Lori's adventures in RTT

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Lori's adventures in RTT

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1lkernagh
Jul 1, 2010, 4:09 pm

I thought I would start my thread in time for the start of the "Freedom" theme for July. For July I plan to read The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell, winner of the Booker Prize in 1973, as it is also a nice fit for my 1010 Challenge. Wikipedia has a good description of the book: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Siege_of_Krishnapur

July may prove to be a good month for reading and I may be adding a second Freedom themed book. Time will tell! ;-)

2lkernagh
Ago 30, 2010, 1:53 pm

Realizing that I have neglected this thread until now thought I would update that I never did find the time to read The Seige of Krishnapur for the July theme read. Will try to keep up by at least mentioning if I am joining in the monthly read or not.

3lkernagh
Editado: Ago 30, 2010, 1:57 pm

August Group read: American Civil War
Book read: Only Call Us Faithful by Marie Jakober

Review as posted on the book page:

Only Call Us Faithful is a story of the American Civil War based on the life of Elizabeth "Crazy Bet" Van Lew, a spinster of breeding in Richmond, Virginia with abolitionist views, was a supporter of the Union and operated a spy ring of loyalists to feed the Union army information during the war. The story focuses on the war period from December 1862 through to the Union Army arrival in Richmond in April 1865. While military strategy and political maneuvering is mentioned to bring the events as they unfold into focus, the story stays true to its mission. This story focuses on the impact the war had on the residents of Richmond, the Union prisoners on Belle Island and in Libby Prison, and the lives of the loyalists spies, including freed slave Mary Elizabeth Bower who went to work in the Confederate White House and Sam Ruth, superintendent of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad.

The story, interestingly, is told from the point of view of Elizabeth's ghost, visiting the reader in what I take to be our time period, or near enough to our time period. Elizabeth's ghost is tired of the tales that have been told over the last 140+ years since the war ended about those desperate and confusing times, and has decided to speak up. Conveyed to the reader in a narrative told through a series of memory flashbacks and conversations with other ghosts of the time period, including writer Cooper DeLeon, it was easy to slide into the story as an observer, and watch the Civil War come to life.

Favorite sections of the story for me include Jakober's account of life in Libby prison and the Libby prison jail break, where 109 Union officers tunneled out of the Confederate POW camp to freedom. Also conveyed in vivid detail is the social decline of Richmond and the glorious Old South over the war years. It really brought home how the war was thrust upon, and was damaging to the well-being of the majority of people living on either side and that Richmond was really comprised of the whole spectrum of war supporters, both Confederate and Union. The cameo appearances by Scarlett O'Hara, are in my opinion, entertaining, witty and used to full effect by Jakober to help bring across the message that most of the world's understanding of the South and the time period are based on fictitious characters and that while most of the world has heard of Scarlett O'Hara, hardly anyone has heard of Elizabeth Van Lew and her network of loyalists.

Overall, a great story about a historical moment in American history and some of the lesser known people that played an important part in shaping that history.

4cyderry
Sep 6, 2010, 10:36 am

Nice job - may have to investigate this one further.

5lkernagh
Editado: Oct 11, 2010, 11:18 pm

October Group read: the 1930's time period

The Great Famine of the 1930's in the then Ukraine was responsible for a wave of immigrants to countries such as Canada, providing these families an offer at a new start on life, away from the suffering they had experienced through drought, starvation and violence as Stalin's first Five Year Plan forced collectivization and exportation of grain from the then prosperous Ukraine.

Under This Unbroken Sky, a debut novel by Nova Scotian author Shandi Mitchell, is the story of one fateful year in 1938 in the lives of Teodor Mykolayenko, his sister Anna Shevchuk and their immediate families, struggling to homestead and make a new life for themselves in rural Alberta. The story has a grim start - Teodor returns to his family after spending a year in prison for the crime of trying to feed his family. During Teodor's year in prison, his wife Maria and their 5 children have been forced to struggle to survive in a one-room shack attached to the small cabin that Anna lives in with her two children. Anna's rogue husband, Stefan, feels that farming is beneath him, has left his wife and children weeks ago and has not returned, driving Anna into a deep depression. Teodor and his wife struggle through the summer to plant a garden and plow the virgin land for wheat to meet the patent requirements for homesteading and to feed the families. Just when things are starting to look up, Anna's wayward husband returns with a self-serving plan that can only have disastrous effects on the families.

The story reads like a sweeping saga of human struggle, family pride and resilience in the face of misfortune. Mitchell's experience as an award-winning director and screenwriter shows here with her ability to present such a vivid, visual experience, built on historical facts. The struggles that immigrant homesteaders faced, and the fact that English speaking immigrants were treated differently is a backdrop for the family difficulties that dog the Mykolayenko's, from trying to sell their garden crops to the grocer in Willow Creek to the grain growers trying to undercut the market value of the wheat.

The story is haunting, bleak and shocking but delivered with a skill that is breathtaking. A stunning page-turner.

6cbl_tn
Oct 12, 2010, 6:09 am

Thanks for the tempting review. Under This Unbroken Sky has been on my wishlist for a while. It sounds like a great read.

7lkernagh
Feb 19, 2011, 11:06 pm

February Group Read: Love Theme

Review below is copied from my 11 in 11 Challenge.

The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys



"The thing about gardens is that everyone thinks they go on growing, that in winter they sleep and in spring they rise. But it's more that they die and return, die and return. They lose themselves. They haunt themselves."

I loved this beautiful, and pain-filled story set in the English countryside during World War II but I seem to be having difficulties writing a review on it. The words allude me. I am pretty sure I will fail to adequately review this one, but I will try.

The year is 1941. Horticulturalist Gwen Davis is a woman in her mid thirties that has never experienced love. She is a woman who fears social engagements and prefers to lock herself in her office at the Horticultural Society with her diseased parsnips - where she is looking for a cause and a cure. Her only other passion, besides horticulture, appears to be the works of Virginia Woolf. Surprisingly, even to Gwen, she agrees to leave her beloved London for the quiet Devon countryside to oversee a group of Woman's Land Army girls with the goal of growing crops for the home front on the neglected, and I am assuming requisitioned, country estate of Mosel. it is at Mosel where she encounters a group of Canadian soldiers awaiting orders of their next posting and a lost garden full of hidden meanings in the choice of plants that make up the garden. Within the group at Mosel, Gwen befriends two individuals who have experienced love, and loss. The spring and summer of 1941 will change Gwen's life forever and her understanding of what it means to love.

