Torontoc's Books and some films of 2014

CharlasClub Read 2014

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Torontoc's Books and some films of 2014

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1torontoc
Dic 15, 2013, 12:12 pm

Just setting up my thread now-will be back in Jan. 2014

2Cariola
Ene 1, 2014, 9:43 pm

Got you starred, Cyrel--don't want to miss those reviews!

3torontoc
Ene 2, 2014, 8:50 am

Thank you!

Prague by Arthur Phillips- I enjoy reading this author as his works are always different. From historical fiction to contemporary stories, Phillips creates new and intriguing plots every time. This novel is about four American (and one Canadian) ex-patriots who are living in Budapest in 1990. The communist government is gone and westerners are flooding into Eastern European cities looking for new opportunities to make money. The title of this book is ironic as the characters wistfully believe that Prague is the best place to be and they are not there. Although the reader follows Emily, an assistant at the U.S. Embassy, Mark, a postdoctoral student writing on nostagia, Charles, a businessman and Scott, a teacher,we focus on John,a journalist and the estranged brother of Scott. John is hopelessly obsessed with Emily, but gets involved with Nicky, an angry artist. The reader follows the five through nightclubs, business dealings and contact with Hungarians who have suffered at the hands of the Nazis and later communists. Imre's story haunts the book as Phillips includes in his prose a history of Hungarian political involvement. A good read.

4RidgewayGirl
Ene 2, 2014, 9:10 am

I have Prague on my list to read this year. Glad it'll be worthwhile.

5mabith
Ene 2, 2014, 10:36 am

Looking forward to seeing your reading again this year!

6arubabookwoman
Ene 2, 2014, 12:59 pm

I'm looking forward to following you again this year. I always enjoy your concise reviews.

7fannyprice
Ene 2, 2014, 8:55 pm

I loved Arthur Phillips's Angelica and I've had Prague on my Kindle forever but have not read it. This could be the year. I admit I struggle when an author's works are so different - I would love 10 more books like Angelica!

8torontoc
Ene 7, 2014, 7:25 pm

Angelica is the one book that I have not read yet-

Empress Dowager Cixi The Concubine Who Launched Modern China by Jung Chang. The title says it all. Not only does the author research the history of this dominant Empress of China, she also gives Cixi credit for many reforms and the beginning of the creation of modern China. Jung Chang uses newly available sources to correct previously held opinions on her role in obstructing reform rather than setting the stage as it were for change. The role that Japan and western powers played in the politics and seizing of territory is really interesting. Chang shows how the role of a woman in Chinese society determined how Cixi acted. Was she ruthless in getting rid of her adapted son, the emperor, or his concubine, Pearl? Chang mentioned both killings as necessary but puts Cixi's actions in a larger context, looking at her choices at the time. The author does seem to dismiss certain decisions and expand on other actions as the pragmatic choice. I did enjoy reading this biography and the details of life in the forbidden city at the turn of the century.

9japaul22
Ene 7, 2014, 7:30 pm

I hadn't heard that Jung Chang had written this book. I read her Wild Swans which made a big impression on me in a positive way, but I also read her Mao biography which I was less than impressed with. I felt that she couldn't take her own experiences and biases out of that book. I felt like her memoir, Wild Swans, worked well because it was so personal. I'd be curious to find out where this book falls - maybe the subject matter would allow her to be less personal?

10torontoc
Ene 7, 2014, 7:36 pm

Jung Chang does seem to be on a mission to rehabilitate the reputation of the Empress Cixi in this book.

11rebeccanyc
Ene 7, 2014, 8:01 pm

I agree with Jennifer about Jung Chang's Mao book -- I felt her hatred for Mao (not that he doesn't deserve to be hated) oozing from every page. It made me go out and buy other, hopefully less biased, bios of Mao, although I have yet to read them!

12mabith
Ene 7, 2014, 8:08 pm

It's almost hard to imagine a hardly-biased biography of Mao. I wouldn't really want one written by a complete outsider to China, because surely there would be nuances they'd miss. Yet even a western scholar of China would surely be fairly biased (especially if they have any affection for Chinese culture).

I got Empress Dowager Cixi from my LT Santa, so it's nice to hear a bit about it prior to reading it.

13rebeccanyc
Ene 7, 2014, 8:39 pm

Well, I said "less" biased, not "unbiased" -- no book is "unbiased," but this one was so biased it made me question what she might have left out.

14mabith
Ene 7, 2014, 10:39 pm

Oh no, I gotcha. That's why I said hardly-biased. I mean that in a way I wouldn't trust the people I'd trust to write it well, due to more bias issues.

15SassyLassy
Ene 8, 2014, 10:57 am

Interesting about trying to rehabilitate Cixi. I would think that might be a somewhat monumental task. Change I could see, but reform that wasn't forced upon her would be a different matter. I'll have to read this book! You might also be interested in Marina Warner's take: The Dragon Empress. This is an old book, but the comparison might be interesting, given Warner's status. I'm inclined to agree with japaul about her intrusive biases in the Mao biography, versus personal experiences in Wild Swans.

16kidzdoc
Ene 9, 2014, 7:05 am

Nice review of Empress Dowager Cixi, Cyrel. I own her biography of Mao, but after reading comments from Rebecca and others I'm in no hurry to read it.

17torontoc
Ene 11, 2014, 8:31 am

hmm- I do have the Marina Warner biography of Empress Cixi- and I am sure that I read it many years ago- I might look for it and do a reread to compare.

New York Diaries 1609-2009 edited by Teresa Carpenter This is the kind of book that is a good gift- that is how I got it. I really liked the organization-the editor took excerpts from the writings of many known and unknown people who lived in New York from 1609 to 2009. The entries were collected by the day of the year so the reader would see the account from a ship in 1609 on Sept 1 and then read about an entry from 1884. Some diaries were solemn and some were frivolous.They covered the revolutionary war in 1776, ( with some entries by George Washington) to the 1950's and Broadway shows and to heartbreaking accounts of Sept 11, 2001. I really enjoyed this read and I might look for the published diaries of some of the people published here.

18mabith
Ene 11, 2014, 10:48 am

New York Diaries sounds wonderful! I'll definitely need to search that one out.

19Polaris-
Ene 12, 2014, 9:47 am

New York Diaries does sound like an interesting book to dip in and out of. Wishlisted.

20detailmuse
Ene 12, 2014, 3:05 pm

Thanks for reviewing New York Diaries: onto my wishlist too.

21janeajones
Ene 12, 2014, 7:49 pm

Stopping by to say hello and happy New Year. Intriguing review of Empress Dowager Cixi.

22AnnieMod
Ene 12, 2014, 8:40 pm

Empress Dowager Cixi sounds like a great book... and one I would not have even looked at if not for the review here :)

23torontoc
Ene 17, 2014, 10:17 am

I actually have the Marina Warner book on Cixi- It has more photos and I am sure that I read it years ago-I wlill read it to compare athough Jung Chang had more access to more recently opened archival material.

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler. This is a reread for Darryl's Canadian Lit challenge in 75 Books Read Group. I wanted to see how this novel stood the test of time for me. I think that it did. The main character , Duddy is a driven young man who wants to make money and buy land. He is inspired by his grandfather's wish. The reader follows Duddy from his rough childhood to his dubious triumph. Duddy is crude, unscrupulous and cruel. His older brother, Lennie is the one who is following the dream of his father and uncle. Lennie is studying to be a doctor while Duddy scrambles to make a living.Duddy uses everyone he comes in contact with from his girlfriend Yvette to his hapless new friend, Virgil. Richler gives a devastating description of Montreal Jewish society during the early 1950's. He writes about the very poor and the richer groups who had made money. He also looks at the anti-semitism prevalent during that time- he spares no group in Montreal society. in his novel. Richler's description of a bar mitzvah film made by Duddy and his mostly drunk film director is a great sendup and is hilarious. The character of the Boy Wonder mirrors the "mythical great man" that Richler uses in his later books. ( see the film made of Barney's Version). I went back to the great biography written about Richler by Charles Foran to look at the author's background. Richler was born into an Orthodox Jewish family. His mother and father eventually separated. The rejection of his religious background and the self made man are themes in this book. Richler does present Duddy's Jewish Montreal in an uncomplimentary way ( and that is a mild way of describing how he viewed his city). That is ironic to me as Montreal was known to have a very rich Jewish culture - more so than Toronto. Montreal had many Jewish writers, poets and institutions like the Jewish Public Library. Richler used his own background and ideas to create characters and places that will return in his later books. i actually want to reread more of his early work.

24rebeccanyc
Ene 17, 2014, 12:22 pm

I haven't read Mordecai Richler in years, but I loved him when I did. Thanks for reminding me about him.

25kidzdoc
Editado: Ene 17, 2014, 9:51 pm

Great review of Duddy Kravitz, Cyrel! I'll start reading it tomorrow.

26Polaris-
Ene 19, 2014, 7:46 am

Nice review of Duddy Kravitz. It's been on my wishlist a while...I'm keeping an eye out for a nice copy somewhere.

27janeajones
Ene 19, 2014, 6:03 pm

This has been on my radar for years -- really should get to it.

28torontoc
Ene 20, 2014, 9:27 am

My copy is ready to fall apart! I might replace it with one on my Kobo.

Rouse up O Young Men of the New Age! by Kenzaburo Oe. I really don't remember who recommended this book to me- either a LT member or someone on Bookmooch. While I was reading this very interesting story, I was reminded why I am on these web sites. i would have never found this author and book on my own. Oe writes about a famous Japanese author who has a severely disabled son of about 19 years old. The fictional author has been reading the poems of William Blake and links them in this account to events from his past.Each chapter in the book is based on a poem or fragment written by Blake. He and his family confront the many problems of living with a young man who has limitations and some wonderful gifts of musicality. Several poems and the meanings have direct connections in the writer's mind with how he deals with his son. The reader learns about the writer's family, his own father and his writings. In fact although the book is a novel, Kenzaburo Oe really does have a severely disabled son and some of the incidents written about in the book did happen to his family. There is a very good afterword by the translator, John Nathan.
A really good read!

29SassyLassy
Ene 20, 2014, 9:40 am

Did you ever see the very young Richard Dreyfuss as Duddy Kravitz? Jack Warden is Max.

Polaris, too bad you're not in Canada. I think this novel was on every CanLit course everywhere. There must be lots of copies out there! Like torontoc's, the copy in this house has seen lots of use.

My favourite Richler is Solomon Gursky was here.

30torontoc
Ene 20, 2014, 10:35 am

Yes, I did- and some of the other films as well- Joshua Then and Now( very dated) and Barney's Version -I liked that film better than the book!
I also liked Solomon Gursky was Here

31Polaris-
Ene 20, 2014, 6:58 pm

>29 SassyLassy:/30 - Noted and also wishlisted! Torontoc I have the Barney's Version dvd to watch still on my shelf - I picked it up in a library sale ages ago - and still haven't watched it. Gonna watch very soon!

32torontoc
Ene 28, 2014, 9:24 am

This next book was a gift from my brother and sister-in-law- it is nice that we have similar tastes in books!

The Riddle of the Labyrinth The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code by Margalit Fox. Fox writes about the three people who helped crack the code to the language of Linear B- the writings discovered on clay tablets in the Palace of Knossos on the island of Crete. Fox makes the argument that the work of Alice Kober was essential in the process of understanding the language of Linear B. Kober was a Brooklyn College professor who worked on sorting and organizing the incriptions from the clay tablets in her " spare time" . She corresponded with Arthur Evans who discovered the tablets where he excavated the site at Knossos. Kober eventually had a year off from teaching and went to England to record some of the inscriptions. Her papers on the tablets and discoveries about the language provided the groundwork for the decipherment of the Linear B. Fox argues that Kober might have cracked the code if it were not for her untimely death. The person who is credited with solving the structure of the script is Michael Ventris, an architect who had been fascinated with the script of Linear B since he was a teenager.Fox follows his discoveries and his troubled personal life. I must admit that I admired the painstaking process of decipherment that Fox illustrates for the reader. ( the cataloguing of every letter and combination of letters was an enormous task.) A very satisfying read for me.

33fannyprice
Ene 30, 2014, 8:21 pm

>32 torontoc:, Thanks for posting about The Riddle of the Labyrinth. I've got this one on hold at the library.

34tiffin
Editado: Feb 1, 2014, 1:14 pm

Finally found and starred you. I lived in a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood of Montreal in the mid 50s. When I first read Duddy Kravitz, some of it resonated but I had a child's view of things so I saw other things differently. Like you, I am curious if a reread would hold up.... St. Urbain's Horsemen as well.

35mkboylan
Feb 3, 2014, 12:37 pm

Hi - Catching up - I have Prague on my pile and am encouraged to pick it up sooner now. Great review.

14 - LOL

New York Diaries sounds VERY interesting to me. I can't believe my library doesn't have that. Hmmmm. What an interesting way to look at a city over time.

Duddy Kravitz is also going on my list.
Enjoyed catching up!

36torontoc
Feb 4, 2014, 8:49 am

Thank you- I actually found my copy of St Urbain's Horseman and plan to reread it soon.I like anything by Arthur Phillips - every book is so different.

Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen. What a treat to read this funny satire of politics and development in Florida. Hiaasen uses Florida as his subject in many of his books. The characters are wierd and propel this adventure to a satisfying conclusion. Twilly Spree who sets the story moving forward, is a wealthy young man with anger management problems. When he spots Palmer Stout littering on the highway , Twilly avenges this act with a dog-napping and eventually a relationship with Palmer's wife Desie. Palmer is a powerful lobbyist involved with the bribes that will turn a small island into a concrete jungle of condos. The developer, Robert Clapley employs a particular loathsome thug ,Mr. Gash who take pleasure in torturing those who oppose Clapley's projects. Add to this mix, a renegade former governor of Florida, a large docile rhinoceros who turns rogue and of course the Labrador dog with two names. This novel was funny and unfortunately, some of the bribery described probably takes place in many places in North America. A fun read on a too cold series of days.

37NanaCC
Feb 4, 2014, 5:54 pm

>36 torontoc: Carl Hiaasen is quite funny. I read Sick Puppy ages ago, but remember the crazy antics of his characters. I have read several of his adult novels (Skinny Dip is my favorite), and listened to all of his kids books with my grandchildren.

38rebeccanyc
Feb 5, 2014, 10:37 am

39torontoc
Feb 13, 2014, 3:45 pm

I really admire those who decode languages and the techniques that they use.
well I was out of the cold for a week and read the following.

Winter In Madrid by C.J. Sansom I have followed this author's wonderful detective series set in the time of King Henry V111 of England. This story is set during and after the Spanish Civil War and during the Second World War. Harry Brett was wounded at Dunkirk and has recovered when he is asked by the British Secret Service to go to Madrid. He is posing as a translator with the British embassy but his main task is to look up an former classmate, Sandy Forsyth. Forsyth is suspected of setting up a new gold mine that might change the Spanish government's supposed neutrality in the conflicet between Britain and Germany. Barbara Clare is Forsyth's girlfriend but she has her own agenda that involves a rescue of her old boyfriend who is in a workcamp. Sansom's story gives the reader a history of the conflict and the suffering of children in orphanages and the prisoner of war camps run by the government.This novel is a very good suspense story that includes some real people who were involved in Spanish politics at the beginning of World War Two.

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty. Louise Brooks was an American and rather infamous actress in the first quarter of the twentieth century. This novel imagines her early life as she is chaperoned by a married acquaintance of her mother's from Wichita, Kansas. Unfortunately the story of Cora seems more apt to resemble a soap opera. The real elements of the New York orphanages and how they sent children on trains to be adopted in midwestern states have been incorporated into the novel. The story is really about Cora, her life and how she adjusts and changes to trying circumstances. I thought that the writing was not as good as the material presented. There was a narrative about Louise Brooks but not as the main focus. As I was on holiday, this was a satisfactory read.

Barnacle Love by Anthony De Sa I was rereading this linked collection of short stories for my book club. The author's take on a Portuguese family and the way the father ended up in Canada as well as his conflict with his son is deftly told. I thought that De Sa has written a heartbreaking book about revenge, new worlds and the gap between first and second generation immigrants to Canada.
An excellent read.

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini. This novel relates the stories of many characters linked to Afghanistan. The key tale is about a man who sells his daughter to a wealthy couple in Kabul and how his son and the rest of the family coped with the upheaval in that country. This story touches on the exile and the terrible lives of those who stayed. I found the links between events and characters to be a little disjointed but eventually the whole panorama of events made sense. An interesting story but not my favourite novel.

Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell. O.K. -this was a reread and a free book on my e-reader. I was sitting in the sun and enjoying the warmth of the weather. The book was so shallow! I can't believe that I read it for the second time. I don't understand what planet these characters lived on- seriously- on to the next.

Ashenden by W. Somerset Maugham. Sometimes when I have read a really bad book I turn to sometime really good to cleanse my mind. I read this book a few years ago and so knew what a good read it would be. This series of spy stories set during the First World War was well written and helped me get back on track for good reading.

40almigwin
Feb 13, 2014, 4:17 pm

There was a film about Ashenden with the young John Guilgud and Madeline Carroll. It was terrific.

41NanaCC
Feb 13, 2014, 5:59 pm

I loved the Matthew Shardlake series. Is Winter in Madrid part of a series, or stand alone?

42janeajones
Feb 13, 2014, 7:56 pm

Great series of mini-reviews -- particularly interested in Winter in Madrid and Ashenden.

43torontoc
Feb 14, 2014, 9:48 am

Winter in Madrid is a " stand alone" novel. -although- you never know - the author could continue.
I am about to read his latest - Dominion. I wish that Sansom would get back to the Shardlake series- he must have to take the stories past the death of Henry.

