An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: A Memoir by Elizabeth McCracken

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
McCracken re-lives her pregnancy and stillborn birth of her first child and the pregnancy and birth of her second. It is elegantly and beautifully written, even if the subject matter is heartbreaking at times. It is an amazingly self-aware memoir--she describes her feelings as best as she can remember, trying not to color her memories with hindsight; and then she tries to explain why she felt that way. I always find people who write memoirs brave, for while they document their struggles and lives for the world, they open themselves up for judgement, as the rest of the world tries to figure out what you did wrong so that they can avoid the same fate. McCracken does a lot of her own soul-searching as to what went wrong, and your heart aches for her. It ends on a hopeful note as she holds her newborn in her arms--"It is a happy life and someone is missing. It is a happy life--"

Obviously I would not recommend it to any of you about to have a baby, or are planning on having one in the next year. But for anyone else, I would say it is more of a tribute to life, and the blessings of being with child.

On another level, I love how memoirs reveal how our lives are as wrought with symbolism and absurdities as the most clever novels. The day McCracken scatters her babies ashes, and a week before she finds out she is pregnant again, she and her husband see a stag, and then turn around to find a whole herd of stags. (If I'm not mistaken, seeing a stag in the wild is supposed to bring good luck). And then they name their first child Pudding which is the most right, most precious name they could have given him--but one in which you usually only find in novels. Then there is the story of her friend, the telephone psychic, who used to be a telephone call girl, but all the women who worked together had their cycles sync up and had to quit the business--that actually happens in real life?


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The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I loved this book, as much as for what it is as what it is not. The first chapter was a little dark, with the man Jack killing Bod's family, and little Bod escaping to a cemetary where the ghosts who live there decide to keep him and raise him. It sounded hauntingly familiar (Harry Potter) but it soon (thankfully) became a wonderful tale of growing up in its own right. In fact, Gaiman claims to have drawn inspiration from another childhood classic: The Jungle Book (which I haven't read. Yet.)

The book takes us through the childhood of Nobody Owens, how he learns the ways and secrets of the graveyard, his relationsip with the ghosts and other entities that live there, and how the man Jack is still hunting him. In the process The Graveyard Book tells an entertaining story and shows us what it means to be a family, what it means to be honorable and most of all, what it means to be alive.

I read this with my 11yo son for a school project and would highly recommend it for kids (9 and up) and adults alike.


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Sing Them Home

Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
During the first few chapters, I thought, wow, what wonderful, descriptive writing. During the next few, I thought, O.k. that's too descriptive (second by second recount of how a character eats a candy bar). But by the middle, I was comfortably tucked into the tale of 3 siblings whose mother was carried off by a tornado when they were children and now have reunited with the death of their father (by lighting). Kallos tries to follow each sibling as they deal with issues surrounding their childhood, and look for love in their present lives. And for the most part she succeeds in fleshing out these characters until the end, when suddenly it wraps up neater than a birthday package. To delve so deeply into 3 separate, messy lives and then gloss over the ending to "they live happily ever after" feels like a cop-out and frankly, makes the time invested getting to know these characters feel like a waste.


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Ambition vs. Acceptance

Ambition. It sounds like a good quality. It's the drive we have to try to better our current situation. That's good; that's desirable--in most cases even admirable. But sometimes, usually in retrospect, we realize that in order to better ourselves, there was something sacrificed in the process.

When Pizarro went to conquer a new land in the Americas, he was the archetype of ambition. He came from humble beginnings, and in Spain at that time, it was almost impossible to overcome the station one was born into. Unless. Unless one was willing to strike out in the newly discovered Americas and conquer lands for and in behalf of Spain.

Pizarro gambled everything he had and all the respect he had gained so far in order to acquire the Peruvian lands the Incas claimed. The gamble paid off: he became wealthy, received titles and fame, and became the de facto ruler of Peru--everything an illegitimate child from the poor region of Spain could have ever hoped for. In the process, he annihilated thousands of Incas, including 3 of their chiefs, and stripped the land of all the gold and silver he could find. In the end, Pizarro himself would be killed by ambitious men looking to gain honor and glory themselves.

Perhaps that is too strong a case. Most people would say, "Sure, I want to get ahead, but I certainly wouldn't kill anybody. Or steal their stuff. I have my limits." But what about the guy who works long hours to get ahead, and leaves their families to eat dinners alone without him? Or what about the athlete who taunts his opponent and then, sometimes literally, crushes him? If getting a good deal on a house means taking advantage of someone who has to sell in a market that has suddenly tanked, well, that's just life, isn't it? And if you have to crawl into bed with people with low morals to get elected, well, it wouldn't be the first time.

