I was really intrigued when I heard about this book, so I pre-ordered it before the book came out. I have two sisters myself and all of us had the same excellent high school English teacher who taught Shakespeare with a passion. I know there was some variation from year to year in the plays that he covered, but I studied
Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Othello,
and the
Merchant of Venice
. All three of us are Shakespeare fans as a result.
The book is essentially about three sisters who are all at turning points in their lives. Rosalind, Bianca, and Cordelia are all named from Shakespeare plays, not a coincidence as their father teaches courses on the Bard at the local college. Their mother is a homemaker and both parents have a strong influence on the sisters.
I love the first paragraph of the book:
"We came home because we were failures. We couldn't admit that, of course, not at first, not to ourselves, and certainly not to anyone else. We said we came home because our mother was ill, because we needed a break, a momentary pause before setting off for the Next Big Thing. But the truth was, we had failed, and rather than let anyone else know, we crafted careful excuses and alibis, and wrapped them around ourselves like a cloak to keep out the cold truth. The first stage: denial."
It's always nice to go home after failure, where people will love you whether you have failed or not. So, they go home to help their mother through her battle with cancer and to deal with their own failings the best they can. Each sister has her own storyline that's interesting, but the character that fascinated me the most was their mother. I definitely wanted to hear more of her back story and learn why she was the way she was. I think she really was the silent star in the book.
The book is peppered with Shakespeare quotes, and for the most part, I enjoyed them and was familiar with them. However, it got to be too much even for me after a bit and started to become a little annoying. I also really didn't like the two older sisters much, especially Bean (Bianca). Cordy was probably the only one that I enjoyed getting to know. Also, the plural narrator threw me for a loop at first, and I just really couldn't get used to that format.
All in all, I enjoyed this book about three very different sisters, but I think I'm a little less enthusiastic than most about it. If you have even one sister or you enjoy Shakespeare you will probably appreciate it.
I love southern fiction, and I was especially interested in reading this book as the setting is in southeastern Mississippi, which is close to where I live now in Mobile, Alabama. I use to read a lot more mysteries than I read now, particularly in the early 1990s, but I'm not a fan of gritty content, so I've drifted more into literary fiction over the years. I was pleasantly relieved, when, for the most part, this book turned out to be more character driven and written in a literary style without the typical gory descriptions of many modern novels. It's a page turner and I read it pretty much straight through.
The two main characters are Larry (white), called 'Scary Larry' by the locals, and Silas (black), the local policeman. Growing up, the two were friends for a time when they lived in close proximity to each other. Then when Larry was in high school, he was accused by the community of killing a girl after a date, although the body was never found and Larry was never formally charged. Due to all this, Larry lives a lonely life in almost total isolation, with only his books (mostly horror) to keep him company.
Fast forward about 20 years and now another girl is missing. Naturally, the police consider Larry 'a person of interest' in the case, and Silas, his old boyhood friend, must get involved in trying to solve the girl's disappearance.
This book is about a lot more than just the mysteries of the two girls' disappearances. It's about race, class, friendship, and family. I enjoyed it and would definitely read another book by this author, especially if Silas were one of the characters.
Crooked Letter Crooked Letter
is on the shortlist for the 2011 Edgar Awards.
Winner, Orange Prize 2004
Winner, Whitbread Book of the Year 2004
Winner, Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2005
Andrea Levy wrote
Small Island
as a way to research her Jamaican parents' immigrant experience. The title,
Small Island
, is apt as it refers to both Jamaica and Britain. The book takes place both before and after World War II and is comprised of 4 main characters, with each character speaking in his or her own voice throughout the novel. Gilbert and Hortense are a couple from Jamaica who rent a room from Queenie in England. Queenie is renting rooms out because her husband Bernhard has not yet returned from the war.
The novel covers several issues: war, immigration, prejudice, and class. I love historical fiction because history is so much more interesting when it's portrayed in the personal experiences of the men and women who lived it. I've always wondered why England didn't have as much of a racial problem as the U.S., but in this book we discover that there were, in fact, prejudices that needed to be overcome. While Gilbert was so proud to be a part of Mother England as a Jamaican citizen, enough so that he went to war for her, his 'Mother' not only didn't appreciate his efforts, she didn't even recognize him as her child.
Each character in the book is so well defined. I got a kick out of Hortense and her 'white-gloved,' prudish ways. I appreciated that Queenie was ahead of her time in terms of racism, and even though Bernhard was quite the opposite, I felt sorry for him. Gilbert was perhaps the star of the novel as just an overall good-hearted person and patriot.
I always enjoy hearing authors speak about their novels, and if you've already read the book (because there are spoilers), you might want to hear her interviews here:
Andrea Levy interview for The Guardian Book Club:
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Andrea Levy interview with BBC's World Book Club:
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Not only did
Small Island
win the Orange Prize, it was also voted The Best of the Best out of all the winners by the Orange Prize committee chairs. While my favorite Orange winner so far is probably
Half of a Yellow Sun
, I do understand why
Small Island
has a strong following as well.
Larry's Party
is the third novel I've read by Carol Shields; it won the Orange Prize in 1998. Having loved the previous two,
The Stone Diaries
and (especially)
Unless
, I had high hopes for this one as well. However, it didn't really live up to my expectations.
Over the course of his life, Larry Weller goes from flower arranger at a flower store to a master designer of landscape mazes. I'm not that into botany, so that part was only marginally interesting to me; however, I would definitely like to visit some of the mazes described in the book, particularly in Europe. More interesting to me was the progression in Larry's thought life and love life over the course of the book. He starts out not knowing much about himself or what he wants in his twenties and of course knowing himself infinitely better by the time he's in his late forties. Youth is so wasted on the young, right? (Not that there aren't exceptions to you youngsters out there!) Being in my early forties, I definitely related to that aspect of the book.
