Here is another great book I just happened to grab quickly in the grocery store and yet again managed to find a jewel. Here’s to the book buyer’s at Fred Meyer’s Supermarket! But seriously, here is some info:
Title: The House at Sugar Beach-In Search of a Lost African Childhood
Author: Helene Cooper
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publishing Date: 2009
My start date: 7/15/10
My finish date: 7/22/10
It seems that whenever I start on a memoir, I stick to the memoir genre for awhile. This isn’t intentional and I have no idea why I do it, but it worked out that way again. However this memoir couldn’t be more different from the one I had just completed.
In The House at Sugar Beach, international journalist Helene Cooper spends the first half of her story regaling the reader with the cushy and happy childhood which she experienced as a member of the extremely elite upper class of Liberia, a childhood enabled by the legacy handed down to her through membership in this tiny, borderline inbred, class made up of the descendents of a handful of ruling freed black Americans who took over and founded the country in the earlier part of the nineteenth century. Each member of this upper class can trace his or her heritage back to these early colonists through belonging to one of seemingly only a dozen or so major families and those four or five percent of the population held all government jobs and intermarried only amongst themselves. Cooper’s family history provided for a comfortable childhood, which she introduces to us through endearing stories of family outings and gatherings, holidays and school events, peppered with traditional Liberian English exclamations.
However, all of this changed when a bloody coup left her family on the run and in grave danger. This switch between childhood bliss and jarring, war-torn adulthood is readily acknowledged as the memoir is conveniently divided into Parts I and II, the one shifting into the other as her plane lifts off the ground headed for the safety of America. While the childhood experiences are halcyon, the stories detailing the experiences of her family and friends during the coup and the following years of unrest and civil war are blunt and not for the faint-hearted reader, although not by a long shot among the most graphic I have read. For example, my first blog reviewed the memoir of a boy soldier in another war-torn African country and those pages made Cooper’s stories seem like a Disney story. Cooper’s story ends (mostly) happily, where the brutal holocaust literature I read in school leaves you wanting to scream in the end. So don’t be deterred from reading this excellent memoir just at the hint of a little violence. Like many others, this is a story that needed to be told and should be read.
Among other things, I would recommend that this book be read because, to be honest, I had no idea that the United States had ever attempted a colony. (No political snarky comments about Iraq and Afghanistan please, that is a whole other blog) I consider myself a fairly well educated individual in the realm of international affairs, however I admit to having very little awareness of Africa. In my class readings I had occasionally heard vague references to the idea that the U.S. had wanted to set up an African colony to which they could ship off freed slaves, but I had no idea that they had successfully followed through with that plan and the result was Liberia. Nor had I ever really thought hard on the connection of the word Liberia to the romance stem of “freedom”. America’s short-lived attempt at status as a colonial power is absolutely fascinating, despite the obviously tragic outcome.
Cooper is an extremely successful journalist and her journalistic writing style comes out in her memoir. While the stories are told well and are engaging enough, I would not classify her as a great story-teller in the same sense that many of my other writers have been. Then again, I am finding that to be pretty consistently the case among my memoir writers, as you have noticed in my blogs. In these cases I try to focus on the uniqueness and value of the stories they have to tell rather than on their brilliance as a writer and Cooper’s story is decidedly a great one.
I have one final note. I also seem to attract a lot of books making use of varying dialects. I forgot to mention in my previous post the frequent use of South African colloquialisms by Richardson. Before that I mentioned my struggle with Marshall’s questionable dialect usage. And I made very direct commentary on the dialect back in The Book of Night Women. Here again I will note that Cooper slips regularly into Liberian English and while most of it is pretty clear and other parts she translates, there were occasions when I simply had to admit that I had no idea what she meant to say. It didn’t detract at all from the book, but be it is in there, just FYI .
Ok, from memoirs to classics. Up next: Hawthorne’s timeless The Scarlet Letter.
Keep Reading!
