It's been a long time since I read and loved Cutting for Stone. This book has been recommended from a number of different people and sources and thougIt's been a long time since I read and loved Cutting for Stone. This book has been recommended from a number of different people and sources and though it is long. It did not disappoint. I'm hoping one of the reading groups will take it on so that I could discuss it with others.
Set in coastal, western India, prejudice against Prejudice for the native population by the British is front and center. On page 95 the Scottish doctor, Digby arrives with Banerjee, a friend he made during their journey. '"Oi! I said no! You insolent babu! Do you want a trashing?" Digby swivels around to see a red-faced Englishman rise from behind a customs desk to loom over Banerjee. The tableau sends a chill through him, a wrenching recognition that he is, by virtue of arrival, one of the occupiers; his is the inalienable right to be first off the gangway, receive a quick stamp of papers, and not to be talked to in this manner. In the humid customs she the hands of the clock have paused, waiting to see what's next. Digby's breath quickens in the hothouse air and, reflexively he takes two steps to intervene,. Just then another custom's official intercedes. . . . The senior official gives his subordinate an impatient look, stamps Banerjee's papers, and lets him leave. Banny's gaze falls on Digby. His hooded eyes have turned to stone, expressing the dogged resentment and the unwavering resolve of a subjugated nation that bides its time. Then the look vanished. He bestows a stoic smile on Digby and heads for the separate exit for non-whites. He doesn't wave farewell.'
In the first reference to the title, Verghese says 'Yes, old man, yes, eyes open to this precious land and its people, to the covenant of water, water that washes away the sins of the world, water that will gather in streams, ponds, and rivers, rivers that float the seas, water that I will never enter.' (page 395)
Again on prejudice, discrimination, and enslavement: '"Would Britain or Holland or Spain or Portugal or France be what they are no without what they earned by enslaving others? During the war, the British loved telling us how well they treated us compared to how the Japanese would treat us if they invaded. But should any nation rues over another nation? Such things only happen when one group thinks the other is inferior by birth, by skin color, by history. Inferior, therefore deserving less. My father was no slave. He was beloved here. But he was never your equal so he wasn't rewarded as one."' (pages 487-488)
And then there is the age old dilemma between science and religion! '"Digs, I must leave tomorrow before I change my mind. And as soon as Baby Mol's better, I'll be back here . . . if you're sure." "If you coe back, I might even believe there's a God." "There isn't Digs. There are stars. The Milky Way. No God. But I'll come back. You can believe in that."' (page 693)
And lastly, more about water and the book's titel: 'And now that daughter is here, standing in the water that connects them all in time and space and always has. The water she first stepped into minutes ago is long gone and yet it is here, past and present and future inexorably coupled, like time made incarnate. This is the covenant of water: that they're all linked inescapably by their acts of commission and omission, and no one stands alone. She stays there listening to the burbling mantra, the chant that never ceases, repeating its message that all is one. What she thought was her life is all maya, all illusion, but it is one shared illusion. And what else can she do bu go on.' (page 706)...more
Richardson's books are very popular and I had hoped for more. Though some historical tidbits are woven in, it just isn't enough to truly make this booRichardson's books are very popular and I had hoped for more. Though some historical tidbits are woven in, it just isn't enough to truly make this book outstanding.
It's an OK story but doesn't really stand out for me. I do applaud Richardson for her efforts in highlighting the discrimination.
This book leaves the door wide open for another book. I won't be reading it. This and the first book are enough....more
This book came highly recommended (thanks, Diane) and I had it on my shelf for three or four years before I picked it up this month. And that is becauThis book came highly recommended (thanks, Diane) and I had it on my shelf for three or four years before I picked it up this month. And that is because the sequel just came out in paperback and I'll be reading that next.
I thought it was a slow start. And I saw the romance between Cussy and Jackson from the very first. Sad ending though that was no surprise either. I did appreciate the history of both the Pack Horse Library Project and the blue people of Kentucky.