44NanaCC
Feb 14, 2014, 10:46 am

>43 torontoc: I had heard that he wanted to continue. I hope so.

45torontoc
Feb 17, 2014, 11:59 am

The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud Claire Messud has written a compelling story about betrayal ( although the reader doesn't find out how bad this particular incident is until the end of the novel) and obsession. We, the readers, know that the main character, Nora, is really angry but she gives a detailed narrative about the events that led up to her shocking discovery. Nora is a third grade teacher in her late thirties. She wanted to be an artist but listens to her mother who wanted her to be independent and in a " safe" place. So she puts her ideas about creating art aside until she meets a family that has moved to Boston for a year- the Shahid family. Reza is the new child in her class. He has come from Paris with his parents- Skandar ,on a fellowship and writing a book and Sirena is an artist. Nora becomes entangled and entranced with this family as she shares a studio with Sirena who is constructing her latest art piece. Nora, baby sits Reza, helps Sirena with her artwork and has long discussions with Skandar who walks her home after the babysitting sessions. The theme of the "woman upstairs" is foremost on Nora's mind as she relates her story.She sees herself as one who does good but keeps to herself with really no attachments except for some good friends and an elderly father. The Shahid family seems to give her the courage to try to break out of the " woman upstairs" mould and go back to her art as she starts to create small dioramas of artist's rooms in the studio. In a way Nora is in love with Reza, Skandar and Sirena- she sacrifices her own work to help them. The reader might ask- are the Shahids users or do they help take Nora out of her safe world?This is a great story with many intriguing questions to think about.

46janeajones
Feb 17, 2014, 7:05 pm

Intriguing, teasing review -- must check this one out.

47rebeccanyc
Feb 18, 2014, 8:14 am

I was disappointed in The Emperor's Children, but this sounds intriguing.

48fannyprice
Feb 19, 2014, 6:33 pm

The Woman Upstairs is on my library holds. Can't wait for it!

49torontoc
Feb 20, 2014, 9:03 am

I liked it- although I would like to talk about the ending! Should we the reader have seen it coming or was it a shock ?
. Sacre Bleu A Comedy D'Art by Christopher Moore I enjoy all of the wild and funny stories that Moore writes. Here he takes on the world of Impressionist and Post Impressionist artists in Paris. After the death of Vincent Van Gogh, a baker turned artist, Lucien Lessard and artist and man about town or specifically about brothels, Henri Toulouse-Laurtrec, investigate the mysterious death and more links to fellow artists. They come to suspect The Colorman and his shade of blue that proves fatal to those who use it. The origin of this special ultramarine blue and it's link to seductive women leads Lucien and Henri to uncomfortable truths about their own behaviour as they meet Bleu, a spirit who jumps from body to body to maintain the supply of the " sacre blue". This is a funny and outrageous take on art, and the world of artists.

and

Between Friends by Amos Oz. Oz has written a series of short stories about characters who live in a kibbutz in 1950's Israel. The stories are about the strain of relationships and the constraints of the this particular group's rules. Childhood rearing, separation and tensions between partners are some of the themes in this collection of well crafted stories.

50torontoc
Feb 27, 2014, 11:38 pm


Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell. I liked Russell's first book of short stories and this collection is also very good. Quirky situations become quite sad as the author's very vivid imagination lead the reader to dialogues with vampires living and eating fruit from a lemon grove, horses who are the incarnation of former US presidents,a group of Japanese girls turned into human silkworms and a group of tough boys confronting a scarecrow who resembles a boy that they terrorized. Russell takes the absurd and creates a situation of heartbreak. Certainly beyond the bizarre, the reader finds all too human relationships and emotions. A very good read.

51janeajones
Feb 28, 2014, 5:22 pm

Sacre Bleu sounds like great fun. I've been meaning to get a copy of Vampires in the Lemon Grove -- I loved her novel, Swamplandia.

52tiffin
Feb 28, 2014, 7:01 pm

>45 torontoc:: The Woman Upstairs sounds good, Cyrel!

53torontoc
Mar 3, 2014, 9:51 am

I haven't read anything else by Messud yet.

Give Me Everything You Have On Being Stalked by James Lasdun. Sigh...This was an interesting yet infuriating book for me to read. James Lasdun is a writier who has been stalked by an ex-student for a few years. This book is more than his account about this story. Lasdun uses his memoir to express his mixed feelings on his Jewish heritage brought on by his stalker's anti-semitic rantings ( his father and mother did convert to Christianity and he was raised as a Protestant), Israel and the political situation and guilt. His account of his dealings with this student (who he calls Nasreen in the book) shows that he did encourage her when he thought that her writing showed promise. Lasdun introduced Nasreen to his agent and she in turn thought that an editor would be able to help the student with her manuscript. I had the impression that Lasdun thought that he was being a mentor to a promising new talent and he did exchange many emails with Nasreen. However, this correspondance soon took a menacing turn with threats, and irrational accusations. Eventually Nasreen wrote bizarre emails to Lasdun's employers at colleges and corrupted his wikipedia entries, and reviews on Amazon and other web sites. Nasreen also threatened Lasdun's agent and the editor. As a former teacher, I thought- how has Lasdun handled this situation? Here I have problems. When dealing with a student who exhibits some instability, a teacher should always consult with the authorities at the teaching institution. Usually you find out that the behaviour has happened before and you, the teacher become part of a team that works out a proper response. Also, a teacher is the instructor not a friend to the student. Maybe because Lasdun was a writer and part time instructor he felt that his role was different in nuturing what he initially thought was a rising talent in writing. However,in my reading of the beginning of the book, I was thinking -don't do that!
End of rant- Lasdun was dealing with a horrorifying situation. He got a little help from the police but this book was probably the best solution in confronting his stalker.

and for a complete change

. The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka What a beautifully written book! Otsuka has used a minimal style to tell the stories of Japanese women sent over to the United States to become wives to Japanese men. The brief chapters repeat the stories of many women with their varied backgrounds, their experiences on the boat and the surprise of meeting the men and how different they were from the photographs and letters. The women work in agriculture and in laundries. They have children in hard circumstances.They become maids. The writing is really a collective poem of events that make up the lives of this community until the second world war when they are detained by the US government and sent away from the coast. Otsuka has used her style to give the reader a glimpse into the very hard lives of this immigrant community. A really good read.

54torontoc
Mar 7, 2014, 9:17 am

An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro. I really like Ishiguro's style and the way truths about his characters and plots can be so subtle and really sneak up on the reader. It is not that he uses the unreliable narrator. Lead characters are sometimes fooling themselves about motives and the reality of the situation. The painter Masuji Ono is retired and enjoying the life of a grandfather and father to his two grown up daughters. The time is just after World War Two and Ono seems to have emerged from his wartime activities with no problems. The reader is informed about Ono's past and his development as a noted artist and teacher. Ono's memories are sometimes revealed only partially before he goes on to talk about another incident in his life. Ono ,in the present, is concerned with a marriage match for his daughter. He seems bewildered at times about his reputation and actions of his past. The reader, in fact, learns more about what he did and the reality of his influence. Ishiguro delivers a strong theme through a subtle depiction of selection of memories.

55torontoc
Mar 11, 2014, 2:22 pm

The Tastemakers Why We're Crazy for Cupcakes but Fed Up with Fondue Plus Baconomics, Superfoods amd Other Secrets from the World of Food Trends by David Sax. This book has one of the longest titles that I have read recently. The subtitles really sum up what this interesting account of the world of food trending or futures is all about. The author, whose account of Deli history I really liked, has decoded for the amateur food enthusiast, how selected food products become famous and prominent in stores and restaurants. Sax shows how specific people have rediscovered ancient grains, renamed fruit ( for example the Kiwi) and repositioned cupcakes, apples and bacon. Food festivals, awards and strategic placements have changed what the average person eats and buys in the grocery store. How the artisan grower relates to the larger chains in the food business is sometimes almost like a "Cinderella" story. ( see the account of the goat cheese caramels). I enjoyed reading this story of food and how we learn about new taste initiatives.

going to see the film "Tim's Vermeer" tonight- will report

56RidgewayGirl
Mar 12, 2014, 3:14 pm

I listened to the audiobook version of Give Me Everything You Have and it's interesting to hear from someone who knows how the stalker should have been dealt with from the beginning.

57torontoc
Mar 13, 2014, 9:51 am

The book may make more teachers ( part time or full time) a little more wary of some students- I think that one strategy is to treat them all the same and not single any one out for any reason- i.e. everyone gets the same time on critiques.
-in my opinion

I saw the documentary " Tim's Vermeer " two nights ago - it was directed by Teller of " Penn and Teller" and relates the story of a man ( who invented a number of technical devices used in the animated film industry) who wanted to paint a Vermeer - he believes that Vermeer used certain devices himself ( the camera obscura) . The film follows the development of the way the painting is copied using mirrors and hand made sets- really interesting!

58fannyprice
Mar 13, 2014, 9:58 am

The Tastemakers sounds interesting. I like food as much as the next person, but it's funny to me how certain things become manias that lead people to wait in endless lines for a taste of them. I read an article recently about how toast is the next big thing. Sigh.

59torontoc
Mar 13, 2014, 11:55 am

toast! a great comfort food- I can see it.

60janeajones
Mar 13, 2014, 3:59 pm

A colleague was raving about "Tim's Vermeer" today -- it's at the local art cinema -- must try to get to see it though time has been a problem lately.

61torontoc
Mar 14, 2014, 9:36 am

A friend dragged me out on a cold weekday night to see the film - I was glad that she did.

Manuscript Found in Accra by Paulo Coelho. I stopped reading poetry a number of years ago- I don't know why but I have avoided books of poetry. This book is probably the closest to written poetry as I am going to get to. I also avoid self help books that advise the reader on how to change their life. Coelho's book is a combination of poetic advice on the good life masquerading as a history. I enjoyed it and found the words very comforting. The author imagines that a manuscript dating from the time of Jerusalem in 1099. has been discovered. The writings are based on a meeting of people inside the walls of Jerusalem just before an attack by the Crusaders. An unknown man, named "The Copt" is speaking and answering questions about loyalty, anxiety, love and more. The words explain ways of living and they are , of course applicable to our lives of today, I found the advice contemporary and well written and look to discove more of this author's work.

62tiffin
Mar 14, 2014, 11:19 pm

>61 torontoc:: that actually sounds really good!

63torontoc
Mar 16, 2014, 11:26 am

I t was really interesting and what I needed to read at the time.

Granta 124 on the theme of travel. I haven't picked up a Granta for a while. It still has what I remember- a variety of authors from all over the world, a mix of memoir and fiction and a focus on issues of world impact. I enjoyed the stories and articles and was able to discover new authors ( to me) and think about world issues.

64torontoc
Mar 16, 2014, 11:34 pm

Some Girls , Some Hats and Hitler by Trudi Kanter The history of this memoir is as interesting as the actual story. An editor discovered the self published memoir while she was at university.- she eventually interested Virago Press in publishing the book . Trudi Kanter designed hats in prewar Vienna. She lived a life of luxury and comfort. Walter Ehrlich was a handsome and sophstiicated man who fell in love with Trudi. However, Walter failed to see how serious the threat was to Austrian Jews by the Nazi takeover of his beloved country. Trudi describes how she arranged for travel visas and managed to get herself and Walter to England and eventually her parents as well. Life in England was hard and both Walter and Trudi's father were imprisoned as enemy aliens. How Trudi and her mother managed and how Walter and her father were released form the final part of the memoir. There is some mystery as to Trudi's later life. This story is important as it describes the lifestyles of Trudi and her friends in Vienna- a life that disappeared with the start of the war.A very interesting read for me.

65torontoc
Mar 19, 2014, 9:47 am

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers by Yiyun Li I found this book of short stories at the gift and book shop at TIFF in Toronto. Browsing in a book store had led me to some wonderful finds. This is not something that I can do online- so I try to support independent books stores as much as possible. Yiyun Li is an author that I was unfamiliar with but I will be sure to look for her other works. The short story format allows for compact and masterfully written slices of life. Li writes about today's China and characters who have had their lives altered by Chinese politics and policy. There are some stories about those who did move to the United States. The writing is excellent and I am glad to have discovered a new (to me) author.

66Cariola
Mar 19, 2014, 9:49 am

>65 torontoc: There is also a lovely movie based on the title story. I read another collection of her stories, Gold Boy, Emerald Girl, last year and enjoyed it, too.

67torontoc
Mar 23, 2014, 5:56 pm

That is why the book was at the TIFF gift shop- they have a series on film and the books that they came from-

Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple I reread this book for my book club- it is still amusing, well written and a satire on politiically correct everything - school, support groups, TED talks, Microsoft culture and more. This time I liked what isn't said- how the marriage of Elgie and Bernadette will survive or what the relationship of Bee to her parents will evolve. Great book and funn

68torontoc
Mar 28, 2014, 9:28 am

Origins a memoir by Amin Maalouf translated by Catherine Temerson Maalouf a journalist and writer from Lebanon who has been living in France since 1975, has written a memoir about his family. He concentrates on the life of his grandfather, Boutros, and his great uncle Gebrayal. Gebrayal went to live in Cuba and Maalouf writes of his experience in travelling to Havana and tracking down evidence of Gebrayal's life and an explanation of how he died. The writing explains not only the details of the family tree but the tensions between religion, customs and politics of the various branches of the family. A really interesting account.

69janeajones
Mar 28, 2014, 1:45 pm

Sounds intriguing.

70Nickelini
Mar 30, 2014, 5:07 pm

You've read so many great books this year.

Interesting about the Lasdun book (# 53) because I read a novel by him where the main character is a university prof who turns out to be a stalker crazy person (The Horned Man--I liked it a lot, others I lent it to didn't like it as much)

71mkboylan
Mar 31, 2014, 10:51 am

Well said about the stalker book.

You are killing my TBR list here. What a great variety.

72torontoc
Mar 31, 2014, 10:28 pm

Thanks!

and now for something completely different
I found out about this next book from a woman who organizes wonderful programmes at one of the Jewish community centres.

Unscrolled 54 Writers and Artists Wrestle With the Torah edited by Roger Bennett I found the idea behind this book very interesting. Give a group of writers,journalists, and artists who usually work in film television and media a portion of the Torah( Old Testament). Ask them to comment in any format or style that works for them. The result is a mixture of scripts, modern day updates, graphic novel excerpts and more. Some of the interpretations are right on the mark for me, Others are not. I think that the idea of studying and looking for relevance encourages the reader to think about the material. The invitation to update the passages from the Torah is flawed but in a good way. I enjoyed seeing what the various writers came up with and how they presented their point of view

73torontoc
Abr 4, 2014, 10:06 am

I saw two films last week -both very good.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is very funny- when you are not following the plot in the past or present, the director , Wes Anderson is teasing you with the use of cameos by recognizable or disguised famous actors. The story of a fictional hotel in a Central European country in 1932 is inspired by the work of Stefan Zweig.

Finding Vivian Maier is a documentary about an unknown photographer who worked all her life as a nanny. One of the directors of this film had bought a trunk at a storage auction that contained negatives and unprocessed film that had belonged to Vivian Maier. The story of her life is pieced together by former clients in Chicago and distant relatives in a small French town. Maier never developed her work but was an obsessive observer of life. Her work-now printed and shown in private art galleries around the world is somewhat like Diane Arbus. Vivian Maier and her photography has gained recognition after her death. Thsi film tells the story of her life although questions about why she never tried to exhibit cannot be answered. Well worth seeing

74mabith
Abr 4, 2014, 10:24 am

Oh I'm glad to hear about the Vivian Maier film. I read about her a while back and really enjoyed her photographs. The world is such a strange place. I'm glad there are people printing up the old film they find, that really pleases me.

75torontoc
Abr 15, 2014, 10:49 am

Another film I would recommend- The Lunchbox- a well crafted story about an unhappy woman in India-the lunchbox that she sends to her uncaring husband is delivered by mistake to a widower- the story is well told!

George, Nicholas and Wilhelm Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War 1 by Miranda Carter I enjoyed this history and biography. The work really included George's father. Edward and extensive British relations. The author covers the time period at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. The biographies of Kaiser Wilhem, of Germany and Tsar Nicholas of Russia detailed all the follies and mischief of hereditary leadership. Carter follows in detail all the meetings of royal cousins and traces how the importance of royal connections diminishes as the powers of army and democratic elected bodies take over making the important decisions. The story of the mismanagement of Russian government by the Tsar points out how the coming revolution was able to take place. Wilhem is a major figure as he blunders through his life and was not able to rule properly. George is probably the least influential as the British system of government is the most representative .Although there is the story of one incompetent general whose judgement led to the sacrifice of many thousands of lives in the first world war- he was kept in his place as a result of George's support. This history tells the stories of kings whose influence on government would be the last- only George's sons would rule but in a far different world. i found this work to be an important addition to the knowledge of the events leading up to the first world war.

76torontoc
Abr 19, 2014, 11:45 am

A Man Without Breath by Phillip Kerr. This is the latest book in the series on Bernie Gunther. detective in Germany before and during World War 11. This time the author takes the reader to 1943, when the detective is working for the Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau.He investigates any crimes committed by and against German soldiers. In a way Gunther thought it was ironic that such attention was taken with individual acts when the German army was killing thousands ( and it turned out millions) of people in the course of the war. He is sent to Smolensk, Russia to look into the discovery of bodies buried at Katyn. it turns out that the Russians ahd executed thousands of Polish officers there. Gunther's job is to co-ordinate the experts who would arrive to exhume and examine the bodies from various countries. He also gets involved in the investigation of a number of murders linked to the massacre. As well the story looks at the aristocratic officers who are trying to assassinate Hitler. A very compelling story.

