The One & Only-Fantasy Football for Women by Emily Giffin

Emily Giffin is a multi-NYT's best selling author.  This story is set in Texas around the sport of football.  The players are Shea, a young sports reporter who loves not only the game of football but the football Coach of her college alma mater.  Coach who is the father of her life-long best friend Lucy.  The pre game story is She, an only child & her single mom were recruited by Lucy's family since the girls were infants, as part of Coach's home team.   The novel begins with the death of  Coach's beloved wife.  At the half in the novel,  Shea's paternal feelings towards Coach become more than just familial affection.  This should raise a huge penalty flag.  Lucy discovers her best friend Shea & her father have become romantically linked and a brawl ensues.  Shea is forced to chose between Lucy's dad or Lucy's life forever.  There's more to this light weight chick-lit story: domestic violence, loyalty and the obsession with football & hero worship.  Shea says "maybe it was sacrilegious to admit that I felt closer to God inside the stadium than in church on Christmas Eve."  I say ooh GIRL CODE - it's profane to become sexually active with your friend's father especially when you've known him your entire life.  This is way out of bounds.  The One & Only is a fast, trash read & the only book I will read by Emily Giffin.      

The Days of Abandonment by Italian writer Ferrante-Hell Hath No Fury

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.  Elena Ferrante (b. Naples 1943) has the flames of Hell burning off the pages of her novel "The Days of Abandonment."  Olga, a devoted wife to Mario & mother of their 2 young children, is devastated when her husband leaves her for a younger woman.  Olga's outrage whiplashes the reader between pity and repulsion with her behavior & mental state. Olga  mourns "when you don't know how to keep a man you lose everything,…what happens when, overflowing with love, you are no longer loved, are left with nothing."  Olga loses her grasp on sanity.  She becomes obsessed with getting Mario back.  She develops a mania fantasizing on his salacious relations with his lover.  "I thought only of him, of how it happened that he had stopped loving me, of the necessity that he should give me back that love... I made a list for myself of everything he owed me."  The extremes of Olga's anguish impair her abilities to function & care for her children.  Ferrante's piercing writing of heartbreak & shameless days of abandonment is unflinching & convincing.   I admired this elegiac novel of sorrow &  absolution.  "There was no longer anything about him that could interest me.  He wasn't even a fragment of the past, he was only a stain, like the print of a hand left years ago on a wall."

Melinda's Top 10 Best Books of 2014

My list consists of what I have read in the past year.  The list includes Non-Fiction as well as Fiction and covers an international group of writers.  In alphabetical order:

A Constellation of Vital Importance - set in worn torn Chechnya by Anthony Marra

Americana - by Nigerian author C. Adichie

A Tale for the Time Being - by Canadian author Ruth Ozeki

Levels of Life - Non-Fiction by British author Julian Barnes

On Such a Full Sea - by Korean author Chang-rae Kee

Suspicion Nation - Non-Fiction by American Lisa Bloom

The Days of Abandonment - by Italian author Elena Ferrante

The Life of an Unknown Man - by Russian author Andrei Makine

The Sound of Things Falling - by Colombian author Juan Vasquez

Times Present and Times Past - by Irish author Deidre Madden

I also recommend:

The Rose that Grew from Concrete - a collection of poetry by Tupac Shakur

The Sunflower an autobiography by Austrian writer Simon Wiesenthal & collection of essays by others on the subject of the possibilities & limits of forgiveness

A TALE for the TIME BEING- by Ruth Ozeki-A Testament for Humanity

Ruth Ozeki is a Canadian-American novelist, filmmaker & Zen Buddhist priest.  Her spellbinding novel, A TALE for the TIME BEING was short listed for the Man Booker in '13.  Amongst the flotsam & jetsam along a desolate Canadian island, a Hello Kitty lunch box is uncovered.  Ruth, a novelist living on the island with her husband, salvages the writings & possessions of Nao, a Japanese teenager.  Ruth soon becomes immersed in Nao's tale and is driven to discover her fate.  The expansive storytelling flows magically between time and place.  Nao writes of her tormented life, her salvation with her great-grandmother, a Zen Buddhist nun and what she learns of her great-uncle, a Kamikaze pilot in WWII.  A TALE is a philosophical search for understanding of  "the silly metaphysical business of life-identity, society, individualism, totalitarianism, human will."  The mystical  beauty of this book is boundless.  Nao as a little girl feared nightmares.  Her father told her "Remind yourself it's just a dream. And then wake-up. - But what if I can't get back in time?  Then I'll come and get you."  

N/F The BOYS in the BOAT, American Champs @ the Berlin Olympics

The Boys in the Boat is the historic novel of 9 Americans & their epic quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics written by Daniel Jame Brown.  This topic should float your boat but it won't.  The era in America during the great depression & dust bowl of the 1930's is a very bleak but of major significance  in our country's history.  Abroad, Hitler is rising to power and the seeds of hatred & another world war are brewing.  We admire but learn more than we care for a band of young men vying arduously for a spot in the crew boat @ Washington Univ. and the construction of their boats.  I did find it illuminating   grasping the life-transofrming experience of rowing. "the prospect o;f finding in themselves something they did not yet know they possessed."  However, I'm skipping ship midstream, nothing of relevance has occurred.  I'm 1/2 way through this turgid & disappointing book & dropping my paddles.  The elements are here to assemble a fast paced, winning novel.  I found The Boys in the Boat slow rowing.

BARK short stories by Lorrie Moore, worth yapping about

Lorrie Moore (b. Amer. 1957) is a an award winning novelist & short story writer.  Her previous short story collection BIRDS of America was a Nat'l best seller.  In her recent book of short stories BARK proves again she deserves to be ranked along with great writers such as Alice Munroe, John Updike and J.D. Salinger.  BARK is a wry & astute look at life,  "Every day there was something new to mourn and something old to celebrate."  The stories are loosely threaded on failed relationships, single parenting, aging & dealing with loneliness.  In short, basically everyday experiences & emotions.  While yapping about both love & cruelty, dogs are omnipresent in her stories.  The animals' laissez faire attitudes contrast sharply with the highly charged emotions of their owners.  Moore's characters are more in the middle in their outlooks; despairing, but holding on hoping for better times.  "Perhaps everyone had their own way of preparing to die.  Life got you ready. Life got you sad."  BARK is a smart compilation of stories to make you howl in amusement.

BROKEN MONSTERS-Not Altogether Great Crime/Thriller

BROKEN MONSTERS is a crime novel written by Lauren Beukes (b.  S.  Africa 1976.)  She sets her killer thriller in rotting Detroit with a gruesome murder/amalgamation.  The murderer is revealed towards the beginning but you'll be vested by Detective Gabriella's (Gabi) search for the killer before the killer strikes again.  The victims are mutilated & grossly reassembled using animal parts.  Oops, buzz kill - there are more victims.  This crime/thriller is engaging due to the relationships between Gabi & her daughter Layla & Layla's friendship with Cas.  Layla is a bright h.s. student struggling to fit into a new school & adjust to her parent's divorce.  At school, Layla is befriended by gorgeous, bumptious Cas and so begins a beautiful friendship.  We get a keen perspective into the lives of today's teens, & their obsessions with their iPhones & social networking.  Layla & Cas are not the only media casualties.  There are other media hounds consumed with creating their 15 minutes of fame.  The situations the 2 girls create for themselves & find themselves in are disturbing.  The setting in Detroit is a seedy backdrop of urban decay.  Det. Gabi's resolve to find the murderer keeps us interested the case.  Unfortunately, the dramatic climax is overblown & crumbles the credible build-up of intensity.  BROKEN MONSTERS is a quick read.  It provides a sharp look at today's teen culture & the distorted effects of our social media culture.  It falls short of being a very suspenseful & clever thriller.          

