a writer, I was disappointed with this book. There is a good story in the middle about her mother's life in China. Unfortunately, the China story is wrapped around a tiresome tale of a daughter dealing with an aging mother's decline. The daughter struggles with issues, but the reader is never really engaged in the story. It felt a little like being stuck in an airport with someone next to you explaining far more details about their life than you cared to know.

Tan has a simple and clear style of writing that makes the book easy to read. When she writes of life in China fifty ago, the contrast with our lives is interesting. I didn't enjoy reading a dozen pages about a nursing home employee explaining the benefits of modern day facilities. The main story is all too predictable and the lead character unique as a child, but one dimensional as an adult.

Genghis Khan - Jack Weatherford

Although he arose out of the ancient tribal past, Genghis Khan shaped the modern world of commerce, communication, and large secular states more than any other individual. He was the thoroughly modern man in his mobilized and professional warfare and in his commitment to global commerce and the rule of international secular law.

Yes, Genghis was a ruthless conqueror who killed large numbers of people and destroyed cities and cultures. Put in the context of history, this book does a very good job of looking at the great Khan in perspective. The book is well written and researched. It is a fascinating tale about a most interesting time and one of histories most powerful an influential individuals.

The book covers more than just the life of Genghis. He actually dies in the first half of the book. The story is more about his legacy and influence than the individual. The ancestors of Genghis continued to rule and affect the world long after his death. I enjoyed the author's ability to weave personal story-lines with vast military expeditions and cultural changes. While there is a total disregard for human life in the conquering, there is also an amazing ability to build an empire. The details of the Mongols' military genius are written in an interesting way for those like myself who don't have an over-riding interest in military power.

Divisadero -Michael Ondaatje

"Everything is biographical", Lucian Freud says. What we make, why it is made, how we draw a dog, who it is we are drawn to, whe we cannot forget. Everything is collage, even genetics. There is a hidden presence of others in us, even those we have known briefly. We contain them for the rest of our lives, at every border that we cross.

Ondaatje is a wonderful writer who can craft evocative, emotional, and poetic phrases in his prose. This book, however, didn't work for me on the whole. It has moments that made me smile and pause to appreciate the beautiful way the author describes a thought, emotion, or a compelling metaphor.

The book is two separate stories. The first one is interesting for those of us who live in Northern California. It starts on a ranch in Petaluma which I pass through several times a week and includes a radio station in Nevada City, KVMR, which I often enjoyed. The story is emotion packed, wild, and violent. It ends abruptly leaving me unsatisfied. The second part of the book is entirely different set in a different time and place. Try as I did, the latter part of the book never grabbed me and the interweaving of the two stories never really worked to arrive at a satisfying conclusion.

I began reading this book excited to be reading a great book, but by the time I got to the last third, I found myself having to force my way to the end.

Canone Inverso - Paolo Maurensig

"For you to understand what music is and where this tremendous passion can lead, I must tell you from the beginning the story of that violinist whose soul was imprisoned in his violin."

Music, perfection, and immortality are intertwined in this beautifully written short novel. The author tells us a story within a story creating a book I didn't want to put down. It was one of the rare books that made me want to read it again as soon as I finished.

The purchase of an antique violin leads the narrator into an intricate tale involving a collage of deep themes of human life. The book was a true pleasure to read, unlike many books which get burdened with complexity trying to cover the mysteries of life.

The book jacket calls this book "a forceful, sensuous masterpiece". I agree and am awed how the author does so with concise, poetic language while narrating a story.

Prague - Arthur Phillips

(Nadja, an elderly jazz piano player)

Nadja was off again, in rare and wonderous form, bewitching her audience with another recollection, exquisitely told, satisfying in its construction, lyrical and glamorous, slightly improbable but nowhere impossible. And John did not doubt its probability. Lives like Nadja's must exist; he had read enough to know this was true.

Arthur Phillips has created a very intelligent and ambitious first novel. Readers will find it no surprise that he was a 5 time champion on the game show Jeopardy. The book is witty and creative. The author experiments with different forms of writing and does it well. For those who enjoy the art and skill of writing, this book will be enjoyable to read. At times, the writing came off as too cleverly crafted. Mostly, however, I found myself smiling and often re-reading sentences which were bright and original.

