A very good summer read! The gentle title of this novel doesn't say much about it - it's a spellbinder (I took that word off the back cover) set in the Amazon jungle and there's hardly a dull or gentle moment in it.
The characters are mostly doctors who work for an American pharmaceutical company. As the story opens, a report comes to the company that one of their researchers has died in Brazil, and the company sends another researcher to find out the circumstances of his death and to report on the elusive and reclusive head researcher and the progress of the project.
The stunning thing about this book is its character development. "Well-rounded" doesn't begin to describe almost every character in the book. Some books I read right through to the end still trying to figure out who was who, but in this book there's no doubt. There are at least seven or eight highly distinctive main characters, and they're far from caricatures. Each has many facets and surprises, all fitting in believably into a fascinating and human whole.
The advertising on the book makes much of a previous novel, Bel Canto, which I will try to get, and Patchett has apparently written at least seven other books.
July 19, 2012
July 4, 2012
The Olive Route by Carol Drinkwater
This is a very beautiful book by a writer who is passionate about olive trees. It sounds like an odd passion and by the time I reached page 320 of this fairly fat book, it still seemed odd, but I kind of "got it" and even found myself excited about her next discovery of a 4,000-year-old olive tree or an ancient olive press depicted on a Roman coin.
The author takes a tour around the Mediterranean, searching out the history of olive cultivation and the effect it had on the culture and economy of the area over the millenia. She herself has an olive farm in Provence, and her trip takes her through Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Malta, Tunisia (fascinating), Libya, Greece, Crete, and finally she comes almost full circle to Israel, where she stands and looks over no man's land to Lebanon, but of course can't cross over to complete the circle because the border is closed.
She does a lot of speculating - there are a lot more questions than answers. This is not a truly political, historical or archaeological book but it delves into all those areas. The highlight of reading it for me was really the travel writing aspect. She writes beautifully, in my humble opinion. Normally with this level of detail I'd do some skimming and scanning, but with this book I found myself going back and reading paragraphs twice because I liked them so much.
Of one man she meets, she says, "He...had longish dark hair that hung like a fringe from his bald pate. His left eye was permanently closed as though locked in calculation. He looked as though someone had pressed on the top of his head with a heavy weight and squashed him." But after she's talked to him for a few hours, her summary is, "He had a dishevelled appearance, yet his fingernails were immaculately manicured and I had the feeling that, like his artwork, the inner man was impeccable, precise in thought and detail." She writes equally lovely descriptions of other people, nature and the villages and cities she travels through. She strikes me as a mature person who is realistic about some of the considerable hardships she encounters, but foregoes moaning about them. The book rings true.
I was delighted and amazed to see that she has written three other books about her life in Provence: The Olive Farm, The Olive Season, and The Olive Harvest. I thought Lucy and I had long ago discovered every one of these, but apparently not. Good reading ahead!
The author takes a tour around the Mediterranean, searching out the history of olive cultivation and the effect it had on the culture and economy of the area over the millenia. She herself has an olive farm in Provence, and her trip takes her through Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Malta, Tunisia (fascinating), Libya, Greece, Crete, and finally she comes almost full circle to Israel, where she stands and looks over no man's land to Lebanon, but of course can't cross over to complete the circle because the border is closed.
She does a lot of speculating - there are a lot more questions than answers. This is not a truly political, historical or archaeological book but it delves into all those areas. The highlight of reading it for me was really the travel writing aspect. She writes beautifully, in my humble opinion. Normally with this level of detail I'd do some skimming and scanning, but with this book I found myself going back and reading paragraphs twice because I liked them so much.
Of one man she meets, she says, "He...had longish dark hair that hung like a fringe from his bald pate. His left eye was permanently closed as though locked in calculation. He looked as though someone had pressed on the top of his head with a heavy weight and squashed him." But after she's talked to him for a few hours, her summary is, "He had a dishevelled appearance, yet his fingernails were immaculately manicured and I had the feeling that, like his artwork, the inner man was impeccable, precise in thought and detail." She writes equally lovely descriptions of other people, nature and the villages and cities she travels through. She strikes me as a mature person who is realistic about some of the considerable hardships she encounters, but foregoes moaning about them. The book rings true.
I was delighted and amazed to see that she has written three other books about her life in Provence: The Olive Farm, The Olive Season, and The Olive Harvest. I thought Lucy and I had long ago discovered every one of these, but apparently not. Good reading ahead!
June 15, 2012
Unless by Carol Shields
This is an uneven novel that nevertheless had great power for me. It's the story of an oldest daughter who suddenly and mysteriously leaves her loving family to sit silently begging on a street corner in a nearby city. The story is told in the first person by the mother, who narrates the unspeakable grief of losing a child in any way.
I call the novel uneven because Shields, who won the Pulitzer Prize among many other prizes for The Stone Diaries, takes the liberty of some philosophical rabbit trails that left me skipping parts at times. Nevertheless, her characters come alive, the plot kept me reading and the theme is a strong one. Her belief is that her daughter checked out because it had somehow come to her that our society leaves women powerless.
