Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Hits and Misses

The last month has been one of hits and misses for me in terms of the books I picked up. Reminded me of a quote I read somewhere "There comes a time when you have to choose between turning the page and closing the book".

As the Booker longlist was announced I couldn't wait to read some of the books that made the list. By the time I sat down to write this post, the shortlist was announced and none of the books I had read (completely) made the list.

Started with Anne Enright's "The Green Road", a woman Irish writer, I can't believe I had not read her before! The Madigan family's trials and tribulations are traced over the course of many decades and we see Ireland's boom and bust cycles as we go through the decades. The novel is told in different voices (from the point of view of each child) over different time frames. So each chapter seems to be a short story with a loose connection to the previous ones. As the children grow up and some leave Ireland we travel along with them to the US and even Africa. The final action takes place once again in Ireland as the four Madigan children (Dan, Constance, Emmet and Hannah) are forced to come together as their mother decides to sell their childhood home. I should say I liked the sections set in Ireland the best and found the US and Africa sections a bit tedious - decided to turn the page instead of closing the book, but it left me wanting.

Then I picked up "The Moor's Account" by Laila Lalami. The book tells the story of the little known (at least to me) attempt by the Conquistador Panfilo de Navraez to capture Florida coast and claim it for the Spanish crown back in 1527. The journey starts out with 600 people and ends with 3 survivors, one of whom is the Moroccan slave Estebanico who is the narrator of this novel. The Moor is trying to provide a more honest version of what really happened as opposed to the sanitized version of the expedition supplied by the other two "gentlemen". Facing death, disease, and starvation the survivors managed to get from Florida to Mexico where they are eventually rescued thanks to the many Indian tribes they meet along the way - some hostile, but most willing to provide some food and shelter in exchange for labor or gifts. I enjoyed Estebanico's (formerly Mustafa) backstory, how he sold himself to slavery due to poverty, and then spent the rest of his time trying to get himself out of that state. It is also a story about stories and words - how powerful they are. Overall this was one where I kept turning the page, and I am sad it didn't make the short list.

"Satin Island" which has made the short list was one that definitely was not my cup of tea. I closed the book half way through, as it was more form over function, style over substance kind of book similar to "A visit from the goon squad" the 2011 pulitzer winner. If this one wins the Booker and someone explains to me why maybe i will revisit it, but that seems unlikely.

The non-fiction of the month was "Brilliant Green: The surprising history and science of plant intelligence". It is a short and easy read even for someone who might not be scientifically minded. Stefano Mancuso is a valiant defender of plants and wants to bring to light the step-daughterly treatment they have been receiving from humans who don't seem to understand that without plants their future would be pretty bleak! The book gives us a cliff notes type overview of the scientific discoveries in the last few decades pertaining to plant intelligence, sensing, social behavior. Very thought provoking, and yes while I still devour plants, I am more respectful of them these days. One of the side effects, is that my 10 year old has taken to practicing her recorder near our raised bed in the hope of encouraging the plants in our bed, similar to "Mozart for babies" (which I never did!)


The last two books for this post gave me an insight into pre-teen/teen boys almost like the movie "Boyhood" did! Roddy Doyle's Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha and David Mitchell's Black Swan Green are both Bildungsroman novels that trace one year in the life of Paddy Clarke (in Dublin)and Jason Taylor (in the fictional village of Black Swan) respectively. Roddy Doyle won the Booker back in the '80s for his book. It was not an easy read unlike Black Swan Green, but both were very educational for me.

Continuing this theme of Bildungsroman and teenage boys, I am the middle of reading "The Fishermen" by Chigozie Obioma. If I were the betting kind my money for the Booker would be on this one! I am only about 2/3rd of my way through, and this is a hard to put down book.

October looks exciting thanks to Slade House, Heart Goes Last and Sorcerer to the Crown - three books I've been looking forward to for quite some time. Also after much hesitation decided to pick up Game of Thrones (the books, not the show) - late to the party, but want to see what it is all about. My curiosity was piqued because of the comparison to Tolkien.

For now daughter is into The Hobbit which I am reading to her for bedtime, and we want to move onto Lord of the Rings even if that's going to take a couple of years to get through. How long she will want me to keep reading to her at night, I don't know but I intend to savor it as long as I can and if Tolkien can't help me, no one else can!