Category: Book Reviews

Reading Lolita in Tehran

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Reading lolitaNafisi, Azar. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. New York: Random House, 2004.

The first thing I think as I am 13 chapters into Reading Lolita in Tehran is maybe, just maybe I should have read Lolita first. Yet, it is not just about Lolita. It’s also about Gatsby, Daisy Miller and Pride & Prejudice. Those, I have read. But, these four books are not the only ones Nafisi recommends. There is a whole list of them. I am tempted to start another challenge and add them to my “must read” list.

But, back to Reading Lolita in Tehran. Where do I start? Blanketing the entire story (nonfiction) is the outrage I felt. Professor Azar Nafisi must secretly meet with seven students to study Western classics, books that are forbidden in the Islamic Republic of Iran. I don’t know how they dared. Morality squads roamed the streets, raiding homes and shops whenever they wanted, fundamentalists took over the university where Nafisi formally taught, women are arrested for not wearing the veil, being seen in public with men other than their husbands, brothers or fathers, for wearing makeup…It just reminds me I am a spoiled Westerner who can paint my eyes black as night, show the curve of my neck, and most importantly, read any book I want.
Think of a braid. One strand is politics, another literature, the last society. This is Reading Lolita in Tehran. Woven over and under and throughout is Azar Nafisi’s life. Her personal views on relationships, society and of course, the books she loves. Because it’s her point of view and hers alone we have to trust that she is telling us the truth. Her truth. Here are my favorite quotes – some with my commentary after.

“Reality has become so intolerable, she said, so bleak, that all can paint now are the colors of my dreams” (p 11).
“I think I somehow felt that as long as I was conscious, nothing bad could happen, that bad things would come in the middle of my dreams” (p 45).
“Some people take up alcohol during periods of stress. I took up Jeff” (106).
“In the midst of gunshots and chants we hugged and chatted about the almost two decades since we had last seen each other” (p 148).
“The administration wanted us to stop working and at the same time pretend that nothing has changed” (p 151). ** I’m reminded of a relationship I once had when the entrapment was the same. **
If I turned towards books, it was because they were the only sanctuary I knew, one I needed in order to survive, to protect some aspect of myself that was now in constant retreat” (p 170).
I became more anxious. Until then I had worried for the safety of my parents, husband, brother and friends, but my anxiety for my children overshadowed all” (170). ** I thought of my sister when I read this line. I think she would agree. **

Random comments~ I want someone to explain these things to me. How someone can be pompous and meek at the same time; how someone can speak precisely and leisurely; and how someone can murmur a defiant no. Just odd descriptors in my opinion.

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust and the chapter called “Me, Me, Me: Autobiographies and Memoirs” (p 162). I would say Nafisi’s story is a chapter of a memoir; a partial snapshot of a life.

Eyeliner

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eyelinerI had a dream of you. Eye of You. It’s been one of many without explanation. Can’t explain you. My sister was losing a hand, her right. An unavoidable operation. You, both of you, were wearing eyeliner and could duplicate. I was angry because I didn’t care about the hand. Not as much as the eyeliner. Or the duplicity of two of you and your blackened eyes. I knew She made you wear it and all I could mutter was, “fukcing foolish” like I knew better. Like I was supposed to care. We met for dinner but ordered lunch. My sister’s babies multiplied from two to three and it seemed all so normal. Even the hand losing part. I remembered the restaurant, been there before, but not the menu. Foreign language in a dead man’s house for it was someone’s home. I hated myself for wanting to keep you when I didn’t want you just as much. Equal parts love and hate. Ate the bread. The eyeliner still bothered me and I bitched back about it. A Clockwork Orange stupidness that couldn’t be washed off or forgotten. Since when? Silly stupidness. I woke confused, not knowing where I was.

On the drive to work I heard a song that make me think of you. If I said the one word song you would know, you is You. Everyone would know it was you and I can’t expose you like that. With or without eyeliner.

Middlesex

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MiddlesexEugenides, Jeffrey. Middlesex. New York: Picador, 2002.

First the cover. Before I even read a word it frightens me. Inky black (my cancer) smoke swirls from a cigarrette-bearing person lounging with a friend. That same smoke meets up with the smoke stack of an ocean-going vessel and encircles the skyline of a city. I instantly recoil from the seductive swirls and think, “I’m gonna hate this book.”

