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Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Next time, keep the kid
Title: The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Author: Kim Edwards
In The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Norah Henry goes into labor three weeks early and during a snowstorm. As a result, they are unable to make it to the hospital, and David Henry, an orthopedic surgeon, is left to do the delivery with the help of his nurse, Caroline.
At first surprised and then dismayed by the delivery of a second child, a girl with Down syndrome, David makes a rash decision he will regret the rest of his life. He hands the child off to the nurse with instructions to take her to a home, not an uncommon thing to have done in the 60s. Caroline, secretly in love with David, attempts to do so. However, she finds the home to be a horrible place and opts to raise the child herself. She quickly leaves town and creates a new life in Pittsburgh.
Instead of the truth, David tells Norah that she had a second, stillborn child. This lie wreaks havoc on their lives - creating a wall between them and complicating the relationship with their healthy firstborn son. Caroline sends pictures and letters to David as his daughter, Phoebe, grows but David cannot bring himself to tell his wife the truth and reunite their family.
A well-written novel, but one that I wouldn't necessarily recommend. I read to escape, and when a novel feels very real and the characters have dreary miserable lives - well, there just has to be something better out there to read.Labels: depression, fiction
posted by Kate at
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Friday, August 01, 2008
Surprisingly Amusing
California Demon: The Secret Life of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom
by Julie Kenner
This book operates on the premise that the Vatican has a secret branch dedicated to hunting and killing demons. Kate, a demon-hunter since she was a teenaged orphan, gets roped back into duty when her small town in California starts being attacked. This is all a secret from her husband and children, though she did confide in her best friend.
It's all about the balance between normal suburban life (especially when dealing with a teenaged daughter) and a secret, super-agent mission. She manages rather well, identifying the demons who've taken over the bodies of the geezers in a local retirement home (and killing them), storing bodies of dead demons in the trunk of her car until they can be disposed of, and uncovering a plot to bring a super-demon out of a book and into the world.
There's a weird sub-plot where Kate deals with a teacher at her daughter's school who reminds her a great deal of her deceased (via mugger, not a demon) first husband. Coincidentally, he too is a demon hunter, though he's not officially sanctioned by the church, and helps take down the super-demon at the end (is that really a spoiler? it's rather obvious she'll succeed...).
There's a nice conclusion, but it also sets up the next book rather well. Kate has to figure out what's up with this teacher, since (ok, this part's a spoiler) she's afraid her husband used dark magic while dying to take over another person's body, and that the teacher is actually her husband. More importantly, taking down the super-demon involved revealing her secret life to her daughter, who now wants to become an apprentice; considering Kate started her training at the same age, it'll be hard to say no...Labels: demonic possession, fiction, fun
posted by ket at
8:37 PM
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Friday, June 27, 2008
Less Man, More Dog, Please
Title: The Art of Racing in the Rain
Author: Garth Stein
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
Enzo is a dog who dreams of being reincarnated as a man (never, interestingly, a woman.) Enzo figures it’s about time he advanced to the next highest life form, since he’s gained vast knowledge from hours spent watching tv. (Television apparently has opposite effects on people and beasts.) His owner’s name is Denny Swift. And in case you were wondering, yes, Denny wants to go fast. He’s a race car driver.
Yeah, this is the kind of book where the author – without the slightest bit of irony – names a racer “Swift.” That alone should tell you a lot.
The book is narrated by Enzo, as he gleans life lessons from Denny’s singular talent for – you guessed it – racing in the rain. (Robert Pirsig performed this “art of” trick much better.) And Enzo does have some wise/cute reflections on humanity’s condition. I just can’t really remember any at the moment.
But despite the story being narrated by a dog, the entire action is propelled by Garth Stein’s human characters. And that’s unfortunate, because Denny et al. are straight out of a Lifetime Sunday night movie. The big conflict in the book is when Denny’s wife dies, and he has to battle her rich, snobby parents for custody of his daughter (because, you see, they can give her opportunities that a struggling race car driver never could). Throw in a false sexual harassment accusation, and you have a perfect recipe for “heart-wrenching” goopiness.
The Art of Racing in the Rain desperately needed more doggishness. Enzo is mostly a passive observer who speaks as a well-educated human, and the plot doesn’t rely on the presence of a dog at all. Without Enzo, almost everything would have turned out the exact same. So what was the point?
A clever idea, just one that went to the dogs. Garth Stein is not nearly clever and witty enough to have pulled this off.
If Oprah ever got her claws on this book, I’m sure it would become a nationwide bestseller. Sensitive book clubs would swoon. It just wasn’t for me.Labels: animal narrators, dog, fiction, Lifetime, NASCAR
posted by Elizabeth at
9:56 PM
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these are not the people I know and love
Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride: A Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
by Helen Halstead
I love P&P. I've read some good books that continue the story, or expand on it (really enjoyed Pamela Aidan's trilogy). This one, not so much.
