Yiyun Li
I would classify this as interesting, but not fascinating. Or maybe fascinating, but not engaging. It is the story of life in Muddy River, a northern Chinese town in late 1970's. The four or five main characters are introduced in the context of their lives and roles in Muddy River. Only over time are the connections between them revealed. And while this is nominally a story of a few individuals in a particular town, it is ostensibly about China and the effects of the Cultural Revolution on individuals. The main plot circles around the planned execution of a counter-revolutionary who was a former revolutionary. In both of these lives, she was fully engaged, which led her to extreme interactions with individuals in both of her political lives. Fascinating is the daily life routine of a majority of the Muddy River citizens, the daily interaction with the communist government. The pervasive presence of the central government simultaneous with the irrelevance of the central government. The individual attitudes of parents, kids, city outcasts are all very much about "here is what I need to do today", leaving the societal big picture to the government. I think in the west we have a view that our role in the big picture is more pronounced and important, but I am not sure that we have a realistic view about the impact of our egocentrism. Being drawn into thinking about and comparing cultural roles and norms from east to west is ultimately, for me, the payoff of this novel.
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Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Monday, July 27, 2015
Crossing to Safety
Walace Stegner
I had tried to read this a year ago and got bogged down in the first half chapter. It is (in my memory) an endless description of a leaf on a tree as viewed from a cottage porch. In fact it is nothing like this, but... This time I persevered and found a story following two couples and their ongoing relationship over the course of several decades starting in the 1920's. Both the men are english professors who worked together for a few years at a midwestern university (one clearly talented, the other interested in poetry which doesn't get you promoted or famous), one woman is a control freak, and the other a peacemaker. Money, politics, family, career, travel, health, life purpose, and anything else you can think of meanders through the relationship of these two couples. Stegner is a master of painting a picture of life and is able to create characters that are sufficiently complex that I was able to identify at different times with each of them (while rolling my eyes at those same characters at other times). It is a story of friendship and true community as not once is there the expression of "Let's just not see them anymore". For me, I was only able to get through this because I was listening to it, the words continued to move (I was not able to put the book down) as the car drove down the road. And the end result was an appreciation of a well written story.
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I had tried to read this a year ago and got bogged down in the first half chapter. It is (in my memory) an endless description of a leaf on a tree as viewed from a cottage porch. In fact it is nothing like this, but... This time I persevered and found a story following two couples and their ongoing relationship over the course of several decades starting in the 1920's. Both the men are english professors who worked together for a few years at a midwestern university (one clearly talented, the other interested in poetry which doesn't get you promoted or famous), one woman is a control freak, and the other a peacemaker. Money, politics, family, career, travel, health, life purpose, and anything else you can think of meanders through the relationship of these two couples. Stegner is a master of painting a picture of life and is able to create characters that are sufficiently complex that I was able to identify at different times with each of them (while rolling my eyes at those same characters at other times). It is a story of friendship and true community as not once is there the expression of "Let's just not see them anymore". For me, I was only able to get through this because I was listening to it, the words continued to move (I was not able to put the book down) as the car drove down the road. And the end result was an appreciation of a well written story.
Read
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Avalon
Mindee Arnett
A bit of sci-fi action between my foreign authors exploration. And a good one I must say. This little space western finds Jeth leading a group of teenage starship thieves as they work toward purchasing their own ship and going legit. The starships they target generally have metadrives that allow faster than light travel. Their next assignment is to track down a lost ship and the cargo turns out to be valuable to their crimelord boss Hammer and to the confederated authorities. In fact, the cargo has the potential to dramatically altar how life in the galaxy functions... of course. This is good, fun sci-fi, that pays enough attention to the space traveling details, but not too much to get in the way (just turn on the gravity drive, don't worry about what it actually is). In fact, this reads very much like a Star Wars prequel with Jeth playing the young Han Solo. Throw in a few surprises and set the world up in such a way that this could be a nice little series for Arnett. At least, I hope it is since the characters she developed are interesting and fun.
