2 Challenges Finished; 1 New Challenge

While I'm waiting for J. Scott Savage to get back to me with brillant answers to my dull questions for Farworld: Water Keep, I thought I'd waste some time and post about my challenge accomplishments (and temptation). Stay tuned for the review of Water Keep AND a giveaway of a copy of the book!!











In Their Shoes Challenge Finished!

I loved Joy's Non-Fiction Five Challenge so much last year that I jumped on the chance to read even more non-fiction--this time my favorite kind--memoirs and autobiographies. Although each was very different, the only one I hated didn't like was A Million Little Pieces. Don't ask for my rhyme or rhythm to rating these--I've found it incredibly difficult to give ratings to some of the non-fiction memoirs I've read this year. So, I didn't. :)

A Rumor of War (4/5)
Anne Frank Remembered (NR)
Tender at the Bone (4.25/5)
A Million Little Pieces (1.5/5)
A Long Way Gone (NR)
Angela's Ashes (3/5)

Southern Reading Challenge Finished!

I generally love Southern Literature, so not sure what happened here. Maggie was really concerned about me ending on a low note (Welcome to the World), but I'll always be a big fan of Southern Lit and I ain't givin' up on it yet!

All the King's Men (3.5/5)
Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! (3/5)
Mother of Pearl (4/5)

JAPANESE LITERATURE CHALLENGE 2

I must be crazy crazy crazy joining this challenge as it pushes me to the brink and won't allow for much wiggle room until the end of the year, but I couldn't resist. I was so sad I missed Bellezza's challenge last year that I rearraged some of my current lists to squeeze in three more books:

Kafka on the Shore - Murakami
Snow Country - Kawabata
Mistress Oriku: Stories from a Tokyo Teahouse - Kawaguchi

Anyone read any of these? I took Snow Country from CJ's list last year and really wanted to read The Woman in the Dunes, but I couldn't find a used copy (Trish is about to go on a strict book budget *pouts*).

*Edited: I love this Japanese Challenge already! I won the first prize pack this morning from Dear Bellezza. Check it out: Prize Pack

So, Yay for challenges!! What challenges are you finding it hard to resist right now??

A Rumor of War - Philip Caputo

Title: A Rumor of War
Author: Philip Caputo
Date Finished: June 16, 2008 #32
Pages: 356
Rating: 4.5/5

After reading Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried last fall (review here), I was eager to finally get into A Rumor of War. While the books are similar in the respect that they both discuss the Vietnam War--a war I know relatively little about, there are many differences. While O'Brien's discusses the greater aspect of the war as it affects several soldiers that the reader gets to know, A Rumor of War is Caputo's actual memoir of his year (1965-1966) in Vietnam and focuses mostly on his own experience and the experience of his specific company--Charley Company. [**I have no desire to get into the current war discussion nor express my personal beliefs--I hope none of my comments on the book are misconstrued].

Because Caputo was part of one of the first battalions to go to Vietnam, the memoir begins explaining the lofty expectations of the soldiers: "They were to a man thoroughly American, in their virtues as well as flaws: idealistic, insolent, generous, direct, violent, and provincial in the sense that they believed the ground they stood on was now forever a part of the United States simply because they stood on it" (27). The soldiers had the idea that they were going to win the war quickly. They were arrogant, bored, and impatient for fighting--and even when the fighting did come it was sparse and uneventful.

Soon, though, it became apparent that this war was not going to be the same type of war that had been fought in the past. It was as much a mental war as a physical war--a war where fear of the unknown always haunted the soldiers, a war where the elements were as dangerous as the unseen guerrillas, a war where men began to question their own purpose and the purpose of the war. By the end, Caputo explains:

"My mind shot back a decade, to that day we had marched into Vietnam, swaggering, confident, and full of idealism. We had believed we were there for a high moral purpose. But somehow our idealism was lost, our morals corrupted, and the purpose forgotten" (345).

