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stormkeeper_lovedoris) wrote2007-11-17 06:29 am
stormkeeper_lovedoris) wrote2007-11-17 06:29 am
Entry tags:
Book report
Here’s my latest series of book reviews. I guess we can call this the “B” crowd. Sorry for not being more imaginative in the grades I gave out, but I really did feel that every book in this crop deserved a B.
Stigmata by Phyllis Alesia Perry – The novel tells of Lizzie, a young woman living in modern times who inherits a trunk that contains diaries and a quilt that belonged to her ancestors. She begins to relive their lives, experiencing their painful pasts through episodes, dreams, memories, and visions. Lizzie’s great-great- grandmother Ayo was captured and brought to the US from Africa as a slave, and Lizzie’s body begins to develop scars and bleed on her wrists – the same place where manacles were placed on Ayo. This is an excellent novel about the past, family, and unspoken secrets. Grade: B
Blackberries in the Dream House by Diane Frank – This is a very poetic novel, telling the story of the life of a geisha named Yukiko. At first, I read it with a raised eyebrow, as the novel makes life for a geisha sound like it’s all silk kimonos and elegant calligraphy. But once I just accepted the fact that this is not a realistic portrayal of geisha life at all but rather a poetic novel that is even a bit like a fantasy, then I could enjoy it. The writing was beautiful; it kind of gave me a pleasant floating-on-a-cloud feeling. And while it’s not exactly a page-turner, the plot is compelling enough. Grade: B-
A few more, after the cut
Navigating the Darwin Straits by Edith Forbes – Back in the 90’s, I read two excellent novels by Edith Forbes (Alma Rose and Nowle’s Passing). Then I inexplicably forgot about this writer. I found out that she’s published two more and am kicking myself for waiting so long to re-discover her. This novel tells the story of Jordy, who is the smallest boy in his class, a computer nerd, and the son of an openly lesbian mom. We watch him grow up, struggle through adolescence, and search for a meaningful life. There’s not a dull moment in here and all the characters and settings feel uncannily real. My only criticism is that some of the dialog seemed a bit awkward to me. If you decide to pick this one up, I recommend you first read Alma Rose. The main character from Alma Rose features prominently in Navigating the Darwin Straits and, although nothing in the plot really requires you to have read the earlier novel, I think you’ll enjoy this one – and Alma Rose – more if you read Alma Rose first. Grade: B+
Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Rise of the Lesbian Rights Movement by Marcia M. Gallo – Well, you can tell what the book is about from its subtitle. Basically, a small group of women in the repressive 1950’s started a group for lesbians in San Francisco. It slowly grew, built up chapters in LA and New York, and helped push for lesbian rights and visibility. Over the years, there was debate as to whether the group would be for socializing or political advocacy or both. I’m always fascinated reading about what the culture was like not that long ago – psychologists telling you that you’re sick, getting arrested just for being at a gay bar – and this book was well-written and solidly researched. Grade: B
How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed by Slavenka Drakulic – A series of essays on life in Communist Eastern Europe before the Iron Curtain fell. Drakulic is a really good writer. She writes with a dash of humor, she provides enough details that you can really feel what she’s describing, and she’s insightful. I didn’t actually know much about life in Communist Eastern Europe, but she manages to make it all vivid. The portrait is a bleak one. She writes that people “go home to small, crowded apartments, drive unreliable cars, worry about their sickly children, do boring jobs, and eat poor quality food”. She gives us the day-to-day details: women in these countries don’t have any tampons or pads and have to use cotton rags; the toilet paper found in stores is as rough as pieces of notebook paper; a friend throws a party and has nothing to serve but potatoes and onions which the guest see as perfectly normal, having lived like this their entire lives. She travels to New York, observes the poverty there, and contrasts the social and political situation with that of her homeland. Drakulic also brings a women’s point of view in her essays, with feminist thoughts on everything from fashion, to dolls, to divorce. The book was published back in 1991 and I’d love to get a better idea of what things are like now. Grade: B
Books I started reading but didn’t finish:
Tales from the Garbage Hills by Latife Tekin – This gloomy novel was about people in Turkey who live on, as the title suggests, the landfills of factories. It really was well-written and certainly centered around an unusual topic. I just couldn’t get into it, I think because although the book was very descriptive it just didn’t have much in the way of plot. Nowadays it seems I really need novels to have strong plotlines if my interest is going to be held.