The story takes place in Budapest in 1990. The title, Prague, refers to the city our characters would have prefered residing in. As Hungary begins its move toward capitalism, five ex-patriots, discover a sort of bohemian life in a city undergoing an upheaval. The period in time is short-lived and those who lived through it are challenged by its meaning.

From Edison to Enron - Richard Munson

Name the last century's greatest technical feat. You might suggest the automobile or the internal combustion engine. Maybe the airplane or the computer chip. No, say the professional engineers. The twentieth century's most significant accomplishment was to generate and harness an invisible stream of electrons.

First, let me confess that I read this book for a book club held by the Energy Division of the California Public Utilities Commission. It is certainly a topic of more interest to regulatory analysts than the lay public. That being said, the author does a nice job of describing the history of the electrification of America.

The most interesting parts of the book are found in the title- Edison and Enron. Edison was quite a character and not always a nice guy. His battles with Westinghouse to determine if America would be wired with AC or DC power are legendary. If you want see how nasty they got, try reading "Edison and the Electric Chair". The early years of electricity were wild times. The Enron scandal was no less wild and the author does a good job of briefly describing how the problems arose. He also offers a nice conclusion with ideas on to best move the US forward with our electric industry.

The book is written in a matter of fact style and takes a neutral position on most issues. It is meant for readers with a deep interest in the subject.

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

Jalil said she was his little flower. He was fond of sitting her on his lap and telling her stories, like the time he told her that Herat, the city where Mariam was born, in 1959, had once been the cradle of Persian culture, the home of writers, painters, and Sufis.
"You couldn't stretch a leg here without poking a poet in the ass" he laughed.

Hosseini has once again crafted a magnificent tale centered around Afgani culture. I loved the Kite Runner and, unlike many who say this second novel doesn't reach the same heights, I found this just as moving. While the Kite Runner focuses on a boy growing up, this book follows two girls growing up. The book covers the last thirty years of Afganistan's history as experienced by our two heroines.

Knowing the traumas and ordeals Afganistan has suffered, and the misogynist culture, a story about two girls lives will necessarily tear at your heart. This is not a book for the faint of heart. We experience the maturing of lives in the midst of horrible chaos. The story is beautifully woven between the two women and how their lives connect. Hosseini has an engaging ability to weave women's lives, history, culture into the tale. It affected me deeply.

Amerigo - Felipe Fernandez-Armesto

Subtitled- The man who gave his name to America

He was up to none of the ambitious roles he adopted. He was too unstudious to be a diplomat, too imprudent to be a great merchant, too incompentent to be a navigator, too ignorant to be a cosmographer. When he played the magus, he relied on sleight of hand to get him by.

The author gives us a little information about Amerigo Vespuci which is summed up in the above quote. The book reads like a thesis paper from an author overly impressed with his skills at finding inaccuracies and dispelling any material supportive of Amerigo. I was expecting more of a biography but this book is not that. The book is largely an exercise in showing us how much research the author has done and how he use words few readers will understand without a dictionary. This includes his use of what the Oxford dictionary calls the longest non-technical word in the english language (a word which Alex Trebek on Jeopardy gave up trying to pronounce). If want to learn a some new words, like hagiography (writing about saints) which he uses 5-6 times, get out your dictionary and read this book. Otherwise, read a short bio on Amerigo.

Letters to Pablo Neruda - Viola Weinberg

Beautiful and sensual poems written in epistolary style of letters to the great Chilean poet and nobel prize winner. The author uses Neruda as a mentor, friend, and frequent presence in her life. The poetry is personal, emotional and questioning of the complexities of life. It is sad, funny, thoughtful, playful, and observant of life over many years. Rich verse, yet very approachable poems. Readers will relate to the wide variety of experiences and emotions from lost time to joyous frogs, from baseball to road trips to New Mexico.

Viola is an accomplished poet and the first poet laureate of Sacramento.


