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.
"Now I realized that the least deluded of all women was the prostitute. That marriage was the system built on the most cruel suffering of women."
Woman at Point Zero
was written by Nawal El Saadawi in 1975. This feminist Egyptian author has quite a resume. She became a doctor in her early twenties in 1955. She campaigned against female circumcision in Egypt for over 50 years, with the practice not becoming illegal until 2008. Early in her career she lost her job as Director of Public Health because of her campaign. Later, she was even imprisoned by the Sadat regime over a political matter. And, not only that, she has written at least 16 books on women's issues.
This book was written as a result of her visiting a woman in prison. While she was studying neurosis in women, another doctor told her about a prisoner who refused to ask for a pardon from the President for the crime of killing her pimp. After the author heard the woman's story, she couldn't sleep for days until she started writing this book. (Source: BBC interview below)
Firdaus tells her life story from the beginning, from being touched by her uncle inappropriately, to being married off and beaten by her 60+ year old husband, to being raped and then finally becoming a prostitute. It is a harrowing story and one I won't easily forget. The book is short and it is structured to repeat in a few places, but this was intentionally done by the author to good effect. Highly recommended for those interested in women's issues and feminist fiction.
"Everybody has to die. I prefer to die for a crime I have committed rather than to die for one of the crimes which you have committed."
Author interview with BBC World Book Club:
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I'm beginning to think that Lois Lowry can do no wrong. This is the sixth book of hers that I've read, and I've enjoyed every single one, including
The Willoughbys
. While an excellent children's book, it is also a fun book for adults to read as it pokes fun at some of the cliches of children's literature, while still being very entertaining for both kids and adults.
The Willoughby children have parents who want to get rid of them, but the kids really don't want their parents, either. A nice nanny, a sweets manufacturer, and the four Willoughby children are the main cast.
I highly recommend it. It's a great story for kids, but it's also entertaining for those adults who have read and enjoyed the best of children's literature and who can appreciate a little tongue-in-cheek fun.
Hmmm, well, I happened to get this book from the library on the Saturday before the Booker Prize was announced "just in case." When
The White Tiger
was revealed as the winner, I was really surprised. Not only did it have the longest odds to win, but I had recently read
The Secret Scripture
and not-so-secretly hoped it would win. In fact, the committee admitted these two were the main contenders and that the decision was not unanimous.
To be honest, I kind of groaned when I heard Adiga's book was the winner. I don't have a love affair at all with the Booker prize winners that I've read, so I was a little skeptical that I would enjoy this one. But, being the trooper that I am, I thought I'd give it at least 40 or so pages to see if it could capture my interest.
Surprise, surprise; it did. Not only is it a scathing indictment against India's treatment of its poorest citizens, it also manages to be a clever black comedy. This is exactly what the prize committee chairman revealed as the reason behind its decision. So which book did I like better,
The White Tiger
or
The Secret Scripture
? It's really comparing apples to oranges. They're just not the same type of book at all. They both are worthy social commentaries on the authors' home countries, but just written in a totally different style. While Sebastian Barry's prose is lyrical, Adiga's is biting (and comical). They both work spectacularly, just in different ways. I can definitely see why the committee had a difficult decision on its hands, and either one would have been a winner in my book.
How does it fare against the other Booker Prize winners? Well, I definitely enjoyed it more than some of the other winners I've read, including:
Sara Gruen's
Water for Elephants
tells a great story. I loved the story, and I loved the characters. I loved Rosie the elephant. I did
not
love the explicit scenes, particularly when I had to hear it on an audio CD. I was relieved to find that
Natasha from Maw Books
felt the exact same way. I think there is a strong minority of readers who are getting fed up with this type of content in books. I know I am. But, as I said, I wanted to continue hearing the story because other than those parts, it was very compelling.
Jacob Jankowski is the vet (with an asterix) for a second-rate circus. His services and presence aren't always wanted by the circus regulars. The book is told in flashbacks to great effect. I really enjoyed that format for this particular story. The readers for the audio CD were David LeDoux and John Randolph Jones. They both were good, but whoever did Jacob Jankowski as an old man was brilliant. I thoroughly loved those sections.
Water for Elephants
is not only a love story; it's also about finding 'family' with those around you. I just wish I could have 'redlighted' a few parts.
Winter Haven,
by Christian author Athol Dickson, is a mystery-suspense novel set on an island off the coast of Maine. Vera Gamble comes to the community of Winter Haven after receiving news that her missing brother's body has finally been found after 13 years. After learning of some strange circumstances about the condition of the body, the local authorities refuse to let Vera go back to Dallas to bury her brother until they can look into the matter further. As a result, Vera is determined to poke around the island herself to see if she can uncover any details that might help resolve the case.
What she finds are community members that seem hostile, or at least aloof, to strangers and that they are generally unwilling to help with even simple directions for scouting the island. She does meet one man, Evan Frost, who is at least friendly to her and seems to enjoy her company. However, some of the citizens of the island warn her not to trust him, while he, in turn, says the same about them. As she searches for more details concerning the finding of her brother's body, some very strange events start happening, but Vera is unsure whether they
are
actually happening, or whether they may all just be in her own mind. Is she going insane, or just being tormented by an evil presence? She's afraid of either option.
I was surprised at how suspenseful this book really was. It has a gothic feel to it, and I found myself very drawn into the story. One thing I was worried about was how Vera would be portrayed, but Mr. Dickson writes from the female perspective very convincingly. This book has mystery, suspense, and even some history and romance. I will be reading more of Athol Dickson's work.
"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.
by Anne Enright
by Kiran Desai
by John Banville
by Margaret Atwood
Sara Gruen's
Water for Elephants
tells a great story. I loved the story, and I loved the characters. I loved Rosie the elephant. I did
not
love the explicit scenes, particularly when I had to hear it on an audio CD. I was relieved to find that
Winter Haven,
by Christian author Athol Dickson, is a mystery-suspense novel set on an island off the coast of Maine. Vera Gamble comes to the community of Winter Haven after receiving news that her missing brother's body has finally been found after 13 years. After learning of some strange circumstances about the condition of the body, the local authorities refuse to let Vera go back to Dallas to bury her brother until they can look into the matter further. As a result, Vera is determined to poke around the island herself to see if she can uncover any details that might help resolve the case.
