My Absolute Darling

My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow. This was so complex, so painstakingly viewed from every angle. This is about an abusive relationship, so it isn't an easy read, and I did almost quit reading it at one point early on. I kept wondering if Tallent didn't need to recount so much detail. But I think this is the most real, most complex telling of what it is like in an abusive relationship, that I don't think he could have told it in any other way. Turtle is definitely one of a kind. Perhaps the most unbelievable things about her--her survival and shooting skills--makes her one of the most interesting subjects. How can she know so much about defending herself, surviving by herself, and still allow herself to be subjugated? Tallent also knows how to pace through the book, turning her adventures with her new-found friends into welcome respites. Also, I loved watching Turtle slowly gain confidence and self-worth. Nothing rarely works out like you think it should, but it ended with me reading far into the night (and I don't normally do that).

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so I trespass again to see if he will again do something so bad; it is a way to see if I am right to hate him.

The Golden House

 

The Golden House by Salman Rushdie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While the plot is not as propulsive as it sets itself up to be (countless," but we could not foresee the damage it would cause", etc.) and there are a thousand references to books and movies that I think only a movie nut would know, the writing is so good that you read it just to keep consuming the sentences. There is something ineffable in Rushdie's writing--I can't tell you why it is so good. It is neither particularly poetic or uniquely creative; it just flows along in long sentences that glide like honey. There is a lot of mediation about what identity actually means in this day and age--can we choose it, it is chosen for us, can we change it, is it all about perception? Having an aspiring film maker tell it is genius too, because don't we all view our lives and those around us as being the subject of our own special film--we edit and revise to let the situation suit us. I've never read Rushdie before, but I will seek him out now.

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"If you use that it opens de third eye in your pineal gland in de center of your forehead and you become clairvoyant and few secrets can be kept from you".   "Then why have you never used it," I asked.  "Because a world vissout mystery its like a picture with no showdown," he said.  "By seeing too much it shows you nossing."

A name is nothing, it's a handle, as they say here, just a way of opening a door.

Construction work was the art of making the city become aware of itself as a fragile organism at the mercy of forces against which there was no appeal.

When Breath Becomes Air

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this a few years ago, but somehow did not add it to my list. Re-reading it again now, I am struck again with Kalanithi's insights into life and death. Throughout his life, Kalanithi seeks for understanding about life, and wants to make a difference. He uses language, reading and writing, and he uses medicine, as a surgeon. When he finds out about his cancer he struggles to know how to spend his remaining time. His love for his wife and daughter remind us that the relationships we make here are really the best way for us to understand life and create a future.

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formaldehyde is a powerful appetite stimulant

Cadavers reverse the polarity.  The mannequins you pretend are real, the cadavers you pretend are fake.

Prosopagnosia is a neurological disorder wherein one loses the ability to see faces.  Pretty soon I would have it hacksaw in hand.

we were all silently apologizing to our cadavers, not because we sensed the transgression but because we did not.

All of medicine, not just cadaver dissection, trespasses into sacred spheres.  Doctors invade the body in every way imaginable.

What makes life meaningful enough to go on living?

I began to suspect that being so close to the fiery light of such moments only blinded me to their nature, like trying to learn astronomy by staring directly at the sun.

When there's no place for the scalpel, words are the surgeon's only tool.

The root of disaster means a star coming apart

A tureen of tragedy was best allotted by the spoonful

What kind of life exists without language?

the defining characteristic of the organism is striving.

The Island of Sea Women

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A great historical fiction read. I loved reading about this female focused community on the island of Jeju off Korea. From the details of diving, to the spiritual ceremonies, to the atrocities that occurred after WWII, historical details are beautifully woven into the story. The main character, Young-sook, is well-developed and through her we experience her joy and escape in diving, the responsibility and pride she feels as a diver, and the complexities she experiences in her relationships. The diving, the rubbings her friend and her do to memoralize events in their life, and their belief in messages from the dead all cumulate to emphasize the importance of looking at things more deeply to find peace and forgiveness.

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Human Croquet

Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you liked Inception this may be the book for you. You are reading along, and then something sort of weird happens, and you think ok, we're going to go there. And then something even weirder happens and you think WHAT?! But just keep reading. Because it's good writing and even greater storytelling. And if it feels and is a precursor to the much better Life After Life it's still worth the read.

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Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat

 

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you ever wanted to know why something tastes good, this is the book for you. Nosrat uncovers the science behind the food you eat to explain why salt can make things taste sweet, and how heat works to break down proteins to change the texture. Nice whimsical drawings as well. I would highly recommend getting a physical copy since it lends itself to flipping through to find recipes and refer to charts. The ebook just doesn't work well, especially in regards to the recipes with all of the variations.

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Goodnight Stranger

 

Goodnight Stranger by Miciah Bay Gault
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Points for the setting which sounds beautiful and is appropriately isolating. Also, there were a couple of really creepy (in a good way) scenes. But there were one too many (convenient) quirks: Lucas doesn't use the phone (why?), Lydia both wants to leave the island desperately and also she loves the island and gets panic attacks if she can't see it (?), and (view spoiler)[ she moves out AFTER Cole leaves when Lucas is at his lowest point(?) (hide spoiler)]. The ending also seemed a little anticlimactic. But thrillers are hard, and this one has plenty of propulsive action in the middle. Not a bad airplane/beach read.

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That was a lie, though,.  Lucas wanted to go back in time, I wanted a future.  But the problem was the same for both of us:  we were stuck here--the two of us together--perpetually in this present moment.