The lifecycle of the planet is bubbling up in the marsh
The lifeblood of the planet is thumping with energy
All along the fence, birds sit under the accidential hedgerow
of overgrown bushes of uncertain origin
nature is planning a come back despite the war
wanton weeds are on the march, busy little insurgents of life

No one knows why this force is stronger than the stock exchange
or more magnetic than busty, dead starlets--it just is
spilling out waves and rays of unreasonable hope
a splendid trick of the universe, Pablo
just as your lavish love of ordinary things made
a woman see what is real and what is a figment of the machine

A Conspiracy of Paper - David Liss

London, the year 1719
It should have been a simple matter. I dressed the part of a gentleman--ostentatious coat and sword, overflowing wig, gleaming silver buckles upon my shoes. I had learned to appear the perfect genteleman when, in my less scrupulous days, I had spent some time traveling about the country working as what we called a spurce prig. I would present myself to a landlord like a gentelman, rent a furnished lodging with no more security than my appearance, and then proceed to clean the place of everything of value. Now, with more honorable motives, my task was to imitate a man of means in the service of undoing theft, and this task called for a particular type of gentelman.

Thus begins an enjoyable adventure to unravel murders, deceit, and treachery in the emerging stock markets of London in 1719. The book is very smart and based on historical events from the period. The author is an expert on the time period but unlike other historical novels, he doesn't historical facts limit his story-telling to a reinactment of history.

The book places the reader in the streets of London during a fascinating time. Stock jobbers and competing financial organizations are coming into their own. With larges sums of money at stake, it will remind you of modern day fiascos like Enron, S&L crises, and the current home loan scandals. However, this is primarily a murder mystery that keeps you guessing until the last few pages. Every chapter brings several twists keeping the reader turning the pages.

This book is also lots of fun. The author is very smart in using a blend of old english and modern words and structures to make for a book that flows easily for a modern reader. I was very impressed with this skill. I look forward to reading more by this author.

On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan

How could he fail to love someone so strangely and warmly particular, so painfully honest and self-aware, whose every thought and emotion appeared naked to view, streaming like charged particles through her changing expressions and gestures? Even without her strong-boned beauty he would have had to love her. And she loved him with such intensity, such excrutiating physical reticence.

It is rare to read a review of a McEwan book which doesn't use the terms masterful or master of... And I don't argue with McEwan's abilities as a writer. He is thoroughly enjoyable to read. His writing is rich, thoughtful and yet straightforward and simple. Like many great writers, I find myself wanting to read his words slowly, often re-reading sentences and paragraphs.

This short book let's the reader peer into the lives of two young people on their wedding night in 1962. McEwan quickly reveals deep-seated thoughts and insecurities as we learn about the newlyweds. The writer has an amazing ability to give us short descriptive sketches of two lives which let us understand their complex emotions and actions. The ending hits like the moral at end of a fable.

Beautiful Evidence - Edward Tufte

The latest book by Tufte is a collection of essays. All of his books are beautifully designed and this one is well-worth viewing the images. The text, as in most Tufte books, wanders into academic discussions more fitting a dissertation than an informative tool for presenters of information.

I concur with Tufte that well-presented information, or evidence, should foster understanding and reasoning. His essay on Microsoft Powerpoint elaborates on how most presentations inhibit the desired results from the audience. I also agree that most presenters would do better without Powerpoint.

Tufte has a cult-like following, especially with graphic artists and designers. My suggestion is to study the illustrations in this book and don't spend too much time reading the text.

Selected Poems - Wendell Berry

Berry is a fine poet who reminds me of Wallace Stegner. He writes about nature, the passage of time, and the meaning of death. His later poems nearly all include a theme related to dying which he likes to describe a natural part of living and a natural and fearless passage.

The poetry most often uses nature as a theme. Berry likes to call the reader to observe a bird in a tree. Some of his poems rail against modern society, greed, and war. They can serve as a quiet meditation bringing calm to world moving faster and faster away from finding simple pleasures in rain or soil.


In a time that breaks
in cutting pieces all around,
when men, voiceless
against thing-ridden men,
set themselves on fire, it seems
too difficult and rare
to think of the life of a man
grown whole in the world,
at peace and in place.
But having thought of it
I am beyond the time
I might have sold my hands
or sold my voice and mind
to the arguments of power
that go blind against
what they would destroy.

