Booklog for Charlotte

Gilgamesh by Joan London

What a wonderful book.  I read it based on the recommendation of Tony's Book World, who lists it among his favorite Australian novels. 

Unlike several novels I've read recently, it has narrative arc, an intense and eventful one at that.  It is the story of a young woman who grows up on a farm in southwestern Australia.  Her family is visited by her English cousin Leopold and his Armenian friend Aram.  Leopold introduces her to his most beloved book, Gilgamesh, and Aram leaves her pregnant.  She makes her way to Armenia with her infant son to find Aram just as World War II is about to begin.  And of course she has no money.  She lands in Yerevan and spends the war years there and is rescued just in the nick of time by Leopold who takes her to Aleppo in Syria where she stays in an orphanage.  Along come some Australian soldiers at the end of the war, and she and Jim (her son) are repatriated.  Wherever she is, Edith meets the most amazing characters, manages to avoid catastrophe, and is able to endure hardship. 

The story is told in an understated way that I found gripping.  While the focus is on Edith, countless other vivid characters emerge.  I loved Tati, the elderly blind poet that Edith takes care of in Yerevan along with the wheelchair-bound musician Nevart who becomes the darling of the Russians occupying the city.  Miss Anoosh, the tiny Armenian woman who ran the orphanage in Aleppo, was the only survivor of the 1915 slaughter of the Armenians. 

Man Seeks God by Eric Weiner

Eric Weiner, a former NPR reporter, writes about his "Flirtations with the Divine," as his subtitle has it.  I heard him speak at the Charlottesville Festival of the Book and thought, rightly as it turns out, he would make a great reader of his book, given his experience as a reporter.  And he was funny as well as instructive.

He undertakes to "find his god" and get in some good travel at the same time, so he goes all over the world to learn about and experience some of the world's religions.  He visits Sufi camp in California, the Whirling Dervishes in Istanbul, he meditates in Nepal, and he spends time with Franciscans in the Bronx.  He ends in Tzfat, where he studies Kabbalah, and perhaps finds his god.  On a different note, he has a Wiccan weekend and a week-long workshop in Las Vegas with Raelians, who believe we were created by the Elohim, who live on another galaxy. 

He is an intense fellow and wants to truly experience these religious practices, but he also lives in his head and can't quite commit to anything. He is not half-assed, but seven-eighth-assed, he says.   The justaposition of a knowledgable description of these faiths with his neurotic and funny take on them is endearing and irresistible.  He quoted William James so many times that I have added his book, The Varieties of Religious Experience" to my To Be Read list.

Nothing Can Make Me Do This by David Huddle

This is another book I've read recently that does not have much of a narrative arc; each character tells us his story and in this case we get to know an extended, but small family from the viewpoint of each character.  I'm thinking of Five Bells and Seven Types of Ambiguity; humm...why doesn't the title of this book begin with a number?

I heard the author speak on a panel at the Charlottesville Festival of the Book.  He is a poet, has taught at the University of Vermont and now at Hollins University, and his poems and short stories have been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and more.

The characters lead largely conventional and careful lives; we begin with the shocking discovery by his wife that Horace, the former provost of the University of Vermont, has a stash of pornographic videos.  We learn much later that these were prescribed for him by his best friend, but he found himself unable to watch them, and apparently forgot about them.  This is about as wild as things get with these dear people.

There's Bill, Horace's son-in-law, a man of the great phrase.  His endearments for his daughter Eve include "Little Miss Eyebrows," but my favorite is Bill's description of Horace:  "Horace's feathers are slicked down so tight it'd take a lightning bolt up his butt to make him stop waltzing."  Bill is an entrepreneur and owns property and houses all over town which causes him to drive around in a truck with a cell phone or two at the ready so he can buy, sell, rent, or fix up properties.  Hannah, his wife, believes he is random in his business dealings and that one day they will be jailed by the IRS.  Later we hear from Bill that though he appears random, it's just that he sees a bigger picture.

