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Winner of the Penguin/Orange Reader’s Group Prize 2006 and 2007 this book was a compelling read. Ranging from the cold Afghanistan winter of 1975 with friends Amir and Hassan in Kabul flying kites to the plight of refugees fleeing to Pakistan in the most appalling of circumstances we follow Amir to America and finally his return to his homeland in 2001.
At times it is an almost unbearably sad and tragic tale. There are striking contrasts between terror and tenderness, love and the cowardice and vengefulness of bullying. The main theme is one of ‘giving’ in boundless amounts yet not asking for anything in return as exemplified in Hassan’s friendship for Amir. Through these characters and the narrative the reader comes face to face with many of the challenges and tragedies that have beset Afghanis both in their homeland and in the immigrant San Francisco community
Rahim Khan, an old man by the end of the book promises ‘there is a way to be good again’ – a phrase that was borne out throughout the book as the characters journey through the decades. This was an excellent compelling book that combined depth of character, plot, setting and context into a riveting read.
Ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous this wonderful piece of social history is presented chronologically month by month from September 1939 through to September 1945. Fifteen British diarists, nine men and six women chart the passage of life throughout the war years. Their locations range from Blackpool to Dorset and Barrow – in – Furness to Streatham. The fifteen were mostly literate and middle class but, as the editor points out they were not, nor did they pretend to be representative of the British people as a whole. Twenty three black and white photos compliment the entries and are a fitting addition to this wonderful piece of history.
As we read through the entries we learn of the hopes and fears, the trivia of day to day living, political thoughts and in one or two instances some reflective thinking upon the war. One such reflective comment is included from the May 1943 diary of an RAF corporal who was a trainer of recruits at Warrington. Following the dam buster raids he reflects, ‘rushing water cannot distinguish between a factory and a hospital, cannot distinguish between between soldiers and children. I know this is total war but are we to abandon all standards of mercy and humanity? An act like this makes us all barbarians.’
This book will appeal to a wide variety of readers. At one level there is the fascination of the diaries but there is also a wide range of additional material including the biographies of the diarists, along with a note on the selections. For those wishing to broaden their historical knowledge endnotes explain more fully some of the events to which the diarists refer. In addition there is a comprehensive further reading section, including websites and an excellent index.
Tragically and sadly the editor Sandra Koa Wing lost her fight against cancer in May 2007 at the age of twenty eight years. Reading her blog and many tributes her delightful joie de vivre shines through throughout. She edited an absorbing book that may be read at many levels - I would highly commend it to fellow people watchers.
Following my reading of July's People by Nadine Gordimer I began to reflect upon my question of the title here. Which book would you choose I wonder? Do comment here and I will post a list next Saturday!
Have edited this as I have just visited Jill over at The Magic Lasso who unbeknown to me is interested in which book you would save from a fire. Go and share with her as well!
Should I be offering prizes to anyone who can guess mine without going over to Jill???
As the days pass and March is still hanging on, the Oxford Cambridge boat race is rowed and we move our clocks forward an hour and the pattern of the years is reassuringly repeated. In amongst work, life, family and friends the lives of my books ebb and flow. My impulsive picking up of Nadine Gordimer's July's People from the local library edged others back into the pile of 'to be read'.
This book was so idiosyncratic yet so relevant to all of us - what is it that we value in our lives? Just exactly how important is the 'trivia' in our lives? What will you take when the time comes to flee your home? In common with the woman in this novel I too would probably take a book. Poor Maureen, she was frightened to make a start on hers as 'she did not want to begin it. What would happen when she had read it? There was no other.' Reading on a few lines we find she has indeed made a start but Gordimer allows her to express the very reason we sometimes read and yet for Maureen it was the grim truth.
'But the transport of a novel, the false awareness of being in another time, place and life that was the pleasure of reading. for her, was not possible. She was in another time. place and consciousness; it pressed in upon her as someone's breath fills a balloon shape. She was already not what she was. No fiction could compete with what she was finding what she did not know, could not have imagined or discovered through imagination. They had nothing.'
So this book, written in 1981 set in South Africa is one in which apartheid and the revolutionary uprising of blacks is the backcloth for an adventure that has the white family and black servant role reversed - but in the hands of Nadine Gordimer it is so much more. 