The Blackwater Lightship - Colm Toibin

Complex family relationships are portrayed in simple and moving prose by Toibin. Taking place in Ireland in the early 1990s, the book examines three generations in a family shaken by deaths. There is a lot going on in this book and yet it seems to flow smoothly with a gentle style of writing.

With a superb use of dialogue, we learn to see the human side of hardened people and understand complicated situations. Like most families, nothing is as simple at may first appear for the characters in this book. Six people are drawn together where they unravel much about themselves and intimate relationships.

Imaginings and resonances and pain and small longings and prejudices. They meant nothing against the resolute hardness of the sea. They meant less than the marl and the mud and the dry clay of the cliff that were eaten away by the weather, washed away by the sea. It was not just that they would fade: they hardly existed, they did not matter, they would have no impact on this cold dawn, this deserted remote seascape where the water shone in the early light and shocked her with its sullen beauty. It might have been better, she felt, if there had never been people, if this turning of the world, and the glistening sea, and the morning breeze happened without witnesses, without anyone feeling, or remembering, or dying, or trying to love.

Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen

This book has a great premise-- a travelling circus struggling during the depression. Throw in an innocent young man with circus people, including a beautiful woman, lots of action and the book has great potential.

Unfortunately, this book fails to reach its potential. The author states that she spent 4 months, wait she actually said 4 and 1/2 months, researching material. It is too bad that the old circus photos are far more interesting and descriptive than her writing. The characters are flat and cliched. We never learn enough about our hero to really get behind him. The reader learns nothing about the woman he falls in love other than the fact she is pretty.

The book takes the form of an old man looking back at a period in his youth. The short chapters with the aged hero mostly reflect on life in nursing homes. I felt this mostly distracted from the main circus story.

I know this book is loved by many, but is not an example of good writing or story-telling. It is more like something you would find serialized in Reader's Digest.

Midnight Salvage - Adrienne Rich

Rich is a masterful poet who is adventurous and bold in this collection. Her intelligent use of words, turned in creative phrases, make you wonder "How does she do it?"

I tend to judge poetry by how often I stop to read a line or stanza over again because it has surprised me, amazed me, or gave me pleasure. Rich does all of that in this book. The poems are stark and challenging often depicting scenes of war or inhumanity. Like all good poetry, they elevate the use of words to art.

From the poem "Rusted Legacy"

Imagine a city where nothing's

forgiven your deed adheres

to you like a scar, a tatoo but almost everything's

forgotten deer flattened leaping a highway for foot

the precise reason for the shaving of the confused girl's head

the small boy's punishing of frogs

--a city memory-starved but intent on retributions

Imagine the architecture the governance

the men and the women in power

--tell me if it is not true you still

live in that city.

The Discovery of Time - Stuart McCready (editor)

The story of how the human race has learned, with ever more astonishing precision, to record, compare, and think about measured units of time- an aspect of our experience that seems otherwise indefinable.

This book offers interesting chapters written by a variety of authors on the history of our understanding of time. It covers the earliest concepts of humans trying to define and understand the passage of time to modern theories. It contains lots of great pictures and illustrations that add greatly to the text. I found myself frequently staring at a picture of stonehenge or a sundial and pondering time.

The book is uneven with various authors composing chapters. It also moves too often into academic discussions that seem too detailed for a general interest book. One chapter brought up the importance of using time to calculate longitude. A great book on that discovery is Dava Sobel's Longitude.

Severance - Robert Olen Butler

After careful study and due deliberation it is my opinion the head remains conscious for one minute and a half after decapitation. - Dr. Dassy D’Estaing, 1883

By reading this book, I have answered the question "How can you go wrong reading the work of a Pulitzer Prize winner?" This book didn't work for me. The premise of the book might be a good exercise for a creative writing class, but as a novel it was only mildy engaging.

There are 61 instances of people, or in a few cases animals, which are decapitated either intentionally or accidentally. The author assumes that in the 90 seconds it takes for the brain to shut down, up to 240 words could have been formed. He then writes exactly 240 words in each instance which read like short prose poems.

