Zorba the Greek - Nikos Kazantzkis (And some finished challenges)

Title: Zorba the Greek
Author: Nikos Kazantzkis
Date Finished: Nov 26, 2008 #67
Published: 1946 Pages: 311
Rating: 2.5/5

First of all, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope everyone is well and stuffed to the brim with delicious food.

Zorba the Greek is another one of those books that has been lurking on the shelf for years and years. I'll be glad to move it to the "read" bookshelf!

Zorba the Greek is about a man on his way to Crete to start a lignite mine. Along his way, he encounters a curious and aging man, Zorba, whom he befriends and hires as his foreman. Zorba and the narrator couldn't be more different from one another. The narrator is a scholarly bookworm who buries his nose in such works as Dante's Divine Comedy and is writing a book about Buddah (or maybe that is just the title?). Zorba, on the other hand, is full of life and zest and chastises the narrator for writing and reading about life but not living it. The two characters, in their adventures, learn a lot from one another, and in the end the narrator decides he will continue nosing around in books but will do so with vigor and purpose.

Bottom line? I felt like I was reading the surface of the book the entire time. The language (although this is translated, so not sure how to "review" that) is at times gorgeous, but I never really understood what was going on in the book and what the purpose was. Eeeks! Zorba, while an endearing character difficult not to like, spouts off so much philosophical crud that I was often lost and confused. I guess I just didn't get it. And I had a tough time finding anything about the book online-even the wikipedia entry is short and incomplete. I could definitely use another reading of this book, but not next year--and probably not the year after that either.

A taste of the reading:
"The aim of man and matter is to create joy, according to Zorba--others would say "to create spirit," but that comes to the same thing on another plane. But why? With what objects? And when the body dissolves, does anything at all remain of what we have called the soul? Or does nothing remain, and does our unquenchable desire for immortality spring, not from the fact that we are immortal, but from the fact that during the short span of our life we are in the service of something immortal?" (272).

My head hurts. :P But, finishing this book allows me to cross of two challenges! Yippee!!! Below are my lists. I usually provide links, but I'm really really hungry (because I dropped my hot lunch on the floor today at work), and I don't think anyone actually links from here, so...that's that.

ORBIS TERRANUM CHALLENGE COMPLETE - 9 books, 9 countries--Thanks Bethany!!
Zorba the Greek - Greece
*Half of a Yellow Sun - Nigeria
Swiss Family Robinson - Switzerland
**The God of Small Things - India
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Ireland
Anne Frank Remembered - Netherlands
*The Robber Bride - Canada
A Long Way Gone - Sierra Leone
The Translator - Darfur (Sudan)

Wraping it up for Bethany:
1.) What did you like about the challenge? I loved getting to "visit" so many different countries and "experience" so many different cultures.
2.) What would you like to see change for next year? I like Corinne's idea about having a "database" where we can search for reviews by country for new ideas.
3.) About the rules, or the non-existent rules...did you like that? Yup!! I like rules. :P
4.) Are you going to join us next year? Definitely!
5.) Pretty please give me any suggestions for changes, the betterment of the challenge, or just anything that you would like to see changed for next year. See above about database. Also, an easy link for the Mister Linky would be great, too. Until I finally bookmarked it, I had to do a lot of searching to find it.
6.) Would you like the challenge to be more involved? What if we read books together sometimes? Would that interest you? I like the idea of group books, but unfortunately my schedule doesn't always allow for it. Boo!
7.) would you be interested in helping somehow next year? How would you like to help? I'd love to help with anything! Just let me know. :)

TBR CHALLENGE COMPLETE - sitting on my shelf for an embarrassing amount of time (Thanks MizB)
Zorba the Greek
Emma
Mother of Pearl
A Map of the World
A Rumor of War
The Left Hand of Darkness
*The Robber Bride
*Tender at the Bone
Angela's Ashes
*Snow Crash
All the King's Men

* denotes favorites although most of them were great reads! So hard to define a favorite anyway when they are all soooooo different!