But I don’t. It’s long (529 pages), but I’ve enjoyed every page. I can see why it won a Pulitzer Prize. It’s the story of Calliope Stephanides and the two generations that brought her into this world. It’s Greece and Germany and Grosse Point. It’s the science of genetics meeting the mother of all family secrets. Calliope is also Cal, one and the same. Girl meets Boy. Girl is Boy. Boy is Girl. Sound confusing? It isn’t. It’s poetic and sad, funny and smart. Something you just have to read for yourself. Cal will tell you the story. His story. Her story. My favorite lines:

“…German wasn’t good for conversation because you had to wait to the end of the sentence for the verb, and so couldn’t interrupt” (p 7).
“Filling her head with music, she escaped her body” (p 115).
“The only thing that roused her was her daily lineup of soap operas. She watched the cheating husbands and scheming wives as faithfully as ever, but she didn’t reprimand them anymore, as if she’d given up correcting the errors of the world” (p 271).
“…her application to join her husband in heaven was still working its was through a vast, celestial bureaucracy” (p 286).

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust. Pearl mentions this book several times. First, on page 97 in the chapter “Gender Bending” then on page 141 in the chapter “Lines That Linger, Sentences That Stick.” She is referring to Middlesex‘s opening line. It’s a doozy. Finally, on page 166 in “Men Channeling Women” Middlesex is listed one last time. As you can see Jeffrey Eugenides hit a homerun with this one.

ps~ The cover makes perfect sense to me now.

Disgrace

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I’ll call this book my “spur of the moment, read in one day, can’t put it down” book. I’ll also call it Weather Front. It started out sunny and seemingly harmless and carefree. Then the clouds roll in, the rain comes in sheets. The poison seeps in. When the winds pick up to the point of hurricane force it is nothing short of violent and tragic, destructive and disgraceful. After the storm people pick up the pieces, healing yet hurting and more storm clouds can be seen, rumbling in the distance.
In the beginning everything seems fine. Professor Lurie is happy teaching literature in South Africa. But, almost immediately Professor Lurie makes a mistake in seducing a young student. His fall from grace is swift and absolute. Having lost all his social and professional connections he reconnects with the one person who can’t turn her back on him – his flesh and blood daughter. The rest of the story is how Lurie and his daughter deal with their already strained relationship. How Lurie tries to redeems himself is baffling. I found myself asking if he was really worth redemption at all. Maybe it was the name Lurie – too close to the word lurid.

My favorite line, “Affection may not be love, but at least its cousin” (p 2).

BooklustTwist: From Book Lust and the chapter called ” Families in Trouble” (p 82).

Warning: If you are an animal lover you may not want to read this book. What happens to humans is tragic enough, but what happens to the dogs is even worse. I know it’s a fact of life but the end of this book was hard to take. Nobel prize or not.

The Odd Sea (with spoiler)

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odd seaReiken, Frederick. The Odd Sea. New York: Delta, 1998.

From the very first page I thought the location of this book sounded really familiar. Westfield River, the Hilltowns, Dalton, Cummington…like seeing a familiar face while on vacation far, far from home. You can’t place it, yet you know it. Why? Work? School? The neighborhood? Until finally, one last detail seals the deal and suddenly you remember – the cashier from your favorite grocery store. It was “Mohawk Trail” that finally brought Western Massachusetts into sharp focus for me. Without a doubt, I was reading about my stomping grounds (and lately, stomp I do).

