1:28 p.m. - September 20, 2002
Books et al
Why I do this, I do not know; rumor has it I have nothing better to do. I'll read anything if it carries a good recommendation from someone I trust even the slightest, so give me some fodder for sleepless nights.
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The Iliad, Homer☺☺☺☺☺
Cosmological thriller. Cannot ever have enough. It's a weakness.
Life of Pi, Yann Martel ☺☺☺☺☺
Breathtaking. A boy and a tiger adrift on the Pacific, a psychological, spiritual, emotional tour de force. If it doesn't move you, then you're a cold-hearted scuzz. If you anticipate a Christmas gift from me, don't buy this book. (That means you, Bathsheba, Twig, Lorster)
The Twilight of American Culture, Morris Berman ☺☺☺
Liberal schlock espousing elitism and intellectual monasticism as a means of preserving culture in a society gone amok and flirting with social disaster. Not quite a the sky is falling treatise, it's a thoughtful analysis of current social ills that makes me wonder if he's a closet conservative. He pulled a Clinton by cloaking conservative causes and calls to action in liberal rhetoric-speak, but don't be fooled: If you're a liberal liberal, you'll be dismayed by the book. If you're an open-minded liberal, it may be engaging. If you're conservative, it'll remind you that yes, some liberals have common sense. Not many, but some.
La Peste, Camus ☺☺☺☺
If my mother's milk tasted as good as Camus' French, I wouldn't be weaned. Read it aloud to yourself by candelight. An old favorite.
Bee Season, Myla Goldberg ☺
Cutesy coming-of-age for the pimply girl-who-fell-through-the-cracks until she realizes she can spell and whose family implodes. A good story, but not a great one, understand the difference?
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold ☺☺☺☺☺
For the record, I read this before she was discovered by The New York Times. Was planning this for a Christmas gift to everybody on my list before it became a Book of the Month Club book and was reviewed by Newsweek and Time. No joke, it made me cry under the covers.
You are Not a Stranger Here, Adam Haslett ☺☺☺☺
Short stories; read The Beginnings of Grief, My Father's Business, and Notes to My Biographer.
Singing Boy, Dennis McFarland ☺☺
Boy witnesses father's murder; has bad dreams; mother traverses own dark woods; boy becomes Beatrice; all is well. Moving prose, moving story, but I anticipate a Lifetime Television for Women adaptation where the little boy runs into his mama's arms and the violins play.
The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd ☺☺☺☺
I liked this one, though I can't articulate why. Just did.
Fall on Your Knees, Ann-Marie MacDonald ☺☺☺☺
A bizarre read yet engaging. I couldn't put it down. Definitely one of those books that's an international best seller that nobody seems to have read, because nobody talks about it. Nobody talks about it because most of them couldn't get into it; their loss.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Basho ☺☺☺☺☺
One of my favorite books of poetry.