Emma - Jane Austen

Title: Emma
Author: Jane Austen
Date Finished: November 19, 2008 #66
Published: 1816 Pages: 386
Rating: 4.25/5

So, I've kind of noticed that my 4.25 rating is kind of a go-to rating when I really like a book but it just doesn't have that edge (which I can't define). If you do ratings, do you have a difficult time rating books--stacking them all up against one another, rating for the writing as well as entertainment? It's sticky for me and I've thought about just doing away with the ratings, but on the other hand I like having them. Maybe I just need to sit down and define what my ratings mean? Maybe this is a conversation for another post.

Emma. That's what I'm talking about, right? :) Emma is the story of a young woman who has no desire to get married herself, but she loves to play matchmaker to her friends and acquaintances, especially after a particularly successful "match" between her close friend Miss Taylor and Mr. Weston. When her matchmaking endeavors fail between her friend Harriet and Mr. Elton, and she receives criticism from the respected Mr. Knightley, and she becomes tangled up with the strange and elusive Frank Churchill, Emma reevaluates the way that she interacts with others and what she must do to amend the messes and offenses she has created. (Um, really difficult to shortly summarize an Austen novel!)

I really enjoyed Emma. I was kind of dreading it and have put it off for years. Actually, I started it right before grad school, but never picked it back up after the school workload forced me to put it down. Once I did pick it back up, I vowed to take it slowly, and I'm glad I did because this book was really a treat. Austen isn't one of my favorites--I much prefer the darker Bronte sisters (yes, you know I love Wuthering Heights). I was so familiar with the Pride and Prejudice story line, that when I read the book last winter I wasn't very enthralled. I liked it, but it didn't give me the urge to read anything else right away. Now after finishing Emma, I'm excited to visit some of the others that I haven't read. Yes, I'm still intimidated by the language and the fact that it takes me twice as long to read as a regular novel, but overall I did find the reading very easy to swallow (and follow).

I think part of the reason why I liked Emma a little more than I expected was because on some levels I could relate to Emma, the character. There are thing to like about her, but she also definitely has her faults, whereas Elizabeth Bennett is seemingly perfect (other than her pride...and prejudice). Emma sometimes loses sight of what is really important and she is a little bit of a meddler, but I think she has good intentions. She cares about the happiness of people around her, she just doesn't always know how to effectively instill happiness in others--and more importantly that it isn't necessarily her job to make other people happy by "fixing" their lives.

My only complaint, really, with the book is how neatly everything wraps up in the end. Of course I knew what the outcome was going to be (especially having seen the movie Clueless several times in my teenaged years), but to suddenly realize who it is you want to spend the rest of your life with--"duh, I should have known all along!"? I don't think life is really that clean. And certainly the events leading up to Emma's discovery are not necessarily "clean" but really, Jane--can't you write containing the dark sordid details? Why does everything have to fit so well? And what the heck happens to these characters after they are happily married? I guess that's what the modern day sequels are for. :P

I searched and searched for other reviews of Emma--this is what I came up with. Of course, let me know if I've missed yours.
Amanda, Literary Feline, Book Chronicle

A Map of the World - Jane Hamilton

Title: A Map of the World
Author: Jane Hamilton
Date Finished: Oct 31, 2008 #63
Published: 1995 Pages: 390
Rating: 4.25/5

"When I was very young I used to sit before my map of the world imagining myself in an ideal country, alone and at peace. Now, if I could make the world over, I said ... to Howard--if I could make an impossible, new world, Howard, this is who you would see: You'd see Emma, and Claire and you'd see yourself, and me, all together, dancing on the porch with the shades down, outcasts making a perfect circle" (382).

I can't remember when I picked this book up, but it was one of the first library booksales I attended--so it's been at least five or six years since it first graced my shelf. I'm not sure why I let it sit for so long (oh--probably because I can't stop acquiring new books!), but I'm definitely glad to mark this one off the ole TBR list. Do you buy/get books and let them sit for years upon years??

A Map of the World is the story of the Goodwin family, Howard, Alice and their two small daughters Emma and Claire, who has recently moved to a farm in rural Wisconsin. When one of Alice's friend's daughters drowns in the farm pond under Alice's care, she struggles with her guilt and fault of the little girl's drowning. Her life slowly begins to fall apart and a few months later she is accused of sexually abusing a small boy while working as the school nurse. After Alice is arrested and sent to jail, the Goodwin family must either bond together in their unthinkably tough times or crack under the pressure of false accusations and damaged reputations.

