I am not prone to reading love stories. I like surprises and unconventional characters and the such that I usually find lacking in the "romance" formulas of pop fiction.
But, now I must jump off of my reading snob soap box and admit that GENTLE RAIN by Deborah Smith was a pleasant literary visit. I found the story to be predictable, but comforting in its predictability.
I think what captured my attention was the author's inclusion of two major adult characters who have developmental disabilities. The characters were treated with dignity and the book successfully addressed the rights of adults who have intellectual challenges.
Will I read more love popular fiction love stories?
Probably not, but if I see Deborah Smith's name on the cover...
I think I will pick up the book and take a leisurely time out from the world.
GILEAD by Marilynne Robinson is a Pulitzer Prize (2005) winning work of fiction. The story is told through a collection of letters written by an elderly dying minister for the benefit of his young child.
I think I need to read this book again.
Why?
Because I had several false starts which caused me to lose track of the characters and the story line. This problem was due to my own inattentiveness...
I like to read before dozing off.
This book deserves the reader's total undivided attention, therefore I will will pay GILEAD its due.
GILEAD is brief, but contains so many jewels that to nod off mid-sentence is to break the thread that binds the jewels together.
The language is resplendent in its simplicity... and through this simplicity much wisdom is shared. My copy is dogeared willy nilly... take your time reading this one, because there is so much in here that you are going to want to recall.
I wish I had the true gifts of a literary critic, but I do not...
so I'd like to share my favorite segments from GILEAD:
4The narrator, Revernd John Ames, speaks of his father's and grandfather's legacies as ministers. The grandfather returns home from war with an eye missing. The grandfather's response to the family's surprise:
"I am confident that I will find great blessing in it..." (p. 36)
A response that the grandfather chose to continue to use throughout his life in response to disagreeable events.
4 As the elderly Reverend John Ames reflects on his life, he writes to his seven year old son:
"How I wish you could have known me in my strength." (p. 94)
How many of us older parents wish for the same thing?
4 "That is how life goes - we send our children into the wilderness. Some of them on the day they are born, it seems, for all the help we can give them. Some of them seem to be a kind of wilderness unto themselves. But, there must be angels there, too, and springs of water. Even that wilderness, the very habitation of jackals, is the Lord's." (p. 119)
4 Reflecting on sorrow and human suffering:
"I heard a man say once that Christians worship sorrow. That is by no means true.But, we do believe there is a sacred mystery in it, it's fair to say that... I believe there is dignity in sorrow simply because it is God's good pleasure that there should be. He is forever raising up those who are brought low. This does not mean that it is ever right to cause suffering or to seek it out when it can be avoided, and serves no good in practical purpose. To value suffering in itself can be dangerous and strange, so I want to be very clear about this. It simply means that God takes the side of sufferers against those who afflict them." (p. 137)
4 I think the world would be in a lot better shape if we could heed the following words:
"I have heard any number of fine sermons in my life, and I have known any number of deep souls. I am well aware that people find fault, but it seems to be presumptuous to judge the authenticity of anyone's religion, except one's own. And that is also presumptuous."(pp. 172-173)
TITLE:INTERVIEW . Marilynne Robinson . March 18, 2005 PBS LINK: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week829/interview.html NOTE: This has got to be one of the best author interviews I have read in ages. Absolutely outstanding and you need not have read GILEAD in order to understand the interview.
Author Audio Interview:
TITLE: Writer Marilynne Robinson on 'Gilead' by Terry Gross (NPR)
Actually, Tania Glyde gave up much more than alcohol. She had been a “poly drug” user, but admits in a radio interview that the book title would have just been too long to have included the list of substances she had used.
Alcohol is THE gateway drug according to Tania Glyde.
I happen to strongly agree with her. But, although her story is interesting, I could not relate.
I set aside the book and ruminated. I actually kept thinking about Glyde’s story weeks after having set it aside. I have known so many people who have struggled with alcohol. There was something nibbling about… something in her book that I missed.
I passed her book along to someone who expressed interest. The response he had to Cleaning Up: How I Gave Up Drinking and Lived was visceral. Through his eyes Glyde’s story took on a much deeper meaning. I returned to her pages and found myself reading and re-reading whole sections.
With the driest of humor, Glyde offers tips on how to get on with giving up drinking even though society is not going to help you out with that. Glyde’s wit offers the reader friendly ways to navigate through the protestations of friends who will refuse to accept the “I’m not drinking” change. There is no self-pity here, just the truth and nothing but the painful raw truth.
Tania Glyde’s personal battle with alcohol is the same one faced by uncountable numbers of people who are “social drinkers” living in a society that encourages overindulgence. For American readers, one must be aware that binge drinking is a major problem in the United Kingdom (Alcohol Problems Costing Britain 3.3 Billion (pounds) ). Her book also addresses the “trivialization” of depression and alcoholism. Her experiences of being refused treatment are gut wrenching.
I would strongly recommend this book to any one who has asked themselves if they are a problem drinker. This book is also perfect for those on the road of sobriety who haven’t quite found their “niche” (i.e.: Alcoholics Anonymous, Support Groups, etc.). And, as I have learned through the reading of this book if you know someone who is struggling with alcohol and/or other drugs, Tania Glyde’s story may be a stepping stone to being able to discuss these challenges more openly.
Imagine not drinking a bottle of wine before making a pass; not moving in like a starving cat when someone is at the bar; not apologizing for something you don’t remember doing. Once upon a time, Tania Glyde couldn’t imagine living any other way, and to the outside world she seemed fine – despite the constant hangover from drink and drugs and the bottle of vodka stashed in her handbag.
At the end of her 23 year love affair, Tania Glyde remembers her inner white wine witch and questions our powerful sense of entitlement to drink until we fall over: Cleaning Up describes why women drink, how to stop and what life after alcohol is really like.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tania Glyde is an author and journalist. She has written two novels to date, Clever Girl and Junk DNA. Her short stories appeared in the Disco 2000 and Vox 'n' Roll anthologies. She was Time Out’s sex columnist for two years.
Award winning columnist, Deborah Ross, has a club, and I desperately want to be a member.
She calls her organization the NDGC (GB)… that is the Non-Domestic Goddess Club of Great Britain.
Assuming that you can get motivated enough to attend a meeting (a true Non-Domestic Goddess will shiver at this point at the thought of a meeting), you will be welcomed with a cup of Nescafe’ made from tap water and a store bought cake (if anyone bothered to buy one).
Fortunately for U.S. readers, Ms. Ross’ delightful anti-Martha Stewart approach to home making has crossed the shores and is now available:
One could say that the Non-Domestic Goddess motto is encompassed in one simple statement, “Nature abhors a vacuum and so do we.”
Hey, I’m all for that! And apparently there are plenty of other women who agree.
I brought my copy of How not to be a Domestic Goddess to the doctor’s waiting room and had to fight my way out of a horde of Non-Domestic Goddess wannabes trying to pry the book from my hands.
Well, okay that really didn’t happen.
No one who aspires to be a true Non-Domestic Goddess would dare to make such a concentrated effort to obtain a “How To’ book on anything…
But, the office nurse thought the title was funny and told me so.
Cullen Dorn creates outstanding sentence snapshots that condense scene and mood of life in East Harlem. He also has a good ear for dialogue and sound. These talents are the cornerstone of a gifted short story writer and poet.
Unfortunately, the author’s attempt to synthesize the metaphysical plot line with the story of two brothers coming of age in the hardened streets of Harlem in novel form does not work. The plot line is choppy. Scene shifts happen abruptly and introduce too many characters without enough transition for the reader to keep pace. There was simply not enough back story for the reader who is uninitiated in all things New Age.
I felt that the work was too ambitious for a first novel. This probably is true for the majority of authors in regards to the first novel. I felt that this work needed more time to germinate and required tighter editing.
Cullen Dorn definitely is an author worth noting. He has a fascinating life story (check the links provided below) and he is talented. He is not an author for the casual reader, but someone who appreciates the beauty of words.
The Lost Episodes of Beatie Scareli is a novella that reveals a tale of surviving childhood abuse as told by the 12 year old narrator, Beatie Scareli. The crisp and minimalist writing reads like a screenplay.
Being that I am a retired clinical social worker, I immediately fell into this book. It is a quick read.
The protagonist, Beatie, shares her experiences of life with her abusive father and schizophrenic mother. Told from the point of view of a child, the story avoids falling into a melodrama. The characters are plausible, as well as, their behavior and circumstances. Poignant moments occur when the child shares her vulnerability in imagined conversations with a toy bunny.
The Lost Episodes of Beatie Scareli is described as an “…experimental novel written as a hybrid of a bizarre television script.” The reader is expected to keep in mind that there is a middle-aged woman viewing Beatty’s story on the television; inferring that the television “program” may be a recall of the middle-aged woman’s own memories. The concept for this book does come off to be much grander than what actually occurs in the text.
Although this concept would translate well in film, there really is no need for the whole concept in novella form.
I believe that authors often do not know what the overall concept for their book may be. What an author has in mind and what actually is communicated is dependent on the reader.
This story offers a painfully accurate description of life with an untreated schizophrenic within a family that is not capable of handling such a crisis. Author, Ginnetta Correli also succeeds in portraying the pathways that pedophiles use to “groom” their victims.
Self-published books offer a wealth of work that should never be overlooked by the discerning reader.
I find the whole business of offering up self-published work comparable to how music is produced in the music industry. Demos are created prior to obtaining recording contracts. Musicians post their work online, develop a fan base… all before getting a major contract.
I believe the same can be said for the publishing industry. Any author who takes so much initiative to get their work out to the public is certainly worth a look-see. Passion and a belief that what one has to say is important make for good reading.
So, this work is experimental, it is the first published work for this author, and it does look unabashedly at painful topics.
Do I recommend this book?
If you ever have had the experience of being caught off guard with the most hilarious moment and laughing so hard that you blew grape juice (or whatever you were drinking) through your nose , I can guarantee you that you will have a comparable repeat laughter outburst with Silent But Deadly: Another Lio Collection .
So…
You have been warned.
No fluids (or Cocoa Puffs) while reading this book.
Artist, Mark Tatulli, creates a silent world filled with the dark imagination of a little boy, Liō; a child that happens to love his pet squid, monsters, and a crabby little girl named Eva.
Take a Swedish literature scholar ( who also happens to be a very talented novelist), toss in a Victorian era mystery in London, add in a fictional narcissistic mystery writer by the name of Euthanasia Bondeson, and some sleuthing through such places as a “molly house” for cross dressing gentlemen of 1851 during the Great Exhibition…
Well…
You have the makings of an absolutely delightful who done it.
And just a post note for those of you weary of translations… this book was seamless. If I had not been told, I would not have been aware that this work was translated from Swedish to English.
On the surface The Spirit of the Placecould be looked upon as a romantic novel about a physician who must grudgingly return to his hometown upon receiving word of his mother’s death.
Relationships ensue, old wounds are reopened, insights are gained, and life moves on. But, that is truly not what this story is about.
This work is layered with theme upon theme about being wounded, being forgiven, and learning to bloom where you are planted.
The central character of this story, Dr. Orville Rose, holds within him repulsion towards the physical deformities that can afflict a human.
How many healers enter into their profession in order to heal something that has been deformed in their own lives?
Such is the case for Dr. Rose, who learns that as his heart of stone melts to a heart of flesh that he has been crippled. He finds that he has been handicapped throughout his life with emotional burdens carried with him from childhood, and the complicated fresh grief over the death of his mother.
“It’s not how we’re crippled… it’s how we walk.” (p.330)
I have entered a new terrain; the world of audio books.
Our public library system now has OverDrive--Library Services which allows one to download library audio books from the comfort of the home computer.
I have gotten totally hooked.
Though, I have discovered that having fiction read aloud doesn’t work well for me. I don’t want to hear someone else interpret the characters’ voices or their pacing. I don’t want be distracted by the narrator’s vocal idiosyncrasies.
But, when I get to non-fiction works…WOW!
Put the headphones on and let those babies go!
I have been gulping down biographies, political science, business books, and on a lark I downloaded an inspirational piece from a name I am familiar with, Iyanla Vanzant, although I really couldn’t tell anyone why that name would be familiar.
The whole UNABRIDGED audio book plays through in 90 minutes. Much of this time is spent listening to the narrator (who happens to be the author) b-r-e-a-t-h-i-n-g… very, very, very…s—l—o—w—l—y.
I realized that this book was not meant for me. While listening to this woman’s pleasant voice, I felt the experience to be too intimate. Her resonant voice sliding directly into my brain via my heavy duty headphones was… um, well… embarrassingly overwhelming.
I was looking for inspiration and I got meditation.
Although her topic is quite a good idea… live life with an attitude of gratitude… reciting my gratitude for my strong healthy hips just didn’t float for me. The author also spoke of attracting the positive to one’s self.
I lurch at anything that smacks of the latest wave of “laws of attraction” in which people attract gobs of wealth to themselves. I found my mind drifting during the listening wondering if this was another one of those “you get what you deserve” mantra.
That whole wishing for stuff spirituality is older than old. I remember fondly in the 1980’s when my friend, Ellen, entered into a yoga group. I think she was seeking enlightenment. After a few of these yoga classes Ellen informed me over a glass of wine that the group was about “meditating for toasters” and other snappy household items. I laughed, she shrugged, and she avoided yoga classes for over a decade after that experience.
I sure hope that is not what Iyanla Vanzant ‘s work is about.
Unfortunately, this morning while preparing this review, I found out that the author appears on Oprah’s television show frequently.
Uh-oh.
May I mention that I have acquired an Oprah aversion? I fear that the mighty O is getting an empress complex.
So who may benefit from this audio cd?
I can think of several people.
If you are feeling down about your body image, this work is for you. If you need help with anxiety, this work is for you. If you feel overwhelmed by life, overloaded by a cascade of negative experiences to the point where you can not see one shimmer of light… yes, this would be a good one for you to listen to.
As for me and my unenlightened happy to be middle class messy big hipped self? Thanks Ms. Vazant for the reminder to be grateful for what I already have.
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