77tiffin
Abr 21, 2014, 10:19 am

>73 torontoc:: the Budapest Hotel is very much on the to be seen list. Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I have seen some of Vivian Maier's photos with the recent interest in her: beautiful!

78torontoc
Abr 22, 2014, 12:11 pm

I saw another really good documentary yesterday. Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq.If you like ballet- this is a good film to look for. The film follows the history of this American ballet dancer who was muse to both George Balanchine ( she married him) and Jerome Robbins. Tragically le Clercq was struck down with polio when the ballet company was on a tour of Europe. She never danced again although with the help of Balanchine she did regain the use of her hands but never her legs. She wrote and coached with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. The films of her dancing in the early fifties are amazing, A Beautiful film

79torontoc
Abr 24, 2014, 10:31 am

Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking a Memoir of Food and Longing by Anya Von Bremzen This is a combination of memoir of the author and her family's life in the Soviet Union as well as a mini- history of the politics and the food. Von Bremzen's mother tried to bring up her daughter ( the father was not around much) as an "anti-soviet " person. Eventually the two of them moved to the United States, leaving behind a grandfather who was in naval intelligence during World War 2 and many close relatives. The book uses the various periods of Soviet history as a jumping point for family stories and descriptions of the food that they made. At the end of the book there is a section of recipes. ( the author is a noted food writer today)I found this book to be a very satisfying read!

80torontoc
mayo 7, 2014, 11:14 am

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Wow! I really enjoyed this novel about a Nigerian woman, Ifemelu, and her love, Obinze. Ifemelu describes her life in Nigeria, her time in the United States and then her life back in Nigeria. However ,the material on Obinze and his activities in London is too brief- I would have liked to know more. The author used her two main characters to explore the tensions and problems of race in America. Ifemelu uses her blog to talk about the issue as seen from the point of view of a " non- american black." I enjoyed her blog entries as well as the accounts of her encounters with her American boyfriends and relatives. Ifemelu not only has a sharp eye and thoughts on Americans- she also has a critical view on Nigerian society. I really liked this book and the author's language and ideas. I thought that the ending was the weakest part of the novel but do recommend it.

81janeajones
mayo 9, 2014, 2:18 pm

Slowly catching up here after the semester's end. Loved The Grand Budapest Hotel. Enjoying your reviews.

82torontoc
mayo 9, 2014, 4:09 pm

Thanks! I missed most of the Hot Docs Festival this April - but most of them will appear at the Bloor Hot Docs theatre this year so I will catch up on them.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn This was a good summer read. Actually the story reminded me of some of those new TV shows that border on the supernatural- you know that it can't happen. I found the ending a little creepy and unbelievable but had fun reading the story. The reader learns about a marriage gone astray- and is introduced to two people with major sociopathic problems. Nick has married a woman ,Amy -she has been brought up to be the major character in her parents books. Nick moved his wife from New York City to his hometown in Missouri after they both lost their jobs and Nick's mother got sick. Amy had been the one with the inherited money. The first chapter sets the scene with her disappearance and Nick's thoughts about their situation. The reader might decide early in the novel that Nick probably killed his wife. Undated diary excerpts then present Amy's side of the story. The pace is good and the story does have an unsettling conclusion. The book has been very popular but I waited until it was published in paperback. I am glad that I did.

83mabith
mayo 9, 2014, 5:01 pm

Argh, I'd decided I didn't want or need to read Gone Girl but now your review makes me want to pick it up!

84rebeccanyc
mayo 10, 2014, 12:41 pm

>83 mabith: What Meredith said!

85torontoc
mayo 13, 2014, 11:08 am

It is a good " summer read".

I saw two films- one " Belle " was really good -but I love historical fiction novels and history. This was based on real events. A young biracial woman is brought up by her uncle in 18th century Britain- her mother was a Black woman and her father an admiral in the British navy. Her companion is a cousin who is the illegitimate daughter of a lord who has rejected her. The uncle is the chief magistrate of Great Britain and is about to rule on a controversial case involving slaves that were drowned on a ship transporting them . The themes of the plight of women and the choices opened to them and the slavery issue are important aspects of this story as well as a nice romance!
The other film - a documantary about Hasidic women was very bad- terrible music and not well crafted-
and latest book

Gold Boy, Emerald Girl stories by Yiyun Li. I am a fan of short stories and i just discovered this author who set her work in both China and the US. These stories are about relationships. The interesting characteristic that I read in the work was the wistfulness about failed chances or choices that led to solitude or loneliness. The novella that anchors this collection-Kindness- has to reveal a very sad woman who has rejected overtures of friendship and help through out her life. Lovely writing and language.

86Cariola
Editado: mayo 13, 2014, 6:40 pm

85> I will be seeing 'Belle' when I visit my daughter in Nashville in a few weeks.

I really loved Gold Boy, Emerald Girl when I read it last year.

87torontoc
mayo 20, 2014, 9:49 am

I saw two very interesting films
Ida is a Polish film ( in black and white with a "square" screen) that is grim but fascinating.In the 1950's, A young woman, Anna, is about to take her vows as a nun in a convent. Before she can do that , she is told to visit her aunt. The young woman was left in the convent as a baby and the aunt has neglected her until the present. Anna learns that her parents were Jewish, and killed during the war. The aunt ,who is a tortured soul takes Anna on a trip to find out where her parents were buried. The story is grim and well told.
i also saw the documentary The Lady in Number 6 : Music Saved My Life. Alice Sommer was 106 when this film was made,.She died this year at age 110- she was the oldest Holocaust survivor. Her story shows her optimism in spite of everything that happened to her and devotion to music all her life.
lovely film

and the book that has kept me busy for the past number of weeks

Journey to the Abyss: The Diaries of Count Harry Kessler 1880-1918 edited by Laird M. Easton This book was almost 900 pages in length- I felt as if I was reading the equivalent of three books. A friend gave it to me and I appreciate the thought. The diaries drew me into the world of the Belle Epoque and the period before and during the first world war. Kessler was the 1900's real life Zelig ( the film by Woody Allen). He really did know everybody associated with dance,
( Diaghilev, Nijinsky, Isadora Duncan ) theatre, ( Gordon Craig, Max Reinhardt) letters ( Bernard Shaw) music( Strauss) and art ( Rodin, Denis, Malliol, Munch). Kessler's mother was English and his father German. He was raised in Paris and went to school in England and Germany. Kessler was involved in co-writing the scenarios for operas and ballet, establishing a private printing press, the management of a museum in Weimar and more. He travelled around the world as a young man. bought and commissioned art and wrote extensive diaries during his life time. This volume contains the edited diaries from his youth to just after the end of the first world war. There are many,many entries about Kessler's dinners and lunches ( always at illustrious homes and clubs in Paris, London and Berlin) and visits to artist's studios. He really knew everybody in the fields of politics , the military and culture. Kessler was an officer in the German army stationed in both the eastern and then western fronts during the war. He had been turned down for diplomatic posts early in his career but was posted as the cultural attache at the end of the war to Switzerland. He was supposed to help win over the Swiss by showcasing German culture. There was opposition to his work by foes in Germany who were suspicious of modern art and theatre. The diaries reveal an educated young man who was also a snob about society and somewhat of an anti-semite. The editor does make comments about this trait , noting that Kessler's friendship with Walter Rathenau,-a politician and German Jew who was assassinated after the war,-led Kessler to write a biography about his friend. Still , the comments that Kessler makes about the people( women, various nationalities) that he meets show a point of view that belongs to the world of the 19th century. I gather that his diaries after 1918 show a different point of view -so much that he was called " The Red Count' I also found Kessler's thoughts about the place of Germany, England, France, Austria "America" and Russia during the last days of the war to be totally misguided in terms of what actually happened. In all , I enjoyed the book after the entries from his early years (too many parties) and will continue to read about this time. Next up Margaret MacMillan's book on the same time period.

88torontoc
mayo 21, 2014, 1:56 pm

The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly After my last book read, i needed something more in the line of a mystery. This novel fit the bill as the author writes about India in 1922 and a visiting English police detective Joe Sandilands. This story is the first in a series. The story is of lurid but fun to read. Sandilands is sent to an army town and asked to look into the death of a woman who drowned in her bath However, Sandilands discovers that there is a series of deaths of wives of officers- all deliberate. The resolving of the case involves revenge although the end is a little melodramatic.

89torontoc
mayo 29, 2014, 10:42 am

The Invisible Woman by Claire Tomalin. i saw the film based on this book first last year at the Toronto film festival. I have been interested in reading this account of the relationship between Charles Dickens and Nelly Ternan. The author gives very good background information on the role and status of actresses in the Victorian times. She also recreates the story of how Ternan and Dickens met and tries to account for the 12 years of their relationship and the way Nelly disappears from public site. Tomalin continues Nelly's story and that of her family after Dickens dies and the reader learns of her marriage, children and life. I found this biography and history really interesting. The role of a woman and choices open to her during Victorian times are sad in comparison to lives lived today. Tomalin writes how Nelly and her sisters were able to have more freedom as actresses but were still bound by conventions of the time.

90torontoc
Editado: Jun 1, 2014, 9:02 am

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews I haven't read anything by Miriam Toews in a while but this book is terrific-the language, the wonderful characters and the heartbreaking plot. Apparently the author did have a sister who did commit suicide. The narrator, Yoli, has an older sister who was a superb and famous pianist. However, Elf is also suicidal and the early chapters are set in Winnipeg where Elf is in a hospital after one attempt. Yoli has come from her home in Toronto to be with her sister and mother. Yoli's life has been kind of messy- divorced from two former husbands, and unwise decisions about love and career( Yoli carries a shopping bag with an unfinished novel in it around with her). Family is a really important theme in this novel about the kind of life we choose to live- Yoli's mother is a wonderful character who is a survivor and Yoli's two children play a supportive role in her life. All are Mennonites and the church's rules provide anther underlying theme on how we copy with tragedy. Yoli and Elf's father committed suicide years ago. The narrator is not perfect and kind of quirky in her actions and thoughts. The writing and thoughts in this novel are really good- Highly recommended.

91Nickelini
mayo 30, 2014, 10:47 am

I'm actually behind on my Miriam Toews books--must change that! - but I'm going to add this one to my wish list. Interesting that she's still writing about Mennonites because after A Complicated Kindness she said that was her catharsis and her only Mennonite story. What writers write and what writers want to write are two different things, me thinks.

92Cariola
Editado: mayo 30, 2014, 11:06 am

Oops-posted in the wrong place!

93torontoc
Jun 1, 2014, 9:03 am


The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna Forna has written a very good and disturbing novel about a small village in present day Croatia. Duro is the narrator, a man who knows the secrets about the lives of the villagers of Gost. He befriends an English woman, Laura and her children, who have bought and are living in a house that he knows well. Duro becomes the handy man, fixing and restoring the house for the family. The reader learns about Duro's past and his relationship to some of the villagers, including his childhood friend, Krseimir and his sister Anya and the tavern owner, Fabjan. The civil war that divided the former Yugoslavia intrudes on the present and past as people are singled out and taken from their homes. Duro relates these stories and we see what an impact the war had on life in the area. Gullt, blame, revenge and witnessing are strong themes that direct the plot of this well told story, Definitely worth reading.

94Cariola
Jun 1, 2014, 1:35 pm

93>This was one of my top reads last year. Heartbreaking but excellent. Makes you realize yet again how religious and ethnic hatred is alive and well today.

95kidzdoc
Jun 2, 2014, 5:22 am

Another fan of The Hired Man here; I'm glad that you also enjoyed it, Cyrel. I'd also recommend her earlier novel The Memory of Love if you haven't already read it.

96torontoc
Jun 2, 2014, 10:55 am

Thank you - I have The Memory of Love in my book pile!

The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris This novel is about the courtship of two young ultra-orthodox Jews in London. The contrasting and powerful second theme relates the past history and present life of the Rabbi's wife. Harris writes about the stresses of living the perceived proper life in this very strict community. There have been some accounts and films that document the lives of Orthodox Jews who rebel or have been "cast out" so to speak. In this story, the author gives the reader hope for those characters who will create a life that will work within the rules and be fulfilling. She also shows how one major character will not necessarily survive in this community as a result of giving up too much and losing faith.

97torontoc
Editado: Jun 9, 2014, 8:59 am

The Blood Royal by Barbara Cleverly This is the second in a series featuring Detective Joe Sandilands. The time is 1922 in London and Joe is trying to solve the mystery of one murder of an Admiral and threats against the royal family. He enlists the help of Constable Lili Wentworth. There is a mysterious Russian woman involved in all the crimes. Here is where the plot goes nuts- literally. The twists and turns are really not believable. I did like the first in the series but this story got much too complicated and ridiculous- a shame because the two main characters did have a lot of promise.

98torontoc
Jun 9, 2014, 8:59 am

The Bees by Laline Paull. I really liked this very unusual novel. The story revolves around the life of Flora 717, a worker bee in a beehive. The reader follows Flora in her adventures as she spends time in the bee nursery, works as a sanitation worker and later as a forager.The reader sees the cycle of life in the hive and the way that the thousands of bees follow direction. Flora is more of an adventurer as she has qualities that are different than the rest of her fellow workers. How this dilemma is resolved for her and the hive is very dramatic.The issues of class and blind obedience as well as independent thinking are very powerful themes. Highly recommended.( the description of the behaviour of the drones is hilarious at first- later.. you will see)

99catarina1
Jun 9, 2014, 9:53 am

Thanks for the suggestion of The Bees. Its now on my TBR list. A long time ago I read a non-fiction book about bees (which, unfortunately, I no longer have) and was fascinated by these little creatures.

100Nickelini
Jun 9, 2014, 10:57 am

#98 - That sounds fascinating, Cyrel. I will add it to my wishlist.

101torontoc
Jun 9, 2014, 8:44 pm

I just read about the book in the New York Times book review- and there it was at Costco- a great read!

A Basket of Apples Stories by Shirley Faessler This collection has just been republished. The author had these stories first published in 1988. She had written works that were first seen in leading magazines when she was 60 years old. Shirley Faessler was born in Toronto, grew up in Kensington Market, travelled in Europe and later she ran a boarding house for actors and dancers. Her stories are somewhat autobiographical as she wrote about immigrant families living and struggling to make a living. The same characters appear in all of her stories in this collection-the father who goes from low paying job to job, the stepmother with troubling relatives- bootleggers and poseurs and the newly arrived who have problems of their own. Expertly told, these stories give the reader a sense of the way people lived in the 1920's and 30's in Toronto.

102Poquette
Jun 9, 2014, 10:44 pm

Hi — hopelessly behind due to my late arrival. A couple of books caught my eye and are now on my wish list: Sacre Bleu: A Comedy D'Art and Unscrolled: 54 Writers and Artists Wrestle With the Torah. Enjoyed reading through your thread!

103torontoc
Jun 13, 2014, 4:41 pm

Thank you!

The Exile Book of Yiddish Women Writers edited by Frieda Johles Forman This is a reread of this collection of short stories translated from the Yiddish to English by a group of translators. I reread it because my book club is hosting one of the translators at our meeting. The idea of saving the literary work of writers who used a language that is not accessible to a wider audience is a worthy assignment. This volume is the second book that has been produced. The writing of previously unknown writers is now available to a new group of readers.

104rebeccanyc
Jun 13, 2014, 6:01 pm

>103 torontoc: I've had that book on the wishlist since you mentioned it last year! Maybe I'll finally start looking for it now that you've highlighted it again.

105torontoc
Jun 16, 2014, 5:59 pm

You can read one of the stories from the collection at this web site

http://www.jewishfiction.net/index.php/publisher/articleview/frmArticleID/224

106rebeccanyc
Jun 17, 2014, 4:40 pm

Thank, Cyrel!

107torontoc
Editado: Jun 19, 2014, 9:39 am

Tracks by Robyn Davidson This memoir published in 1980 has just been reissued in time for the film that just been released. The story is about a young Australian woman who decides to learn how to work with camels and then walk across the desert with a few of them. Davidson writes about moving to a remote town and her struggles to learn how to work with camels and her problems in setting up her travel. She seems to like being alone( literally) and the trek that she does take ( with the help of National Georgraphic Magazine as she starts her journey) is hard. She does reach her goal but with some heartache. This is an interesting account as Davidson really does bare her soul in describing her experiences

108Mr.Durick
Jun 18, 2014, 6:25 pm

Well received trek books call out to me. Tracks is now on my wishlist.

Thanks,

Robert

109rebeccanyc
Jun 19, 2014, 7:30 am

I remember when Tracks came out originally and thought I had a copy, but apparently don't. Sounds good.

110torontoc
Jun 24, 2014, 8:31 am

The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw. This was an interesting narration- the book was divided into three parts- each telling essentially the same story from a different point of view. The first narrative introduces the reader to Johnny Lim- a merchant who rose from a deprived early life to take over and thrive in business in Malaysia. He has recently died and his son reveals all the rumours and terrible things that Johnny did to get ahead. The son, whose mother died in childbirth, was estranged from his father. the second sections is told from the point of the mother and her journey with her husband and three other friends. One- Mr.Kumichika.is a Japanese professor who will eventually be in charge of the area when the Japanese take over Malaysia during the second world war. There are two catastrophic events that take place during that journey. The third narration ( which proves to be somewhat unsettling ) is that of an expatriate Englishman, Peter Wormwood who gives the reader a different point of view on the trip and what happens. I found that the description of Johnny much too cryptic- the reader really doesn't know what drives or troubles him. Still, an interesting story.

and

Longbourn by Jo Baker I really enjoyed this story about the servants of Longbourn, the home of the Pride and Prejudice Bennet family. The author imagines what went on behind the scenes and introduces sxome very interesting speculation about the main characters as we see the servants cleaning and making the family's life comnfortable. The imaginings about Sarah, Polly-the maids and the Hills make the book a great read for me.