Somehow the characters just grated on me. Elizabeth was annoying, Darcy was a stoic jerk, Georgianna was a wuss, Lady Catherine was a bitch, and so forth. I kept reading, hoping it'd improve (rather, that they'd improve), but never really enjoyed it (it probably helped that I was traveling at the time, and didn't want to waste a book that I'd taken the time to bring). My favorite part? (SPOILER) Wickham dies of untreated syphilis. Poetic justice at its best.Labels: Austen, Brit lit, fiction
posted by ket at
1:20 PM
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Sunday, June 01, 2008
A Novella For the Reader in You
Title: The Uncommon Reader
Author: Alan Bennett
Recently reviewed on this blog, The Uncommon Reader is a wonderful little story about what would happen if the Queen of England suddenly developed an obsession with reading. This novella helps its reader to rediscover all the reasons he or she started reading in the first place, and reminds "one" (to use the term the Queen is forever using to refer to herself) of the all-too-common desire to share one's passion for reading. Since Elizabeth has done a far better job than I ever could, I'll just point you to her review and second her statement that "if you miss this book, you would be remiss."Labels: Brit lit, fiction, novella, royalty
posted by Kate at
9:29 PM
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Monday, May 12, 2008
We Are Quite Amused
Title: The Uncommon Reader
Author: Alan Bennett
Chasing after her escaped corgis, the Queen of England one day finds herself in a place of great wonder and enchantment – the bookmobile that pays weekly visits to Buckingham Palace. Out of politeness and a sense of civic duty, the Queen checks out a book. Royal literary hijinks ensue.
The Queen has read dutifully throughout the seven decades of her life, but has always been more engrossed in things like horseback riding and breaking bottles of champagne against royal ship hulls. But she finds this rare experience of pleasure reading enjoyable, and chooses another book the next week. And then she reads another, and another, and before she knows it, she’s embarrassing the President of France during a state dinner when she pointedly inquires after his opinion of Jean Genet. “Homosexual and jailbird,” she quips, “was he nevertheless as bad as he was painted?” (And no, I have no idea who Genet is either.)
Alan Bennett’s novella poses – and answers – the question of what would happen if the Queen of England suddenly became an engrossed bookworm. How would her subjects react when the first question she asks during audiences is what they’re reading? How would her handlers cope with a monarch who is slowly losing interest in her daily public duties? And could stoic Britain bear the scandal if her Queen suddenly decided to -- *gulp* -- write herself?
Funny and thoughtful, this is almost a perfect little book. Bennett’s Queen fascinates. Despite her public fame and extensive experience, her view of the world is very limited – almost naïve. But she’s curious, witty, and intelligent, and it’s fun to watch her character grow as books gain a stronger and stronger hold on her.
If you miss this book, you would be remiss!Labels: books, Brit lit, corgis, fiction, royalty
posted by Elizabeth at
10:21 PM
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Chug-a-Dud
Title: Orient Express
Author: Graham Greene
A few weeks back I was in the mood for a romantic adventure on a train. Graham Greene does foreign adventure, and he wrote a book about a train – Orient Express. So I checked it out from the library, hopes high.
It wasn’t even worth the $1.35 in late fees.
Basically, a cast of idiosyncratic characters interacts on a train. The problem is that none of them have the personality of a sponge. (Really, Sponge Bob is vastly superior.) Even the two noblest have irksome moments. The Socialist revolutionary is a melancholy, self-obsessed moper, and the innocent choir girl decides to sleep with a stranger because he buys her a train ticket when she’s sick (because, she figures, good girls are expected to pay back men who are kind to them). Imperfect characters are fine, but when they’re also boring and about as intelligent as the lint you pull from a drier, I lose interest.
Yeah, and it was published 1930-ish, and reads very dated. And there’s a vague streak of potential anti-Semitism that could raise modern eyebrows (lots of talk about the characteristics of the Jewish race).
So basically, neither substantive nor entertaining nor full of good moral lessons. I skimmed the action-packed climax at the end. This supposedly was the most exhilarating part of the book, but I just couldn’t be bothered any more.Labels: action, boring, fiction, trains
posted by Elizabeth at
10:16 PM
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Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Thirsty Pachyderms
Title: Water for Elephants
Author: Sara Gruen
I read this quite a while ago (I am way behind on book reviews). It was very good and the cast of characters was excellent. Let's see, there's the arrogant abusive asinine circus master, the paranoid schizophrenic animal trainer, the hostile midget, and Rosie, the elephant who only knows... some language other than English (I don't remember which).