There are so many things that were powerful about this book. And it isn't necessarily and anti-war book but rather a book explaining the psychological effects the war had on its soldiers. This war not only changed the soldiers from eager and willing soldiers to disillusioned men, but it also changed our nation to one who was willing to fight for JFK's myth of Camelot (a theme discussed throughout the novel) to one who couldn't remember what the myth was in the first place. Caputo explores the similarities between the Vietnam war and WWI--a war that changed how warfare was perceived (first trench warfare and the second guerrilla warfare), and the weapons had evolved, and how the war changed each generation permanently.

Caputo writes with beautiful and lyrical prose--sometimes even urgent prose. It is evident that he believes in what he is writing and has deliberated over what the war and his experience meant to him. I dogeared several pages and had a difficult time choosing which passages to use to depict Caputo's writing. He makes every bit of the book come to life-the beautiful and dangerous scenery of Vietnam, the fear of the soldiers, the pain and even momentary elation. There were a few times when the writing felt a little jumpy, but I feel that he is being true to the fact that he can remember what he can remember--not every detail. Some of the details in the book are rather gruesome--especially during the middle section where Caputo is "the officer in charge of the dead"--the one who keeps track of the wounded and killed.

I would recommend this book--I'm actually taking it to Dad tonight. This book makes me curious to know more about the war--especially since just a tiny slice was detailed in the book. I would be interested to know how the soldiers changed as the fighting began to change and as the soldiers began to realize more and more they were fighting a war they would not/could not win. All in all, I found A Rumor of War to be an important and and emotionally moving book.

Anne Frank Remembered - Miep Gies

Title: Anne Frank Remembered
Author: Miep Gies
Date Finished: May 29, 2008
Yearly Count: 28
Pages: 252

It has been so long since I have read Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl that I could only remember a few of the details. I don't even actually remember reading it (I think I must have been in 7th grade), but many of us are familiar with Anne's story of her life in hiding for two years.

While this book suggests a remembrance to Anne, it is more specifically Miep's own story of courage and survival as she helped the Franks into hiding in German-occupied Holland during World War II. While working for Otto Frank in the early 1930s, Miep also became his confidant as life became more and more difficult for the Jewish population in Amsterdam. Eventually, Frank asked Miep and her husband Henk to help hide his family and eventually another family (altogether eight people) in the cramped upper level living quarters of Frank's business.

Over the course of more than two years, Miep and her husband Henk provided sustenance, safety, and above all friendship to the families they kept in hiding. As I was reading this book, I was struck by Miep's undying compassion and courage to do unthinkable things--putting her life at risk to helps those around her whose lives were also in such grave danger. I simply cannot fathom the things that these people had to live through. Things that people are currently living through. This book broke my heart, but at the same time the strength of all of those who resisted the cruelties of the Nazis showed such hope for mankind.

Miep's writing style is effortless and flowing; she has the natural voice of a storyteller, which made this book absorbing. My grandmother has a beautiful accent (she is Swiss but also studied in France and England before moving to Toronto after the war--so her accent is a little mixed), and I could hear her voice through Miep's writing. Soft but at the same time urgent:

"As I sat, I became aware of what it meant to be imprisoned in these small rooms. As this feeling registered, I felt a taste of the helpless fear that these people filled with, day and night. Yes, for all of us it was wartime, but Henk and I had the freedom to come and go as we pleased, to stay in or go out. These people were in a prison, a prison with locks inside the doors" (128).

My only regret about this book is in the ending. It seems as though Miep isn't quite sure how to end such an important story and so the last few pages are a little forced and awkward. Otherwise, this was such a powerful and important read. There are only little bits and pieces about Anne in the book, so it really makes me want to re-read Anne's diary. In addition to this book, I'd also recommend The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom--also a woman who helped in the Dutch Underground during WWII.

A Million Little Pieces - James Frey

Title: A Million Little Pieces
Author: James Frey
Date Finished: April 19, 2008
Yearly Count: 21
Pages: 432
Rating: 1.5/5

I'm not sure where to begin with this one. Most of the time I hated this book--I seriously considered abandoning it. There have been books that I've put down before--even for years--but none with the thought that I would never return to them again. I resorted to skimming--something I also rarely ever do. By the end, I had stopped skimming but reading most of what was on the page, but I'm glad to be finished!

