Nampally Road
Posted: 2020/05/29 Filed under: Book Reviews, E-Books, Fiction, Lust To Go | Tags: 2020, book lust iii, book review, Fiction, india, may, Meena Alexander, political Leave a commentAlexander, Meena. Nampally Road. San Francisco: Mercury House, 1991.
Reason read: In honor of the International Flower Festival, held in the month of May.
While barely one hundred pages long, Nampally Road shouts a clear message of India. Protagonist and poet, Mira Kannadical returns to Hyderabad, India after four years studying in England. She has come home to teach poetry, but finds her neighborhood in a constant state of civil unrest; a battle field where violence and tear gas clouds are everyday occurrences. Police brutality and political corruption hold the community in paralyzed fear, especially after a woman is gang-raped by police officers and left for dead in a prison cell. Not many are willing to rock the boat after a group of orange sellers are attacked for protesting taxes. Mira is dating an activist who thinks differently. This suspends Mira in conflict as she tries to reconcile her beliefs with the changes of modern India.
Quotes to quote, “It was if the bloodshed in the afternoon already belonged in another country” (p 9) “I suffered from dislocation” (p 29), and “He died a safe death, in another country, under the gentle shade of the tamarind tree” (p 96).
Author fact: Alexander has written a great deal of poetry, but Nampally Road was her first novel. She died in 2018.
Book trivia: Illustrations are by Pablo Haz.
Nancy said: Pearl included Nampally Road as a book “by Indian writers (many of whom now live in England, Canada, or the United States” (p 127).
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “India: A Reader’s Itinerary (Fiction)” (p 125).
Catastrophist
Posted: 2020/01/21 Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust I, E-Books, Fiction | Tags: 2020, africa, book lust i, book review, e-book, Fiction, historical, january, political, Ronan Bennett Leave a commentBennett, Ronan. The Catastrophist: a Novel. New york: Simon & Schuster, 1997.
Reason read: Bennett celebrates a birthday in January.
The underlying theme of this political thriller is the mistiming of love. One is already more ready than the other to give into the insecurities of love…until they are not. Compared over and over to Graham Greene, Bennett’s Catastrophist is character driven and full of political intrigue. Irish novelist James Gillespie tells the story of his journey to the Belgian Congo to follow his Italian girlfriend, Ines. As an ambitious journalist, she is covering the Congolese struggle for independence. Once the passion of her life, now she has little time or patience for James. Meanwhile, his romantic pendulum has swung in the other direction, clinging to a newfound adoration obsession for Ines. I found their relationship to be shallow and self-serving. But, no matter. James gets caught up in the politics and befriends all the wrong people, pushing Ines further away. When she takes up with another man, it appears all hope is lost for reconciliation with James…and yet, James is blindly willing to go to unbelievably remarkable lengths to show his devotion.
Line I really, really liked and just had to quote, “The apartment reeked of our estrangement” (p 160). One more, “He was too absorbed in disguising his own failure, from me, from himself” (p 206).
Author fact: Bennett has written a plethora of other books, but I am only reading The Catastrophist for the Challenge. Additionally, I read somewhere that Bennett had trouble with the law throughout his life, including accusations of murder, armed robbery, and conspiracy.
Book trivia: this should be a movie. There is certainly enough sex and violence to make it a thriller. There was talk of making a movie, but I’m not sure it ever got off the ground.
Nancy said: Pearl called The Catastrophist a “political thriller” and suggested it should be read with Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “African Colonialism (fiction)” (p 15).
Without Fail
Posted: 2019/12/17 Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust II, Fiction | Tags: 2019, book lust ii, book review, crime, december, Fiction, Lee Child, murder, mystery, political, series Leave a commentChild, Lee. Without Fail. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2002
Reason read: to continue the series started in July in honor of New York becoming a state…never mind the connection. Just go with it.
When we catch up to Jack Reacher this time, he is in Atlantic City. But, not for very long. He somehow finds himself in Washington D.C., approached by a Secret Service agent who needs his help. Another damsel in distress. This one has ties to his dead brother, so how can he say no? Agent M.E. Froelich wants, errr no, needs to test the holes in her security detail guarding the newly elected vice-president, Brook Armstrong. She tells Reacher she’s just a girl playing in a competitive man’s world and those resentful men? They’re all out to get her; prove she’s horrible at her job. What Reacher doesn’t know is this isn’t really a test. No one is bitter about Froelich’s position. Instead, Vice President Armstrong has been receiving very real death threats. Now Reacher is in it deep and he can’t back out. He needs to figure out who is behind the threats before the vice president is assassinated. The clock is ticking…
A few annoyances. This is the first time I have to agree with Pearl. She said you didn’t need to read the Reacher series in order. I agree because in Without Fail Reacher asserts he has never owned anything. Not true. In Echo Burning he unloaded a house previously left to him by a military mentor. In truth he owned that.