111torontoc
Jun 27, 2014, 9:32 am

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson. I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I started to read this book. It was initially on the booklist for my book club- we hire a very good reviewer and this was her recommendation. For the first time, the reviewer emailed my group and changed the book. I gather that the other groups who were reading the book had objections to the details on kidnapping and torture. I read it and had different impressions from the beginning to the end. in the first chapters, I thought that the grinding poverty of life in North Korea was really the subject. Then the story of Pak Jun Do takes on a more surrealistic vision with humour mixed with terrible deeds. In fact, the narrative started to remind me of the satiric work of Christopher Moore Jun Do's work runs from kidnapping Japanese citizens to recording radio signals and eventually a stint in a prison camp. He makes a trip to a Texas ranch as part of an official North korean visit and later ends up impersonating a vicious public official. The characters give the reader for all the bizarre plot twists, into the lives of a very regulated society.Highly recommended but painful to read.

112torontoc
Jun 30, 2014, 9:33 am

I saw two films this weekend- "The Immigrant" and 'Jersey Boys" I think that "The Immigrant" got good reviews- but I found the story a little ponderous- the settings were filmed beautifully but the story was melodramatic- although the kind of things that happened to the heroine did take place-read Isabel Vincent's excellent book on the forced prostitution of women in the early 20th century.
I really liked " Jersey Boys" the beginning was a little slow and the wigs could have been a lot better.

The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut. This is one of those narratives where the narrator is somewhat creepy. Frank is a doctor working at a remote hospital in a " former homeland of South Africa" to quote the book's introduction. This hospital is really a sham as there are usually no patients and anyone with a serious illness is sent to a better equipped place in another town. Minimally managed and with the building parts literally stolen away, the hospital doesn't seem to have a reason for being there. In fact the physical setting seems to mirror the four doctors and their reasons for staying. Frank is a loner but finds his solitude broken when a young doctor, Laurence is assigned to the place for a year. Laurence is also a cipher- cheerful and optimistic but somewhat careless in his actions. Frank is a forced friend but resentful of Laurence and his ideas. The plot becomes more tense and there is a sense of the sinister unknown when the reader encounters the newly arrived soldiers in a formerly deserted town as well the mysterious Brigadier and cruel Colonel. The end is a little puzzling. The prose is eloquent and the characters well described. An interesting read.

113janeajones
Jun 30, 2014, 2:26 pm

I saw "The Immigrant" last week. I think I liked it better than you did -- the acting was wonderful.

114RidgewayGirl
Jun 30, 2014, 2:31 pm

I'm tentatively planning to read The Good Doctor later in the year. Thanks for the heads up. I read The Quarry by him a few years ago and I'm still not entirely sure what I thought about it.

115torontoc
Jul 1, 2014, 7:38 am

My friends liked " The Immigrant " better than I did. I agree about the acting.

The Mirrored World by Debra DeanI like a good historical fiction novel, This slim volume by Dean relates the story of Xenia- a real mystic who was active during the reign of Catherine the Great in Russia. The narration is told by her cousin, Dasha. The story takes place during the reign of previous rulers,Anna, and Elizabeth. The reader learns about the customs of the upper middle class and Xenia's early life, her tragedies and how they change her life. I gather from the end notes that the figure of Xenia was mysterious. This reimagining of her life does give more weight to the story of her cousin. I think that Dean writes well but I did want more. The ending worked for the novel but I would have liked more work on the figure of Xenia herself.

116torontoc
Jul 1, 2014, 8:22 pm

Benediction by Kent Haruf As I was reading this book, I thought that it reminded me of something else- soap operas? But no, I thought of the play by Thornton Wilder called Our Town. I believe that this author was after the same effect. An elderly man in a very small town is dying and the reader learns of his past and conflicts. His wife is holding out and his daughter comes back from Denver to help care for him. The son, Frank is estranged from the family and never does learn of his father's illness. The stories of a new preacher and his family and their problems and two ladies-mother and daughter- who are friends in town are revealed as the we read of flash backs that show the backgrounds of all the characters. The style reminds of a drama although I think that Our Town did the same in a much better way- in fact I think that I want to reread it. So, a story about everyday drama in the lives of not very remarkable people is told well. However, I liked this book with reservations.

117torontoc
Jul 10, 2014, 9:03 pm

Strange Images of Death by Barbara Cleverly This is real summer read with Detective Joe Sandilands again- this time in 1926. Joe solves a grisly murder at a castle in Provence inhabited with artists, the aristocratic owner and his half brother and of course , everyone has a secret. Joe is not as obnoxious as he was in the last book and the crime is a little over the top. But I forgive a lot in books read in this season.

118torontoc
Jul 15, 2014, 7:17 pm

Delicious a novel by Ruth Reichl I really did like this book. The author is known as the last editor of Gourmetmagazine and a noted food critic. This story is a little sentimental but I liked the subplot about the young girl who wrote to James Beard during World War Two. I could guess what the mystery was about the main character- a young woman named Billie, who works as an assistant to the ediitor of "Delicious" magazine and is the only one still working after the publisher shuits the magazine down. The mystery of Billie's history along with the solving of the questions surrounding the letters found the in magazine's library makes this book a good summer read.

Last Saturday I saw the two plays that make up Angels in America- an excellent production by Soulpepper Theatre Company in Toronto. I went with friends and we saw the first play in the afternoon ( 3 hours with 2 intermissions) and the second in the evening-( 4 hours with 2 intermissions). it was a long day but the writing was superb and the acting. excellent.

119torontoc
Jul 15, 2014, 7:18 pm

for some reason the touchstone won't print out the name of the author - Tony Kushner.

120japaul22
Jul 17, 2014, 7:45 am

I just heard from a friend of mine that she really enjoyed Ruth Reichl's novel. Maybe I'll check it out when I want some lighter reading.

121torontoc
Jul 20, 2014, 9:52 am

It is a good book for the summer- I don't know what it is about preferring light themes and mysteries for summer reads- but it works for m!

I usually don't review many children's books but these two are terrific and worth noting for adults. ( I have a collection of storybooks that I use in my teaching of teachers)

Jane, the fox and Me by Fanny Britt, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault and translated by Christelle Morelli andSusan Ouriou from the French. Isabelle Arsenault has illustrated many other children's books and her style is very distinctive. The author, Fanny Britt is a playwright and this is her first graphic novel. I liked this story as it combines both the themes of bullying, friendship and reading with thought. Helene is a young girl in high school. Her former friends have now excluded her from their group and play cruel tricks on her. Helene retreats into her own world , showing the reader her life with her mother and younger brothers . Helene has been reading Jane Eyre and her thoughts on Jane's life and actions form part of the story as well. Things change for Helene when she goes on a school camping trip. She is in the tent with the other excluded girls. How Helene sees how to change her life and make better decisions make for a satisfying conclusion. ( as well as looking closely and critically at the actions of Jane in the novel)

and

Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan I love the work of this writer and illustrator. His work combines both whimsy and a good measure of surrealism. This book shows the lessons that two boys have learned over the summer.The images are both bizarre and funny. Tan's book The Arrival is the best depiction of an immigrant experience in a new country. This book is not as deep but still worth examining.

122tiffin
Jul 23, 2014, 10:20 am

I'm going to go back over your readings and make notes for future reading, now that I've caught up a bit here. Some wonderful idea to plunder!

123torontoc
Jul 25, 2014, 8:47 am

Thanks! it is has been a slow but good reading year- i spent a lot of time on the Kessler diaries.

Angel of Vengeance The Girl Who shot the Governor of St. Petersburg and Sparked the Age of Assassination by Ana Siljak I have been reading this work for a while. The author does more than just write about the life of Vera Zasulich- a Russian woman who did shoot General Trepov in 1878. Siljak sets the scene for the development of unrest in Russia by tracing the writers and would be revolutionary groups and individuals who were trying the change Russia. She develops the theory that Vera Zasulich's motives and expectations of her possible fate after she completes her mission would inspire future actions by later revolutionary groups. In fact the idea of dying for the cause is a tactic that the world has witnessed in our times. A very interesting read.

124torontoc
Jul 26, 2014, 11:05 am

Old School by Tobias Wolff I hadn't read anything by Wolff for a few years- I was reminded by the novel what a good writer he is! The language and structure of the work are indeed masterful. Wolff recreates the world of a elite boys school in 1960. The narrator has won a scholarship to the school and relates his literary history there. He becomes part of a group that manages the school magazine and vies for the privilege of a private meeting with a famous writer. The school has a history of asking famous writers and poets to visit the school, read submissions by the students and choose one for this important meeting. Wolff uses Robert Frost and Ayn Rand and later Ernest Hemingway as writers who will visit the school. Wolff writes about a world where writing matters and the style of writers influence the leading students in the school. As well, the deceptions that both the narrator and later the teachers practice to hide background and actions lead to a betrayal that changes their lives. A beautiful book and worth reading.

125rebeccanyc
Jul 26, 2014, 2:05 pm

Nice to catch up with your reading, Cyrel.

126torontoc
Jul 30, 2014, 7:01 pm

Caught by Lisa Moore This novel is very unlike the previous works by Moore. It is a story of a journey taken by the main character David Slaney. He has escaped from jail and is travelling across Canada to meet up with his friend Hearn. Hearn and Slaney had been captured after they tried to bring in a boat full of drugs from Columbia. Hearn had jumped bail and had been hiding for four years. Slaney had been sentenced to jail and escaped after serving these same four years. Both Hearn and Slaney didn't know that they were being tracked by the police. The story follows Slaney as he tried to connect with an old girlfriend and later encounters some strange characters as he helps steer a new boat filled with drugs to Canada. Well told and a good read.
I also saw two films- both good- "Chef" a fun summer movie
and "Boyhood" - excellent film that took 12 years to film as the director followed the main star from 6 years of age to about 19.

127SassyLassy
Jul 30, 2014, 10:42 pm

I read Angel of Vengeance last winter and was quite impressed by the background Siljak gave on writers of Vera's time and their influence. It was indeed a very interesting read on many fronts.

Glad to hear that Caught is worth reading. I was looking at it in a bookstore earlier this week and put it back, based on the back cover, but I do like Lisa Moore, so now I think I should get it.

128torontoc
Ago 10, 2014, 4:35 pm

I did like the story and really wanted to follow all of Moore's books- I think that I still have to read some of her early short stories.

A Most Wanted Man by John Le Carre I must admit that I picked this book up because I wanted to read the story before I saw the film. I liked the suspense and the descriptions of the main characters. Issa is a mysterious and slightly addled illegal immigrant showing up in Hamburg. He says that he is Muslim but lacks a lot of religious knowledge. Tommy Bure is a Scottish banker who manages a small failing private bank- his father was responsible for creating a safe haven for the money of Russian mobsters as Tommy discovers. Annabel Richter is a lawyer given the job of helping Issa become legal and advising Issa to claim the millions in Russian mob money owed to his dead father. Overseeing the events that attract all the spies from the Germans, Americans and British is Gunther Bachmann of the German Hamburg office. The twists and turns of the plot work well but I was disappointed in the climax of the story- I thought that it was ...too easy and shut down some for the most interesting part of the plot. Still a good read until the end.

129rebeccanyc
Ago 11, 2014, 7:55 am

I feel Le Carre has lost his way since the cold war ended; I was disappointed in A Most Wanted Man.

130torontoc
Ago 11, 2014, 4:41 pm

I have to go back and read some of his earlier books!

131rebeccanyc
Ago 11, 2014, 5:28 pm

My absolute favorite is A Perfect Spy, which is as much about fathers and sons and the choices people make as it is about spying.

132torontoc
Ago 12, 2014, 10:49 pm

thanks, I will have to look up that book!
Night Film by Marisha Pessl. I enjoyed the suspense and the twisted plot of this novel. A journalist, Scott McGrath decides to investigate the suicide of a young woman, Ashley Cordova- the daughter of a reclusive film maker. McGrath's career had been derailed years ago by the film maker who might have set McGrath up. Cordova made a small group of films that in some cases were only shown to a select few. The actors in these stories of deprived life and uneasy themes always had their lives changed by the experience. McGrath reopened his investigations into the work of Cordova as he thought that there was a mystery to be solved about the lives of Cordova and his family. In the course of this work McGrath befriends two young people- one , Hopper had been with Ashley in a wilderness camp and the other, Nora had seen Ashley in her last sighting before her death. The story leads the characters to a mysterious estate in the Adirondacks where Cordova made all his films and to various people who witnessed the lives of the people involved in Ashley's life. The unlikely investigating group of three encounter stories of black magic, curses and lives ruined. The descriptions are vivid and the main character, Scott is not perfect but does seem to learn some life lessons.The author also uses visual images of newspaper and magazine pages and photos. A very interesting novel!

133RidgewayGirl
Ago 13, 2014, 11:05 am

Night Film was unusual, and I liked it for being different. Scott did develop across the book, which was good, because he was a jerk at the beginning of the book.

134dchaikin
Ago 13, 2014, 11:54 am

>111 torontoc: "It was initially on the booklist for my book club- we hire a very good reviewer and this was her recommendation."

I'm wowed you hire a reviewer. How doesthat work?

In Granta 127 Adam Johnson has a short but thoughtful essay on North Korea.

Enjoyed catching up here.

135torontoc
Ago 13, 2014, 1:36 pm

My book club ( I joined about 5 years ago but it has been active for about 30 years! ( different people who come now) has in the past hired a book reviewer to look at a number of books- lately the reviewer cut back on her work so we all took turns reviewing books and had the reviewer for 2-3 sessions during the year.
we collect money from all members at the beginning of the year - and use the funds to pay the reviewer.- attention all LT book reviewers- the going rate to review a book for book clubs in Toronto is between $150- $300 for a one hour session!

136baswood
Ago 13, 2014, 1:47 pm

Wow, even plumbers don't cost that much.

137rebeccanyc
Ago 13, 2014, 2:06 pm

>132 torontoc: I was underwhelmed by Pessl's previous novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, because I felt she kept showing off how clever she is. It also dealth with a mystery . . . Not sure I want to try this one.

138Nickelini
Ago 13, 2014, 2:08 pm

Yeah, I want one of those gigs.

139torontoc
Ago 14, 2014, 10:24 am

I liked this novel better than Special Topics in Calamity Physics but I can see why you may not not like this one.We should have a thread with the topic-Authors who let us down by not writing a great ending after some great work in the body of the book. I have read too many where I wonder why the ending didn't match the rest of the novel.
This next book was an Early Reviewer one and I can't figure out why the publisher sent it to LT- the book is part of a series directed to the" struggling " reader- I guess people who want to read but have trouble with more complex books- well here it is.

Search and Rescue by Gail Anderson-Dargatz I must admit that when I saw this Early Reviewer book arrive in the mail- I was surprised. It is a very slim volume with big print and only 102 pages in length. I decided to do some research when I saw that this book- the first in a series about a woman reporter, Claire Abbott- was also part of Orca Book Publisher's "Rapid Reads" series. Rapid Reads books are geared for the "struggling reader". Well, that is not me- I love books or tomes with complex plots and can handle 500-800 pages in length. I thought that I would have to approach this story with a different set of critical eyes. Can a novel give the reader enough in plot and character development and still be written to attract a beginning reader? With this set of criteria I read the book. Claire Abbott is a reporter in a small town in a mountainous area. She also has a reputation of having a sixth sense- similar to that of her mother. Claire and her mother have been able to find missing people or alert the police to emergency situations. Sometimes this sense is not always right and the police and search and rescue teams don't always believe Claire and her mother. In this case a high school student, Amber has gone missing. Claire seems to see what has happened after touching a piece of Amber's clothing. The Search and Rescue team are looking on the mountain roads but Claire thinks that Amber has been kidnapped. What she does and how the event is resolved involve danger, adventure and finally a good solution. I think that the author ( whose earlier books that are not part of this series and are excellent) has done a great job using this very limited format. Am I the customer that the publisher is looking for? I don't think so. But the targeted audience will appreciate this work.

140rebeccanyc
Ago 14, 2014, 2:16 pm

>139 torontoc:

Authors who let us down by not writing a great ending after some great work in the body of the book. I have read too many where I wonder why the ending didn't match the rest of the novel.

I have a theory, after encountering this in a lot of contemporary novels, that authors rewrite the beginnings of their books extensively, based on feedback from early readers, editors, writing workshops, etc., and then just let the ending happen.

141torontoc
Ago 16, 2014, 10:48 am

interesting theory!

well , I pick up my catalogue of the films for the Toronto International Film Festival on Tuesday- and will have about 5 days to read and make up a schedule.

I saw The Hundred Foot Journey last night- not a bad film- cute- great food and scenery although the group I was with debated what was real or just a studio set.
And I read
Baldwin Street by Alvin Rakoff. The author used to live in Toronto ( he has been a director and writer in England for many years) and this book is really not a novel but a series of short stories or vignettes. Rakoff uses the same families to structure the incidents and personalities that he writes about -they all live on Baldwin Street in Kensington Market in Toronto. The reader certainly learns about the poverty and hardships that these Jewish immigrants faced in the first part of the 20th century.Many struggled to maintain small grocery or fruit stores and were always in debt. The stories of the children -growing up and making a better life for themselves -and their parents who had dramatic and some times tragic histories take the reader through a mini- history of Kensington Market in Toronto. Rakoff used a mix of real and fictional names in his work. I also thought that some if not many of the stories were based on real incidents that the author may have witnessed. I enjoyed this book and think that it gives life to the history of Kensington Market.