So, back to The Odd Sea. This is Frederick Reiken’s first novel and I have to say, I have a soft spot for firsts. This is the haunting story of the Shumway family and their lives after the dissapearance of 16 year old Ethan Shumway. It’s told from the point of view of younger brother Philip. My copy of The Odd Sea has notes in the margins that I found distracting. They made suggestions and speculations I wouldn’t have considered otherwise as well as ones overly obvious. One of the repeating, clear-as-day themes of the notes was Philip’s inability to accept his brother’s vanishing as never-coming-back final. I considered that obvious because otherwise, there wouldn’t be a story to tell. Philip can’t move on like the rest of his family. He needs to dig for answers, search for clues, and come up empty, bewildered, and denying every single time. I wasn’t surprised when, by the end of the book, Ethan is never found.
After reading Ordinary People I was ready to start my own BookLust chapter on “Mothers Who Lose It.” Probably one of my favorite descriptions in the book is of Philip’s mother’s insomnia. Having been afflicted with sleeplessness I could picture her nocturnal habits perfectly. “Some nights she did not bake or read. Instead she’d stand out with the stars. She said on clear nights the sky could draw the sadness from her heart” (p 10). I also enjoyed the scene when Victoria teaches Philip’s sister, Dana, to eat rose petals. Having eaten a few island roses in my day, I could taste the silkiness on my own tongue.

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust and the chapter called “Small Town Life” (p 203).

Ordinary People

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ordinary peopleGuest, Judith. Ordinary People. New York: Penguin, 1976.

This book has floated in and out of my life for decades. My roommate had in front of her face when I tried to talk to her about always-there boyfriend. My mother had it on her side of the bed, dog-earred and stained. It was on the summer reading list for my high school. I think my sister has a copy…Despite all these different encounters I never bothered to read it. I don’t know why. Maybe I likened it to Danielle Steel’s genre of pen? Maybe because someone made a movie out of it? I don’t know. No matter. I never wanted to read it. I’m glad it was on “the list.” I’m glad I didn’t miss out.

Ordinary People is exactly that. A story about ordinary people. Reading this book was like stumbling across Mr. & Mrs. Jarret’s home movies. I began watching their lives a year after they had lost their oldest son to a drowning accident and soon after their surviving son comes home after trying to commit suicide. I bounce back and forth between watching Cal, the father’s, videos and peeking in on Con, the son. Beth, wife and mother is detached & disconnected. I haven’t seen the movie so I have had fun trying to picture the actors playing the parts. When Con starts seeing a therapist, I envision Robin Williams (because of Good Will Hunting?)…There is so much psychology in this short (262 pages) book.

My favorite lines:
“Drifting into sleep, he lost his balance, tipping backward again into memory”  (p 144).
“And another turth. That there are no secret passages to strength, no magic words. It is something you know about yourself (p 210).

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust, Pearl actually mentions Ordinary People twice. First in the chapter “100 Good Reads, Decade By Decade” (p 175) and “Shrinks and Shrinkees” (p 221).

Spectator Bird

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Stegner, Wallace. Spectator Bird. New York: Penguin, 1976.Spectator Bird

I think this book embodies one of my worst fears – being a spectator bird. The main character, Joe, is a literary agent who is slowing slipping out of the limelight of the living. He goes through life as though he’s on the sidelines, barely even watching the game. Instead of living in busy, exciting, beautiful San Francisco he lives out in the country, away from the daily rub with people. Everything about his current life is gray until he receives a postcard from a friend. Suddenly, he is thrust back into his past. He is forced to remember a time when life was more than a spectator sport. It has some interesting twists, things I didn’t see coming. Joe’s voice is witty and humorous. Here are a few of my favorite lines:
“It is hard to be relaxed around a man who at any moment might examine your prostate” (p 12).
“During the day he will go out seven or eight times. In the U.S. this would be called drinking on the job” (p 76).
“Her wicked brother will not be home – a shame, I’d like to see what real wickedness looks like” (p 98).
“She was so old she would have had to be dated by carbon 14” (p 128).

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust and the chapter called “Companion Reads” (p 65). Pearl suggests reading Spectator Bird with The Moviegoer by Walker Percy, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, and A Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee.

Charming Billy

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Charming BillyMcDermott, Alice. Charming Billy. New York: Delta Trade, 1998.

I wonder how many people clicked on this blog and thought it would be something a little different? There is more than enough I could say about charming anyone named Billy! Dare I laugh out loud?