Recently I was reading the hype around the 40th Anniversary of the Man Booker Prize here and found myself drawn into the 'best Booker prize debate'. For me there was no debate - Possession by A S Byatt. Totally immersed I enthused, discussed and shared the book in a manner that was unique to me at that time in my life. As we all know the advent of internet blogs, yahoo book groups and challenges has provided another huge audience for us to share our enthusiasms. I try to read widely and enjoy my bookish world but I do have to say that the only other book I have ever felt so passionate about is War and Peace. So Possession certainly had my vote! Well you can't actually vote yet but I posted and it wet my appetite!
Thus armed and browsing in the real world of my lovely local library imagine my interest when I came across a sleek, slim slip of a book The Man Booker Prize - 35 Years of the best in contemporary fiction 1969 - 2003. This little volume was informative, entertaining and full of snippets of information about many of those who have felt so passionately about reading. Ranging from Michael Caine through to Tom Maschler founder of The Prize it is a great collection of thoughts and reflections of those whose lives have been close to the prize over the years. If you are reading the prize winners or are simply curious about the history of this bookish institution enjoy this delightful selection of essays.
2008 has so far been a year of great variety. My books have provoked so much thinking - far beyond the pages. Friends who 'know' me will recognise the phrase 'resonate with me long after I place it back in the bookcase' . A large soundboard is needed at present - probably due to the wide ranging books I have insisted on reading. This is interesting as we occasionally read posts of friends who tend to look askance at challenge led reading. As you may know my reading is all within the triple eight challenge with my eight categories.
Anyway I digress. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, recommended by and lent to me by a dear friend, who grew up in war time Germany but now lives in France is a point in case. Would I have ever read this book had I not been enthused and inspired by the ever broadening reading horizons afforded me through Library Thing et al? This read was closely followed by Behind The Burqa by Sulima and Hala as I wished to follow up the Nawaal El Saadawi book I had recently read regarding women and their freedom in Egypt. Sulima and Hala recount their story of life in Afghanistan and how they escaped to freedom. I cannot help but reflect upon the Virginia Woolf essay in relation to the lives of these women. What an eclectic path I have trod so far in 2008. Afghanistan to War and Peace via The Lying Days and often in the company of my Benedictine friend!
Time to take stock as we journey on through 2008 … here are my five top highlights so far ;
15 / 64 books. 23% read!
Anyway I digress. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, recommended by and lent to me by a dear friend, who grew up in war time Germany but now lives in France is a point in case. Would I have ever read this book had I not been enthused and inspired by the ever broadening reading horizons afforded me through Library Thing et al? This read was closely followed by Behind The Burqa by Sulima and Hala as I wished to follow up the Nawaal El Saadawi book I had recently read regarding women and their freedom in Egypt. Sulima and Hala recount their story of life in Afghanistan and how they escaped to freedom. I cannot help but reflect upon the Virginia Woolf essay in relation to the lives of these women. What an eclectic path I have trod so far in 2008. Afghanistan to War and Peace via The Lying Days and often in the company of my Benedictine friend!
Time to take stock as we journey on through 2008 … here are my five top highlights so far ;
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
The Road by Bernhard Schlink
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
The Lying Days by Nadine Gordimer
I have travelled a challenging but inspirational journey over the last forty days. From the comfort of my arm chair I have made my own personal Lenten pilgrimage culminating in the hope and joy of Easter celebrations. Ash Wednesday to Easter day has seen me with my constant companion Albert Holtz. Who - you may well ask! Albert is a Benedictine monk who, in his sabattical year journeyed widely and wrote forty short mediatations based on vignettes with pencil line drawings of the places he visited. Each day he led me to another destination - from Bolivia to Holland, via Santiago de Compostela and Assisi in Italy. Each day's destination was accompanied with a reflection, a bible verse and a quote from the Rule of St Benedict. Especially wonderful for me was that he visited places with which I was already acquainted and so had a special affinity.
This was an inspiring and delightful companion for my journey through Lent. If you ever think about taking a spiritual journey, be it Lent or not then do try this little volume - you will not be disappointed.
These were my choices for this challenge that ends today March 19th.War and Peace Leo Tolstoy completed
Surviving with Wolves: The Most Extraordinary Story of World War II Misha Defonseca (888) completed
I Have Lived A Thousand Years Livia Bitton-Jackson (888) completed
Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston (ZNH) completed The Giver Lois Lowry (Newbery, Book Awards) completed
When The Emperor Was Divine (888, Book Around The World) completed
As a wrap up to this adventure I will refer back to the original challenge we were given by Inksplasher in which she suggested the following
' i would like to suggest that we stretch a little. If you normally read fiction, put at least one non-fiction on your list (and vice versa). Or try a genre you don’t usually read. (I may have to read another romance.) Or try a new author chosen totally at random. But most importantly, make your list FUN so you'll want to read!'
