The Worst Hard Time - Review

The topic matter - the Dust Bowl - is fascinating.  The author's style of writing, however, is not optimal.  

The more I read, the more frustrated I became with what I found to be structurally deficient sentences.  I also read the book like a soap opera.  In other words, one aspect of the plot was stretched into thirty pages when it could've been expressed in three.

Unfortunately, this made for an unenjoyable read.  I confess that I skimmed the end of the book because I couldn't bring myself to read another wall of words.  That being said, I did enjoy the personal anecdotes interspersed amongst the dense facts.

I dog-eared a particular quote, which I think sums up the tragedy of the Dust Bowl:

"Of all the countries in the world, we Americans have been the greatest destroyers of land of any race of people barbaric or civilized," Bennett (Hugh) said in a speech at the start of the dust storms.  What was happening, he said, was "sinister," a symptom of "our stupendous ignorance."  (Egan, 2006, p. 125)

The Monster of Florence - Review

What a riveting read!  All I've got to say is, don't ever get in trouble in Italy because innocent or guilty, there might not be any justice for you.

I'm not usually into crime dramas but I stumbled upon this and I'm glad I did.  It's a fascinating look into a string of killings that took place mostly in the 1980s in the Tuscan countryside.  It's a real case that remains unsolved to this day.

As interesting as the actual investigative work of the two writers is, I found that I was even more intrigued by their critiques of the Italian judicial system.  Scarier than the killings and the intimate mutilations of the victims was delving into the incompetence of the police, prosecutors, judges, etc.  I literally rolled my eyes dozens of times.  It's incredulous that a system of justice can function on hearsay, mythology, and pure imagination.  The corruption, the egos, the complete disregard for the truth is absurd and disturbing.

The Casual Vacancy - Review

I've heard so many mixed reviews of this book that I was anxious to read it and make my own determination.

I loved it.  LOVED it.  It's not the kind of book that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. In fact, it focuses on the darker parts of humanity and society.  That being said, it's masterfully written and the characters are expertly developed.  J.K. Rowling has a real gift.

I never read the Harry Potter books.  I had many friends who were obsessed with the series but I just couldn't get into it.  I tend to think that people who are true-blue fans of HP are the ones who are most critical of The Casual Vacancy.  It's akin to people rejecting a widely admired child star who later pursues edgy and adult roles.

The Casual Vacancy has rape, incest, drug-use, abuse, profanity and any other mildly or not so mildly offensive things you can conjure.  But I feel like it has a very important message.  And the message is this: as a member of a community, you have a responsibility to it and its other members.  As a collective, you must take care of one another regardless of your individual differences.

The Casual Vacancy is a case study of one very small English town but it's a representation of every town in the world.  It's where people live alongside one another and look the other way when they see someone in desperate need.  It's where people stick their noses in the air and turn away because it's not their problem.  It's where people want to cut off those less fortunate because their problems might contaminate the seemingly problem-free.

No one in the The Casual Vacancy was particularly attractive.  J.K. Rowling seemed to focus more on her characters' flaws than virtues.  But everyone was unabashedly and unapologetically human and that made for a juicy read.  

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Review

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is a lovely, heart-warming/wrenching read.

Harold Fry embarks on a trek to save a former colleague.  Queenie Hennessy has terminal cancer but that doesn't stop Harold from walking 600+ miles to bolster her.  It's also very much about Harold and his wife, Maureen, bridging their divide, even as he moves farther away with every step he takes.

This book is powerful in so many ways.  It's really a commentary about life, the people we meet, regret, etc.  I dog-eared a specific passage that really touched me and I think, sums up the human condition:

"He had learned that it was the smallness of people that filled him with wonder and tenderness, and the loneliness of that too.  The world was made up of people putting one foot in front of the other; and a life might appear ordinary simply because the person living it had been doing so for a long time.  Harold could no longer pass a stranger without acknowledging the truth that everyone was the same, and also unique; and that this was the dilemma of being human." (Joyce, 2012, p. 158)

Where'd You Go, Bernadette - Review

I can't remember the last time I read something SO delightful, entertaining, and fun!  I loved this book!

Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a book partially written and compiled by Bee, Bernadette's precocious daughter.  Most of the story is told through a series of letters, faxes, e-mails, articles, and other documents pertinent to everyday life.  What a creative way for the author to convey a story and add layers to her characters.

