Fiction – Page 70 – ~*LunaSea*~

Remains of the Day

2014/08/26 gr4c5Leave a comment

Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Read by Simon Prebble. Tantor Audio, 2012.

Stevens is a dignified butler who has been given some well deserved time off from his American employer, Mr. Farraday. Mr. Farraday has also given Stevens the use of his vehicle (including fuel), urging Stevens to take a road trip. But, Remains of the Day isn’t really about the vacation of Stevens, but rather the memory lane Stevens end up traveling down. On his driving tour Stevens thinks back over his years as a butler first with Lord Darlington and then with Mr. Farraday after Farraday purchases Darlington Hall and its contents, including the servants (“the whole experience” as he says). Heavy on Stevens’s mind is his he spent working with housekeeper Miss Kenton and his strained relationship with his now deceased father. All three were employed together with Lord Darlington. I have to admit, as an emotional person, the passing of Stevens’s father and how Stevens reacts was somewhat disturbing. If you read the book, pay attention to when Stevens tells a guest the doctor has been called. The guest thinks Stevens has called the doctor for his ailing feet (for he had just asked Stevens for bandages) and Stevens lets him think as much even though his father has just died, the real reason for the call.
Remains of the Day is more flashbacks than present day story. Stevens takes you on a journey to discover what it means to have dignity. He reveals a world where being proper is more important than having sentiment. He explores the meaning of loyalty not only to an employer, but to oneself.

Reason read: This is a companion read to A Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee (which does not take place in Sri Lanka. See BookLust Twist for further details) but August is the bets time to visit Sri Lanka, or so I am told.

Author fact: This is Ishiguro’s third novel.

Narrator trivia: this is the second audio book I have listened to narrated by Simon Prebble. The first was Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

Book trivia: Remains of the Day was made into a movie in 1993 and starred Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. It received eight Academy Award nominations. Not too shabby. This is definitely one I want to put on my list to see.

BookLust Twist: Mentioned more than one in Book Lust and then again in More Book Lust. In Book Lust in the chapter called “Companion Reads” (p 65) – which is why I am reading Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee at the same time. Also, in the chapter called “100 Good Reads, Decade By Decade (1980s)” (p 179). Remains of the Day is also from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Sri Lanka: Exotic and Troubled” (p 212). Interestingly enough, Remains of the Day has nothing to do with Sri Lanka and is only mentioned in this chapter to describe the style of another book.

As an aside, I plan to go through all Book Lusts (Book Lust, More Book Lust and Book Lust To Go) to see how many books have nothing to do with the chapter they are mentioned in. I am curious to see how many books that eliminates – not that I won’t read them…

Briar Rose

2014/08/25 gr4c55 Comments

Yolen, Jane. Briar Rose. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2002.

Don’t let this book fool you. It may be young adult. It may be a quick read, but the subject matter and the crafty way in which it was written is absolutely brilliant. On her deathbed, Grandma “Gemma” makes youngest granddaughter, Becca, promise to learn the story of Gemma’s past. She claims to be the real Briar Rose. Along with her two older sisters, Becca has heard the fairy tale of Briar Rose/Sleeping Beauty all her life. It’s the only bedtime story Gemma would ever tell. Now Becca believes there is some similarities between the princess and her very own grandmother. Could Gemma really be Sleeping Beauty? Keeping the promise she made to her grandmother and with the help of a journalist friend, Becca sets out to uncover the mystery. The clues take her to Poland, specifically Chelmno, Hitler’s extermination camp during the Holocaust. Becca meets Josef Potacki and the pieces fall into place. Woven throughout Becca’s story is Gemma’s bedtime story and Josef’s story of survival. The present and past mesh together to tell a deeply moving tale of courage and love.

Quote that grabbed me, “It was hard not to be sacrificed when the other man was the one in power” (p 173).

My only gripe? The brand name dropping to indicate one of the sister’s wealth. Vuitton. Mercedes. Ferragamo. The sisters themselves factored so little in the story it would have suffice to say the mink coat wearing one was extremely wealthy and couldn’t be bothered with her grandmother’s mystery.

As an aside, There was a part in Briar Rose where I was reminded of Dave Matthews, “A hundred years is forever when you’re just a little kid.” See if you can find that place in the book.