Charming Billy is a National Book Award winner. A New York Times bestseller. A movie (again, one I’ve never seen). So it’s no wonder I could say I tore through this book, devoured it in three day’s time. Standing in line, waiting for a sandwich, I read. Stuck in traffice and stalled at super long red lights, I read. Riding shotgun while Kisa was the commuter King, I read. On hold during a tedius teleconference, I read. You get the point. Every chance I got, this book was raised in front of my face. I even walked on the treadmill, barefoot and still in a skirt, book held high in front of my bobbing eyes. That’s not to say it’s a quick read. It’s not a simple book. In all actuality the language is so beautiful it should be read slowly, a few times over. Take the opening chapter, for example. It’s an entire gossipy conversation about a dead man after his funeral. The mourners who have gathered for a restaurant luncheon begin to discuss the drink that killed our Charming Billy. The vitality and truth of that conversation put me at the table. I was there in the restaurant, listening in, passing the bread, leaning back to let the waiter fill my water glass.
It is at this luncheon that the narrator hears a debate about Billy’s heartbreak and the reason for the drink. Losing the love of his life causes Billy to “tilt that bottle in the air, tossing back more than [his] share.” Okay, I couldn’t resist quoting Natalie! The narrator is Billy’s cousin’s daughter. A clever choice for narrator because she is able to weave in her memories and recollections of stories passed around.

“If you loved him, then you told him at some point that he was killing himself and felt the way his indifference ripped through your affection” (p 4).
“…an alcoholic can always find a reason but never needs one” (p 35).
“I suppose there’ not much sense in trying to measure breadth and depth of your own parents’ romance, the course and tenacity of their love” (p 44). These are my favorite lines.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust, the very first page. In the chapter, “A…My Name is Alice” Pearl lists all the “Alice” authors she adores. Alice McDermott is on the list.

Abyssinian Chronicles

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Abyssinian ChroniclesIsegawa, Moses. Abyssinian Chronicles. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 2000.

This took me absolutely forever to read. In the beginning Athenian Murders seemed more interesting. No, I take that back. It seemed a faster read. Honesty is the best policy. Then, I started Autumn Across America. Juggling two “landscapes” as sweeping as Abyssinian and Autumn wasn’t easy. Both are elaborate, even panoramic, if you will. Very descriptive. But, enough excuses – back to Abyssinian Chronicles.
This is story of Mugezi. It is more than a coming-of-age chronicle. It is Mugezi’s life story from childhood to harsh adulthood in the span of twenty years and the necessary means it took to survive each and every day. In addition, it weaves in the landscape of Uganda, the politics of the 1970s, society, religion, violence,  and the family traditions of African clan. It is panoramic and profound. Isegawa’s language is harsh, his subjects, brutal. For example, the children Mugezi looks after are caller “shitters.” A line that made me laugh outloud was Muzegi’s aunt’s warning to a woman who was letting herself go, “If she did not take care, Nakibuka thought, soon birds would be nesting in her hair, baby hippos snorting in her belly and hyenas rubbing their rumps in her armpits” (p 162). If you are anything like me, you read that sentence and said “whaaaat?” I read it twice, said “whaa?” and then laughed out loud. I have no idea what it means (especially the hyena part) but it was funny. Female cattiness. I can relate to that. But, probably the section I can relate to the most is a tie between politics and family. First, politics: “Local politics were also at work: you never bit the hand that fed you… Consequently, there was much turning of the other cheek and much patience in the hope that everything would turn out right in the end” (p 218). Words I should take to heart in my present situation. Now, family: “Grandpa’s old lawyerly dreams boiled inside me. I felt I had stepped onto holy ground” (p 341). I felt that way when I was training for the Leukemia Society…something about fighting the ghosts of cancer, cradled in my grandmother’s name…

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust and the chapter “Africa: A Reader’s Itinerary” (p 3). While I called Isegawa’s novel panoramic and sweeping Pearl describes it as sprawling and ambitious. Either way it’s 462 pages long. I think you get the point.

Autumn Across America

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redsky.jpg

Teale, Edwin Way. Autumn Across America. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1965.

I’m sure hundreds of books about traveling across the country have been written (I’m thinking specifically of Steinbeck’s Travels With Charley among others), but this is one of my favorites. It is a great combination of science and ecology, history and socialism with personal antidotes sprinkled throughout: a story of a deaf, mute man who lost his dog; the antics of sea otters playing in the surf; pages from John Muir’s diary and lines from Emerson’s poetry, to name a few. You can tell that Teale loves the land and everything above, around, on and in it. He has stories about birds and butterflies, deer and dogs, trees and turtles, flowers and faces. He introduces you to wonderful people, interesting facts. My favorite part, which I read outloud to kisa, involved scaring a pond load of birds only to have them all react in precisely the same way. Not one bird reacted more than another. They all did the exact same thing at the exact same time. I found that so fascinating.

