Can the greatest sorrows and the greatest villains be outweighed by the greatest triumphs and the greatest idealists?
After I finished reading March, ICan the greatest sorrows and the greatest villains be outweighed by the greatest triumphs and the greatest idealists?
After I finished reading March, I am not so sure. Geraldine Brooks pulls no punches in reminding us and indeed educating many of us of the horrors of slavery in the United States. It was so much more than putting human beings to work in the fields. So much more.
A tremendous book that should not be missed, albeit one that will leave many readers wondering where is the humanity among humans....more
The imact of most novels is determined by the specific circumstances in which the reader finds themselves. A reader's place in life might be measured The imact of most novels is determined by the specific circumstances in which the reader finds themselves. A reader's place in life might be measured by their relationship with others at that specific moment, or their perception of their individual meaning and impact in a larger context. It is those perceptions which often color the reception of a book as being either salient or unremarkable.
I found This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub to be a work which transcends any limitations a reader might bring to the table. The themes addressed so deftly by this story are timeless, so much so that I'll go so far as to place this work on the level of a parable. An immutable classic which can be read by myself, my wife, my parents, or my children, to equal effect and one which I think could've been read decades ago or decades henceforth to equal effect.
I've never thought of a novel that I should return to it again and again, but I foresee returning the This Time Tomorrow on a regular basis. I just might back an auspicious date and re-read this elegant and poigant story year after year.
To parphrase a parable, no one reads the same book twice, but this time next year and maybe each following year, I look forward to revisiting this splendid work....more
My thoughts after reading The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri:
Why are we here? How does it end? What does it mean? The internal questions we all ask miss thMy thoughts after reading The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri:
Why are we here? How does it end? What does it mean? The internal questions we all ask miss the most salient query: Who am I? The Namesake by Jhump Lahiri asks the question and ultimately reveals there is no answer. Our name labels our identity as we perceive it and as others do. Not only do different people view that identity through different lenses they will interpret that identity through their own tools. It’s as if some would discern a painting through sight, others through touch, and yet others through taste. Perhaps the solution in dealing with the dilemma that “One is not all things to all people” is simply in recognizing and accepting that while we can change our identity in one arena we might still maintain a pre-existing identity in others....more
Has just what you hope to find in all great works of fiction and non fiction.
What is the purpose of reading if it is not to place our minds into placeHas just what you hope to find in all great works of fiction and non fiction.
What is the purpose of reading if it is not to place our minds into places which we cannot visit? Whether far away exotic locales, historical eras long since passed, or futuristic visions which only exist in ideas.
Visiting that which cannot be visited is a longing as old as the Call of the Sirens, or biting the Forbidden Fruit of Knowledge.
The Ambulance Chaser, a novel by Brian Cuban, brings you to many such forbidden locales. Voyaging through scenes in a courtroom, jailhouse, mobsters, drug runners, and more, the reader is pulled into many forbidden worlds.
But as the protagonist is just a regular guy, we wonder if this cautionary tale is more memoir than fiction and how many of us are just a decision away from tragically altering the course of events of our lives. Is this a cautionary tale, a tale of redemption, or a tale of success vs. selling out? It is all these and more.
An excellent novel with hopefully more to come from Brian Cuban, Ambulance Chaser leaves us not only wondering about the progression of the life of the protagonist, but also, about the progression of our own lives and our our own decisions in the past and in the future....more
“The most dangerous thing in the world is faith. That is why I selected you, peregrine- you and no other- for this assignment. A man who believes in n“The most dangerous thing in the world is faith. That is why I selected you, peregrine- you and no other- for this assignment. A man who believes in nothing… who takes pride in believing in nothing.”
When the mercenary believes in something, he becomes even more dangerous than he had ever been....more
One Morning is the debut novel by illustrator Jessica Hagy. Set over the course of a single day, the novel follows one dozen women for one hour each aOne Morning is the debut novel by illustrator Jessica Hagy. Set over the course of a single day, the novel follows one dozen women for one hour each and it quickly becomes apparent that their lives will intertwine in ways often initially unimaginable but eventually tragically inevitable.
Each character receives their own star billing and an individual chapter dedicated to their life for one hour in the day. This could make for a disjointed narrative without a clear progression if written by lesser talented author. Jessica Hagy’s narrative style is so effective and jarring that by the middle of each chapter, rather than feeling sated, the reader ravenously awaits the next course and must go on to the next chapter and the next character.
The characters are eminently believable and with great skill the author has almost each character bounce between the extremes of the value arc found in Society Genre novels, Personal power and Impotence. At times the revelation of the status of the characters, whether impotence, vulnerability, or personal power, are not revealed until later chapters, another example of complex and impressive story telling.
The prose is often gloomy, matching the setting for the novel, a now decrepit coal mining town in Pennsylvania. From one characters’ life: “She it too sickened by tragedy to pretend that the world can be a decent place, and she is rightly assumed to be contagious. People avoid her because they worry her despair is contagious, and they’re correct.” Despair and tragedy are running themes throughout the novel and each character’s life, but so is a glimmer of hope, a small ray of sunshine trying to break through the wall of gray clouds enveloping the coal mining town. Some characters have more hope and fight their dreary plight more than others:
“The sweetest cherries grow from trees planted where outhouses used to be right? She pounds her steering wheel, victoriously hissing, Let’s do this. Let’s do this. I’m doing this.”
After all, isn’t that a truism throughout the entirety of human existence? As Victor Frankl shows us in Man’s Search for Meaning, individuals in a group found in the same horrific circumstances can react and respond in diametrically opposed ways.
While some of our protagonists in One Morning are searching for meaning and have brighter prospects than others who seem to accept their fate with resignation, one can’t escape the eventual fate that befalls us all.
“She smells it before she sees it. Black smoke coming from the kitchen. The fire alarm howls. The cookies have burned. They’re carbon now. Space dust, star-exhaust. Just like every other moving part, dead, alive, or dangling somewhere in between, molecular pawns in the universe long game.”
One Morning reminds us that while we are all molecular pawns in a long game, that which we make of the short game is entirely within our control....more
Loading...