While this sounds like a soap-opera type book, it is actually a very quiet novel. Most of these major events happen in the first quarter of the book and the rest of the book is about how the characters are dealing with their situations. In all senses, this is an absolutely character-driven novel. It does have a little bit of courtroom stuff near the end, but even then these parts of the novel focus more on the characters than what is being argued by lawyers. So, in a way this feels like a Shreve or Picoult book, but with more emotion and more development.

I really don't have any complaints about this book other than the fact that it took me three weeks to read, which feels like a lifetime. There is very little dialogue in the book, and that made for very slow reading, especially because life has been so hectic lately. But despite the length of time it took me to read this, it was a compelling read because of the intimacy shown by taking a deep look into the lives and thoughts of the characters. The book begins with Alice's narrative and after her arrest switches to Howard's point of view, finally returning to Alice's thoughts again for the remainder of the novel. I love when books present different points of view, and showing how both Alice and Howard are coming to terms with the events gives a more complete representation.

Definitely not a cliffhanger book, but if you like character-driven books, I would recommend this one. I also have Hamilton's The Book of Ruth sitting on the shelf (also purchased years ago...maybe even at the same sale?). Have you read these two books? What were your thoughts?

Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

Title: Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Author: Thomas Hardy
Date Finished: July 24, 2008 #42
Pages: 369
Rating: 4.25/5

I started this book a little over a month ago, had to put it down for a few weeks, read bits and pieces here and there, and finally read the last 2/3s of it this week. Yesterday I couldn't put the book down, but when I got to the ending I wanted to say every curse word that I could think of (actually not want--I did). WHAT?!?!?!?! I'm going to have to vent about the ending for at least a little bit, but I'll try to avoid too many big spoilers until then.

Tess is the eldest child of a country family, the Durbeyfields, who has recently found out that they are decedents of a noble family line that is otherwise extinct (the D'Urbervilles). The patriarch of the family is wayward and can't fully support the family as he prefers his drink, so Tess is sent to apply to their only other D'Urberville relatives--who incidentally have purchased the name and are not truly related to the Durbeyfields.

Upon meeting Alec D'Urberville, Tess is in a way swept off her feet and makes an ill-informed decision that changes her life. In the aftermath of the consequences, Tess leaves her home to work as a dairymaid where she meets Angel with whom she falls in love. Angel proposes to Tess but she refuses because of her "secret" past, but Angel tries unrelentlessly to convince Tess to marry him. But can Angel handle Tess's secret? Will he be able to forgive her for what she has done in her past? Will poor Tess pay forever for a mistake she made during her otherwise innocent childhood?

I immediately fell in love with Hardy's beautiful descriptions in this book. His sense of place and the way he is able to bring everything alive reminded me a lot of Emily Bronte's use imagery in Wuthering Heights--part of the reason why I love her little novel so much. Even though it took some a lot of time to get into the rhythm of the book, the passages and narrative became easy for me to devour and get lost in. These are things that so far I have not been able to find in Austen's books (although maybe I haven't read enough of them), and I really cherished the richness of this book. This is one that I could read again and pick up a lot--I'm sure I really only skimmed the surface of this one and could learn so much more about the characters as well as some of the social situations in the country during this time period.

Another thing that I really loved about this book is that I could never guess what was going to happen. It would seem that everything was falling into place for Tess and what could Hardy possible write for the next 300, 200, 100 pages, but this book was a continual roller coaster of drama. I'm not sure that I really like Tess--I wish she was stronger than she is. And I never really trusted either of the male characters, Alec and Angel, although at times I really wanted to like one or the other. But even though I wish I could have slapped Tess out of some of her decisions, her despair and heartache were palpable, which made this story real to me.