My favorite line, by far, “We had, for the space of a whole glorious autumn, been time-rich” (p 356). Wouldn’t that be nice? Where would you go if you had a whole season to travel in?

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter appropriately called “Nature Writing” (p 173). Pearl writes, “…these books beckon us to emulate Teale’s own travels…” (p 174).

Athenian Murders

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Athenian MurdersSomoza, Jose Carlos. The Athenian Murders: a Novel. New York: Fahar, Straus & Giroux, 2002.

I read a review where a critic described this book as Russian dolls, one larger stacked upon another. It is the most accurate description I can think of. The Athenian Murders is indeed a story within a story within a story. The largest doll story takes place in Greece in the time of Plato. In fact, Plato’s Academy is center stage. Athens is plagued by the mysterious murders of several men and before the city can erupt in terror Hercules, the Decipherer of Enigmas, must solve the who-dunnit. Footnoted within the story is the second story – the nameless translator who has his own story to tell as he translates The Athenian Murders. Of course, there is a twist at the end with another story.
It took me a little while to really “get into” this story. I have to admit, I get annoyed by repetition and the word eidetic – let’s put it this way – eidetic or eidesis is used 50 times in the first 100 pages. Talk about repetition!

I have to ask. Is the scar on the right cheek (as mentioned on page 210), or on the left (p 217)?

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust and the chapter titled “The Classical World” (p 60).

The Guardians

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The GuardiansCastillo, Ana. The Guardians. New York: Random House, 2007.

I received this book as one of those Early Reviewer books from Librarything.
Four different first-person voices tell the story of The Guardian. Regina (middle-aged, sassy entreprenuer looking after her brother’s son, Gabo), Gabo (Regina’s nephew. Serious, religious, older than his 16 years, heaviest on the Spanish, started running with a tough crowd), Miguel (a teacher and activist, has a laid back way of looking at the world around him, sizes people up accurately, has an interest in Regina), El Abuelo Milton (Miguel’s grandfather. He is described as being blind but can see Regina clear enough to call her a Helen of Troy goddess), The voices are accurate for each character. True to the elderly, Milton is always thinking about the past, Miquel remembers his activism days, Gabo searches for religious expression, and Regina tries to hold everything together.

The premise of this story is these four characters join together to solve the mystery of Gabo’s missing father after he disappears while crossing the Mexican border. Intertwined in the plot are political statements about drugs, the environment, gangs, immigration; as well as humanitarian statements about culture, relationships, families and community.

I find it interesting that Regina & Gabo both mention how avocados are the only thing Regina can’t grow in her garden. They also both mention changing the dog’s name. It’s as if both are trying to make excuses for these things.

Literary references mentioned:

  • One Hundred Years of Solitude by Garcia Marquez,
  • 1968: The Year That Rocked the World by Mark Kurlinsky,
  • Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx,
  • The Idiot, Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov and The Gambler by Dostoyevsky,
  • Das Kapital by Karl Marx,
  • The Jungle by Upton Sinclair,
  • The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela,
  • Things Fall Apart by Achebe, and
  • The Second Coming by Yeats.

I know I’m not supposed to quote the book until it’s been published, but I can’t help it. I identified with Regina the most because all my favorite quotes came from her. “Not knowing when you are being teased also comes from being alone for inordinate amounts of time” (p 49). “Not being elegant doesn’t mean you don’t have class” (p 138). “No dream is too big when you are that young” (208).

Absent Friends

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Absent FriendsBusch, Frederick. Absent Friends: Stories. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989.

