I recently discovered that the fourth installment in Lois Lowry's saga that began with The Giver was released. I had put the second and third books on my reading list long ago, but it wasn't until I heard about the fourth, Son, that I knew it was time to finish the series. I love The Giver. It's been one of my favorite YA books since I was young myself. I think Lois Lowry has a real gift for writing-- Number the Stars is another incredible read that I need to revisit.
Thus, for my 38th and 39th reads, I submit Gathering Blue and Messenger. Both of these novels are very short and very easy to get into. I read them both in my spare time over the past two days. I give both of them a solid four stars, particularly for readers who have read and enjoyed The Giver.
For any who haven't read The Giver, which I hope is none, Lois Lowry sets the story at some future time, presumably after catastrophes of some form have drastically changed life as we know it. In The Giver, the main character is Jonas. He lives in a society that is highly controlled, everything is regulated. People are given jobs or callings, and he ends up with a very important one. The vague ending of TG was frustrating for many, but I actually kind of liked it. I don't struggle with uncertain endings like many people do. Nevertheless, I was beyond excited that she continued the series.
In Gathering Blue, Lowry centers the story on a girl named Kira. I went into the book assuming that she lives in a different part of the world from where Jonas lived in TG, though I didn't really have that confirmed until the end when Jonas' existence is briefly hinted at. Kira's society is nothing like Jonas' was, but probably equally as harmful. GB focuses almost entirely on Kira's role in her town, her special gifts, and on the struggle of being good and true when all around you is darkness and despair. At the end, you don't know exactly how but you know Kira is going to do great things.
Messenger's main character is a side character from GB named Matty. Lowry said in an interview that Matty had been one of her favorite characters in GB and she was excited to write another installment that would bring him back and further develop his character. Messenger also features Jonas from TG and informs the reader about what he's been up to since the end of TG. It's pretty awesome, I'm not going to lie. In the course of this book, Matty discovers he also has a gift and uses it to change his surroundings. Though I can't go into the plot very much without spoiling, both of these are so short that if you are interested you could have them read in a few hours.
I'm diving into Son today and will probably review it shortly. I can't wait to see how Lowry wraps the story up.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
I haven't blogged on here in quite awhile, although I have read and reread some books in the interim. Most of them were fluffy and not warranting serious consideration, but I did read a remarkable book recently that has lingered in my recollection. The book is called Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. I first heard about it at a book exchange party when my good friend Melanie brought it to exchange. Meg received it, so you can ask her about her impressions, too, if you care to do so.
It's a fairly short book and somewhat indeterminate as to time period. The first person protagonist experiences significant loss in her young life. Almost every person whom she has ever loved leaves or dies more or less tragically. It's not a frivolous Suzie Sunshine book by any means, but it is deeply felt and spiritually written--a meditation on loss and the evanescence and fleeting nature of the human condition.
Housekeeping explores the dark side of permanence and routine, of stability and consistency. The eccentric aunt who becomes caretaker for Ruth, the narrator, and her sister, Lucille, is a quirky transient who sleeps with her shoes on. The residents of the small Idahoan town of Fingerbone live in terror of anything different than their small provincial lives and consider the aunt a grossly insufficient caretaker as the girls spend much of the year playing hooky and sitting by the frozen lake.
Since it's written in lyrical prose, it's somewhat difficult to neatly encapsulate the story in a few words. There isn't much of a direct plot as the story sort of ambles through philosophical reflections. If really action packed page-turners are more your style, perhaps look elsewhere. Not that there's a problem with preferring a story that moves along, but the writing here is really lovely and I suggest giving it a chance even if it's not your typical modus operandi.
The transformation of Ruth is one of the most complete I have seen in literature, yet I felt that I actually didn't know that much about her by the time the novel ended. Perhaps it is Robinson's way of communicating that on some level, we never really know even those we really love.
I'm having a hard time adequately describing the book. It is beautiful and disturbing like Megan described it to me, as well as full of aching and longing mingled with a restless sense of flowing motion.
I'll close with a couple of quotes to give you a sense of the writing style. I would give the book a solid 4 stars.
“There is so little to remember of anyone - an anecdote, a conversation at a table. But every memory is turned over and over again, every word, however chance, written in the heart in the hope that memory will fulfill itself, and become flesh, and that the wanderers will find a way home, and the perished, whose lack we always feel, will step through the door finally and stroke our hair with dreaming habitual fondness not having meant to keep us waiting long.”
