Kelly's Book 5: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Dear Jenny,

This is a book I got when I was in a book club years ago juuuuust as I realized, "You know what? Book club is not for me!" I don't read fast enough to be in a book club -- the idea that I am reading books that other people want to read with my limited reading time [and when I say "limited" here, I mean limited by my reading speed just as much as I mean limited by other life commitments] is just preposterous.

Having said that, there are a few books that I read in that book club that I never would have read on my own that I am glad that I did (Cloud Atlas, for one. Read it? Really good.) I think that I would have included this book in that short list, if I had stuck with it at the time. It seems really interesting so far. The bookmark indicates that I read about 60 pages back then, and I do remember liking it, but something kept me from finishing and it's definitely a book that you need to read continuously to keep everything straight (meaning: don't put it down for a week and expect to come back and pick up where you left off -- it will all be confusion by then.)

This is the first TBR book that I have also bought the Kindle edition of in our TBR Quest. (Tess doesn't count -- it was free!) This book is 600+ pages long and I knew I would not be able to finish it in a month if I did not have it with me at all times (meaning: on my phone). So I spent the 10 bucks and I've already read 60 pages, so the Kindle Power is working. Not sure if we ever determined whether or not this is "cheating," but I'm doin' it!

So far, I LOVE this book. I have no idea where it is going, but it is weird and random and that is right up my alley! :)

love,
kelly

Completed: Love in the Time of Cholera

Dear Jenny,

I finished Love in the Time of Cholera a couple of weeks ago, but I've been lame about posting. For the most part, it was exactly what I expected from Gabriel García Márquez -- beautiful language describing well-drawn characters in a lush, epic story.

Generally, I loved this book, although I have a few issues. I was unsurprised by one annoying thing, surprised by one particular thing, and there's one thing that I flat-out despise (I won't go into details about it, as it's a spoiler and I figure you might read it, but I'll talk a little bit about it in vague terms).

Back-of-the-book Synopsis:
"In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermino Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is devastated, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs -- yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again."

Who's That Now?
The annoying thing that I was unsurprised by was my confusion keeping the character names straight. This issue was not nearly as bad as 100 Years of Solitude where, I swear, everyone shared 2 out of 3 of the same names (thank goodness for the guide in the front) but I did struggle for awhile with "Florentino Ariza" vs. "Fermina Daza". I know those names are not the same but, for me, they look a lot alike. Then I vaguely remembered some long-lost foreign language knowledge where "o" is masculine and "a" is feminine (right?) and I just keyed into the last letter in their first names. Things were better after that, but it's still kind of annoying to have to focus so much to figure out who we're talking about.

Surprise!
Okay. I was surprised by the sexy-ness. I shouldn't have been, because the back of the book clearly states that Florentino Ariza has 622 affairs while he is waiting for his "true" love, but I didn't think they were actually going to get into too much detail. I mean, it wasn't super-graphic, like anatomically or anything, but still... there were some moments where I thought, "Yeah. I can't really recommend this book to, say, my mother-in-law" (unless I warned her first: "It's kind of sex-y.") The sexy-ness didn't kill me -- I was just surprised by it.

And My Despise
There are some things about Florentino Ariza that I really found myself hating. First of all, that he was so darned oblivious that while he was "waiting" for his true love, he was actually falling in love with (and breaking the hearts of) (And! Having his heart broken by!) all of these scores of other women. (Seriously. Some of his affairs last 10+ years.) He justifies this, and the way that Gabriel García Márquez writes it all, you find yourself buying into his particular brand of justification (kind of like Tony Soprano -- his morals might not have been your morals [or what anyone would really call "moral"], but he had his own moral code that he adhered to, so it was all right). That one, I can forgive.

The other, however, I really struggled with. Again, no spoilers, but he treats his final lover very, very poorly, as he is distracted by his "true" love. It made me kind of hate him, even though I had been pulling for him the whole way. It was a huge hurdle for me, in fact. I was almost unable to remain on Team Florentino. I overcame it, but it was tough.