“From the New World”
Norman is a man returning to his childhood home after his father’s passing to divy up belongings with his sister, his last surviving family member. I found myself yawning through this short story as it’s a well-known plot. Son is disowned for marrying outside his color (although they blame it on something else). His father leaves him $2,000 while his sister, Anna, gets everything else. Norman feels disconnected from Anna. The clever parts: Norman is a film producer so the story is told in script language, from Norman’s p.o.v. One particular scene is played out like a poker game, with conversation acting as the card values – bluffing and backstabbing. My favorite line: from page 61, Tess (Norman’s wife) is talking about love, “that shows you…how chewed up and spat out and stepped on on the sidewalk that word can be.” 

“Ralph the Duck”
You never learn his name. He’s some security / maintenance guy at a college taking classes on the side. He calls himself “the world’s oldest college student” even though he knows he’s not. When he gets a ‘D’ on an assignment (called Ralph the Duck) he lets the disappointment leak out.

“Comrades”
I pictured a tightrope walker when reading this story. The walker carries a pole called “Relationship” and when he waivers to the right he is feeling loving towards his wife. When he teeters to the left, he has animosity. The couple decides to divorce as amicably as possible but the tension and anger is always just below the surface.

“Orbits”
A commentary on getting old. On parenting. On life slipping away, unstoppable. My favorite line, “Her mother limped into the house and they sat in the memory of her tension” (p 100).

“Greetings From a Far-Flung Place”
I could relate to this story. She is a singer in a second rate band. She travels around with a group of men and no one in her family can understand her life. Her sister is married, has a kid, lives the suburban life, and is lonely. Mom is widowed and can understand sis better than singer.

“Naked”
Seen through the eyes of a 13 year old boy. He witnesses adult relationships and experiences changing loyalties. My favorite line, “And I still don’t know if he meant wait for seconds or for years” (p 125).

“In Foreign Tongues”
A group of people in therapy talk their way through their problems outside of sessions. Lonely in the middle of Manhattan.

“Gravity”
The gravity of growing old, getting older. The gravity of weight, of life. The gravity of death. Seriousness and weight.

“Dog Song”
What’s that Harrison Ford movie where he’s a lawyer, gets shot, and has to relearn his life (only to discover he’d been leading the double life of infidelity)? “Dog Song” is like that. Richard is a judge who gets into a horrible car accident (on purpose?). As he slowly remembers the accident, details start to surface. He was in the car with his mistress…

“One More Wave of Fear”
Family life in Brooklyn. One kid’s memory of growing up – from catching squirrels in the attic to going on nature walks with the fam. My favorite line sums up that age, “I didn’t want to be mistaken for someone who cared about birds” (p 201).

“North”
I could mistake “North” for so many things. Kelly divorces her husband because he won’t look North of her female features, She wants to head North – two hours to the Adirondaks – but she doesn’t. “North” is the story of a woman who needs an internal compass.

“Reruns”
“Reruns” was tricky. A doctor’s estranged wife is kidnapped by terrorists in the Middle East. The doctor could care less if she is released but for the sake of his children he plays the part of concerned father. In the end the reader is left wondering how much does he not care?

“Name the Name”
This was actually one of my favorite stories. Told from a traveling teacher’s point of view, he travels to children who can’t be in school for whatever reason. A 12 year old is 7 months pregnant, a girl tries to commit suicide and is on a ventilator, his own son is in jail for nearly two weeks. It’s about commitment and responsibility – owing up to the name.

“To the Hoop”
After his wife commits suicide a father and son struggle to get back on track. Using basketball as for “getting back into the game” both literally and figuratively, both father and son learn to try again. I think this passage sums it up,”He was on the stairs, and something like “good night” trailed his slow and heavy-footed climb. So I was alone, with ham and good intentions, and the usual fears that ranged from drugs to teenage schizophrenia. Jackie had died alone, and in silence. She had left us no word” (p 267).

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust and the chapter “Frederick Busch: Too Good To Miss” (p 48). This is the second collection of short stories I have read from Busch so far.

Abandoned Bride

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Abandoned BrideLayton, Edith. The Disdainful Marquis and The Abandoned Bride. New York: Signet, 2002.

