Monday 30 April 2018

"The Painted Girls" by Cathy Marie Buchanan


Edgar Degas (1834-1917) was a French artist who specialized in painting ballet dancers.  He is one of the characters in this historic novel "The Painted Girls".
   Paris 1878
   Main characters: 3 sisters- Antoinette (17) Marie (13), and Charlotte (7).  These girls are trying to follow their dreams of dancing in the theatre in Paris, in spite of the fact that their father has died and there is no financial support for them.
  Antoinette, who was not disciplined enough to continue in the ballet, procures a small part in a play and falls in love with a young man who is involved in a murder. 
The Little Dancer
  
    Marie does well in the opera and earns money by modelling for Edgar Degas.  She was painted in many poses such as the painting above, but also she was the dancer behind the statue "Little Dancer'.
  The combination of fact and fiction, makes an engrossing novel that shows not only the artistic culture of Paris but also the darker side of Paris.

Friday 27 April 2018

mobile libraries

delivery in my town
   The Visiting Library Service in our local library organizes delivery of books to seniors' residences, nursing homes, and to isolated individuals in private homes.
  One of the retirement homes that I visit has many very eager readers.  It is a delight to bring books to them.  Recently this retirement home was in lock down due to 'health issues'.  I responded to a request for books other than our normal delivery day.  The grateful reader sent me a very interesting link to a video about delivering books in Columbia.
    Since I am a librarian, I love creative ways to deliver books, so this was of great interest to me!  You can watch the video here.


delivery in Colombia
    
    Twenty years ago, Luis Soriano was a teacher with a concern   about children having no access to books.  He took his own   collection of books and transformed two water-carrying donkeys   into a library service.  He named the donkeys 'Alfa' and 'Beto'  (alphabeto means alphabet).
    Even though Luis now has a prosthetic leg, he is still providing   this service.

 In 2003, I wrote a post called "Librarians with a Mission".
It included a story about book delivery in Kenya. Check it out here.

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And here is a quote, sent by my daughter, explaining why we are grateful for access to books.

"For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth.  What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet you, or excite you.  Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave.  They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die." (Anne Lamott)

Monday 23 April 2018

"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson

classic book club choice

   This very short story is called 'a gothic novella' and was published in 1886.  The plot takes place through the eyes of the lawyer Mr. Utterson, who has been a friend of Dr. Jekyll for years.
  One day, Mr. Utterson was walking on the street behind Dr. Jekyll's house.  This house was connected to the back of Dr. Jekyll's house.  A man, coming out of the house, knocked over a child on the street, and Mr. Utterson chased him.  When he looked into this man's face, he was sick.  The man's eyes were lifeless and cold.  His mouth was twisted. Looking at him gave Mr. Utterson a sense of horror.
  And so, of course, this man was Mr. Hyde who is the evil part of Dr. Jekyll.  Dr. Jekyll had done chemical experiments that resulted in his ability to change from the kind Dr. Jekyll to the monstrous Mr. Hyde.  He was able to separate good and evil.

   Robert Louis Stevenson was bedridden at the time of writing this story and was inspired by a nightmare.  He wrote the story in three days, then took 6 weeks to refine it.

Robert Louis Stevenson 
  The story has been interpreted in many ways.  Some people see it as a social commentary on society in England at the time- 'outward respectability and inward lust'.
  Stevenson was sick most of his life and I was interested in reading the story of his life in "Under the Wide and Starry Sky" by Nancy Horan.  Check it out here.
  Stevenson only lived to age 44, but he wrote many books, short stories and poetry.
  The books that remain popular are "Treasure Island", "Kidnapped", and "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde".

Friday 20 April 2018

"Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

   Dystopian novels seem to be popular these days.  And this is a science fiction dystopian novel.
   It is written by a Nobel Prize-winning author Kazui Ishiguro.  It has won many awards and citations.
  The author, who is also known for "Remains of the Day", has called this novel 'his most uplifting novel', because it is the only one to feature a wholly sympathetic cast: Kathy H., our narrator, is a thoroughly likable, thoroughly sensible, thoroughly ordinary young girl, which makes what happens to her all the more upsetting.