My list was certainly fun but more importantly fulfilling. As a quick glance at the list may suggest I did stretch myself in many ways. This was especially evident as I read the Zora Neale Thurston dialect. As for War and Peace this was the most amazing and wonderful book I have ever read - and has motivated me to read the Levear and Volokhonsky version of Anna Karenina. The memoir genre that turned out to be a fiction read after all was another interesting read - probably for all the wrong reasons! Finally the view of war in the USA for Japanese nationals was a complete revelation to me. The joy of this book was that it was a gift from a dear web friend and thus epitomised the pleasure and joy I have discovered since reading along with my new found friends on the web.
Favorite book of the challenge - War and Peace
Least favorite book of the challenge - Surviving With Wolves
Any new authors read in this challenge - Zora Neale Hurston and Julie Otsuka
What I learned - that variety is the spice of life!
Thank you Karlene for hosting!
Have you ever experienced that brain tingling sensation as you lower yourself, as if into water and become gradually immersed in writing that is so engaging that you wish to savour again and again the feel of the water lapping over you and caressing you. This is my rather humble attempt to describe reading Nadine Gordimer's first novel published in 1953. Grateful thanks must go to Incurable logophilia for drawing me to read this South African author who had her first story
published when she was only 15. Imagine my frustration as I researched this author and found that she had been on Oxford only last year....
I missed the author who, in 1991 received the following citation for The Nobel Prize in Literature
''who through her magnificent epic writing has - in the words of Alfred Nobel - been of very great benefit to humanity"
Almost every page of Nadine Gordimer's writing drew me in to reflect upon situations and relationships in the context of South Africa of the 1950's. She brings into close juxtaposition the emotional and political climate as her story unfolds. It was no wonder for me as I read that she had been one of the first people that Nelson Mandela met following his release. In addition she has been awarded fifteen honorary degrees from universites in USA, Belgium, South Africa, and from York, Oxford and Cambridge Universities in the UK. She was made a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France), and is Vice President of International PEN and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She was also a founder of the Congress of South African Writers. In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, and in 2007, the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (France).
‘Learning to write sent me falling, falling through the surface of the South African way of life,’ said Gordimer. It is evident that she has a real affection for her homeland in the deepest sense of the word. This poignantly highlights the political persecution on the lives of ordinary South Africans that she portrays in The Lying Days.
One question I have relates to the WB Yeats poem quoted at the beginning of the book and I quote
The Coming of Wisdom with Time:
“Though leaves are many, the root is one;
Through all the lying days of my youth
I swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun
Now I may wither into the truth”
In this short poem Yeats seems to express an unhappiness about the finality of aging . So we move from three lively, vibrant lines to a dried up final line that suggests a passive, rather beyond my control type of change. As I followed the growing into young adulthood of Helen through the emotional and political landscape of the novel it was not the 'withering into a truth' that was reflected to me. It was more an optimism borne of her choice, a sense of self realisation that I felt with Helen on the quayside as she awaited her departure.
Reading this work led me to become interested in researching more of this amazing lady's life and works. A notable quote, taken from an interview with the author for BBC Radio 3 captured for me Helen's journey; ‘As a white SA you go through a second birth – take privileges for granted round about adolescence you realize there is something very strange and as you get older something very wrong …’ 18th October 1998
published when she was only 15. Imagine my frustration as I researched this author and found that she had been on Oxford only last year....
I missed the author who, in 1991 received the following citation for The Nobel Prize in Literature
''who through her magnificent epic writing has - in the words of Alfred Nobel - been of very great benefit to humanity"
Almost every page of Nadine Gordimer's writing drew me in to reflect upon situations and relationships in the context of South Africa of the 1950's. She brings into close juxtaposition the emotional and political climate as her story unfolds. It was no wonder for me as I read that she had been one of the first people that Nelson Mandela met following his release. In addition she has been awarded fifteen honorary degrees from universites in USA, Belgium, South Africa, and from York, Oxford and Cambridge Universities in the UK. She was made a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France), and is Vice President of International PEN and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She was also a founder of the Congress of South African Writers. In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, and in 2007, the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (France).