Don't get me wrong.... this isn't a love story. Well, okay, it is a love story but not your typical love story. This is more a story of understanding what love is, how it means different things to different people, the urges of longing and how painful the loss of love, once you have experienced it, can be. It is also a beautiful story for anyone that enjoys gardening and is a fan of Virginia Woolf, and in particular, Woolf's novel To the Lighthouse, which I admit I haven't read yet, even though it is within easy reach sitting on my bookshelf.

A beautiful, heart wrenching, and at times introspective story about love, loss and longing, set against the backdrop of World War II. One that I highly recommend.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

8lkernagh
Abr 9, 2011, 5:00 pm

April Theme Read



I love it when my favorite quote in a book appears in another review already posted here on LT. The quote is this:

"There have been heroes here, and saints and martyrs, and I want you to know that. Because that is the truth, even if no one remembers it. To look at the place, it's just a cluster of houses strung along a few roads, and a little row of brick buildings with stores in them, and a grain elevator and a water tower with Gilead written on its side, and the post office and the schools and the playing fields and the old train station, which is pretty well gone to weeds now. But what must Galilee have looked like? You can't tell so much from the appearance of a place."

Thanks akosikulot-project52!

It took me 8 days to finish this Pulitzer Prize winner, mainly because I wanted to savor it and would stop reading it to ponder a statement or thought presented in the book. I found this to be a fascinating mingling of fictional story telling with theological arguments and moral reasoning. Our narrator is the fictional Reverend John Ames. It is 1956 in Gilead, Iowa, a small "dogged little outpost in the sand hills, within striking distance of Kansas" and the Reverend, who is in his late 70's, is documenting for his young son his begets of three generations and any pearls of wisdom the Reverend hopes to pass on. The letter - or maybe it is a journal? - has a beautiful, melodious rhythm to it, at times confessional in nature, as the Reverend touches on the events that have happened in his lifetime - the droughts, the influenza outbreaks, the Depression, the three terrible wars - Civil War, World War I and World War II and his father and grandfather, both reverends.

Now, some of the theology in the book was a little over my head but I think the book, at least for me, was more about conveying a trip down memory lane and how with age and experience comes wisdom and the ability to examine earlier, younger impressions and judgments with a view that the earlier impressions may have been misguided or even harsh. The rambling nature of the narrative was comforting and inviting but I have to admit that on reflection, as much as I loved this story, I really cannot remember a lot of the points that were touched upon. I remember the argument presented regarding the 10 commandments but that is because I completely agree with it:

"There are the Ten Commandments, of course, and I know you will have been particularly aware of the Fifth Commandment, Honour your father and your mother. I draw attention to it because Six, Seven, Eight, and Nine are enforced by the criminal and civil laws and by social custom. The Tenth Commandment is unenforceable, even by oneself, even with the best will in the world, and it is violated constantly...... I believe the sin of covetise is that pang of resentment you may feel when even the people you love best have what you want and don't have."

Inward reflection and examination is an amazing ability we all posses and I felt this book was a perfect example of this. Balanced, with a perfect pitch and flow, I felt a peaceful harmony with the characters, the town of Gilead and the theological discussion that flowed from the pages like the slow flowing of molasses.

In a word: Beautiful

Rating: 4.5 Stars

9cbfiske
Abr 10, 2011, 6:41 am

This sounds like a really good one. I'll have to look for it.

10lkernagh
mayo 24, 2011, 9:58 pm

May Time Period Read: The Renaissance Period



I picked up King's biography of Filippo Brunelleschi to read about the creation of the cupola of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy. A cathedral that took 140 years to build, with over 16 of those years just to build the cupola.

The story goes to great lengths to explain the intricacies of the design, without becoming a complete snooze-fest for the architecturally naive reader, such as myself. King brings to life the time period - the feuding and political struggles of 1420 - 1436 and the limitations of both the materials at hand as well as the scientific, mathematical and architectural hurdles Brunelleschi had to overcome to build the cupola without employing centring to support the masonry. Considered one of the greatest architectural puzzles of its age, when it was finally completed in 1436 the dome was hailed as one of the great wonders of the world. To this day, it remains the highest and widest masonry dome ever built.

A goldsmith and clockmaker by profession, Brunelleschi proved to be a true Renaissance man from an architectural viewpoint, in that he managed to move architecture from its then considered low place in human achievement - an occupation of manual labor and unfit for an educated man - to one on par with the higher arts: Filippo's work at Santa Maria del Fiore set architects on a different path and gave them a new social and intellectual esteem. Largely through his looming reputation, the profession was transformed during the Renaissance from a mechanical into a liberal art, from an art that was viewed as 'common and low' to one that could be regarded as a noble occupation at the heart of the cultural endeavor.

After reading this book I really feel that some of the world's more recent great achievements are still humbled in comparison to the great feats achieved by historical visionaries like Filippo Brunelleschi. That, and I want to read Dante's Divine Comedy to see if I can see the comparison of the design of Brunelleschi's dome to that of Dante's Paradise, as King alludes to at one point in the book.

Rating: 4 Stars

11lkernagh
Jun 8, 2011, 12:49 am

June Theme: Regime Change

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly



A story that follows parallel lines between modern day and the French Revolution.

Andi Alpers is a 17-year old musical genius. Andi attends Brooklyn's most prestigious private school. A school filled with the elite of New York's privileged next generation. Two years ago a shocking event occurred that has driven Andi into a downward spiral of bad grades, clinical depression and full on attitude that her dysfunctional family life doesn't help stem. It is December. Winter break has commenced and Andi's father, discovering that Andi is failing her classes and needs to submit her graduation thesis or she will be expelled from school, takes her on his business trip to Paris to keep an eye on her and to get her to complete her thesis outline. While grudgingly in Paris, Andi comes across new information for her thesis outline and discovers a mysterious diary written by a young Parisian, Alexandrine Paradis, hidden in a secret compartment of a 200-year old guitar case. A diary written during the French Revolution.

Donnelly has a great gift for bringing history to life and she has accomplished this once again with her story of Alexandrine, the French royal family and the French Revolution. I usually enjoy books that flip between present day and the historical past, so it was no surprise that this one was easy to slide into. I enjoyed how Donnelly stitched together this time travel portal for me to enjoy both the present day and 18th century Paris. The character of Andi was grating at times - very wrapped up in her personal misery - and one that Donnelly could only offset with some caring, feeling characters or the story would have been unbalanced. Let just say she made sure there was some Ying to go with the Yang.....

My favorite quote from Revolution by one of Andi's teachers, and a quote I think sums up this novel nicely:

"History is a Rorschach test, people," she said. "What you see when you look at it is tells you as much about yourself as it does about the past."

