read

The Piano Teacher Shows Reality of War, Human Nature

Lee, Janice, Y.K. (2009). The Piano Teacher: a novel. Viking Adult. ISBN: 9780670020485

A story about Hong Kong during World War II and after, it blends historical fiction, mystery and extreme realism as easily and successfully as it blends time and cultures. The contrasts of privileged society and the too painful realities of war– both experienced by the same characters– makes this a novel that is difficult to put down and painful to read at the same time. Everyone (Chinese, British, American, Japanese) and everything (circumstances, relationships, intentions) is clouded and nothing is truly clear until the very end. A well-crafted story by a writer who, in her first novel, has mastered contemporary narrative structure and who also has conveyed a sense of human nature.

This is done by telling a story in a place that is a collusion of cultures and traditions, in a time when that place is upset by the extreme unrest of wartime. This brilliant combination enhances and strengthens the real nature of the characters.

2009 Pulitzer: Olive Kitteridge a study in loneliness and humanity

Olive Kitteridge: Fiction

2009 Pulitzer Prize, Fiction

The most striking this about this novel is its structure: it is a landscape novel with the title character as a running theme or motif as a constant among thirteen stories. This landscape is lonely; each character essentially lives life within him or herself, despite living in a close, small Maine community. The narrative voice is strangely detached, heightening the sense that the characters are separate from one another. The reader is therefore kept at an emotional distance. Death is a frequent visitor to the characters, and marriages are presented as mostly contentious and negative.

A nonlinear, nonchronological narrative structure must be built with extra care so as not to confuse the reader. Strout reveals this as the greatest strength of this work: by keeping the narrative voice simple and clear, she avoids the complexity trap that has befallen so many experimental storytellers. Jumps in time are kept to a manageable number, and are cleverly elucidated.

Of all of the different interpretations of loss and pain that are portrayed, it its Olive Kitteridge herself that, surprisingly, emerges as the most whole. The reader encounters different views of her from various perspectives as other characters give their views of her. We see her argue with her husband, son, and commit childish acts. But it is the revelation of who she is that adds depth and push to stories that otherwise would have a tendency to get sleepy. Olive is the type of character that leaves an impact far greater than her personality or actions might suggest.

The mature, embittered woman encountered early on becomes more so by the end, only the reader comes to understand Olive better by seeing different angles of who she is. Elizabeth Strout achieves the coveted feat of making us like an unlikable character , mainly by showing that Olive Kitteridge is human just like we are.

All the Living a Haunting, Melancholy Novel

Morgan, C.E. (2009). All the Living, a novel. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN: 9780374103620

A young woman from poverty in the rural south goes to live with her lover on his farm after his entire family is killed in an accident. A story rich with details of people acting, living and thinking by themselves and yet forced to relate to one another.

Much has been made about this being C.E. Morgan’s first novel, and rightly so, because their is a depth of feeling, a wealth of human experience captured just so in the language. The author has a special gift for crafting a story; she reveals the exposition cautiously but with just the right intriguing pace. She doesn’t overstate, she lets the images do much of the work in telling the story.

One of those recurring images is sex, presenting here in a raw form. Aloma and Orren’s sexual relationship shows the powerful human need for sex and also the ways sex can be used as a tool. It is refreshing to see a female character honestly, directly face her sexual nature, but it comes off as sort of passively accepting what he world brings instead of taking ownership of the experience. The choices the characters make, not just sexually, affect not only themselves but others, and yet the characters seem so often pulled along by fate.

As beautifully written as the book is, it is a heartbreaking tale of people who do not know how to relate to one another. Aloma, the lead female character, blindly accepts conventional female roles, puts her own dreams of accomplishment last, and seems to value her partner primarily through sex. It sin’t that this isn’t realistically portrayed, but that it is profoundly sad. Again, though, it is a magnificently constructed novel in that it shows this sadness, these situations the characters are in, and it doesn’t try to judge or make tidy solutions. The reader can think about the story, and this is one story that promises to stay with the reader long after the book has been put down.

Rifling Paradise, Jem Poster

Poster, Jem (2009). Rifling Paradise. New York: Overlook Press

This novel takes Victorian themes of repression and stifling structure and applies contemporary psychological interpretations to them. It also offers a post-colonial interpretation of exploration and British cultural influence. Still, the Victorian setting heightens the exotic feel and the social constraints of the era add drama to rather complex human realities.

Taken as a whole, the plot is very simple: the characters suffer in fairly predictable ways, yet the metaphor of nature connected with good and evil, and the lush descriptive language used to build that metaphor, save this book from being another tiresome contemporary psychological novel. This is a moving and entertaining story. Structurally it maintains a good balance of descriptive detail and narrative movement. Because these characters seem so psychologically developed and self-aware, it is impossible not to wonder how these same characters would fare in a contemporary setting.

Going Green is More Complex Than We’d Like to Think

Goleman, Daniel (2009). Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What we Buy Can Change Everything. New York: Broadway Books. ISBN: 978-0-385-52782-8

“Going Green” is everywhere right now, and nowhere more than in retail stores. Most of the things that we think of as good for the environment, such as recycling and bringing our own bags to the supermarket, but Goleman suggests that these aren’t the most important things we should be doing. The problem is that knowing what the right choices to make is not easy. The production, manufacture and transportation of products each have their own environmental impacts that, when we’re standing in the store, are impossible to know or compare with one another. The people who study these things are highly detailed specialists who create complex reports. Everyone, from manufacturers to retailers to consumers are in the dark about what are the best things they should do for the environment and how to evaluate the choices available.

Goleman paints an eye-opening picture about the present and future of ecological awareness, and the need for all of us to become more aware of the impact of what we do. To make us aware, he gives many examples on everything from yogurt lids to shampoo to pharmaceuticals, but he also uses some faulty logic, especially when describing the environmental past. While I take him at his word that human ecological impact on the planet is accelerating and becoming more negative, I feel he gives to much a romantic picture of the past. He says the past was a more innocent age, and that th choices did not seem to matter as much. There is much literature about the industrial revolution that suggests that captains of industry knew exactly what they were doing and that there were people who were trying to stop it.

But I agree with Goleman that the future is the important thing here; the problem is that the whole thing seems so overwhelming. And our expectations have become set that we expect certain standards in our products and homes. If it turns out that these things are harmful, will we be able to give them up? And with so many people in the world, it seems that the potential for dire consequences is great, and the chance of reversing it is small. Most of us decide that doing something, trying, is better than not. Ecological Intelligencesuggests that the solution is for each of us to become aware of our own impact, and to spread that messsage to others and to the companies we do business with.

At the Crossroads, I Found the Perfect Little Book

Patchett, Ann (2008). What Now? New York: Harper Collins.

By the time we reach adulthood, many have perfected the art of isolation, of being careful, of not listening in the name of safety. But the truth is that we need to hear other people, all people, especially in those moments when we don’t know exactly where we’re going ourselves.

A simple book that takes on an important subject: how do I decide what to do with my life? With humility and wisdom, Ann Patchett reminds us that ourlives are unpredictable. That education, status, and the labels placed onus by ourselves and others only tell part of the story. The paradox that we have to figure our paths out for ourselves and yet “the truth is that we need to hear other people, all people, especially in those moments when we don’t know exactly where we’re going ourselves (p.35).”

Based on a college commencement address, this is a great book for anyone who is searching, puzzled, stuck, disillusioned or disappointed.

Page 2 of 5«123 4 5 »

Improve the web with Nofollow Reciprocity.