Nat'l Book Award for REDEPLOYMENT-Battles for Redemption

The 2014 Nat'l Book Award for fiction was awarded to Phil Klay's short story collection of soldiers fighting in Iraq & their re-entry into civilian life.  Klay, a Dartmouth, graduate served as a Marine in Iraq 2007-08  in a non-combat position.  His experiences & observations are clearly told.  The horrors of war, the dissociation from civilian life & the inane bureaucracy of the military detonate off the pages.   Klay said his stories are intended for the "right audience for the kind of stories that matter to those who served."  The stories are omnipotent in their depictions of war's atrocities rendering them too much to take in & process; not unlike soldiers' deployment experiences.  Ultimately, as Americans, we're beholden to our commitments to our troops during their dangerous tours & their readjustments returning home.  The forcefulness of Klay's writing considers the moral considerations & consequences of killing.  REDEPLOYMENT should be deemed required reading;  their impacts blazed into our conscientiousness.    

THE SUNFLOWER by Simon Wiesenthal, To Forgive, That is the Question

Simon Wiesenthal (b. Austria 1908-2005) was a Holocaust survivor.  After WWII, Wiesenthal made it his life's mission to hunt down Nazi SS mass murderers and bring them to justice in the courts of law. Wiesenthal wanted the world to know of the atrocities they committed remind us of the mass genocide of 11.000,000 lives systematically killed.  In Wiesenthal's THE SUNFLOWER he shares with us his encounter with a Nazi soldier on his deathbed.  While a concentration camp internee, he is summoned as a Jew to the dying soldier who wishes to allay his conscience & ask forgiveness for the atrocities and murders he committed.  Wiesenthal listened in silence to his heinous actions and remained silent when asked forgiveness.  This experience continued to weigh heavily on Mr. Wiesenthal.  Wiesenthal's quandary is his most important legacy.  THE SUNFLOWER poses the question to the reader what would should he have done & what would you have done.  Wiesenthal shared his feelings with fellow prisoners.  He is chastened by an inmate "If we survive this camp-and I don't think we will-and the world comes to its sense again, inhabited by people who look on each other as human beings, then there will be plenty of time to discuss the question of forgiveness."  Wiesenthal seeks the counsel of a surfeit of theologians, experts on social ethics, religious leaders, Holocaust survivors and others wrongfully interned.  Their introspections are contained in his book.  I contend forgiveness would have trivialized the mass genocide.  Forgiveness must be preceded by atonement.  "The opposite of not forgiving is neither cruelty, nor wallowing.  It is a way of healing and honoring our pain and grief" (Andre Stein.)  Wiesenthal eternally reminds us there are no innocent bystanders and actions carry consequences.    

Stephen King's REVIVAL a Nightmare Redux of Frankenstein

Stephen King, the former emperor of the horror genre, has lost his luster.  Once the reigning contemporary writer of fear & fantasy, his writing skills have been eluding him since his terrible accident in 1999.  King was critically struck by a van while walking near his home.  His road to recovery has been painful & arduous.  In 2002, King announced his retirement from writing due to immense pain & reduced stamina.  King has received numerous honors for his literary works.  Many have been made into successful films:  The Shawkshank Redemption & Stand by Me {The Body.} However, King himself has admitted that "the force of my invention has slowed down."  King's dedication list to literary influences in Revival starts with Mary Shelly.  Shelly whose literary masterpiece Frankenstein is mangled terribly in this rip-off of her theological contemplation of creation & humanity.  King's mad scientist (Rev. Charles) tampers with creating life with the purpose of discovering what lies beyond death's door.  Charles is a satirical, snake oil evangelist who preys on human weaknesses.  His fascination with the omnipotent powers of electricity creates a feeble, formulaic story without suspense with an absurd payoff.  I admire & agree with King's religious heresy which gives meaningful relevance to Revival.  "Religion is the theological equivalent of a quick-buck insurance scam."  "Millions have been burned shot, hung, electrocuted & torn to pieces…all in God's name."  I revile REVIVAL's cheesy, plagiarized plot mired in an ephemeral web of family melodrama.

WE ARE NOT OURSELVES, Do Not Bother Yourselves

NY Times Bestseller, WE ARE NOT OURSELVES, by NY born Matthew Thomas is a novel to not trouble yourselves with reading.  Thomas' first novel has been listed for the Flaherty Dunchan Prize.  It is the story of a the Leary family, Ed & Eileen & their son Connell.  Eileen is the unlikeable heroine of the novel.   We disdain her racism & penchant for looking down on everyone.  Her  inappropriate behaviors & flawed decisions drive her family in a vortex of insanity.  At a young age, Ed suffers from Alzheimer's or more likely a nervous break down.  The reader gets mired in the ugliness of Ed's decline & its toil on Eileen.  All the sacrifices Eileen makes to provide Connell with the best opportunities are squandered & he proves feckless.  For all the novels' repugnance, there is a magnetism to Eileen's character that will drag you down with her.   I recommend NOT getting embroiled into the Leary's family dramas.  "Ed thought even minimal indulgences were best lived without." I think it best not to indulge yourself with this eerily crafted novel.  

WOLF in WHITE VAN - A World of Ugly Magic that is Spellbinding

American novelist & musician, John Darnielle received a Nat'l Book Award Nom. for his 1st novel, WOLF in WHITE VAN.  This haunting & melancholy novel delves into the mind of Sean, a high school student whose obsession with survivalist video games blurs the boundaries between reality & insanity.  The perceptive writing draws you into Sean's world.  It begins as a mystery how & why Sean become so hideously disfigured.  Sean becomes a recluse after the mulitation of his face.  He creates a popular,  apocalyptic survivalist video game that quenches "the adolescent brain with its permanent thirst for blood."  Two teens fall under the video's spell with tragic results. Where does the blame lay for these games' addictions & its carnage?  In hindsight, Sean comprehends the allure, "people underestimate just how starved everybody is for some magic pathway."  I empathized with Sean's loneliness coping with his catastrophic injury.  I felt compelled to follow the chain of events which led to his pitiable state.  Darnielle's hypnotic writing conveyed the need to achieve the next outcome.  It's no mystery why this spellbinding story must be finished once you've started.  "Why is a tricky question."