‘Learning to write sent me falling, falling through the surface of the South African way of life,’ said Gordimer. It is evident that she has a real affection for her homeland in the deepest sense of the word. This poignantly highlights the political persecution on the lives of ordinary South Africans that she portrays in The Lying Days.
One question I have relates to the WB Yeats poem quoted at the beginning of the book and I quote
The Coming of Wisdom with Time:
“Though leaves are many, the root is one;
Through all the lying days of my youth
I swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun
Now I may wither into the truth”
In this short poem Yeats seems to express an unhappiness about the finality of aging . So we move from three lively, vibrant lines to a dried up final line that suggests a passive, rather beyond my control type of change. As I followed the growing into young adulthood of Helen through the emotional and political landscape of the novel it was not the 'withering into a truth' that was reflected to me. It was more an optimism borne of her choice, a sense of self realisation that I felt with Helen on the quayside as she awaited her departure.
Reading this work led me to become interested in researching more of this amazing lady's life and works. A notable quote, taken from an interview with the author for BBC Radio 3 captured for me Helen's journey; ‘As a white SA you go through a second birth – take privileges for granted round about adolescence you realize there is something very strange and as you get older something very wrong …’ 18th October 1998
Finally, the power of this work lay for me in the descriptions of place, a way of living, the sadness of lives that were so inexorably intertwined with conventions of the time and place. My copy is littered with multi coloured‘stickies’ highlighting yet another passage worthy of comment and reflection. My remaining lingering thought is that this is a work of fiction yet lives were lived in this novel and man’s inhumanity to man and his inability to respect his fellow human continue to this day – wherever we are. What is our response to the injustices around and within us today?
Based upon the author’s encounter with a woman imprisoned in Qanatir prison in Cairo, Egypt this novel was written by Dr Nawan El Saadawi, a psychiatrist who came upon a woman in solitary confinement, awaiting her execution. She is an Egyptian feminist novelist born in 1931. A challenging read in terms of content yet written in a sparse and apparently simple style. This is a powerful and uncomfortable story with a depth of meaning far beneath the surface of the words.
Following the first 1978 Arabic publication in Beirut it was banned across several middle east countries, including Egypt. The French edition of the novel was awarded the 1982 Literary Prize for Franco-Arab Friendship.
At one point I recalled A Women of One’s Own as the twenty five year old Firdaus speaks of a room in her apartment. This part of her story finds her saying … ‘Now I could decide on the food I wanted to eat, the house I preferred to live in, refuse the man for whom I felt an aversion no matter what the reason, and choose the man I wished to have ….’ She then talks of her liking of culture. ... ‘ever since I had started to go to school and had learned to read, but especially during this last period, since I could buy books. I had a large library in my apartment, and it was here that I spent most of my free time. On the walls I had hung …. And right in the middle was my secondary school certificate surrounded by an expensive frame. I never received anyone in the library. It was a very special room reserved for me alone’ … (page 69)
I found this work inspiring, deeply thought provoking and at many points it drove me to reflect on 'my' life choices. Thoughts of freedom, dignity, respect for others and for oneself ... all of which I have a choice to accept - or not. Doris Lessing wrote of this book as one in which we are reminded not to take our good fortune for granted. That certainly rang true for me and compelled me to ask how am I using the freedom that I have?
I highly recommend this book for all to ponder upon the value and meaning of life, wherever you are and whatever your gender.
My lovely friend Jill has tagged me to participate in a meme that originated way, way over here to post a six-word memoir on my blog. These are the rules:
1. Write a six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration or photo if you’d like
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post if possible so the meme can be tracked as it travels across the blogosphere
4. Tag five more blogs with links
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.
My offering is still fermenting - this is a lot more challenging than it sounds - I want to do it justice and retrieve a suitable image - so, pardon me I am off to do more thinking!
With my love of reading books that touch upon the spiritual and with a view to my triple 8 challenge spiritual category I have joined in with Callista's Spirituality challenge.
I am savouring my choosing and have yet to decide - an embarrasse de riches! For me personlly the label spiritual does not necessarily mean a book that is overtly 'spiritual' or 'religious'. Some books lead us to a spiritual plain -maybe unexpectedly. Others relate part of a spiritual journey while others may be inspirational such as a memoir or a biography.
