Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
"One of the most important works of twentieth-century American literature, Zora Neale Hurston's beloved 1937 classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is an enduring Southern love story sparkling with wit, beauty, and heartfelt wisdom. Told in the captivating voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams, it is the story of fair-skinned, fiercely independent Janie Crawford, and her evolving selfhood through three marriages and a life marked by poverty, trials, and purpose. A true literary wonder, Hurston's masterwork remains as relevant and affecting today as when it was first published -- perhaps the most widely read and highly regarded novel in the entire canon of African American literature."
~~ back cover
Did I read the same book? Apparently I did -- the names of the characters are all the same.
I just never figured this book out. To begin with, I had trouble with the dialect. It didn't flow for me, so whenever any of the characters were speaking, I had to slow down and really concentrate on what they were saying. Not that I don't understand dialect -- I didn't live in NAwlins for 5 years for nothing. Hearing it is much different than reading it -- it doesn't flow off the written page, the way it does when you're hearing it. And losing that flow, having to stop and wade through it -- the lightness, quickness, native intelligence of the speakers is lost. This dialect is made to move, to twist and turn in on itself and the speakers, twine around them and the audience, swoop and swirl and carouse. I don't profess to know how to represent dialect on the written page without losing that wonder and joy. I do know that the way Ms. Hurston chose didn't work.
There was an awful lot of philosophizing about what makes lives worth living, etc. Heavy-handed philosophizing, to my way of thinking. I do hate being preached at from the mouth of a character in a novel. Just as in real life, the most effective sermon is doing by example.
There was indeed a contrast between Janie's three marriages, and certainly she was happier in the last than in the first two. Her grandmother married her off young to an older man, "to protect her". Janie chose her second husband, and the 20 year duration of that marriage as it soured and shredded provided some small arena for Janie to evolve her selfhood. Perhaps she did, subterraneously, as she seemed to emerge from it more sure of herself, more comfortable in her own skin.
The story tried too much I think. There was the background, but important in its own right, thread about what life was like for black people in the South in the 1930s. Janie seems to have escaped the worst of it, not that her life was a bed of roses. But there was no mention of the tensions between white and black, of the grinding poverty, of the circumscribed lives blacks in America were forced to live during that time. With the exception of the thread of her grandmother's dilemma for bearing the owner's child, any interaction between the races was painted as one of common respect and caring for one another.
The dramas of Janie and her marriages were the romantic theme of course, but it isn't romance as we generally think of it. Marriage more often was a financial survival tool, and a necessity to be placed in the social fabric. Love and/or friendship generally didn't enter into it. Janie's third marriage turned that standard on its ear, and outraged most of the community because of it. The words are there describing how much she loved Tea Cake, but for me they stayed just words on a page -- never igniting into a love that caught my heart.
I think the book should have stuck with one or the other, and not tried to take on both arenas. Neither was done a service.
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Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
"Born in 1937 in a port city a thousand miles north of Shanghai, Adeline Yen Mah was the youngest child of an affluent Chinese family who enjoyed rare privileges during a time of political and cultural upheaval. But wealth and position could not shield Adeline from a childhood of appalling emotional abuse at the hands of a cruel and manipulative Eurasian stepmother. Determined to survive through her enduring faith in family unity, Adeline struggled for independence as she moved from Hong Kong to England and eventually to the United States to become a physician and writer.
"A compelling, painful, and ultimately triumphant story of a girl's journey into adulthood, Adeline's story is a testament to the most basic of human needs: acceptance, love, and understanding. With a powerful voice that speaks of the harsh realities of growing up female in a family and society that kept girls in emotional chains, Falling Leaves is a work of heartfelt intimacy and a rare authentic portrait of twentieth-century China."
~~back cover
This is an incredible book! I could hardly put it down and read it in two days. As Amy Tan said, "my heart [was] pierced by Adeline's account of her terrible childhood." On one level, the book was an historic overview of China before the Sino-Japanese war, which melted into WWII, which in turn was overthrown by the onset of Communism. The downward spiral from personal affulence to personal deprivation is astonishing and bone chilling.
Even more bone chilling is the exposure of the dynamics between the various members of the family. The "wicked" stepmother keeping everyone in turmoil and hatred -- the children turning against one another in an effort to win her favor. As they grew up and escaped (or didn't) from her power, it was fascinating and at the same time horrifying to watch how it all played out amongst them. Was Adeline a fool to hold the philosophy she did towards her family? Could any of them have changed their trajectories?
Let me know what you think after you've read this book.