Kazuo Ishiguro
   And what happens to her?  Well, it is dystopian, so be prepared.  The novel is about a boarding school, 'Hailsham', peopled by clones who will be used for organ replacement.  The teacher told them, "Your lives are set out for you.  Before middle age, you'll donate your vital organs.  You were brought into this world for a purpose."  If they are lucky, they may spend a few years being a 'carer' for those who are 'donating'.
   And, also of interest, is the fact that each person was copied from a normal person, so they are interested in finding their 'original'.

   The content was not of interest to me, but the writing was worse.
Most of the novel is Kathy going back and forth in her mind to her years at Hailsham: "I want to tell you this, but I have to go back and tell you this"...back and forth, mostly remembering conversations.  Lots of emotion, very little plot.
   Perhaps this is a better cover:

Monday 16 April 2018

"Thursdays in the Park" by Hilary Boyd


   I cannot pass by bookshelves- even in the drugstore!  I surely believe that books belong in the book store or the library, BUT, I still have a quick look at the books for sale in the drugstore when I pass by.

  This cover caught my eye. So I bought it.   
  Jeanie is turning 60 and her husband constantly calls her 'old' and wants her to sell her business ( a health food store) and move to the country.  In spite of her objections, her husband buys a house in the country anyway.
  I guess the rest is predictable.  Jeanie takes her granddaughter to the park every Thursday and who does she meet?  A grandfather with his grandson.  This man is friendly and kind and listens to her.  Well, you know the rest.
  Guess that is the kind of book that would be in a drugstore- or an airport.  A quick read with very little depth or originality.
  One quote that was interesting about turning 60:
"Sixty is heaven", she had told Jeanie as they sat having tea.  "The world is done with you, you become to all intents and purposes invisible, particularly if you are a woman.  There's childhood, then adult conformity---work, family, responsibility---then just when everyone assumes it's all over and you're on the scrap heap of old age, freedom! You can finally be who you are, not what society wants you to be, not who you think you ought to be".
  When I finish reading a book, I check the internet to see what other readers think.  One person called it 'gran-lit'.  Probably that is a made-up category, but it is about a grandmother.
  Another reader compared the book to 'literary waterboarding'.  Well,  maybe not that bad- most people gave it 3*'s out of 5*'s.

Friday 13 April 2018

"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time"

   This is a very fascinating and unusual story of 15-year-old Christopher Boone, who is autistic.  He does not understand human emotion and can't stand crowds or being touched. He thrives on structure, order and predictability.  However, when he finds the neighbour's dog impaled on a garden fork, he is determined to find the killer.  It turns out to be his father.  Christopher discovers not only this terrible secret but a worse one- his father had told him that his mother had died, but she had actually left with the next door neighbour.  Christopher decides that he cannot live with his father anymore and attempts to catch trains and subways to London where his mother lives.
   Christopher is a brilliant mathematician and that part was beyond my understanding.
   I found this book fascinating because it was so unusual.  There were charts and graphs and pictures as Christopher tries to explain how he understands things.  What insight into an autistic person's life. 

Short and powerful story!

Since this is my second time reading this novel, I have questions of the author.

Mark Haddon

1.) How did you understand autism so well?
2.) Are you a mathematician?

My research shows that he is not autistic himself, although he has worked with disabled children.  He says that he only read one book about autism.
His major in college was literature.

This novel was published in two identical editions with different covers, one for adults and one for teenagers.  The author said, "To my continuing amazement, it seems to have spread round the world like some particularly infectious rash".