“Cain killed Abel, and the blood cried out from the ground--a story so sad that even God took notice of it. Maybe it was not the sadness of the story, since worse things have happened every minute since that day, but its novelty that He found striking. In the newness of the world God was a young man, and grew indignant over the slightest things. In the newness of the world God had perhaps not Himself realized the ramifications of certain of his laws, for example, that shock will spend itself in waves; that our images will mimic every gesture, and that shattered they will multiply and mimic every gesture ten, a hundred, or a thousand times. Cain, the image of God, gave the simple earth of the field a voice and a sorrow, and God himself heard the voice, and grieved for the sorrow, so Cain was a creator, in the image of his creator.”
“It was a source of both terror and comfort to me then that I often seemed invisible — incompletely and minimally existent, in fact. It seemed to me that I made no impact on the world, and that in exchange I was privileged to watch it unawares.”
It's a fairly short book and somewhat indeterminate as to time period. The first person protagonist experiences significant loss in her young life. Almost every person whom she has ever loved leaves or dies more or less tragically. It's not a frivolous Suzie Sunshine book by any means, but it is deeply felt and spiritually written--a meditation on loss and the evanescence and fleeting nature of the human condition.
Housekeeping explores the dark side of permanence and routine, of stability and consistency. The eccentric aunt who becomes caretaker for Ruth, the narrator, and her sister, Lucille, is a quirky transient who sleeps with her shoes on. The residents of the small Idahoan town of Fingerbone live in terror of anything different than their small provincial lives and consider the aunt a grossly insufficient caretaker as the girls spend much of the year playing hooky and sitting by the frozen lake.
Since it's written in lyrical prose, it's somewhat difficult to neatly encapsulate the story in a few words. There isn't much of a direct plot as the story sort of ambles through philosophical reflections. If really action packed page-turners are more your style, perhaps look elsewhere. Not that there's a problem with preferring a story that moves along, but the writing here is really lovely and I suggest giving it a chance even if it's not your typical modus operandi.
The transformation of Ruth is one of the most complete I have seen in literature, yet I felt that I actually didn't know that much about her by the time the novel ended. Perhaps it is Robinson's way of communicating that on some level, we never really know even those we really love.
I'm having a hard time adequately describing the book. It is beautiful and disturbing like Megan described it to me, as well as full of aching and longing mingled with a restless sense of flowing motion.
I'll close with a couple of quotes to give you a sense of the writing style. I would give the book a solid 4 stars.
“There is so little to remember of anyone - an anecdote, a conversation at a table. But every memory is turned over and over again, every word, however chance, written in the heart in the hope that memory will fulfill itself, and become flesh, and that the wanderers will find a way home, and the perished, whose lack we always feel, will step through the door finally and stroke our hair with dreaming habitual fondness not having meant to keep us waiting long.”
“Cain killed Abel, and the blood cried out from the ground--a story so sad that even God took notice of it. Maybe it was not the sadness of the story, since worse things have happened every minute since that day, but its novelty that He found striking. In the newness of the world God was a young man, and grew indignant over the slightest things. In the newness of the world God had perhaps not Himself realized the ramifications of certain of his laws, for example, that shock will spend itself in waves; that our images will mimic every gesture, and that shattered they will multiply and mimic every gesture ten, a hundred, or a thousand times. Cain, the image of God, gave the simple earth of the field a voice and a sorrow, and God himself heard the voice, and grieved for the sorrow, so Cain was a creator, in the image of his creator.”
“It was a source of both terror and comfort to me then that I often seemed invisible — incompletely and minimally existent, in fact. It seemed to me that I made no impact on the world, and that in exchange I was privileged to watch it unawares.”
Re-reading continues.
For my 37th read of 2012, I reread Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I'd definitely say that out of the first three HP books, this is the one I had forgotten the most about. It was so fun to read.
And Blogger managed to lose the post I just wrote. It was nothing profound, but ugh, I hate redoing these.