Then there's the overall plot of a veterinary school near-grad who drops out right before his final exams because his parents have been killed in a car accident. He runs away... to the circus! There he becomes the circus vet, taking care of all the animals, who are, of course, very mistreated. He falls in love with the wife of the paranoid schizophrenic (never a wise thing to do), and.. well, chaos ensues.
A very entertaining book. Well worth a read.Labels: circus, fiction
posted by Kate at
3:48 PM
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Monday, February 11, 2008
I have a kid?
Title: Keeper and Kid
Author: Edward Hardy
Bookmark: Receipt from the purchase of a different book at a local Half Price Bookstore.
I must confess, I love stories about the trials and tribulations of unsuspecting males who suddenly find themselves with a young kid to raise/take care of/amuse/babysit/etc. I loved Kolya and About a Boy, so I thought, why not read a book about this situation?
Keeper and Kid tells the story of James (Jimmy) Keeper, a guy who has been married once, divorced, and is not interested in being married again. He and his girlfriend, Leah, are also not interested in children.
Then, while Leah is away on a business trip, Jimmy's ex-mother-in-law calls to tell him that his ex-wife, Cynthia, is in the hospital. It's serious. Jimmy visits. Cynthia expects to recover, but asks him to take the dog they shared during their marriage. Jimmy agrees.
Two weeks later, Jimmy calls to check on the whole collect the dog thing only to find out that Cynthia has died. Then when he goes to pick up the dog, he finds out the dog has run away. However, he won't be going home empty-handed. He will be taking Leo, the three year old son he didn't know he had.
Chaos ensues.
Three year olds are apparently a lot of work. Especially ones with mothers who recently have died. Leo has a penchant for hiding things, an imaginary friend, and a lot of stuff (toys, furniture, clothes) for which Jimmy has little room. He was potty-trained, he never sleeps through the night, and he wakes up extraordinarily early.
Then Leah returns from her business trip to discover a child living in the house she and Jimmy recently bought. She leaves Jimmy. Jimmy is crushed.
More chaos ensues.
All in all, it's a good book. I was hoping for more of the hilarious "kids say the darndest things", kids do the funniest things, etc, that normally arise in these situations (well, the movie versions anyway) but that didn't really happen until towards the end of the book.Labels: fiction
posted by Kate at
3:10 PM
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Thursday, January 24, 2008
Absurdity
Title: Beginner's Greek
Author: James Collins
For a former editor at Time, a contributor to The New Yorker, and a male, this book is absolutely absurd.
The Prologue commences with the story of Peter Russell, the main character, on an airplane flight from NY to LA pondering the possibility that the seat next to him may soon be occupied with the woman he will fall madly, desperately, completely in love with.
Already a bit of a stretch. A man might perhaps contemplate the mile high club, but love? I’ve been informed by a very reliable male source that this is just utter nonsense.
Then, the seat is taken by a young female, and "without even speaking to her, Peter was convinced, he knew for a certainty, he had not the slightest doubt, that he could spend the rest of his life with the young woman who had happened to sit next to him, and it would be blissful."
Now really.
But then they get to talking, and they have fun, and they make a connection, and Holly gives him her phone number.
And he accidentally loses it.
Four or so years later she ends up married to Peter's best friend, Jonathan, a womanizing schmuck. Peter laments his loss for 3 years then decides to move on and marry Charlotte. She's okay, and he likes her most of the time, and they could be happy, so that's good enough for him (and her).
Then, on their wedding night, Jonathan, outside on the golf course shortly after enjoying himself with Charlotte's stepmother, is struck dead by lightning (clearly, getting what he deserved, that womanizing bast- ,er…). Only hours too late for Peter to drop Charlotte and begin his pursuit of Holly. The horror! Add to this the delicious sub-story of Peter’s job, at which he is extraordinarily successful and thought of very highly. That is, until the day his current boss goes from being buddy buddy and friendlier than any boss on the planet to making an utter fool out Peter - after which said boss gloats and crunches two walnuts gleefully in his bare hands while saying to Peter: “These are your nuts, Russell.” So does the poor lovesick sap get the girl and keep his job in the end? You’ll have to read to find out (or take a wild guess). And, despite my mocking of the book, it really was a very entertaining and enjoyable read, just not what I would expect from the author.
Labels: fiction, romance of the non-trashy variety
posted by Kate at
5:00 PM
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Monday, December 31, 2007
It all started with this one...
Title: Mr. Knightley's Diary
Author: Amanda Grange
12 hours before boarding a bus for a 5-hour trip, I needed a book. The library was closed (boo!), so I grudgingly went to the bookstore.