Discrimination looms large for blue-skinned people, "Nary a townsfolk, not one God-fearing soul, had welcomed me or mine into town, their churches, or homes in all my nineteen years on this earth. Instead, every hard Kentucky second they'd filled us with an emptiness from their hate and scorn. It was as if Blues weren't allowed to breathe the very same air thei loving God had given them, not worthy of the tiniest spoonful He'd given to the smallest forest critter, I was nothing in their word. A nothingness to them." (p. 238)
I thought Jackson's acknowledgement of his white privilege was well said: "Cussy Mary, I've been wanting to apologize for my words back on the trail that day. I had no right telling you how you should feel. I've never known harm or exile because of my skin. Nor felt the lash of leather whips or angry tongues because of it. . . . I see more now ... see your burden and grief, and I am sorry for it." (p. 253)
And the Miscegenation Laws, hopefully they will never be in place again. "Folks were charged and thrown in jail for courting someone not like themselves, for taking another color to their marriage beds.It was an ugly law that let mere folk lord it over different-type folks, decide who a person could or couldn't love. (p. 276)
Based on historical facts about the American Library in Paris, this book alternates between 1980's Froid, Montana and Paris during WWII. The story focBased on historical facts about the American Library in Paris, this book alternates between 1980's Froid, Montana and Paris during WWII. The story focuses on Odile, working at the AL/Paris during the war and now living in Montana.
The story is touching with the relationship between Lily and Odile in Montana and of course Odile's life during the war.
There is thought to reaching out to Margaret, who was Odile's friend in Paris but this is never resolved.
Well done! I'm looking forward to the discussion but this was a well rounded and researched book. The author is local and a Shakespearean scholar. I wWell done! I'm looking forward to the discussion but this was a well rounded and researched book. The author is local and a Shakespearean scholar. I will revisit this review after the discussion, but I did enjoy it very much.
What a great discussion today. It shed great light on the themes, the research, the craft of writing. From today's session I get that I definitely need to read it again. So much thought was put in to this book from the names of the flowers that Tony picked for Lydia, to the research done on homosexuality and the abuse of children during that time.
The "Man Who Would Not Die" is a truism, Brindi read an article of the time where a man was hung three dies and did not die, so he was shipped off to the colonies. So strange.
Wonderful book, so much more to appreciate each time!...more
Traveling back and forth to Manchester, audio-books make the trip more enjoyable. I was curious to listen to this one by former president Carter. Set Traveling back and forth to Manchester, audio-books make the trip more enjoyable. I was curious to listen to this one by former president Carter. Set before and during the Revolutionary War, it gives a look at a part of the country not usually featured. Set in North Carolina and Georgia (of course) instead of New England, New York, or Virginia, it gives a unique view of this war.
War is war however and the brutality, the sacrifices, and the hardships are not hidden. Carter is very frank and forward in detailing the atrocities of war.
Though not really my kind of book, it was worth listening....more
I had dropped out of this audio book because of time and circumstance. Well, circumstance had that I was traveling hours at a time and radio coverage I had dropped out of this audio book because of time and circumstance. Well, circumstance had that I was traveling hours at a time and radio coverage was spotty. So I thought I should finish this book. It's not typical Allende, but still a good tale and a good analysis of the early days of the Spanish colonization of Peru and Chile.
Had this not sometimes been so predictable, I might have given this 5 stars. The book is well written and well researched. I was not thrilled with theHad this not sometimes been so predictable, I might have given this 5 stars. The book is well written and well researched. I was not thrilled with the back and forth in time, often overused, and while I understand why Brooks chose this technique, I almost gave up on it to read each of the times consecutively. (I have done that with other books.)
The black male shot by police trope was a bit much, it may be true but it was so predictable here. Jarret was in my mind the best developed character. Did Thomas Scott really need to be bisexual? What did that add to the story? And then, sometimes Brooks is brilliant: "I want to know how he feels about the world . . . what kind of soul he's got." Jarret had never heard horses spoken of in that way, although it was how he thought of them in his own mind. . . . to speak of horses as beings with feelings, even souls - it might seem like foolishness, or even maybe sinful, in the eyes of the angry God of the White church Dr. Warfield attended. But now this man was speaking as if it were the most normal thing in the world." (p. 39)
The love of horses, thoughts of race, racism, the Civil War, service, and freedom, it's all in here. Well worth reading even if sometimes predictable....more
I'm not a fan of chapters going back and forth in time. I did finally give up and read all the 1861 chapters. It was somewhat predictable anyway. You I'm not a fan of chapters going back and forth in time. I did finally give up and read all the 1861 chapters. It was somewhat predictable anyway. You can go with the hopeful ending or the realistic one. Both work.
Maggie O'Farrell does not disappoint, and I will continue to read her. Though this was not as moving or touching as Hamnett, it did have charm and insight into the courts of the city states of Italy in the late 1800's.
I look forward to next week's discussion of this book and what others thought. The title is so apt in many ways from leaving Vietnam as boat-people toI look forward to next week's discussion of this book and what others thought. The title is so apt in many ways from leaving Vietnam as boat-people to surviving what is not said but must be Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
This is a similar yet very different experience from the Vietnamese family our church sponsored in the late 1970's. The Vuongs were such a close family, they would never have thought of leaving each other to live different lives.