I am contemplating some of the following;
Nicholas Luard The Field of The Star - A Pilgrim's Journey to Santiago de Compostela
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Letters and Papers from Prison
Hopkins, Gerard Manley. Collected Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins
Weil, Simone. Waiting for God
Yeats, William Butler. The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats
Lewis, C.S. The Chronicles of Narnia
Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity
Adams, Henry. Mont-Saint Michel and Chartres
Gordon Strachan, Chartres: Sacred Geometry, Sacred Space
Joan Chittister, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily
David Foster, Reading With God
Just completed this brilliant essay for A Novel challenge. It was originally presented by Virginia Woolf to undergraduates of Girton and Newnham Colleges, Cambridge, England in 1929. In essence it is centred upon the theme of women and fiction - yet she devlops ideas that move through life, literature, philosophy and society. I loved her reflective thinking and the way in which she linked her thoughts so seamlessly.
In my opinion it was five star plus plus and one of the most wonderful reads I have ever experienced - on a par to war and Peace in terms of impact ...
I reserved this book from the library and received the Hogarth press edition of 1959 - that is an old book! However I simply must get my own copy - it has so inspired me. There is a sense of compulsion as I read that I knew I would have to read this work again. I savoured every page, idea and reflection. If you are interested in women, their place in society through history and their writings this is a must for you! 
9 / 64 read. 14% completed.
Please be patient as I am writing my thoughts upon this stunning book. 
I wonder if you recognise this ? Despite book cases bulging, piles developing around the house, three books packed safely for a week away plus one in hand luggage I am magnetically drawn to the airport book shop and leave with an impulse buy. Now if I tell you that I already had Nadime Gordimer, Virginia Woolfe and Mary Doria Russell lovingly wrapped in amongst my clothing – you may well wonder what was I doing. Answer – we may be in the season of Lent but I fell, hook, line and sinker prey to temptation. The lure of a Nobel prize winner for Literature had me enthralled. Orhan Pamuk was the culprit, Snow the title of the book. So far so good but from here onwards matters became a little less straight forward.
In this book an exiled poet returns to Turkey in turbulent times with Islamist and secular intrigue set in the somewhat surreal town of Kars. The town is cut off by a blizzard thus making the setting all the more surreal, not to mention the poems of the poet that play such a central part but never appear.
There were times when I felt I would not get through this work. Yet something in the writing drove me on despite my having to re-read bits, reflect and go back in places. I kept asking myself ... why? Was it the politics and my lack of understanding of the situation? Was it the inaccessibility of the unusual? Maybe of more interest, I should suggest we ask what is it that kept me going? Something to do with the quality of writing. the clever and reflective use of the 'snow' theme. The latter certainly intrigued me ... I really wanted to learn about Turkey and the state - religion, change, politics and traditions. To be honest what I learnt from this novel seems very much at odds from what I glean from the news and BBC, but hey who says they have the monopoly of what is ‘truth’.
There were times when I felt I would not get through this work. Yet something in the writing drove me on despite my having to re-read bits, reflect and go back in places. I kept asking myself ... why? Was it the politics and my lack of understanding of the situation? Was it the inaccessibility of the unusual? Maybe of more interest, I should suggest we ask what is it that kept me going? Something to do with the quality of writing. the clever and reflective use of the 'snow' theme. The latter certainly intrigued me ... I really wanted to learn about Turkey and the state - religion, change, politics and traditions. To be honest what I learnt from this novel seems very much at odds from what I glean from the news and BBC, but hey who says they have the monopoly of what is ‘truth’.
Considering some inexplicable element drove me on I have been trying to understand ‘why’? So what is this book about we wonder? It is about the tensions of change and education, it is involved with politics, East - West tensions and religion, the wearing of headscarves and theatre. We see events from the fundamentalists point of view and their concern regarding the growth of liberalism. We witness the murder of the Director of Education Institute in the New Life Pastry shop. He was wired for sound and we eavesdrop the harrowing conversation with his killer. Violence seems so commonplace in Kars, the Turkish town in which the novel is set. Day to day life is in such stark contrast to my life, my expectations of the society in which I live, my freedoms and my professional life. Yet, the counterbalance to this horrendous violence is the love of the main character Ka for Ipek. To say it is complex, multi layered and a challenge is a bit of an understatement as far as this reader is concerned! From time to time I felt I was missing the point or was not sufficiently knowledgeable to understand some of the dialogue and cultural elements.
Overall I think this book is deserving of the acclaim it has received but my personal view is that I felt that the author was simply making it too difficult for me, the reader to become truly engaged. Hence my three stars, but I would be interested to know your thoughts.