A desperate search for something worth buying took much longer than I'd hoped, and I ended up going with this one, for lack of any other options.
The book itself was rather enjoyable, though certainly not worth $14 to me. Seriously, you wonder why nobody buys books anymore? There's a reason I go to the library - it's FREE, and even paying a few fines is way cheaper than $8-14 per (paperback) book.
But I digress.
It's Emma, retold from Mr. Knightley's view - you know, the classic Jane Austen story known to modern audiences only as the inspiration for Clueless. Girl attempts to control the lives of everyone she knows, then once she's failed miserably, she realizes she loves the man who's known her forever, who promptly proposes.
While reading, my main thought was that, though I'm generally familiar with Emma, it'd be better if I remembered more of the details. That, and (spoiler!) Grange has Knightley fall in love with Emma practically at the start of the book, and even reveals it to his friends in town. I always thought of it as a very complex friendship, which he eventually realizes is love much further along in the story. It's a whole new plot when he's secretly in love with her the whole time.
And yes, it was the convention of the time, but the older man marrying innocent young girl just seemed creepy here - he's 37 to her 21 at the end of the story, and they even talk about how he, as a young man, had played with the toddler/baby Emma. Ewww. Not to mention that his younger brother is married to her older sister.
But back to a previous point: that it'd be more enjoyable if I knew the initial story better. Did I go out and buy the book Grange wrote before this one, Mr. Darcy's Diary? Hell no. But I did check the library catalog for it...Labels: Austen, Brit lit, fiction, high society, romance of the non-trashy variety
posted by ket at
5:12 PM
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Saturday, December 01, 2007
O, Take Me Not to Dublin...
Title: Dubliners
Author: James Joyce
Life in Dublin used to suck. People were poor, grimy, and foolish. The Catholic Church made life miserable. The British government made life miserable. Life was miserable. If you were lucky, you had a brief moment of epiphany when you realized just how miserable your life really was.
It was always worse than you thought.
The end.Labels: fiction, Ireland, moping, short stories, this author needs Prozac, undeserving classics
posted by Elizabeth at
3:02 PM
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Crime Has Never Paid a Reader So Well
Title: The Best of Rumpole
Author: John Mortimer
I take up my pen at this advanced age during a lull in business (there’s not much crime about, all the best villains seem to be off on holiday in the Costa Brava), in order to write my reconstructions of some of my recent triumphs (including a number of recent disasters) in the courts of law, hoping thereby to turn a bob or two which won’t be immediately grabbed by the taxman, or my clerk Henry, or by She Who Must Be Obeyed, and perhaps give some sort of entertainment to those who, like myself, have found in British justice a lifelong subject of harmless fun.
Honestly, my life would be so much darker without the periodic foray I make into the whimsical and wonderful world of British humor.
Rumpole is a new character for me, although I know more intelligent folk are familiar with him through PBS. A humble criminal defense lawyer toiling away in the British legal system, he appreciates a good bottle of claret, cigars, Wordsworth, and the rule “innocent until proven guilty.” While invigorated by delivering a blustering defense in court, he doesn’t actually much like the law and makes it a point to never plead guilty. And this, of course, makes me like him very much.
The Best of Rumpole is a collection of short stories selected by Rumpole’s creator, John Mortimer. The stories are amusing, witty, and short – the perfect length for a daily commute or that empty hour before bedtime that used to be filled by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. (Oh boys, where have you gone?) Populated with characters ranging from the mildly ridiculous (Rumpole’s colleague Claude Erskine-Brown) to the bossy (Rumpole’s wife Hilda, a.k.a. She Who Must Be Obeyed) to the shamefully incompetent and ignorant (pretty much every judge Rumpole encounters), the stories hum with the fun of gently mocking the absurdities of the British legal system.
If you can stomach spending so much time with a lawyer – even one as rumpled, witty, and wise as Rumpole – these stories are recommended. As for me, I’ll definitely be revisiting the Old Bailey in his company.Labels: Brit lit, comedy, fiction, humor, law, short stories
posted by Elizabeth at
2:53 PM
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Special Indeed
Title: Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Author: Marisha Pessl
Dad always said a person must have a magnificent reason for writing out his or her Life Story and expecting anyone to read it.
“Unless your name is something along the lines of Mozart, Matisse, Churchill, Che Guevara or Bond – James Bond – you best spend your free time finger painting or playing shuffleboard, for no one, with the exception of your flabby-armed mother with stiff hair and a mashed-potato way of looking at you, will want to hear the particulars of your pitiable existence, which doubtlessly will end as it began – with a wheeze.”