There is much Vietnamese in the book, and being curious, I had to know the translations. Google translation is spotty in it's Vietnamese, in large part because there are so many accents that it is difficult to determine what the actual words are. It makes me wish we had access to the Vietnamese-English we gave the family. There is also on phrase in Haitian Creole which, once I got the meaning, made perfect sense to me: "timoun dyab," ti moun - petit monde; dyab - devil or in this instance, "devil children." It would make perfect sense in Joual and definitely made me laugh. Then there is some Parisian French. No translation required.
The book is well written but tries to encompass so much that there seem to be loose ends everywhere. I may add more after our discussion....more
This book keeps surfacing with book groups, this Sunday for the Peterborough group, later for the Hancock Town Library Group, and next month for the TThis book keeps surfacing with book groups, this Sunday for the Peterborough group, later for the Hancock Town Library Group, and next month for the Tuesday Academy group.
It started out strong but tries to be too much I think, a personal story, a fictionalized story of writing the OED, lost words (or words not included more precisely), suffrage, motherhood out of wedlock, adoption, and following footsteps. It had such promise and was a quick read but The Professor and the Madman was so compelling and interesting, this is (sorry) just fluff in comparison.
One fun quote from page 255: ""You've been looking tired lately, Da." "It's the letter S. Four years and we're not even halfway through. It's sapping, stupefying, soporific . . ." He paused to think of another word. "Slumberous, somnolent, somniferous," I offered."
Yes, there is some attempt at "lost words." I wish this thread had been better developed....more
The book starts with a great premise, if it's really true, must check on that. If the government had provided a thousand white women to marry with theThe book starts with a great premise, if it's really true, must check on that. If the government had provided a thousand white women to marry with the Cheyenne, there could have been a greater integrated society. It ends with like a Shakespeare tragedy however, just about everyone dies. So much for government promises.
Though the title says it is a journal, and sure there are dates with the entries, it reads like a novel. And though it's told in a woman's voice, and the women are prominent in this story, they are unfortunately stereotipical for the most part. And though I liked that there might have been true Cheyenne words, the women's dialects, in italics, are too ridiculous. No one would write that way in a journal.
So, though I read it through, I'm not sure I learned anything, and it's very mixy. There is however one quote I would like to remember and it comes on page 248. ""Oh May," Phemie syas with real sadness in her voice. "The plantations were full of mulattos - people of mixed blood and all shades of color. I myself am one. . . . Did this make me free? Did this make me accepted by the 'superior' culture? No, I was still a slave. In many cases our lives were more difficult for being of mixed blood, for we were considered neither black nor white, and resnted by both. "
It's no wonder this won the Booker Award, the writing is quirky, funny, sad, and realistic all at the same time. The narrator introduces the "psycho-pIt's no wonder this won the Booker Award, the writing is quirky, funny, sad, and realistic all at the same time. The narrator introduces the "psycho-political atmosphere with its rules of allegiance, of tribal identification, of what was allowed and not allowed, matters didn't stop at 'their names' and at 'our names', at 'us' and 'them', at 'our community' and 'their community', at 'over the road', 'over the water' and 'over the border'." (p.24)
No one has a name, it's 'the Milkman' or 'the milkman', 'maybe-boyfriend', 'chef', 'Ma', 'wee sisters', 'third sister', 'second brother-in-law'. Too funny, but you keep them straight this way. I loved the little sisters, they had such character, even if a 'wee' part. They were flamboyant!
The narrator takes French classes. Of course I had to love this part. "This was a French book, a proper French book - one that native speakers could read without considering it beneath them - and teacher said she was reading it to get us used to what authentic French sounded like when strung together in full-on passages - in this case a literary passage." (p. 69) In French class the teacher tells them the sky is not just blue, they don't believe her but watch a sunset and the description of the colors is magical. (p. 73)
I loved her description of cats! "Cats are not adoring like dogs. They don't care. They can never be relied on to shore up the human ego. They go their way, do their thing, and are not subservient and will never apologize. No one has ever come across a cat apologizing and if it did, it would patently obvious that it was not being sincere." (p. 93) So true.