Bernadette is a creative genius who is burdened by the crushing weight of an incident that occurred 15-20 years earlier.  She's turned into a sarcastic and bitter woman who manages to go through the motions of life but only if she can verbally cut down those worthy of her ridicule - everyone.  She constantly bemoans life in Seattle, the way people drive, the way people dress, the over-involved and obnoxious moms at her daughter's private school, etc. She sounds insufferable but she's hilarious and frankly, I couldn't help but relate to everything she said and did!

It's true that not everyone she "victimizes" is deserving of their punishment but most of them are.  How are the parents at her daughter's school any better than Bernadette if they feel justified in guilt-tripping and bullying her into volunteering, fundraising, and chaperoning because that's the "normal" thing to do?  Being normal is overrated.

Despite these "flaws" Bernadette is a highly engaged and loving mother to Bee.  In her words, Bee is her greatest creation.  While 100% committed to her role as a mother, Bernadette has neglected her marriage.  Her husband, Elgie, equally to blame, continues to spend more and more time devoted to his endeavors at Microsoft to avoid Bernadette's rants about anyone and anything.

Bernadette is a little lost but I get her and I'm glad she finds her way back while still maintaining that biting sense of humor.

Incendiary - Review

While I was waiting for the library to get its act together (I had two books on hold that were "in transit" for a week) I perused my book shelf for something I hadn't yet read.  I stumbled upon Incendiary, a book I purchased from Borders.  It was a store-closing sale, in fact. Anyway, what did I think of it?

There's a lot to think actually.  It was a very easy and quick read and the protagonist, an unnamed female, was extremely likeable and relatable despite her obvious flaws - infidelity and crippling anxiety.  I felt sympathy for this woman even though she was committing adultery while her husband and son were being blown to pieces by a terrorist attack at a football (soccer for us Americans) game.

The entire story is told through a letter intended for Osama bin Laden.  The woman is telling Osama about her life in the aftermath of this horrific tragedy while also appealing to him as a human.  She claims to understand him and his actions but also beseeches him to choose love instead of hate.

In some ways, it's a hard book to read because the woman becomes increasingly unstable and mentally unhinged.  She also suffers from bad judgement and can't seem to extricate herself from toxic associates who only magnify her misery.  She's a survivor and she tries very hard to carry on and even move on but she's weighed down by this event which also simultaneously weighs down London society.

I have a feeling that the author was making a commentary about Western civilization's response to terrorist attacks.  Security is ramped up, freedoms are stifled, paranoia rules and the actual root of the problem is ignored and swept under the rug.  No one asks or tries to answer why.

All in all, very interesting but also kind of heart-breaking.  

The Middlesteins - Review

I didn't find The Middlesteins to be a particularly enjoyable read.  I found the majority of the characters to be unlikeable but not entirely unrelatable.  In fact, that's probably what has me on the fence.

Part of what I enjoy about reading is escaping into another world.  Unfortunately, much of The Middlesteins was very life-like for me.  Reading it paralleled my experience of watching The Guilt Trip.  My husband thought the duo of overbearing mother and perpetually guilty son was hilarious but for me, having grown up in a partly Jewish family (the significant half), it was anxiety-inducing.  Believe me, that shit isn't entertaining when you're living it. So in that sense, much of the book was uncomfortably familiar.

On another level, it was uncomfortable to read because the matriarch of the Middlestein family, Edie, is obese and her obsession with food and her family's obsession with her obsession with food is tragic and I feel, culturally-linked.  As I mentioned, growing up in a partially Jewish family, I've always had an unhealthy relationship with food.  It's been a comfort and it's been a punishment.  There's always an overabundance of food at family gatherings and it's repeatedly offered, as in, even after you've declined it two or three times.  You eventually succumb because it's more annoying to be told to eat than to actually eat.  And then, as a follow-up to all this encouragement to stuff your face, you start to enjoy stuffing your face, and then you gain weight and then the put-downs start.  I can't tell you how many times in my young and impressionable years my grandmother put me on a diet and then later offered me dessert.  That is some fucked up shit, my friends. FUCKED UP.

To reiterate, this was a somewhat painful read for me but I'm sure it would entertain and delight those on the outside looking in.