Irish Author Deidre Madden's TIME PRESENT & TIME PAST

Award winning Irish novelist, Madden has crafted a luminescent novel pondering life's fleeting & grounding moments.  Fintan, 47 & a successful legal advisor is the matriach of an intriguing family of well drawn characters. He has a kind, doting wife, 2 older sons who bewilder him, a young daughter he loves beyond measure, an irascible mother, his mother's kindhearted sister & his own sister who resides  with their aunt.  The character's are beautifully drawn, yet for Fintan they remain enigmas. Fintan does categorize his family members as either hawkes or doves based on their aggressive or gentle dispositions.  Fintan, becomes fascinated with photography after sorting through old photos with his sister.  Fintan becomes drawn to the capacity photos have to "stop time" and "reconcile the past & the present."  Madden's elegaic prose is a reflection of life's swiftness, of "time racing on, racing like a palpitating heart."  Time is well spent reading this masterpiece.  It has the power to cause you to cherish  your memories and to be grateful & cognisant of living in the present.      

ONE PLUS ONE Ad hoc Families Improvising as Best They Can

British author Jojo Moyes' novel "One Plus One" takes many unexpected twists for the strewn together Thomas family, spearheaded by single, working class mom, Jess, her math prodigy daughter Tanzi from estranged husband, Marty & Nicky, Marty's son from a former relationship.  Jess became pregnant with her daughter while in high school.  She's determined to provide a loving, stable home for her daughter.   Life rarely follows a smooth path.  Obstacles abound making life's journey arduous & unpredictable.  Marty proves to be a major screw-up & soons abandon Jess & Tanzi but not before leaving Jess with his son Nicky.  Tanzi is 2,  Nicky 8, when he 1st comes to live with them. Tanzi ask's Nicky what their family relationship is, he quips "we're a family of losers."  Tanzi is a math "geek" oblivious to her social pariah status.  Nicky is all too aware of his outcast status.  He is a relentless target of vicious beatings from bullies.  Meanwhile, unflappable Jess, is working 2 jobs; barely scraping by & with barely enough time to spend with "both her children."  The love connecting Jess, Tanzi, Nicky & Norman, their wolf size lunk of a dog is endearing & resilient.  Today's families are in constant flux.  Jess is the responsible/caring parent who holds their family together.  She provides unqualified love and moral fortitude.  Jess tells Nicky & Tanzi "I've learned it's best to be honest & stand-up & follow the compass."  Their paths cross with Ed, a decent kind man except for the fact he's under investigation for insider trading.  A hilarious romp ensues in Ed's van with Jess, Nicky, Tanzi & Norman.  This joyride of a novel does not so much pontificate "to do the right thing," as it speaks to fallibility, kindness to others & the indefatigable human spirit.

A Sense of the World, bio of pioneering explorer James Holman; Sightless & Fearless

A SENSE of the WORLD is the remarkable life & travels of James Holman.  Holman (b. Britain 1786) is the 1st blind person to span the globe to every inhabited continent.  His life appears incredulous,  sightless, intermittently crippled, he traversed the seas & foreign lands independantly.  Jason Roberts (b. Amer.) is the author of A SENSE of the WORLD, which earned a Nat'l Book Award nom.  By any account, his travels & struggles should lend themselves to a riveting tale of adventure & discovery.  Alas, I was anchored down by the minutia attached to his feckless plans & wrangled means for maneuvering himself.  His impressive exploits were downplayed.  Ensued blindness was stigmatized.  The vast blind population survived as mendicants. "He was expected to do nothing but sit quietly for the remainder of his life."  Taking to the seas appeared far more appealing the young impoverished seaman rendered restless with few options.  He seemed more resourceful than courageous; an opportunist willing to travel alone relying on assistance from strangers.  I was put off by Roberts' assumptions of how blind people are perceived.  "The notion is that they spend their lives in that uncertain, unsettling state."  Roberts contends his book "documents not just a profoundly inspiring figure, but one of history's most richly lived lives."  I enjoyed the historical context during the time of Holman's travels.  The skirmishes at sea that continued to plaque Americans after the Amer. Revolution.  The British continued to abduct sailors from American vessels.  His Majesty did not acknowledge his subjects the right to revoke their British citizenship.  The barbaric medical treatments of the day were also eye opening; lancings to the eyes, leeching, scolding of skin & blood letting.  Holman relied on observations from others to record his encounters he had published with some success from 1819-1832.  I recommend skimming over A SENSE of the WORLD & glancing at Holman's own writings.      

COLOMBIAN author Juan Vasquez's "The Sound of Things Falling" Resonates

The seductive & eloquent novel by Vasquez (b. Columbia 1973) is set in Bogota during the bloody drug cartel years of the 1980's.  Drug lord Pablo Escobar reigned terror on the streets of Bogota.  People lived in daily fear of  indiscriminate shootings.  Escobar became incredibly wealthy & notorious from drug smuggling & murder.  Each generation has its defining historic events.  Vasquez somnolent prose lends a dreamlike quality to the cataclysmic, life altering events during the Medellin cartel.  The novel is devotes itself to the damaging exercise of remembering.  Antonio, a young Univ. professor befriends the elderly Ricardo & their lives intertwine briefly.  Ricardo is released after serving a long jail term for flying cocaine into the U.S.  Ricardo is killed in a drive by shooting alongside Antonio who is left physically & emotionally scarred.  Ricardo was eagerly awaintg the arrival of his estranged American wife after their lengthy separation, hopeful of a reconciliation.  Antonio obtains the cassette belonged to Ricardo containing the recording of the black box from the doomed flight with Ricardo's wife on board. The book's title refers to "the sounds of live being extinguished, the sound of things falling from on high."  Recorded messages from those trapped in the Twin Towers to their loved ones are tragic & deeply personally deserving of our acknowledgement & respect.  Vasquez quotes an  Aurelio Artoro poem written in 1929, "Unblinking, I watched it collapse and fall like a rose petal under a hoof.  Walls fell over the beloved voices... toppling like a city collapsing in screams."  This unflinching & poignant novel cautions: "There is no more destructive mania than the speculation over roads not taken." Take time to read Vasquez's award winning novel "The Sound of Things Falling."  It resonates deeply with sorrow, wisdom & beauty.

P.D. James' Death Comes to Pemberly- Pitiful Plagarism

P.D. James is a British author famous for her mystery & crime solving novels.  James has received numerous Silver Dagger Awards for her mysteries.  She is an Offficer of the Order of the British Empire and Life Peer in the House of Lords since 1991.  As an American, I've surmised these honors give entitlement to plagiarize & diminish the great works of a truly great British author, Jane Austen.  I am unabashedly a Austen fan and perhaps this makes me disdainful of the improvised future between Mr. & Mrs. Darcy which is mired in a murky, melodramatic murder mystery.  Of course, the culprit appears to be Mr. Wickham who married Elizabeth's sister Lydia but remains barred from Pemberly.  Lydia turns up on a stormy night at Pemberly in hysteria.  Lydia maniacally insists Darcy & the Colonel  search the grounds of the estate for her husband whom she fears has been killed.  Wickham is discovered kneeling over the bloody body of his companion Denny, blaming himself for his friend's death.  A trial ensues with Wickham as the defendant.   The outcome for Wickham looks as bleak as the dark, wintery countryside.   Alas, there are plenty of warming fires along with a burning love between Elizabeth & her husband Fitzwilliam Darcy;his having married beneath his social class.  Therein lies the strength of the novel, social stratas, decorum and the daily "Downton Abbey" lifestyle for both the aristocracy & the servants.  The legal conventions of the time are also of interest. But, DEATH COMES to PEMBERLY is a flagrant rip-off of Austen's beloved characters in a who done it which does nothing for me.