One of the great things about this BookLust challenge is the fact that I get to read so many different and interesting books in order to complete the challenge. The only bad thing is romance novels are included in the list and they certainly are “different”…in other words, not my cup of tea or coffee. I simply don’t read the “bodice rippers” as I call them. They scare me. I can’t get into all that…heaving.
Luckily, out of this double feature paperback I only had to read the Abandoned Bride story, and I did it on another quick trip to Maine this past weekend. Here’s the kicker – this one wasn’t that bad. Okay, so the heroine of the story is stunningly, absolutely, beautiful (I can’t even tell you how many times her beauty was referred to – especially her “moonlight-spun gold hair.”) and the villain (who, of course, turns out to be Mr. Romance) is dashing and “trim.” But, the story really wasn’t that bad. Here’s the premise: Julia (Miss Moonspun Hair, virginal-too-good-to-be-true-at-17-years-old) is set to elope with Robin, a boyishly handsome rich guy. They run away to some lodge where he abruptly leaves her for unknown reasons. Three years later Robin’s uncle, Nick (the dashing, trim, bad guy) “kidnaps” Julia in an effort to get her and Robin together to right past wrongs. Robin is also supposed to take over his father’s inheritance and he can’t do that while he’s running away from the memory of Julia (so he claims). The immediate problem is Robin doesn’t want to be found so Nick must drag Julia, against her will, of course, across the continent looking for Robin.
As you can probably guess, the falling in love of Nick and Julia is predictable and a little silly, but the reason for Robin’s abandonment was an interesting twist. I only figured it out when Robin is finally confronted by Julia.

Here are a few favorite lines: “…the entire stack of books fell open neatly to the middle to reveal that the book covers were false and what lay within them was not pages, but a cleverly designed box containing two decanters and a set of blown crystal glasses. “Ha!” Sir Sidney said with satisfaction. “now this, I think, is what a library is really for.”” (p 102) and “I am leagues in love with you” (p 217).

My only moment of “huh?” was when Julia used a phrase similar to being buttered up and I’d like to know if someone could be flattered in the sense of being “buttered up” in 1815.

BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called, “Romance Novels: Our Love is Here to Stay” (p 203).

Accidental Connoisseur

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Accidental ConnoisseurOsborne, Lawrence. The Accidental Connoisseur: An Irreverent Journey Through the Wine World. New York: Fair Point Press, 2004.

Even though I don’t know much about wine and I probably wouldn’t have picked up this book if it weren’t for the challenge, I had to admit this: ILMAO. Lawrence Osborne has a great deal of fun with the punny, the witty, and the downright funny. Right off the bat, on page four, he had me giggling with “all drinks came under the Arabic word alcohol, essentially reducing them to a level of chemical sin, and none of them could be bought on Sunday.” Especially since we had downed a wine called Evil on vacation, thanks to Stacey. See below for the proof.

Even if you aren’t a wine drinker or even a wine liker, Osborne’s writing will amuse you. He has phrases that are somewhat identifiable as my own, “when the happiness of drinking overwhelms you, you cannot resist it” (p 21) and “Wine is 99% psychological, a creation of where you are and with whom” (p 22). This makes me sound wildly alcoholic, but bear with me a second. Think of any great seduction scene. Who is usually front and center (along with soft music and sexy candlelight)? Partners in  crime – a wine bottle and two wine glasses. I found that a glass of wine is definitely more pleasurable when enjoyed in the presence of good friends and equally good scenery.
Seriously, I learned a lot from this short book. For example, how you space the vines in each row determines the complexity of a wine (according to one grower). The theory is plants with less crowding don’t have to compete for sunlight and growth space. They are more relaxed and get this, less stressed out. You see, the more stressed out a plant is, the more psychotic it is. It’s this aggrivated state that develops the complexity of flavor. Got it? I learned a new wine word, too: terroir. Makes me think of ‘terror’ but whatever.

Other favorite parts: “”what do you taste?” “Grapes,” I said. “Good. That’s what’s in it!”” (p 97)

“If wine is sex, ” I said, “this is like yoga.”
“Yoga? You’re saying it’s like yoga?”… I’m not sure I get you there. You mean athletic?”
“Virtuous. Unsexy.”
“Ah, you mean American!” (p 101)

But, probably my favorite line is an obvious one, “Wine summons ghosts out of the cupboard” (p 228).

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter “A Holiday Shopping List” (p 115). It’s true that I would buy this for the wine lover that I know, only I don’t think he drinks and reads. Is that a problem?
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