First Light by Rebecca Stead

I'm on a roll!
"First Light" is a children's novel so it may not be the most appropriate book to blog about here, but since I'm trying to alternate between reading adult and youth books (and since a couple of the readers here are also children's librarians), I thought I may as well include my thoughts on this one.
"First Light" is a contemporary fantasy book (and one of 2011's Sasquatch nominees, hence me reading it) set in Greenland. The best brief summary of the plot is also the best brief criticism of the plot: "First Light" is "City of Ember" on ice. I mean, really. I won't summarize "City of Ember" (a great children's book), but those who've read that will see the similarities in "First Light:" a young boy and girl live in a secret, hidden society that lives underground; the society retreated there years before to escape external dangers; resources are running out, and the children are convinced that there is a way out to world outside after finding a mysterious map and clues; the adults are stuck in fear and the status quo and forbid exploration; the children go anyway, discover the outside world, and save their civilization. That is an exact summary of BOTH books...but "City of Ember" did it first, and did it better. The only real differences are that "First Light" happens under Greenland's glacial ice sheets, and that in "First Light" there is a parallel plot happening above ground as a boy (doing field research with his glaciologist father) simultaneously discovers the outside entrance to the buried civilization.
Now, "First Light" isn't bad; it has some compelling aspects and is not badly written. It just loses points on originality. It's overly long (327 pages) and takes too long to get to the meat of the story, but once you're there it moves along pretty well. The characters are believable enough and the setting is intriguing, but it will not be a good choice for reluctant readers because of its slow pace, length, and slightly bland writing.
I don't regret reading "First Light" and I don't quibble with it being on the Sasquatch list, but in future years when a kid comes to me looking for a cool, realistic fantasy, I'll put "City of Ember" in their hands every time over this one.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Finally! I'm back in the saddle! I actually finished this book like in April but I haven't written it up for two reasons: 1. TIME! 2. I wasn't sure just what to say about it, or how to say it. Well, now that I've got the time I'll just have to stop worrying about getting it right and focus instead on just getting it done!
In short: this is a GREAT book!
"The Glass Castle" is a memoir of the author's childhood, but it is so much more. Her parents are eccentric to say the least...the are artistic, paranoid, possibly mentally ill and quirky to a truly dysfunctional level. Her father, Rex, is a troubled genius of sorts who also battles raging alcoholism. Her mother is a frustrated and bitter individual with dreams of being a famous writer and brilliant artist, but can't seem to make either work out. The childhood of the author and her siblings is one spent in vagabond poverty, moving from apartment to RV to the homes of relatives, and living frequently in the family's parade of battered cars. Her parents, unwilling or unable to keep and hold a job, have a hands-off approach to parenting (the kids cook for themselves from age 3, run wild through whatever town they happen to live in, play freely with guns and local perverts, and are encouraged to run outside and play during lightning storms) that runs the gamut from amusing to neglectful to outright abuse.
The story is told through a rapid-fire series of short (1-4 page) vignettes; its not a style of storytelling I usually like, but it really works in this one. The passages were short and self-contained but still held an overall flow and momentum that kept me turning the pages long after I should have turned out the light (I finished the book, during a busy time in my life, in one day and two nights).
What's so compelling, though, is the balance and perspective the author manages to find in her approach to such a personal and important aspect of her life; her parents are, quite honestly, fairly worthless as parents: the children are often in danger and are almost constantly "neglected" based on contemporary definitions. However, there is never any doubt in the author's or reader's mind that the parents, in their flawed way, love their children incredibly. It is a palpable and sincere feeling that fairly pulses from the page. Likewise, there is never any doubt that children, even when they are grown, love their parents fiercely, no matter the abuse and neglect. The author is honest and unblinking and pulls no punches: she shows with complete frankness the neglect she dealt with and the pain and suffering that her parents mindlessly inflicted on her...but she never drops down into bitterness, or condemnation, or petulant victimhood. She does not let them off the hook, but neither does she demonize them. They were flawed, like we all are, but she loves them in spite of it.
It is a fascinating examination of our understandings of such profound and integral concepts as family, love, neglect, caring and understanding. It is a book which would make any thoughtful reader think, and feel. The characters - real people, all - are round and complex and living, and making up your mind about how you feel about them is one of the toughest and most delicious challenges of this book. Bluntly sensitive and tragically beautiful, "The Glass Castle" is a perfectly written book.
Since reading this book I've pressed it into the hands of four or five people, and all of them loved it - not just liked, but loved. Its a book that sticks with you. I could not recommend this book enough.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

By Stieg Larsson

I really enjoyed this book and I only started reading it on a whim. I was tinkering around with the free services our public library offers and decided to check out their e-books. I saw the cover and recognized it as one I'd heard folks mention and it also happened to be on the most recent cover of the only magazine I subscribe to. I consider that magazine as my only true buy-in to pop culture- Entertainment Weekly. I like the quotes and reading about the upcoming movies in it and such. So I thought, why not download it and read something lighter for a change?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo proved to be a fun mystery with interesting, flawed characters, some of which had a likability factor (yea for me). It explores the disappearance of a 16 year old girl from a wealthy family back in the 1960's in Sweden, researched by a disgraced journalist, at the request of the very old patriarch of this wealthy family that could not rest until he had an answer as to what happened to his beloved Harriet. Haunted by the delivery of a pressed flower on his birthday year after year, he is convinced that someone from the family murdered her and enjoys taunting him. It is an interesting plot and one that starts to boil as our journalist gets closer to the truth, aided by a socially inept, but brilliant-minded young lady that is lost, but a true independent and anarchic spirit that doesn't understand how to relate to others. There is some sadistic stuff in this book and also a fair amount of sex, though only once section that was uncomfortable for me and if you read it you'll likely have the same repulsion- necessary enough to the plot that it didn't feel vulgar and exploitive to me.