Overall a good story but Donnelly has produced better, IMO. This one has the feel of being geared towards the YA crowd, which I am not ;-)

Rating: 4 Stars

12lkernagh
Sep 25, 2011, 2:41 pm

September 2011 Period: Ancient World

The Twice Born by Pauline Gedge



From the Book: Young Huy is sent away from his farming family to attend a prestigious school for a chance at a better life as a scribe, but a sudden accident renders him unconscious and, to all appearances, dead. When his return to life makes him a pariah, ostracized by his visions of the deaths of those around him, Huy is soon apprenticed to a priest who believes Huy’s power will enable him to interpret the Book of Thoth, and fame attracts the attention of the Pharaoh Amunhotep. Huy begins to realize that his power is not granted to him, but owns him, for he is no longer his own master. He is the King’s Man.

Pauline Gedge is a new to me author and one that a friend of mine has been raving about for the past year. When the Reading Through Time Group decided on a September theme read Ancient World, it seemed like the perfect time to give one of Gedge's books a read. This first book in a trilogy was a little daunting to pick up at 653 pages in length but I found that it was a rather quick reading, engaging story. With highly descriptive settings and ponderous reflective thoughts on the part of our protagonist, young Huy, It was easy to slid into Ancient Egypt and visualize the surroundings and inhabitants. I also enjoyed the mental puzzles Huy found himself tasked with seeking answers to while he tried to comprehend the Book of Thoth. Gedge has created an interesting character in young Huy, and captured a youth struggling to understand and fighting against his apparent destiny.

On the downside, and maybe because it is the first book in a trilogy, the story tends to lack a page-turning plot, focusing instead on setting the scene, leading me to agree with one published reviewer's comment that one is left with the feeling at the end of The Twice Born as having just finished an incredibly long prologue, with the real tale yet to begin. For this reason, and while I did find the story and the characters of great interest, it wasn't a mesmerizing page-turner for me, giving it a solid 4 star rating and not a 5.

Overall, a well researched, well written introduction to Ancient Egypt and a story that I will continue reading with book two in the trilogy, Seer of Egypt.

Rating: 4 Stars

13lkernagh
Oct 14, 2011, 11:05 pm

October Theme - The Spooky, Gothic, Horrific or the Unexplained Mysteries of History



From the book backcover: In the dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to see a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayers family for over two centuries, the once-grand house is now crumbling while all around, the world is changing. The family - elegant, widowed Mrs. Ayers, her war-damaged son Roderick, and daughter Caroline - are struggling to adjust. As Dr. Faraday becomes increasingly entwined in the Ayeres' lives, troubling events start to occur at Hundreds, and he begins to wonder if they may all be threatened by something more sinister than a dying way of life.

I picked up this book for a number of reasons: it fit the October theme read over on the Reading Through Time group, slotted nicely into my prizes category as a 2009 Booker Prize shortlist, covers off as an Orange read for October as a 2010 Orange Prize longlist and last but not least, as an introduction for me to the works of Waters as I haven't read any of her books before now.

Told from the point of view of Dr. Faraday, I loved this gothic 'atmospheric' tale of the life, family and curiously baffling events that occur at Hundreds Hall over the course of one year. The story has a beautifully slow, suspenseful build to it and watching the events unfold through Dr. Faraday's eyes with his deeply rooted scientific-based rational mind kept me reading late into the night. Not that I agreed with Dr. Faraday and his viewpoints of the events but this was one of those times where my disagreement with his assessment motivated me to read further. I felt there was a nice balance to the story with the characters, the scenery and the plot blending perfectly. Waters maintains her control over the story - some may find the story too controlled and as such, not to their liking - but I found the slow, steady, almost ploddingly build worked really well for me as a reader and added to my overall enjoyment of the story. I am now on the hunt for similar books to this one and The Thirteenth Tale, another favorite of mine.

A book I enjoyed and left behind on my trip with my sister for her to enjoy.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

14lkernagh
Editado: Nov 7, 2011, 11:03 pm

November Time Period - 1920's



Summary:
Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse explores the subjective reality of everyday life in the Hebrides for the Ramsay family. Taken from the Introduction: 'Examine for a moment an ordinary mind on an ordinary day' receiving 'a myriad impressions... let us trace the pattern... which each sight or incident scores upon the consciousness'. The back cover of my book mentions that To The Lighthouse is the most autobiographical of Virginia Woolf's novels. It is based on her own early experiences, and while it touches on childhood and children's perceptions and desires, it is at its most trenchant when exploring adult relationships, marriage and the changing class-structure of its time.

My Thoughts:
My exposure to Woolf's works are limited to this one and Mrs. Dalloway, both books written as 'streams of consciousness'. I did enjoy this one - great descriptive prose written with an artistic's eye for light, colour and presentation in a stream of consciousness style that for the most part worked well for me and really captured the essence of the time period, which if I am not mistaken was right before the start of World War I. This one also took some time to get through as Woolf crams a lot of description and meaning into the pages. With such well written prose, it was easy for me to want to just sit back and enjoy the writing and glaze over the examination Woolf presents of the human psyche. I am pretty sure I missed some of the meaning - in particular the blustering manner of Mr. Ramsay, which I am still at a loss to explain - and will keep this one on my shelf for a future re-read.

My favorite quote from the book: The spring without a leaf to toss, bare and bright like a virgin fierce in her chastity, scornful in her purity, was laid out on fields wide-eyed and watchful and entirely careless of what was done or thought by beholders.

15lkernagh
Ene 30, 2012, 1:17 pm

January Theme - Number in the Title

1953: Chronicle of a Birth Foretold by France Diagle -



I started reading this one during the work week, grabbing snatches of time to read it when I could. I soon discovered the story to be more complicated than I had originally envisioned. As I was unable to give it my full attention, I decided to set it aside for when I could start again at page one and give the book my full, undivided attention.

What an unusual story. I just don't know what to make of it. The premise sounded very promising: During a year of world-making news events - the deaths of Stalin and then Queen Mary of England, Winston Churchill being awarded the Nobel prize for literature, Elizabeth II's coronation, the United States testing of the first H-bomb, the Rosenbergs executed, etc - Baby M is born with celiac's disease in Moncton, New Brunswick.

Diagle presents her story in a very nonlinear format, choosing to create something that I can only attempt to describe as a cross between radiating circles of story telling with a variation on the Six Degrees of Separation concept. Diagle tries to connect her characters to history with things like Baby M's mother celebrating her birthday on the same day as Winston Churchill but I felt that this didn't work as well as possibly hoped. She does a better job giving the reader Baby M's mother and Nurse Vautour's impressions of the world news events as they read them in the French language Moncton newspaper l'Evangeline, which Baby M's father is the editor of.