Stigmata by Phyllis Alesia Perry – The novel tells of Lizzie, a young woman living in modern times who inherits a trunk that contains diaries and a quilt that belonged to her ancestors. She begins to relive their lives, experiencing their painful pasts through episodes, dreams, memories, and visions. Lizzie’s great-great- grandmother Ayo was captured and brought to the US from Africa as a slave, and Lizzie’s body begins to develop scars and bleed on her wrists – the same place where manacles were placed on Ayo. This is an excellent novel about the past, family, and unspoken secrets. Grade: B
Blackberries in the Dream House by Diane Frank – This is a very poetic novel, telling the story of the life of a geisha named Yukiko. At first, I read it with a raised eyebrow, as the novel makes life for a geisha sound like it’s all silk kimonos and elegant calligraphy. But once I just accepted the fact that this is not a realistic portrayal of geisha life at all but rather a poetic novel that is even a bit like a fantasy, then I could enjoy it. The writing was beautiful; it kind of gave me a pleasant floating-on-a-cloud feeling. And while it’s not exactly a page-turner, the plot is compelling enough. Grade: B-
A few more, after the cut
Navigating the Darwin Straits by Edith Forbes – Back in the 90’s, I read two excellent novels by Edith Forbes (Alma Rose and Nowle’s Passing). Then I inexplicably forgot about this writer. I found out that she’s published two more and am kicking myself for waiting so long to re-discover her. This novel tells the story of Jordy, who is the smallest boy in his class, a computer nerd, and the son of an openly lesbian mom. We watch him grow up, struggle through adolescence, and search for a meaningful life. There’s not a dull moment in here and all the characters and settings feel uncannily real. My only criticism is that some of the dialog seemed a bit awkward to me. If you decide to pick this one up, I recommend you first read Alma Rose. The main character from Alma Rose features prominently in Navigating the Darwin Straits and, although nothing in the plot really requires you to have read the earlier novel, I think you’ll enjoy this one – and Alma Rose – more if you read Alma Rose first. Grade: B+
Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Rise of the Lesbian Rights Movement by Marcia M. Gallo – Well, you can tell what the book is about from its subtitle. Basically, a small group of women in the repressive 1950’s started a group for lesbians in San Francisco. It slowly grew, built up chapters in LA and New York, and helped push for lesbian rights and visibility. Over the years, there was debate as to whether the group would be for socializing or political advocacy or both. I’m always fascinated reading about what the culture was like not that long ago – psychologists telling you that you’re sick, getting arrested just for being at a gay bar – and this book was well-written and solidly researched. Grade: B
How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed by Slavenka Drakulic – A series of essays on life in Communist Eastern Europe before the Iron Curtain fell. Drakulic is a really good writer. She writes with a dash of humor, she provides enough details that you can really feel what she’s describing, and she’s insightful. I didn’t actually know much about life in Communist Eastern Europe, but she manages to make it all vivid. The portrait is a bleak one. She writes that people “go home to small, crowded apartments, drive unreliable cars, worry about their sickly children, do boring jobs, and eat poor quality food”. She gives us the day-to-day details: women in these countries don’t have any tampons or pads and have to use cotton rags; the toilet paper found in stores is as rough as pieces of notebook paper; a friend throws a party and has nothing to serve but potatoes and onions which the guest see as perfectly normal, having lived like this their entire lives. She travels to New York, observes the poverty there, and contrasts the social and political situation with that of her homeland. Drakulic also brings a women’s point of view in her essays, with feminist thoughts on everything from fashion, to dolls, to divorce. The book was published back in 1991 and I’d love to get a better idea of what things are like now. Grade: B
Books I started reading but didn’t finish:
Tales from the Garbage Hills by Latife Tekin – This gloomy novel was about people in Turkey who live on, as the title suggests, the landfills of factories. It really was well-written and certainly centered around an unusual topic. I just couldn’t get into it, I think because although the book was very descriptive it just didn’t have much in the way of plot. Nowadays it seems I really need novels to have strong plotlines if my interest is going to be held.
no subject
what's alma rose about?
no subject
Here's what a reviewer, more articulate than I, wrote and I think it sums it up well: "It is about being changed so much by love, waking up so much, that trivial things like "facts" and broken hearts don't matter any more. It's about owning your own life, and never being a victim. This is a book about the wisdom of learning that what happens TO you doesn't matter so much as how you respond. It is an utterly Romantic book, in the best, old sense of the word, and I would recommend it to anyone of any persuasion."