But I guess that's evidence of an amazing author: Gabriel García Márquez has written a basically unlikeable character -- Florentino Ariza is unattractive, has a questionable moral code, and has a ridiculous, all-consuming obsession with something that can, quite possibly, never be. Oh, he also has life-long constipation that he treats with near-daily enemas (TMI!) -- and yet, and yet... you want him to achieve what he desires.

My Favorite Parts
Of course, the language. It's amazing to me that these books are translated -- I have an immense respect both for García Márquez, as well as for the translator! (Edith Grossman, if you're curious.) Florentino Ariza writes beautiful love letters throughout his life and I just love that part of the book -- imagining the letters being written, sent, delivered, read, pored over, hidden, etc. The letters are an additional character in the book and I loved it.

Even though I've mostly babbled on about Florentino Ariza here, Fermina Daza's character is beautifully written and the story of her relationship with her husband is brilliantly epic. The story of her life (particularly her marriage) is at times heart-breaking and, at others, inspirational. In other words, it's very real.

Finally, the end of the book. I hate it when a book takes you on an epic ride and then the author doesn't know how to end it, but Gabriel García Márquez totally sticks the landing. Definitely the kind of book that you finish up and then have a long pause to take it all in. (Again, pretty much exactly what you'd expect, right?)

love,
kelly

April Round Up

Kelly,

A little more about the other books I read in April...


Blame by Michelle Huneven
Did I tell you about the biblioracle? Every once in a while, one of the TOB guys opens a thread where if you post the last 5 books you read, he'll recommend one he thinks you'll like. This is the first time I actually participated, and he recommended Blame. It's the story of an alcoholic named Patsy. One night while rip-roaring drunk, she kills 2 pedestrians while driving. She cant remember doing it, the whole evening was a blackout for her. She ends up in jail, and the story follows her transformation back to society and her path to sobriety. It's not very plot-heavy, the narrative mostly centers around her struggle to figure out who she is and how she can live with the crime she's committed. It was an enjoyable, but not brilliant read. I think my "problem" with it was that it was clear the entire time that some new information was going to come to light that exonerated her. Instead of enjoying the story, I just kept waiting for the twist to be revealed.

In the Woods and The Likeness by Tana French
These are great. If you know a mystery/thriller reader, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. I enjoy a series, but I especially like what she does here. Instead of the same narrator, she's creating the fully realized world of the Dublin police department one detective at a time. In the Woods is narrated by Rob Ryan, a police detective in the murder squad. Rob and his partner Cassie are investigating a murder that happened in the same woods where Rob and his 2 friends were abducted as children some 20 years earlier. Rob's memories of that event are gone, but he slowly starts remembering bits and pieces of his past as the investigation continues.

The Likeness is narrated by Rob's partner, Cassie. It's a year or so after the first book. A girl named Lexie has been found dead. But it turns out that Lexie's whole identity was in fact the alias that Cassie used years earlier when working undercover. Lexie and Cassie could twins, the physical resemblance is so strong. Cassie goes undercover, again, into the life Lexie has created for herself using the fake identity. This book is even better than the first. Totally creepy and claustrophobic and I was really left guessing what was going to happen right up until the very end.

Tana French is a great writer. I'm impressed by her plotting. In many mysteries, the novel ends as soon as the murdered is revealed. In these books, the work and life of the detectives are primary. Even after the murderer is revealed, the books continue with no real cessation of suspense. It's not figuring out WHO the murderer is that is interesting, it's watching the detectives struggle to make all the pieces fit into the puzzle. There's a third book, Faithful Place, that I picked up from the library. The narrator of that one is Frank, Cassie's liason in the Undercover Unit. I'm trying to wait to read it because I know I'll be sad when it's over and will be left anxiously waiting for the next one.