Daigle's presentation of the various events in history during the early 1950's does make for interesting reading. Her writing style is fluid and easy to settle into, even when she decides to take the reader down unique pathways of metaphysical and philosophical reasoning or digressions into Roland Barthes's Writing Degree Zero. I haven't read Writing Degree Zero, which may be part of the problem with my understanding of this novel.

The purpose of the story - what it means to be born a writer in the middle of the twentieth century - has missed its mark with me. While I can see the literary use of Baby M, her parents and Nurse Vautour to provide a 1953 viewpoint of events, they are overshadowed by the historical, literary and philosophical discussion Diagle engages in to the point of being mere props, and minor ones at that. I could see the connection she was making at the start of the book to tie the various components of her story together, but as I continued to make my way through the book, the connections started to thin out or fail entirely.

Overall a great story I would recommend solely for the historical events of the early 1950's discussed within its pages and for a glimpse into Acadian Moncton, New Brunswick of the time period. Beyond that, I am at a loss to explain this one unless it is an attempt to show a parallel between the struggle for life of Baby M, her turning point in her health and the turning point the entire world faced, but that is grasping at straws a bit.

16lkernagh
Editado: Feb 12, 2012, 11:58 am

February Theme - The Gilded Age (1870 - 1900)

Paris Requiem by Lisa Appignanesi -



I found this psychological period thriller set in 1899 Paris to be a compelling, page-turning read. The Belle Époque period is captured well here with the worlds of American money and European titled family treating the reader to a view of the fashionable and political Paris, the morality police and Paris' seedy underbelly of brothels, white slave trade, and antiquated police techniques of racial and familial hereditary as explanations for crimes committed.

Full review here: (post 143)

Unholy Loves by Lisa Appignanesi -



Picking up 6 months after the end of Paris Requiem, and while not as good as Paris Requiem, I still found this an interesting, quick sequel to read. It left me really pondering all that goes on in the so-called quiet country-side. We also learn a great deal more about Marguerite - Appignanesi has created a very fascinating, multilayered character here - but the story had more of the formula titled manor-house heroine uncovering bodies and encountering danger instead of filling her days with needlepoint, painting and social events.

While the books are considered stand along novels, I recommend reading Paris Requiem first.

Full review here: (post 144)

17lkernagh
Feb 25, 2012, 12:40 pm

February Theme - The Gilded Age (1870 - 1900)

Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey -



I was hoping for more when I picked up this historical YA fiction set in 1872 England. This might be a fun read for anyone looking for a light period piece with elements of formal dress balls, country estates, the peerage, ghosts and rigged seances but beyond that, I wouldn't get your hopes up for a gripping or page turning story.

Full review here: (post 179)

18lkernagh
Mar 3, 2012, 1:50 am

March Theme - Medicine/Healing

The Making of Modern Medicine by Michael Bliss



The Making of Modern Medicine is a Canadian medical historian's view seen through Michael Bliss' eye and extensive research of what he sees as some of the key medical turning points in the transformation of medical care - having patients discard fatalism and a religious acceptance of medical suffering to believe or develop some faith in health care and the capacity of doctors to treat disease. Centered on the time period of 1885 - 1922 in North America, Bliss presents readers to the shift in modern medicine from a physicians' helplessness in the face of an epidemic disease towards medical researchers' abilities to wage war against the ravages of disease.

To communicate this transition from fatalism to what he calls mastery, Bliss focuses on three points: the devastating smallpox epidemic in Montreal of 1885/1886, the movement in America for educational reform in medicine and the establishment of prominent medical schools, and the discovery of insulin in Toronto in 1922 by Fred Banting, Charles Best and James Collip.

Overall, a good introduction for anyone with an interest in the development of modern medicine in North America during the time period. Now if only they could have chosen a better cover.....

Full review here: (post 198)

19lkernagh
Editado: Abr 28, 2012, 4:03 pm

April Time Period - Medieval Times (500 AD to 1500 AD)

Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon -



I had such fun with this one! Chabon's rollicking adventure involving two unlikely companions of what we will categorize as a carefree existence over 1000 years ago in the Caucasus Mountains. These 'Gentlemen of the Road' find themselves enlisted into service as escorts and defenders to prince Filaq of the Khazar Empire, an ill tempered young royal usurped by an Uncle and determined to regain the throne. The story reminded me in many ways of the great adventures of Alexandre Dumas and the Captain Alatriste series by Arturo Pérez-Reverte - great sword wielding action through exotic, historical lands.

I enjoyed the rich language the story is conveyed in although I do have a quibble with some of the digressions the story took. The mystique of the of the Silk Road is a great backdrop for a story of this scope.

Overall, A fun, quick tale with wry banter and descriptive language to escape from our world into a world of the past.

Full review here: (post 54)

20lkernagh
mayo 16, 2012, 12:21 am

May Theme - Historical Mystery/Crime

The Technologists by Matthew Pearl - audiobook narrated by Stephen Hoye -



"Technology is the dignity that man can achieve by bettering himself and his society."
My introduction to the works of Matthew Pearl was an entertaining one that put an adventuresome spring in my step as I listened to it over the past two weeks during my daily walking commute to and from work and various walking errands.

Pearl's historical mystery/thriller, set predominately in 1868 Boston Massachusetts, is atmospheric in capturing the time period. While this story could have been written with a dark, sinister feel to it, Pearl has created a somewhat more lighthearted mystery/thriller by having his self-appointed investigators of these unusual occurrences to be a collegiate group of young adults attending the new Institute of Technology, known today as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a historical mystery fan I loved how Pearl balanced his story - just the right amount of mystery and suspense to keep me guessing while allowing me the breather to sit back and get to know the characters and Boston of the time period.

Overall, a solid historical mystery piece that has convinced me to give more of Pearl's works a go.

Full review here: (review here - post 92)

21Samantha_kathy
mayo 16, 2012, 2:38 am

The Technologists sounds like fun. Is it a stand-alone book or part of a series?

22lkernagh
mayo 16, 2012, 8:50 am

As far as I can tell it is a stand alone.

23Samantha_kathy
mayo 17, 2012, 1:11 pm

Oh, that's great! I simply cannot afford to add another series to my TBR list. One more book, now that fits ;).

24cbl_tn
mayo 18, 2012, 6:40 pm

There is a sort of prequel to The Technologists available as a Kindle short story - The Professor's Assassin. I read a review e-galley earlier this year. It's based on a real murder at the University of Virginia in 1840.

25lkernagh
mayo 25, 2012, 8:03 pm

> 24 - Good to know. Thanks!

26lkernagh
Dic 23, 2012, 11:45 am

Good Grief - I haven't been back here since May!