****SPOILER****
While I thought really highly of the first 350/369 pages (give or take a few sections), when I got to the ending when Tess is with Alec and Angel comes back I couldn't believe what happened! The ending to me didn't fit with the rest of the novel and seemed to me to fit more in a crime novel than a beautiful sweeping tragedy. I was shocked at first when Tess stabbed Alec but then she runs away with Angel as if he had not just abandoned her for over a year (foggy on the time line)? And then the ending at Stonehenge? Really? Honestly, I felt that I was duped and betrayed and taken for a cheap ride. Seriously. Seriously? Basically, I truly loathed the ending of this book. :) Please someone help me understand!!
****************

Despite the crackpot ending I really enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend it, but I can see how some might be turned off by the long descriptions of the landscape and surroundings and menial daily tasks, etc. But apart from all of that it was a book that drew me in from the beginning and kept my interest all the way until the last page (my taking over a month to read the book has more to do with life than the book--it was too heavy for the busyness that was my July). I don't think I'll be picking up another Hardy book for a while, but this one will certainly stay with me for a long time.

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.

Mother of Pearl - Melinda Haynes

Title: Mother of Pearl
Author: Melinda Haynes
Date Finished: June 5, 2008
Yearly Count: 29
Pages: 445
Rating: 4/5

I've had this book sitting on my shelf for at least five years knowing nothing about it. I'm glad that a friend informed me that it was set in the south so I could add it to one more challenge--because sometimes I need that motivation to finally read a book. Really? Yes.

Mother of Pearl, set in the deep south of Mississippi, is about a number of characters who couldn't be more different from each other. However, an event brings the characters together in an unlikely bond--one that changes everyone's life forever. At the center of the group is a teenage girl, Valuable Korner, who is struggling to know herself and find her place in the world, and a young man, Even Grade, who is searching for meaning in his life as well as a family of his own. Through these two characters, the plot winds together melding the rich and the poor, the young and the old, the religious and spiritual, the gay and straight, and the black and the white during the 1950s when tolerance was sometimes difficult to find.

While some of the symbolism of the book was lost on me, I couldn't help but be swept away in Haynes' rich Southern language. I think I read somewhere that she is also an artist? and it shows in her careful attention to landscape and setting. When I opened the book to read, I was transported from my hot, muggy Dallas to hot, muggy Petal, Mississippi, but everything was so much more beautiful there that I wanted to grab and ice tea (which I don't drink) and sit on a rocker on my front porch (which I don't have) to take everything in.

In addition to her ability to write the landscape, Haynes wrote characters that were flawed, funny, sad, heart breaking, and hopeful. I grew to care about the people in this book--including Valuable's colorful lesbian aunts, Even's neighbor Canaan who philosophizes on the nature of man, and Joleb, a troubled soul who finally finds his way. I would recommend this book, but I think it would work best in a book club setting where all of the different themes and ideas can be teased out. The book was a little slow getting in to and there is a little bit of language and sex (including taboos such as incest), but the message that we are all human--part of one common world instead of little tiny circles--is one that we can all relate to and learn from.

Laura at Reading Reflections also reviewed it. Have you read it?

All The King's Men - Robert Penn Warren

Title: All the King's Men
Author: Robert Penn Warren
Date Finished: May 20, 2008
Yearly Count: 26
Pages: 438
Rating: 3.5/5

WAHHHOOOOO! I was assigned this book my junior year of college and didn't finish; since then I have picked it up two or three times, read a dozen or so pages, and put it right back down. But, I finally persevered and finished it. I feel like I've been holding my breath for six years and can finally breathe.

All the King's Men is about a southern politician, Willie Stark, as he makes an unlikely climb up the political ladder to become governor of an unnamed state (based loosely on the life of Huey P. Long--so the state is in theory Louisiana). He is used by others at first to help split a vote, but when Stark finds out he is being played by others he stakes his claim and begins speaking directly to the people. He doesn't win his election, but the people hear his voice. Soon he does become governor, but somewhere along the way he becomes entrenched in the power of his position and...well, I'm not going to tell you!

While the story of Willie seems to be the main focus, the book is narrated by Jack Burden, a once newspaper man and later the secretary and right-hand man to Willie. As Jack explains, "the story of Willie Stark and the story of Jack Burden are, in a sense, one story" (157). It slowly becomes clear that Jack's search for truth and meaning is the center and heart of All the King's Men. Jack tells the story of Willie's climb to the top, of his love affairs with various women, of his short comings and failings, but really, Jack is telling his own story about love and loss, redemption and truth, and finally answers to all of the questions.

