March Book Review: February by Lisa Moore

Ok, it's about time that I review my March Book. I did finish reading it at the end of the month.

Reasons why I read this book:

-It was the winner of Canada Reads 2013. I didn't extensively follow the debates, only little snippets here and there while driving to work.

-A Valentine's Day present from Simon. Reading it in February would have been more appropriate, but I was reading something else.

Premise:  Based on a historical event: On February 14th 1982, the oil rig Ocean Ranger sank off the coast of Newfoundland. All 84 men aboard died. The novel follows the life of Helen, whose husband drowned on that February stormy night.

It was an easy and enjoyable read. Moore's writing is raw, elegant, clear and poetic. Overall, I like her style: short chapters, structure (shifts back between past and present). I have to admit that I felt indifferent towards the protagonist, Helen. No emotional attachment there. But that didn't bother me as the novel kept me involved and interested in her life and her family's. 

Here's a taste of two passages that I dogeared. 

Life barrels through; it is gone. Something rushes through. The front door slams and then a door slams in the back; something burns on the stove; birthday, brides and caskets; babies, bankruptcy, huge strokes of luck, the tree full of ice; gone.

There had been a hole in the centre of the dining room and all the things a man and woman could say to each other had dropped into the hole, and it had closed over, and the new hardwood floor gleamed shiny and mute.

February Book Review: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

Have you ever had tears streaming down your face while reading a short story?
Jhumpa Lahiri has done it again! A few years ago, I read her latest collection of short stories, Unaccustomed Earth. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to read her debut collection and Pulitzer Prize winner, Interpreter of Maladies.
What an effect it had on me!

Here's a review from the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/06/books/books-of-the-times-liking-america-but-longing-for-india.html

As with all short stories, you have your favourites and I got into the habit of jotting down a one- sentence summary on the Contents page to refresh my memory in the on-chance that I pick up the book in the future. I also added a 3-star rating system.

A short story can take you on such an emotional journey! You get a glimpse into the lives of these oh-so-ordinary individuals and, in the course of only a few pages, you care for them and feel that you know them so well. You are a witness to their humanity, to their struggles, to their vulnerabilities.

Lahiri writes simply with such delicate and precise language. Beauty and humanity resonate in her characters!

Perhaps I really like her stories because they are character-driven and I can visualize them (and dramatize them in my head)  as one-act plays ;)

January Book Review: A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

While reading this "novel", I kept wondering "Where is this going?..."
Not only did it win the 2010 Pulitzer Prize and several awards, but it was also recommended by a dear friend and bibliophile.  I had to give it a chance and I knew there was something more to it.

Each chapter is a short story of its own and while some of them took me on an emotional journey, others left me indifferent and disengaged.

I wish I had read this before:
http://www.randomhouse.com/book/201020/a-visit-from-the-goon-squad-by-jennifer-egan/9780307592835/?view=reader'sguide#reader'sguide
(although the author does say that I was reading it perfectly!)

About half way through the book, I started to get into it and flip back to previous chapters (which is always a good sign). When done reading,  I put it down and pondered for awhile about the journey of the characters. I picked it up again and reread a few pages I had dog-eared.

My random thoughts about the book (I'm hesitant to call it a novel since each chapter is a story on its own): It's about life. It's about endings and forever. It's about dreams and lost hope. It's about youthful abandon and society's expectations. It's about growing up and growing old. It's sad and moving.
It makes you appreciate the moments and hug your loved ones.

Susan turned to him suddenly and said "Let's make sure it's always like this". And so entwined were their thoughts at that point that Ted knew exactly why she'd said it - because she's felt the passage of time. And then Ted felt it too (...) and he'd held Susan's hand and said , "Always. It will always be like this." (p.231)
(and just to burst the hope bubble: no it won't)

Yes, I will reread it.
Thank you Bex for sharing this journey with me.

A Year in Reading in Review

The year is capping off and so is my year of reading. Please refer to my July posting on A Year in Reading:
http://piedsnusenete.blogspot.com/2011/07/year-in-reading.html

As promised  to a dear (and most lovely) pieds nus en hiver avid follower, here are my brief reviews of the books I have read in 2011:

January - 
Woman's World by Graham Rawle
http://www.amazon.com/Womans-World-Novel-Graham-Rawle/dp/1582434638/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1324494027&sr=8-10
-Interesting fact: Rawle assembled 40 000 fragments of text snipped from 1960's women's magazines and created a text collage. It took him five years to produce this book.
-Tone: dark with a certain sadness to it.
-Time:  1960's (epoch of the domestic goddess).
-Overall: There's a twist! I didn't expect it, so it came as a surprise. Visually interesting. Descriptions are extensive, colorful and comedic at times.
-The concept and the story are unforgettable.