Sarah
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Words from the Lion Whisperer
While Christmas shopping this past winter I stumbled upon a new memoir that had me fascinated, that of Kevin Richardson as he details his life working with the big cats and predators of Africa. It took me months to finally get around to reading it, but here it is:
Title: Part of the Pride-My Life Among the Big Cats of Africa
Author: Kevin Richardson
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publishing Date: 2009
My start date: 7/11/10
My finish date: 7/14/10
The important thing to remember with this book is that it is a memoir and the reader must focus on the essence of what Richardson is telling. His life and his work are really quite unique and extraordinary. His writing is not. Not that it is bad, far from it. However at times it is repetitive and choppy. Yet I had to remind myself and I will also remind you that his job is to be awesome with animals, not to write stories for a living. So, with that in mind…
This is a great story and I am glad he told it in whatever writing he could manage. Kevin Richardson has a true gift with animals and while he modestly shrugs his talents off as common sense and personal connections, I have to admit, I am thoroughly jealous! One of my dreams is to travel to Africa and spend a summer working with the same animals he gets to spend every day of his life raising and visiting! Can you imagine being able to walk into a lion’s territory and just hang out as if you were old friends? Richardson does this for a living. So cool.
One thing I loved about this memoir was Richardson’s total lack of arrogance. He tells this amazing story of his work with complete and heart-felt modesty. With the exception on some time spent detailing his childhood as a way to set up how he fell into this line of work, the bulk of the story feels more about the animals than about himself. Further, he is very realistic, refusing to paint any kind of Crocodile Dundee wildlife hero picture and faithfully mentioning the times when things got messy and taking the blame when he clearly overstepped his boundaries with the animals. Nor does he create the kind of work that could easily be read as a glorified advertisement to recruit wide-eyed city kids with dreams of wilderness work (ahem, much like myself…) into purchasing the next plane ticket to South Africa. He was good at writing reality.
This book isn’t overly long, is filled with cool stories through which you are welcome to live vicariously and even comes with a bunch of great pictures involving Richardson in various terrifying poses with dangerous creatures. Writing aside, I whole-heartedly recommend this as a fun read.
So until next time, keep reading!
Sarah
Title: Part of the Pride-My Life Among the Big Cats of Africa
Author: Kevin Richardson
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publishing Date: 2009
My start date: 7/11/10
My finish date: 7/14/10
The important thing to remember with this book is that it is a memoir and the reader must focus on the essence of what Richardson is telling. His life and his work are really quite unique and extraordinary. His writing is not. Not that it is bad, far from it. However at times it is repetitive and choppy. Yet I had to remind myself and I will also remind you that his job is to be awesome with animals, not to write stories for a living. So, with that in mind…
This is a great story and I am glad he told it in whatever writing he could manage. Kevin Richardson has a true gift with animals and while he modestly shrugs his talents off as common sense and personal connections, I have to admit, I am thoroughly jealous! One of my dreams is to travel to Africa and spend a summer working with the same animals he gets to spend every day of his life raising and visiting! Can you imagine being able to walk into a lion’s territory and just hang out as if you were old friends? Richardson does this for a living. So cool.
One thing I loved about this memoir was Richardson’s total lack of arrogance. He tells this amazing story of his work with complete and heart-felt modesty. With the exception on some time spent detailing his childhood as a way to set up how he fell into this line of work, the bulk of the story feels more about the animals than about himself. Further, he is very realistic, refusing to paint any kind of Crocodile Dundee wildlife hero picture and faithfully mentioning the times when things got messy and taking the blame when he clearly overstepped his boundaries with the animals. Nor does he create the kind of work that could easily be read as a glorified advertisement to recruit wide-eyed city kids with dreams of wilderness work (ahem, much like myself…) into purchasing the next plane ticket to South Africa. He was good at writing reality.
This book isn’t overly long, is filled with cool stories through which you are welcome to live vicariously and even comes with a bunch of great pictures involving Richardson in various terrifying poses with dangerous creatures. Writing aside, I whole-heartedly recommend this as a fun read.
So until next time, keep reading!
Sarah
Tougher the Second Time Around
They say that childhood memories should never be revisited because inevitably things will not be the same. Sadly, I have found that true in my recent reread of a teenage favorite. Here are the stats:
Title: Christy
Author: Catherine Marshall
Publisher: Avon
Publishing Date: 1967
My start date: 7/1/10
My finish date: 7/10/10
I no longer remember how I stumbled onto the works of Catherine Marshall, but I do remember that for a rather long period I was totally enamored with them, her more famous work, Christy, in particular. I poured over the pages, getting entirely swept up in the romantic idea of running off to be a school teacher to underprivileged rural children. I reread the books several times and got hooked on the TV series of the same name which found its inspiration in Marshall’s book and starred Kelly Martin. This book was solidly among my favorites.