Reason read: this was thrown on the August list because I needed something short to take to Colorado with me, but ended up reading it over the weekend…just before leaving! Read in honor of a Polish Music Festival that takes place in August.

Author fact: I don’t know where to begin with Ms. Yolen. Right away, I could tell she knew my part of the world (the mention of Cabot Street in Holyoke was the first clue but Jessie’s House, School Street, and the Polish Club were dead give aways). But, once I visited her website I was blown away. She has won too many award to mention here. Just visit her site for yourself.

Book trivia: Briar Rose won the Mythopoeic Society Fantasy Award and was nominated for a Nebula in 1993.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust to Go in the chapter called “Polish Up Your Polish” (p 183).

Bloodlines

2014/08/19 gr4c5Leave a comment

Conant, Susan. Bloodlines. New York: A Perfect Crime Book, 1992.

This is one of those quick reads that you almost feel like reading over again because it goes by so fast. Holly Winter is a writer who has a column about dogs. In her spare time she trains, shows and is obsessed with Alaskan malamutes. Be prepared for overkill. Holly is extremely passionate about dogs of all kinds and loathes puppy mills. When she discovers a malamute for sale at a pet shop she just knows the dog came from a puppy mill. Only going to investigate the malamute, Holly gets caught up in a mystery when the owner of the pet shop is brutally murdered and the malamute goes missing. Holly is straight out of Murder, She Wrote as she tackles solving the crime by tangling with tough guys and other shady characters.

Confessional: I get snagged by repetitiveness. If something occurs too often *in any situation and not just books* it sticks out like a throbbing thumb to me. In this case, Holly Winter’s condescending tone when she is explaining something. Here’s what I mean. These are direct quotes from the book:

“You know her? If you don’t know what I knew…”
“Maybe you don’t know the breed.”
“You may not realize.”
“Maybe you’ll understand. If not I’d better explain.”
“Doesn’t everyone know this? Maybe not.”
“In case you didn’t know…”
“If you know anything about obedience…”
“In case you’ve spent the last two years exiled…let me explain.”
“Before I tell you…I want to make sure that, in case you are a newcomer, you understand something…”
“In case you aren’t a specialist in AKC regulations, let me explain.”
“You probably don’t need a translation but just in case…”
“You do know about that, don’t you?”
“You do know how to read a pedigree, don’t you?”
“Stranger around here?”
“You know what a palindrome is, don’t you?”
“Have I lost you?”
“…in case I’ve lost you…”
“You know what an Elkhound is?”

And the list goes on and on. It happens enough times that it sticks out to me. The more it sticks out, the more I am aware of it…and it drives me crazy.

Reason read: Dog Day is August 26th.

Author fact: Conant won the Maxwell Award for Fiction Writing in 1991. By the titles of her books you can tell she is a huge dog lover.

Book trivia: While I was bogged down by how didactic Holly could be, other people complained about how “preachy” she was about puppy mills. For some reason that was more forgivable to me. People tend to write about what they know. It’s obvious Conant has strong opinions about puppy mills so she’s going to express those opinions through Holly.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter “I Love a Mystery” (p 118).

Beirut Blues

2014/08/18 gr4c5Leave a comment

al-Shaykh, Hanan. Beirut Blues. Translated by Catherine Cobham. New York: Anchor Book, 1995.

In the beginning, reading Beirut Blues seems like being dropped in the middle of a multi-person conversation without knowing who is involved or what they are talking about. There is a tedium to filling in the gaps as you are reading. With “Dear —” it is obvious from the beginning someone is writing a letter. It takes a little deduction to figure out who is writing the letter and who is her intended audience. There is a lot to fill in within the lines. But, throughout Asmahan’s letters there is passionate reverberation and a running commentary on her beloved Beirut before, during and after the civil war. Most of these letters will probably never reach their intended audience and that fact adds another layer of mystery to them. One of the saddest letters to read is the one Asmahan writes to her grandmother. She focuses on her grandfather’s emotional and physical ~~relationship~~ romance with a much younger girl. It becomes startling clear when Asmahan sees the girl’s bruises and pictures her grandfather leaving them on his young lover. It’s a rude awakening to a different culture. Other poignant letters include ones to the war and to the land of Beirut. But, my favorite part was the end, when Asmahan has to decide whether or not to leave war torn Beirut for France to be with her married lover. It’s a scene rife with indecision and torn loyalties.