Second annoyance. Froelich. She is Joe Reacher’s former lover. She is definitely not over the breakup (as he left her) and even less over Joe’s death. She talks a tough talk but every other second she’s bringing up Joe. She weirdly blames Jack for everything. As a member of the secret service I thought she would be a little tougher than that.
Author fact: Did I ever mention that, according to Child’s website, he also is 6’4″ just like his character, Jack Reacher? Hmmmm…
Book trivia: Without Fail is the sixth book in the Reacher series.
Nancy said: Nothing specific about Without Fail.
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Lee Child: Too Good To Miss” (p 42).
September Psycho
Posted: 2019/10/07 Filed under: audio book, E-Books, Early Review, Fiction, NonFiction | Tags: australia, biography, childhood, coming of age, crime, david chadwick, Early Review, Fiction, football, Geraldine Brooks, horror, Irving Stone, Isaac Asimov, japan, Lee Child, Letters, librarything, Madj Hoomin, memoir, Michelangelo, middle east, movie, mystery, NonFiction, political, science fiction, series, sports, Stephen King, Tony Earley, travel, ward just Leave a commentI don’t even know where to begin with September. It was the month from hell in more ways than one. The only good news is that I was able to run twice as many miles as last month. That counts for something as it saves my sanity just a little bit more than if I didn’t do anything at all.
Here are the books:
Fiction:
- In the City of Fear by Ward Just
- Jim, The Boy by Tony Earley
- The Shining by Stephen King
Nonfiction:
- Thank You and OK! by David Chadwick
- Foreign Correspondence by Geraldine Brooks
- Ayatollah Begs to Differ by Madj Hoomin
- Agony and Ecstasy by Irving Stone
Series continuations:
- Tripwire by Lee Child
- Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov
Early Review for LibraryThing:
- My Life on the Line by Ryan O’Callaghan
In the City of Fear
Posted: 2019/09/17 Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust I, Fiction | Tags: 2019, book lust i, book review, Fiction, political, september, vietnam, ward just Leave a commentJust, Ward. In the City of Fear. New York: Viking Press, 1982.
Reason read: Ward Just’s birth month is in September. Read in his honor.
The political arena of Washington D.C. sets the stage for Ward Just’s In the City of Fear. Amidst the unwinnable war in Vietnam those in charge are growing more and more afraid. Politicians, military personnel, newspaper bigwigs, even rich housewives are caught up in the confusion and distrust. Their public society has turned into one of late night secret meetings and closed door whisperings. At the center of the story is confusion and distrust of another kind: a love triangle. Congressman Piatt Warden turns a blind eye to what really matters around him while Sam Joyce, an army colonel stays faithful to a woman he can’t have, Piatt’s wife, Marina.
For me, the most profound scene was the funeral at the end. The scene laid bare all the harsh realities of saying goodbye to the deceased; each mourner trying to stake a claim as the widow, the father, the sibling, the best friend, or colleague. Who knew the departed best? Who loved him most?
Admittedly, I had a crush on Sam Joyce. Was it the last name, so close to an Irish author named James? Was it the fact he was so steadfastly faithful to a married woman? It certainly wasn’t because it signed up for five consecutive tours of duty in Vietnam.
Quotes to quote, “It’s the unnaturalness of your condition that you cling to” (p 171), and “Well, it was before they knew that the war was impossible to win” (p 158).
Author fact: this is going to be a super trivial fact, but the author photo on the back cover of In the City of Fear states Just is 46 years old. If that is the case, he is a very old looking 46 with a lot of worry in his face. Maybe it’s the cigarette clenched between his lips and the drawn in eyebrows, frowning above hooded eyes?
Book trivia: this is Ward Just’s 7th novel. Additionally, In the City of Fear is a popular title. Hewson, Burke, Enmon and Wilson have all used it.
Nancy said: Pearl said nothing specific about In the City of Fear.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Ward Just: Too Good To Miss” (p 136).
Soldiers of God
Posted: 2019/07/04 Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust I, NonFiction | Tags: 2019, book lust i, book review, june, middle east, political, Robert Kaplan Leave a commentKaplan, Robert D. Soldiers of God: with Islamic Warriors on Afghanistan and Pakistan. New York: Random House, 2001.
Reason read: Khomeini died in the month of June.
Soldiers of God provides the historical context for the emergence of the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden’s terrorist network. Given the devastation of September 11th, 2001 the republishing of this book was timely and smart on Kaplan’s part. Robert Kaplan first traveled to Afghanistan and lived among the mujahidin (soldiers of God) back in the mid 1980s. It was on this journey that Kaplan came to witness the rise of the Taliban. More than that, he acquired the colors to paint a vivid picture of a society few Americans see: refugee camps, harsh drought, pervasive illiteracy, militant indoctrination, fierce piety, and ethnic battle lines. In the unity of prayer was practically the only form of democracy; all whispering the name of God one hundred times.