Fifteen years later as I turn my own current ambitions toward a teaching career and harbor interests in particular of working with higher needs students, I was inspired to once again reach for this good ol’ standby, which I had not picked up in all those years since my previously described phase. I now wish I had let good memories rest as they were because this reading was not at all the same and may have in fact ruined the book for me.
Instead of romance and inspiration I now found formerly cute and quaint aspects of the novel to be outright annoying, most especially the attempts at recreated the different dialects these characters were supposed to use. I found both the accents of the locals as well as the Quaker accent attributed to major figure Alice to be over the top and rather contrived to the point of being a distraction. I guess a teenage imagination is willing to accept these things in the name of romance. Or more likely, at that stage in my life I probably didn’t know any better and thought they might just be accurate. (For that matter, my lack of knowledge and total belief in the reality of these fictional pages might also explain my sheer terror when my parents informed me only months after my addiction to this book that we were moving to Arkansas…)
Similarly, characters I had once adored now disgusted me. While the protagonist of this story is most certainly the title character, Christy, a nineteen year old, privileged city girl who chooses to abandon the expected life to go teach in the wilderness, the hero of the story is decidedly intended to be Alice Henderson, the Quaker woman who oversees the mission-like work being down in the area. Whereas my teenage self was amazed at this woman, my adult self found her to be domineering, close-minded, stubborn and just plain too much in most situations. This newfound frustration with Alice’s character in turn led to regular irritation with the protagonist for her naïve hero-worship for her mentor. In many situations I found Christy’s actions to be admirable, however on receiving a scolding from Alice she immediately repented and dedicated several pages to thinking over how amazing Alice’s thought process is. Argh!
Now, those things being said, some new insights turned out to be good. The story involves a love triangle between the protagonist and two men she encounters in her work. As a teenager I was upset with her final decision whereas as an adult I can see the stronger basis and wisdom of behind her choice. That made the ending a bit sweeter than I had originally regarded it. Although, I am not going to lie, the ending was even sweeter this time just because it finally came. The five hundred pages never seemed so long when I was younger.
I also really valued Marshall’s descriptions of Christy’s growing relationships with Fairlight and Opal, as well as the way she grows to care for the children with whom she works. There is also a ton of value to be derived from the minor characters and their lives, once you just push the pretentious missionary type people from the forefront.
So while I certainly assumed that this reread would be a quick trip down memory lane ending in a glowing review of an old favorite, unfortunately I ended up on a long road of reflection and changed opinions. But it is what it is. Still glad I read it.
On to the next one.
Keep Reading!
Sarah
Title: Christy
Author: Catherine Marshall
Publisher: Avon
Publishing Date: 1967
My start date: 7/1/10
My finish date: 7/10/10
I no longer remember how I stumbled onto the works of Catherine Marshall, but I do remember that for a rather long period I was totally enamored with them, her more famous work, Christy, in particular. I poured over the pages, getting entirely swept up in the romantic idea of running off to be a school teacher to underprivileged rural children. I reread the books several times and got hooked on the TV series of the same name which found its inspiration in Marshall’s book and starred Kelly Martin. This book was solidly among my favorites.
Fifteen years later as I turn my own current ambitions toward a teaching career and harbor interests in particular of working with higher needs students, I was inspired to once again reach for this good ol’ standby, which I had not picked up in all those years since my previously described phase. I now wish I had let good memories rest as they were because this reading was not at all the same and may have in fact ruined the book for me.