Probably my biggest gripe about Beirut Blues is the sheer number of people mentioned in Asmahan’s letters. I have kept a running list of the names dropped: Afaf, Ali, Aida, Bassam, Fadila, Fatima, George, Hayat, Hussein, Hasoun, Isaf, Jill, Jummana, Juhayna, Jawad, Kazim, Karki, Lalya, Munir, Morrell, Mustafa, Musa, Naima, Naser, Nizar, Nikola, Nadine, Ricardo, Simon, Salim, the Spaniard, Suma, Safiyya, Vera, Yvette, Zaynab, Zemzem, Zakiyya (not counting grandmother and grandfather) and I know I have missed a few. To my ignorant American ears these names are confusing. For all I know they are not only the proper names of people but of places as well.

Line I liked, “My appeal, even my normal liveliness, must have deserted me” (p 64). Here’s another: “I expected some burning emotion to be rekindled between us, but the kiss ended quickly and there was no aftermath” (p 72). And another: “…instead you sing the reality you live” (p 135). Last one, “Coming to this school, having new shoes and a mother in America, seemed to put a gleam on my mind as if I had polished it with almond oil” (p 170).

Reason read: August 15th is the official Lebanese holiday Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

Author fact: Another al-Shaykh book on my challenge list is Women of Sand and Myrrh. I’m looking forward to reading it.

Book trivia: This is a book that requires a little patience to read. There is no pulse pounding plot, nor dilemma a hero must solve before the last page.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Leavened in Lebanon” (p 130).

Absolute Zero

2014/08/132014/10/15 gr4c51 Comment

Cresswell, Helen. Absolute Zero. Read by Clive Mantle. North Kingston, Rhode Island: BBC Audio, 2007.

As discovered in Ordinary Jack the Bagthorpe family is highly competitive. When we meet up with them in Absolute Zero they have taken their one-upman-ship to a whole new level by entering as many different contests as possible. Uncle Parker begins it all when he enters a slogan competition and it snowballs from there. As each member begins to win something they become known as celebrities. Their fame grows to the point of commercials and live television. But, who knew Zero the dog would take center stage? As with Ordinary Jack hilarity ensues, especially when little cousin Daisy Parker moves on from pyromania to an obsession with water. I’ll say no more.

Reason read: Absolute Zero continues the Bagthorpe series started in July in honor of National Kids Month

Author fact: Cresswell was involved with writing television scripts and that comes out a little in Absolute Zero.

Book trivia: the audio is read by Clive Mantle and I have to admit, he had me laughing with his accents.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Best for Boys and Girls” (p 21). I should note that Pearl suggested reading all of the Bagthorpe books in the series, but since they weren’t individually indexed, per my rules, I am skipping them.

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister

2014/08/12 gr4c5Leave a comment

Maguire, Gregory. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. Read by Jenny Sterlin. New York: Recorded Books, 2000.

Maguire likes to shake things up. We all know the story of Cinderella: ugly and horrid stepsisters, raging and sinister stepmother, glass slipper, dashing prince, yada, yada, yada. Maguire unhinges these characters, as if from a magic box, and sets them down as completely different entities. I think in order to enjoy Maguire’s adaptation of any fairytale you have to throw out everything you think you know about the villain and start over. He is adamant that every “bad guy” has a reason for his or her unpleasantness. Take the wicked stepmother in Cinderella. In Maguire’s Confessions her husband has been murdered. Fleeing England with her two small daughters she lands penniless in Holland. She has to rely on the kindness of strangers to feed three mouths and she is savvy enough to know her daughter (Iris and Ruth) are too ugly to be married off to wealthy suitors. They are going to need significant dowries if they are going to attract any man at all. She might not be the nicest of mothers, but it is obvious she is trying to look out for her children and herself. Survival of the fittest. In Maguires’ tale, Iris and Cinderella (known as Clara here) are tolerated friends. They even grow to care about one another. Of course there is a prince but the twist here is that he is intrigued by ugly stepsister Iris because she is witty and can carry on a conversation, unlike the throngs of pretty girls his mother has set him up to meet.
Probably the most interesting spin on Maguire’s take on Cinderella is the commerce side of the times. The tulip trade and art world of Holland play prominent roles in the story. Real events surrounding the crash of the tulip trade and actual artists of the region are cleverly portrayed. My favorite part is when Iris takes an interest in painting and takes lessons with the Master. Turns out, she’s not half bad!

