Body Surfing by Anita Shreve (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

I am not sure why, but I am bothered by the writing of novels in the present tense.  I guess that when someone is telling a story, by definition, it’s happened already, so why tell it as if it’s happening RIGHT NOW?   I do usually get past it and just get into the story, but I think that it took me an inordinate amount of time to get past it in this particular book.  It may be that it just took a bit of time to get into this story in the first place, but I’m not sure.

Anyway, this story is about a young woman, Sydney, who is living with a family at their beach house because she’s tutoring their 18 year old daughter, Julia, to prepare her for the SAT’s.   During the course of the summer, Sydney is introduced to Julia’s two older brothers, one of whom she becomes romantically involved and the other becomes alienated from the family.  There are interesting twists of events that bring the family closer and tear them apart and Sydney becomes very entwined in these events.

I think what finally drew me in is the relationships that develop among the different characters.  Julia’s father and Sydney, for example, grow to have a very warm, mutually respectful relationship and there are a few very tender moments between the two of them.

 

Bottom line:  in my opinion, it’s an interesting story but if you don’t have a lot of time to read, I wouldn’t put this as a priority.

 

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

You may have seen the movie years ago, as I did, but my son recently read this and loved it and I love reading what my kids have read.  I can see why my son loved it — it is basically the musings of a 35 year old man-child.  It’s a coming-of-age story of a typical commitment-fearing, self-absorbed, regular guy, Rob, who realizes that his life is falling apart, after his girlfriend leaves him and his record store is failing.   As he seeks to sort himself out, by running through his various older failed relationships, he works his way back to finding himself and actually growing into the adult he’s supposed to have been all this time.

What is engaging about this book is the humor.  The sarcasm is great and there are some extraordinarily memorable lines.  (A particular favorite:  “I’ve been thinking with my guts since I was fourteen years old, and frankly speaking, between you and me, I have come to the conclusion that my guts have shit for brains.” page 315)   And a recurring theme is the top 5 lists that Rob shares throughout the story, which are fun.  Many relate to music, as he is the owner of a record store (during the days of transition from LP’s to CD’s) and this is fun.

It’s less of a story (as not all that much actually happens), and more of a continuous stream of thoughts, but they are fun thoughts and very relatable (if that is even a word).  Enjoy!

 

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

This book is excellent, the author a well-deserved recipient of the Pullitzer Prize.  On one hand, it is the story of Oscar, an overweight, gaming, fantasy book-writing nerd to the nth degree, who is obsessed with his goal of losing his virginity.  Oscar is also Dominican, which gives his whole nerdiness a more complicated cultural context.  On the other hand, it is the story of the Dominican Republic and its complicated, bloody history.  As the setting of the story travels back and forth from New Jersey to the DR, the reader develops an understanding of the culture and the people surrounding poor Oscar.

Most poignant is the character development in this book.  Oscar and his family members become intimately understood by the reader and their often tragic experiences shape who they are and how they behave.  Lola, Oscar’s sister, was a favorite character of mine because she was cool and yet always and  unapologetically stood by her nerdy brother.  She even assigned her boyfriend, one voice in the telling of this story, to protect him when she could not.  Her fierce loyalty was a shining light in this sometimes brutal and raw tale.

The writing is colorful and vivid.  The voice changes from section to section but each voice becomes one you hear whispered in your ear, it is so authentic.  And I would encourage you to read the footnotes (there are probably too many of these).  In the footnotes, you will find important historical explanations that give meaning to what is happening in the story.  I admit I did not read every word in every one, but they are often amusing.

The only complaint I have is that I did not understand the Spanish that is written into the flow of the book and not translated.  Unfortunately since I took French instead of Spanish in high school, I was screwed on that front.  I am sure I missed out because of this.

 

The Assistant (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

The Assistant by Bernard Malamud

This is the mid-1900’s, Jewish version of the Russian novel, where nothing really happens and everyone is depressed.   Morris and Ida have worked all their lives to build a grocery business, but it is failing miserably.  Suddenly, an Italian wanderer has made his way to the store and offers his help with running the store.  The daughter of the grocers, Helen, catches the eye of this non-Jewish wanderer and the plot thickens.

The writing is very authentic and gritty, in spite of there being almost too much detail in the everyday.  Because of the detail, though, the book does have a sort of an existential feel to it.  The mundane, repetitive life of an ordinary man who is struggling to be an individual and striving for meaning and just about accomplishing the basic necessity of working to make a living so that he can work.  The yearning for doing something “big” and never getting around to it.  There is that sense from almost every character in the story.  This gives it a literary context, but it also makes the story overwhelmingly gloomy.

I think this book would be valuable in a literature class where it could be dissected for its merits; meanwhile, as a reading experience for an individual, it was devoid of humor and of hope and hard to get through.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette? (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

This book was surprisingly fun to read!  It is written by an author who has written for Mad About You, Ellen and Arrested Development, so you can guess that the humor in it was sharp and utterly sarcastic. The story is about a teenage girl, Bee, who has done so well in school over the year that her parents agree to take her on her dream trip — to Antarctica.  The problem is that Bee’s mom, Bernadette, has become something of a recluse and does what she can to avoid going out of their house and seeing people.  Because of a number of crazy incidents, including a dispute with the neighbor gone haywire and the use of an online assistant, to accomplish the simplest of tasks, by Bernadette, Bee’s father becomes concerned that Bernadette really has lost it.  The story sort of takes flight and goes so much further than you expect it to.  Maybe some of it is even just a little too out there, but I have to admit that it is still just fun!