*runs around dusting and polishing the thead.*

I am hoping to get around to reading a Victorian themed book for the December theme read - I have Louis Bayard's Mr. Timothy currently out from the library - but not making any promises here.

While the Victoria I live is expected to have its usual wet, as opposed to white Christmas, here is my idea of a Victorian themed Christmas and my holiday greeting for everyone here:



image courtesy of Scrapsplanet

27Roro8
Dic 26, 2012, 6:01 pm

Your image is beautiful. Definitely a Victorian style Christmas image. My Christmas was very warm and included a trip to the beach!

28lkernagh
Dic 31, 2012, 12:40 am

December Theme - Victorian Era

Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard -



As far as historical mystery fictions go, this one is a gem of a story. 1860 London, England and its people come to life under Bayard's pen. Timothy is an intriguing character and I do like how Bayard has given Timothy ghosts of his own to face, chase through passageways and mentally write letters to. The plot is intricate, and rolls along at a fast pace with some hair-raising moments. To add to the fun, Bayard inserts one or two surprises for the reader, and yes, Ebenezer Scrooge - "Uncle N" - is here, reprising his role from Dicken's famous story. As Uncle N says to Timothy, when discussing the topic of ghosts: "I used to see spirits, too, Tim. Terrible things. How I miss them."

Overall, a very good story I would recommend for readers of historical mysteries that enjoy books set in Victorian London.

29cmbohn
Ene 2, 2013, 2:00 pm

This sounds really good. What are you planning for January?

30lkernagh
Ene 2, 2013, 11:39 pm

I am still trying to figure out what to read for January. I am hoping to dig through my TBR pile this weekend to see if I have something, otherwise I will be making a trip to the library!

31lkernagh
Feb 17, 2013, 1:28 pm

Well, I never managed to read a book for January but surprised myself by inadvertently reading on for the February Theme!

February Theme - Civil Rights

Riding the Bus With My Sister by Rachel Simon -



Riding the Bus With My Sister is a memoir that grew out of a request made by Beth, Rachel's sister. Beth is a woman in her late 30's, born with mental disabilities and spends her days - and schedules her life around - riding the buses in her Pennsylvania city. What started out as a one day adventure for Rachel to write an article for a newspaper about Beth's bus riding became, at Beth's request, a 12 month journey, a few days a month, where Rachel would put her busy -and empty - life schedule on hold to visit Beth and ride the buses with her.

An interesting and different type of memoir containing some good life lessons. Overall, I am glad I pulled this one off the shelf and finally got around to reading it. (review here - post 82)

32lkernagh
Sep 1, 2013, 2:40 pm

August Theme - Communications

Mary Todd Lincoln: Her Life and Letters by Mary Todd Lincoln, Justin Turner and Linda Levitt Turner -



I purchased this rather large tome last year as a perfect fit for my Epistolary category and because I was interested in what I might learn about this enigmatic woman who seemed to generate such polarizing views in people of her time period. Was Mary Lincoln a woman with psychological issues who probably would have received proper diagnosis and treatment in today's world or was she just a strong, opinionated woman who frequently exhibited the bad taste to make herself forward and conspicuous, a trait frowned upon by society and social customs of the time period?

Overall, this was at times a fascinating read into the thinking and behavior patterns of Mary Lincoln. So why only 3 stars, you might ask? Well, for one, it was rather long-winded. The Turners choose to provide as complete a collection as possible based on the letters still available that they were able to gain permission to publish in this book, but some of it really would only fascinate a reader seeking even the most minutiae detail of Mary's life. The book also lacks a completeness in that it only consists of the letters written by Mary Lincoln. There are no letters written to Mary Lincoln in the book, leaving this reader unsatisfied with its one-sided correspondence. I did learn a lot about Mary Lincoln.... enough to have no desire to seek out further books written about her, not right away, anyways.

Full review can be found on the book page or (here)

33lkernagh
Oct 19, 2013, 9:41 pm

October Theme - Biography

Crazy Rich: Power, Scandal, and Tragedy Inside the Johnson & Johnson Dynasty by Jerry Oppenheimer -



After reaching the 200 page mark and only seeing more same-old, same-old (this family really is a stuck record of broken marriages, drinking, drugs, extravagance, conniving, weirdness and tragedy) I pretty much skim read the remaining 252 pages.

What did I glean from this one? That Robert Wood Johnson, the founder of the company that we all now know as Johnson & Johnson, and his two brothers, were sharp entrepreneurs and that no family member has been involved in the running of Johnson & Johnson in any substantial way since "the General", Robert's son, died in 1968.

While this probably is a good and well researched expose biography, I was hoping to read more about the company, its earlier product lines and its success story. If you are looking for that kind of a read, you will have to look elsewhere.

This book may appear more to readers that like to read the gossip of a rich family or has a greater interest in some of the various players, political and otherwise, that are mentioned in this one... it just didn't do it for me.

Full review on the book page and here

34lkernagh
Nov 20, 2013, 9:58 am

November Time Period: World War II
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters -



The Night Watch is a bit of a strange book. The majority of the story takes place in 1944 and while it tends to jump around from character to character, this section wasn't as confusing to read as the 1947 section was. The end of the story takes one final leap back in time to 1941.

While Waters did not manage to answer all of my questions with her backward framing of history method of story telling, nor did she lead me to care deeply for any of the characters besides Kay, she has masterfully captured the sights, sounds and overall experience of wartime London during the bombing raids. That alone made this one worth the effort to read and managed to capture my waning interest in the book. While I wasn't as taken with this one as I was with The Little Stranger, I can appreciate Waters' skill in drawing the reader in to experience the story, just read it.

Full review here

35lkernagh
Editado: Ene 26, 2018, 2:21 pm

January 2018 theme - Cold


The Siege by Helen Dunmore
Challenge(s): 2018 Category, RTT, ROOT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: "Longtime TBR" - 2012
Category: "H" Author - Helen
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2001
Acquisition date: May 12, 2012
Page count: 304 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.15 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book back cover:
Leningrad, September 1941. Hitler orders German forces to surround the city at the start of the most dangerous, desperate winter in its history. For two pairs of lovers - young Anna and Andrei, Anna's novelist father and actress Marina - the siege becomes a battle for survival. They will soon discover what it is like to be so hungry that you boil shoe leather to make soup, so cold you burn furniture and books. But this is not just a struggle to exist, it is also a fight to keep the spark of hope alive...
Review:
Having read previous books with the siege of Leningrad as the setting, I was curious to see if this was going to be another "scrabble for survival" story. The characters are well drawn. Even though this is a survival story, what Dunmore has done that I find unique is she makes this a story of the senses for the reader to experience - the bitter sharpness of cold, the syrupy sweetness of homemade jam, the iron hardness of a frozen, dead body, the deafening silence of empty streets, the muffling of a heavy snowfall, the iron tang of nutrient-rich soil. This is more than just a literary experience. Dunmore also conveys a strong feeling of isolation, even though the city is far from being underpopulated. Baser human survival instincts of a siege population are captured beautifully. While capturing the desperation as the siege continues, Dunmore still manages to convey a glimmer of hope, a will to go one for one more day. Dunmore does not sugar-coat the ravages of the siege, but she also does not fixate on the gruesome details as one might... those details are conveyed as just part of the background setting, where walking past a dead body becomes the norm, just like walking past a rock or a tree.