Reason read: August is National Fairy Tale month.

Author fact: Maguire has roots in Albany, New York.

Book trivia: Confessions is Maguire’s second book. The illustrations are amazing (print version, of course).

Audio trivia: Jenny Sterlin does a great job with the accents.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Fractured Fairy Tales” (p 94).

Long Way From Home

2014/08/10 gr4c5Leave a comment

Busch, Frederick. Long Way From Home.New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1993.

How to describe Long Way From Home? Part dark fairytale, part family drama, part commentary on mothers and adoption? All of the above. Each section of the book is separated by a familiar drawing of Mother Goose, looking quite witchy. It sets a subliminal tone. But, onto the plot: Pennsylvanian Sarah has been wanting to reach out to her biological mother for some time. An ad promising a possible reunion prompts her to abandon all common sense as well as her husband and son. Husband, Barrett, convinced he knows where she went, dumps five year old Stephen with his New York in-laws and sets off for the southwest. Meanwhile, biological mom Gloria is cooking up home remedy concoctions and getting ready to kidnap her new-found grandson. Each character is obviously searching for something other than the obvious. Each are on a self destructive path.
My one complaint? You don’t really get to know the characters well enough to understand their motives or really care. Except Stephen. Little five year old Stephen is exactly how you would expect a boy with a mentally unstable mother and a neutered father. Only grandmother Lizzie remains a solid, reliable presence in his life.

Line I liked, “You think you don’t leave a trace, she thought, and then you’re found” (p 42).

Reason read: August is Busch’s birth month. Nothing fancier than that.

Author fact: Frederick Busch was a New York man through and through. He was born there and died there.

Book trivia: Grandmother Lizzie Bean appears in two other Busch tales, Rounds (1979) and Sometimes I Live in the Country (1986).

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Frederick Busch: Too Good To Miss” (p 48).

Caroline’s Daughters

2014/08/05 gr4c5Leave a comment

Adams, Alice. Caroline’s Daughters. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1991.

I have to preface this by saying this was a very quick read. The characters keep you glued to the page. One of the major themes of Adams’s Caroline’s Daughters is dissatisfaction. To start with, Caroline has five daughters from three different marriages and each one couldn’t be more different from the another. The only thing they really have in common, besides their biological mother, is the need for something more in their lives. Eldest daughter Sage is a failing ceramics artist with a philandering husband. What disturbed me about her story is that everyone around her knows her husband is a cheat but no one has that conversation with her. Overweight Liza is mother to three but wants to be a writer. She is the only one who is truly satisfied, relationship-wise…at least she thinks she is (stay tuned). Fiona is a restauranteur who really doesn’t like food and can’t keep a boyfriend. Jill, as a stockbroker lawyer, is fixated on wealth so much so she has prostituted herself for the excitement and extra cash. Portia, the youngest, simply doesn’t know what she wants. Her sexuality as well as her entire life is ambiguous. True to all sibling rivalries, there is competition and jealousy among all five of them. In the midst of all this chaos is Caroline, powerless to help her daughters find their way. She has her own drama to deal with when her third husband suffers a debilitating stroke.
In addition to be a commentary on dissatisfaction, families and mother-daughter relationships, Caroline’s Daughters is a sharp look at San Francisco’s culture in the 1990s. Politics, economics, AIDS and sexuality are all common themes. It was interesting how many times Adams had a character wonder if someone in her life was gay or not.

Line that I liked, “However, despite herself she finds that she is hurrying faster, rushing against the possibility that this man could be someone she knows” (p 237). Adams is talking about the homeless, something San Francisco, as well as every other major city in the U.S., needs to address. Liza’s reaction to the homeless man is pretty typical of the wealthy.

Reason read: August is Adams’s birth month.

Author fact: There is a 1935 movie by the name of Alice Adams but it has nothing to do with author Alice Adams.

Book trivia: Caroline’s Daughters was published eight years before Adams’s death in 1999.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “A…Is For Alice” (p 1).

Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Terius

2014/08/04 gr4c5Leave a comment

Borges, Jorge Luis. “Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Terius.” Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings. Translated. New York: New Directions, 1964.