142torontoc
Ago 17, 2014, 2:33 pm

Sometimes when there is a popular book published I am curious about it. In this case, I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb. I got this book as a gift. The story of the young girl who was targeted and shot by the Taliban for speaking out for the education of girls is well known. Still, it is a rare event for a sixteen year old to write ( with the help of a journalist) a memoir. The story is interesting as the book outlines not only the story about Malala's family ( and specifically her father) but also the history of the strife in the Swat Valley of Pakistan. I learned about the rivalries of the different religious groups and the role of the army. Malala and her father are heroic in their championship of schooling for girls in Pakistan. The story is one that should be told.

143torontoc
Ago 17, 2014, 5:07 pm

The Sweet Girl by Annabel Lyon Lyon writes about the daughter of Aristotle-Pythias. Pythias has been taught to read and is interested in anatomy. She has read her father's books and is probably his most learned pupil. The author follows the family as they leave Athens after the death of Alexander the Great and return to the Macedonian town of Chalcis. Pythias finds that her life turns upside down after the death of her father. She should be married to her cousin Nicanor but he has been in the army and no one knows where he is. The author gives us a survivor who makes hard choices as she is no longer a privileged member of a wealthy family.
An interesting imagining of the life of Aristotle's daughter but the plot and characters are not as good as those in her previous novel The Golden Mean. The author does give us a very modern woman who makes untraditional choices.

144SassyLassy
Ago 21, 2014, 1:22 pm

Waiting to hear about your choices for TIFF this year. I don't know how people can ever decide among all the offerings, but envy them the opportunity!

145torontoc
Ago 25, 2014, 3:53 pm

It is really hard- so many films and not in the places or times that I can arrange. You just pick and then hope for the best.
I saw " Snowpiercer" last week- distopian ( hmm what am I spelling wrong?) all that remains of humanity is on a train that circles the earth- which is frozen. The train is divided between the very rich and the very poor- the mystery of how it runs is solves with lots of blood and hacking of bodies- but it was interesting!
I also saw A Most Wanted Man yesterday- good film - it follows the book fairly well- I still don't like the ending.

146torontoc
Ago 28, 2014, 11:57 am

65.The War that Ended Peace The Road to 1914 by Margaret MacMillan This was a very engrossing history of the manoeuvres by various European countries in the decade before the beginning of the First World War. MacMillan is a very precise historian- she writes about the government officials and the heads of state and their plans and fears about dominating or being dominated. The war was initiated by a number of officials reacting to events but they really did not understand the changes in technology that would make this war different. The enormous loss of life and the length of the war was not anticipated by the major players in Europe. The massive changes in society and the role of the individual countries also changed. MacMillan writes about too many leaders who used the idea of making war as a solution to problems. Her last sentences are telling"First, a failure of imagination in not seeing how destructive such a conflict would be, and second, their lack of courage to stand up to those who said there was no choice left but to go to war. There are always choices" (page 645) An excellent book to read in the study of the First World War.

147torontoc
Ago 31, 2014, 10:34 am

Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat. I read this memoir because I went to a talk by the author-a very engaging woman. Marina Nemat's story is horrific- a young girl who is imprisoned for life because she rebelled in high school in Iran. Nemat leads a walkout in her class as the ill-equipped teacher does not teach the subject but spouts the Islamic party line. Many young people who participated in marches against the regime in Iran were tortured, put in prison and executed or given long prison sentences. What makes Nemat's story is different as how her guard, Ali, saves her life , then asks Marina to marry him. Marina is really not given a choice- if she does not convert to Islam and marry, then her parents and former boyfriends will be harmed. The account of the marriage, life in prison, Ali's assassination and the help given to Marina by Ali's parents makes for a bizarre story. However, Marina is a survivor and does immigrate to Canada where she eventually writes about her life. This is a very interesting memoir with themes of seemingly harmless actions provoking terrible consequences and the mix of good and evil in some people.

I go to the film festival at the end of next week- stay tuned for my reviews

148torontoc
Sep 1, 2014, 9:18 am

After Tehran A Life Reclaimed by Marina Nemat. The author continues her story after she and her family immigrate to Canada. She details her life in Toronto and how she eventually decides that she has to tell her story of imprisonment in jail in Iran. Nemat lives the life of a housewife, taking care of her children and working part time as a waitress. When she enrols in writing classes , the author finds mentors who encourage her. Marina Nemat finds a publisher for her book and the success of her work is chronicled in this memoir. I think that the book answers a lot of questions that reader may have after reading her book Prisoner of Tehran. Nemat also writes about encounters with some of the people who she knew in Iran. This memoir does tend to be a little rambling and not as tightly constructed as her first book.

I did see a silent film yesterday with musical accompaniment-The Yellow Ticket starred Pola Negri and was made in 1922- it was a story about a Jewish girl who wanted to be a doctor. After the death of her father , she travels to St. Petersburg where she learns that only Jewish women who have a "yellow ticket can live in the city- The yellow ticket means that the owner is a prostitute. The story becomes complicated with false and true identities a major component.

149torontoc
Sep 3, 2014, 3:43 pm

A Tale For The time Being by Ruth Ozeki. This novel has a number of themes and the reader is introduced to two main settings-an island off the West coast of British Columbia and Tokyo sometime before the tsunami. Ruth is a writer living with her partner, Oliver on a secluded island. She finds a plastic bag on the beach The bag that protects a Hello Kitty box and a number of letters , diaries and a watch, probably came over from Japan after the tsunami. Ruth's reading of the diary lead the reader to the story of Nao Yasutani , a teenager who writes about her life. The story that the reader and Ruth follow is not a happy one. Nao was brought up in the US when her father was working for a dot-com company. After he is fired the family goes back to live in Tokyo where Nao is really an outcast in her school and she is bullied horribly. Her father tries to commit suicide a number of times. While Ruth reads about Nao's life , she also tries to track down the family and find out about the letters and the second diary that is written in French. Through Nao, we meet her great grandmother, a buddhist nun who helps give Nao courage.The two stories and the concept of time are threads that lead to a sense of how the family survived the emotional turmoil of life after coming back to Japan. Another story that we learn about is that of the father's uncle who was a suicide bomber during World War Two. I didn't mind the ending. It was not one of my" the author didn't know how to end the story". However, it did introduce a theme or question that the fictional writer , Ruth and Oliver did discuss late in the novel.
I would have liked another kind of conclusion but can be satisfied with the one presented.The themes and information are very complex with thoughts on Buddhism, language, science, nature and time.

150torontoc
Sep 3, 2014, 11:09 pm

Berlin Stories by Robert Walser These stories or very brief prose pieces were mainly translated by Susan Bernofsky. I found that this very slim volume of prose pieces was supposed to describe life in Berlin around 1907-14. There were a few stories that did invoke the sense of the city. I thought that most of the descriptions could have been used for any city-they didn't have the feeling or mood of this particular city-Berlin. Walser, a Swiss writer lived in Berlin for a short period of time and did have contacts with the theatrical world through his brother. I wasn't moved by this collection and have found other books that gave me a better sense of Berlin society.

151Nickelini
Sep 3, 2014, 11:56 pm

I've been intrigued by A Tale for the Time Being since I first learned about it, but the mixed reviews have kept me away. Perhaps it's one to suggest to my book club when we meet next week. The "things washing up on the shores of BC" keeps me interested, as that's something we hear about in the news regularly. For example: Harley-Davidson washed up on B.C shore to be returned to Japanese owner http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/05/02/harleydavidson_washed_up_on_bc_sho...

152Cariola
Editado: Sep 4, 2014, 8:59 am

Joyce, I've had the same reaction to A Tale for the Time Being--intrigued but reluctant, based on reviews. I downloaded it from audible when it was a Daily Deal but haven't listened to it yet.

153torontoc
Sep 4, 2014, 11:06 am

The ending does introduce a whole " new theme"- very good for discussion whether the reader likes the conclusion or not.

154torontoc
Sep 4, 2014, 4:52 pm

One more comment about Ozeki- I loved her first novelMy Year of Meats and was lukewarm on her second one.

Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes. I have not been reading poetry for a number of years. It is just one of those things- an enthusiasm that has not been with me for a while. I just picked up this volume out of curiosity. After reading these highly charges poems about Hughes relationship with his first wife-Sylvia Plath, I had to research their very public and dramatic history. Hughes published this intimate memoir of poems about Plath in 1998-the year that he died. The themes describe Plath's demons, her feelings about her father, her suicide and the life that Hughes and Plath led in the US and England. They are very powerful and certainly sweep the reader through the rocky history of their life together.

155torontoc
Sep 7, 2014, 7:56 am

First film of the festival

The Dead Lands
New Zealand
Director Toa Fraser

This film relates the quest by a young man who avenge the deaths of his tribe. The two Maori tribes had fought before but in the course of a meeting, one group surprised and slaughtered the other except for the chief's son. The story is about a coming of age as the young man follows the other tribe through what was known as the Dead Lands- an area where a now dead tribe disappeared. the young meets the last surviving man- a monster who kills and eats those who trespass in the area. The action and fighting are fierce. The filming and landscape are spellbinding. There was a lot of hacking and killing but the plot moved forward quickly and was really interesting.

156torontoc
Sep 7, 2014, 2:05 pm

St. Vincent
United States
Director Theodore Melfi

This is a vehicle for Bill Murray as a nasty veteran with bad habits- smoking drinking and gambling. A woman just separated from her husband and her son move in next door and "Vincent " finds himself babysitting the young boy. Through their travels to the track and a seniors home, the audience learns that Vincent might be falling apart in his personal life, he still manages to do some good deeds. He does the laundry and cares for his wife-stricken with Alzheimers disease and living in a care facility. Vincent give the young boy some lesson in courage. The characters are good- Naomi Watts as a pregnant Russian prostitute is hilarious. Murray is really good and the movie although sentimental is funny and never mawkish.

Dukhtar or Daughter
Pakistan
Director AFia Nathaniel

This is a very dramatic story. A woman married to a tribal leader learns that her 10 year old daughter is to be married to the leader ( old enough to be her great grandfather) of a rival tribe in order to settle tensions between two tribes. The woman and her daughter flee the village. The two tribes send men to find her and her daughter. If they are caught the daughter will be given to the promised groom and the woman will be killed by any of the groups that find her. The story shows how a kind bus driver rescue the the two and tried to shelter them. The pace is fast and the scenery of the mountains in Pakistan is breathtaking. Here is where I have a problem. The plot has some interesting complications introduced but never used in the latter part of the film. And the ending--I am sorry today that it belongs in my category of" what kind of ending is this? what didn't the director and writer work out something more satisfying?
i think that the dil director should have a talk with the writer/director of the next film that I saw.
The director of this film did say in the talk after that she got the idea from a true story of woman who did flee with her two young daughters from a similar situation.
So great beginning and some good character development and acting from the principles.

Villa Touma
( no country listed but the story is set in Ramallah, filmed in Haifa, financed by a number of Israeli funds and the crew was half Israeli and Palestinian.)
Directed by Suha Araf

Wow! This film was amazing!There was an excellent plot with a great ending. The director wrote, and produced the story. Araf wrote the screen plays for The Syrian Bride and Lemon Tree. This is her directing debut and she is someone to watch.The superbly nuanced film follows three sisters, living in the family villa in Ramallah. They are Christian Arabs and consider themselves to be among the best families in the city. Into their highly rigid life , come their niece - the product of a marriage between their late brother and a Muslim woman , now dead. The daughter has been living in an orphanage and now in her late teenage years comes to live with her aunts- who really don't want her there. The first scenes set in the overstuffed house remind the viewer of a life in the 1950's with the clothes worn and life lived by the sisters. In fact the viewer is not aware of the world outside this house. The elder sister is autocratic and cruel as she attempts to remould the niece into someone that she can marry off to a member of one of the right families that attend the church. There is a shock asthe viewers learns that the time is the early 2000,s not the 1950's. The niece does change the dynamic and more and more the director shows how the outside impacts on this family. A well written script, excellent directing and attention to detail.

157torontoc
Sep 8, 2014, 7:36 am

Boychoir
United States
Director Francois Girard

I really liked the music in this film. Apparently there really is an American Boy Choir and school. The plot is not that creative- a young talented boy (just lost his mother to a car crash) is sent by his father (never married the boys' mother and has a family) to the boy choir school. The story shows his growth as a singer and person as the the choir takes on very challenging music. Dustin Hoffman plays the conductor. Not a great film and good music!

My Old Lady
United States
Director Israel Horovitz

The director is a noted playwright. This is his first time as a director as he adapts his play for film. Mathias is an American who has inherited an apartment in Paris from his late estranged father. When he travels to Paris , he finds out that a 92 year lady is living there in an arrangement called a viager- the lady (and her daughter) have the right to live in the apartment until she dies. In addition, Mathias must pay her a sum of money every month. This is really a play with three characters- the old lady played by Maggie Smith, the daughter played by Kristin Scott Thomas and Mathias played by Kevin Kline. Kline is amazing -and this film is a vehicle for him. I really liked this film while my viewing friend thought that there were too many repetitions. I still liked the plot as Mathias , a failed writer discovers the secrets of his father's life in Paris.

158rebeccanyc
Sep 8, 2014, 7:38 am

Fascinating movie reviews and so cool that you can go to the festival.

159torontoc
Sep 9, 2014, 10:48 pm

It is really fun although I do get " movied out" at the end.

Breakup Buddies
China
Director Ning Hao

Oh, I really didn't like this film. This was a mad scrambled mess of a travel story. Geng Ho is heartbroken because of his break up with his wife. To cheer him up, his friend Hao Yi takes him on a road trip to deliver props for a movie. hap Yi is intent on finding women to sleep with and embroils Geng Ho in a number of crazy situations. At the same time the story shows the audience a young woman who is vacationing in a well known place where Chinese young people go to find a lover. The only interesting device that the director uses is his changing the time frame of those two narratives.

A Midsummer Night's Dream
United States
Director Julie Taymor

This film was terrific! Taymore had directed her version of this Shakespeare play at a theatre in Brooklyn last fall. She filmed four of the performances and a daytime one for closeups. The audience was seeing a filmed theatrical play bur what a play! Tents of fabric flying into the air, a Puck looking a little like Charlie Chaplin and casts of trees and fairies and aerial sweeps as well as great performances from the actors. This film was part of the " Maverick series so Julie Taymor was interviewed after the showing of the film for about 40 minutes. Loved this and hope that it will be distributed widely.

160dchaikin
Sep 10, 2014, 5:07 am

>149 torontoc:, >151 Nickelini:, >152 Cariola: - glad to catch your review and comments on Ozeki. I'm interested in a reading a book by her. I found All Over Creation used recently, but didn't purchase it, maybe a good decision.

Intrigued by all these movies.

161janeajones
Sep 10, 2014, 1:26 pm

Enjoying catching up, Cyrel. Must get a copy of the Prisoner of Tehran and its sequel. Your movie reviews are grand -- our local art house has been showing previews for My Old Lady -- I hope we get a few more of these.

162catarina1
Sep 10, 2014, 3:51 pm

"My Old Lady" was reviewed in today's NY Times. It looked interesting. Doubt if I will get a chance to view it here in Baltimore. thanks for your review.

163Cariola
Sep 10, 2014, 9:13 pm

I'd love to see Taymor's MND.

164torontoc
Sep 10, 2014, 10:49 pm

Thanks!
Julie Taymor said that she didn't know how to distribute it-hopefully some company picked up the rights for North America at the festival.

Mr. Turner
England
Director Mike Leigh

This film was exceptional. The story follows the middle to late age of the painter William Turner. The cinematography was breathtaking. The camera shows the landscape that Turner paints- in fact I thought that these scenes were a better depiction of Turner's art than the paintings shown. The story really shows Turner as a curmudgeon- grunting at every opportunity. His only male friend was really his father. Turner's relations with women were not good- he ignores his daughters and their mother and we really never know whether they were married. Turner is shown treating his housekeeper in a brutal way as she satisfies his sexual needs. interesting enough, the film shows Turner finding love and companionship with a widow from Margate. The casting was interesting- no one was " pretty". Some of the nuances in the script are better understood when the viewer has more knowledge of the period. Turner is shown glowering at John Constable when his painting is hung next to the artist's wonderful nature scenes. ( You have to know that both men were rivals). There is a great depiction of John Ruskin. However in a dinner scene you can only understand why the new Mrs Ruskin is so unhappy if you know that Ruskin never consummated the marriage ( Group- help me out here- I think that this is true.)This is a terrific interpretation of a great artist. See this film-oh and the great Timothy Spall played Turner.

Learning to Drive
USA
Director Isabel Coixet

This was a charming film about a woman copying with the impending divorce from her husband and her driving instructor- a Sikh balancing driving lessons and driving a taxi. The story is about having the courage to face changes in your life. Patricia Clarkson played the woman who had to face the truth about her husband. Ben Kingsley plays the driving instructor who teaches life lessons as well as driving but still has to learn how to have a relationship with his new bride from India.Lovely film.

Far From Men
France
Director David Oelhoffen

This film was developed from a short story by Albert Camus. A Frenchman teaches in a remote school in the countryside in Algeria. He is asked to take a condemned Arabman to the nearest town to face justice- the man has killed his cousin. The teacher is reluctant to do this but does so when he attacked by villagers trying to capture the man. The story of their travels and capture and release by Algerian rebels and French soldiers leads the teacher to convince the Arab man to flee and avoid death. The moral dilemmas of war, terrorism and choice are explored- a very thoughtful film The teacher was played by Viggo Mortensen and the dialogue was in French and Arabic- At the question and answer session after the film, the actor was asked how he became involved. The director replied that he saw Mortensen introduce Guy Lafleur in French in Montreal at an event to honour an anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team- the director asked the actor is he could work in French- he said yes.