Overall, a well written story of human endurance through the hardships of a city under siege.

36lkernagh
Editado: Mar 31, 2018, 7:52 pm

January - March 2018 Time Period - 19th Century Europe


Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - audiobook narrated by Simon Vance
Challenge(s): 2018 Category, RTT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: "Published > 100 Years"
Category: "C" Author - Charles
Source: Hoopla
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1838-1839 in serial format
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 864 pages / 31 hours, 21 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.80 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from various sources:
"Nicholas Nickleby" is Charles Dickens's gripping story about a boy's struggle to survive and find happiness in a hostile and unfeeling world. After Nicholas' father dies and leaves the family penniless, the Nickleby family moves to London to stay with their Uncle Ralph, only to have the uncle turn abusive and separate the family. As Nicholas attempts to build a new and unconventional family, he experiences a series of life's trials, where he is helped and hindered by a host of colorful characters, from his ruthless uncle to the hilarious and theatrical Crummles family and the cruel-hearted Wackford Squeers.
Review:
My favorite Dickens read so far. Never thought I would find one that would surpass Great Expectations, but this one did. While Dickens continues to bring forth, in vivid strokes, the bleak and terrible realities of his time period, there is a vibrancy of melodrama - and a bit of a carnival spirit - that gives this story a more lighthearted feel. While I have only scratched the surface of Dickens' writings, I find that he has a flair for creating some rather interesting characters. As much as I despise Ralph Nickleby, his fierce and calculating business mind is something to marvel at. Mrs. Nickleby comes across as a bit of an aristocratic "ditzy" woman but even she makes the odd observation that made me hit rewind once or twice.

Overall, one of the better Dickens reads for me - and redeems Dickens in view of how much I despised Bleak House - giving me the incentive to consider reading more of Dickens works.

37Tess_W
Editado: Ene 27, 2018, 1:54 pm

>36 lkernagh: The pinnacle for Dickens for me was Bleak House followed by Great Expectations. I've read 6-7 others but not Nickelby. I'll put it on my list.

38cmbohn
Ene 27, 2018, 2:06 pm

David Copperfield is my favorite Dickens. I tried NN a few years ago but couldn't get into it. I've read opposing reviews so I can't decide if I want to give it another try.

39lkernagh
Mar 31, 2018, 7:51 pm

Sorry for the delay in responding!

>37 Tess_W: - I love how different readers have different opinions of the best Dickens reads. I have to admit, Bleak House drove me to frustrating distraction, maybe because of the convoluted weave to the tale.... I don't know. Not my fav but I have a lot of other Dickens reads to work through, so who knows, it could move its way up the pack. ;-)

>38 cmbohn: - I have never read David Copperfield. Might consider tackling it as my "once a year classic chunkster read".

40lkernagh
Editado: Mar 31, 2018, 8:11 pm

January - March 2018 Time Period - 19th Century Europe:


Mr. Darwin's Shooter by Roger MacDonald
Challenge(s): 2018 Category, ROOT, RTT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: "Famous Person in Title" - Charles Darwin
Category: "S" Book Title - Shooter
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: 1998
Acquisition date: May 16, 2010
Page count: 384 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book back cover:
"During the historic voyage of the Beagle, Charles Dawrin wrote to his sister, "My servant is an odd sort of person. I do not very much like him; but he is, perhaps from his very oddity, very well adapted to my purposes." In this richly detailed novel based on the life of Syms Covington, Darwin's hardworking shipboard assistant and later his house-servant, Roger MacDonald shines a light on a man forgotten by history, capturing the excitement of the voyage on the Beagle and brilliantly illuminating the scientific, religious, and social controversies that exploded around Darwin's watershed theories."
Review:
I am always fascinated about "the unsung heroes" for some of history's really big developments. MacDonald chooses the perfect person to focus on when he decides to write a fictional account of the life, thoughts, feelings and emotions of an individual who by today's standards would have been considered a co-contributor to Darwin's naturalist work and the creation of his "Origin of the Species" thesis. On one level, this is a full on adventure story of what it might have been like for a 19th century young lad with no work prospects at home to embark on a seafaring life, and what a seafaring life MacDonald portrays! On a different level, this story is about the unique friendship that grows between a much older Covington - being forced to give up his seafaring ways - and the young American raised, Australian based doctor MacCracken. If that is not enough, the story even dips into the realm of conflicting views as the older Covington, of the Congregationalist religious persuasion, grapples with the overarching concepts contained in Darwin's newly released Origins of the Species and how they are at odds with his religious beliefs.

Well the story presents a rich tapestry of the historical time period, and I love the idea of being able to visit such pristine places like the Galapagos in the 19th century through the story, I have to admit that it took me two months to read this one. I just never felt connected to the story, the characters or their situations. That being said, I do want to see if I can find the book referenced in the story of the Beagle's historic journey, and now have a renewed interest to read The Origins of the Species, so some good did come out of reading this one.

41lkernagh
Abr 9, 2018, 8:36 pm

April to June Time Period - 19th Century North America:


The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay - audiobook read by Stina Nielsen
Challenge(s): 2018 Category, RTT, ROOT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: N/A
Category: “V” Book Title - Virgin
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / audiobook
Original publication date: 2011
Acquisition date: May 10, 2014
Page count: 368 pages / 10 hours, 15 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.90 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the book inside fly cover:
"I am Moth, a girl from the lowest part of Chrystie Street, born to a slum-house mystic and the man who broke her heart."