The most poignant parts of the book (besides the descriptions of how the other two daughters respond) are the letters the mother writes to various authors and public figures who feature only men (or maybe one women - how did she get in there?) in their work or projects. The letters are scathing, in a hilarious and gently Canadian kind of way, but the humour doesn't detract from the deadly serious nature of their message.
Besides short stories, plays and poems, Shields wrote ten novels. The only one (besides Unless of course) that I remember reading is Larry's Party, which I moderately enjoyed. Based on this novel, I'll revisit The Stone Diaries and try a few others on the list.
I call the novel uneven because Shields, who won the Pulitzer Prize among many other prizes for The Stone Diaries, takes the liberty of some philosophical rabbit trails that left me skipping parts at times. Nevertheless, her characters come alive, the plot kept me reading and the theme is a strong one. Her belief is that her daughter checked out because it had somehow come to her that our society leaves women powerless.
The most poignant parts of the book (besides the descriptions of how the other two daughters respond) are the letters the mother writes to various authors and public figures who feature only men (or maybe one women - how did she get in there?) in their work or projects. The letters are scathing, in a hilarious and gently Canadian kind of way, but the humour doesn't detract from the deadly serious nature of their message.
Besides short stories, plays and poems, Shields wrote ten novels. The only one (besides Unless of course) that I remember reading is Larry's Party, which I moderately enjoyed. Based on this novel, I'll revisit The Stone Diaries and try a few others on the list.
June 12, 2012
Irma Voth by Miriam Toews
I really enjoyed this latest book by Miriam Toews. I did myself the favour of buying it (in paperback) because it's a very pretty book, and I'm not sorry I have it. Miriam (I guess I call her by her first name because Marj did) is entertaining as always. Once again she has an off-the-wall heroine, this time a young Mennonite woman whose family moved from Manitoba to Mexico when she was about 12. As a result, she speaks Low German, English and Spanish, and gets herself a job as a translator on a movie that is being shot near her rural home.
The complicating factor is her father, an abusive, violent, hardline conservative who tries to control her life and with whom she shares a bitter secret. Her younger sister Aggie is the other very complex and very funny character. As with The Flying Troutmans, this is a hardscrabble, rough and raw group of characters that figures out a way to make things work.
What will keep you reading is Toews's metaphors, wry humor and unexpected take on almost everything. In one scene Aggie has found a stash of Irma's baby clothes and is holding the tiny garments up to her one by one while Irma is milking cows. One expects sentiment, but instead Aggie says, "Wow, this is ugly," of one little item, and Irma responds, "You wore it too."
The other most intriguing thing is learning to know Irma. Like the heroine of A Complicated Kindness, Irma is wise beyond her years, but unlike Nomi, Irma has been really poorly educated and because of her terrible upbringing, lacks all confidence. Watching her grab her life and run with it is just plain fascinating.
I think Miriam Toews has done it again. Irma Voth may not win the Giller but it is beautifully crafted and I'll be happy to lend it to whoever would like to read it.
The complicating factor is her father, an abusive, violent, hardline conservative who tries to control her life and with whom she shares a bitter secret. Her younger sister Aggie is the other very complex and very funny character. As with The Flying Troutmans, this is a hardscrabble, rough and raw group of characters that figures out a way to make things work.
What will keep you reading is Toews's metaphors, wry humor and unexpected take on almost everything. In one scene Aggie has found a stash of Irma's baby clothes and is holding the tiny garments up to her one by one while Irma is milking cows. One expects sentiment, but instead Aggie says, "Wow, this is ugly," of one little item, and Irma responds, "You wore it too."
The other most intriguing thing is learning to know Irma. Like the heroine of A Complicated Kindness, Irma is wise beyond her years, but unlike Nomi, Irma has been really poorly educated and because of her terrible upbringing, lacks all confidence. Watching her grab her life and run with it is just plain fascinating.
I think Miriam Toews has done it again. Irma Voth may not win the Giller but it is beautifully crafted and I'll be happy to lend it to whoever would like to read it.
June 6, 2012
Tuesday Night and my Words are all Gone
A defeated silence hangs over
our dinner, our walk, our going to bed.
I see that my words
have consumed me, storm-tossed,
And in a half-eaten way,
they have sustained me too,
Given me hope and goals.
Giving up the struggle
has left me hanging like a limp sail.
Was there only the one wind
driving me along?
While I stand still the days fly by
May into June, yet even they
are hardly more than words
that also end.
May 16, 2012
Changing my Mind by Margaret Trudeau
Margaret Trudeau, former wife of Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, spent much of her life, including much of her time at 24 Sussex Drive, in profound misery. She suffers from bipolar disorder.
Although I have read some things about bipolar disorder, this book was an eye-opener for me in that for the first time, after reading it, I feel as though I might faintly understand how "painful, terrifying, lonely and confusing" life is for a person who has to struggle with the disease. This is not about signs and symptoms and medication and coping and how to talk to people in the throes of a manic phase. It's about a real person for whom life is so infinitely much more difficult because of their illness.