Korean author Change-rae Lee, On Such A Full Sea

On SUCH a FULL SEA is a vast pool of story telling.  This is not necessarily praise for Korean author Change-rae Lee who has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.  The genre of FULL SEA is futuristic apocalyptic sic-fi combined with a haunting love story, a strong, independent heroine and a plethora of sinister people & plot twists.  The story is set in the not too distant future in a strange new world with hierarchies as in Orwell's ANIMAL FARM & oppressive mandates similar to Huxley's 1984.  The closet comparison is McCarthy's The ROAD where self-preservation is a daily peril with the terrifying unknown around every bend.  Change-rae Lee uses an unidentified narrator from her community "B-Morph" to tell the tale of young Fan who abandons the safety of "B-Morph" where she is sheltered from the apocalyptic chaos outside their borders.  There is an omnipresent fear of being ostracized and forced out to survive (highly unlikely) on her own.  Fan chooses to leave the mind-numbing life in "B-Morph" to find her lover Reg (& father of her unborn child.)  Reg simply vanished after having been called to meet with the Charters (the privileged class.)  We follow Fan's unpredictable & disturbing odyssey as she searches for Reg & an older brother.  Lee's writers gifts casts a fetching tale that lures the reader into caring for our heroine.  However, once caught in Lee's net, I felt I was  gasping for air.  On Such a Full Sea has a mesmerizing power but its appeal lies for those who find a dystopia exciting rather than disturbing.  

British author Julian Barnes' "Levels of Life" Gradations of Grief

British author Julian Barnes, is an acclaimed writer, (Sense of an Ending '11 - Man Booker Prize.)  He has also been shortlisted for this award for 3 of his other works.  Both "Levels of Life" & "Sense of an Ending" are explorations of love & grief and the mysterious, ephemeral memories that remain.  Barnes remarkable gifts as a writer are paramount in this memoir which is a triptych of historical fiction, lyrical fiction & personal lamentations on grieving since the death of his wife.  The historical fiction gives depth to the scientific inventions of airborne vessels & photography.  "Advances which allowed us to look at ourselves, better, with increasing truth."  Barnes also quotes Maj. Gen. Anders, on his Apollo 8 mission to the moon in 1968 "…we'd come 240,000 miles to see the Moon and it was the Earth that was really worth looking at."  The eloquent fiction mid-section of the triptych discusses the romantic liaison artists in the late 19thC between the bohemian actress Sarah Bernhardt  & British balloonist Burnaby as a paradigm for quantifying love.  "Together, in that 1st exaltation, that 1st roaring sense of uplift, they are greater than their 2 separate selves."  The poignant bookend to "The Sin of Height" is "The Loss of Depth."  It is here that Barnes, assembles his candid & poignant thoughts on love, grief, memory and meaning to life.  Barnes recalls his wife saying shortly before her death, "It's just the Universe doing its stuff."  He asks himself "what extent am I missing her, or missing the life we had together, or missing what it was in her that made me more myself, or missing simple companionship or (not so simple) love, or all or any overlapping bits of each?"  LEVELS of LIFE is a searing biopsy of the heart that focuses a lens into humanity.

Swiss Novelist, Dicker's "The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair" Truly a Major Event

Joel Dicker (b. Switzerland '85) has created a sensational, award winning novel with his 1st book.   The title is a mouthful & this clever novel is so full of surprising twists, pithy platitudes and poignancies it  seems incredulous such a young writer, in his 1st book, could have accomplished this amazing work.   Dicker won the Prix Coucourt des Lyceens voted on by French h.s. students from 2 French literary award lists.  The novel contains an illicit love affair between a 15 yr. old, Nola, & a writer 20 years her senior, Harry.  Marcus is the protagonist of this complex & compelling read that is equal parts a thriller, mystery, friendship, love, & coming-of-age story.  We meet Marcus as an egomaniacal  h.s. student, wanna-be writer.  He is a master manipulator who has fooled everyone to be dubbed "Marcus the Magnificent." Despite receiving acceptances to Harvard/Yale Marcus decides to attend Burrows Univ. in order to flourish at the top of his class.  It is at Burrows where he meets his mentor & friend, celebrated author, Prof. Harry Quebert.  Harry takes Marcus under his wing, teaches him how to box,  write & what are life's important lessons.  "The most important thing {in life} is knowing how to fall."  After college, Marcus' 1st novel is met with critical & financial success.  Following his success, he suffers writer's block.  When he learns Harry is arrested for the murder of Nola, Marcus rushes to be in Harry's corner & prove his innocence.  Nola's body is uncovered on Harry's property 30 yrs. after her disappearance.  The roller coaster investigation, quirky town's characters & convoluted relationships makes for a page turning novel (all 650 pages.)  Harry told Marcus that the mark of "A good book, is a book you are sorry has ended."  Finishing this book is a buzz kill.  I hope Dicker never suffer from writer's block.    

Summer Reading Had Me A Blast, I'll Tell You More...

Away from my beloved Big Apple, I found plenty of good summer reading.  "One is never bored with a book for company."  I hate trite platitudes, how about you?  Nevertheless, here are 10 recommendations to enjoy (in alphabetical order by author):

1.  Americanah by C. N. Adichie
     A insightful & entertaining perspective of black culture in the U.S. by a black, Nigerian woman.
2.  The Uncommon Reader by A. Bennett
     A delightful novella about the joys of reading from the Queen of England herself.
3.  Suspicion Nation by Lisa Bloom Non-F
     An intelligent dissection of the Trayvon Martin trial/verdict and pertinent social commentary.
4.  The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker
     A clever who done it unravelled by a young writer who seeks to prove his mentor's innocence.
5.  The Life of an Unknown Man
     An amazing life history of Russia's turbulent 20th C told by an unassuming elderly man.
6.  A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
     Five days in war torn Checnya that bind several live together under attack from Russia.
7.  Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oysyemi
     A lyrical twist on the Snow White fairy tale which sheds new light on racism within a family.
8.  The Rose That Grew From Concrete by Tupac Shakur
     Powerful & stirring poetry by the late rapper.
9.  The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsioni
      A lovable, socially inept adult with Asperger's awkward search for companionship.
10. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
       Life settling the west at the end of the 19thC told by a direct descendent who has his own issues.
   

ME BEFORE YOU, British Romance/Euthanasia Novel

British author JoJo Moyes has been awarded the Romantic Novel award, twice.  ME BEFORE YOU could be classified a romance novel.   It is a blossoming/doomed romance between a quadriplegic determined to end his life and his quirky, garrulous care giver, Louisa Clark, equally determined to convince him of all that life has to offer; including her love for him.  Will Traynor is the handsome, athletic, wealthy, alpha male whose left a quadriplegic from a motorcycle accident.  Traynor's aristocratic family own the large castle in the small town where Louisa (Lou) lives with her struggling, working class family.  After the tea shop Lou worked at closes, she desperately seeks a source of income to support her dependent family.  Despite having no experience working with the disabled, Lou is surprised to be offered the job of caring for Will by his tyrannical mother.  Her increased salary is a source of great relief to her family.   However, Lou is ready to quit as soon as she is subjected to Will's belligerence & her own feelings of inadequacy.  The job is contracted only for the next 6 months.  Lou discerns Will's distressful agreement with his family.  They have submitted to his adamant decision to commit euthanasia in 6 months.  Where is the love, the comedy, the class distinctions, the irrepressible spirits?  They abound in an easily readable & enjoyable novel that makes you care for Lou & Will, root for their relationship awhile presenting intelligent, polarizing views on euthanasia.   There are 2 serious and poignant films on this subject that I recommend:  the Spanish film "The Sea Inside" with Javier Barden & the Italian film "Honey" ('14.)  I also recommend this surprisingly engaging novel that puts forth the much needed discussion on the legalization of euthanasia.  