So begins a story set in the tenements of lower Manhattan in the year 1871. Betrayals and abandonment lead young Moth to the Bowery, a world filled with house-thieves, pickpockets, beggars, sideshow freaks, and prostitutes. Eventually she meets Miss Everett, the owner of a type of establishment simply known as an "infant school" that caters to gentlemen who pay dearly for companions, the most desireable of which are young virgins like Moth. As Moth finds her way through this wild and murky thorough-fare, her new friends are falling prey to the myth of the "virgin cure" - that deflowering a young girl can heal the incurable and tainted. Moth knows that the law will not protect her and polite society ignores her, but still she dreams of answering to no one but herself, regardless of the cost."
Review:
McKay continues to make use of a writing style – a story interspersed with letters, newspaper clippings and journal entries – that worked in The Birth House, McKay’s debut novel. She mixes things up a bit this time with a change in venue. Instead of an isolated community, McKay transports the reader to the mean streets of Manhattan’s Lower East Side around the Bowery circa 1871. Basically, the 1870s was one very grim time period to live in with its hopeless state of female employment, so not surprising that the risky prostitution trade like Miss Everett’s “Infant School” - a brothel that certifies its girls are virgo intacto to gentlemen with deep pockets of cash - actually looks like a better situation to Moth than most other options available to her (like the workhouses or going to live in a charity boarding house).

The curious sidebars, illustrations, old apothecary ads, excerpts from newspapers and Dr. Sadie Frost’s observations (which are based upon the author’s own great-great-great grandmother’s experiences as one of the first female physicians) go a long way to make this a fascinating historical fiction read for this reader. I should point out that McKay’s stories are more about emersion into a time period, focusing attention on certain themes/issues than any type of plot-driven story. That being said, Moth flits between naïve innocence one would expect from a child of 12-years and “wisdom beyond her years” slum life has given her making her at times a rather conflicted character. Also, as good as McKay is at giving me a fascinating page-turning read, her endings tend to come across as a little too abrupt.

Overall, an interesting read set in post Civil War New York City with 19th century themes such as poverty, prostitution, gender roles, and sexuality.

42lkernagh
mayo 22, 2018, 11:09 pm

May 2018 theme - Southeast Asia


The Fire by Night by Teresa Messineo
Challenge(s): 2018 Category, RTT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: "Pacific Ocean related"
Category: "T" Author - Teresa
Source: TBR
Format: eBook
Original publication date: 2017
Acquisition date: February 22, 2018
Page count: 311 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.10 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing web page:
"In war-torn France, Jo McMahon, an Italian-Irish girl from the tenements of Brooklyn, tends to six seriously wounded soldiers in a makeshift medical unit. Enemy bombs have destroyed her hospital convoy, and now Jo singlehandedly struggles to keep her patients and herself alive in a cramped and freezing tent close to German troops. There is a growing tenderness between her and one of her patients, a Scottish officer, but Jo’s heart is seared by the pain of all she has lost and seen. Nearing her breaking point, she fights to hold on to joyful memories of the past, to the times she shared with her best friend, Kay, whom she met in nursing school. Half a world away in the Pacific, Kay is trapped in a squalid Japanese POW camp in Manila, one of thousands of Allied men, women, and children whose fates rest in the hands of a sadistic enemy. Far from the familiar safety of the small Pennsylvania coal town of her childhood, Kay clings to memories of her happy days posted in Hawaii, and the handsome flyer who swept her off her feet in the weeks before Pearl Harbor. Surrounded by cruelty and death, Kay battles to maintain her sanity and save lives as best she can . . . and live to see her beloved friend Jo once more. When the conflict at last comes to an end, Jo and Kay discover that to achieve their own peace, they must find their place—and the hope of love—in a world that’s forever changed. With rich, superbly researched detail, Teresa Messineo’s thrilling novel brings to life the pain and uncertainty of war and the sustaining power of love and friendship, and illuminates the lives of the women who risked everything to save others during a horrifying time."
Review:
I tend to approach war stories with some trepidation. Sometimes the graphic descriptions can be overwhelming. Messineo’s story, focusing on two military nurses who find themselves right in the firing lines, give this WWII storyline a fresh angle. For me, Messineo’s story is more about finding the humanity in a sea of violence and inhumanity, than the war itself. It is also a story of the emotional side effects of war and how nurses serving in the war were just as susceptible as the soldiers to suffering shell shock and PTSD. Even though the story has more of an intimate focus, Messineo does not sugar coat the violence of wartime. She depicts the European (France, Italy) and Pacific (Pearl Harbour, Philippines) fronts lucidly and graphically. Messineo relentlessly pushes the intensity as both Jo and Kay try to hold onto their sanity as the nightmare of war surrounds them. Interestingly, even though the chapters flip back and forth between Jo and Kay, the story is written in the third person, giving it more of a steam-of-consciousness feel. This worked well for me as Messineo it helps to give a more even feel to the story.

From field hospitals to internment camps, Messineo manages to strike the right balance here. While I was expecting a story with less intensity – some of the descriptions are very powerful! – I ended up really appreciating Messineo’s extensive research and her ability to create such realistic characters in Jo and Kay.

43lkernagh
mayo 26, 2018, 1:34 am

May 2018 theme - Southeast Asia


The Time In Between by David Bergen
Challenge(s): 2018 Category, ROOT, RTT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: N/A
Category: "I" Book Title - In
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperbook
Original publication date: 2005
Acquisition date: May 15, 2011
Page count: 288 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.90 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing web page:
"In search of love, absolution, or forgiveness, Charles Boatman leaves the Fraser Valley of British Columbia and returns mysteriously to Vietnam, the country where he fought twenty-nine years earlier as a young, reluctant soldier. But his new encounters seem irreconcilable with his memories. When he disappears, his daughter Ada, and her brother, Jon, travel to Vietnam, to the streets of Danang and beyond, to search for him. Their quest takes them into the heart of a country that is at once incomprehensible, impassive, and beautiful. Chasing her father’s shadow for weeks, following slim leads, Ada feels increasingly hopeless. Yet while Jon slips into the urban nightlife to avoid what he most fears, Ada finds herself growing closer to her missing father — and strong enough to forgive him and bear the heartbreaking truth of his long-kept secret."
Review:
You would think I would have learned, back in 2010 when I read The Matter with Morris, that Bergen and I might not see eye to eye on what makes for an engaging read, but to judge an author after reading just one book – and considering his works keep making the Giller award lists, with this one winning the Giller Prize in 2005 – seemed a bit unfair of me, so I decided to give him another chance to captivate me.