Trudeau's life has mostly been on the public stage and this in some ways made things infinitely worse for her because of stigma of mental illness (even greater in the 70s and 80s when she was most in the public eye), the constant scrutiny of the press and what often amounted to mockery of her ideas and behaviour. But her relative wealth and celebrity and supportive families also eased the way for her, providing her with the best possible care (shockingly basic and inadequate most of the time) and always ensuring her a safe landing pad when she did come out of hospital. But all this eminence didn't help much to relieve her endless emotional pain, and it shook me to realize how much harder it is for those without all the resources she had.
Now nearing her mid-60s, Trudeau feels that the illness is finally under control and she can be truly happy for the first time in her adult life. Her healing came about when she accepted that she had the illness and that she needed help in managing it. Medications have improved and she's taking what she needs and being monitored. She's realized that marijuana triggers manic episodes - she was a heavy user. She went through lots of cognitive therapy, a process that she says literally "changed her mind," teaching her to think in new ways. She writes, "I felt clean, shorn, coached in new ways of looking at life, not avoiding pain but confronting it, not overreacting but listening, not closing myself away but examining why I found certain things so hard and hurtful."
The book made me feel like getting active and joining all the many voices who are already out there fighting for a better deal, more understanding and better resources for those with mental health problems.
Although I have read some things about bipolar disorder, this book was an eye-opener for me in that for the first time, after reading it, I feel as though I might faintly understand how "painful, terrifying, lonely and confusing" life is for a person who has to struggle with the disease. This is not about signs and symptoms and medication and coping and how to talk to people in the throes of a manic phase. It's about a real person for whom life is so infinitely much more difficult because of their illness.
Trudeau's life has mostly been on the public stage and this in some ways made things infinitely worse for her because of stigma of mental illness (even greater in the 70s and 80s when she was most in the public eye), the constant scrutiny of the press and what often amounted to mockery of her ideas and behaviour. But her relative wealth and celebrity and supportive families also eased the way for her, providing her with the best possible care (shockingly basic and inadequate most of the time) and always ensuring her a safe landing pad when she did come out of hospital. But all this eminence didn't help much to relieve her endless emotional pain, and it shook me to realize how much harder it is for those without all the resources she had.
Now nearing her mid-60s, Trudeau feels that the illness is finally under control and she can be truly happy for the first time in her adult life. Her healing came about when she accepted that she had the illness and that she needed help in managing it. Medications have improved and she's taking what she needs and being monitored. She's realized that marijuana triggers manic episodes - she was a heavy user. She went through lots of cognitive therapy, a process that she says literally "changed her mind," teaching her to think in new ways. She writes, "I felt clean, shorn, coached in new ways of looking at life, not avoiding pain but confronting it, not overreacting but listening, not closing myself away but examining why I found certain things so hard and hurtful."
The book made me feel like getting active and joining all the many voices who are already out there fighting for a better deal, more understanding and better resources for those with mental health problems.
April 7, 2012
The Sounds of Silence
The April 2012 Canadian Geographic has this beautiful article about the Grasslands National Park, which the writer calls one of the world's last great quiet places. The article follows Gordon Hempton, a sound artist/acoustic ecologist, who was hired by Parks Canada and Tourism Saskatchewan to conduct a sound survey - the first of its kind in a Canadian national park.
Hempton is an American, and he looks for quiet places all over the world. His goal is to record 15 minutes of natural grassland silence without any manmade sounds - It seems such a modest goal! I read it twice to be sure I had read right. But it's a goal he has not been able to achieve in U.S. grasslands, with its network of highways and railways and the ever present jets overhead.
The article describes the grassland in glorious detail: it has 60 different kinds of grasses and many birds and animals whose early morning conversations Hempton records with his very high-end microphones at 3:30 a.m.
Grasslands is also an official dark-sky preserve, the biggest in Canada until Jasper National Park also gained dark sky status last year. The idea of quiet areas receiving a similar designation is just beginning to filter into the parks system. I love this concept. Sometimes when we go snowshoeing in Joe Rich it is quiet like that, but on the weekends there are often snowmobiles roaring all around - not that they don't also have a right to be there, but it makes for a completely different experience.
Hempton is an American, and he looks for quiet places all over the world. His goal is to record 15 minutes of natural grassland silence without any manmade sounds - It seems such a modest goal! I read it twice to be sure I had read right. But it's a goal he has not been able to achieve in U.S. grasslands, with its network of highways and railways and the ever present jets overhead.
The article describes the grassland in glorious detail: it has 60 different kinds of grasses and many birds and animals whose early morning conversations Hempton records with his very high-end microphones at 3:30 a.m.
Grasslands is also an official dark-sky preserve, the biggest in Canada until Jasper National Park also gained dark sky status last year. The idea of quiet areas receiving a similar designation is just beginning to filter into the parks system. I love this concept. Sometimes when we go snowshoeing in Joe Rich it is quiet like that, but on the weekends there are often snowmobiles roaring all around - not that they don't also have a right to be there, but it makes for a completely different experience.
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