The Rose That Grew From Concrete, Tupac Shakur's Poetic Legacy Thrives

 Tupac Shakur untimely death (b. 1971-96) cannot silence his poetic genius.  His words leap off the page & pull at your heart strings.  His love poems are sonnets that soar with emotion.
The Power of a Smile for Renee
"The power of anger can rage inside until it tears you apart.  But the power of a smile, especially yours can heal a frozen heart."
Shakur's premonition of his early death is haunting:
In the Event of My Demise
"I will die before my time.  Because I feel the shadow's depth.  So much I wanted to accomplish before I reached my Death."
Shakur's rousing poems speak of love, pain, fear, strength, faith, heartbreak & injustice.
Lady Liberty Needs Glasses
"While justice is on a rampage for endangered surviving black males.  I mean really if anyone really valued life and cared about the masses, They'd take em both to Pen Optical and get 2 pair of glasses."
He boldly puts forth the plights of young black men: drugs, police brutality, incarcertation, & poverty.  He speaks of his devotion for his single mother and admiration for leaders & artists:  Mandela, Malcom X,  Huey Newton, and Van Gogh.
The Rose That Grew From Concrete is a compilation of Shakur's writings & drawings.  His powerful legacy will thrive, inspire & immortalize a galvanizing artist whose life was taken way too early.
Untitled
"Stregth is overcome by weakness.  Joy is overcome by pain.  The night is overcome by brightness and Love - it remains the same."  

Toby's Room By British author Pat Barker is Unpleasant & Substandard

British author, Pat Barker, has been awarded the Booker Prize winner (Ghost Road) and honored as  Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her brilliant legacy of work.  Her works mainly dealt  with the horrors of WWI & the aftermaths of trauma.  I read her Regeneration Trilogy & am in accord with British author Jonathan Coe (The Rain Before it Falls '08)  that her trilogy "is one of the few real masterpieces of late 20th C British fiction."  Her previous novel, Life Class '07, was lighter in subject matter; an art student in the years after WWI.  Her most recent novel, Toby's Room '12, refers to the brother of the herione, Elinor.  Elinor was an art student & a commissioned artist to draw soldiers wounded & disfigured in the war.  The novel concerns the horrors of war but it is centered on the incestuous relationship between Elinor & Toby.  When Toby is classified as MIA, Elinor becomes obsessed with learning what became of her brother. Two of her classmates, Paul & Neville, were stationed with Toby during the war.  Elinor is relentless in her pursuit of information regardless of Neville's gross facial disfigurement & Paul's devotion to her.  The mystique to discover what become of  Toby kept me engaged.  The hideous truth is that Toby was caught having a sexual liasion with a young stable hand & chose suicide rather than face a dishonorable discharge.  Barker is a masterful writer and I appreciate her contention, "…historical novels can be a backdoor into the present which is valuable."  However, I found the novel distasteful & would recommend her Regeneration Trilogy instead.

French novel, The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles is a Bunch of Crock

Pancol's novel The Yellow Eyes… was a huge hit in France when it was 1st published in '06.  The novel is as subtle & predicable as the crocodile in pursuit of Capt. Hook; you know what's coming and whose going to get their comeuppance.  Josephine is the noble, hardworking, devoted mother of 2 daughters.  Josephine romanticizes about life in the 12th C; a time of nobles, more than focusing on the present.  Josephine's philandering husband leaves her for a younger & more attractive woman.  He leaves France with his mistress to raise crocodiles in Africa; a foolhardy scheme (selling their hides which makes me scream.)  Plain Josephine's sister Iris (eye analogy) is gorgeous, conniving & attention grabbing.  Iris will eat up anything or anyone that gets in her way.  Hortense & Zoe are Josephine's 2 daughters.  Hortense is the glamorous sister who emulates her Aunt Iris' go for the kill modus operandi.   The fairer & comparer of the 2 sisters runs parallel between generations.  The mother of Josephine & Iris is the matriarch of family dysfunction.  There is a ridiculous subplot involving Josephine's best  friend leading a double life as a commoner and secretive daughter to the Queen of England.  Does the damsel in distress overcome all obstacles to find happiness.  This is a beach book better eaten by a croc than read - later alligator.  

AMERICANAH by Nigerian author Adichie

AMERICANAH, Nat'l Book Award '13 is by Nigerian author Chimamana Ngozi Adichie.  Her entertaining & eye opening novel is a love story between Nigerian teens that spans over 3 decades & 3 continents.  Ifemelu is the headstrong, free spirit who falls in love with Obinze as teens in their hometown  in Nigeria.  Having spent years living abroad, Ifemelu in Amer. & Obinze in London, they reconnect after 30 years and rekindle their great love affair.  Looking back, Ifemelu wonders "Had she felt this way as a teenager?  This was love, to be eager for tomorrow."  Their romance is not at "The Heart of the Matter" (Green.)  It is through her foreign eyes & insightful blog, we discover her perspective on life as a black African living in Amer. in comparison to a black Amer., and her life in Nigeria.  It is her observations on racism, social hierarchy and prejudices that are most illuminating.  Adichie's commentaries shed new light on pressing issues.  "It seems to me that in Amer. blacks & whites work together but don't play together."  "Of course people are prejudiced, but aren't we all prejudiced?"  I agreed with this post in response to Ifemelu ending her blog.  "Please come back to the blogsphere soon.  You've used your irreverent hectoring, funny & thought-provoking voice to create a space for real conversations about an important subject."

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena-A Phenomenal Novel

Anthony Marra created a masterpiece of writing with his first novel, "A Constellation of Vital Phenomena."  This miraculous debut takes place over 5 incredulous days during war torn Checnya under attack by Russia in 2004.  War generally speaking is evil and advisably avoided.  All the unbearable horrors that occurred are offset in Marra's novel by the sliver of humanity that prevailed.  These 5 days are majestically woven into a nonlinear timelines spanning backwards with glimpses into the future.   Events & people are hauntingly webbed together.  Some connections are bonded together and others left with enigmatic holes.  The main characters are from small ravaged villages in Checnya.  Sonja is a surgeon working in a hospital with minimal staff & few supplies, trying to tend the wounded soldiers & remaining locals.  Akmed, a flailing Dr. and aspiring artist flees with Havaa, the young daughter of a slain friend to the hospital where Sonja works.  She agrees to care for Havaa in exchange for Akmed's medical assistance.  Sonja mentors Akmed "to teach him that saving a life & nurturing a life are different processes."  Havaa teaches them that love is what chooses a family.  "The years wash away your evidence, 1st you, then your friends & family, then the descendants…"  History writes itself.  Marra has written a miraculous phenomena of immense depth & grace.  