Given such rigid parameters, I always assumed I wouldn’t have my Magnificent Reason until I was at least seventy, with liver spots, rheumatism, wit as quick as a carving knife, a squat stucco house in Avignon (where I could be found eating 365 different cheeses), a lover twenty years my junior who worked in the fields (I don’t know what kind of fields – any kind that were gold and frothy) and, with any luck, a small triumph of science or philosophy to my name. And yet the decision – no, the grave necessity – to take pen to paper and write about my childhood – most critically, the year it unstitched like a snagged sweater – came much sooner than I ever imagined.
The above paragraphs open Marisha Pessl’s wonderful novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics. (And it has a fantastic website, too. Follow the link!) Reading them in the bookstore, I felt the “book bug” sleeping inside me stir and flutter feebly. My “book bug” is a finicky creature. He emerges only when I’m head-over-heels in love with a story, completely infatuated. Despite my reading addiction, this happens but rarely – maybe once or twice a year. So when my “book bug” begins to uncurl, I pay attention. I eagerly swiped my credit card for Special Topics and prayed that the story didn’t disappoint. After all, so many books have great pick up lines, but wilt pathetically halfway through the night. And nothing annoys my book bug more than being stood up by a date.
But hurrah, Pessl lived up to – indeed, exceeded – expectations! Special Topics is so much more than a one night stand. Funny, dark, and unabashedly literate, it might even be my new favorite book.
Special Topics is narrated by Blue van Meer, whose nomadic life has revolved around books and her obscenely intelligent father. For years, Gareth van Meer has flitted from college to college on a string of visiting professorships, dragging his daughter with him. As a result, the extraordinarily bright Blue is a perennial outsider, with more knowledge of history than people. She’s the type of girl who thinks the number pi is sexy, musing, “I think it would be sort of electrifying if some kid heatedly whispered it into my ear. 3.14159265…”
But everything changes when Dad enrolls Blue at the prestigious St. Gallway academy. The halls of St. Gallway are ruled by the Bluebloods, an exclusive clique that has gathered in fascination around the school’s enigmatic film teacher, Hannah Schneider (see, The Prime of Jean Brodie). For reasons unbeknownst, Hannah takes a liking to the motherless Blue and forces the Bluebloods to accept her as one of their own. The Bluebloods aren’t happy about it, but comply, giving Blue new clothes, new hair, and an entirely new appreciation of the different varieties of fine liquor.
But the fun turns sour when Blue finds Hannah dead, her bloated body hanging from a tree during a camping trip in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Was it murder? Suicide? Blue sets out to discover the “who, what, when, where, why.” And along the way, she inadvertently rips her life to shreds.
The plot is a noirish whodunit-bildungsroman. The characters are vivid and appealing – particularly Blue’s Dad, who’s the most amusingly arrogant asshole academic you can ever hope to meet. But Pessl’s gorgeous writing is what truly sets Special Topics apart – her gorgeous, gorgeous, oh-my-god-it’s-better-than-chocolate writing. Her use of words is acrobatic, virtuoso, and just so damn fun. Everything whirls and glitters, and I found myself laughing on nearly every page…when I wasn’t shuddering.
Special Topics has a uniquely witty, yet academic, tone. Blue lays out her history as if it were a class syllabus, naming each chapter after a great work in the literary canon that thematically connects with the chapter’s plot. (For example, the chapter where Hannah dies is called “Deliverance, by James Dickey.”) Literary and cultural allusions abound, and Blue continuously references sources – both of the academic and popular variety – as she relives her involvement with the Bluebloods and Hannah’s death. Some of these sources are a product of Pessl’s imagination, but since they’re universally humorous and clever, this only adds to the fun.
I’ll admit that Special Topics might not be to all tastes. Some might find Pessl’s writing annoying, or the plethora of references pretentious. But I adored Special Topics precisely for its flamboyant wordiness. The book is an escapist fantasy for the literary-minded, full of sparkling intellectual chatter. It’s smart, but never dour; erudite, but not preachy. I look forward to reading it again – and again – and again.Labels: bildungsroman, fiction, humor, mystery/detective, noir
posted by Elizabeth at
12:35 PM
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Sunday, November 04, 2007
My Sister's Kidney
Title: My Sister’s Keeper
Author: Jodi Picoult
I can be a forgiving reader. Really. I enjoy the cheesiness of laughably bad books. The only books that I find truly detestable are those which insult my intelligence by discussing serious topics in a completely ridiculous manner. Unfortunately, Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper is just one of these loathsome beasts.
Warning: I’m about to spoil the plot of this book shamelessly and with relish! If you had actually wanted to read it…tough.
