Saturday, July 31, 2010

Falling in Love with Natassia

My latest gym book was Falling in Love with Natassia by Anna Monardo, and to be honest, I almost abandoned it about 100 pages in. The jacket copy mentioned a character that was a New York City book editor, so I kept going, hoping that part would catch my interest. The character's role was small, but I was eventually sucked into the story.



Natassia was born to Mary and Ross when they were studying abroad in Italy. No longer together, they leave Natassia to be raised by Ross's parents (his father is the aforementioned book editor). Natassia is devastated after her much older boyfriend dumps her and tries to commit suicide. Mary's friends rush to her side to help, but during all the drama we learn that one of her friends committed some abusive behavior against Natassia when she was an infant. Mary takes her daughter to live with her on campus at the upstate prep school where she teaches dance, and the final scenes include a confrontation where the past abuse is brought out into the open.



This is a very melodramatic book. It's not quite as bad as a Jodi Picoult novel--where we're shown so many sides of each character we can't possibly blame anyone--but it would still be a good candidate for a Lifetime movie. Or maybe an episode of Law & Order SVU. All of these people have problems--personal problems, marital problems, problems from their childhoods. And with more than one therapist, you know you're in for a ride.



I didn't necessarily dislike this book, but I wouldn't really recommend it either. Unless you're needing a little melodrama in your life. But, really, who wants that?

The Book Thief

I got a signed copy of Markus Zusak's The Book Thief a few years ago at a children's booksellers dinner. With all the critical claim and its long reign on the bestsellers list, I was really looking forward to starting it. At first, I didn't think I was going to get into it. It's narrated by Death, which puts some distance between the reader and the characters. Not to mention gives the book a sinister mood--which is not hard, considering it's set in Nazi Germany. But by the end, I was deeply involved in the story and found it hard to put the book down.

The story follows Leisel Meminger, who is the titular book thief, as she is moved to a new town to live with a foster family when her own parents are accused of being Communists. Her brother dies on the journey, and she steals her first book, a gravedigger's guide, when they stop to bury him. She continues the habit, taking books whenever she can. She finds solace in the words--and helps calm those around her--by reading aloud during air raids and reading to a neighbor after she learns of her son's death in the war fields. She eventually begins writing her own story, which saves her life. This reverence for the written word is likely why the librarians went so nuts for the book and why it bears a Printz Honor seal, awarded by the American Library Association. But it's a nice touchstone for any book lover.

It is eye-opening to read a story that counts not just Jews among the War's victims. It does include Jewish characters and the uncertainty that came with the concentration camps, as it rightly should. But it shows the other victims, too: communists whether real or perceived, the country's children, and ordinary German citizens who didn't see eye to eye with the Nazi regime. The fact that we're seeing this all play out through the eyes of an adolescent girl makes it all the more heartbreaking.

While The Book Thief was published as a young adult novel, I think there's something here for everyone, and would highly recommend it. The unique narrator and uses of art--stories and sketches--throughout makes it stand out from other World War II literature.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

The Potrait of a Lady

A few years ago, I was feeling bad about never having read Henry James, so I picked up a Barnes & Noble Classics edition of The Portrait of a Lady. Of course, a 600-page classic always seems daunting, so I went a few more years having never read Henry James. But, now that I have, I realize what I was missing!

Isabel Archer is an American orphan taken under the wing of her aunt, Mrs. Touchett, who now resides in Europe. Isabel becomes a part of the family, and when her uncle dies, her Consumption-stricken cousin Ralph, convinces his father to bequeath her a large sum of money. Ralph hopes the money will open up the world to her, allowing her to travel and freeing her from the necessity of having to marry for financial stability. Unfortunately, it only makes her prey to the scheming of some very selfish people.

While Jane Austen’s characters have silly foibles that are easy to poke fun of, James’s characters have foibles that are lethal. They don’t think twice of ruining another person’s life if it leads to personal gain. In the first half, I found it hard to sympathize with Isabel: she is vaguely intellectual and independent but immensely silly at the same time. By the end, after she has fallen victim to those plotting around her, it is hard not to feel sympathy for her and hope she finds a way to escape her circumstances.