MEET ME AT THE FIGHTING COCKS: LUNCH, LAGER, AND THE HOLY GRAIL by FRANCIS X. MALONE
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
"This novel treats the reader to a series of timeless London Pubs and cozy country inns. Join the entourage on this adventure as they explore the essence of life.
"Following a pub frolic in tow of London's 'villages', plus a day-out to Cambridge, the trio takes off on an outer crawl. From Brighton through the Cotswolds and Oxford to Saint Albans the party visits endearing pubs, grand cathedrals, and architectural gems, including the Prince Regent's Oriental Fantasy, a lavishly restored Norman castle, Majestic Blenheim Palace, and medieval scholastic splendors.
"They relish the charms of the Isle of Wight, Henley-on-Thames, The Royal Naval Base ('Victory' and 'Mary Rose'), Stonehenge, and Stourhead Garden. All are liberally laced with historical background, delectable dining, great companionship, and a dollop of spirituality.
"Richard L. Schwartz M.D., Pioneer Preventist, and Counseling Professor, having agreed to recount his life story, regales the author with 9 separate episodes from 1 to 3 days apart. His inspiring conclusion reveals that the most potent weapon in our medical arsenal if FAITH, the bedrock for hope, the magic ingredient of 'the will to live,' the key to survival."
~~ back cover
I was absolutely in ecstasies when I found this book. Bouncing up & down at the mail box with anticipation until it came! What could be better than a book that explores English pubs, & other delights? (For those of you who don't know me, I am an entrenched Anglophile, and pubs are among my favorite places in the whole of Britain.) I sat me down at once and dove right in.
And hit bottom somewhere in the first 50 pages. This is the most ghastly piece of work I've stumbled across in some time -- boring, poorly written, merely a laundry list of directions to the various pubs, a dry recitation of their history, and what they had to eat &/or drink while they were there. Poor Dr. Schwartz's story is butchered as well -- emerging dry as dust.
I couldn't finish it. I just couldn't even get to page 100.
Don't you wonder what a Pioneer Preventist might be? I did too. Evidently a Preventist is a doctor who practices preventive medicine, and also evidently Dr. Schwartz was one of the first in the field.
And it's no surprise to me that the publisher, AuthorHouse, is a self-publishing company. No real publisher would have touched this lot with a 10 foot pole! And what do you want to bet that the author wrote that glowing precis!
Everybody's Favorite Duck by Gahan Wilson
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
"The celebrated cartoonist/comic novelist Gahan Wilson presents a thundering and uproarious adventure -- with literature's nastiest bad guys and most heroic good guys battling to the death in today's New York."
"When the Professor (the fiendishly brilliant British Napoleon of Crime), the Mandarin (the cruelly diabolical Chinest mastermind), and Spectrobert (the blackheartedly crafty French rogue) are spotted lunching together at Manhattan's posh Le Rond-Point, the police department is baffled, the FBI is bewildered, the CIA is entirely up a tree. What deviltry are they plotting? Whose fate hangs in the balance? How can the forces of justice stymie their plans? Above all, what is their connection with famed cartoonist Art Waldo's universally adored creation, Quacky the Lucky Duck?
"Aid to the Force of Good comes in the form of the formidably brilliant Enoch Bone (who bears more than a passing resemblance to one of fiction's greatest sleuths) and his irrepressibly hard-boiled sidekick John Weston (ditto). But the wily villains do not underestimate their opponents: Bone and Weston are in short order subjected to Spectrobert's demonically booby-trapped kitchen, the Mandarin's mutation-laden torture tunnels, and the Professor's Flying Purple Cloud of Destruction.
"Will the combination of Bone's laser-sharp mind and Weston's quick trigger-finger be enough to undo the evil-doers? A breathtakingly riotous climax at New Jersey theme part Waldo World holds the answer."
~~front & back flaps
What a great title! I got the book because that title promised great things. Unfortunately, for me, the book never managed to achieve the stature promised by the title.
I got it that the main characters were all spoofs of famous detectives or famous villains. The Professor was easy to figure out, but I never managed to identify the other two. I don't read that sort of mystery, and so I missed the clever puns, the charming allusions to other stories, other triumphs, etc. Lacking those resonances, the whole thing was unutterably disjointed, nonsensical, and not very entertaining. With the one exception of when someone (inevitably) asked "Where's Waldo?"
The Art of the Moment: Simple Ways to Get the Most from Life by Veronique Vienne
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
"Prolong the Pleasure of Being Alive
"Don't wait for a second chance to get it right.