Though we hear of endearing connections among all the various parties, each expresses their essential feeling of being separate from others.  Horace says, "I wanted to be close to people.  Especially in the family.  I really did.  But I couldn't manage it."  And Bill understands that throughout his life he "has turned away from affection, generosity, sweetness, love, understanding, all those emotions that he needs from other people -- well mostly, from Hannah and Eve -- and that they were willing -- sometimes eager -- to extend to him."  Eve, telling about her connection with her husband, says, "I had in mind to tell him everything.  Eventually.  And maybe the eventually was the hitch, because there were some things -- maybe a fair number of things -- that I kept saving to tell him when I was ready for him to know them.

For all their restraint, or perhaps because of it, I did come to love each of these people.  I look forward to reading more of David Huddle's books.

Books to Read

Gilgamesh by Joan London.  2001 book by Australian writer.  Tony's Book World   says, "An incredible journey from the wilderness of western Australia to the wilderness of Armenia told in a blunt and powerful style."  Available at Jefferson-Madision.

Etgar Keret, short story writer from Israel.  Suddenly, a Knock at the Door, short stories, is available as an audiobook, read by a variety of readers including Ira Glass.

Prague Winter by Madeleine Albright.  Available as audiobook read by her.

Manhunt by Peter Bergen. 

Bring Up the Bodies, next in Hilary Mantel's trilogy.

The Light in Amsterdam by David Park, reviewed here   by Kevin from Canada.  Kindle version available Nov 13, 2012, hardcover March 2013.

Canada by Richard Ford, enthusiastic review by Andre Dubus III in the NYT

Are You My Mother by Alison Bechdel, graphic memoir, great piece in The New Yorker about it.

Headlong by Michael Frayn

Jane Gardem, British author.

Zoobiquity:  What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers.  Heard the authors on NPR:  a book that has overweight dragonflies in it has got to be a good one.

Five Bells by Gail Jones

By far the most beloved character in this book is Sydney, with a focus on Circular Quay.  The descriptions by the four other characters, three of them newcomers to Sydney, of the wonders of that location were each beautiful in themselves.  Circular Quay is the spot in Sydney where the train comes to the harbor between the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House, where ferries take off for other beautiful locations on the harbor.  Besides two of the most beautiful structures on earth that humans have created, this spot affords views of that matchless body of water.  Gail Jones, who teaches at the University of Western Sydney, has written a real love letter to her city.

The story recounts the visits of each of the four characters to Circular Quay so that we learn each of their stories in the course of a day.  Each has a burden of sadness and each deals with that burden with varying success.  Each is a compelling character, but my favorite is a Chinese woman who has lived through the horror of the cultural revolution.  At one point she notes to herself that she is old, at another, that she is not old at all.  She comes to the Circular Quay to catch the ferry across the harbor each week; along the way she always exchanges a few words with her friend Aristos, an old fisherman who now sells ice cream and she always catches up with a homeless woman named Mary. 

On numerous occasions this sad book evokes great beauty and pleasingly smart insights.  As the characters reveal themselves to us, the complexity that exists in all of us is apparent.  In the course of this poignant day, the characters' varied life experiences are close to the surface. 

While other books by Gail Jones are available at the UVa library, this one is not.  It is a new book, but I was able to get it through Amazon at a very low cost.  I took the trouble to do so because of Reading Matters' enthusiasm for it and I'm so glad I did.

On a personal note, when Jim and I were in Sydney, we stayed in a hotel that was in walking distance of Circular Quay.  We were there countless times to see the opera house and bridge, to catch ferries, to people-watch, and to visit the library where wifi gave us access to family and friends.  It began to feel like home to us.

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

The subtitle of The Power of Habit is Why We Do What We do in Life and Business.  Charles Duhigg, a New York Times reporter, writes about the science of habit formation and recounts wonderful stories of personal lives, businesses and social movements that illustrate the importance of understanding how habits are formed and changed.  He describes a habit this way:  we encounter a cue that indicates a certain action or set of actions, the "reward" part of our brains light up with excitement, we take the action, and then we are rewarded.  One habit of mine that fit this description perfectly is the daily walk.  I realize it's time for a walk or exercise, I think about listening to an audiobook, my brain lights up, and I'm out the door.  And I believe the light was especially bright in my brain while I was listening to this book.