Burns' use of poetic verse and alliteration is part of what makes the book so good. Here's an example, in talking about the women in the district: "The criticism was bad, very bad, , much along the lines of 'depravity, decadence, demoralisation, dissemination of pessimism, outrages to propriety'" (p.153)
At one point the women of the district protest the curfew. The description is hilarious: "... when they'd reclaimed sanity, the police and the military would find the latest curfew, right before their eyes, had stopped. To shoot up a district of women, children, prams and goldfish otherwise, to run them through with swords much as one might like to, would not look good, would look grave, sexist, unbalanced, not only in the glare of the critical side of the home media, but also in the eyes of the international media." (p. 160)
So a good read, even if it took me a while, it was well worth it....more
This is McBride's second book and first novel. I'm glad I didn't start with this one, but it is well worth the read. He gets better at writing as he gThis is McBride's second book and first novel. I'm glad I didn't start with this one, but it is well worth the read. He gets better at writing as he goes on.
I guess you would call this historical fiction and though I am sure this is based on actual facts, you can see the origins of The Good Lord Bird where fanciful, sometimes over-the-top elements are woven in. The language just sneaks in at places. "He had never seen her so angry before, and after years of watching Ettora's calm, deliberate, silent leadership, to see her lose control that way was like lifting the lid off the tin can of reason that held them all together. " (p.227)
I had hoped for more of a straight story line about the Buffalo Soldiers of WWII but this worked. He has some passages that hit home. "Bishop was right. It was a mistake, he decided, for the Army to allow the colored to fight as combat soldiers. For what? To fight the enemy? The Germans? The Italians? The enemy was irony and truth and hypocrisy, that was the real enemy. That was the enemy that was killing him." (p.166)
And also: "In America, Germans could eat first class, go where he couldn't go, live where he couldn't live, get jobs where he couldn't, and over here in Europe they were killing Jews like it was lunch. He'd read all about it in the Negro press. How the first American troops were finding giant camps full of dead Jews, burned to death, cities in Poland with human ash falling like snow from smokestacks of the giant ovens where they were burning children, entire families. What Negro would do that? A Negro couldn't even think up enough hate to do that. A Negro was trying to make rent, save up enough to buy milk for his kids, survive this fucked-up war, and still when the war was over, when all the fighting was done and all the people made up, a German could go to America and live well, start a factory, work in a business, run a bank, while Stamps would still be . . . a nigger. He'd be lucky to get a job delivering their mail." (p. 167-168)
It is so sad how these men were treated when they came back from the war. McBride is a brilliant writer. I want to read all of his work! ...more
This was certainly an interesting read and gave some perspective into Japanese thought and culture after WWII. It was, in my mind, very reflective, anThis was certainly an interesting read and gave some perspective into Japanese thought and culture after WWII. It was, in my mind, very reflective, and 'much ado about nothing,' at least from the narrator's point of view.
We all obsess about the things that we do and did we do them right or at least for the right reason. But that's always from our own perspective and not necessarily how others see it. At least that's what I think Masuji Ono seems to be dealing with. There is also the move from the traditional to the modern world/culture and the conflict of life after a war.
It is no wonder that Kazuo Ishiguro has won both the Nobel and the Booker. I found this book very poetic: "And if on reaching the foot of the hill which climbs up to my house, you pause at the Bridge of Hesitation and look back towards the remains of our old pleasure district, if the sun has not yet set completely, you may see the line of old telegraph poles - still without wires to connect them - disappearing into the gloom down the route you have just come, And you may be able to make out the dark clusters of birds perched uncomfortably on the tops of the poles, as though awaiting the wires along which they once line the sky." (p.27 - Yes, that really is just one sentence, or should it be two? Should that be a period and not a comma after come?)
And he can be funny, at least I found this funny: (in talking about the "pleasure district" or "floating word") "it represented something fine and one could get drunk there with pride and dignity." (p.74 - Really? Drunk with pride and dignity?)
His imagery is lovely: "Beneath his umbrella, he was hatless and dressed in a dark raincoat. The charred buildings behind him were dripping and the remnant of some gutter was making a large amount of rainwater splash down not far from him. I remember a truck going by between us, full of building workers. And I noticed how one of the spokes of his umbrella was broken, causing some more splashing just beside his foot." (p.77)
Our book group had a great discussion and the 90 minutes flew by. We thought we should read it again, so I will hold on to it. Yes, truly worth reading....more
How to begin? This book has so many layers. I should just read it again. Though this was for one book group, I've recommended that we read it for anotHow to begin? This book has so many layers. I should just read it again. Though this was for one book group, I've recommended that we read it for another book group. It's Ondaatje, so the language is rich, poetic, and luxurious. And I want to read The English Patient again.
The characters have nicknames, pseudo-names, and so it's sometimes hard to remember who is who. When I read this again, I'll write all names down. And maps, what is it with maps? Even star maps as "the astral plough" aka "the big dipper."