Instead of romance and inspiration I now found formerly cute and quaint aspects of the novel to be outright annoying, most especially the attempts at recreated the different dialects these characters were supposed to use. I found both the accents of the locals as well as the Quaker accent attributed to major figure Alice to be over the top and rather contrived to the point of being a distraction. I guess a teenage imagination is willing to accept these things in the name of romance. Or more likely, at that stage in my life I probably didn’t know any better and thought they might just be accurate. (For that matter, my lack of knowledge and total belief in the reality of these fictional pages might also explain my sheer terror when my parents informed me only months after my addiction to this book that we were moving to Arkansas…)
Similarly, characters I had once adored now disgusted me. While the protagonist of this story is most certainly the title character, Christy, a nineteen year old, privileged city girl who chooses to abandon the expected life to go teach in the wilderness, the hero of the story is decidedly intended to be Alice Henderson, the Quaker woman who oversees the mission-like work being down in the area. Whereas my teenage self was amazed at this woman, my adult self found her to be domineering, close-minded, stubborn and just plain too much in most situations. This newfound frustration with Alice’s character in turn led to regular irritation with the protagonist for her naïve hero-worship for her mentor. In many situations I found Christy’s actions to be admirable, however on receiving a scolding from Alice she immediately repented and dedicated several pages to thinking over how amazing Alice’s thought process is. Argh!
Now, those things being said, some new insights turned out to be good. The story involves a love triangle between the protagonist and two men she encounters in her work. As a teenager I was upset with her final decision whereas as an adult I can see the stronger basis and wisdom of behind her choice. That made the ending a bit sweeter than I had originally regarded it. Although, I am not going to lie, the ending was even sweeter this time just because it finally came. The five hundred pages never seemed so long when I was younger.
I also really valued Marshall’s descriptions of Christy’s growing relationships with Fairlight and Opal, as well as the way she grows to care for the children with whom she works. There is also a ton of value to be derived from the minor characters and their lives, once you just push the pretentious missionary type people from the forefront.
So while I certainly assumed that this reread would be a quick trip down memory lane ending in a glowing review of an old favorite, unfortunately I ended up on a long road of reflection and changed opinions. But it is what it is. Still glad I read it.
On to the next one.
Keep Reading!
Sarah
Bite O' Twilight
Ok, so if you don’t know it already, I am admittedly a “Twi-hard”, that is to say, a die-hard fan of the works of Stephenie Meyers, especially in her Twilight series. Judge me if you will, but I figure when you read as many books as I do (and subsequently pursue and achieve graduate degrees in literature) you can like whichever books you want to like. I actually do know a thing or two about literature and Meyer’s works have good value to them, once the haters put away their automatic aversion to the series and look at the works with more depth. And P.S., if you have only seen the movies, you are NOT qualified to debate the series.
Now, that being said, I am not here to debate the series with haters either. If you don’t like Meyer’s works, move on to the next post, this one isn’t for you. I had made a promise with myself that I would not be able to count re-reading any of the Twilight series for this blog unless it was read in a non-English language. However, when Meyer decided to put out a new novella, well, that is something else entirely and legitimately counts for the project! So, here are some thoughts, however brief, on the latest things to be swept up in Twilight fever.
Title: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little Brown & Co
Publishing Date: 2010
My start date: 7/1/10
My finish date: 7/1/10
So, I am not going to spend a lot of time on this one. People pretty much fall into two camps. There are those who just plain don’t like the series, and as I indicated, I am not going to debate the entire series today. Although I could, and have in a graduate-level paper. :-D Those people aren’t going to be won over to the series by this one novella, no matter how good or bad it is. Then there are those who are already hopelessly addicted to the series and for those people this newest addition could be utter trash and they would still devour it. There doesn’t seem to be much of a middle ground for Meyer’s works. So, obviously, my opinion on this little novella isn’t going to make the news.
That being said, I will make a few notes on the reading experience, with the general assumption that if you are still reading, you are a fan. I really enjoyed this little bite-sized dose of Twilight. While the main series is told from the perspective of protagonist, Bella Swan, with occasional tidbits told from the side of teen-wolf Jacob Black, this novella is entirely told from a new character’s perspective. The only other attempt Meyer has made to step entirely out of Bella’s mind for a work was the ill-fated (but hopefully not forgotten) project, Midnight Sun which retells the events of her first novel from the view of vampire Edward, but this book has yet to make it to the publisher intact. So this novella is a very fresh experience for fans because it shows you Meyer’s fantasy world from new eyes. And not just new, but technically, enemy eyes. The story is told from the vantage point of Bree, one of the newborn vampires created during the third novel with the intention of killing Bella and the Cullen family. This is no veggie vamp, but a good old-fashioned, human hunting vampire. Yet Meyer somehow manages to make even this vampire loveable. Despite the fact that we all know Bree’s fate,(again, I am assuming that if you are going to read this, you have already read the others)I found myself hoping that things would somehow turn out differently. It is like how each time I watch Romeo and Juliet (the DiCaprio/Danes version, of course) I find myself certain that this time it could end differently. I love it when that happens because it means the author has created a world so great that you, as a reader, believe it is still a moving part and can still change. But alas…
The novella was written with the intention that you should read it before going to see the recently released third installation in the film series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. I didn’t. I have been very busy and when I actually got a chance to see the movie, I jumped at it, regardless of the fact that I had yet to read the new novella. In retrospect, the novella would have helped explain a few of the tweaks the directors made to the story when capturing it on film, however, it didn’t ruin the experience for me or anything. However, I wouldn’t mind seeing it again now, after having read the novella.