This book, I Have Lived A Thousand Years – Growing Up in The Holocaust by Livia Bitton-Jackson won the 1998 Christopher Award – Books for Young People. So … you may well ask. Personally this was an award I had never heard of up till now. I am so glad that I researched The Christophers as I came across the strap line that is the title for this review. Written in short diary type of entries this memoir of Elli takes the reader from Hungary to Auschwit. It is another inspiring work reflecting faith, hope, triumph and love. I became immersed in stories of perseverance, loyalty, courage and a determination never to give up. As Livia writes in her very personal forward ‘My story is my message: never give up’. Once again there is rending heart ache recorded in fairly short, almost matter of fact sentences yet all without evidence of the faintest sense of self pity. Faith, motherhood, daughterhood, friendship and family predominate and of special interest to me was the development of the mother daughter relationship throughout their experiences. This would be an excellent memoir to share with young people and one that would remind them that it is better to light one candle rather than curse the darkness.
This memoir left me incredulous – at two levels. Firstly, that young Misha, the seven year old Jewish girl could journey as she did, hungry often starving, blistered, alone and yet survive. She travelled across three thousand miles through Nazi occupied Europe - a trek that defies belief and yet reflects the strength of the human spirit.
Secondly that man’s inhumanity to man was so evident and that a child of seven should have witnessed so much murder, brutality and even rape. Yet there is hope in this The wolves of the forest were to be relied upon – Misha lived with wolves and became a wolf in body and spirit. She learns to be at one with the pups and their mother but even this experience is terribly marred by the actions of man.
Inspirational and honest as she shares insights into her life in far off America her journey through life remains challenging. Yet her hope shines through as in the following quote
… ‘I shook with fear again one September 11th on soil that I’d believed was safe from war. Did I have to begin running again? I didn’t run. I started writing again …’ As to the final words dear reader – read them for yourself – you will not be disappointed.
Appendix to my original words. Sadly as confirmed here it appears that the author of this book has been dishonest. Tthe story that earned $25 million and was translated into 18 languages was fiction. Misha Defonseca, whose real name is Monique De Wael, admitted yesterday the bestseller she co-wrote, Misha - a Memoir of the Holocaust Years, was a fake. She did not live with wolves and did not spend four years crossing Europe from Belgium to the Ukraine in World War II. Apparently she is not even Jewish. "I ask for forgiveness from all those who feel betrayed," she said.
Appendix to my original words. Sadly as confirmed here it appears that the author of this book has been dishonest. Tthe story that earned $25 million and was translated into 18 languages was fiction. Misha Defonseca, whose real name is Monique De Wael, admitted yesterday the bestseller she co-wrote, Misha - a Memoir of the Holocaust Years, was a fake. She did not live with wolves and did not spend four years crossing Europe from Belgium to the Ukraine in World War II. Apparently she is not even Jewish. "I ask for forgiveness from all those who feel betrayed," she said.
This was, and will remain a very special book to me for a variety of reasons. Sent from one of my bookish friends (thank you so much Jill) across the pond, having been previously read by another mutual friend (dear Laura) this book epitomises all that has been so wonderful about my venture into sharing reading lives through the internet. Here, I am thinking of so much more than the act of reading books. We are learning, not simply about the facts, the history and geography of place but about the viewpoints of others and the expansion of horizons that even as an educationalist committed to life long learning never ceases to amaze me.
Written from the point of view of unnamed characters this short elegantly written novel taught me about events that were previously unknown to me. How can writing be so direct yet so deep and unashamedly honest, almost point blank? There were moments when it felt as if this was not a work of fiction and with a sudden jerk you are catapulted into the reality that this did actually happen to real people and all not so very long ago. As someone who has read a number of wartime experience type of books I realised that I was woefully ignorant about the plight of American Japanese aliens during the second world war. Do read this wonderful work - you will not be disappointed.
I wonder how we can learn from this novel … wherever we are in the world …
First sentence
Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.
Final sentences
Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see.
These sentences reflect the beauty and lyricism of the narrative of this novel. This story takes the reader on a journey away from the idealized and stereotyped afro American woman. Somehow, and in spite of the afro – American dialect in which much of the book is written the way in which our central character Janie grows, develops and reflects upon life as a whole person, as a woman has much that spoke to me regardless of skin colour and roots.