IN THREE WARS-Bio of S. African Dr.'s Service to the State of Israel

Dr. Cyril Kaplan Med. School graduate in Cape Town '1940 and deployed to the Middle East as a physician.  During the war, Dr. Kaplan 1st visited Palestine.  After WWII he specialized in orthopedic surgery in England.  After completing his medical training, Dr. Kaplan volunteered as a surgeon in the 1948 Israeli War.  IN THREE WARS gives a 1st hand account of the implausible struggles for Israel's existence.  Dr. Kaplan was an early pioneer in the medical field for a new nation who fought for its Independence and survival; through the War of Attrition & Yom Kippur War.  Israel's improbable proliferation parallels the amazing altruistic life of a young surgeon.  Dr. Kaplan's struggles to establish & provide basic care with rudimentary provisions during harsh wartime conditions is incredulous.   Dr. Kaplan's own assessment of his role is minimized, "I don't think it has been tremendous.. but I think it has been useful." He pays extensive tribute to the many dedicated medical personnel who worked incessantly and to the many brave young people who went into battle.  Dr. Kaplan found love during the tumultuous years of Israel's early history with his persistent pursuit of another S. African physician who became his wife.  Dr. Kaplan also reflected on S. Africa's own problems with apartheid and other African government's oppression & cruelty to their own people.  This is a compelling life story during a ferocious era.  Dr. Kaplan's insight is never-ending "All wars are completely wasteful and wicked."        

Tenth of December - Rates a 10 & Earns the Short Story Prize '13

George Saunders' short story collection "Tenth of December," was a Nat'l Book Award Finalist and winner of the Short Story Prize '13.  Saunders is a gifted writer who captures the human psyche in all its torments, despair & disconnect from reality.  His innovative style is prescient sic-fi, insightful psychological distress and poses ethical questions.  ""Can goodness win? Or do good people always get shafted, evil being reckless?"  How far will a young teen go to defy his parents in order to protect a friend?  What are the ramifications of testing & observing new mind & libido altering drugs on the participants once the effects have worn off?   His sinister stories are not for the timid.  They are  rewarding for those prepared to enter the twilight zone & the realms of the unhinged mind.  "Seriously, is life fun or scary.  Are people good or bad?"  I recommend Saunders fresh examination of mankind's plights that are simultaneously entertaining & disturbing.  Tenth of December is an assemblage of piercing stories and exceptional prose.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, a Labor of Love

Graeme Simsion's delightful debut novel is about the pursuit of love against the odds and the power of friendship & human connection.  Don Tillman is a brilliant geneticist seriously lacking in social graces.  Don accepts his Asperger's diagnosis not as a fault but as "a potentially major advantage."  Despite Don's weak interpersonal skills, his desire to find a life partner, is strong; hence the wife project.  Don's best, and only friends, Gene a fellow Prof. & womanizer & his wife, Claudia, a psychologist and major source of friendly advice, aid Don in his quest to find his ideal mate.  Enter Rosie, a no nonsense, PhD candidate who is totally unacceptable according to Don's predetermined criteria.  However, Don unexpectedly discovers "my assessment of what would make me happy was totally incorrect." Anyone who enjoyed "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night" will thoroughly enjoy "The Rosie Project," about an adult on the Autism scale striving to conform to social norms to solve the mysteries of romance.  Rosie turns to Don for his expertise in genetics to help her determine her birth father.  Their collaboration leads to powerful feelings for each other that often defy logic.  As the stalwart & supportive Claudia says "when you really love someone, you have to be prepared to accept them as they are."  Be prepared to be thoroughly charmed by this bewitching tale of friendship & love.

HER LAST DEATH, Please Lay to Rest Mommy Dearest Memoirs

Susanna Sonnenberg's memoir, HER LAST DEATH, is hopefully, the end all to end all memoirs of family dysfunction (as if there haven't been enough already.)   HER LAST DEATH is Sonnenberg's airing her dirty laundry of abuse, perversion & emblazoned sexual promiscuity.  Sonnenberg (b. 65) is a published journalist in "O," "Oprah" & incredulously, "Parenting."  Daphne, Susanna's mother, makes Joan Crawford look like Mother Theresa.  Daphne is a drugged out nymphomaniac and pathological liar whose perverse, inappropriate behavior molded her daughter into a lewd, misguided Lolita.  Susanna's encouraged promiscuity is the only mother/daughter bonding they share.  Be forewarned, do not read this disturbing, degenerative & dysfunctional psycholagical family melodrama.  Sonnenberg may have been published in Oprah's mag. but her bio would not have aired on her show.  The censors would not allow it.  She is a clever, readable writer with the skill to draw in her reader.  Therein lies her treachery.  Her memoir begins as a happily married mother of 2 when she receives a call telling her mother was in an accident, & on her deathbed.  She calls her sister saying she won't be flying to their mother's bedside.  She chooses to retain the barrier to prevent further toxicity and damage inflicted by  their mother.  What caused this irreconcilable rift and how did she survive?   It's not worth being mired in the slime to find out.  Should you read past the opening you'll be shocked, appalled & likely hooked on the ultimate violations of mother/daughter relationships.  Please, let HER LAST DEATH kill the Mommy Dearest genre.

MARY COIN-the Photo/Woman that Defined the Great Depression

Marissa Silver's historic & enlightening novel unveils the life of the woman whose gaze is fraught full of bewilderment has personified the era of the Great Depression.  Mary Coin is the woman in the photo whose children's heads are seen leaning into their mother as Mary's pensive gaze depicts her striving to  solve how to maintain food & shelter for her children during this deperate time of poverty.  It is deeply  significant to learn of the life Mary Coin whose face has come to represent so many migrant workers also struggling to provide for their families.  This is a story of destitution, of brutal treatment & hard labor so many endured during the Depression.  It also depicts the societal strata that perpetuated an impoverished work force.  Vera Drake is the photographer whose life is told entwined with the woman from her iconic image.  The novel delves with how history is revealed through photos.  A photo is a relic that captures the death of a precise moment.  The rare photo has the ability to enshrine an image in time that represents life concisely & meaningfully.  MARY COIN reminds us life is forever changing, creating new perceptions and questions.

Mindy Kaling - Hang with Her NOT Her Book

IS EVERYONE HANGING WITHOUT ME? (AND OTHER CONCERNS) is Mindy Kaling's likable non-commendable succinct account of her life experiences and other minor details.  I'm happy for Mindy, she contends "…my parents are perfect and so am I."  Her childhood was basically innocuous.  She was content being on the outside looking in and for the most part, inside watching comedy on TV.  She sums her preadolescence by saying "it all added up to a happy, memorable time."  Her college years at Dartmouth kept the good times rolling and close friendships were formed.  After graduating, she & her college buddies became roommates in a cramped Brooklyn apartment to pursue their dreams; or take any job that paid the rent.  Her path to a successful career in comedy writing & acting was not particularly compelling.  I'm getting the sense that comics memoirs are intended as tributes to their favorite comedians & comic bits perhaps in hopes of reciprocated admiration.  Mindy did share some amusing observations.  I agree, "So much can be excused if you're just funny enough."   Mindy's book, IS EVERYONE HANGING... is not funny enough to recommend.  However, I would like her to be my friend which is highly unlikely.  My chances are now further diminished when she reads my review (as if.)  But, who needs a friend that might punch them in the face & break their nose.