Of course, all of this is probably a pointless conversation because if I know a good Twi-hard, those of you even interested in reading this novella were probably waiting in line to buy it when it released and then waited in line to watch the film at the midnight opening.
So I guess all that is left for me to do is rub in the fact that I spent last weekend at La Push beach and can “twilight it up” in just four hours any day I want. Ahh, Seattle.
And that is officially your Twilight blog post for the year.
Keep Reading!
Sarah
Now, that being said, I am not here to debate the series with haters either. If you don’t like Meyer’s works, move on to the next post, this one isn’t for you. I had made a promise with myself that I would not be able to count re-reading any of the Twilight series for this blog unless it was read in a non-English language. However, when Meyer decided to put out a new novella, well, that is something else entirely and legitimately counts for the project! So, here are some thoughts, however brief, on the latest things to be swept up in Twilight fever.
Title: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little Brown & Co
Publishing Date: 2010
My start date: 7/1/10
My finish date: 7/1/10
So, I am not going to spend a lot of time on this one. People pretty much fall into two camps. There are those who just plain don’t like the series, and as I indicated, I am not going to debate the entire series today. Although I could, and have in a graduate-level paper. :-D Those people aren’t going to be won over to the series by this one novella, no matter how good or bad it is. Then there are those who are already hopelessly addicted to the series and for those people this newest addition could be utter trash and they would still devour it. There doesn’t seem to be much of a middle ground for Meyer’s works. So, obviously, my opinion on this little novella isn’t going to make the news.
That being said, I will make a few notes on the reading experience, with the general assumption that if you are still reading, you are a fan. I really enjoyed this little bite-sized dose of Twilight. While the main series is told from the perspective of protagonist, Bella Swan, with occasional tidbits told from the side of teen-wolf Jacob Black, this novella is entirely told from a new character’s perspective. The only other attempt Meyer has made to step entirely out of Bella’s mind for a work was the ill-fated (but hopefully not forgotten) project, Midnight Sun which retells the events of her first novel from the view of vampire Edward, but this book has yet to make it to the publisher intact. So this novella is a very fresh experience for fans because it shows you Meyer’s fantasy world from new eyes. And not just new, but technically, enemy eyes. The story is told from the vantage point of Bree, one of the newborn vampires created during the third novel with the intention of killing Bella and the Cullen family. This is no veggie vamp, but a good old-fashioned, human hunting vampire. Yet Meyer somehow manages to make even this vampire loveable. Despite the fact that we all know Bree’s fate,(again, I am assuming that if you are going to read this, you have already read the others)I found myself hoping that things would somehow turn out differently. It is like how each time I watch Romeo and Juliet (the DiCaprio/Danes version, of course) I find myself certain that this time it could end differently. I love it when that happens because it means the author has created a world so great that you, as a reader, believe it is still a moving part and can still change. But alas…
The novella was written with the intention that you should read it before going to see the recently released third installation in the film series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. I didn’t. I have been very busy and when I actually got a chance to see the movie, I jumped at it, regardless of the fact that I had yet to read the new novella. In retrospect, the novella would have helped explain a few of the tweaks the directors made to the story when capturing it on film, however, it didn’t ruin the experience for me or anything. However, I wouldn’t mind seeing it again now, after having read the novella.
Of course, all of this is probably a pointless conversation because if I know a good Twi-hard, those of you even interested in reading this novella were probably waiting in line to buy it when it released and then waited in line to watch the film at the midnight opening.
So I guess all that is left for me to do is rub in the fact that I spent last weekend at La Push beach and can “twilight it up” in just four hours any day I want. Ahh, Seattle.