Ablaze: The Story of the Victims and Heroes of Chernobyl by Piers Paul Read
The first 2/3 of this book were brilliant. The last third was a total snore. What a bummer. The book's divided up into three parts. The first is pretty short and gives a brief overview of the Soviet nuclear power program. Interesting enough. The middle third is fucking awesome. It goes through the events at Chernobyl, almost minute by minute. Who was working, how the explosion happened, etc.

The human drama of this book was just unbelievable. I had NO idea how little the plant workers really knew about radiation. The radiation was so high that their dosimeters were unreliable. One guy climbs up to the next building and looks down directly into the open reactor core. This is not good. All of the men who were on that shift acted heroically to avert a further meltdown and they all died of horrible radiation poisoning within weeks. The author keeps a pretty tight focus on the events *at* the plant through these first 2 parts, and that's really why I wanted to read it. But I started to lose interest as he widened the scope in the third section and began to talk about the political reaction to the crisis. I almost gave up. Once he left the Chernobyl plant and it's workers, I lost interest. Reading about the machinations of the Soviet cover up and scapegoating just wasn't that interesting. I wanted him to go back to the plant, the workers, the containment, the building of the sarcophagus, etc. I'd even read another book about Chernobyl just to get more of that story.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
What a great book. This is a novel told through a variety of points of view over a period of years in a small Maine town. I really liked it. It's beautifully written, and the question of how people grow and change over time was explored thoughtfully. I liked the different characters and figuring out how they fit together. It's a mediation on family and what it is we can and should expect from the people who love us the most. It's also about aging and loss. I'd recommend this book to anyone.



Succubus on Top by Richelle Mead
I love a good supernatural romance type of book. Not sure what else there is to say. This was the second in the series, and I will definitely read the others. Again, trying to pace myself. Sometimes with a series like this I read them all right in a row and then can't remember them.

Also, I read this on my Kindle, so I never saw the cover. It's so hilariously cheesy and good! It's cracking me up.



Great House by Nicole Krauss
You know how fast I read, so you also know what a compliment it is for me when I tell you that I specifically tried to slow myself down when reading this book. The novel's characters are connected through time and space by a great, big writing desk. As each section is revealed, the different characters examine their lives and their relationships. I loved this book. I'm not really doing it justice, but I'm not sure what else to say about it without ruining the way the book is constructed. It's lovely.


Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross
I guess this doesn't really count since I finished it today, but it feels like a book I read in April. I gotta say, this book was awesomely bizarre. It's a first novel, and it feels like it. The main plot is about a man named David Pepin who is accused of murdering his wife, Alice. This book is so WEIRD. There are 2 detectives investigating the murder: Ward Hastroll and Sam Sheppard. Yes, that Sam Sheppard, he of the famous Cleveland murder case. Anyways, all 3 of these guys are obsessed with killing their wives as a way out of their unhappy marriages. There's a bad guy named Mobius, a strange obsession with Hitchcock movies, and the introduction of characters and events that are completely implausable. It jumps around in time and it seemed like there were a million loose ends. In other words: a mess. And yet, it was also interesting and enjoyable. Ross is a great writer. He's descriptive and funny, insightful and caustic. I was curious to see which pieces would fit together and which wouldn't. I theorized and speculated about all kinds of connections as I was reading, some that came true and some didn't. It was engaging and at times the writing was spectacular, and so I didn't mind that the pieces don't really all come together. I think this guy has a lot of promise, and I'd definitely give another novel of his a try.

I'm also pretty impressed with myself since 3 of the April reads came from the Borders bender. At least they're not just sitting on the shelf, destined for future TBR challenges! Whew!

Looking forward to Sookie Stackhouse's next adventure, which comes out Tuesday. I've already pre-ordered an actual copy since it's cheaper than the kindle version. So annoying, but whatever. I'll play their silly little games. I can ship it to you when I'm done.

Jenny

Jenny's Book 5: The Things They Carried

Kelly,

My next book is The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. I picked up this book at what has become one of my favorite days of the year: the day the the high school students clean out their lockers. The first year I started working at my current school, I was amazed at the stuff the kids threw away. Along with all the accumulated garbage of a school year, the facilities staff put huge bins in all the hallway for the recycling and donation of books, binders, and usable school supplies.