With Uqbar being this elusive place I came to think of it as a Brigadoon of sorts. Borges opens the short story with this line, “I owe the discovery of Uqbar to the conjunction of a mirror and an encyclopaedia” (p3). But, the 11th volume of the encyclopaedia is quite the mystery. Tlon is a nonexistent country and Orbis Tertius is a planet with an unknown history. Does it really exist? The first person narrative struggles to learn more about this unusual place and has come to the conclusion it is a psychologically governed land that consists of a secret society comprised of arts and intellectuals.

Reason read: Borges was born in the month of August. Read in his honor.

Book trivia…I mean short story trivia: This is only 16 pages long. a very quick read (although I read it several times as there is a lot going on).

Author fact: Borges’s full name was Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges. Awesome name.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Travel to Imaginary Places” (p 236).

The August List

2014/07/30 gr4c5Leave a comment

I have no idea what is in store for August. I didn’t have any vacations planned. I didn’t have any stay-at-home plans. This was a month of wide open schedules with little to no expectation. However, and this is a BIG however, I was supposed to see Natalie Merchant twice in July. Due to illness the rest of her ~~summer~~ July tour dates were postponed with the promise of an attempt to reschedule. So. I thought of August. No luck, but the month did become just a little more interesting with a trip to Maine. And speaking of interesting, here’s the book list. It’s huge so I would like to think August is going to be filled with la-hazy days reading pool-side:

Beirut Blues by Hanan al-Shaykh
Caroline’s Daughters by Alice Adams
Fordlandia by Greg Gandin
Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee
“Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” a short story from Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
Long Way From Home by Frederick Busch
Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro*
ADDED: Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
ADDED: Absolute Zero by Helen Cresswell (to finish the series)

*Audio book Here is how the rest of year eight should go:

Andorra by Peter Cameron (November)
Any Four Women Can Rob the Bank of Italy by Ann Cornelisen (November)
Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman (September)
Beaufort by Ron Leshem* (November)
Bluebird Canyon by Dan McCall (September)
Captain Sir Richard Burton by Edward Rice (October)
Cradle of Gold by Christopher Heaney (November)
Culture of Disbelief by Stephen Carter (October)
Eye of the World by Robert Jordan* (October)
Grass Dancer by Susan Power (November)
History Man by Malcolm Bradbury (September)
In a Strange City by Laura Lippman (October)
Raw Silk by Janet Burroway (September)
Thousand Ways to Please a Husband by Weaver/LeCron (September)
You Get What You Pay For by Larry Beinhart (November)

*Planned as audio books

FINISHED:

After the Dance by Edwidge Danticat
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow*
Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin*
Angels Weep by Wilbur Smith
Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler.
Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
Art Student’s War by Brad Leithauser
Benjamin Franklin: an American Life by Walter Isaacson
Bring Me a Unicorn by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks*
Black Lamb and Gray Falcon by Rebecca West (DNF)
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
Cabin Fever by Elizabeth Jolley
Careless Love by Peter Gurlnink
Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks
Civil Action by Jonathan Harr
Dancer and the Thief by Antonio Skarmeta
Dancer with Bruised Knees by Lynne McFall
Dark Sun by Richard Rhodes (DNF)
Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan*
Earthly Possessions by Anne Tyler
Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder
Faith Fox by Jane Gardam
Falcon Flies by Wilbur Smith*
Feast of Love by Charles Baxter
First Man by Albert Camus
Flower and the Nettle by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
French Revolutions* by Tim Moore.
Georges’ Wife by Elizabeth Jolley
Herzog by Saul Bellow
Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
House of Morgan by Ron Chernow – attempted
Illumination Night by Alice Hoffman
In the Graveyard of Empires by Scott Jones*
Inside Passage by Michael Modzelewski
Inspector Ghote Breaks an Egg by H.R.F. Keating
It Looked Like Forever by Mark Harris
Last Train to Memphis by Peter Guralink
Leopard Hunts in the Darkness by Wilbur Smith
Life in the Air Ocean by Sylvia Foley
Lotus Eaters by Tatjani Soli
Lulu in Hollywood by Louise Brooks
Men of Men by Wilbur Smith
Neighborhood Heroes: Life Lessons from the Greatest Generation by Morgan Rielly
Now Read This II by Nancy Pearl
Ocean of Words by Ha Jin
Oedipus by Sophocles
Palladian Days by Sally Gable*
ADDED: Price of Silence by Liza Long (an Early Review book for LibraryThing)
Professor and the Housekeeper by Yoko Ogawa
Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald
Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell
Rose of Martinique by Andrea Stuart
Run or Die by Kilian Jornet
Running for Mortals by John Bingham
Seeing in the Dark by Timothy Ferris
Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff
Thrush Green by Miss Read*
Transcriptionist by Amy Rowland
War Within and Without by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Wildwater Walking Club by Claire Cook.
Winners and Losers by Martin Quigley
Zero Days by Barbara Egbert