The book has interesting groupings of individuals, such as several following the French Revolution. The author chooses an interesting aspect of the individual and the time period to reflect upon. While the writing has its moments with intriguing last thoughts, it remains gruesome and lacking in any over-riding theme. Still, it is a quick read and if you want to imagine what goes on in someone's mind after being decapitated, give it a try. I was surprised that the last thoughts were reflective instead of being filled with anger, pain, or shock.

Collected Stories - Wallace Stegner

From the author's foreward- "Any reasonably long life, looked back upon, irresistibly suggests a journey. I see these stories, inventions on a base of experience, as rest stops, pauses while I tried to understand something or digest some action or clarify some response."

This book contains 31 Stegner short stories written in the early career of the writer- 1920s-1950s. The tales are driven by emotions and characters. They take us back in time to a simple, but often harsh, life when living was more basic. The character's relationships to each other and often their environment is chronicled magnificiently in these stories.

To me, these are what short stories should be- they place the reader in the middle a life, a place, a dilemma unique from our daily lives. Stegner is masterful at describing the emotions and thoughts of his characters- from women awaiting overseas letters from soldiers to a farm boy experiencing his first butchering of a pig. The stories will allow readers to remember distinct moments in time that our parents and grandparents lived.

I have many favorites in this collection, particularly ones depicting lives in rural and remote areas in the west.

The Bookshop - Penelope Fitzgerald

I have remained true to my deepest convictions, I mean to the courage of those who are born to be defeated, the weaknesses of the strong, and the tragedy of misunderstandings and missed opportunities, which I have done my best to treat as comedy, for otherwise how can we manage to bear it?

Those convictions describe the foundations of this charming short novel. The lead character (some describe as the author) is witty, naive, corageous, and determined in her quest to open a small bookshop in a tiny seaside town in England. The characters and the town are very British while not unlike a Keillor tale from Lake Wobegon. Fitzgerald has a great ability to write in a slow relaxing style while making filling each page with passages which move her story forward.

A beautiful book for a rainy afternoon with a cup of tea.

The right-hand wall she kept for paperbacks. At 1s. 6d. each, cheerfully coloured, brightly democratic, they crowded the shelves in well-disciplined ranks. She could remember a world where only foreigners had been content to have their books bound in paper.
"Hasn't it occured to you that a building of such historical interest could be put to better use"
"Old age is not the same thing as historical interest," he said. "Otherwise we should both of us be more interesting than we are."

Hot Chocolate at Hanselmann's - Rosetta Loy

Even with the luxury of carved out time for reading each day on the bus, I couldn't justify reading past page 100 in this book. I don't know if it is the writer or the translator who make this book less than enjoyable. There are far too many sentence fragments and poor grammar which don't lend themselves to a coherent style. The book cover touts the literary awards of the author and reviewers praise the translator. Yes, I know I shouldn't trust in the veracity of book covers.

The book covers anti-semitism in Italy during and following WWII. It may be "a work of understated elegance and cumulative power", but I failed to finish reading it after passages like these which start two paragraphs:

A morning that ends in glory among the candy favors opened one after another, smooth outside and hard inside, the squeal of a jeep taking a curve.

But while Marta was still grouping around for her bowl of milk, Lorenza wanted the streets and the trees, the others.

Family Pictures - Sue Miller

A masterfully written exploration of a family's movement through the 1960's and 1970's. Sue Miller presents chapters that portray a picture in time of a family and its struggles. A central focus is an autistic child and how the other family members react and mature with this added stress. The chapters are also like pictures in that they convey emotions and personal insight more than develop a plot. Reading this book is like pausing in front of a great photo that impacts one emotionally and touches you deeply.

This book will change the way you view a family. The lessons it teaches are subtle and moving. Miller does an amazing job of involving us in the lives of several members of the family and understading their unique development. After reading this book, you will resist quickly judging others without understanding their experiences.

For a while I pushed everything idly around the table--the photographs, the postcards. I began thinking of them as elements in a kind of Rock-Scissors-Paper game, which contained the mystery of my childhood. Which had the most power?...For weeks, for months, the pictures stayed there. Eventually, I stopped seeing them, except occasionally when I would suddenly think of something that had happened while I was in Chicago; or something from my childhood. Then I'd go and stand in front of them again, staring stupidly at one and then another image, as though if I looked hard enough, long enough, their meaning would become clear.