On top of the main plot, there is a sub-plot about the disgrace brought on the journalist and his attempt to right the wrong closes the book in a satisfying way. The two stories intermingle enough that the corporate intrigue here, while less captivating to me, still felt necessary and provided the vindication our hero journalist required.

The book is a neat, tidy package and felt like the kind of fun summer reading I was longing for. I plan to mix it up from here on out- a lil' classic reading and lil' fun reading. My reading palate craves both!

Madame Bovary

By Gustave Flaubert

It took me a long time to complete this novel. Life most certainly got in the way, but I did finally finish it tonight. I have mixed emotions about it. It was a beautifully detailed, rich study of character and the desire for excitement and escape from the drabness of ordinary life (pretty applicable over 150 years after it was written, I'd say). The main character, our Madame Bovary, spends her life completely unsatisfied with her unglamorous existence and seeks out her imagined perfection of wealth and love that she never really finds, though there are times she thinks she has. So fleeting! She appreciates nothing, lives beyond her means and engages in 2 separate affairs outside of her marriage in search of the life she thinks she wants. The stale of monotony eventually taints them too.

Her marriage is beneath her as she is married to a very plain, ordinary man with no special skill. Her husband happens to adore her and looks past and around and over and under her flaws, wanting her love and approval and making excuses for her rebuffs. His affection for someone that is so apathetic towards him is pathetic and serves to help the reader understand her disdain for him. And yet, I felt so sorry for him too- he tried to be the best husband he could be. He just wasn't very good at that either. She needed a challenge and he gave her none.

So why the mixed emotions? It was precisely, perfectly written. It is masterful and should be read, but I wonder if anyone actually likes any of these characters? I found myself so frustrated with Emma, especially her lack of appreciation of the gift of motherhood, that I wasn't at all sad for her suffering. And her husband Charles? I felt pity, but his lack of any sort of strength made him hard to like (for Madame Bovary too, so I guess that works). What is it with me and needing to like characters to enjoy a book?

And I have to add, it is so sweet to me that this book was controversial when it came out and is considered in any way to be a "naughty book." Seriously, that's cute. If there is a disconnect between the time it was written and today, that would be it right there. It was quite tame and except for the fact that adultery is a significant part of the book, there is nothing distasteful at all. Damn it. ;)

There is so much that is universal to the human existence in this book that I don't think it will be hard for today's reader to appreciate it for the genius writing that it is. The rewards in this book are in the details- insightful and poetic. Not a word is out of place.

Amy's offerings for group consideration

I have 2 books I am proposing as candidates for our first shared reading experience between the 4 contributors to this blog. I am going to present the titles and excepts about what the books are about. If our contributors have read them, then they are disqualified. If not, then they will be considered along with the proposed titles from the other blog writers here. Can't wait to see what everyone suggests!

My first title for consideration:

Possession by A.S. Byatt

From Amazon.com Review (the professional, not the casual readers)

"Literary critics make natural detectives," says Maud Bailey, heroine of a mystery where the clues lurk in university libraries, old letters, and dusty journals. Together with Roland Michell, a fellow academic and accidental sleuth, Maud discovers a love affair between the two Victorian writers the pair has dedicated their lives to studying: Randolph Ash, a literary great long assumed to be a devoted and faithful husband, and Christabel La Motte, a lesser-known "fairy poetess" and chaste spinster. At first, Roland and Maud's discovery threatens only to alter the direction of their research, but as they unearth the truth about the long-forgotten romance, their involvement becomes increasingly urgent and personal. Desperately concealing their purpose from competing researchers, they embark on a journey that pulls each of them from solitude and loneliness, challenges the most basic assumptions they hold about themselves, and uncovers their unique entitlement to the secret of Ash and La Motte's passion.

Winner of the 1990 Booker Prize--the U.K.'s highest literary award--Possession is a gripping and compulsively readable novel. A.S. Byatt exquisitely renders a setting rich in detail and texture. Her lush imagery weaves together the dual worlds that appear throughout the novel--the worlds of the mind and the senses, of male and female, of darkness and light, of truth and imagination--into an enchanted and unforgettable tale of love and intrigue. --Lisa Whipple

My thoughts- Sounds fascinating and multi-layered. Yummy!