You wouldn't believe the stuff that gets tossed----especially the books. Some of the them are worn, heavily highlighted, and well used. These are the books from kids who actually study and do the reading. But on this particular day, and this day only, I hate those kids. Instead, it's the slackers' books that you want to look for. They might be awful to have in class, but their books are *pristine*. My copy of The Things They Carried probably got carried into class once. It is completely unmarked except for some pink highlighting on pages 189-202 and then some underlining, in pen, on 226-228. Sweet.

The Things They Carried is a novel based on the experiences of the author in Vietnam. I'm drawn to the book because my Dad is a Vietnam Vet, but I know that it's hard for him to talk to me about his experiences there. And yet, O'Brien is very careful not to call this a memoir. The older I get, the more open I am to different genres, but I am no fan of the memoir. The recent kerfuffle over Three Cups of Tea has only reaffirmed my dislike of memoirs. Reading one makes me feel skeptical and suspicious. Perhaps it is because, as you know, my own memory is so faulty. I simply don't believe that people are able to recall conversations and events with that level of reliability. I'm dubious that anyone can be so sure of the past and the part they played in events. Is anyone's story that clean? I know mine isn't.

In fiction, I can assume that even if people or events are partially inspired by real life, at least some of it has been invented. I'm comfortable with the idea that fiction, even though it's untrue, can reveal truths. In non-fiction, I can check the footnotes and bibliography; I can determine the validity of the argument or explore the counterargument. But a memoir is some sort of bizarre middle land, and I am unable (or unwilling?) to suspend my disbelief long enough to enjoy it. I'm sure there must be authors who interview and investigate before writing their memoirs. But how can I know who's fact-checking and who isn't? I have to assume that some of the dialogue has been recreated, that some of the feelings have been reshuffled and smoothed over, but if that's the case, why not call it fiction?

What about you? Any genres out there that you are unwilling to read?
Jenny

P.S. I just thought of one exception. After hearing Tina Fey on Fresh Air last week, I think I'd enjoy reading Bossypants (despite the disturbing man-hands cover). But that books seems more like the entertaining musings of a sharp, funny writer than a true memoir.

Completed: Nature's Metropolis

Kelly,

I finished Nature's Metropolis this afternoon. I find it harder to review non-fiction. I often pick up non-fiction books because I want to learn something, and by that measure Nature's Metropolis was an excellent read.

As you may recall, the book is split up into 3 parts. The first part outlined Cronon's thesis. That was kind of boring. The second part discussed in detail the 4 major "crops" that Chicago turned into commodities. The 3rd part discussed the economic reach of Chicago. I left off halfway through the second part, so I'll pick up there.

Lumber
I was sure that this section would be the most boring, and instead it was fascinating! Early timber industries in the northern midwest, primarily WI and MN, relied heavily on pine. Why? Because pine floats. All winter long, loggers would chop and stack huge logs of pine by streams and rivers. As the water thawed, logs were simply dumped into the rivers, directed down to Lake Michigan, and from there they floated all the way to Chicago. Eventually, as railroad lines reached further into the North, heavier hardwoods could be harvested and brought to market. Although lumber proved a booming business, the great North woods were completely deforested within an amazingly short period of time.

You'll see the picture of a log jam, another interesting thing I learned about in the book. These massive blockages, some millions of board feet of wood, in rivers as they made their way to the Lake. From what I can tell, these were often broken up by just a few guys who were attached to men on shore with ropes or chains. This brave (or crazy?) individual would walk out over the jam and prod free the logs in the front. If he got into trouble, the men on shore would pull him back. Of course, many times the poor guy just got killed.