Kaplan digs deep to uncover the hidden side effects of the Soviet invasion – malaria outbreaks, for example. Thanks to stagnant pools of mosquito infested water caused by pervasive destruction of irrigation systems.
Quotes to quote, “The idea of fighting for political freedom is an easy one to grasp until you see in the flesh what the cost is” (p 143) and “After twenty four hours in Querta, my instinct told me that if a man possessed no furniture, he also possessed no useful information” (p 200).
Author fact: According to the back cover of his book, Kaplan is a “world affairs expert.”
Book trivia: Soldiers of God was first published in 1990. Pearl mentioned a newer edition with a updated introduction and final chapter.
Nancy said: Pearl mentioned Soldiers of God as a good book about militant Islam.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “The Islamic World” (p 126).
Best and the Brightest
Posted: 2019/04/09 Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust I, BookLust II | Tags: 2019, book lust i, book lust ii, book review, David Halberstam, march, NonFiction, political, vietnam, vietnam war Leave a commentHalberstam, David. The Best and the Brightest. New York: Random House, 1972.
Reason read: the United States pulled out of Vietnam in the month of March.
Halberstam’s The Best and the Brightest is a deep dive into the origins of the Vietnam War. It is a scrutiny of the policies and procedures crafted during the Kennedy administration that led to the consequences in Vietnam. The meat of the book takes place between the years of 1960 and 1965 but flows back and forth to earlier and later times to give substance to the timeline. What really helps the narrative is that Halberstam was a reporter during this time. He was at the heart of the perfect storm: the fall of China, the rise of McCarthy and the outbreak of the Korean War. This trifecta of events had a profound and lasting effect on the White House and domestic politics of the time.
A single line I really liked, “In government it is always easier to go forward with a program that doesn’t work than to stop it all together and admit failure” (p 212). Isn’t that human nature in a nutshell?
Author fact: I cannot help but wonder what books Halberstam would have written had he not been killed in a car accident at the age of 73.
Book trivia: I always love the photographs Halberstam chooses for his books. The photos in The Best and the Brightest are no different.
Nancy said: Pearl called The Best and the Brightest “hefty, riveting and definitive” (p 238). Agreed, agreed, and agreed.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust and More Book Lust. In Book Lust in the chapter called “Vietnam” (p 238) and in More Book Lust in the super obvious chapter called “David Halberstam: Too Good To Miss” (p 112).
Renunciation
Posted: 2019/01/28 Filed under: Book Reviews, Fiction, Lust To Go | Tags: 2019, book lust iii, book review, Edgardo Rodriguez Julia, Fiction, january, political, Puerto Rico, translated Leave a commentRodriguez Julia, Edgardo. The Renunciation: a Novel. Translated by Andrew Hurley. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1997.
Reason read: Puerto Rico’s Hostos Day is in January; to celebrate the birthday of Eugenio María de Hostos.
The year is 1753 in colonial Puerto Rico. Bishop Larra, desperate to bring calm to a slave population on the verge of revolt, arranges a marriage between Baltasar Montanez, a poor slave leader and Josefina Prats, the wealthy and white daughter of the secretary of state. The idea is to make the destitute population believe they can too can marry their way into wealth and equality; to calm black indignation and for a while it seems to work. There is peace in the community because if Baltasar can marry up…. Until Montanez’s true personality comes to light. He is not the hero everyone thinks he is. [As an aside, I tracked all of the different words and phrases used to describe Baltasar: enigma, hero, declasse, upstart, benefactor, traitor, puppet, emancipated slave, peacemaker, verbsoe, rhetorical, slightly pompous, of great intelligence, well-pleased, cynical, intruder, black, cane-cutter, handsome, a figure of profound historical significance…I could go on.] Here is a commentary on not only Puerto Rico’s political climate in the eighteenth century, but a study in human nature. Was the marriage orchestrated by Bishop Larra? Was the bride’s father involved from the beginning? Who holds the lie and who lives the truth?
A word of warning. Obviously, as most arranged marriages go, Baltasar and Josefina’s marriage is not a sexual one. Her enjoyment comes from peeping through the keyhole to spy on Baltasar’s legendary yet unimaginative orgies.
Author fact: Julia has received a Guggenheim fellowship.
Book trivia: The Renunciation is Edgardo Rodriguez Julia’s first English-translated work.
Nancy said: Pearl called The Renunciation “difficult but exhilarating” and if you are interested in colonial Puerto Rico you shouldn’t miss it (Book Lust To Go p 57).
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Cavorting Through the Caribbean: Puerto Rico” (p 52).