Poetry:

“Aftermath” ~ a poem by Siegfried Sassoon
“Romance” ~ a poem by W.J. Turner
“Kubla Khan” ~ a poem by Samuel T. Coleridge

Short Stories:

“The Huckabuck Family” by Carl Sandburg
“How to Revitalize the Snake in Your Life” by Hannah Tinti
“Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury
“Thirty Year Old Women Do Not Always Come Home” by Mark Winegardner
“Birdland” by Michael Knight
“Killer Inside Me” by Jim Thompson
“Down There” by David Goodis
“Crossing the Craton” by John McPhee.
Lukudi by Adrianne Harun
The Eighth Sleeper of Ephesus also by Adrianne Harun

For another year (because, as I said before, I screwed up):

Hall of a Thousand Columns by Tim Mackintosh-Smith.

Ordinary Jack

2014/07/23 gr4c5Leave a comment

Cresswell, Helen. Ordinary Jack.New York: Macmillan Publishing, Co., 1977.

Jack Matthew Bagthorpe is one of four Bagthorpe children. He is convinced he is the ordinary one because all of his siblings have special talents or are considered “genius” except him. They are either mathematical, musical or sporty. Middle child Jack is none of these things. He (and his dog Zero) are practically ignored or shunned because of their lack of specialness. An accomplishment is a string in someone’s bow and Jack didn’t have a one. Uncle Parker is keen to Jack’s plight and sets out to make him extraordinary. Uncle Parker has decided Jack’s hidden talent will be the gift of prophecy, and later, of dowsing. The funny thing is, the Bagthorpe family come completely unglued when Jack’s “prophesies” start to come true. Of course, there is mayhem at the end. My favorite part is when Zero learns how to fetch. The family is completely dumbfounded by the event. You have to feel sorry for the dog!

Favorite line, “‘I have been given that information at least three times in the last hour and am by now in perfect possession of it'” (p 12).

Reason read: July is National Kids Month

Author fact: Cresswell also wrote for television.

Book trivia: Ordinary Jack is the first in the Bagthorpe Saga. I am only reading one other book in the series.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called ” Best for Boys and Girls” (p 21).

Faith Fox

2014/07/22 gr4c5Leave a comment

Gardam, Jane. Faith Fox. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003.

While the title of this book is Faith Fox, Faith is not the star of the show. The real star is her deceased mother, Holly. Holly Fox died of a blood clot while giving birth to Faith and her passing devastates everyone who knew her. Holly’s overly loving mother, Thomasina, can’t face the newborn who killed her daughter so she runs away with a widower, not even attending Holly’s funeral. Then there is Holly’s overworked doctor husband, Andrew, who can’t deal with a newborn emotionally or physically. He decides to cart the baby off to his brother Jack’s Tibetan commune in northern England. There, Andrew reconnects with his pre-Holly love interest, Jocasta (now married to Andrew’s brother, Jack). It is all of these characters that make Faith Fox so interesting. Threaded throughout the story is the push-pull struggle of north versus south England. Underlying prejudices shape certain characters and their behaviors.
This is one of those books you have to read carefully or else you might miss something. Gardam’s language is conversational, almost conspiratorial. It’s as if she is leaning in and speaking under her breath, all in a rush to tell you all the dirty secrets.

Reason read: Jane Gardam’s birth month is July.

Author fact: In 1999 Gardam was awarded the Heywood Hill Literary Prize for a lifetime’s commitment to literature.

Book trivia: This has been described as a “comedy of manners” in more than one review.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Jane Gardam: Too Good To Miss” (p 96).

Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

2014/07/172019/10/07 gr4c5Leave a comment

Richler, Mordecai. The Apprenticeship of Mordecai Richler. New York: Washington Square Press, 1959.

