Book Reviews......
I'm an avid reader, often reading more than two novels a week. So, I thought I might provide some ideas for your reading enjoyment based on those I particularly like. Beginning this second week in December, 2021, I shall share my thoughts about some of these novels, and will try to post a review occasionally. I'm hoping to review recent reads, but if they're not fully compelling, I will replace them with novels that I've read over prior years that I particularly connect with. When they stick within my memory, they are worth recommending. I also try to adhere to Thumper's admonition that "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all."
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
This tale of poverty and pride centers around a family trying to survive in the early t900s. The novel provides historical context as it follows the growth of the main character as she navigates through her childhood into young adulthood. It is a deeply touching narrative without the sentimentalism that sometimes accompanies stories with such hardships. The author's matter-of-fact approach to difficult subjects adds to the many things that make this novel worth reading.
The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah
This story takes place in Alaska where a family has moved becasue of property given to the father, a Viet Nam Vet, who is also abusive.
He is a former POW and returns completely changed. He is unpredictable and violent, but intends to survive in Alaska, despite dangerously impulsive decisions. His family lives in the treacherous conditions off the grid, and their survival depends upon managing their life with him.
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
This is a historical novel that follows the life of a farmer who slowly transitions from poverty to wealth. As his wealth grows his morals decline, eventually creating strife within his home, and his sons begin carrying the discord into their own families. Buck weaves Chinese historical events throughout her novel, so, although no specific dates are delineated, events in the novel reflect historical eras. The novel reflects China’s dramatic political change at the turn of the century. While juxtaposing rural life with city life, Buck exposes the corruption and incompetence of Chinese rulers, leading to civil unrest and culminating in the Revolution of 1911.
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
I recently reread this book by Charles Dickens and remain a fan. It is painfully descriptive as it follows the life of a small boy as he grows into manhood. The elevated language used to tell the story is juxtaposed with the downward spiral his little life takes when his mother decides to marry a man who is quite stern and heartless, as is his sister who moves in with David and his mother. Thus begins a disturbing tale of rejection and abuse that eventually disenfranchises David as a child, and causes the death of his beloved mother. However, Dicken’s creative wit is woven throughout the story providing relief from the traumas the characters face, ultimately ending in a contented adult David Copperfield who thrives along with his loved ones.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
I admit out of the gate that my experience with this novel was through the audiobook. The narrators read their sections masterfully, capturing their character in ways that the reader might miss. The novel begins in 1959 and is told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, an evangelical Baptist missionary that moves his family to the Belgian Congo. The African environment quickly decimates everything they bring along, forcing them to seek help from their African neighbors. The book spans three decades, following the lives of the narrators and each explains life in the Congo through their unique perspectives. I do not know to what degree the expert narration made this book one of my absolute favorites, but I assume if I read it without audio support it will remain one of my top ten!
The Push: A Novel by Ashley Audrain
The Push begins with an Epigraph and is immediately engaging, as the narrator describes sitting outside a house either spying on or stalking her daughter who lives there with her father, stepmother and new baby brother. This creates a terrible sense of foreboding and sets the tone for the rest of the novel, documenting the story of her upbringing, her mother's upbringing and her mother's mother as well. The question circling my mind as I read was "nature vs. nurture" and which is at play in her daughter's life. As the reader descends into the narrator's life, surviving her defining moments with her, one can't help but anticipate the inevitable trauma to come. I highly recommend this novel to those who enjoy a suspenseful and engaging novel.
The Son by Philipp Meyer
I read this book about five years ago and thought it was wonderful! It is historical fiction, spanning several generations, beginning with the narrator Eli as a young boy, his capture by the Comanches, and his survival. After several years with the Comanche, he returns to Texas Anglo society in exchange for a large payment to his Comanche family. He acquires land in Texas and participates in the cattle industry and then the oil industry. Eli, his son Peter, and his granddaughter Jeanne Anne, who eventually inherits everything, tell the story through their perspectives. The novel provides insight into the conflicts between the Texas settlers, the Native Americans, and the Hispanics and how the economy dictates the morality of those living there. This is definitely well worth the read! Read it before you watch it!
The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian
This novel documents a little-known yet horrendous historical event called the Armenian Massacre. Armenian Christians, considered infidels by the Muslims, were purged during World War I. During this time the Turkish government oversaw death by slaughter, starvation and disease of over one and one-half million Armenian men, women and children. Very little documentation exists, but some German soldiers took a few photos showing the atrocities. The story emerges when a young woman discovers that her grandparents met and fell in love during the Massacre. Her grandmother traveled from Boston to Aleppo, Turkey with her father, representing an organization called "Friends of the Armenia" to support them. She met a young Armenian man there, and the two fell in love. Their love story weaves through stark descriptions of the Turk's unspeakable actions, primarily upon women and children, as the Armenian men are already dead. The Turks drove the surviving Armenians into the Mesopotamian Plains, abandoning them without food or water. The novel unflinchingly displays the horrors of the Massacre, and the exposure of this genocide is as vital as any other.