The picture above is in the book with the following caption: "Chippewa River logjam, 1869. A logger's worst nightmare happened when logs suddenly got stuck in the river and blocked everything behind them. Logs could back up for hundreds of yards, and the immense pressure could lift them thirty or more feet in the air. A jam like this one emitted an eery dull roar as the logs scraped and creaked against each other." (This also reminded me, dimly, of a novel in which a family is killed by a logjam. Or something like that. Pretty sure it was John Irving.)

Meat
I thought this section would be really interesting, and it was....sort of. Turns out I'm pretty squeamish, so I raced through some parts of this section. Ugh. Turns out there can be a little too much talk of offal. Who knew?

Chicago revolutionized the meat packing industry by "disassembling" hogs and cattle at the Union Stockyards. Yep, that's right: butchery by assembly line. Chicago furthered pioneered the industry by creating refrigerated train cars. In this way, "dressed meat" could be sold thousands of miles and many days past the time the animal was killed. For various reasons, this was very beneficial to Chicago and the huge meat packing industries, such as Armour and Swift, headquartered there. This destroyed local butchers businesses pretty much all over the country. The Union Stockyards could process meat faster, more efficiently, and use more "parts" of the animal than a local butcher ever could. As to how those extra parts were used, some of it was industrial, but some of it was food. This is where I did a lot of prodigious skimming.

The Economic Reach of Chicago
I'm guessing that this is probably the section where Cronon worked the hardest in terms of original research. He simplifies it greatly, but it is obvious that he must have spent a gazillion hours gathering and compiling the data in this section. Basically, the most reliable and accurate financial data from the late 1800s comes from bankruptcy filings. He takes the information and creates a series of maps to show which places Chicago businesses owed money to, and where they were owed money from. As you compare these maps to other cities, such as Milwaukee and St. Louis, you can see how much more extensive Chicago's "reach" was. I'm not much of an economics or money person, so I have a feeling the genius of this is lost on me. Did you ever look at a painting or piece of art, and you know there's something brilliant about it, but you lack the knowledge to explain why? That's how I felt reading this section. I'll give the final word on that to Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize winning Economist. He said, "His magnificent Nature's Metropolis is the best work of economic and business history I’ve ever read — and I read a lot of that kind of thing."

My Final Thoughts
This book was so interesting, and not in the way I expected. I've read some great stuff about Chicago since moving here. For example, I loved the biography of the first Mayor Daley, American Pharaoh. I really figured that this book would be another Chicago-centric read, and it was, but it was also about all Cities, and how they came into being, and why, and how they are connected to the rural areas that surround it. My review doesn't really do it justice, because I focused on some of the cool stuff I read, while the book is really about the economic relationship between the commodity from the hinterlands and the market that Chicago created for those goods. In that way, I think any city person, or anyone interested in urbanization or economics, would enjoy this book.

I've also been on a bit of a Civil War kick this past year, and the book inadvertently helped me to better understand the mighty industrial strength of the North. For example, at one point, the book discusses why St. Louis wasn't as quick to adopt the grain elevator as Chicago, eventually making itself irrelevant to the grain industry. Essentially, St. Louis relied on slave labor and had no incentive to mechanize work it could get for free. On the other hand, Chicago was able to innovate and think of a creative solution to the problem.

Although this wasn't a Civil War book, because of the overlapping time period, it felt illuminating. It kept reminding me of a point historians often make about antebellum America: the spirit of innovation and hard work was prized in the North and scorned in the South. The reliance on slave labor made "hard work" something to be disdained rather than something to be rewarded. I didn't expect it, but the book revealed how the innovative, hard-working ethos of a big Northern city created something great.

All in all, a great read!
Jenny

A Dangerous Fire Sale at Borders

Kelly,

I hardly know what to do with myself now that the Tournament of Books is over. The big winner was A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, with Freedom losing in the final match-up. I liked both books, so either way I probably would have felt happy. I can definitely say that it was more fun to follow the Tournament having read all the books. My goal next year is to read *all* 16!