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A bit of sci-fi action between my foreign authors exploration. And a good one I must say. This little space western finds Jeth leading a group of teenage starship thieves as they work toward purchasing their own ship and going legit. The starships they target generally have metadrives that allow faster than light travel. Their next assignment is to track down a lost ship and the cargo turns out to be valuable to their crimelord boss Hammer and to the confederated authorities. In fact, the cargo has the potential to dramatically altar how life in the galaxy functions... of course. This is good, fun sci-fi, that pays enough attention to the space traveling details, but not too much to get in the way (just turn on the gravity drive, don't worry about what it actually is). In fact, this reads very much like a Star Wars prequel with Jeth playing the young Han Solo. Throw in a few surprises and set the world up in such a way that this could be a nice little series for Arnett. At least, I hope it is since the characters she developed are interesting and fun.
Read
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
The Man with the Compound Eyes
Wu Ming-yi
Three stories told interspersed. The story of Alice, a Taiwanese writer/professor who lives on the eastern seaboard. She has lost her husband and son, has aboriginal friends who look after her and is struggling to find purpose in life. The story of Atile'i, a pacific islander who journeys off his Island, finds a big world and seeks to understand it in terms of his existing worldview. The story of Sara and Detlef, European scientists on personal journeys to understanding their connection and responsibility to the earth. In fact, all of these stories are about connection to earth and the responsibility of humanity to understand the earth and act accordingly. The unifying event in these stories is a large storm that breaks up the great trash vortex that has been collecting in the Pacific gyre and sends it on a collision course with Taiwan. Each story is independently engaging, and the connections between them are natural and unforced. Wu does not feel the need to make explicit connections with plot, but allows the reader to feel the connections just by acknowledging that the characters inhabit the same space. May be one of the most environmentally persuasive books I have read.
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Three stories told interspersed. The story of Alice, a Taiwanese writer/professor who lives on the eastern seaboard. She has lost her husband and son, has aboriginal friends who look after her and is struggling to find purpose in life. The story of Atile'i, a pacific islander who journeys off his Island, finds a big world and seeks to understand it in terms of his existing worldview. The story of Sara and Detlef, European scientists on personal journeys to understanding their connection and responsibility to the earth. In fact, all of these stories are about connection to earth and the responsibility of humanity to understand the earth and act accordingly. The unifying event in these stories is a large storm that breaks up the great trash vortex that has been collecting in the Pacific gyre and sends it on a collision course with Taiwan. Each story is independently engaging, and the connections between them are natural and unforced. Wu does not feel the need to make explicit connections with plot, but allows the reader to feel the connections just by acknowledging that the characters inhabit the same space. May be one of the most environmentally persuasive books I have read.
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The Berlin Stories
Christopher Isherwood
Some parts fiction, some parts autobiographical, this is a description of life in Berlin in the early 30's as the Nazi party is gaining strength. Isherwood is living in Berlin, doing some writing and living the artists life (meeting people, going on vacation with them, getting involved in lives). What I find most fascinating about these stories is the political development. Isherwood is not writing as a political writer, but since the political scene is so dominant, it infiltrates every aspect of life. And, from this perspective, in the early 30's in democratic Germany, there was a legitimate struggle between the Nazi and Communist parties for control of the elections, and at least in Isherwood's circles, no one thought the Nazi's would come to power. So while these are stories of people, an actress, a business man, a professional sponge, they are also stories of time and events. And together these stories offer another insight to how we can get so far down a road that it is hard to come back.
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Some parts fiction, some parts autobiographical, this is a description of life in Berlin in the early 30's as the Nazi party is gaining strength. Isherwood is living in Berlin, doing some writing and living the artists life (meeting people, going on vacation with them, getting involved in lives). What I find most fascinating about these stories is the political development. Isherwood is not writing as a political writer, but since the political scene is so dominant, it infiltrates every aspect of life. And, from this perspective, in the early 30's in democratic Germany, there was a legitimate struggle between the Nazi and Communist parties for control of the elections, and at least in Isherwood's circles, no one thought the Nazi's would come to power. So while these are stories of people, an actress, a business man, a professional sponge, they are also stories of time and events. And together these stories offer another insight to how we can get so far down a road that it is hard to come back.
Read
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