**Note: I didn't skip 36. That was Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, the book I received at our last Book Exchange Party. It was wonderful, but Kristen read it before I did and has kindly agreed to review it on the blog; thus, I will say only that I give it 5 stars.**
But back to HP. Re-reading HPatPOA was almost like reading it for the first time. Some awesome plot points, like the story behind the Whomping Willow and the Shrieking Shack, for example, had faded from my memory. I love Professor Lupin, and I really love Sirius Black, so being reintroduced to them was wonderful. And, as much as I love the HP movies, it was good to get back to the original story, just as JKR wrote it. I guess that's it for now. I just love HP.
And Blogger managed to lose the post I just wrote. It was nothing profound, but ugh, I hate redoing these.
**Note: I didn't skip 36. That was Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, the book I received at our last Book Exchange Party. It was wonderful, but Kristen read it before I did and has kindly agreed to review it on the blog; thus, I will say only that I give it 5 stars.**
But back to HP. Re-reading HPatPOA was almost like reading it for the first time. Some awesome plot points, like the story behind the Whomping Willow and the Shrieking Shack, for example, had faded from my memory. I love Professor Lupin, and I really love Sirius Black, so being reintroduced to them was wonderful. And, as much as I love the HP movies, it was good to get back to the original story, just as JKR wrote it. I guess that's it for now. I just love HP.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
The Prisoner of Heaven-- #35
The Prisoner of Heaven (TPOH) is the third (and I believe final) installment in the story that started with The Shadow of the Wind (TSOTW), by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, which I reviewed earlier this year. TSOTW was followed by The Angel's Game (TAG), reviewed here.
TPOH is much shorter than the first two books. It mainly focuses on revealing the history of one of the main characters of TSOTW, Fermin Romero de Torres. Fermin's sordid history is only hinted at in TSOTW, so it was really nice to finally know more about what made him such an intriguing character. Fermin is also intertwined with Isabella, a main character from TAG, so this installment helps round out what we know about her, as well. And of course, The Cemetery of Forgotten Books makes an appearance, although it is not until the very end.
This book was a pleasant and engaging read. I'd put it probably close to the level of TAG, and give it a good 3.5 stars. TSOTW set the bar so high that pretty much nothing else Zafon writes is going to compare, but I'm glad he went ahead and added the two subsequent books. Reading this one reminded me how much I want to go back and re-read TSOTW.
I wasn't particularly ecstatic about how Zafon chose to end this story in the epilogue. The end of the book itself seemed to hint that all was well with everyone, a nice resolution. It wasn't sugar-coated or unrealistic, it had just wrapped things up pretty darn well. But then the epilogue came along and strongly hinted that more adventures in violence and revenge were ahead. I don't necessarily think that Zafon is going to write more to the story; I just think for some reason he wanted to leave it on that note. Which I could have done without.
Anyway, I stand by my recommendation last time-- if you read any of the books, read The Shadow of the Wind. If you love it as much as I did, you'll probably seek out and read the next two. That is all.
What are all of you reading? Anything? Anyone?
TPOH is much shorter than the first two books. It mainly focuses on revealing the history of one of the main characters of TSOTW, Fermin Romero de Torres. Fermin's sordid history is only hinted at in TSOTW, so it was really nice to finally know more about what made him such an intriguing character. Fermin is also intertwined with Isabella, a main character from TAG, so this installment helps round out what we know about her, as well. And of course, The Cemetery of Forgotten Books makes an appearance, although it is not until the very end.
This book was a pleasant and engaging read. I'd put it probably close to the level of TAG, and give it a good 3.5 stars. TSOTW set the bar so high that pretty much nothing else Zafon writes is going to compare, but I'm glad he went ahead and added the two subsequent books. Reading this one reminded me how much I want to go back and re-read TSOTW.
I wasn't particularly ecstatic about how Zafon chose to end this story in the epilogue. The end of the book itself seemed to hint that all was well with everyone, a nice resolution. It wasn't sugar-coated or unrealistic, it had just wrapped things up pretty darn well. But then the epilogue came along and strongly hinted that more adventures in violence and revenge were ahead. I don't necessarily think that Zafon is going to write more to the story; I just think for some reason he wanted to leave it on that note. Which I could have done without.
Anyway, I stand by my recommendation last time-- if you read any of the books, read The Shadow of the Wind. If you love it as much as I did, you'll probably seek out and read the next two. That is all.
What are all of you reading? Anything? Anyone?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)