February - 
Atonement by Ian McEwan
 http://www.amazon.com/Atonement-Novel-Ian-McEwan/dp/038572179X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324494171&sr=1-1
-Tone: tragic
-Format: divided in four parts
-Time and place: England, 1935; Northern France, 1940; London, 1940; London, 1999.
-Style: exquisitely written. Lyrical descriptions. Very visual. Not a lot of dialogue. My favorite parts were Part 3, followed by Part 1.
-Themes: childhood, love, shame & forgiveness, morality, class, war, writing.
-Feel: provoking.


March-
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
http://www.amazon.com/Help-Deluxe-Kathryn-Stockett/dp/0399157913/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324494230&sr=1-1
-Time and place: 1962. Jackson, Mississippi.
-Narration: three narrators; all strong women.
-Feel: engrossed by this read. Couldn't put it down.
-Characters: well-developed and complex.
-I shed a tear at the end.

April - 
Millénium 1: Les hommes qui n'aimaient pas les femmes de Stieg Larsson
http://www.amazon.com/Millenium-Paperback-Hommes-Naimaient-French/dp/2742793097/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324494456&sr=1-1
-Mon premier polar (thriller).
-Malgrès l'immense popularité de cette série, je ne voulais pas trop l'aimer. Aveu: l'histoire m'a agrippée dès le début.
-L'intrigue était contemporaine. Les personnages disfonctionnels. Un mystère à résoudre. Une saveur européeenne.
-Lisbeth Salander et Mikael Blomkvist font une bonne équipe.
-à noter: ll y a des scènes de violences qui sont assez dérangantes.
-The French title is more appropriate than the English one and more similar to the Swedish.

May - 
The Birth House by Ami McKay
http://www.amazon.com/Birth-House-Novel-P-S/dp/B002QGSX7S/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324494543&sr=1-1
-Time and place: WW1, Scots Bay, NS. Canada.
-Very Canadian feel.
-Entertaining and quick read.
-Glorifies midwifery (yeah!) and honours women and choices they make.
-A forgettable read. But good for what it was.

June - 
Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies
 http://www.amazon.com/Tempest-Tost-Modern-Classics-Penguin-Robertson/dp/0143054910/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324494625&sr=1-1
-Amateur theatre group is rehearsing The Tempest. Right up my alley!
-Set: Salterton, a fictional place. Kingston? A University town.
-Many characters. I had to keep track of them (jotting notes in the inside back cover of the book). All very colourful and flawed. I would have preferred a focus on another protagonist. Hector Mackilwraith, the math teacher, wasn't my favourite.
-Funny, laugh-aloud lines.
-A great pick for the summer.
-"A theatrical company, however ill-assorted or however amateur, is bound together by ties which are incomprehensible to outsiders".

July - 
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
http://www.amazon.com/Room-View-Edward-Morgan-Forster/dp/146103986X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324494775&sr=1-1
-I was really looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.Perhaps I didn't get the witty humour, I don't know... I'm not really into satire. Was that what it was?
-I wasn't attached to Lucy Honeychurch. I didn't get her.
-Time and place: Edwardian times, Florence.
"Women like looking at a view; men don't."

August - September - 
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
http://www.amazon.com/Never-Movie-Tie--Vintage-International/dp/0307740994/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324494963&sr=1-1
-Moving. I shed a few tears. I went back to the beginning of the book once I finished it. (that's a good sign)
-Intimate narration.
-A portrait of adolescence, childhood dreams, rebellion, acceptance, destiny, lost innocence, mortality.
-Feel: disquieting.
-Reminded me of A Handmaid's Tale; a  "humane" science fiction read.

 October -
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Watch-Sarah-Waters/dp/B000P29HYI/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324495029&sr=1-2
-Format: division in three parts - 1947, 1944, 1942. Going back in time.
-Time and place: London, during the war.
-When finished, I went back to the beginning.(good sign)
-Entertaining. Illicit liaisons. Dark. Secrets. What's not to like?
-A glimpse into the harshness of WWII reality of the women who worked in the city. Really interesting time period and subject. We never think about the women; it's always about the men who fight in the war...

November - 
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
http://www.amazon.com/Waves-Annotated-Virginia-Woolf/dp/B005K5YHVI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324495394&sr=1-1
-Superbly written. Poetic. Lyrical. Just beautiful.
-I pictured it as a stage play. I think that there was a recent adaptation in London, am I correct?
-A lingering book. To be read slowly. To sip.

December - 
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
 http://www.amazon.com/Night-Circus-Erin-Morgenstern/dp/0385534639/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324495689&sr=1-1
-Fun. Magical. Makes me smile. What a world!
-I don't want it to end, so I'm dragging it out.
-Format: short chapters. Titled + date + place.
-The plot isn't really complex. I didn't get attached to any particular character.
-This read wasn't recommended. I bought it on a whim after reading a review. I do not regret it. Very Decemberish!



Also, the Women's Bio Book Club* selections this year were:
Sisters in the Wilderness: The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill  by Charlotte Gray. (Winter read)
Audrey Hepburn by Barry Paris (Spring read)
The Education of a Woman: The Life of Gloria Steinem by Carolyn G. Heilbrun (Summer read)
A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard (Autumn read)

*We read four books a year.