Speaking personally some of the dialect was at times tough going. Such was the power of the writing, the life of Janie, that the challenge of the dialect was no longer so! In essence we follow Janie as she journeys from a sixteen year old to a mature woman. Her awakening is likened to her experience of her watching singing bees on a pear tree.
‘Oh to be a pear tree – any tree in bloom! With kissing bees singing of the beginning of the world! She was sixteen. She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with her life but it seemed to elude her. Where were the singing bees for her?’
A thought provoking story – worthy of four stars. Do be sure to read an edition that contains an introduction by Holly Eley and the afterword by Sherley Anne Williams.
Closing the final page of my beautiful edition of this great epic was one of those moments when feelings of joy and sorrow are so closely aligned. As I had journeyed nearer the conclusion the more I became aware of the nagging in the back of my mind. I didn’t want it to end and the questions - what will I read next, how can any book I read in the future follow this experience? Now, of course that may well seem rather melodramatic to you dear reader as it does to me as I write in the cold clear light of day. There are many many readers who read many great authors and their satisfaction of one does not diminish the other. But this was a very real thought to me as I travelled through this book. How can any other book I ever read live up to what I experienced over the last month?
To even begin to contemplate giving such a work a star rating seems highly inappropriate - let alone even begin to write a review! This book spoke to me in a myriad of ways as it has for so may others - such is the greatness of the book.
I have been left with a very strong desire to encourage others to read this work. Do not shie away from it, persevere through the first part, do not be discouraged. Most of all please do not think that you are in any way not 'good, or clever enough' to enjoy it - it is not an endurance test, a badge of office to be won or a medal winning feat to have read it! Having mildly ranted I have to say I am thrilled that I fulfilled my desire to read it and feel a very contented healthy sense of pride in my success.
Should you feel even mildly interested please do contact me as I would be pleased to support you and share resources. If you think you would like to read it along with friends there is a Library Thing group here that has just started. Why not check it out? You will not be disappointed.
After thoughts ... at one point a friend asked me how was I 'tackling' the book? I replied ...
' you used the word 'tackling' and how appropriate. On reflection I have used strategies to tackle it and so far, so good .... here are one or two ideas that have supported me.
Firstly, I read quite widely round the work. This included reading other readers views and the way in which they found the work enjoyable or challenging. As a number of colleagues found the characters daunting I also downloaded some notes in relation to the characters.
Next, I tried to learn as much as I could about the translations available and deliberately chose the Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translation.
As I began reading I wrote on the character list, added my thoughts, scribbled down links and family tree relationships. As far as my reading 'sessions' go I adopt a completely different approach to this work! I sit at the table along with my fountain pen, journal and notes and approach it as a study session. In this way and for me personally I sense that I am more fully engaged with it than I would otherwise have been. Interestingly, further into the book read a lot in bed, on a couple of long train journeys and simply in the arm chair!
Finally, the fact that I have joined the War and Peace 08 group has given me a timetable for reading the work with discussion starting on Part 1 from January 15 2008 with a completion date in April.
Unlike many of you I rarely read more than one book at a time. At present I am doing so and have the feeling that in a curious way this is helping me focus on War and Peace. Reading ‘lighter’ books in parallel is helpful and I do have other books demanding to be read!'
To even begin to contemplate giving such a work a star rating seems highly inappropriate - let alone even begin to write a review! This book spoke to me in a myriad of ways as it has for so may others - such is the greatness of the book.
I have been left with a very strong desire to encourage others to read this work. Do not shie away from it, persevere through the first part, do not be discouraged. Most of all please do not think that you are in any way not 'good, or clever enough' to enjoy it - it is not an endurance test, a badge of office to be won or a medal winning feat to have read it! Having mildly ranted I have to say I am thrilled that I fulfilled my desire to read it and feel a very contented healthy sense of pride in my success.
Should you feel even mildly interested please do contact me as I would be pleased to support you and share resources. If you think you would like to read it along with friends there is a Library Thing group here that has just started. Why not check it out? You will not be disappointed.
After thoughts ... at one point a friend asked me how was I 'tackling' the book? I replied ...
' you used the word 'tackling' and how appropriate. On reflection I have used strategies to tackle it and so far, so good .... here are one or two ideas that have supported me.
Firstly, I read quite widely round the work. This included reading other readers views and the way in which they found the work enjoyable or challenging. As a number of colleagues found the characters daunting I also downloaded some notes in relation to the characters.