Maeve Binchy's A WEEK in WINTER, Dull Reading Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall

Perhaps it is sacrosanct for me to malign the writing of beloved Irish author, Maeve Binchy, on her last novel completed shortly before her death ('12).   Nevertheless, I found by A WEEK in WINTER a tedious read.  I read only 100 pages of this novel but these were 100 pages of tedium.  Her novel is outdated & trite.  The story is set in Stoneybridge, a small Irish village, mid-20th C.  Stoneybridge has dim prospects for the future & very astringent moral conventions.  Carnal relations outside of wedlock is so disgraceful, young women become forsaken by their families.  Chicky & Orly are 2 such women whose promiscuous behaviors ("it isn't fitting,") send them from their homes onto diverging paths that    intwine decades later.   Chicky follows her lover to America.  She returns home to Ireland under fraudulent accounts.  Back inside the local parish, Chicky "wondered if there really was a God up there watching and listening.  It didn't seem very likely."  I questioned why Binchy's writing has been so highly honored.  She was eulogized as "Ireland's best loved & most recognizable writer."  Ms. Binchy had been awarded both the British & Irish Book Awards for Lifetime Achievement.  Even the omnipotent Oprah chose Binchy's TARA ROAD as one of her Book Club Selections.  Perhaps these should entice me to finish A WEEK in WINTER or attempt another of her novels.  However, this will not  happen in winter, spring, summer or fall.  Instead, I highly recommend Alice McDermott's CHARMING BILLY or works by Irish writer Colum McCann.

Dirty Daddy - Bob Saget's Funny & Poignant Memoir

As I read this laugh out loud funny autobiography which is stupefyingly awash with grief,  I questioned whether there was a ghostwriter somewhere between the sheets.  Bob had no qualms hanging out his dirty laundry.  He also unabashedly wears his love for his family & friends,  especially his 3 daughters, on his sleeves.  In fact, there is no attempt at restraint in sharing his life & lessons learned.  Nor is there any filtering to all the thoughts racing through his eccentric & razor sharp mind.  Saget's book jumps loudly off the pages; as if he's doing standup directed specifically at you.  Told with zany humor is Bob's iconic career in entertainment made all the more incredulous knowing the many tragedies within his family.  Bob embraces his Danny Tanner character for the steadfast friendships that stemmed from the family friendly Full House sitcom.  Reading Dirty Daddy reveals Bob's true potty mouth & comedic genius.  From Bob's CHRONICLES of a FAMILY MAN TURNED FILTHY COMEDIAN you connect with a person who embraces life and "how humor helped {him} survive."  For the gifted, gutsy, irreverent comics who are able to make us laugh, thank you for making our lives brighter & more bearable.  Bob ends his book addressing whether or not he used a ghostwriter.   "The answer is yes.  It was Ernest Hemingway."  Bob, thanks for the memories.    

BOY, SNOW, BIRD a Tale as Old as Time-A MUST READ

BOY, SNOW, BIRD by Helen Oyeyemi, winner of a Somersest Maugham Award ('10) is young girl's coming of age story that ingeniously appropriates the Snow White fable to disclose the evil spell hatred & racism casts.   Boy, Arturo's wife, is mother to Bird and stepmother to Snow.  Snow is the beautiful, enchanting & fair skinned daughter from Arturo Whitman's 1st marriage. Upon the birth of Bird, Boy banishes Snow from their home to be raised far away.  Boy is now the wicked stepmother despite having escaped from a torturous upbringing by her abusive father, the rat catcher.  Bird is a mystical free spirit who communes with spiders & is unable to find her reflection in mirrors.  Bird, a child of white parents in a predominantly white town, is dark skinned.  This is an elegant & disturbing coming of age story of Bird.  It is written partly in fable form which sheds harsh light on racism & prejudice that holds blacks inferior to whites.  Mirror on the wall, who is fairest of them all?  Oyeyemi's poetic writing & story telling call to mind, Hurston, Angelou, Ellison & Twain.  Still, this is a unique and powerful novel with imagery that reflect & confront social issues that persist today. Oyeyemi's Snow White story is also a Beauty & the Beast tale with hope for a time when people "will not be judged by the color their skin but by the content of their character." (King, Jr.)  

The Uncommon Reader- a Novella by A. Bennett is a Bibliophile's Dream

Alan Bennett, Tony Award winning playwright (The History Boys) proves that size doesn't matter in this succinct & delightful read about the vast pleasures (& few limitations) of books.  One of Britain's leading dramatists writes about Queen Elizabeth's late in life, love for reading.   Indeed, reading is the great equalizer.  You don't have to be a Royal to reap the rewards of a book.  Perhaps, it is the commoner who is richer with the freedom of leisure not allocated to a Queen with her many obligatory (& laborious) public duties.  It is quite by chance & ettiquette, that Her Royal Highness (HRH) stumbles into the bookmobile and requests a book recommended by its custodian.   The epiphanies realized by the Queen are quite profound and entertaining bringing us into the realm of life in the Palace.  Perhaps, the most pertinent observation by the Queen is that reading puts people "on common ground."  Bennett in turn, puts the reader into the life of HRH.  The Queen's curiosity & philosophies evolve with her looming compulsion to read.  She considers "fate is something to which we are all subject," and notes empathy comes from reading "with the ability to enter other's lives."  Reading provides both pleasure & a deeper understanding of the world.  For all that reading can provide, HRH decrees "reading is not doing."  Quite so your Highness.

SUSPICION NATION-Atty Lisa Bloom Explores the Injustices for Trayvon Martin

It's 2 years since the outrageous verdict permitting the murderer of Trayvon Martin to walk free.  Ms. Bloom, author & legal analyst for major news networks presents cogent arguments of why the prosecutors failed to convince a jury to convict Zimmerman.  Furthermore, Ms. Bloom does not shy away from the racial biases permeating our nation that faill to protect, promote or provide justice for Americans of color.  Sadly, Martin's killing is not an isolated incident.  On the contrary, there has been a massive increase in "justifiable homicides" where black victims have been shot by whites.  Bloom's examination of the fact's in this case not put forth to the jury are shocking.  "In a series of missteps, this very winnable case was lost."  It is evident in Bloom's book how justice was not served. The senseless death of Trayvon and unseemly failure in our justice system cries out for changes & redemption.  SUSPICION NATION addresses the travesty of why these catastrophies continue to occur.  "To prevent future tragedies, we need a new, unflinching look at the uncomfortable issue of race, staring down the buried biases of a nation that so often determine whom we deem suspicious and why."  Bloom's brave & intelligent look at systemic failings in our country heralds reforms abolishing racism & violence and upholds the value of human life.