Kate was diagnosed with leukemia when she was a baby. No one in her family was a perfect match as a donor, so her parents conceived another child for the sole purpose of being a “perfect match” for Kate. They ensured that the child could be a donor through “preimplantation genetic diagnoses.” Enter Anna. By the time Anna’s thirteen, she’s given blood transfusions, bone marrow, and stem cells in order to keep the sinking Kate afloat. Now Kate’s kidneys are failing, and she needs a transplant. Otherwise, she dies.
And guess what? Anna says “no.” No, Kate. No kidney for you.
We actually have a very interesting premise here. Anna hires a lawyer, Campbell, who specializes in obtaining “medical emancipation” for minors. If a court finds that her parents aren’t making medical decisions in her best interest, a judge will give the responsibility to Anna or a legal guardian. Is it in Anna’s best interest to donate her kidney to Kate? Can she be forced to do so? Does she have a legal obligation, a moral obligation? All fascinating questions, which could make for a ripping tell of medical and legal ethics.
But Picoult RUINS IT ALL.
First, she makes Campbell a secret epileptic. And Anna’s interim legal guardian, Julia, is Campbell’s ex-lover. They were high school sweethearts before Campbell inexplicably ditched Julia the day of graduation – which he only did because he’d just learned of his epilepsy and wanted to “protect” her from the truth. Still, sexual tensions simmer between them. However, every time they get close to tearing each other’s clothes off, Campbell feels an epileptic attack approaching and flees the room. Seriously. Every time. He’s just as compulsive about it as Clark Kent. Guess flashing lights aren’t the only stressors that cause seizures…
A not-so-seismic courtroom scene is the book’s climax, and Picoult springs several stupid “twists” upon the reader. I say “twists,” but that’s not really fair, because they’ve been obvious all along. See, Anna’s not really a selfish creature who is so possessive of her bodily organs that she’ll let her sister die instead of relinquishing one measly little kidney. Oh no. Anna refused only because Kate secretly asked her to. *everyone gasp* Apparently, a life in hospitals connected to tubes no longer appeals to Kate. Who knows, maybe she saw The Matrix and freaked. Either way, she’s ready to chuck it all. Anna agreed with the plan only reluctantly, after Kate threatened a gruesome suicide.
Oh, and immediately after Anna’s dramatic confession on the witness stand…Campbell suffers a seizure in front of everyone! Surprise!!! Now Julia knows the truth, and they can live happily every after. But really, why do we care?
(Oh, and there’s another lame side plot where Anna’s father, Brian, is a firefighter trying to discover the identity of an arsonist who has been striking with increasing frequency. In an ironic twist, the arsonist is his own son, who is clearly striking out because he feels he doesn’t get enough attention. Nice. But the son kind of has a point, I guess. I mean, I wouldn’t have cared about him except for the arson, and even with that, he only merited one measly paragraph in this review. Unfortunate boy.)
So now Anna’s an angel (the silly girl won’t even lie under oath), and Campbell and Julia are gazing at each other with bedroom eyes. But what about Kate? She can’t really let herself…die, can she? Isn’t that a wee bit…evil? Don’t suicides go to hell?
Don’t worry, little children, Mommy Picoult will make everyone happy again – or at least morally righteous! And they’ll all get into heaven.
Oh, but Mommy Picoult, how?
Simple. As Campbell, Julia, and Anna drive from the courtroom in the rain – a giant truck hits their car! Campbell and Julia are badly injured, but live. Anna dies. How sad. Actually, she’s brain dead, although still breathing on a respirator. Campbell and her parents decide to pull the plug. Her kidney is quickly harvested and transplanted into Kate, who’s wavered in her determination not to receive it now that her sister’s pavement pancake. Kate makes a miraculous recovery and lives on indefinitely. Yay.
Despicable.
Picoult raised all those interesting questions – medical emancipation, a patient’s right to refuse treatment, etc. – and copped out on them all. None of them resulted in real consequences. How cowardly. Grow a backbone, Jodi. Better yet, if you have siblings, rip one out from them. I’m sure they don’t need it as much as you.
Actually, there was one good thing about this book: Campbell has a dog with him at all times that is trained to detect impending seizures. Whenever someone asks what the dog is for, Campbell gives a smart-ass answer. For example: “I have an iron lung, and he keeps me away from magnets.” “I’m a recovering alcoholic, and he keeps me out of bars.” Or, “I’m color-blind, he tells me when traffic lights change.” Ha! Those were great.
Several months ago, I met a colleague who was clearly very intelligent and driven and dedicated to her career. At first, I found her rather intimidating. But when we were discussing books several weeks ago, she mentioned a pure adoration of Jodi Picoult. While doing so, her eyes shone with genuine admiration.