What I like also about this book is the various voices that are utilized.  It is mainly told from the perspective of Bee, the daughter.  However, there are also letters and emails and even police reports that piece together the story.  Each one gives the reader a fresh view of the characters and it really enhances the telling of the story.

This is certainly not going to be on the reading list of a classics English course, by any means, but it’s definitely good for a few giggles and a happy read!

The Traitor’s Wife (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

The Traitor’s Wife, by Kathleen Kent

I came upon this book in my favorite bookstore, the Strand.  It had not been recommended to me by anyone and I’m not sure how popular it ever was/is, but I found this book intriguing.  It is the story of a strong-headed, outspoken woman, Martha, who gets involved with a mysterious man with a complicated past in the mid-1600’s in the British colonies of New England.  It seems that the man has a connection to the uprising and killing of the British King Charles I by Oliver Cromwell and the current King Charles is seeking revenge.

It is a time that I’ve rarely read about and the history here was fascinating to me. (I am a poor student of history — a baby, really!– and need to be fed the details of history within the context of a personal story.)  There is romance and intrigue and suspense in this story but it is based very closely on real events.  It is also written in a sometimes flowery and sometimes very coarse language that matches the goings on in the story.  The author also creates some wonderful and some evil characters that are extremely engaging.  I particularly loved Martha, whose fault was that she spoke her mind in a time when woman were seen as witches when they did so.

I found it to be a quick, intriguing read and learned a lot from it.  Hope you enjoy it!

Love in the Time of Cholera (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This book had been recommended from so many sources and it’s even won the author a Nobel Prize — but I’m sorry to say that it did not impress me.  On the contrary, I felt it was work to read this book.  In fact, I could not wait to finish it in order to move onto something more engaging.

     I will grant that the author has a great imagination and that his writing is very lyrical.  He goes about describing this love story in a very detailed, sometimes poetic and sometimes graphic prose.  He does create imagery that is vivid and stark.  Unfortunately, there is really not much substance to the story and a great deal of it does not make much sense, in my mind.  It is the story of a man who falls in love with a young girl, really from a distance, and they begin this love affair all with letters.  They have not met even once directly and have not had a single conversation.  When they finally are able to get together, she decides just in a split second that no, she really isn’t in love with him and it’s all over for her.  For him, on the other hand, it is not over and he pledges his love to her in his mind.  He lives his whole life in waiting for her even as she continues living her life without him.

   I guess I’m just a realist and feel, as I did with Romeo and Juliette, that a lasting, true love cannot be founded on a glance or an image of someone and that it has to grow from really knowing the person.  And since the premise of the book is based on such a dreamer’s fallacy, I think the whole book is something of a farce.  More importantly, the story gets a bit lost in the quagmire of details that the author heaps upon the reader.  There is also a paucity of dialogue, and I love hearing what a character actually has to say.

   All in all, I was sorely disappointed and would not recommend this book, in spite of its auspicious awards!

Beach Music (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Beach Music by Pat Conroy

You must read this book!  Whether you like historical fiction, or suspense, or comedy, or tragedy, you must read this book, because it has it all.  In developing the story, Conroy creates stories within the story, which enriches both the plot and the character development.  The basic story is about a young Southern father named Jack, whose wife has committed suicide and he’s made a new life for himself and his daughter in Rome.  He’s vowed to separate himself from his family because of their layered, painful past, but he receives a call that his mother is dying of leukemia and that he must come home.  This initiates a journey into his past as well as the past of others who have surrounded him since his youth.

Pat Conroy is a genius — a magician with words who can create such imagery that you feel you are seeing what he’s seen, even if it’s in his imagination.  The dialogue between the characters is brilliant, rapid-fire sarcasm at its best.  The dramatic stories of the characters’ pasts are so vividly drawn that it’s hard to believe they are not real.  And the characters are all so beautiful that when you finish the book, it’s quite sad — you have to say goodbye to these loving and lovable people.

 

I loved this book and I’d recommend it heartily.  A MUST read!

Crossways (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

Crossways by Sheila Kohler

This is a book I found in my favorite bookstore, the Strand (in Manhattan).  It was not recommended by anyone and I had no real expectations.   It was like seeing a movie or a play without having read the reviews or having seen a trailer.  How often does that happen nowadays??   I like having no information sometimes!

The story is about a woman, Kate, whose sister has suddenly died in a car accident in South Africa (where she was raised) and left her husband in an intensive care unit and 3 children at home in the care of her mother and their Zulu housekeeper, John.  Slowly, there is doubt raised about the nature of the accident and the story rises to a surprising crescendo toward the end.

I felt that the story had a slow start, but did build into an interesting twisting tale.  I also loved learning a little more about the classes in South Africa, including the Zulu servant, the Boers, and the wealthier British.  There is a lot that is disturbing in this book and there are some slower parts, but it is overall a pretty good read (and probably the potential makings of an intriguing movie).

 

 

The Typist (migrated from bookblogger)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

The Typist by Michael Knight

This is an unusual story about Van, a GI from the south who is stationed in Japan at the very end of WWII.  Because of his unique ability to type as fast as 100 words per minute, he has captured the attention of General MacArthur and therefore has been promoted to work as part of his typing team.  From this perspective, the reader learns about the politics and chaos of Japan at this time and the efforts made by MacArthur to build a democracy and resist Communism.

The story is unusual in my mind in that it is a WWII story that does not focus on Europe or on the Holocaust.  There is, at least in my view, very little written about this period in Japan’s history and about the relationship between the U.S. and Japan in the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  This is a little piece of historical fiction that fills in some of that era.

It is a simply-told, well-written story, with solid characters.  For anyone who likes historical fiction, this is a solid read.