I'm now in the middle of reading a bunch of different things. I'm semi-stalled on Nature's Metropolis, not because it is boring, but because I figure I have until the end of the month, so why rush? My goal is to tackle one TBR book per month and not get ahead, so I'm happy to let that sit for a little while doing other things.

Around here, almost all of the Borders stores are going out of business. The one in my neighborhood went out of business last month, but while in the thick of the Tournament of Books, I successfully resisted the pull of the Borders fire sale. But then, last weekend, I had to take Darius to a birthday party, and right in the same parking lot was a Borders. Needless to say, this was impossible to resist.

Have you ever been to a book store that's going out of business? Talk about depressing! My guess is plenty of people go in, wander around, and go out empty handed. Not me. I headed for what was left of the fiction section and let loose. They had been moving and consolidating books onto the shelves, and everything was out of order and un-alphabetized. If you were looking for something specific, you'd be totally frustrated. (This is how I feel in places like TJMax and Marshall's.) But not only do I read a lot of books, but I also read a lot of book reviews. This means that I was pretty happy just scanning the shelves and pulling off books that I've heard are good. I limited myself to buying only 10 books for myself (and Bloodroot for you!). All told, I picked up 11 books, 7 of them hardback, for about 100 bucks. Woo hoo!

As for what I'm actually reading, I just finished a mystery from my school library called In the Woods by Tana French. It was a great read. I love a good mystery! It's so satisfying to read a book where the plot gets wrapped up at the end. Even though there is a lingering questions about the past for the main character, it was still a very satisfying read.

I've also been reading another non-fiction book. Ever since the earthquake in Japan, I've been fascinated (in a horrified way) by the nuclear crisis. This led me to wanting to know more about Chernobyl, so I ordered the book Ablaze: The Story of the Heroes and Victims of Chernobyl. So far, I'm very impressed at how readable this book is. I've come to really appreciate a writer who can take a complex and complicated real-life narrative and write it out so that it reads like a great story. I think the Chernobyl book is satisfying because it's a story that's "finished" while the events in Japan are still happening, and therefore the arc of the whole thing is still unclear. Somehow admitting that feels like a failure, but there's the truth: I like a story where the ending has already been determined.

One last final question: do you keep track of books you read? I'm semi-envious of people who keep records of what they read. I've tried in the past using sites like GoodReads, but it's never worked for me. I'm trying again, this time using a Google spreadsheet---keep it simple, stupid! I decided to try and recreate what I could starting with January 1. If my calculations are correct, I've just finished my 19th book this year.

Jenny

PS: Here's a screenshot of the Borders Haul. I think I might start with Olive Kitteredge.

Kelly's Book 4: Love in the Time of Cholera

Dear Jenny,

I cannot remember how or why or when this book ended up on my shelf. This edition was published in 2003, which is after I moved to California, so at least I haven't been hauling it all over the country like the a couple of the other choices on the TBR pile.

One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of my all time favorite books. When I read it, I said, "So that is what all the hype is about!" But I'm a little nervous about this book because, while I have had experiences where I like most of an author's works, I've also had the experience where the author of my favorite book (The Great Gatsby) also wrote one of my least favorite books (Tender is the Night. Ugh.) So, of course, I'm always afraid of that.

One random thing I know about this book is that it plays a key role in the movie Serendipity. Something like: she writes her name and number inside of a copy of it and every time he finds one at a used bookstore, he looks to see if it's that copy. Or some crap like that. (I actually do not remember much else about the movie, except that the chick had freckles on her forearm in the shape of the constellation Cassiopeia and... So. Do. I!!) (OMG!) I don't think I was a huge fan of the film, though.

As an aside, the "cholera" part of the title makes me a little nervous, as cholera is "an acute intestinal infection caused by ingestion of contaminated water or food" (Oh, yeah. I looked it up.) and I hope there isn't too much cholera talk. I think it's going to be more about the love, but I'm just sayin'.

Mostly, I'm looking forward to this book. I think I'm going to like it. Stay tuned to find out!

love,
kelly