And that is officially your Twilight blog post for the year.
Keep Reading!
Sarah
Fairy Tales from War Stories
One of my personal goals has long been to work abroad in an orphanage, so when I read the description of John Shor’s latest novel, a story of two Americans working to run a Vietnamese orphanage, I had a pretty good feeling I would like it. I wasn’t disappointed. However, you don’t have to be suffering from a permanent sense of wanderlust like myself to appreciate Shor’s combination war story and fairy tale. Here are the stats:
Title: Dragon House
Author: John Shors
Publisher: NAL Trade
Publishing Date: 2009
My start date: 6/27/10
My finish date: 6/30/10
Having spent a number of years himself wandering about Asia, Shors is no stranger to the delicious and delightful cultures that one can find in Southeast Asia, particularly when one ventures off the standard tourist trail. His experiences lend a great degree of realism and believability to his story. The very fact that Shors is able to describe Vietnam so truthfully, referencing real hotels and tourist sites and accurately depicting the plight of the country’s people in all of their shades, from poor to fiercely proud, is what lends this novel its gritty edge. The reality of life for Vietnam’s poverty stricken, particularly the old and the young, is laid bare for all to see in a way that is wrenchingly vulnerable. The residue from years of war is not whitewashed over and the destruction that happened, often at the hands of Americans is not hidden.
However, the blunt realism of this post-war story is breathtakingly woven together with the soft-edged hope of a fairy tale. Far from being off-putting, this novel takes the gritty truth, lifts it up and dusts it off, blurring the edges and coaxing forth the exotic and the beautiful.
Despite the dirt, the colors in this novel are vibrant and the reader can almost smell and taste the food and salty air described. And these characters, while real and often pitiable, are those classic figures of fairy tales: good guys, bad guys, reluctant heroes and most of all, phoenixes.
I loved the characters so much. The children, especially, get into your mind and heart. I wanted to immediately fly out to Vietnam and take care of them. Most of the main characters are very well developed and make the real jewels of the novel.
That being said, there are a few parts of the novel that get a little cliché or cheesy. The ending in particular waxes melodramatic and can be rather predictable. If I could change or challenge anything, it would really only be those last, maybe forty pages. If that is the sort of thing that bothers you, consider this still a great beach read. However, I thought the rest of the novel more than made up for a cheesy ending and I absolutely loved it.
As an added benefit, Shors uses some of his proceeds to help actual children’s programs in Vietnam. Don’t you love it when you can do good just by reading! Bonus!
Until next time!
Keep reading!
Sarah
Title: Dragon House
Author: John Shors
Publisher: NAL Trade
Publishing Date: 2009
My start date: 6/27/10
My finish date: 6/30/10
Having spent a number of years himself wandering about Asia, Shors is no stranger to the delicious and delightful cultures that one can find in Southeast Asia, particularly when one ventures off the standard tourist trail. His experiences lend a great degree of realism and believability to his story. The very fact that Shors is able to describe Vietnam so truthfully, referencing real hotels and tourist sites and accurately depicting the plight of the country’s people in all of their shades, from poor to fiercely proud, is what lends this novel its gritty edge. The reality of life for Vietnam’s poverty stricken, particularly the old and the young, is laid bare for all to see in a way that is wrenchingly vulnerable. The residue from years of war is not whitewashed over and the destruction that happened, often at the hands of Americans is not hidden.
However, the blunt realism of this post-war story is breathtakingly woven together with the soft-edged hope of a fairy tale. Far from being off-putting, this novel takes the gritty truth, lifts it up and dusts it off, blurring the edges and coaxing forth the exotic and the beautiful.
Despite the dirt, the colors in this novel are vibrant and the reader can almost smell and taste the food and salty air described. And these characters, while real and often pitiable, are those classic figures of fairy tales: good guys, bad guys, reluctant heroes and most of all, phoenixes.
I loved the characters so much. The children, especially, get into your mind and heart. I wanted to immediately fly out to Vietnam and take care of them. Most of the main characters are very well developed and make the real jewels of the novel.
That being said, there are a few parts of the novel that get a little cliché or cheesy. The ending in particular waxes melodramatic and can be rather predictable. If I could change or challenge anything, it would really only be those last, maybe forty pages. If that is the sort of thing that bothers you, consider this still a great beach read. However, I thought the rest of the novel more than made up for a cheesy ending and I absolutely loved it.