165torontoc
Sep 11, 2014, 10:26 am

The Imitation Game
England
Director Morten Tyldum

The film explores the life and work of Alan Turing. Turing was a brilliant mathematician who worked on cracking the Enigma code machine that the Germans used in World War Two. In fact he built his own machine that was successful in revealing the Nazi codes. Turing was difficult to work with and had the help of an unusual woman, Joan Clarke in his team of brilliant code breakers. The film also shows what happened to Turing after the war. He was a homosexual at a time when it was illegal in England to be gay. Benedict Cumberbatch was was terrific as Turing. This is an excellent film. Apparently, Turing and his group were responsible for shortening the war by about two years. His work after the war was significant for the development of computers

166Cariola
Editado: Sep 11, 2014, 1:41 pm

>164 torontoc:, 165 These all sound like wonderful films. I will be especially interested in Mr. Turner.

Last year I read Effie: The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin and John Everett Millais. You are right, the marriage was never consummated. Ruskin testified at the divorce proceedings that he found her body repellant on the honeymoon--but claimed it was just her, not an aversion to all women (which is somewhat dubious). The most frequent theories are that he had only seen naked female statues and was repelled by Effie's body hair, which he thought was a deviation from the norm, or that she was having her period. The book certainly makes him out to be a really unlikeable jerk, and I was glad that she found happiness with Millais.

Edited to add: These paragraphs are from my review of the book mentioned above.

Effie Gray was only twelve when she met the celebrated young art critic John Ruskin in 1841. A friendship developed, and within a few years, he proposed; the two married when Effie was nineteen, Ruskin 29. Effie imagined the two of them as the perfect couple, her social charm an asset to his brilliance. But on their wedding night, something went terribly wrong. Despite her innocence, Effie knew that there had to be more to marriage than taking walks along the riverbank: Ruskin either would not or could not consummate their union. In a letter to her parents, she wrote:

"He alleged various reasons, hatred to children, religious motives, a desire to preserve my beauty, and finally this last year he told me his true reason... that he had imagined women were quite different to what he saw I was, and that the reason he did not make me his Wife was because he was disgusted with my person the first evening 10th April 1848."

Ashamed, Effie remained in the marriage for six years before formally filing for an annulment. She was subjected to a physical examination to verify her chastity and humiliated by Ruskin's testimony that "though her face was beautiful, her person was not formed to excite passion. On the contrary, there were certain circumstances in her person which completely checked it." The doctor who examined her declared that she was normal in every way; it has been speculated that Ruskin might have been repelled by his wife's pubic hair, or that she was menstruating. As one would expect, the case created a scandal in Victorian England.

167torontoc
Sep 11, 2014, 8:42 pm

Thank you! Mr. Turner has some interesting allusions - i think that you will like it.
and the next group of films

'71
England
Director Yann Demange

This fast paced story follows a young British soldier, Gary, when his regiment is sent to Belfast in 1971 to help keep the peace between the Protestants and Catholics. After a horribly gone wrong intervention, Gary finds himself separated from his group and on the run in the streets of Belfast. He is wounded and helped by both Protestant and Catholic while militia groups from both sides hunt for him. The changing alliances from all sides is confusing and ironic as every group tries to kill Gary. The end is bittersweet and this film is excellent.

Jauja
( many countries- Denmark, Argentina, USA and more)
Director Lisandro Alonso

This is the second film that I didn't like but a lot of people in the audience did judging by the questions after the film. I thought that it was very slow ( but beautiful shots) and turned a little strange in the last third. A Danish soldier working in Patagonia in 1882, sets out to find his daughter when she runs away with a soldier. The journey is gruelling and it seems that the daughter has been taken by a brigand. At this point the story turns- with the Father meeting an older woman in a cave who might be his daughter in another time. At the end , a scene with a modern daughter seems totally out of place. Viggo Mortnesen starred and spoke Danish and Spanish and he composed the score with another musician. The explanations by the director seems to suggest that the viewers could draw their conclusions about the plot.

Seymour, an Introduction
USA
Director Ethan Hawke

This documentary follows Seymour Bernstein, a noted piano teacher and former soloist. Hawke interviews former students and show how Bernstein conducts a master class in New York. Seymour Bernstein tells the viewer about his playing career and why he stopped performing as well something about his early life. The music was beautiful as we see Bernstein preparing for a special concert. ( He did say some uncomplimentary things about Glenn Gould at one point) Nice documentary.

168torontoc
Sep 13, 2014, 10:13 pm

Madame Bovary
United Kingdom and Belgium
Director Sophie Barthes

I don't know- the costumes were gorgeous and the male actors were good but I don't think that Mia Wasikowska plays a good Emma Bovary. Her dialogue seemed stilted and the viewer never got the sense of the personality that Flaubert wrote about in his 19th century novel. The film seemed very slow- this was a disappointment to me. But the fabrics were really beautiful.

169Cariola
Sep 13, 2014, 11:33 pm

Ugh--she is way too young to play Madame Bovary. Sounds like a bomb in the same way as 'Anna Karenina' with Kiera Knightley.

170RidgewayGirl
Sep 14, 2014, 2:27 am

Isabelle Huppert was fantastic as Madame Bovary. I think that version was made in 1990 or 1991? It was lovely; I'll have to watch it again.

171rebeccanyc
Sep 14, 2014, 10:56 am

>170 RidgewayGirl: Maybe I should try the film version of Madame Bovary. I've read it twice and didn't like it either time.

172Cariola
Sep 14, 2014, 1:36 pm

>170 RidgewayGirl: I liked that version, too. There was also a made-for-TV BBC one that was pretty good.

>171 rebeccanyc: Is it that she is a heroine who is hard to empathize with? I like dthe book when I read it in college--not so much when I reread it later on.

173torontoc
Sep 14, 2014, 2:31 pm

Better films were coming but first...

La Sapienza
Italy/France
Eugene Green

I reread the description in the film catalogue in order to figure out why I chose this film. A disillusioned architect travels with his wife from France to Switzerland to Italy-he is going to revisit the churches of Francesco Borromini in order to gain new inspiration. A stop in Stresa ( I have to visit) the husband and wife meet a young brother and his sister. The young girl suffers from spells. The wife decides to stay and visit her while she sends her husband to continue his journey with the young man- he is about to study architect. The filming of the churches is stunning with the focus being Sant Ivo alla Sapienza in Rome. The interaction between the characters is very stilted- I think that the audience is supposed to see the emptiness of the couple's lives. The encounter with the young people is supposed to help the architect see how to change his life. I did not like the rigid quality of the dialogue and acting but I did like the churches!

Manglehorn
United States
Director-David Gordon Green
Oh, dear this was not fun. al Pacino plays an angry locksmith in Texas who writes letters to a long lost sweetheart. The letters are all returned. He cares for his cat and his granddaughter. He has a strained relationship with his son. The story shows Manglehorn's life and how he slowly realizes that he must live in the present. The film was very slow and I don't recommend it.

and now one of the best-thank goodness I finished the festival with a good film!

A Little Chaos
United Kingdom
Director Alan Rickman
I really liked this story. Alan Rickman directed a superb films about the constructing of the gardens- in particular the Rockwork Grove. A female gardener Sabine De Barra is chosen by Andre Le Notre to be in charge of the work. The interplay of the characters- Rickman as Louis XIV, Kate Winslet as Sabine, Matthias Schoenaerts as Le Notre and Stanley Tucci as the King's brother was excellent. Of course there was romance, rivalry in court and beautiful costumes. One of the most poignant scenes took place in a room with the women- young and old at Versailles. I do love good historical fiction and this really satisfied me!
Do see it!

So 19 films later- some really good and some well not so good- I can now refill my fridge and start reading!
The People's Choice award went to The Imitation Game - about Alan Turing- I would agree- a good film.

174rebeccanyc
Sep 14, 2014, 3:59 pm

>172 Cariola: I don't think it's that she's so unsympathetic, because I often read books with unsympathetic protagonists (including, comparatively, Anna Karenina, who I sympathized with as a teenager and found horribly selfish in my 40s). I think I just don't like Flaubert's writing, no matter how highly praised it is.

175baswood
Sep 14, 2014, 5:16 pm

Enjoyed your film reviews. Was that 19 films in a week? That's some going.

176torontoc
Sep 14, 2014, 7:05 pm

Thanks- that was 19 films in 10 days.

177torontoc
Sep 15, 2014, 2:21 pm

Violins of Hope: Violins of the Holocaust-Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind's Darkest Hour by James A. Grymes. This history tracks the stories of people who played the violin ( and some other instruments) and how that skill may have saved them during the Holocaust. The author begins by relating the story of Amnon, his father Moshe and his son Avshalom Weinstein of Tel Aviv. Amnon and his son track down and restore violins that were played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust. Many of the restored instruments are used in concerts today. The stories include a history of the orchestras in concentration camps as well as individual accounts of musicians and their lives during World World Two. this book suitable for young adult audiences.

Northwest Passage by Stan Rogers and Matt James. Matt James has taken the song by Stan Rogers and illustrated a children's book as well as adding historical information on the story of the expedition and more on other explorers. This book is interesting as one of the two lost ships was recently found by a Canadian expedition. The illustrations are beautiful and the extra information gives the reader a good background on exploration as well as what went wrong with Franklin's ships. ( they didn't use the expertise of the Inuit people and resorted to bringing tins of food sealed with lead and woollen garments-they should have had fur) A very timely and lovely book.

touchstones are cranky this hour!

178torontoc
Sep 18, 2014, 11:34 am

Stone Mattress: Nine Tales by Margaret Atwood. This book of short stories is great Margaret Atwood. The stories are extremely well crafted and diverse-from a horror tale of a world movement that attacks old people to a series of three linked stories about 1960's writers and their lovers and the aftermath. The author also includes a story based on her characters from The Robber Bride. From the perfect murder on a cruise to a story about a dead bridegroom found in a storage locker, Margaret Atwood writes with humour and creates great scenarios.
A great read.

179Nickelini
Sep 18, 2014, 1:54 pm

Oh, good to hear that about the new Atwood. I'm reading an old collection of hers right now, Bluebeard's Egg, and I've been less than enthralled, although it is picking up.

180torontoc
Sep 18, 2014, 3:37 pm

I did like her book- fun to read. I also tried to see if she was using any real people as subject matter in her three linked stories.
P.S. Peter Pan restaurant closed!

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi The title refers to the three main characters and narrators in the novel. Boy Novak is a young woman who escapes from a terrible father and goes to live in a small town in Massachusetts. She marries Arturo Whitman a widower with a beautiful daughter named Snow. When Boy and Arturo have a child,the baby girl,named Bird is black. The secret of the Whitman family is revealed as they have passed as white and sent any family who looks black away from the town. In a reversal, Boy sends Snow to live with her aunt and uncle in Boston. The discovery of secrets and the relationship between mother and daughters as well as sisters makes this novel really interesting.

181RidgewayGirl
Sep 19, 2014, 7:46 am

I'll look for the Atwood as The Robber Bride is my favorite of hers and I'd love to encounter the characters again.

182rebeccanyc
Sep 19, 2014, 8:41 am

>180 torontoc: I had a lot of trouble with the "real" aspects of Boy, Snow, Bird, and I guess with the fairy tale aspects of it as well. This obscured for me the insight into relationships which you found so interesting.

183torontoc
Sep 19, 2014, 11:44 am

I liked the troubled relationship between Bird and Boy- Boy took a big step ( a terrible one ) in separating Snow from her father by sending her away and theoretically protecting Bird- but I didn't get the sense that Bird had a close relationship with her mother. I did find the ending with the "big reveal" about Boy's father to be a little far-fetched- it didn't explain the terrible behaviour of the " Father".

184torontoc
Sep 20, 2014, 7:18 am

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salmon Rushdie
Rushdie wrote this book as a present to his son, I believe.( correct me if I am wrong) It is a lovely story about a young man, Haroun and how he tries to help his father- a famous story teller who has lost his stories. Haroun travels to a world on a second moon where there is a country with constant day-Gup and one of darkness- Chup. He meets mechanical beings and a very strange group who have to rescue a princess and save the Sea of Stories from being polluted and destroyed. Great story for the 8 to 10 year age group. If they are reading the Wizard of Oz series , this is right for them.

185japaul22
Sep 20, 2014, 7:51 am

>184 torontoc: I'll definitely make a note of this for my son to read when he gets older. Sounds like a good book for a boy!

186torontoc
Sep 24, 2014, 9:06 am

It is!

The Betrayers a novel by David Bezmozgis. I enjoyed this novel. I found it really a meditation on guilt, remorse, forgiveness, and the awareness and repercussions of one's actions. The novel is build on the past actions of two main characters. Baruch Kotler is a former Soviet Jewish dissident who was in prison for 14 years. When he was released, he went to live in Israel and became a respected politician. His life has come apart as he refused to support the Prime Minister and was threatened with blackmail, His relationship with a young mistress was exposed. Kotler and Leora, the young woman who he had an affair with, flee to Yalta in the Crimea. They arrange to stay in a room in a private house unaware the that one of the owners is the man who betrayed Kotler to the KGB many years ago. The story of this man, Tankilelvich ,the reasons for his action, and his present day burden make up the second main theme that connects to Kotler's story. Kotler has to deal with the betrayal of his wife and the moral dilemma of his son. All these threads are worked together in the course of the novel. A very interesting work.

187torontoc
Sep 28, 2014, 1:29 pm

W Hour by Arthur Ney Arthur Ney has written his memoir about living in the Warsaw Ghetto, his escape and life until the end of World War Two. His memoir is part of a series published by the Azrieli Series of Holocaust Survivor Memoirs. The story is really about a resourceful young boy who happens to be outside of the ghetto when the Ghetto uprising started. Arthur's father had the foresight to buy false identification documents for his son when Arthur began smuggling goods to and from the ghetto. As well, Arthur spoke Polish without any identifiable Jewish accent. He was lucky to have help from sympathetic Poles - from the farmer who employed him in the summer to people who knew his father before the war. Arthur was able to live in a seminary for orphans and go to school. As well, through a series of coincidences, Arthur was reunited with his Uncle and Aunt and immigrated to Canada.
I read another memoir in this series a number of years ago. Keeping these stories alive is a very important task of this foundation.

188torontoc
Oct 1, 2014, 8:02 pm

Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire. When I first started reading Gregory Maguire, I really liked his books. Later, I found some of his re-engineered fairy tales a little obscure. I loved Wickedand some of the later series but found the final book not very satisfying. This new tale is wonderful. Maguire takes on the Russian story of Baba Yaga and creates a fascinating world where fantasy and fact intersect. Two girls, through an accident, manage to switch places. Elena is a peasant girl trying to take care of her sick mother in a tiny village where everyone is starving. Cat is a very wealthy young lady traveling on a train to St. Petersburg where she will be presented to the Tsar and his godson. The train is stranded in the tiny town and the two girls become acquainted. An accident occurs and Elena is speeding off in the train and Cat is stuck in the tiny town. When Cat tries to follow the train tracks , she is taken in by Baba Yaga, her talking kitten and a walking house with chicken legs. How the two girls meet and how they take a journey with Baba Yaga and others to find out why the weather has not behaved normally is a journey into the nature of living. Baba Yaga is a great character using anachronisms to illustrate her points of view. I really enjoyed this imaginative story and the lessons taught by the author.

189torontoc
Oct 2, 2014, 8:41 pm

The Heist by Daniel Silva I guess that this series about spies is my guilty pleasure. The plot is easy to follow but sometimes I wish that there was more on the art restoration. The stories about the spy Gabriel Allon are adventurous and are really good summer reads. But it was very warm today so maybe this was the last day of the summer season.

190SassyLassy
Oct 4, 2014, 5:30 pm

>173 torontoc: Alan Rickman, Stanley Tucci and gardens: what a fabulous way to end the festival.

Looks like you've been doing lots of good reading. I keep circling David Bezmozgis but for some reason never commit. This novel sounds like a good one.

191torontoc
Oct 5, 2014, 8:16 am

It was -
yes-the film festival was terrific and I was glad to finish with a great movie.

( although a friend of mine liked La Sapienza- she saw it at the New York Film Festival)

Between Gods by Alison Pick The author has written a very powerful and intimate account of a number of events in her life. Alison Pick had no idea that her grandparents and father were Jewish. Her grandparents narrowly escaped from Czechoslovakia just before World War Two and came to Canada. Her great grandparents delayed leaving although they had visas, were unable to leave and were killed. Alison's father found out only in his twenties about his heritage but also "kept the secret". This account covers the author's battle with depression and her desire to find out more about the Jewish religion and to convert. Alison Pick's story is complicated by her relationship to her partner and later husband who was very supportive but not sure if he would convert. There are many threads to follow in this engrossing account of the author, her family, her accomplishments, (during this time she was writing her book Far To Go).her discovery of family history and religion. A great read.

192dchaikin
Oct 5, 2014, 10:59 am

>191 torontoc: - After reading your review I'm wondering if this would make a good group read for a Jewish group. Anyway, I'm intrigued.

193rebeccanyc
Oct 5, 2014, 11:47 am

>191 torontoc: Some years ago I read another book by a woman who found out later that her parents were born Jewish and escaped, sometimes harrowingly, from the Holocaust: After Long Silence by Helen Fremont. I found it a troubling book, both because she made up parts of it and because her parents were very resistant to her finding out their story. At the time I read it, I wrote a review for a newsletter a friend was publishing, and I've just added it to the book page.