Yes, I read this for the "In Their Shoes" Challenge--yes, I know that parts were fictionalized--yes, I know the controversy of the book. After finishing I started looking up the falsehoods, but honestly I don't even care anymore. Good riddance! I don't care to give Frey any more of my valued time (well, after this post anyway).

James Frey, age 23, goes to a rehab facility in Minneapolis for treatment of alcohol and drug addiction. He is wanted in three states, his teeth are knocked out, he has a hole in his cheek, and he can't remember the past few weeks. He is stubborn, unwilling to take the necessary (well, recommended anyway) steps toward recovery, and his body is a mess of...I don't even want to recall his descriptions. This is the story of his time in the rehab facility, the relationships he has made, the love he has found, and his eventual domination over "The Fury" that resides within him. There are many redeeming aspects of the book...but plain and simple I didn't like it.

I don't claim to be a book critic. Other than my degrees in English, I don't have any qualifications to deem a book quality writing or not. I don't claim that these are true reviews of the books that I read--but rather my thoughts for I am not an expert on writing or literature. But I have read enough and taken enough writing courses that I know literary devices and how they are used and when they are effective. Can you see where I'm going with this? I hope so because I don't really want to say in a public forum what I thought about the writing in this book. OK, I guess I've said it in a roundabout way. :)

Do I recommend the book? I guess the basic message Frey presents is that You can gain control of your actions and overcome anything based on You alone--which if true can be a strong statement. I have known a few people who have had addictions and have been hospitalized, but I haven't gone through it myself or really know what others have gone through. I couldn't relate and most of the time I was really angry at Frey for seemingly making light of the situation. Ladi-da. Mooooooving on!

A Long Way Gone - Ishmael Beah

Title: A Long Way Gone
Author: Ishmael Beah
Date Finished: April 5, 2008
Yearly Count: 18
Pages: 218

Sadly, everything I knew about Sierra Leone came from the movie Blood Diamond with Leonardo DiCaprio. When I first saw A Long Way Gone on display at Starbucks quite a while ago, I didn't realize what it was about and it wasn't until I saw the movie that I started to piece them together. While this book isn't about conflict diamonds, it is about the atrocities of war--especially a war where children are on the front lines.

Ishmael was twelve when his village was attacked and he was separated from his family. After trying to survive on his own for some time, he is picked up by the army and "recruited" as a soldier. I put "recruit" in quotes because Ishmael makes it clear that he didn't have much of a choice. The army broke his spirit, and after much exposure to violence, propaganda/brainwashing, and drugs, he himself becomes a killer. After a few years, UNICEF buys his freedom and he is put into a rehabilitation facility.

A Long Way Gone is a truly heartbreaking story which at times is difficult to read because of the horrendous acts of the soldiers, including Ishmael. In my cozy little corner of suburbia it is difficult for me to imagine such things occurring in the world, but Ishmael delivers a story of hope--but I can't help wonder how much of it was sheer luck for him. Even after he broke from the war and rehabilited, many of those who were also "rehabilitated" rejoined the fighting once they were exposed to it again.

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding this book--how much of what Ishmael says happened truly did. But is that really the point? Somewhere these things are happening to someone; are we simply in denial? Anyway, I recommend the book. My only regret is that the book ended too soon for me--I want to know what happens next for Ishmael.

Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt

Title: Angela's Ashes
Author: Frank McCourt
Date Finished: Feb 10, 2008
Yearly Count: 7
Pages 460
Rating: 3/5

I picked this book up probably almost 10 years ago (when the movie was being released) and have tried to read it two or three times in that span. According to my dog-eared page, my last attempt took me to page 60. I don’t remember exactly why I gave up on the book, but probably because I thought it was incredibly boring. :) I was determined to get this book off my TBR shelf once and for all—and I did!!

