Tag: book lust i

Things Fall Apart

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Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Portsmouth: Reed Publishing, Inc. 1992.

achebe I started The Plague (you all have read Albert Camus) before I got sick. Not a good thing while you’re puking as you can surely imagine. So, I’ve started Things Fall Apart, instead. It’s another Booklust choice (of course). My library has a pretty cool edition complete with a list of principal characters, a glossary of terms, a background history of culture, and suggestions for further reading – all before you even get into the story by Achebe. I’m only at the part where it’s announced that Ezeugo, the wife of Ogbuefi, is murdered. Page eight. More later.
12/7/06: Puzzlement: Okonkwo learns that when is father is called, “agbala” it’s not only another name for a woman, but it’s also a term for a man without a title, a purpose. A seemingly derogatory term for sure. But, wait! The Oracle was also called Agbala and people came from all over to consult it. Maybe being called, “agbala” isn’t so bad after all.

Booklust Twist: this is categorized as “African Literature in English” and as a companion read with Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, and King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hoschild (Book Lust, p.15 & 63).

An Unofficial Rose

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Murdoch, Iris. An Unofficial Rose. New York: Viking Press, 1962.

I read this book in practically one night. I have mixed feelings about Murdoch’s Unofficial Rose. For starters, I never felt like I got to know the characters well enough to care about what happened to them. To be honest I was disgusted by them, all of them. The relationships could be broken at a whim. Marriages meant nothing. It reminded me of a throw of the dice. Partnerships came and went, were formed and were broken again. Nothing was permanent or sacred.
The thing I liked the most was the suspense. No one knew who was really being honest with anyone else. I didn’t know where anyone’s true heart was laid. Okay – here’s a spoiler: son wants to run off with his young mistress. He demands money from his father in the form of the sale of a beloved painting just so he can run away with said mistress. Father sells painting, even though it was his prized possession (and the very item he thinks he married his wife for). Son’s wife has a chance at divorce and a new relationship with someone who might love her and she admits loving back. She declines just in case cheating hubby changes his mind and comes back to her. I was irritated with her but I did not know the character enough to care.

Booklust Twist: Nancy Pearl recommends anything and everything by Iris Murdoch (Book Lust, p.162).

Only Daughter (with spoilers)

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Anderson, Jessica. The Only Daughter. New York: Viking, 1980.

Set in Australia 1977, this is another Book Lust choice. I’m only 8 pages in but already I see similarities between my family and the Cornock family. Sisters on the telephone comparing notes on a mother’s behavior, “Did she give you the ‘I’m getting old’ speech?” “Yup.” I’m giggling already. I’m also getting schooled on Australian dialogue. A ‘tick’ is the equivalent of our ‘sec’. “Just a tick” is the same as “Just a sec.” The only annoyance with the book is that there are so many characters (already) that the author was justified in putting a family tree in the beginning of the book.

Edit: 11/30/06 – I have finished the book and there are three things I loved about it: Anderson never needed to spell out everything that happens. She implies and that kept me guessing. One mystery – why was Siddy calling Jack, “son” when Jack died? The characters constantly surprised me. Sylvia, the “only” daughter returns to Sydney (from Rome) coincidentally (?) when her father has had a stroke. She claims she didn’t know he was dying, but… she’s only been gone 20 years and she’s only his favorite child. Suddenly she is back? Get the picture? There is a twist to the will: Sylvia gets the money, but only after her mother dies (which Molly swears she won’t do). I also loved the complexity of all the relationships. Once I got them straight, I loved the power struggles between the sexes, the constant threat of ‘I’m leaving you.’

PS~ Incidentally, the cover of my copy of the book shows a swing and a hat. Probably one of the most powerful scenes in the book, IMO. Guy, a stepson by marriage is testing a rope swing. Jack, the stroke-suffered father is sitting in his wheelchair only yards away. Guy, in an evil attempt to scare his stepfather, swings close enough to kick Jack’s hat off his head. It’s a power struggle that Jack ultimately wins.

Booklust Twist: This is categorized as simply, “Australian fiction” (Book Lust, p.29).

Here First

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Krupat, Arnold, and Brain Swann, eds. Here First: Autobiographical Essays by Native American Writers. New York: Modern Library, 2000.

Here First was, well, here first so I’m reading it first. I’m a little over 100 pages in and my first reaction is voyeurism. I’m peering into lives and seeing cultures I know little to nothing about. There is bitterness in their words, humor on the surface. Poetry in pieces. I’m having a tough time with the prejudice because I’m one of Them (being white) and not them. A perfect example is a favorite quote:
“The neighbor boy pointed to the screen laughing at the hooting Indians being chased by cavalry and told her that she was an “Indian.” I hugged my heartbroken daughter and said, “But you are an Indian.” She told me right back, “But I’m not that kind of Indian.” None of us are.” (Bird, Gloria. Autobiography as Spectacle: An Act of Liberation or the Illusion of Liberation? p65)

Booklust Twist: Categorized as “American Indian Literature”, (Book Lust, p.23).

Last River

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Balf, Todd. Last River: the tragic race for Shangri-La. New York: Crowne Publishers, 2000.

This just came in for me. Not only is this a BookLust mention, but Todd Balf is a Massachusetts man. I’m curious about this (nonfictional) story because I have a near & dear friend who does the whitewater thing. When I’m not worried about him cracking his skull open, I’m proud of him.

EDIT: I’m still reading Here First so River will just have to wait. 11/21/06

11/23/06: I gave up on Here First so I could jump into Last River.
11/25/06: Wanna hear something weird? Back when I first ordered Last River I said I was curious about the story because I have a friend who kayaks. I’m 60 pages into it and already Balf has mentioned HACKS, which my friend is a member (okay, president), and Falls River where my friend lives AND the very house my friend lives in. It doesn’t take much to excite me. I know I won’t see his name in this print, but it thrills me to know I’m delving into his world.

11/27/06: I finished Last River. Once I really started reading I couldn’t put it down. Was it the sense of imminent doom? I did know someone would die tragically. Balf was clever never to let on who would meet his doom on that monstrous river. I think that was part of it, but I think it was more out of fascination for Balf’s respect for the Tsangpo Gorge and everything that went with the October 1998 expedition. I have a deep rooted respect for the places I’ll never see, the things I’ll never do and the dangers I’ll never comprehend. This book opened my eyes to a different way of life: a life challenged and driven and obsessed by whitewater. In the end, I think I understand my friend a little better too.

Booklust Twist: Categorized as “Adventure By the Book” the kayakers are called, “gung-ho”, (Book Lust, p.8).