The story of Alcoa Aluminum's great improvements while Paul O'Neill was CEO was inspiring; when he arrived in 1987, the company was not doing very well and morale among workers was very low.  He took the unusual approach of focusing the company's attention on worker safety and thereby changed the culture of the company.  The message was that workers themselves were to be a part of the effort to reduce injuries.  After O'Neill gave everyone responsibility for safety, the workers began suggesting other changes in the plants that increased productivity and improved the product.  And, according to Wikipedia, this is the man who was fired by Bush from his position as Secretary of the Treasury for his opposition to Bush's tax policy and the war in Iraq.

Duhigg described Target's use of the data we give them about ourselves when we shop there.  Target's statisticians were able to identify pregnant shoppers and even pinpoint their due date.  Using this data to send coupons that indicated they knew a woman was pregnant creeped people out, so they began mixing the coupons for baby-related items with other random coupons.  Target is very eager to be the store that new parents turn to; not only do new parents have many purchases to make related to the new family member, but sleep deprived parents are more likely to change shopping habits so that they buy more food and other items from Target. 

I highly recommend this book.

Leaving Ardglass by William King

In Reading Matters' top ten novels for 2011, Leaving Ardglass is not to be found in the library at UVa, but I was able to get it on the kindle.  Through the lives of two brothers, it tells the story of changes in Ireland from the mid-1950s through the 1970s, beginning with times when migration to America and England was the key to getting out of poverty, to boom times in Ireland. 

The narrator is the younger brother, who becomes an ambitious priest, never able to become a bishop.  Thomas was expected to become an engineer and join his brother in the construction business.  His brother has already left the village of Ardglass to become successful building house in London; Thomas works in the summer and learns that to be successful, one must pay bribes and cut corners.  The Irishmen who do this work are despised by the English and live miserable lives as they send money home each week.  Thomas figures out this is not for him and his brother accepts his decision and continues to support him.

It turns out that Thomas' life as a priest has its sordid bits as well. When Thomas began, priests were much loved and respected and young men entered the profession eagerly but all that changed over the course of the book.  Thomas fell in love with a woman and had a long time affair with her, always promising himself each time they make love that this will be the last time.  Eventually she realizes that he will not leave the priesthood and she ends it.  He spends years propping up and doing the work for an alcoholic bishop in the belief that he will replace him.  An even more ambitious priest out maneuvers him and is given the position.   And then there's the sex scandals.  Thomas' role was to recommend the usual course to his alcoholic bishop, sending an accused priest to a psychiatrist, who some months later, declares the patient is fine and won't offend again.  Eventually Thomas moves out of the administrative work in the bishopric and becomes the priest for a small church.

The older brother, M.J., eventually encounters a scandal of his own.  After years of financial shenanigans which involve paying bribes to someone who pays bribes to others and socks money away in off shore accounts, it all comes unraveled and hearings catch the public's attention for months.

This impressive book brings to life characters who are at once real and illustrate the arc of a part of Ireland in a particular period.  I especially liked this description of what the nuns were up to in the early 70s as Thomas was working hard:

The weeks aren't long enough -- lectures at All Saints, weekend seminars in convents where young nuns are discovering beautiful sunsets, and the healing effect of hugging trees; theology is jettisoned in favour of interpersonal relations.  Egged on by those in their communities who have returned from San Francisco, aflame with Carl Rogers and other gurus, the young nuns get in touch with their feelings.  When their older colleagues have trudged up the stairs to bed, they light candles and sit around on bean bags.  Some pack their suitcases; those who remain cast off their veils and exchange friendship rings with priests.  And, in desperation, Reverend Mothers ask me to come and talk sense to them.