On a lighter note, one thing in James’s world seems to continue today is the obnoxiousness of American tourists in Europe. Most of the central characters of this novel are American ex-pats, as was James himself. They are not quite on the same level as native Europeans, but they are more refined than those merely visiting from the States. Semi-professional journalist Henrietta Stackpole, upon seeing Michelangelo’s dome at St. Peter’s, declares that is suffers by comparison with the dome of the U.S. Capitol. Now, while I admit the Capitol building is spectacular, it is nothing compared to St. Peter’s—especially when one takes into account how much older St. Peter’s is. But it is that attitude of things in the U.S. always being superior that I—and many other travelers—find so annoying when encountering fellow—albeit more obnoxious—American abroad.

All in all, I enjoyed the novel, and will look for more James in the future. I have it on good authority that The Turn of the Screw is quite good . . .

Friday, July 16, 2010

Water for Elephants

I've been wanting to read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen since it took the bestseller lists by storm a couple of years ago. So, when I borrowed a Kindle from work to try e-reading, it was the first book I thought of. It was great for a quick, summer read. It's engaging with great characters and just enough literary flavor so you don't feel like you're reading trash.

Jacob Jankowski is about to graduate with a veterinary degree from Cornell when his parents are killed in a tragic accident. He freezes during his final exams and walks out and away from the school. He hops on board a train in the middle of a night . . . only to find it's a circus train. When the circus staff discovers he is a veterinarian--at least in all but degree--they hire him on. We meet a whole cast of characters--the hot-tempered animal handle, the delicate horse rider, the corrupt manager, a midget clown--and feel the class struggle between the performers and the working men. Set against the Depression and Prohibition, Gruen even throws a little history in.

It's an absorbing story, and the only surprise about the upcoming movie is that it didn't come out sooner after the book's great success--especially with book clubs. I read that Rob Pattinson from Twilight is playing Jacob . . . I might have cast Zac Efron instead, but that's just personal preference. It will probably make a good, period movie for the fall serious movie season.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

E-Reading Diary, Part 2

So, shortly after I checked out the Kindle, we got an office iPad. I couldn't wait to get it home and try out all the e-reading apps: Apple's iBookstore, the Kindle app, the Barnes & Noble app, and Kobo, which is the reader Borders is using. iBookstore is the closest to a printed book: the layout has the outline of a hardcover book behind the page, there's an animated page-turn effect, the counter actually uses pages as a unit of measure, and it tells you how many pages are left in the chapter--which is great for me, because I compulsively check how long each chapter is.

The Kindle app is much like Kindle for PC--there is no search function, which made the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary I bought completely useless. (Although, to be honest, I can't remember if there was a search function on the actual Kindle.) The page turns are much faster than on the Kindle, as they are in all the apps. The B&N and Kobo apps are fairly similar. And all of them let you download samplers of many books--fairly generous samples, too--3 chapters of the new Emily Giffin novel. The iBookstore doesn't have nearly as many titles as the Kindle or B&N stores, though.

Overall, I didn't really like reading on the iPad. Even though you can adjust the brightness--and even change the page color from white to sepia in iBooks--the backlit screen is hard on the eyes. I was tired after reading for about 20 minutes. And, since I'm practically going blind already, I want to take it easy on my peepers! There were some cool apps that would only work on a color screen like the iPad. Zinio is a reader for magazines that keeps the layout of the print version. You can read selected free articles or buy whole issues. The DC Comics app is also really cool--you can read the full page of a comic, or go panel by panel. Batman has never looked so good! (Actually I don't know if that's true. I've never read a Batman comic in print.)

Now that I'm ready to buy my own e-reader, I'm leaning toward the Barnes & Noble Nook. Even though it doesn't do as much as the iPad, the e-ink is definitely the way to go for me. Who wants to get on an international flight and only be able to read for 20 minutes at a time!?