"Fold your napkin carefully at the end of a great gourmet meal.
"Have serious conversations with seven-year-olds.
"Forget to mention that you were right in the first place.
"Say 'Don't ask' and 'Go figure' rather than launch into tedious explanations.
"Reframe family pictures.
"Always have a kind word for people with old dogs.
"Look at the world as if you were a cat.
"Welcome unexpected interruptions: They are often the prologue to happy accidents.
"Think in the shower.
"Find a little more time to be with friends.
"Make the most of everything, one moment at a time."
~~back cover
"Feel the excitement of being here now! 'The Art of the Moment' explores ways to get the most from life, one day at a time. The signature essays -- short and sweet, yet insightful -- are invitations to appreciate the uniqueness of each moment. Dismissing the notion that our notoriously short attention span is to be blamed for our distracted state of mind, the book encourages readers to savor the fullness of life in brief, joy installments. 'Each moment is both the last time and the first time because no two days are ever alike.'
"Each chapter is a reminder that time is not running out. You don't have to rush to experience a sense of joy, wonder, and adventure. It's yours for the taking, whenever you are ready for it. You can claim the 'now' while watering the lawn, taking a seven-year-old to soccer practice, buying a new pair of shoes, or daydreaming about opening a small bookstore across the street from the bank.
"This book ... is a perfect gift for anyone who believes that the ultimate art of living is to make each minute count."
~~front flap
The only way I can think of to describe this book is to call it a miniature coffee table book. Nice format, lovely facile I-already-knew-that platitudes and small, nonmemorable essays -- to quote my friend, "it was much of a muchness". Perhaps a nice introduction to New Age thought for someone who's never delved into it before. But if you've done any reading on the subject, or are into meditating -- this is not the book for you. The metaphysical equivalent of "Dick and Jane".
I only read it because I needed a V author for my 52 A-Z Challenge.
Only Child: Writers on the Singular Joys and Solitary Sorrows of Growing Up Solo by Daphne Uviller
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
"In this collection of original, frank, personal accounts, twenty-one of today's most celebrated writers -- all of them only children -- reveal the pleasures, peculiarities, and pain they faced growing up, and growing older, without siblings. More than just stories of head counts and birth order, these essays air the dirty laundry, reveal the singular joys, and grapple with questions of love, loss, and solitude. The authors will make other onlies grin and grimace in recognition and show the rest of us what it's like to be a party of one."
~~back cover
I must be weird. None of these stories resonated with me. And yes, I'm an only child, and have hated it all my life. I was forever trying to find a family that had more relatives than mine (we were a singularly small group: I'm an only child, my mother's only sibling was childless [that makes me an only only, you know.]) I always longed for a big family: lots of aunts and uncles and cousins, and Cecil B. DeMille Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas with mounds of presents under the tree. My father had several brothers and a sister, but they are all back in Ohio and I've never met any of them, so that doesn't count..
None of the stories came close to talking about what it's like to be the point of such an inverted pyramid. All eyes on you, all family aspirations yours to fulfill, yours to fail and let the whole family down, etc. I hated it! As I grew older and began to find out that my family of origin was skewed heavily towards major personality disorders, I wished even harder for a sibling. "I didn't do it, your father didn't do it, and the dog didn't do it." Useless to protest that I didn't do it either -- my goose was already precooked. If I'd had a sibling, we might have compared notes and come to the conclusion about how skewed our family was -- and maybe it wouldn't have taken me so many years to find out, and even more to try to begin to undo the damage.
As we all got older, it would have been lovely to have a sibling, someone to share the burden of caring for them as they declined in health, and proceeded towards leaving this world. Lovely to have had someone to help me clean out the trailer, stuffed with the accumulated detrius of years and years of hoarding against the next Great Depression.
Some of these stories touched on that aspect of being an only child, but most of them ended happily ever after: reconciliation with their aloneness, happy families with their parents. That wasn't my experience, although I really hoped I would read about others who felt like orphans long before their parents' deaths made that status a reality.
Secret Lives of Walter Mitty and of James Thurber by James Thurber
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
"The beloved works of one of America's most celebrated writers is ... gorgeously illustrated in this collector's edition. Illustrator Marc Simont imaginatively renders the fantastic adventures of the famed protagonist in Thurber's beloved story and his tongue-in-cheek autobiographical essay 'The Secret Life of James Thurber', which first appeared in The New Yorker."
A charming book -- the drawings are whimsical and delightful. And of course the stories are well-known and indeed beloved.