At a basic level, this is a story about Vietnam. From that perspective, the descriptions of Vietnam are beautiful. The writing is lyrical, almost poetic. There is watery haziness or dreamlike quality to the story, muting the sensory impact for the reader. Through Charles and his tortured soul, Bergen ambitiously tackles a hard subject: the psychological impact the Vietnam war has had on veterans and their families. While I found it easy to connect with Charles and understand his search for atonement - something that Vietnam in this story was unable to give him - the other characters came across as mere caricatures of personalities. I felt no emotion for Ada, Jon or the Douds. I found it odd how Ada comes to meet the people her father had encountered in Vietnam before going missing... that is all just way too convenient for any plausibility. While the purpose of Ada and Jon’s trip to Vietnam is to search for their missing father, they seem to drift aimlessly through the days and weeks, more tourists absorbing the local atmosphere than active searchers for their missing father. Ada in particular is an odd character, who seems to be, unknowingly to her, engaging in her own personal search for a broader connection and meaning. As one reviewer has stated, “ Both (Charles and Ada) are wandering, helpless and aimless, through a quagmire of painful feelings, anxiously groping toward a resolution that so often seems impossible.”

As mentioned above, the writing is exquisite and I do tend to like introspective novels. Even though Bergen has done an excellent job to try and explain the legacy of Vietnam, his characters and the random situations that absorb their time in Vietam leads me to believe that he and I just do not seem to be on the same page when it comes to what works to engage a reader like me.

44lkernagh
Sep 8, 2018, 1:23 pm

July to September 2018 Quarterly Theme: The Old West


Effigy by Alissa York
Challenge(s): 2018 Category, ROOT, RTT
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG:N/A
Category: "Y" Author - York
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2007
Acquisition date: December 7, 2014
Page count: 448 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
"Dorrie, a shock-pale child with a mass of untameable black hair, cannot recall anything of her life before she recovered from an illness at seven. A solitary child, she spends her spare time learning the art of taxidermy, completely fascinated by the act of bringing new and eternal life to the bodies of the dead. At fourteen, her parents marry her off to Erastus Hammer, a polygamous horse breeder and renowned hunter, who does not want to bed her. The role he has in mind for his fourth and youngest wife is creator of trophies of his most impressive kills, an urgent desire in him as he is slowly going blind. Happy to be given this work, Dorrie secludes herself in her workshop, away from Mother Hammer’s watchful eyes and the rivalry between the elder wives.

But as the novel opens, Hammer has brought Dorrie his latest kills, a family of wolves, and for the first time in her short life she struggles with her craft, dreaming each night of crows and strange scenes of violence. The new hand, Bendy Drown, is the only one to see her dilemma and to offer her help, a dangerous game in a Mormon household. Outside, a lone wolf prowls the grounds looking for his lost pack, and his nighttime searching will unearth the tensions and secrets of this complicated and conflicted family."
Full Review:
Set on a Mormon ranch in 19th century Utah, this multi-faceted, vignette-styled story is a dense, complicated and rewarding read, at least for this reader. Inspired by the real events of the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857, York's story is a complicated weave of the hard scrabble of western settlement, the harm inflicted through religious righteousness, and the impact of settlement on the lives of the original people of the land. Dense topics are wound through this story that, at is center, is a story of a polygamous family. As York passes the narrator baton from character to character - including Dorrie's mom in the form of letters written to her daughter and a raven/crow that haunts Dorrie's dreams - we come to learn the horrifying details of the 1857 massacre and uncover various secrets each character conceals.

Personally, I loved this story for its evocative, lyrical style and the depth to which York bears open her characters. Yes, with the story continually shifting between 10 narrators, it never settles for too long on one character or point of view. Thankfully, York gives her characters very unique personalities and passions, making them memorable. The story also conveys a fair bit of detail about taxidermy, raising silkworms and horse breeding. If that is not enough, the details about the Hammer ranch hand John James "Bendy" Drown's experiences as an abandoned child in gold-rush era San Francisco to contortionist with a traveling circus and then rider with the Pony Express, while fascinating - left this reader wondering if York was trying to cram too much into one story. Sadly, the ending came off rather rushed and left me unsatisfied after such a brilliant lead up. I can see why this book was a finalist (but not winner) for the 2007 Giller Prize.

Overall, a well researched and beautifully written story that, while complicated and at times dense with information, gives a very evocative experience of 19th century Utah ranch life.

45lkernagh
Sep 24, 2018, 8:59 pm

September 2018 Theme - Let's Have a Drink!


Ablutions by Patrick DeWitt
Challenge(s): 2018 Category, ROOT, RTT
CAT/KIT: ColourCAT - Metallic
Bingo DOG:N/A
Category: Original Publication Year - 2009
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2009
Acquisition date: November 26, 2014
Page count: 176 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.95 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
"A nameless barman tends a decaying bar in Hollywood and takes notes for a book about his clientele. Initially, he is morbidly amused by watching the regulars roll in and fall into their nightly oblivion, pitying them and their loneliness. In hopes of uncovering their secrets and motives, he establishes tentative friendships with them. He also knocks back pills indiscriminately and treats himself to gallons of Jameson's. But as his tenure at the bar continues, he begins to lose himself, trapped by addiction and indecision. When his wife leaves him, he embarks on a series of squalidly random sexual encounters and a downward spiral of self-damage and irrational violence. To cleanse himself and save his soul, he attempts to escape . . . "
Review:
DeWitt’s debut novel is a fascinating – and depressing - slide into addiction and self-loathing. If it is true that DeWitt’s resume of past employment includes six years bartending, that may explain the eerie realism that permeates this story. Told in second person narration, the story is a series of connected vignettes…. random descriptions of people and events being complied as material for a future novel by our narrator. I tend to love this more epistolary style of writing, even if it might not work for all readers.

The descriptions of the dank interior of the bar (think seedy dive bar in the wrong part of town), its flawed staff, the down and out ‘regulars’from teh fringes of society, the senseless acts of violence (and the just 'bad' random sex) coupled with the downward spiral of addiction (both alcohol and narcotics) are all perfect fodder for the dark, biting and off-colour humour DeWitt is known for with his award-winning story Sisters Brothers. While the majority of the "story" is focused in the dive bar and neighbourhood of Hollywood, the middle part of the story involves our narrator embarking on a driving journey/adventure that takes him into Arizona. Even though the mission is to “dry out”, our narrator’s tour has its expected results: more bars, more fights and more damage.

One might wonder just what is so fascinating about a book filled with flawed characters, drugs and alcohol? It all comes down to DeWitt’s skill as a writer. Through the vignettes, we get to see our narrator flow through a series of stages: new employee innocence to disenfranchised, light inebriation to a perpetual, hazy insulation by drugs and alcohol. One reviewer has described our narrator perfectly as being ”akin to a medieval idiot saint, wandering through a world of violence and pain with drunken equanimity.”

Overall, a quick and interesting read if you are prepared for the level of personal degradation the characters voluntarily sink into as the story progresses. A tantalizing blend of dark comedy laced with a dash of horrific realism. On a personal note, I preferred this story over Sisters Brothers.

46Manpower07
Sep 26, 2018, 2:23 am

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