Still, what is the alternative? Accepting the way your life is, without pining for more, can also be a good and desirable trait. Admirable, even. These are the people in a perpetual state of calm where trials and tribulations are peacefully accepted as part of life. Instead of yearning for things they cannot have, they make the best with what they have. And yet these are also the people who get stepped on, abused, and forgotten.

The Incas were by no means calm and peaceable people. They had conquered most of what is now Peru and parts of Chile and Ecuador only three generations before the Spaniards appeared. However, they didn't react when the Spaniards showed up, and instead did everything the Spaniards asked. They gave them gold and silver, women and food, thinking that if they just endured these hairy men from a strange land, they would eventually go away. It wasn't until it was too late that they started to rebel and revolt against these foreigners who were unilaterally cruel and untrustworthy.

Again, we might say, "Well, I would never stand for someone to take advantage of me time and again like that, without putting up a fight." But what about the guy who stays at a job that asks for all of his time and effort without paying enough to feed his family? Or the athlete who throws in the towel and gives up before the contest is over? If we get laid off of a job, do we try to make it by just on unemployment, hoping the economy will just turn around? And is it right to sit back and let others shoulder the responsibility for the PTA, the work committee, the local co-op, when we reap all the benefits?

I'm not sure what the answer is, where the fine line is drawn between the two and which virtue is better. Although they are mutually exclusive states, perhaps it is all about the timing. Learning when to fight, and when to stop. As they say, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read this in one sitting on the way home from my grandmothers funeral. I'd read it in high school but honestly couldn't remember anything about it. It's the quintessential growing up in the South, coming of age book narrated by a young girl. It's what The Secret Life of Bees and countless others try to be.

In the first scene, Scout describes her Southern town as moving slowly in the hot summer heat. That is how Lee's novel seems to unfold, slowly and carefully, not rushing along, or preaching too much. Characters don't come from nowhere, or dissappear. The lessons learned in the book come about organically, naturally, yet leaves you with hope that we have actually learned something from them.

Atticus Finch was recently listed as one of the all-time best heros--and indeed, for his courage and his wisdom, he is one of my favorite literary figures.


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The Last Days of the Incas by Kim MacQuarrie

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
The book jacket introduces Kim MacQuarrie as a filmmaker who lived among Peruvian Indians for 5 years. Both experiences color his writing, but mostly for the benefit of the reader. The history he relates of the interaction between the first Spanish conquistadors and the Incas reads like a Hollywood film. I can almost picture the marquee: Tom Cruise in the Last of the Incas....But history is almost always at least as exciting as fiction and this is certainly entertaining reading. The Spanish conquistors come across as being selfish, bigoted, and cruel--which they most certainly were. However, while MacQuarrie takes pains to justify the Incas' retaliation, he gives no quarter to the Spainards. Which may be justified--but--the Incas themselves were conquerors--how did the native peoples feel about being subjugated by the Incas? The point being, perhaps it wasn't the most objective book about the subject.

Still, it was an exciting read. You root for the Incas and feel vindication when they are able to win a battle or two. The ensuing tale of the search for ruins of the lost city of the Incas is not as exciting, but still fairly interesting.




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Oscar love.

I don't know why I like the Oscars so much. Actually, I love the Golden Globes even more, TV and movies in the same night--yay! Anyway, the Oscars were fantastic this year. The set was gorgeous, Hugh Jackman was funny and entertaining. The opening number was really entertaining. The jokes and bantar was actually pretty funny. I loved how they had 5 representatives for each category as presenters--it was almost as exciting to see who was going to be presenting as it was to see who was going to win. Especially since the critics had the winners all right this year and there were no surprises. Then each presenter individually honored each nominee. I swear the actors were as touched by the salutes as by winning.
The "story" of the night was actually a really entertaining way to watch the evening. The presenters for the most part were hilarious especially Steve Martin and Tina Fey. That woman can do no wrong. The video year book was entertaining too. Honestly for someone who has watched NONE of the nominated movies--not even Wall-E--this was the most entertaining Oscars by far. Did anyone else notice the prevalence of Cold Play music?
As for the dresses this year, I think most of them were gorgeous. If there was any group that bombed it would be the under 20 crowd--Miley, Vanessa, Amanda Seigfried even Zac Efron with his slicked back hair.