Second title for consideration:

The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe

From Amazon: (professional review)

With The Mysteries of Udolpho, Ann Radcliffe raised the Gothic romance to a new level and inspired a long line of imitators. Portraying her heroine's inner life, creating a thick atmosphere of fear, and providing a gripping plot that continues to thrill readers today, The Mysteries of Udolpho is the story of orphan Emily St. Aubert, who finds herself separated from the man she loves and confined within the medieval castle of her aunt's new husband, Montoni. Inside the castle, she must cope with an unwanted suitor, Montoni's threats, and the wild imaginings and terrors that threaten to overwhelm her.

This new edition includes an introduction that discusses the publication and early reception of the novel, the genre of Gothic romance, and Radcliffe's use of history, exotic settings, the supernatural, and poetry.

My thoughts- Sounds intriguing and slightly sinister.

Catch-22 Complete!

By Joseph Heller

Wow. What a book! The style of Catch-22 is almost a character itself. It takes a bit to get into the rhythm, to get used to the style, but it is thoroughly enjoyable once you do get comfortable with it. Hilarious and yet darkly honest, there is something so incredibly unique about the way it is written and it oscillates between humor and the horror of war with a perfect balance. There is no doubt that this is a master work. It can be jolting sometimes, as time jumps around quite a bit, but it isn't so distracting that it makes it hard to follow.

There are so many themes this book explores related to war as it is set during World War II, near the end of the war. The asinine, disconnected leadership of our Generals, Colonels and Majors in the war, striving to use their power in ridiculous ways with no real value for the lives they put in danger on a daily basis, was prevalent. The clawing to move up in the ranks through creating some sort of a show that impresses, rather than for good decision-making, is completely comical.

"What do you know about?" he asked acidly.

"Parades," answered Colonel Scheisskopf eagerly. "Will I be able to send out memos about parades?"

"As long as you don't schedule any." General Peckem returned to his chair still wearing a frown. "And as long as they don't interfere with your main assignment of recommending that the authority of Special Services be expanded to include combat activities."

"Can I schedule parades and then call them off?"

General Peckem brightened instantly. "Why, that's a wonderful idea! But just send out weekly announcements postponing the parades. Don't even bother to schedule them. That would be infinitely more disconcerting."

The fear of dying and the banter between the characters about death, and the avoidance of it, make the reader chuckle while being disturbingly true. Is it paranoid to think everyone is trying to kill you if it is really true? And why should anybody be ok with being target for death?

"Of course I'm right. You're immature. You've been unable to adjust to the idea of war."

"Yes, sir."

"You have a morbid aversion to dying. You probably resent the fact that you're at war and might have your head blown off at any second."

"I more than resent it, sir. I'm absolutely incensed."

"You have deep-seated survival anxieties. And you don't like bigots, bullies, snobs or hypocrites. Subconsciously there are many people hate."

"Consciously, sir, consciously," Yossarian corrected in an effort to help. "I hate them consciously."

This is the kind of back and forth that makes Catch-22 so unique and pleasing. I loved it! Thoroughly amusing.

The casual sadness towards the anonymous soldier, completely encrusted in a full body cast that is 3 different soldiers at different times in the story I believe, seems a fitting reminder of the many that parish who are nameless and unnoticed in the mass of death that war brings about. The first soldier was dead inside his cast for who knows how long before someone noticed.

Many more themes and truths are to be found in this book, and while, as a women, I sometimes found the treatment of women in this novel to be a bit irritating as they all pretty much served the physical need for sex only, I also can't really take issue with that because I think it paints a pretty true portrait of how soldiers do treat women and the situation they are in (short leaves, inflated testosterone levels, stress, fear of death) doesn't exactly create an opportunity for lasting, deep relationships. So Nately's whore (and many the other whores mentioned, for that matter), while I'm sure you did have a name, the book didn't give you more than that, but I guess that is who you were for the purpose of the story.

I absolutely recommend this book. It is a classic, as it should be. The unique style alone make it a worthy read, but the truth embedded in the humor make it an interesting look at survival and the insanity of war.

The Axemaker's Gift by James Burke

Boy, this one took awhile!
"The Axemaker's Gift" by James Burke and Robert Ornstein is an impressive and ambitious nonfiction examination of technology and its effects on humanity, from the pre-historic development of stone axes to our modern computer age. The authors' thesis - that technology is a mixed blessing that has at every step fundamentally changed the way we interact with each other and the world - is examined and backed up with an exhaustive (and, yes, at times exhausting) history of western civilization. It is definitely very informative and insightful and I learned tons, but it was a bit dry and trying. It's a worthy read, though; the connections and explanations the authors give are well-reasoned, and I have a much better grasp of the development of western civilization (from egalitarian hunter-gatherer bands with a close connection to themselves and the earth) through the medieval ages and to the modern era, where the gaps in knowledge and resources between the haves and have-nots is ever-widening, our connection to the earth and each other is increasingly splintered, and the impact of technology and development on our health, happiness and habitat is becoming ever more clear and dubious. Should everyone read this tome? Probably not. Am I glad I did? Sure. I think anyone with a keen interest in history and/or technology would appreciate it, but its probably not a great choice for the casual peruser.
Although appreciative of the authors' considerable effort and noble aim, I finish the book (at last) very eager to read something that feels a little more like recreation and a little less like college homework.