Monday 9 April 2018

"The Reason I Jump" by Naoki Higashida

  An upcoming book club choice is: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time", a novel about a boy with autism.  
  In preparation for that discussion, a book club member recommended that I might be interested in reading a non-fiction account of a boy with autism : "The Reason I Jump: the inner voice of a thirteen-year-old boy with autism".  This teen lives in Japan and was diagnosed at age five. This book is a translation.   
  The format of the book is interesting.  He answers 58 questions about his experience of autism with short, insightful answers.
Naoki Higashida

   Although there is a wide spectrum in the autism disorder, mostly there is a communication problem.  Here is part of Naoki's answer to the question "Why can't you have a proper conversation?"
  "I can never say what I really want to. Instead, verbal junk that hasn't got anything to do with anything comes pouring out of my mouth.... But having started with text communication, now I'm able to express myself via the alphabet grid and a computer, and being able to share what I think allows me to understand that I, too, exist in this world as a human being".

I really had no understanding of autism.  But I discovered that it is a brain abnormality that shows up on a brain scan.  It is more common with boys and it may be genetic.

Another quote:
Question: "Why do you memorize train timetables and calendars?"
Answer: Because it's fun!  We get a real kick out of numbers, us people with autism.  Numbers are fixed, unchanging things.  The number 1, for example, is only ever, the number 1.  That simplicity, that clearness, its' so comforting to us...Invisible things, like human relationships and ambiguous expressions, however, these are difficult for us people with autism to get our heads around."

  The young man who wrote this book, only 13 years old, is very insightful and I learned a lot about autism.  Now I am ready to read a fictional story and I will be able to understand it better.

Friday 6 April 2018

"Every day" by David Levithan

   After the stress of Canada Reads, I was delighted to get caught up in this out-of-this-world novel.  And here is the cover.  I think I picked this book mostly because of the cover.  I wanted to be floating around in space- out of this world.
  A very bizarre plot- are you ready?
This is the promotion on the cover:
"Every day a different body,
Every day a different life.
Every day in love with the same girl."
It is the strangest love story that I have ever read!
   "A" is the spirit that goes to bed in one body and wakes up in another body- girl, boy, black, white, large, small- always different, but always the same age, 16, and in the same geographic location.  He tries to be very sensitive to the body that he is in, and make it easy for that person to return the next morning.  Of course, there is no explanation of why this is happening, because it is out-of-this-world and an intriguing fantasy.
   But, while inhabiting Jason's body, "A" falls in love with Jason's girlfriend Rhianna. He has access to Jason's thoughts, so he knows that Jason has not been treating Rhianna well. And so, he tries to keep track of Rhianna after leaving Jason's body.  That becomes interesting and eventually he has to explain to her what is happening.
   Surprisingly enough, she tries to adapt to the possibility of a boyfriend who is in a different body every day.  There are lessons to be learned there.
  There is a sub-plot of the after-effects of his takeover of another young man, but it never made sense to me.
  
author-David Levithan
  This book has been made into a movie and there is also another novel written from Rhianna's point of view.  I have read that it is not as interesting as the story of "A", popping in and out of different bodies. 
  The ending of "Every Day" is not completely satisfying.  But the writing is spectacular!  It provides an escape from the 'real world'.

Monday 2 April 2018

Canada Reads: final thoughts

   Canada Reads is over for another year.  I don't expect to read the five choices next year.  I have been increasingly disappointed in the choices.  This year, the books were overwhelmingly distressing.  Too much sadness in four of the five books to digest in such a short span of time.
  The distress of reading these books was compounded by family discussion on Easter. Some of the family attended the "March for our Lives" in Washington last weekend.  The pain and agony in the world seems overpowering.
  I am reminded of a poem by William Wordsworth:
"The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. - Great God! I'd rather be
A pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old triton blow his wreathed horn."

   Instead of Proteus, we can think in Christian terms at Easter of the resurrection, and be hopeful.
  We all need balance in our lives- in our reading as well as life itself.  Spring is in the air and the world is full of possibility.

   Oh, yes, the winner of Canada reads was "Forgiveness".  Jeanne Beker really did a good job of promoting the book and had some thoughtful things to say about the need, in the midst of such world crises (yes, that means more than one), to 'build your soul'.  Amen!