I’m not intimidated by her anymore.Labels: epilepsy, ethics, fiction, leukemia, melodrama
posted by Elizabeth at
8:38 AM
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Saturday, November 03, 2007
ket del Clarinet
Title: Vivaldi's Virgins
By Barbara Quick
Anna Maria del Violin is an orphan being raised in the Pieta orphanage in Venice. Also there? Vivaldi, as the resident priest and music director. The girls who display some sort of talent are trained as musicians, and perform music Vivaldi composes for them, while the others perform manual labor tasks until they become adults.
Anna Maria, unlike some of the other students, doesn't know who her parents were. Many of her friends know that they are the product of a scandalous affair, or the daughter of a famous courtesan, but she knows nothing, and spends most of her youth trying to learn where she comes from.
Along the way, she performs as part of the coro, and is the most talented violinist they've had for quite some time. She receives strange gifts from the Jewess seamstress that hint at her past; she's kindof headstrong, and ends up in the 1700's Venice version of solitary confinement often, where the nuns encourage her to write letters to her mother.
Vivaldi is a major player in all their lives; he and Anna Maria have a close relationship, and he composes many works to have solos just for her (even writing "for Anna Maria" on the top of the score). He would do just about anything to further his music, and gets himself, Anna Maria, and a few of the other girls into trouble while acquiesing to the King of the Netherlands' wish to take them all to a masque.
Among her friends, though she has a temper, Anna Maria is the innocent. Claudia comes as a paying student from England, and she teaches the girls to masturbate as a way of understanding the passion Vivaldi wants from them while playing. Marietta sets up an assignation on a special field trip, and ends up pregnant, resulting in a hasty marriage to the son of a wealthy citizen (who wasn't her lover on the island, but he wants her, and she wants all he can offer her and her singing career, so they lie tothe nuns and get married).
Anna Maria found her true love while at the masque with the king - Franz - but he followed his family's orders and married the woman of their choosing, but for decades visited Anna Maria every year.
Silvio, was another student at the orphanage, and he and Anna Maria were close friends until she went to study music and he was sent away because only female students are kept after about age 9. Silvio went to live with Rebekkah, the aforementioned Jewess seamstress, and helps Anna Maria search for her past.
Eventually, it is revealed that Silvio is actually the son of Rebekkah's deceased sister, who used to be a student of the former maestro at the Pieta, and then he learns that the former maestro is his father. Anna Maria realizes that he has everything going against him - the son of a priest, half Jewish, and a "sodomite". However, he becomes a successful businessman in the end, and always friends with Anna.
One of the reasons for the continued friendship? Anna Maria learns her parentage. One of her favorite nuns, Sister Laura, died while Anna was in her late teens. After her death, a letter was given to Anna - Laura was her mother. She had been another student, a talented violinist, though not as talented as Anna Maria, and she too had had an affair with the former maestro, making Anna and Silvio half siblings. After Anna's birth, she became a nun so she could look after her. And to reinforce how small a community Venice was at this time, Laura was the older sister of the man Marietta married, so Marietta is now Anna Maria's aunt.
Anna Maria received several proposals as a young woman, but declined them all because of her love for Franz, deciding instead to stay at the Pieta as a member of the coro and teacher.
Many of the characters in the book were actual historical personnages; several other story-lines were based on actual happenings. Anna Maria lived, though all that's known about her childhood was that she was very talented but didn't progress through the ranks of the coro anywhere near the pace her talent would demand, leading to specualtion that she had disciplinary problems.
The book is incredibly interesting, jumping between Anna's letters to her mother and "real time" - and is a highly detailed illustration of Venitian life at its' peak.Labels: biography, fiction, history, nuns
posted by ket at
10:52 AM
2
comments
Thursday, October 25, 2007
A Rather Unlikely Heroine
Title: Northanger Abbey
Author: Jane Austen
Bookmark: The ribbon attached to the book. Gotta love the permanent bookmark.
The overall plot of this novel - girl goes to Bath with friends, girl meets new female friend, new female friend has a brother, brother is an obnoxious twat who pesters girl, girl falls for someone else, girl and said someone else live happily ever after - is entertaining enough, but the characters are what makes this book so fun.
The father of Catherine's true love is an overbearing, verbose individual who never lets anyone else speak and in fact, spends a lot of time speaking for them. His strict adherence to schedule borders on autistic, so anal is he about what time they must eat, what time they must depart, and so on. The brother who pesters Catherine (he is after her hand in marriage, oddly, when he seems too obsessed with himself to care much about anyone else) lengthily enumerates the specifics of his various possessions, describing in excruciating detail the particulars of his horse, of his chaise, etc. It's best to skim those parts. The friend with whom Catherine travels to Bath is a rather vacuous woman who is far too obsessed with her clothes to maintain a steady opinion about anything else.