Next, I tried to learn as much as I could about the translations available and deliberately chose the Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translation.
As I began reading I wrote on the character list, added my thoughts, scribbled down links and family tree relationships. As far as my reading 'sessions' go I adopt a completely different approach to this work! I sit at the table along with my fountain pen, journal and notes and approach it as a study session. In this way and for me personally I sense that I am more fully engaged with it than I would otherwise have been. Interestingly, further into the book read a lot in bed, on a couple of long train journeys and simply in the arm chair!
Finally, the fact that I have joined the War and Peace 08 group has given me a timetable for reading the work with discussion starting on Part 1 from January 15 2008 with a completion date in April.
Unlike many of you I rarely read more than one book at a time. At present I am doing so and have the feeling that in a curious way this is helping me focus on War and Peace. Reading ‘lighter’ books in parallel is helpful and I do have other books demanding to be read!'
Women and War
1 The Children's House at Belsen Hetty Verolme
2 Four Letters to the Witnesses of My Childhood Helena Ganor
3 Surviving with Wolves: The Most Extraordinary Story of World War II Misha Defonseca READ
4 I Have Lived A Thousand Years Livia Bitton-Jackson READING NOW
5 A life in secrets : the story of Vera Atkins and the lost agents of SOE Sarah Helm
6 I will Plant You a Lilac Tree Laura Hillman
7 A Time to Speak Helen Lewis
8 If I Should Die Before I Wake Han Nolan
Book Around The World
1 War and Peace Leo Tolstoy READ
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Book Awards
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Richard and Judy
1The house at Riverton Kate Morton
2 Salmon Fishing in The Yemen Paul Torday
3 The Savage Garden Mark Mills
4 The Interpretation of Murder Jed Rubenfeld
5
6
7
8
Catch My Eye
1 When The Emperor Was Divine Julie Otsuka READ
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Spiritual
1 Pilgrim Road Albert Holtz LENT READING
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Wendy’s 100 Most Influential Novels by Women Writers
1 Mrs. Dalloway -Virginia Woolf
2 Their Eyes Were Watching God-Zora Neale Hurston READ
3 The Stone Diaries-Carol Shields
4 Tell Me a Riddle-Tillie Olsen
5 The Optimist's Daughter-Eudora Welty
6 Stones From the River-Ursula Hegi
7 Stones for Ibarra-Harriet Doerr
8 Angle of Repose-Wallace Stegner
Newbery Project
1 The Giver Lois Lowry READ
2 The Trumpeter of Krakow Eric Kelly
3 Ginger Pye Eleanor Estes
4 Island of The Blue Dolphins Scott O'Dell
5 A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L'Engle
6
7
8
1 The Children's House at Belsen Hetty Verolme
2 Four Letters to the Witnesses of My Childhood Helena Ganor
3 Surviving with Wolves: The Most Extraordinary Story of World War II Misha Defonseca READ
4 I Have Lived A Thousand Years Livia Bitton-Jackson READING NOW
5 A life in secrets : the story of Vera Atkins and the lost agents of SOE Sarah Helm
6 I will Plant You a Lilac Tree Laura Hillman
7 A Time to Speak Helen Lewis
8 If I Should Die Before I Wake Han Nolan
Book Around The World
1 War and Peace Leo Tolstoy READ
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Book Awards
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Richard and Judy
1The house at Riverton Kate Morton
2 Salmon Fishing in The Yemen Paul Torday
3 The Savage Garden Mark Mills
4 The Interpretation of Murder Jed Rubenfeld
5
6
7
8
Catch My Eye
1 When The Emperor Was Divine Julie Otsuka READ
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Spiritual
1 Pilgrim Road Albert Holtz LENT READING
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Wendy’s 100 Most Influential Novels by Women Writers
1 Mrs. Dalloway -Virginia Woolf
2 Their Eyes Were Watching God-Zora Neale Hurston READ
3 The Stone Diaries-Carol Shields
4 Tell Me a Riddle-Tillie Olsen
5 The Optimist's Daughter-Eudora Welty
6 Stones From the River-Ursula Hegi
7 Stones for Ibarra-Harriet Doerr
8 Angle of Repose-Wallace Stegner
Newbery Project
1 The Giver Lois Lowry READ
2 The Trumpeter of Krakow Eric Kelly
3 Ginger Pye Eleanor Estes
4 Island of The Blue Dolphins Scott O'Dell
5 A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L'Engle
6
7
8
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