The Life of an Unknown Man, An Unforgettable Russian Novel by A. Makine

The French (Russian b. 1957) author, Andrei Makine is the recipient of the Nat'l Bk. Critics Award & winner of the top French literary award for his novel, "My Russian Summer."  "Life of an Unknown Man" is a hauntingly inventive novel.  He captures man's immense capacity for cruelty and the indomitable human spirit.  "Life of ..." is the tale of 2 Russian men whose lives overlap.  The younger, but still elderly Shutov, becomes the bearer of the extraordinary life of Volsky:  survivor of the horrors of WWII and the gulags under Stalin's regime.   Shutov is a Russian writer of diminishing acclaim living in Paris with a much younger woman.  When Shutov's lover leaves him he returns to St. Petersberg hoping to recapture his youth & rekindle a former love.  Shutov discovers you can never go home - nothing remains the same.  At the extravagant residence of his past love, Shutov is enlisted to watch over the invalid, Volsky, presumed both deaf & mute.  Volsky will be reassigned living accommodations in the morning; his situation was a temporary solution.  Volsky is neither mute or deaf as Shutov soon discovers.  Volsky regales Shutov with his incredible story of survival during the siege of Leningrad and Stalin's dictorial reign; persecuting the Russian people & purging its history.  Makine's writing is eloquent, lyrical & memorable.  It is a testament to art's ability to sustain humanity & history. "The peace experienced from saving these fragments of truth from oblivion."  Volsky taught disabled orphans "how to exist in the world manufactured by the petty cruelty of men. "  One of Volsky's blind pupils said "when he sang about the sky he could see the clusters of stars, he understood how they might look."  Makine's novel is illuminating & life affirming, "To be on time when every second counts."

THE LOWLANDS by Jhumpa Lahiri

Pulitizer Prize winning author, Lahiri's latest novel, THE LOWLANDS, begins in India with 2 inseparable but very different brothers whose lives diverge yet remain entwined.  Born in Calcutta, Subash & Udayan come of age during the 1960's, a time when the Naxalite movement sprung up as an idealistic rebellion to alleviate poverty & the prevailing class structure.   Little is learned about the Naxalites & their movement to which Udayan aligns.  Udayan is killed by state police for his activities leaving behind his pregnant bride, Guari.  Meanwhile, Subash had moved to the U.S. to pursue his education.  He returns home to mourn his brother's death.  Dismayed by the oppressive life Guari will have under his parent's roof, he proposes marriage to Guari.  Subash intends to provide a home for his brother's child and an escape for Guari.  Guari consents to this arrangement & moves to America to  raise the child with Subash as the father.  The Lowlands refers to the muddy flat terrain that surround Subash's family in India.  In the States, Subash & Gauri make their home in R.I. near the ocean.  Gauri remains untethered to both her native homeland and her new family, chosing to abandon both.  Subash dutifully goes back to visit his parents & care for their daughter.  The novel is turgid and the plot  sluggish.  For such an accomplished writer, Lahiri's THE LOWLANDS offers little in terms of India's culture; never elevating above a maudlin family drama.  LOWLANDs remains stuck in mud.

Donna Tartt's novel The GOLDFINCH; unique in the annals of art & literature

Nietzsche is quoted in Tartt's coming of age/pseudo philosophical novel: "We have art in order not to die from the truth."   The novel begins with a bang, literally.  Theo Decker & his beloved mother happen to be inside the MET at the moment it gets blown-up.  An unsettling premise for New Yorkers and art lovers alike.  Theo's mother had never seen a great painting until she moved to NYC.  She had  told Theo that great art is "pure bliss, perfect heaven."  She is killed with dozens of others while Theo manages to survive.  Before making his escape from the carnage Theo steals Fabritius masterpiece, The Goldfinch (1654) which also miraculously survived.   Alone & grieving for his mother Theo is seeking  any port in a storm.  He is banded about without affection between the wealthy home of a classmate and his father who had abandoned him.  His destructive father claims Theo purely for his own selfish gains.  As Theo discovers, "none of us ever find enough kindness in the world."  Theo's intervening years between the loss of his mother where "grief pounded over me in waves that left me gasping," into becoming a young man, mark an incredible & unpredictable journey.  The only constancy in his life is the stolen work of the yellow finch chained to his perch.  It becomes Theo's talisman; "an invisible bedrock of rightness that reassured me."  The painting had the capacity to make Theo feel "less mortal, less ordinary.  It was sustenance and sun."  I strongly recommend Tartt's latest novel after more than a decade as both a beguiling voyage of self-awareness and for the preponderance of art being vital for the soul.  Theo's response to Nietzsche's truth is "there's no truth beyond illusion."  I agree, "anything we manage to save from history is a miracle."  The masterpiece, The Goldfinch by Fabritius and the novel by Tartt are both preternatural works.

BURNT SHADOWS by K. Shamsie, Merely a Smoldering Outline

I admired the message BURNT SHADOWS aims to emblazon but is awash in its overly ambitious objectives.  The story begins with the Japanese heroine, Hiroko, in Nagasaki the day the atomic bomb was unleashed.  Hiroko is a gifted linguistics, able to speak and deftly learn foreign languages.  Hiroko falls in love with Konrad, a German for whom she was working as a translator.  Konrad is killed in the bombing while Hiroko survives the devastation.  She moves to Tokyo where her language skills enable her financially & secures herself passage to India.  She sets out in 1947 to find Konrad's sister, Ilse.  Ilse, is also of German descent and married to a Brit.  Ilse & Hiroko form a lifetime friendship that spans the globe and years from 1945 to the 21st C.  Their lives are the underpinnings for the novel's intent:  to expose man's inhumanity in war.  Ilse tells her granddaughter, Kim, "I've lived through Hitler, Stalin, the Cold War, the British Empire, segregation, apartheid."  Hiroko shielded the horrors "too terrible to tell her son" only to wish she had "told everyone, written it down and put a copy in every school."  Shamsie brings in the war in Afghanistan, India & Pakistan conflicts and the attack on the World Trade Center.  Numerous pages state "This page intentionally left blank."  It's commendable  this anti-war novel also speaks of international camaraderie.  But, it fails miserably as a cohesive & engaging story worth your time.    

Stegner's "Angel of Repose" Brilliant from Every Angle

The Pulitzer Prize & Nat'l Book Award winning author Wallace Stegner is called the Dean of Western Writers.  ANGLE OF REPOSE tells the story of Susan Ward, an artist/writer in the late 19th C.  Born & raised in gentility in the east whose marriage to Oliver Ward, a mining engineer, takes her to the rough frontier of the unsettled west.  Her life's story is being chronicled by her grandson, Lyman Ward, a writer/historian mainly through the large body of letters Susan wrote to her beloved friend Augusta, and her husband Thomas.  Her candid, detail letters portray the hardships & isolation on the western frontier.  There is great adventure & majesty captured in Susan's letters & illustrations.  She also depicts life's adversities & the dissolution of faith & love in her marriage.   Lyman is emeshed in his grandmother's life at a time when his own marriage has unraveled after many years.  There are many prominent themes in this panoramic novel:  western expansion & adventure, social class, proprieties and unconventional behaviors, generational divides.  All these threads undergird the fulcrum of the novel.  Stegner's interest lies with how couples' relationships come to rest.  Lyman questions his grandparents' marriage, "How two such unlike particles clung together, and under what strains, rolling downhill into their future until they reached the angle of repose."  ANGLE OF REPOSE, from every slant, is storytelling at its most gratifying and fulfilling.