Between Gods sounds like a MUCH better book!

194torontoc
Oct 8, 2014, 3:09 pm

It was a very good read.
As far as a good book for a group read for a Jewish group- I would say yes if the group as a whole had a good background in Jewish 20th century history. The story is very personal.

Jews and Words by Amos Oz and Fania Oz-Salzberger I really liked this discourse on Jews and their relationship to words,books, and reading. The novelist and his daughter , the historian, cover a lot of themes including the role of women, time and continuity. This is a book that the reader goes back to because there might be some points that a second reading will illuminate. A very satisfying read!

195torontoc
Oct 11, 2014, 11:14 am

The Dinner a novel by Herman Koch I found this account almost hypnotic in the mood created by the unstable narrator. The surface structure is that of a dinner attended by Paul and his wife Claire with Paul's brother Serge and his wife Babette. However, there are more sinister themes present as Paul reveals his background and the horrible thing that his son and his nephew( Serge's son) did a few weeks earlier. The restaurant is very pretentious and the courses of food and this groups reactions lead to some very uncomfortable exchanges. The plot is shocking as both sets of parents have different ideas on how to protect their sons. The ending - you will have to read the book. This novel was a very suspenseful read.

196Poquette
Oct 11, 2014, 3:04 pm

I noticed that The Dinner has a lot of reviews here on LT. Is it purely escape fiction or does it have some literary merits, in your opinion? Your comments certainly seem to indicate it is out of the ordinary!

197torontoc
Oct 12, 2014, 9:32 am

I think that the book has literary merits- the descent of the narrator as the reader realizes that he has some serious problems, and for me - the acceptance of violent acts by Paul and Claire to " return their life to some sort of normal" is very chilling.

198rebeccanyc
Oct 12, 2014, 12:24 pm

Somehow, the reviews I've read of books by Herman Koch have never made his works appeal to me.

199torontoc
Oct 12, 2014, 12:49 pm

A friend of mine ( we usually have the same taste in books) read his book The Summer House with Swimming Pool and didn't like it .
touchstones are not working on this one

200RidgewayGirl
Oct 12, 2014, 12:59 pm

I've read both The Dinner and Summer House with Swimming Pool and I really liked both of them, despite an absence of sympathetic characters and a cynical view of human nature.

201Nickelini
Oct 12, 2014, 2:09 pm

I read the Dinner and definitely think it's literary. Looking forward to the next one

202Poquette
Oct 12, 2014, 3:25 pm

I am certainly intrigued by all your comments on The Dinner. I may have to read it! ;-)

203torontoc
Oct 13, 2014, 8:16 am

I have Koch's other book about the Summer House with Swimming Pool on my with list!
I saw the film "The Trip to Italy" with Steve Coogan- it was fun what could be better than food and Italy! and books

Mr. Mani by A.B. Yehoshua I have had this book on my "to be read pile" for a while. Yehoshua is one of those authors who is not afraid to work with different formats for his novels. I loved The Liberated Bride and this story is so different and fascinating. The author tells the stories of many generations of the Mani family who lived in Jerusalem and Greece. They are not all saints- in fact some make bad decisions and some are heroic. Their story is told by a number of characters who have had interactions with one of the Mani family. The stories are told but the reader only hears one half of the exchange. The stories start in 1983 and work back in time to 1848. In 1983 a young woman tells her mother about her visit to Judge Gavriel Mani- the father of her boyfriend. In 1944 ,a German soldier tells his grandmother about his encounter with the Mani family when he was hiding in Crete. In 1899, a young doctor tells his father about the unfortunate dealings with Dr. Moshe Mani in Switzerland and Jerusalem and his sister Linka's infatuation. and finally, in 1848 Abraham Mani tells a dying Rabbi about the death of his son Yosef Mani and the birth of his grandson in Jerusalem. The mood of the narrators was almost feverish as they told their stories. The city of Jerusalem was not presented in a romantic way at all- in fact it was presented as small and provincial in many of the narrations. The structure and stories were very interesting!

A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong This slim volume presents a history and definition of myth. Armstrong leads the reader through a brief history of early civilizations that the myths that guided them as well as a description of early religions. She ends by providing an account of some contemporary literature and an argument for the worth of myth in today's society. A good read.

204dchaikin
Editado: Oct 13, 2014, 9:09 am

>194 torontoc: - the book club was excited about Between Gods, but unfortunately it's not easily available. Hope that changes.

Interesting about Mr. Mani.

205torontoc
Oct 13, 2014, 9:52 am

if your book club hasn't read Alison Pick's novel Far to Go- consider it- she was working on it when she went through her conversion.

206rebeccanyc
Oct 13, 2014, 11:45 am

>203 torontoc: I've had both Mr. Mani and the Armstrong on the TBR for several years (well, longer than several years for the Yehoshua). Have to move them both up.

207torontoc
Oct 14, 2014, 10:00 am

I have a few of Yehoshua's books on my book pile that I have to get to this year!

Kicking the Sky by Anthony De Sa This novel is about a young Portuguese Canadian boy, Antonio, his family and friends during the time of a particularly terrible crime that took place in Toronto. In 1977 a young boy, Emanuel Jaques was killed and his body found on the rooftop of a " sex parlour" in Toronto. The men who killed him were found and tried. Since the boy was a member of the Portuguese community, the crime changed the way this new immigrant group brought up their children. De Sa's story reflects the concern of these families. Antonio didn't have the freedom to roam the back alleys of his neighbourhood and he had to be home after school. Of course, 12 year old boys found ways to get around these rules and Antonio's friends still met and climbed on garage roofs and visited. The story revolves around the friendship that Antonio and his friends, Ricky and Mannie made with James- a young man who rented one of the garages. James was not the best influence and led the boys into questionable situations. De Sa does not romanticize the lives of this community. There are abuses, neglect and some shocking events. Antonio, at one point finds himself the subject of veneration when he finds a shell with the portrait of Jesus on it and his father sets up a small shrine in his garage. A really interesting story that is one of the finalists for the City of Toronto Book Award this year

208SassyLassy
Oct 15, 2014, 10:36 am

>207 torontoc: Did you read De Sa's Barnacle Love? A series of linked short stories, the theme of Emmanuel's disappearance and its effect on the young boys of the neighbourhood was there too. Just wondering if this new book is a retelling or something new. I did like his descriptions of the Portuguese neighbourhood, which is still a great one to wander.

>204 dchaikin: Alison Pick was just interviewed on the radio this week about Between Gods and will be one of the authors at this year's International Festival of Authors in Toronto, so the book may be easier to find soon. It is available on amazon.ca in hardcover and Kindle.

209dchaikin
Oct 15, 2014, 4:27 pm

>208 SassyLassy: Good to know. Thanks!

210torontoc
Oct 15, 2014, 5:09 pm

I did read Barnacle Love- some of those stories seem to be retold in this novel-the killing of the pig?
I did like both.
At Word on the Street. De Sa told a some stories about his grandmother that were great- I wished that he had put some of those in his book although he said that his real life did influence him when he wrote both books.

211torontoc
Oct 16, 2014, 9:30 am

The Massey Murder:A Maid, Her Master and the Trial that Shocked a Country by Charlotte GrayThis history of a murder and trial that took place in Toronto in 1915 has a number of themes. The author's research included information on Canada's participation in the fighting of World War One, a brief history of the Massey family, the state of the newspaper rivalry in Toronto as well as the story of Carrie Davies, a young maid who shot her employer, Bert Massey. I really liked that additional information on the role of women in politics, and the "women's court" in Toronto. This book like Anthony De Sa's book. Kicking the Sky is a finalist in the Toronto Book Award- I'll report on the winner- I think that it will be announced tonight.

212torontoc
Oct 17, 2014, 9:20 am

The Massey Murder won the Toronto Book Award.

213SassyLassy
Oct 17, 2014, 9:24 am

>212 torontoc: Nothing like old Toronto! Which book would you have picked?

214torontoc
Oct 17, 2014, 9:39 am

Hmm-good question- I would have a tie- both books are so different in mood and presentation.

215torontoc
Oct 20, 2014, 8:01 am

Mr. Selden's Map of China by Timothy Brook The author has written an interesting account about the history of a map of China donated to the Bodleian Library at Oxford in 1659. Brook looks into the history of the donor, John Selden, his contemporaries - including Ben Jonson, and King James 1 and the role of Western countries and trade in southeast Asia. The reader learns about mapping , early sea routes and more books written about sea routes. Brook also discovers a number of what he calls secrets from the map. In all, I enjoyed the way the author takes this map of China and works out to the owner and the history of trade, conquest and discovery.

216dchaikin
Oct 20, 2014, 9:33 am

John Seldon is fascinating by himself. Nice to learn about this book.

217mabith
Oct 20, 2014, 10:03 am

The Selden book sounds fascinating! Definitely going to look for that.

218dchaikin
Oct 20, 2014, 10:22 am

There is a great chapter on him in Trophies of Time : English Antiquarians of the Seventeenth Century. He is one of the highlights of the book.

219torontoc
Oct 20, 2014, 1:57 pm

Thank you - another book for my wish list!

220Cariola
Oct 20, 2014, 11:28 pm

>215 torontoc: That sounds like one that I should read. I'm familiar with Jonson's poem to Selden.

221torontoc
Oct 23, 2014, 3:16 pm

I read one earlier book about Vermeer by Brook and really liked it.

Us Conductors by Sean Michaels. This novel is on the shortlist for the 2014 Giller Prize and I agree with the choice. Michaels has written a fictional biography of the scientist Leon Termen. Termen was a Russian "Renaissance" man- a musician,an inventor, a scientist , a spy and a prisoner. Living in Russia during the time of Lenin, he invented the new musical instrument-the theremin. Leon had many talents and he was sent to the United States to make contacts with industrialists and in some way spy on the United States. He was sent with a handler as he didn't seem to have much in the way of organizing ability. The first half of the book is framed as a letter that Leon is writing to his beloved - a musician, Clara. Clara goes dancing with Leon as they explore the speakeasies of New York City in the 1920's. Leon's handler seems to be in charge of contracts and business dealings although Leon doesn't seem to have any money. Eventually a sympathetic New Yorker gives him a place to live and work where Termen gives music lessons and work on inventions. Clara doesn't return Leon's love and he finds that his life becomes more difficult during the 1930's. He is pressured to leave New York and return to the USSR. The second half of the book follows the inventor through the Gulag system and the work that he does for a new generation of the Soviet secret service. The language is precise and gives the reader a good sense of his longing for Clara and his confrontation with the inhuman conditions in the Soviet system. A really, really good read.

222torontoc
Editado: Oct 29, 2014, 11:31 am

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll This is a really scary graphic novel. The illustrations are really interesting but the stories all end on a bad note-no one is happy here!. It is worth reading if the reader likes good graphic novel art but not for young children!

223catarina1
Oct 28, 2014, 11:38 am

Thanks for the review of The Massey Murder. Its now on THE list. My grandmother emigrated to Ontario with her family, from London, in 1909. They ended up living in Hamilton, Ontario. I'm interested in finding out about their lives, motivations, etc during this time. Any more to suggest?

224lesmel
Oct 28, 2014, 1:30 pm

>222 torontoc: Your title touchstone goes to the Colin Dexter book of the same name.

225torontoc
Oct 29, 2014, 11:31 am

Oh, dear! I will try to correct that!

226torontoc
Oct 29, 2014, 11:35 am

done!

catarina1- I don't know any books that touch on Hamilton- you could try more of Charlotte Gray's work.
For information on Hamilton history- maybe one of the historical societies- find them through the Ontario Historical Society-( organizes all the historical societies), the Ontario Archives-google the web site. I don't know whether Hamilton has it's own archives -the Ontario one could tell you
Good luck

227torontoc
Editado: Oct 31, 2014, 11:27 pm

C by Tom McCarthy( touchstones not working well tonight) I must admit that the author creates a dazzling description of science, anthropology, calculation, mathematics and history. Did I like this story about the life of Serge Carrafax? I am not sure. Certainly the descriptions of life in pre World War One England, the Great War, life in a prisoner of war camp, London in the twenties, and finally the role of Britain in Egypt are fascinating. I thought that one of the most interesting characters ( spoiler alert) was Sophie , Serge's older sister and she was done away with early in the novel. Again, this novel has a very unsatisfactory ending. ( not my first vote for authors who can't end a story well and take an easy way out but up there in the finals) I admire the prose but found that the information got in the way of the essential story. Interesting work in some ways.

228RidgewayGirl
Nov 1, 2014, 5:47 am

Interesting. Despite winning the Booker, yours is the first review here that I've run into.

229edwinbcn
Nov 1, 2014, 5:59 am

>

That is because many people give up on this book.

230kidzdoc
Nov 1, 2014, 6:38 am

>229 edwinbcn: Exactly. I couldn't finish it, as it made my head hurt too badly.

231torontoc
Nov 2, 2014, 8:29 pm

I understand! Sometimes an author tries to be "brilliant" and it does not work.
I went to the International Authors' Festival today and heard four Canadian authors read- David Bergen, Michael Crummey, Charlotte Gray and Claire Holden Rothman- I am reading Sweetland by Crummey-

232torontoc
Editado: Nov 6, 2014, 11:07 am

Sweetland by Michael Crummey Michael Crummey is one of my favourite Canadian authors. He writes about Newfoundland and this story is his latest. In a way the novel reminds me of The Old Man and the Sea.Moses Sweetland is an elderly retired lighthouse keeper who lives on a remote island on the Newfoundland coast. There is a small struggling community as the reason for being on this island-the fishing- is no longer a viable industry. The reader learns about Sweetland's history and that of his family. His great nephew, Jesse is probably autistic and he talks to Sweetland's dead brother. The tangled stories of the various members of this community are related as Sweetland considers the latest offer from the provincial government. In order to resettle people who lived on remote islands or areas of the province, the government used to offer a buy out of about $100,000 . However, everyone on the island had to approve. Sweetland was the only holdout at the end and this fact soured his relationships with the community. How he solved his problem and vowed to live on the island alone form the basis of the second half of the book. The struggles and tragedies that are relived and remembered draw the reader to the stubborn character of Sweetland. ( I also learned a lot about survival)
An excellent read for me.

I saw the film " The Judge"- a good film not an excellent one
I really liked the Japanese graphic novel film
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya- very long- 2 hours and 20 minutes but great illustrations.

233torontoc
Nov 6, 2014, 11:07 am

The Wondrous Woo by Carrianne K.Y. Leung ( Hmm- someone spelled the author's name incorrectly somewhere in LT) I really liked this slim novel about Miramar Woo, the eldest daughter of the Woo family. Mr. Woo or Ba as the family called him, had immigrated to Canada with his wife and three children. They settled in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough and tried to live the Canadian life. Ba loved everything Canadian. The family also copes with their mother's occasional bouts of depression. Tragedy strikes when Mr. Woo is killed in a traffic accident. Right after this event, the two youngest children who are in their teens develop extraordinary gifts. The son, Darwin becomes a very talented musician and Sophia becomes a brilliant mathematician. Miramar, just about to leave for her first year of University in Ottawa doesn't seem to have any new talent. Miramar struggles with the loss of her father, and the new found fame of her brother and sister. Her life in university and her first love do not work out as she thought. Miramar eventually takes charge of her life, makes some major decisions and learns to cope with her family's problems. This book was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award this year. I thought that the writing and story were very touching and a rewarding read.

234edwinbcn
Nov 7, 2014, 12:17 am

Sweetland by Michael Crummey seems to be an interesting book.

235kidzdoc
Nov 7, 2014, 6:58 am

The Wondrous Woo sounds good; I'll add it to my wish list.

236torontoc
Nov 9, 2014, 10:37 am

Both books were great reads.

The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt This is an amazing book and I will look for the author's other works. Hustvedt has written a book within a book. At the beginning of this fictional compendium of personal diaries and interviews by and about the artist Harriet Burden, the reader learns the whole story of her life. The journals and interviews with Harriet's children, last lover and contemporaries illuminate the events that led to her decisions. Harriet was an artist who did not get good reviews and was ignored in her early career. An intense reader and intellectual,she was married to a very influential art dealer, Felix Lord. As a wife and mother she was silent about her own desires and ideas. When Felix died, Harriet reinvented her own life. She moved to Brooklyn and set up a large studio. Hustvedt has portrayed Harriet as a larger than life character -very tall with a shock of fuzzy hair and very loud. Harriet has determined to create art works that will be signed or purported to be the work of three male artists. She chose two young men for her first two pieces who go along with her idea- after all she lets them have the proceeds when the works sell and they have the fame as well. In fact Harriet's scheme, to show that male artists are recognized more than female, comes true, The fault in this plan lies in her third choice, the artist named Rune. He plays along with Harriet but takes charge when she wants to reveal her plan by blackmailing her. The themes of women remaining silent, the exchange of male/female roles and hypocrisy of the art world are all examined in this novel. Hustvedt also shows Harriet's extraordinary scholarship and study in her sources.( and by extension Hustvedt's own interests)
The book was named after one by a long forgotten scholar and English duchess. The idea of fame after death is explored in a fascinating way for me in this novel- highly recommended.

237rebeccanyc
Nov 9, 2014, 1:02 pm

This is the second enthusiastic review of The Blazing World I've read on LT -- I can see it moving onto my TBR . . .

238Poquette
Editado: Nov 9, 2014, 3:30 pm

Ditto what Rebecca said! But when! ;-[

239rebeccanyc
Nov 9, 2014, 6:59 pm

When is always the question . . .