So, did I like the book? I did like it. I didn't love it. The language Warren uses throughout the book is at the same time beautiful and tedious. This is not a weekend book, nor do I think it was meant as such. Every sentence (there is little dialogue) is packed with careful meaning, and I found myself having to re-read passages in order to grasp all of the hidden connections and subtle metaphors. But essentially I believe this quote gives a nice little summary of what is at the heart of this book (and it also gives a taste for the writing):

"...the world is like an enormous spider web and if you touch it, however lightly, at any point, the vibration ripples to the remotest perimeter and the drowsy spider feels the tingle and is drowsy no more but springs out to fling the gossamer coils about you who have touched the web and then inject the black, numbing poison under your hide. It does not matter whether or not you meant to brush the web of things. Your happy foot or your gay wing may have brushed it so lightly, but what happens always happens and there is the spider, bearded black and with his great faceted eyes glittering like mirrors in the sun, or like God's eye, and the fangs dripping" (188-9).

Although Jack acts as if he is a bystander in the book, merely recording the events as they happen, he has to take responsibility for his actions--how even the slightest touch to the web of life will cause the other threads to ripple infinitely. Everything from his relationship to his mother, his love affair with Anne, his father and what he asks of him, and the way that all of these things connect to Willie shape the story--making All the King's Men as much the story of Jack as it is Willie.

This book is a fascinating look into the human mind and one that I am grateful to have encountered. There has been some talk on the classics meme that I put up last weekend about how sometimes we don't know why a classic is a classic--and I think in many cases this book is a classic, but I'm wondering why it was left off of the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. For all of its longwindedness (reminiscent of Faulkner--who is the king of Southern Lit...right??) :) it is a captivating and thought-evoking book.

*If you've reviewed it, let me know!

The Robber Bride - Margaret Atwood

Title: The Robber Bride
Author: Margaret Atwood
Date Finished: April 12, 2008
Yearly Count: 19
Pages: 466
Rating: 3.75/5

I feel a little sheepish writing this review after I JUST commented on someone's blog that the only less than favorable reviews I've read of Atwood have been for Oryx and Crake and The Penelopiad. Don't get me wrong, I still liked this book...some parts a lot...but not as much as the others I've read. I guess that happens.

In October 1990, when the first Gulf War is brewing, the Soviet Bloc is crumbling, and Canada is in a resession, Zenia comes back from the dead. A group of three women, Tony, Roz, and Charis are having lunch together at a trendy restaurant, The Toxique, when Zenia is first sighted--alive. She was killed in a bombing in Beirut; the three women saw her ashes, attended her funeral. The catchy thing about this book is that things aren't always what they seem.

What I love about Atwood is her careful characterization. The novel gives the stories of each of the women whose common thread is Zenia--who lets face it, is a cold manipulative um...I'd like to type the word, really I would, but I won't...you get the point. :) While I found some similarities in each woman, namely their ability to be duped again and again by Zenia, they were each so different, and Atwood is able to tease out these subtleties in each woman's section. Not as obvious as Barbara Kingsolver's narratives in The Poisonwood Bible, but each woman had a very distinct voice and personality (well, and each section is written from third person narrative--not first, which also makes a big difference).

What I could have done without: What is it with this book and mothers?? With each woman's story comes an explanation of her childhood and her relationship with her mother. Are the mothers to blame for the negative qualities each woman possesses? What do the mothers have to do with Zenia? Honestly, I didn't get the connection and because of that I got bored during these sections (which is a big part in the lower rating). I wanted the meat of the story--the Zenia story. And I got it, but there was too much in the middle.

All in all The Robber Bride is an engaging story. Atwood's writing is beautiful as always and she always leaves just enough bait dangling to keep the pages turning. She's never a "quick" read for me, but I don't mind--remember that "lit-ra-chur" question going around a few weeks ago? Atwood falls into that category for me. I would recommend it, but I would recommend The Handmaid's Tale and The Blind Assassin first. This one was reminiscient of Cat's Eye with its focus on female relationships, but it still very different. I think Atwood is trying to tell us that women are not to be messed with! Ha!

Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson

Title: Snow Crash
Author: Neal Stephenson
Date Finished: March 30, 2008
Yearly Count: 16
Pages: 468
Rating: 4.5/5

I was assigned this book a few years ago for a Post-Modern grad course, but I wasn't able to finish due to strange circumstances. So, I had a little taste of what this book contained--and I can't believe I waited so long to finish this one!

Hiro Protagonist (you guessed it: the lead character) is a pizza delivery boy in Reality, but when he plugs into the Metaverse (think of a primative version of Second Life) he is a champion swordsman and revered hacker. One day when Hiro is in the Metaverse, one of his hacker friends, Da5id, is infected with a type of drug/virus that has not only affected his avatar in the Metaverse but also in Reality. Hiro thus begins his search for answers about the drug/virus, Snow Crash, and a pursuit to stop the virus from spreading and creating mass chaos.

Fast-paced, in your face, action packed, this book is a rollarcoaster! Set in the near future where America has shrunk in size and what has taken its place are small business-like franchise-cities such as Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong. There are no laws, Kouriers on skateboards harpoon cars like parasites, and the only difference between the Metaverse and Reality is a set of goggles. There is a name for this type of science fiction: cyberpunk. (Originally published in 1992)

Although I sometimes had a difficult time figuring out the time-frame and whether something was happening in Reality or in the Metaverse, I was hooked to this book. It is strange and humorous and interesting and it even made my brain hurt with thinking. Not only is it about technology, but Stephenson discusses theories on linguistics and mythology and religion and pulls it all together into a suspenseful thriller. At the end, I have to admit that my attention waned a little. There was a strange relationship between Hiro's sometime partner, Y.T., and the psychokiller Raven. Also, with every action scene with helicopter and car and boat chases, my mind wanders and I get bored. What? I know!

It is one that I could certainly read again in a few years and pick up so much that I missed. If this sounds like your type of book, I recommend it! You're certainly in for a thrilling ride.

The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin

Title: The Left Hand of Darkness
Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Date Finished: February 29, 2008
Yearly Count: 10
Pages: 301
Rating: 1.5/5

I'm writing this post with the awareness that I cannot do this book justice--mostly because I didn't understand it. Great way to start, huh? Science fiction is a genre I consciously steer clear of, and perhaps with some more exposure it is a genre that I can learn to appreciate. Certainly I can appreciate many aspects of this book, but overall my experience with this book was not an enjoyable one.

I'll start with the back cover of the book (I realize this is SO lame):

"On the planet Winter, there is no gender. The Gethenians can become male or female during each mating cycle, and this is something that other cultures find incomprehensible.

The Ekumen of Known Worlds has sent an ethnologist to study the inhabitants of this forbidding, ice-bound world. At first he [Genly Ai] finds his subjects difficult and off-putting, with their elaborate social systems and alien minds. But in the course of a long journey across the ice he reaches and understanding with one of the Gethenians [Estraven]--it might even be a kind of love..."

What I liked about The Left Hand of Darkness: Le Guin's language is exquisite. After coming off of Water for Elephants, I really appreciated the insight and careful look at humankind through Le Guin's thoughtful and strong command of her storytelling. One of my favorite parts of the novel is when Le Guin explores the inherent roles of men and women, especially as the Gethenians are not necessarily either man or woman. There is a poignant section (my pages 234-5) that discuss the differences between men and women and the difficulties that Ai has in verbalizing the different characteristics. I believe this book would have been best read (for me) in a college course where I could have teased out some of the themes (gender, societal evolution, crime and punishment, etc).

What I struggled with: While the book had many very interesting sections (namely the section where Ai is in prison and then when he and Estraven make their journey back to Karhide together), the book became very dense in other parts. Le Guin provides a detailed mythology of the planet and the different cultures that I often got lost in; the language (specific words) and culture were difficult for me to get past because they are utterly foreign. Also, the book is a sort of compilation of different artifacts (some myth, some from Estraven's journal, some from Ai's journal, etc); because of the different points of view and the lack of voice, I had a difficult time discerning who's point of view I was reading. This was a difficult read for me, but I'm glad I finished and can move on.

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. :)