The Sentence is Death

 

The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This second installment in the Hawthorne/Horowitz series hit all the good notes. By now I was acclimated to the surreal world that is both true and fiction, with the relationship between Hawthorne and Horowitz becoming amicably antagonistic. The mystery is complicated enough, but the clues are there to follow if you happen to be as good as Hawthorne.

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The Invention of Nature

 

The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wulf not only reintroduces us to the life and work of Alexander von Humboldt whose life was full of optimism, adventure, and learning, but shows how his work was integral to Darwin, Muir, Thoreau, Haeckel and more. Humboldt was a pioneer in showing how separate elements in the environment affects and impacts each other and showed that humans' actions could have a significant consequences for the environment and species within it. He was a voracious student and learned as much as he could, synthesizing his research to conclude how it all tied together. He wrote compelling narratives of his explorations and inspired others to discover the wonder of nature. He was able to tie science and art together so that the natural world became a thing of both beauty and wonder and also truth and predictability. Wulf does an excellent job of showing how Humboldt inspired other famous scientists and artists, and how his work is still relevant today. A compelling, insightful and inspiring read

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He saw the earth as one great living organism where everything was connected, conceiving a bold new vision of nature that still influences the way that we understand the natural world.

More places are named after Humboldt than anyone else.

"Nature must be experienced through feeling."

Humboldt was the first to explain the fundamental functional of the forest for the ecosystem and climate: the trees' ability to store water and to enrich the atmosphere with moisture, their protection of the soil, and their cooling effect. 

"What speaks to one soul," Humboldt said, "escapes our measurements."

Humboldt had discovered the idea of a keystone species

Naturgemäde showed for the first time that nature was a global force with corresponding climate zones across continents.

Humboldt had discovered the magnetic equator.

Wilhelm now wrote that "language was the formative organ of thoughts".  Just as nature was so much more than the accumulation of plants, rocks and animals, so language was more than just words, grammar and sounds.  According to Wilhelm's radical new theory, different languages reflected different views of the world.  Language was not just a tool to express thoughts but it shaped thoughts--through its grammar, vocabulary, tenses and so on.

It was Simón Bolívar who had first enshriend Humboldt's ideas into law when he issued a visionary decree in 1825, requiring the government in Bolivia to plant 1 million trees. 

Muir saw his mountain theories brought alive.  "Destruction," he said, "is always creation."

Humblodt was not known for a sigle fact or a discovery but for his worldview.

It is almost as though his ideas have become so manifest that the man behind them has disappeared.

Everything Inside

 

Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A short story collection about Haitian immigrants (mostly). Really stories about human life--love, death, families, struggle, but infused with the culture and view-point of Haiti, especially those first -generation and second-generation immigrants. Relatable and compelling read.


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Another type of priest, cantor, vicar, or layperson  might have performed a different ritual, but the basic idea would have been the same: the try, with with will and desire alone, to influence something you could not. 

Washington Black

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Washington Black is a slave in Barbados when the story opens. Chosen to be the companion to Titch, the son who is driven by scientific curiosity, Washington becomes educated and begins to see the truth in his subjugation. When circumstances require that he flee, Titch goes with him for he feels just as trapped as Washington. They soon start an odyssey of sorts, seeking shelter and help from Titch's eclectic scientific friends, and traveling to the ends of the earth where Washington is abandoned and must make his own way in the world using the knowledge and skills he has acquired. What is freedom? How can education and scientific knowledge emancipate someone? Are there limits to what you can achieve beyond your control? Are there things that science simply cannot answer? These are some of the questions in this novel and it is an entertaining and thought-provoking read. It was a little too ambiguous for me to feel fully satisfied; I felt like it needed a bit more cohesion but still a worthwhile read.

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You were more concerned that slavery should be a moral stain upon white men than by the actual damage it wreaks on black men.

We had been estranged from the potential of our own bodies, from the revelation of everything our bodies and minds could accomplish. 

The Scent Keeper

 

The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this book because it took such a different angle. First was the not dysfunctional relationship Emmaline had with a father who effectively kidnapped her and held her captive on an island. But besides that he seemed like a loving, kind father, unlike most kidnapping, isolating fathers. Then, everything is told through smell, which is a unique and interesting perspective that probably doesn't get the emphasis it should. The device described in the book that captures smells sounds awesome. But it just all gets too precious, and the endless metaphors and allegorical references, and earnestness is grating. Everything is too saturated with meaning--like an overwhelming scent that draws you in and then becomes nauseating. (See what I did there ;)). And like a scent you get noseblind too, I forgot how it ended within days of finishing it.

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White Ivy

White Ivy by Susie Yang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Psychological thriller about class. Ivy was taught some dubious moral rationalizations growing up, an answer perhaps to the powerlessness of women, exacerbated by the Chinese culture her parents and grandmother came from. From an early age Ivy turns to the power she feels from taking things that she can't afford and that leads to using sex as tool to get things she wants as well. What she wants is more than money--its the power that comes from moving through the world as privileged. Perhaps she doesn't even recognize this as she is torn between two lovers, both rich but in very different ways. Yang has us tunnel deep into the psyche of Ivy and we can see how one rationalization builds on the others, and why she takes such drastic steps, and why she thinks she can get away with it. Reminds me of An American Tragedy by Dreiser.

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She saw clearly now that people could be divided into two categories; those who acted, and those who were acted upon

The Queen of Sugar Hill

The Queen of Sugar Hill: A Novel of Hattie McDaniel by ReShonda Tate
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What I liked about this historical novelization of Hattie McDaniel is that Tate allows us to see McDaniel in all the ups and downs. There are times when she seems a little unhinged, but by telling all that comes before, you can see that anyone would be at their limits--constantly being criticized for doing the one thing she loved and that she was revered for. This novel showed how those in the public eye often can not win--even before social media exacerbated it. I was a disappointed that so much of the novel felt like it was told in the passive voice. Much of it is a retelling or remembering of events and not the events themselves, which made it much less engaging than it could have been. It does improve as the novel goes on, but it took a bit of stamina to get there. Still, McDaniel's life illustrates that even famous actors have struggles--not being taken seriously because she was a woman, not respected because she was Black, being vilified because she didn't fit into a glamorous stereo-type, being taken advantage of because she was rich.

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