"He (Larry) is recovering; in a sense he's spent his whole life in a state of recovery, but has only begun, at age forty-five, to breathe in the vital foreknowledge of what will become of the sovereign self inside him, that luxurious ornament. He'd like that self to be more musical and better lit, he'd like to possess a more meticulous sense of curiosity, and mostly he'd like someone, some thing to love. He's getting close. He feels it. He's halfway awake now, and about to wake up fully."
Some of the aspects I didn't like about the book are that it was a little boring in places, i.e. the botany and the fact that Larry is just a regular Joe with not much in the way of personality. I think that was supposed to be the point, though. There is even a chapter dedicated to his name and what the stereotypes of "Larrys" are. Another aspect is that in quite a few places she repeats details that we already know about characters or events. I know that was by design, but I'm not sure I liked it. Also, it is a bit raunchy in places. There's a chapter called "Larry's P#n*s" that goes on and on in very descriptive detail about that specific body part and all the different names for it that people use. Some people would find that extremely funny, I'm sure, but I could have done without the more graphic parts of that chapter.
The last chapter is called "Larry's Party," and that chapter and the dinner party itself wrapped up everything in Larry's life to that point very nicely. I really liked the metaphor that our lives are mazes. Sometimes there's only one way in and one way out. Sometimes there are four exits. But always, there is the 'goal' in the center. Honestly, the last chapter made me lift my rating from 3 1/2 stars to 4. It was very cleverly done. And although this book was my least favorite of Shields' books so far, I still plan on reading many more if not all of her works. I really do think she was an amazing writer.
Breathing Lessons
has been on my tbr list for ages not only because it won the Pulitzer Prize, but also because I'm an Anne Tyler fan. While I enjoyed it, I'm always of the mindset that a prize-winning book should be in the 4 1/2 to 5 star range for me, and this one was slightly under that with a 4 star rating. An interesting note is that
The Accidental Tourist
and
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
were both finalists for the Pulitzer Prize as well.
The story takes place in a single day and doesn't have much of a plot, but the characters are so believable that that didn't really bother me. Maggie and Ira Moran seemed like a very real couple to me. The novel centers on their marriage but also branches out into Maggie's relationship with her friend Serena and the couple's relationships with their children and grandchild. In the novel Maggie is portrayed as a flighty woman who just wants everyone to get along and quite frequently tries to encourage reconciliation between injured parties. Ira is somewhat aloof but has a habit of whistling tunes that betray his inner mindset. He can be blunt at times and doesn't appreciate Maggie's well-intentioned meddling. However, in the end we are left wondering which of the two has really done the most damage by his or her actions.
I could identify with Maggie's wish to be more involved in her children's and granchild's lives. I also identified with some of Ira's issues and their issues as a married couple. I think almost everyone would know a couple like Maggie and Ira Moran. Perhaps that is what Tyler does so well, though. She brings those 'typical' characters to life in a way that makes us wish we could continue the relationship with them even after the story is finished.
I own all of Anne Tyler's novels published after
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
, although this is only my third book read. The other two were
The Amateur Marriage
and
Saint Maybe
, which I also enjoyed.
"Those Impressionists," she said, "they certainly knew about color. And about light and shade. Different kinds of shade: thinner shadows that let the light through, and heavier, denser ones. And it's as if Monet made this garden to show the world how he saw colors. How he saw their power, their potential, and their purpose. I think he wanted to show that the world is color. That life itself is color. That if we can just see the colors, really see them, life will be beautiful. And meaningful. Because beauty has a value of its own, that"s how I see it anyway."
- p. 37
"People who read books,' he went on, "tend to be dispensable. Extremely."
- p. 48
Useful or dispensable? A life of choice or no choice? And what if your own choices led you to have to give of your own body to the 'needed' until your 'final donation'?
I love dystopian fiction, and this book was no exception. It reminded me quite a bit of
Never Let Me Go
by Kazuo Ishiguro, so if you enjoyed that book, you'll probably like this one as well. Reading books like this is always a reminder of the ways society could go horribly wrong, and sadly, I wouldn't be surprised if parts of the book actually do come to pass someday.
Dorrit, age 50, has reached an age where she is now considered dispensable because she has no children or parents to take care of and because she is a writer, which is considered an unessential occupation. The dispensables in The Unit are provided for in every way, a nice apartment, exercise facilities, and entertainment venues, etc. Except that they are monitored 24/7, and of course, they may never leave The Unit. Dorrit makes great friends here, and in some ways her life is better than when she was on the outside, but, obviously, her life and her body are not her own. She is essentially a commodity of the State.
The book raises some excellent ethical questions. Is a person's life itself precious and valuable, or is it only what they can contribute to society that is deemed worthwhile? My view will always be the former.
How obtained: I checked this book out from my local library.
2006 (Swedish), 2009 for the English translation; 268 pp.
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (
John 13:34-35
,
ESV
)
I was really intrigued when I heard about this book, so I pre-ordered it before the book came out. I have two sisters myself and all of us had the same excellent high school English teacher who taught Shakespeare with a passion. I know there was some variation from year to year in the plays that he covered, but I studied
Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Othello,
and the
Merchant of Venice
. All three of us are Shakespeare fans as a result.
I love southern fiction, and I was especially interested in reading this book as the setting is in southeastern Mississippi, which is close to where I live now in Mobile, Alabama. I use to read a lot more mysteries than I read now, particularly in the early 1990s, but I'm not a fan of gritty content, so I've drifted more into literary fiction over the years. I was pleasantly relieved, when, for the most part, this book turned out to be more character driven and written in a literary style without the typical gory descriptions of many modern novels. It's a page turner and I read it pretty much straight through.
Winner, Orange Prize 2004