As an added benefit, Shors uses some of his proceeds to help actual children’s programs in Vietnam. Don’t you love it when you can do good just by reading! Bonus!
Until next time!
Keep reading!
Sarah
Short but Sweet
I have long been a fan of author Indu Sundaresan’s novels, particularly those fictionalizing the life of legendary Indian queen Mehrunissa. So when I stumbled upon her recent collection of short stories, I knew I had to take a look. I wasn’t disappointed. Here are the stats:
Title: In the Convent of Little Flowers
Author: Indu Sundaresan
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Publishing Date: 2009
My Start date: 6/20/10
My Finish date: 6/24/10
Sundaresan’s novels had a very exotic and semi-magical feel for me. While reading them I was easily transported away into a foreign world of intrigue and passion in those so called “days of yore.” Each scene seemed tinged with that soft glow we all know from great movies when they use that special glowing filter. So, naturally, I expected the same feeling in her shorter works. Not so, but not in a bad way. Sundaresan’s short stories are real. They feel so real that you think you can reach out and touch the characters because they seem to be right there in front of you. You can feel heat, you can smell the food, you can almost touch the fabrics. And because of this realism, these stories wrench at your very soul. All in the matter of about fifteen pages each.
In nine different short stories Sundaresan seeks to paint a vivid picture of modern Indian life. These stories are set in a current Indian society, rather than the setting of several centuries earlier that she depicts in her novels, and examine a variety of issues which face the modern people of India, ranging from poverty to bride burning and beyond. This is no Chicken Soup for the Soul collection of short stories, so don’t pick this up expecting a feel good, warm fuzzies session. Some of the stories are, in fact, rather shocking. But they are so incredibly well-written! And so very provocative. They will certainly have you thinking about things.
I read this at a particularly busy point in my summer and the fact that these were short stories actually helped a little bit. It was easier to break things down into manageable pieces. That being said, on a few occasions I was pressed for time and had to put the book down while in the middle of one of the stories and this was definitely not ideal. Due to the short nature of the stories, it was really difficult to put one down halfway through and then be able to pick it up again several hours or even a day later and really get back into the heart of the story. So if you are going to read this, which I recommend you do, make sure that you begin each story with enough time to see it through to the end. A fifteen page commitment really isn’t that tough, after all.
That's it for this one!
Keep Reading!
Sarah
Title: In the Convent of Little Flowers
Author: Indu Sundaresan
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Publishing Date: 2009
My Start date: 6/20/10
My Finish date: 6/24/10
Sundaresan’s novels had a very exotic and semi-magical feel for me. While reading them I was easily transported away into a foreign world of intrigue and passion in those so called “days of yore.” Each scene seemed tinged with that soft glow we all know from great movies when they use that special glowing filter. So, naturally, I expected the same feeling in her shorter works. Not so, but not in a bad way. Sundaresan’s short stories are real. They feel so real that you think you can reach out and touch the characters because they seem to be right there in front of you. You can feel heat, you can smell the food, you can almost touch the fabrics. And because of this realism, these stories wrench at your very soul. All in the matter of about fifteen pages each.
In nine different short stories Sundaresan seeks to paint a vivid picture of modern Indian life. These stories are set in a current Indian society, rather than the setting of several centuries earlier that she depicts in her novels, and examine a variety of issues which face the modern people of India, ranging from poverty to bride burning and beyond. This is no Chicken Soup for the Soul collection of short stories, so don’t pick this up expecting a feel good, warm fuzzies session. Some of the stories are, in fact, rather shocking. But they are so incredibly well-written! And so very provocative. They will certainly have you thinking about things.
I read this at a particularly busy point in my summer and the fact that these were short stories actually helped a little bit. It was easier to break things down into manageable pieces. That being said, on a few occasions I was pressed for time and had to put the book down while in the middle of one of the stories and this was definitely not ideal. Due to the short nature of the stories, it was really difficult to put one down halfway through and then be able to pick it up again several hours or even a day later and really get back into the heart of the story. So if you are going to read this, which I recommend you do, make sure that you begin each story with enough time to see it through to the end. A fifteen page commitment really isn’t that tough, after all.
That's it for this one!
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Sarah
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