Duddy Kravitz is a third generation Jewish immigrant who reminds me of Kevin Spacey’s character in House of Cards. Although Duddy is only a teenager growing up in 1950s Montreal, he is amoral, scheming, conniving, sly, and even amusing. He goes after what he wants with a corrupt, combative, yet subtle bully air just like a well trained politician. He knows how to hustle for jobs while hustling people at the same time. No one is immune to his charms or betrayals. At the heart of the story Duddy has plans to own land because, in his mind, that is the only way he can be sure he will be Somebody in the end. He’ll steamroll over anybody and everybody to get what he wants. His pride won’t let him be human. In the end, Duddy ultimately becomes Richler’s mouthpiece for topics such as greed, politics, religion and family and you can’t help but admire Duddy’s tenacity no matter how much you hate his moral character. Just like Frank Underwood, he is a begrudgingly likeable villain.

Best lines, “He had a smile that melted the rubber bands in the girls’ panties left, right and center (p 150) and “The higher you climbed up splendid tree-lined streets the thicker the ivy, the more massive the mansions, and the more important the man inside (p 196).

Reason read: Canada Day is celebrated in July.

Author fact: Richler is known for his satire.

Book trivia: Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz was made into a movie in 1974 and starred Richard Dreyfuss. Yup. I could see that.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter “Canadian Fiction” (p 50).

Charlotte Gray

2014/07/082014/07/15 gr4c5Leave a comment

Faulks, Sebastian. Charlotte Gray. New York: Vintage International, 1998.

Charlotte Gray is a independent Scottish woman determined to make a difference in the effort to liberate France during the Nazi occupation of World War II. Starting out as a receptionist for a doctor in London, she quickly realizes she is meant for bigger and better things after she meets RAF pilot Peter Gregory. Falling hopelessly in love with him after a short yet passionate affair, she is determined to find him after his plane goes down behind enemy lines. Dyeing her hair and assuming a new identity is only the beginning for Charlotte, especially after she assumes the role of live-in housemaid to an ailing and eccentric Jewish artist. Throughout Charlotte’s search for Peter she is faced with many harsh realities about war and her own past. The big mystery is whether or not she will find peace or Peter or both.

Quotes I liked, “It’s the normalcy of everything that seems so treacherous” (p 161) and “Memory is the only thing that binds you to earlier selves; for the rest you become an entirely different being every decade or so, sloughing off the old persona, renewing and moving on” (p 379).

Reason read: to continue Faulks’s story (started with Birdsong in June).

Author fact: at the time of Charlotte Gray’s publishing, Faulks lived in London, England.

Book trivia: Even though Charlotte Gray ends the trilogy, it could be read independent of The Girl at Lion d’Or and Birdsong. Even though minor characters are the same, the story lines are different enough. However, the mention of Stephen Wraysford was like meeting an old friend in a foreign city.

Another book trivia: Charlotte Gray won the “Bad Sex” award but I happen to think the sex in Birdsong was more titillating.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Sex and the Single Reader” (p 219). Charlotte Gray was lumped into the final paragraph because it was nominated for Britain’s annual Literary Review Best Bad Sex in Fiction Award. Faulks won in 1998.

“Eighth Sleeper of Ephesus”

2014/07/03 gr4c5Leave a comment

Harun, Adrienne. “The Eighth Sleeper of Ephesus.” The King of Limbo. New York: Overlook Press, 2001.

This is such an interesting story! Frank Cocokowski is a reclusive and strange man. Alone with his thoughts in a big house he barely leaves, Frank begins a slow descent into madness. His only link to the outside world is by reading his estranged son’s small town newspaper. An article in the Salish Bay newspaper prompts Frank to write a letter of outrage to the editor. Only Frank knows nothing of Salish Bay or its problems. He poses as Andrew Glenn, a one-time resident of Salish Bay opposing the construction of a new development. His letter is so well articulated he soon gains a following and stops the construction. He then receives a weekly column in the paper. Needless to say, things become more complicated for Frank.

Best line, “Frank’s heart beat as mercilessly as if he had just entered the town naked on a horse” (p 71).

Reason read: June is short story month and this is the very last shorty I will be reading!

Story trivia: The Eighth Sleeper of Ephesus won the Nelson Algren Award.

Author fact: Everyone describes Harun’s writing as elegant and beautiful. I would say haunting because they creep up on you, silent as a ghost, and leave you with a shiver.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Good Things Come in Small Packages” (p 103).