Room

Room by Emma Donoghue

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The premise doesn't sound inviting--a woman kidnapped and held prisoner for 7 years in an 11 x 11 room, who bore her kidnapper's child and raised him as best she could in her circumstances. But it is told from her 5 year old son's point of view, which not only makes it palatable, but fascinating. The book sucks you immediately into this other worldly setting, and you are amazed at the courage and strength of Ma. The climax comes early in the book, and it is so good, I was racing home from dropping the kids off to finish it. The latter part of the book lags a bit, and there are some inconsistencies, but all in all this is a book I would highly reccommend--great for a book club read.



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The Lonely Polgamist

The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


My curiousity about modern polygamy peaked about 3 years ago, and I thought the discussion/creative plot-lines with this genre were pretty much exhausted, so I wasn't inclined to pick this book up. Even when it was on best-of lists last year, I didn't bite. But then my BSU alumni magazine came out and a quick browse showed Brady Udall and his much lauded book...I didn't look close enough to realize that Udall teaches at BSU--I thought he had graduated from BSU and so I ran right out to see what a product of my alma matar could produce.

Turns out, it is a pretty good family drama. Although I could never fully sympathize with Golden Richards, the patriarch of this little tribe--he is too passive, too timid, and phlegmatic to really be someone to root for--he probably isn't too different from people we actually know.

The opening scene has Golden arriving home from a long drive, needing desperately to pee, but unable to find an unoccupied bathroom in a house with 3 wives and 27 children. Normally, I roll my eyes at the shock-value authors use to describe bodily functions in the first chapter--which seems to becoming a trend--but this was actually one of the funniest scenes in the book.

The rest of the book is told alternately from a wife's, a child's, and Golden's point of view. Perhaps the most sympathetic (and fully realized) character is the child Rusty, who is misunderstood and only craves a little love from anyone who has time to give it. I couldn't help wondering if Udall doesn't resent growing up in a big family (he dedicated his book to his 8 brothers and sisters)for while he treats the religion with a sort of sympathetic objectivity, he drives the point home again and again that a family that size cannot meet the emotional needs of anyone. Love can only be so big...

Explosions, both literal and figurative, play prominent roles in the plots and I can almost make the connection (because there obviously is one) but if it's beyond the illustration of the volatility of man, I haven't quite worked it out yet.



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These Is My Words

These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a great feel-good book--great for a beach read. Our book club read it, otherwise not sure I would have. I think had she changed the title, it could have been a bigger hit than it was. No one really wants to read a book that starts out with bad grammer. Turner did do a good job with the diary format, writing things that really would be in a diary, using references to things that go unexplained (but not annoyingly so) and skipping months and years when things get busy. Only toward the end, did I feel like it was contrived (she conviently starts up again after 4 years, only to have a major event happen 12 days later). The characters are enjoyable, but kind of one-dimensional, and their attitudes, thoughts, actions, just a little too modern to be believeable. Still, a fun, inspiring love story.



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Catch-22

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is one of those books that I can't believe I haven't read yet. There was an anniversary issue for sale at Costco, so I quickly remedied that. It wasn't what I thought it was...for some reason I thought it was a WWII thriller with spies (no idea where I got that notion)...It is about WWII but falls more into satrical comedy. The first few chapters made me feel completely lost--What are they talking about? and Why is this novel so great? I kept thinking as I read about an air force pilot that was in love with a chaplain? may or may not have a liver condition, had a friend who kept falling on his face, and signed his name as Washington Irving...Fast forward to the middle and the end--loved it. Loved it. Loved it. I loved the tongue in cheek, the exaggeration, the way it was almost monotonously repetitive only to go to the juggular with a quick slice of an airplane's propellar--so that you were as shocked as the characters in the book. I loved how Yossarian gets under your skin and you love him despite his failings. I love how pieces of Snowden's haunting tale are revealed bit by bit. I love how everything in the novel loops around and around (read the first chapters at the end, and it makes perfect sense). The last walk Yossarian takes in Rome is brillantly, shockingly written. I even liked the ending--I loved how despite how desperate it all seems at the end, plodding, apple-cheeked Orr gives them all hope. I admit that I thought some parts were a little too long--Milo's chapters in particular (we get it, big business will do anything for money)and I never did quite get why the opening line " It was love at first sight..The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him" is quoted as a great first line, or what it had to do with the rest of the book. And the edition I had boasted of critical essays and reviews, and I wished they were a little more insightful. Definitely a classic.



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The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a collection of stories and essays about the Vietnam war and about writing. I loved the titular story. I read it in an anthology in college and it has always stuck with me. It is a list of the things soldiers carrry, physically, emotionally, psychologically, yet it tells a story as it goes along. The rest of the war stories elaborate on things alluded to in "The Things They Carried", but somehow by elaborating the stories are not as poignant or shocking as they were when told in passing--except for "Speaking of Courage" which is less about the war and more about the soldier dealing with the aftermath.

Interspersed between these stories are essays about how to write fiction from experience--which was interesting and insightful. Although I couldn't help wanting to know what EXACTLY was truth and what was made up, and the essays only muddied the waters. But that is the whole point..."I want you tho know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth", he says in "Good Form".

Its a great read especially to understand one soldier's point of view, and to understand the writing process and it was a great introduction to Catch-22, which I happened to read next.



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Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


If I were to build a case that the ending can make or break a book, I would put this in the "make" pile (and Niffenegger's Her Fearful Symmetry in the "break" pile). My feelings for this book evolved from, nice story, lots of cliches-- (burly, old drunk man that looks out for him and says things like "Well, well, what have we here?"; beautiful woman married to maniacal boss; virginal youth left orphaned and penniless to make his way in the world, where everything is new and awesome/horrible; sympathetic animal who is smarter than she seems)-- to very satisfied at the end, mainly because the ending was the perfect ending to this circus adventure. There WAS a lot of unneccesary sexual references, esp. at the beginning and Gruen could take some cues from (dare I say this) Myers (!) to create some sexual chemistry because I never quite believed they were soulmates. All in all a fun read.



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Little Bee

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book has all the trappings of a Very Important Book-- a girl from Africa, a morally ambiguous situation, Immigration Reformation, love and marriage, family and career, etc. But from the entreaty on the back cover not to discuss the plot twists, to the just-a-little-too-much analogies and internal dialouges, to the slightly too stereo-typical characters complete with symbolic quirks, this book is just too self-conscious to really be effective. Just like actors who try too hard keep jarring you out of scenes of an otherwise good movie (or perhaps a better analogy would be a director using too many flashy techniques), the descriptions, dialogue, and even parts of the plot keep screaming at you how very impossible this situation is, instead of subtly showing you. Truthfully, the plot twists aren't all THAT surprising--and the ending you can see a mile away. It did provide some good what would you do? conversations with the hubby though, and since the immigration issues in this country are something I get pretty passionate about, I thought it did make some good points. Cleave is a very good writer; he should just stop trying so hard.



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