240torontoc
Nov 12, 2014, 1:31 pm

I decided long ago just to read what I felt like at the moment- if a book is on the TBR list for ages- fine. Sometimes I "need" mysteries or sometimes history.
Irma Voth by Miriam Toews I pulled this book out of my book pile because of the impending Giller Prize. I really liked Toews current book All My Puny Sorrows and it was a strong contender for the Giller. ( didn't happen-Us Conductors won- which I liked , too) I have mixed feelings about this novel. Irma Voth is a nineteen year Mennonite living in Mexico with her family. She impulsively married a young man who then promptly deserted her. Her father disowned Irma but let her live in a house near his property. Irma seems to be make bad decisions as she takes a job as a translator for an avant-garde film director . The film is about Mennonites although the events surrounding the making of this movie take on a tragic-comic vein. Irma eventually escapes from her surroundings and takes her younger sisters with her. In a way, she is both courageous and crazy. The reader learns about the terrible action of Irma's father and Irma's role as well. I liked the writing of the ending better than some of the earlier work-Irma seemed too impulsive without thinking about consequences- a theme that did resonate at the end.

241japaul22
Editado: Nov 13, 2014, 7:35 am

Great to see another positive review of The Blazing World. I thought it was such an interesting look at identity and perception - both of personal and outside sources - and I loved the footnotes of obscure references. I haven't read anything else by Hustvedt, but I'd like to try What I Loved sometime.

242torontoc
Nov 13, 2014, 11:21 am

I agree- I will be looking for that book myself in the new year.

243torontoc
Nov 14, 2014, 5:11 pm

The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud- I reread this novel in order to do a book report for my book club. The story still resonates- the intent of the narrator- unstable or not? I found that this read through gave me time to look at the real sources- Alice Neel, Checkov, and more.

244torontoc
Nov 15, 2014, 1:29 pm

The New Yorker Book of the Teacher Cartoons. Sometimes when I am sick ( terrible cold) I just read what is nearby. My brother was putting in a new plug for me for my modem and I came across this very funny book of cartoons. The subject- dear to my heart- students, teachers and parents. So while I am in the midst of reading Burnt Shadows and enjoying the writing, this book ( a gift) hit the spot as I was having chicken soup and tea. I also found some nice art catalogues that I will have to look at- they were from art shows that I saw a few years ago.

245torontoc
Editado: Nov 18, 2014, 8:27 am

Granta 102: The New Nature Writing. I used to love reading the latest issue of Granta. I learned about new authors to follow and issues that were interesting. Times have changed. I can now follow blogs and reviews that give me the same information and faster of course. Every once and a while I go back to Granta. Now this issue is from my TBR pile and is from 2008. Today the title would probably be The Environment" as oppose to the New Nature Writing. I liked some of the articles and memoirs by Jonathan Raban ( on the area surrounding Seattle) and Matthew Power on the south Bronx. Some of the other articles .. not so much. I think that today we look at the effect of human habits on the environment through a different lens. Still- an interesting compilation but not as directed as we would do today.

246torontoc
Editado: Nov 18, 2014, 8:28 am

The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud. This novel was part of two controversies in 2010. It won the Giller Prize but there were rumours that one of the jurors acted improperly- securing a contract for the novelist with her agent during the judging process. The second scandal was that the publisher was a very small press that refused to work with a larger company so that the book would be accessible to more readers. The winning of the Giller Prize usually means a rise in buying and recognition for the author. The press finally did work with another larger company and the book became widely available. As for the book- I admired the writing and the plot but it was not as wonderful to me as one of the other books on the shortlist Annabel. Skibsrud writes about a young woman and her relationship with her father, a veteran of the Vietnam war. The story is set in a small town on the St. Lawrence Seaway area in Ontario. I think that it helps to know that many small towns and homes were moved or abandoned in order to build a larger waterway in the 1950's. There are references to this event in the story. So-the novel is well written but not as memorable as other novels that I have read from the 2010 shortlist- I particularly liked two volumes of short stories that were on that 2010 list.

247dchaikin
Nov 18, 2014, 10:28 am

>245 torontoc: has so much changed since 2008?

Enjoying your enticing reviews. And interesting controversy around The Sentimentalists.

248torontoc
Nov 18, 2014, 10:48 am

I think so - in the field of environmental studies- there are more signs that change is as a result of human actions.
thanks! I now have read four of the 2010 Giller shortlist and this book was good but the others were also very good and I think better.

249torontoc
Nov 20, 2014, 12:57 pm

Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of A Fiddler on the Roof by Alisa Solomon. The author has taken the history of the original Sholem Aleichem stories about Tevye the Milkman, and traced the origins and biography of the author. The history of how this author's stories were then translated and eventually turned into a play and later a musical and then a film, are set out in great detail. I did like the author's organization and descriptions of the changes and developments of the musical and the contributions by the director Jerome Robbins,writer Joseph Stein and the lyricist Sheldon Harnick and composer Jerry Bock. The role of Teyve, central to any of the productions was played by Zero Mostel and later Chaim Topol. Solomon puts this history into context with the reception ( or lack of) by Sholem Aleichem's works in the early 20th century and the crucial events in 1960's and later 21st century history. The descriptions of the musical are more detailed than the work on the film. Solomon selects a few examples of the play's performance history that illuminate contemporary society. This is a really good history not only of this story but also of the surrounding events. Highly recommended if you are interested in adaptations of plays into musicals and contemporary Jewish history.

250Nickelini
Nov 20, 2014, 1:24 pm

Sounds like an interesting book. Fiddler on the Roof was my favourite music (and I guess movie) when I was about 10. And now I will have "wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles . . . " stuck in my head all day. Could be worse.

251dchaikin
Nov 20, 2014, 2:30 pm

Nice to know this book is out there, even if sits on the large piles of books I would like to read but probably won't.

252torontoc
Nov 21, 2014, 11:07 am

It was an easy read for me-and yes the tune has stayed in my head too- I went to Youtube to listen to it!

253torontoc
Nov 23, 2014, 9:41 am

Bethlehem Road Murder by Batya Gur Well, this mystery is my 100th book read this year. A friend lent me the book. The stories follow a chief superintendent in the Jerusalem police, Michael Ohayon. This mystery involved the death of a young woman who is found with her faced smashed in on the roof or really in the attic of a house about to be rebuilt. Ohayon finds the answer in a number of concerns- the rivalry between Sephardim( those whose ancestry is from the Mediterranean area and Arab countries) and Ashkenazim ( from European origins), the adoption of Yemenite children ( and really their disappearance )in Israel in the early 1950's and neighbourhood problems. The characters are all interesting and well described but there are too many. I found that the number of detectives and their personal stories sometimes got in the way of the plot. The author does create complicated plot that does involve more than the killer and victim. I would follow the rest of the series.

254torontoc
Nov 29, 2014, 9:13 am


The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig and translated by Anthea Bell. I enjoyed this memoir by Zweig. It was very interesting in that he avoids telling about his intimate personal life. What he does is give a portrait of Austrian and particularly Viennese society in the early 1900's. The reader learns about the life of a student at the turn of the century, the status of writers and artists at that time and the feelings about war and conflict during and after World War 1. Zweig is writing this account at the end of his life in the early 1940's. He would eventually commit suicide in Brazil in 1942. He records his thoughts of a noted writer, biographer and playwright. At the end of the memoir he does write about the treatment of Jews in Austria. Zweig understands later that his religion and nationality will determine what happens to him. What his translator tells us, the reader, is that his family was wealthy and he was allowed to live his life as he chose as he was the second son. His brother was expected to run the family business. Zweig considered himself apolitical- he never voted and tried to keep out of any conflict. He did leave Austria and lived in England for many years before the second world war. He briefly describes his friendship with Sigmund Freud, Theodore Herzl and many writers from European countries. A majority of this account is given to Zweig's thoughts on society and theories about the culture of his time.
An interesting read.

255rebeccanyc
Nov 30, 2014, 11:32 am

I've had that on the TBR for a while; glad to know that it is interesting.

256mabith
Nov 30, 2014, 12:55 pm

I find it very interesting to read things by people who lived in that period, those old enough to be adult witnesses to WWI and who saw the beginning of WWII, but not the end.

257Poquette
Nov 30, 2014, 2:23 pm

You have reminded me that I own an as yet unread copy of The World of Yesterday. I must move it up closer to the top of my TBR. I have always loved the title!

258torontoc
Dic 10, 2014, 7:04 pm

Charles Dickens A Life by Claire Tomalin Claire Tomalin had written an account of the life and relationship of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens that I read after seeing the film based on this book. In 2011, Tomalin wrote about the man himself, Charles Dickens I liked this biography of Dickens. His background, with a problematic father who was always in debt and his own responsibility as a young boy working in a " blacking factory" certainly shaped Dickens life. His rise in life and writing ability as well as his selection of themes that reflect some of his own history produced some of the most important fiction of his time. Tomalin integrates descriptions of the literature into the very crowded and busy life of Dickens. The reader learns about his friendships and business dealings as well as his family life. Dickens married young and produced a family of 10. He eventually separated from his wife Catherine after treating her very badly. Dickens sent his boys to boarding school and then out of the country to Australia and India. Only one youngest son, Henry went to Cambridge and did well. The daughters went to live with Dickens and seemed to be treated better than the sons. Dickens also began a secret relationship with Nelly Ternan. The account of his life, traveling from London to his country home and then to the places where Nelly lived as well as touring was exhausting. I found reading the other book that Tomalin wrote about the Nelly Ternan affair certainly helped make a complete picture of Dickens.

I also saw a very good French film " A Secret"

259rebeccanyc
Dic 11, 2014, 5:31 pm

I have a Claire Tomalin biography of Thomas Hardy that's been on my TBR for a long time. Your review of her Dickens bio makes me think I should get to it, especially since I've now read Jude the Obscure.

260torontoc
Editado: Dic 11, 2014, 7:24 pm

Another biography for my wish list.- I really liked the two biographies by Tomalin that I have read so far.

261mabith
Dic 12, 2014, 12:39 am

Glad to hear that about Tomalin. I've got the Hardy bio on my to-read list too.

262torontoc
Dic 13, 2014, 8:42 am

The Afterlife of Stars by Joseph Kertes I found this account of a Hungarian family that escaped after the 1956 revolution - unusual and quirky. The narrative is done by the 9 year old Stephen. He has an older thirteen old brother, Attila whose actions become more and more bizarre as the novel progresses. In fact after what was an irritating run of endless questions on the minute details of anything he was talking about, I realized that Attilla was severely disturbed. The story seems to be interrupted by these musings on almost everything. The core story is very engrossing. The Beck family escapes across the Austrian border just as the Russians are occupying Budapest. This family was saved during the Holocaust by Raoul Wallenberg and their cousin Paul Beck. This story and the mystery of their great aunt's disfiguring hands are finally told in Paris where the family goes on their way to Canada. The actions of Attila seem irrational at the end of the story- I am still puzzling over some choices of plot. The writing is very good.

263rebeccanyc
Dic 13, 2014, 5:09 pm

The Afterlife of Stars sounds intriguing. I once worked with someone whose family escaped from Hungary after 1956.

264catarina1
Dic 13, 2014, 6:34 pm

Thanks for the review of The Afterlife of Stars. My local library does not have it but they did have one of his previous ones which I have requested. Kertes will be a new author for me.

265RidgewayGirl
Dic 17, 2014, 6:03 am

the Afterlife of Stars sounds worthwhile. I know a woman (a close friend of my in-laws) who walked from Budapest into Switzerland with her parents and four other siblings. Her memories of that journey are vivid and it really hit me how much they must have needed to leave to attempt such a thing with young children.

266torontoc
Dic 17, 2014, 9:14 am

At first I was annoyed with what seemed to be digressions by the character of Attila- then I thought- hmm -unusual early teenager- and then - something else is going on- some of the passages seemed a little surreal but then the narrator is 9 years old.

267torontoc
Dic 22, 2014, 5:38 pm

By the Book Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York Times Book Review edited by Pamela Paul. I really enjoyed reading about the many interviewed authors and notables. The questions about books, choices and thoughts on literature gave me new sources on who to read. As well, I felt validated that these authors would put down a book that didn't engage them right away. a great read for the end of the year!

268Cariola
Dic 23, 2014, 8:56 am

>267 torontoc: I enjoyed this one, too.

269torontoc
Dic 23, 2014, 11:02 am

Yes- I am sure that I put this book on my wish list because of your review-it was a present from my nieces.

270torontoc
Dic 27, 2014, 9:53 am

Time's Arrow by Martin Amis. Oh, this novel was very good but at the same time, very disturbing. Amis writes about a doctor in the United States-Tod Friendly- but takes him back in time from his death to his birth. The reader is confronted by an alter ego who narrates the story as the we see Tod change names as he moves to Portugal and then Germany where he is Odile Unverdorben- a doctor at Auschwitz. The narration seems to be more of a flow of words and the reader has to decipher the actions and thoughts. The descriptions of the concentration camp and Odile's participation are disturbing and more so when I recalled the actions of his life in the United States. A worthwhile read and I understand why this book was nominated for the Booker Prize.

271torontoc
Dic 28, 2014, 12:44 pm

The Last Song by Eva Wiseman This ER Young Adult novel is about the life and times of a young teenager living in Toledo, Spain in 1491-2. Isabel is a good Catholic and her father is physician to the King and Queen of Spain. She finds out during the course of the story that her parents are in fact hidden Jews whose grandparents converted under the threat of death many years ago. Isabel learns about her Jewish heritage with the help of a young silversmith and his family. She is also betrothed to a young man who is brutal and cruel- her parents think that this marriage will protect her from the Inquisition.Unfortunately, her father is betrayed to the Inquisition just about the time that Spanish Jews are expelled from Spain. The adventures that Isabel undertakes to save her family and the revealing of who are friends and who are enemies make this novel exciting and very easy to follow for the young reader. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to any reader of Young Adult novels.

272torontoc
Dic 29, 2014, 9:41 am

I saw some good films and documentaries this week- Documentaries- Advanced Style and last night the three hour National Gallery by Frederick Wiseman
films-- Foxcatcher and The Theory of Everything

Last comments for 2014
I am going to comment on all three books with the title of
" Children's books that are really for adults"
I Am an Artist by Marta Altes
Gustave by Remy Simard and Pierre Pratt
Here I Am story by Patti Kim and illustrations by Sonia Sanchez
These slim volumes have one thing in common- they are all beautiful children's stories but really are intended for adults. The ideas and plots are not for young children- they would not understand the humour or the subtle ideas. The illustrations would confuse children in my opinion- there are other books that appeal to a younger generation with the creation of shape, colour and style. I am an Artist tells the story of a young boy who believes that he is an artist- he paints and draws over everything in his house. The style is that of a young child- and only adults will understand that the scribblings and drops of colour create a very sophisticated environment that is more related to the Abstract Expressionism art movement. The story expresses an enthusiasm for art that could be appropriate to a young child but the style would be very confusing. ( as well as promote behaviours that would drive parents mad if done in real life.)
Here I am is a story without words that is also presented in a very painterly style- a young boy travels to a new country and learns to live in a busy city. The story could be understood by a child yet- the aesthetic is very much something to be appreciated by an older reader. The style and story are really very wistful. I think that The Arrival presents the same kind of story in a way that really shows any reader the confusion of arriving and dealing with a real homeland.
The last book Gustave is a very beautiful book- the story is about a little mouse who loses his friend Gustave- he has been eaten by a cat. The setting are very dark and expressionistic in style. The dark story does end happily but the nature of the work would scare a little child. An adult would appreciate the compositions and the art.
I find the the work of Mo Willems appeals to young children- the stories and illustrations are strong and easy to understand. The books that I have talked about are very attractive but I would hesitate to recommend them for young children because of the more adult messages and sources that they exhibit.

273SassyLassy
Dic 29, 2014, 10:39 am

>272 torontoc: Interesting thoughts on a phenomenon that seems to be creeping in more and more. I suppose since adults are the ones who actually buy the books, the marketing departments are targeting them. I wonder if they are showing up in children's libraries.

They do sound like lovely book, Gustave especially. I do love those books that appeal to the child in all of us, which well written children's literature does, but agree there are some things that children just may not be ready for.

Looking forward to your 2015.

274dchaikin
Dic 29, 2014, 11:02 am

We are past that age now, but i loved the picture books that were a little more sophisticated and left my kids a little confused. Gave them something to wonder about.

275torontoc
Dic 29, 2014, 11:20 am

Gustave is a beautiful book but I know that my great nephew ( 1 year old) would cry if he saw it-
The ending is sweet- I suppose a parent could work out a story for a child with it.
I guess that the "adult" book phenomena for kids is exemplified by the bookGo the f**k to sleep -very popular for some parents.

276dchaikin
Dic 29, 2014, 11:29 am

While i found Go the F... cathartic, i didn't share it with the kids. : )

One is very young. I was thinking about when my kids were about five.

277mabith
Dic 29, 2014, 12:14 pm

I think those kinds of books are very good for children though. It's not a bad thing that a book confuses them or actually makes them think, and most books you own will be read many times over a span of many years. Having more for adults just means that adults don't get sick of reading them over and over as quickly (vital). It's the same with cartoons, those with jokes for adults can be watched happily by the whole family rather just being tolerated by the adults.

I grew up reading the Asterix comics (they were why I was so excited to learn to read in the first place), where there are a million adult jokes, jokes based on things in England, jokes using Latin... Of course they were confusing, but I kept rereading them year after year and until eventually I 'got' everything.

278torontoc
Dic 29, 2014, 5:06 pm


Five- maybe
I will have to show Gustave to my great niece- she will be five in Jan.
I still think that a better book for children ( that makes them think) is The Arrival by Shaun Tan and another about bullying for older children ( preteens) is Jane, the Fox and Me by Fanny Britt and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault