bookrblog

Rosanna of the Amish

Thursday, June 10th, 2010 | American Literature | 1 Comment

It’s unusual to find a book about the Amish, by the Amish - in this case, Joseph Yoder was born and raised Amish although as an adult went to college and married “outside”. This was written and published many years ago, probably the ’30s - I came across this second-hand copy in “Shakespeare & Co.” in Paris!

Joseph tells the story of his mother, who was left as a baby to be raised by an Amish woman when her Irish mother died. Rosanna lived her life among the Amish people and by telling her life, Joseph explains a lot of the customs and history of the Amish from his experience, from the beliefs to the music to the habits and some of the mysteries too. It’s a cheerful read, as Joseph despite not agreeing with every belief obviously thought they were a pretty decent bunch of people. A good story.

As I Am

Sunday, January 10th, 2010 | American Literature | No Comments

This is Patricia Neal’s autobiography, the American actress who married Roald Dahl. She really did live an eventful life; a top actress in the ’40s and ’50s, lover of Gary Cooper, married to Roald Dahl, losing her daughter to measles, her son having a brain injury due to an accident, then having a stroke herself. Really, she had so much happen to her. I was shocked at all the affairs she had with married men in her youth; and the fact that she never thought “karma” when a young woman had an affair with her husband (who ended up divorcing her). She was evidently a pretty strong woman who lost her temper a lot, knew what she wanted, and felt hard done by quite a bit too. She hated the relationship she had with her children, and yet she wasn’t around when they were young, due to her career. She was in a lot of films, won an oscar, but in the end none of that brought much joy to her. A fascinating woman, if slightly amoral, even if she did end up becoming a catholic and haunting a convent - more for what she could get than anything else. Interesting.

My Life in France

Saturday, January 9th, 2010 | American Literature | No Comments

I really enjoyed this book by Julia Child; I sought it out after the Julie & Julia film, where Julie was so dull and Julia so fascinating. Julia Child spent years in France post-war and discovered food, food, food. She also discovered the beautiful places and interesting people; she sounds like one of those people who find things are wonderful simply because of their outlook on life. This book is also about her relationship with her husband Paul, which is lovely. There is a mixture of wicked and clever alongside a sort of naiveity which is really endearing. I don’t “get” the food thing, but I do get the joy of new cultures and discoveries. It’s wonderful that she found something so concrete to enjoy in life, which lasted wherever she went.

The 19th Wife

Monday, January 4th, 2010 | American Literature | No Comments

This novel by David Evershoff was very creepy, because you know that it’s based on real cults in the USA today. The actual structure of the novel is flawed; it moves between a modern murder story and fragments of memoirs from a hundred years ago. In the modern story, a 19th wife is accused of murder, and her estranged son, a “lost boy” tries to find out what is really going on in order to help her. In the old story, it re-tells the story of Brigham-Young’s 19th wife, Ann Eliza. I can imagine a better writer managing to allow the story to flow a little more seamlessly; as it is, you begin to forget whose story you are reading. However, despite his shortcomings as a writer, this story is powerful because of the truths in it; that women are still being subjugated by religion every day, and that people prefer to ignore it rather than face it.

The Other Side of Paradise

Sunday, December 27th, 2009 | American Literature | No Comments

I reread Gatsby this year - this is F Scott Fitzgerald’s earlier novel, his first, in fact. It’s an odd novel about a rich boy who he labels “the egotist” . It’s autobiographical I suppose, as Fitzgerald also went to a “prep” school, Princeton, and the war. I don’t really know what to say about it - it’s coming of age, but where, at the end, you don’t feel that the character has changed at all. He espouses Socialism at the end whereas he had previously pushed for the aristocracy to have all the power, but it’s still all talk. However, the book isn’t really about a boy, but a time, an age, where the rich were rich and unaware, and people were hopeful about the future. Long time ago.

The Writing Class

Sunday, December 27th, 2009 | American Literature | No Comments

I was a little sceptical about this book by Jincy Willett, but it was actually really good - funny, clever, and quite informative. Amy Gallup is a reclusive once-published writer who holds a writing class each week. It’s actually the only time she ever leaves the house or has any social contact with others, apart from her blog, of course. Anyhow, while the latest writing class is filled with the usual hopeful misfits, this time there’s a creepy weirdo who ends up being a murderer.

This was a nice book about friendship, with good tips about writing, and some very funny moments. Because the main character is as much a misfit as the others, there was a warm feeling of cameraderie about the book, rather than a sense of someone being nasty about others. I enjoyed this, and definitely did not predict the murderer!

The Last American Man

Sunday, December 20th, 2009 | American Literature | No Comments

I loathed Elizabeth Gilbert’s earlier book (Eat Pray Love) but this one was good, mostly because it wasn’t about her. It was about a real person, Eustace Conway, an idealist, who not only developed a deep love of the land, but wanted to share it with others. He believed that by sharing his love of nature with others he  could change the entire world. Sadly the opposite happened; he became changed by the world instead, greedy and harsh, more interested in proving points that living the way he believed. In the end he was lonely and bitter, and most of all confused as to how he’d ended up that way. Gilbert blames it all on his relationship with his father, but I think that that’s a little simplistic. As is the title.

The Little Sister

Saturday, November 28th, 2009 | American Literature | No Comments

I thought I’d read all of Raymond Chandler’s works, but I found this one and it was good. In Dorothy L Sayer’s stories she talks about her murder mysteries as upholding a vision of justice. Chandler’s detective novels uphold a vision on integrity, a belief in the worth of human beings. In each story, Marlowe begins by believing in someone. That belief is often dashed by the end of the story, but the fact that Marlowe believes - not because the person is rich or educated, just because they’re human - is the powerful thing. Marlowe tries to find someone for “the little sister”; he finds a lot of people, some of them dead. I love Chandler’s stories.

The Cherry Ames books

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 | American Literature, Children's Literature | No Comments

I loved the Cherry Ames books by Helen Wells when I was a kid. I have just purchased the first eight which have recently been republished. I realise now I’d only read the later books. The earlier ones follow the career of Cherry Ames, an American nurse, during WW2, from training to work on both the European and Pacific fields of war, and then into civilian work post-war.

Originally written in the ’40s to encourage more nurses to join up, they’re more than propaganda; they’re good books. In fact, they’re well-written, action-packed, and historically fascinating. Wells gives a good picture of life in the army, life in hospitals, and life in New York and the UK in the 40’s. There’s a hint of romance, lots of humour, and some interesting medical detail, but the real purpose of the book is to show how satisfying a career can be for a woman; and that in these sad post-feminist times is still really important.

This Lovely Life

Saturday, October 31st, 2009 | American Literature | No Comments

I had followed the blog of Vicki Forman and had been saddened by the death of her young son (around which the blog had been written). This is her story, although it’s the story of the first days and years rather than the later ones of her blog. She had been pregnant with twins and had gone into labour at only 24 weeks; although she asked that the babies not be given resuscitation, she was told that was not allowed, and the hospital worked hard to save them. Ellie died after a few days; Evan lived for nearly nine years. He was blind, with significant physical and intellectual disabilities, including a seizure disorder. Vicki found herself fighting the medical establishment from the day the twins were born, who had a different agenda from her. She wanted quality of life for her babies; they just wanted survival.

This book isn’t really about her babies so much as herself. There are tantalising snatches of information about Evan’s life past babyhood, but not much. Mostly it is the medical and therapy circuit, and most of all Vicki coming to terms with what has happened, something she didn’t expect in her ordinary, even perfect, life. How could she lose a child; how could she have a child with severe disabilities; how could her life consist of such a long-term struggle? In the end Vicki concludes that “even a short life is a whole life”, but in a way her book doesn’t say that, because there isn’t enough about Evan’s life. Instead it reflects the horror and shock and indignation of being given a burden, and the slow resignation and acceptance of that burden. It was a book about grief, especially with Evan’s death at the end. It was a good book.