Angela’s Ashes is Frank McCourt’s memoir of his coming of age. His memoir begins when he is a small child growing up in New York; his family keeps growing in number despite their extreme poverty, and eventually his aunt’s pay for their way back to Ireland to live. The McCourt’s situation continues on a desperate path in Ireland as his father, Malachy, finds it difficult to keep a job and when he does have a job, he drinks his paycheck before his family can see a dime (or shilling?? I am a little fuzzy on my foreign currency in the early 1930s-40s). Frank must endure daily ridicule from his classmates, members of the Catholic church, and others in general as he tries to make sense of his life and make the most of the little he has been given.

The book outlines Frank’s desire to become a man and be able to do the things that adults do—such as drink the pint, earn a living and his way to America, and do other things that I don’t need to mention. Angela’s Ashes is written from Frank’s point of view at the various stages of his life—so the narrative becomes much more detailed the older Frank is. While this type of narration was difficult at the beginning of the book when Frank is a small child (and also a great part of why I dislike James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist…), Frank’s perspective became one of the things that I enjoyed most about the book. Sometimes it was funny to see Frank trying to make sense out of his life and some of the “rules” that he had to endure, but at other times it is heartbreaking as Frank doesn’t really quite understand what is happening to his family as they continue to struggle to survive.

So what’s up with the rating? There were times when I was really interested in the narrative, and to be fair, I never truly struggled with the prose (except the first chapter, maybe). As I got further into the book I found myself reading more and more, which could have been because of my 6+ hours in the car this weekend or because I was more interested. But, it came to a point where I could only hear about so much more heartache. I often forgot that I was reading someone’s memoirs rather than a fictional account—but for most of the book, it was just more of the same. Dad is a big fat loser. And I don’t want to diminish what Frank went through as a child, but the parts of the book that I enjoyed the most were the ones where he got away from the narrative of his dad spending all of the money in the bar and coming home drunk. I felt there was more meat to his stories about church and classroom and dancing lessons and looking for a job and becoming a man.

Do I recommend Angela’s Ashes? With caution—although I think I’ve seen more positive than negative reviews. Will I read his follow-up memoir, ‘Tis? If I can get my hands on a copy for cheap cheap cheap—but I’m not running out to store anytime soon for it.

Tender at the Bone - Ruth Reichl

Title: Tender at the Bone
Author: Ruth Reichl
Date Finished: January 30, 2008
Yearly Count: 6
Pages: 282
Rating: 4.25/5

I can say with some certainty that two of my most beloved aspects of life are reading and food (well, other than the obvious hubby, family, friends, etc). Obviously I love to read. :) But I also love food. I love to eat. I love going to restaurants and trying new things; I love being in my kitchen and baking or cooking. As soon as I turned in my last grad paper, I marched into the kitchen (after having very little sleep) and baked enough goodies to pass around to my friends as Christmas gifts with enough left over to feed our large family during graduation. I LOVE food. (Hubby could care less for either reading or food...go figure!).

So this book combines two of my favorite things. Tender at the Bone is about Ruth Reichl's coming of age as it relates to food. She begins her story as a young child anxious to save guests at her mother’s dinner parties from inevitable food poisoning, a task which enabled her to move into a more dominant role in the kitchen. Reichl remembers her school days in Quebec where she befriends an unlikely companion whose parents introduce her to fine dining. She is convinced the love of her life fell in love with her cooking first, and her cooking education continues in a Berkeley “commune,” a doomed French restaurant in Detroit, and from the various people she meets throughout her early adulthood.

Each section of Reichl’s development was a pleasure to read, and I loved seeing all of the influences play a part in her eventual role as a food critic. Her writing style is easy, and while I didn’t think her book was laugh-out-loud funny, it was entertaining and amusing. I felt, though, that the ending of the book got away from her main “thesis” when she began talking about her mother’s illness and the effect it had on her. While this was an important part of her life, it seemed to be a little bit of a digression from main theme of the importance of food in shaping who she became.

I would recommend this book to food enthusiasts; I could certainly see how someone could pick up this book and think “Who Cares!” (hubby would say that…very quickly). But I enjoyed the read—and Ruth Reichl, who was a very likeable character. Has anyone read this book and tried any of the recipes? There is a fruit tart recipe that I would love to try. :)