I also was amused by Austen's characterization of the heroine, Catherine. She's not really all that much of a heroine, but Austen makes it explicitly clear that it is Catherine's hope that she would be a heroine. She thinks about what a heroine would do, what situations a heroine would find herself in, and so on.
Humorous characters are one of the best parts of an Austen novel.Labels: classics, fiction
posted by Kate at
3:58 PM
3
comments
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
unfinished
Title: The Men I Didn't Marry
Authors: Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schnurnberger
I don't so much go for the mid-life crisis novel where the book opens with a couple dropping the youngest kid off at college and then the husband informing the wife he's leaving her for a pre-existing girlfriend. I think I still identify more with the college-student kids than the actual heroine of this book. However, there's apparently an audience for this sort of crap, because this is the second book like this these authors have put out. Whatever.
Title: You Suck: A Love Story
By Christopher Moore
Didn't really suck me in (hah). Plus it's written in first person, and I often dislike that.
Title: Queen of Babble in the Big City
By Meg Cabot
I liked 'Queen of Babble' and didn't really see the need for a sequel - the relationship issues seemed contrived, and I didn't like the messing with the initial happy ending.
Title: Knock Off
By Rhonda Pollero
Main character was too ditzy (even for me).
Title: The Accidental Florist
By Jill Churchill
Eh.
Title: Remains to be Scene
By R. T. Jordan
Eh. Major characters not very likeable.Labels: crap, fiction, mid-life crisis, romantic "suspense", trashy romance, vampires
posted by ket at
5:31 PM
2
comments
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Soaking Wet
Title: Pride and Prejudice
Author: Jane Austen
Bookmark: Pittsburgh area bus schedule (it's $660 for a yearly pass!)
I am not quite sure what possessed me to read this, and even worse, I am now plodding along through Northanger Abbey. The classics? Me? Really? Yikes.
I may have read this in high school - I can no longer remember. However, it wasn't until college that I watched the fantastic BBC mini-series (all at one day, in fact) starring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. This time around (if there was indeed another time) I couldn't read more than a paragraph without picturing scenes from the mini-series.
And I have to admit that I'm horrendously disappointed that the scene from the mini-series where Mr. Darcy goes swimming in his lake and then runs into Elizabeth Bennet while soaking wet is missing! BBC apparently took a few liberties, but I, for one, do not mind that they added that in.
As for the book, who can really say much about the great Jane Austen that hasn't already been said? I enjoyed it, I took comfort in the fact that I'm not stuck sitting at a ball waiting for someone to introduce me to an eligible gentleman, and I'm glad that I learned more than singing, drawing, and sewing.
The characters are, of course, extraordinarily entertaining - Mr. Bennet and his love of silly people and their antics, Mrs. Bennet who is one of the most ridiculous characters I've yet encountered, Jane with all her endless goodwill towards others, Kitty and Lizzy and their complete and utter dingbatedness (best word I could come up with/make up - sorry). The list goes on.
Overall, a delightful read. :)Labels: classics, fiction
posted by Kate at
7:21 PM
5
comments
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Like a vampire book? Me?
Title: Twilight
Author: Stephenie Meyer
I never thought I'd read a vampire book, let alone one that I simply could not put down. However, when the third book of this series beat out Harry Potter 7 on the NYT bestseller list after only a few weeks, I thought I had to try it.
Isabella Swan, or Bella, is a high school senior who has just moved from sunny Arizona to live with her father, Charlie, in Forks, Washington - the location with the most rainfall in the United States. Everything is far too green for her and she is having a horrible time.
But then she meets Edward Cullens. Edward and his adopted siblings, Alice, Jasper, and Rosalie, keep to themselves. They "eat" lunch by themselves - they get food, but they always throw it away untouched.
At first, Bella thinks Edward loathes her. Later, she discovers that he finds her so tempting the he is trying to avoid her at all costs. He's a vampire and she smells more delicious to him than any other human ever has. Of course, that translates to him being madly in love with her. She feels the same.
Then some different vampires come to town, ones who haven't trained themselves to be around humans and only to hunt animals. Edward protects Bella from one of them, and soon this vampire, James, has decided that he must suck Bella's blood. He stalks her endlessly, eventually attacks her, and bites her, but Edward saves the day. He sucks the poison out of her blood, and is able to stop himself from draining her fully.
How romantic.
Hmmm, this review makes the book sound pretty cheesy actually. It is at times but it is also really good. I'm already "devouring" the second one!Labels: fiction, vampires, young adult
posted by Kate at
9:32 PM
0
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