Life and war are complex, difficult some might say. Perhaps this book begins to attempt an understanding of such complexity.
So worth the read and hopefully worth the read again....more
This was a fascinating, depressing, realistic read. Yes, it's "women's fiction" but that doesn't begin to describe it. It paints an incredible pictureThis was a fascinating, depressing, realistic read. Yes, it's "women's fiction" but that doesn't begin to describe it. It paints an incredible picture of the trials and suffering of the people who lived through the "Dust Bowl" as well as the "Great Depression." It portrays Americans living through devastation and depression as "scrappy survivors."
I have read other books about the Dust Bowl but this one really highlights, not just the devastation of the land, but what the people had to do to survive all that dust - gas masks while sleeping - and the health issues (like dust pneumonia) that people had as a result of inhaling all of that dust.
I also knew about "Hoovervilles" but didn't realize the scorn and bias that these migrants faced from natives - Californians in this case - but I'm sure it was true in other places as well. The migrants were truly seen as aliens and not Americans. And the almighty dollar rules. Farmers set the wages, workers suffer, deporting Mexican migrants, underpaying workers, taking advantage of children workers, and it makes the expression from the song "I owe my soul to the company store" so real. I will never hear that song the same way again.
This is truly a survival story. Elsa's love for her children is her driving passion. Jack talks about his own mother and the "American Dream" on p. 333: "She worked like a dog to support us, doing whatever she had to do, but each night, at bedtime, she kissed me good night and told me I could be anything in America. It was the dream that had brought her here and she passed it on to me. But it was a lie. For people like us, anyway. Folks who are from the wrong place, or have the wrong color skin, or speak the wrong language, or pray to the wrong God." Unfortunately, this could still be said today. Times have not radically changed!
Having read a review from the New York Times, I didn't know that “The Four Winds” includes a few lines from Babb’s novel, “Whose Names Are Unknown,” which was finally published by the University of Oklahoma Press in 2004: “One thing was left, as clear and perfect as a drop of rain — the desperate need to stand together … They would rise and fall and, in their falling, rise again.”
I didn't like that randomly - at least random to me - that the narrator's voice would change, from Elsa to Loreda, even within the same chapter. And it was often predictable - I knew one of the main characters would die in the end, there was no other way out!
Still, I'm glad I read it, it wa hard to put down. I would recommend it to any hearty reader!...more
This was a touching, delightful book. The back and forth in time in the first part of the book is a well-worn trope and though I wasn't thrilled by thThis was a touching, delightful book. The back and forth in time in the first part of the book is a well-worn trope and though I wasn't thrilled by that, it did keep me reading. By the second half of the book I was hoping for chapters or at least better breaks.
I loved the language, the descriptions, the lists, the scenes. O'Farrell does have a command of what works and uses it well. Here's an example of what I mean from page 131. "She has seen women go through this. She remembers her mother's time: she saw it from the doorway; she heard it from outside the house, where she and Bartholomew were sent. She attended Joan at each of her labors, catching her brothers and sisters in her hands ... She has seen neighboring women do it ... She has seen the pig, the cow, the ewes birth their young; she has been called on by her father ... And she knows, in the way she always does, that she will reach the other side of birth, that she and her baby will live." It's magical how she weaves the story with her words, her lists.
This book is truly a poignant description of parents' grief at the loss of a young child. Agnes and William (never referenced by name, I wonder why she did that?) show their grief differently and you think there might be a conflict between the parents. But Agnes, angry at first, dismissive, does in the end recognize that her husband needed to process the death in his own way, and that his way was not better or worse than hers, just different.
And so I loved the end, almost tearing up, where Shakespeare, on stage as the ghost in Hamlet says "Remember me." The entire last paragraph on p. 305 is worth repeating: "The ghost turns his head towards her, as he prepares to exit the scene. He is looking straight at her, meeting her gaze, as he speaks his final words: "Remember me.""
This book was recommended and lent to me by a friend. The author had been recommended by some of the people in the Hancock French Conversation Group. This book was recommended and lent to me by a friend. The author had been recommended by some of the people in the Hancock French Conversation Group. The author lives in Minnesota, which is where my friend lived before moving here. She has meet him and read most of his books.
I found this book very engaging and a sad story of the times with orphans, Indian Schools, Tent Revivals, a river trip - Huck Finn style, and much more. The author really knows how to tell a story, develop his characters, and leave you guessing!
I'm sure I will read more of his books. Our library has five others. A worthwhile read!...more
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