On Reading

These two books by Kate Atkinson came highly recommended to me to be read as companion pieces, which made a lot of sense after I finished reading them. I would have read A God in Ruins just for the title alone, but found the continuing saga of the Todd characters worth my attention from the first jarring chapters of Life After Life.

I admire the skillful and masterful writing of Kate Atkinson, but found a good deal of tedious characterization and details of World War II off putting. But her books are the kind I love to analyze and write essays about, delving into “the meaning of” one thing and another, and having something to ponder.

Curious? Read other reviews of these wonderful novels:
New York Times Sunday Book Review –
Subject to Revision: ‘Life After Life,’ by Kate Atkinson
“Its [Life AFter Life’s] heroine, Ursula Todd, keeps dying, then dying again. She dies when she is being born, on a snowy night in 1910. As a child, she drowns, falls off a roof and contracts influenza. Later, she commits suicide and is murdered. She is killed during the German bombing of London in World War II and ends her life in the ruins of Berlin in 1945. Each time Ursula dies, Atkinson — a British writer best known here as the author of Case Histories, the first in a series of highly entertaining mysteries featuring the sleuth Jackson Brodie — resurrects her and sets her on one of the many alternate courses that her destiny might have taken.” Read the entire review>>

The Guardian –
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson review – her finest work
“A God in Ruins is the story of Teddy’s war and its legacy, ‘a ‘companion’ piece rather than a sequel’, according to the author. At first glance it appears to be a more straightforward novel than Life After Life, though it shares the same composition, flitting back and forth in time so that a chapter from Teddy’s childhood in 1925 sits alongside a fragment of his grandchildren’s childhood in the 1980s, before jumping back to 1947, when Teddy and his wife Nancy, newly married, are trying to come to terms with the aftermath of the devastation: ‘The war had been a great chasm and there could be no going back to the other side, to the people they were before. It was as true for them as it was for the whole of poor, ruined Europe.'” Read the entire review>>

Do you enjoy reading books as much as I do? Connect with me on Goodreads and/or Shelfari! Both are great places to find new favorite books and I’d love to see what you’re reading!

Book Review: Time Enough for Love

Another older work of fiction that I finally got around to reading on vacation is Time Enough for Love, a multi-nominated award science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first published in 1973.

I was thoroughly fascinated throughout by the research and knowledge of genetics that propel the theme of the book comprised of novellas, still quite shocking in this day and age. Heinlein presents a compelling argument in that if there is no genetic jeopardy, incest is not immoral.

Sometimes, the situations and dialogue seemed a bit silly, but a momentary distraction. Overall, a good, thought-provoking read.

Review: The Gravedigger’s Daughter

While on a recent vacation, I had the opportunity to revisit one of my favorite authors, Joyce Carol Oates while reading her 2007 novel The Gravedigger’s Daughter.

A lot of readers do not like the intensity of her writing, but I find that quality to be the most engaging. I cannot leave the story while I am in it. I am anchored in the character, actions, and scenery.

The Gravedigger’s Daughter was not an easy read and definitely as disturbing as her writing can be. But definitely a good read.

I am foremost a lover of short stories and Alice Munro, winner of the Nobel Prize, is one of my favorite authors. I buy hard copies of her works, just to hold the words in my hands; as I read, the characters materialize. A line from her short story, “Differently” says it all: accidental clarity.

Gilead: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson is the winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It is a diary of an elderly father and Congregationalist minister, John Ames, written to his son. John Ames supposes he will not live long enough to share many years with his son, and wishes to leave him something of substance, his father’s thoughts on many subjects, mundane and profound. It is a gentle read, with underlying currents of conflicts between people and philosophy, that flows along lyrically, drawing the reader into the heart and soul of a thoughtful man.

Lila, also by Marilynne Robinson, is about a young woman who comes to Gilead, takes shelter in a church during a downpour and meets, then marries, the minister, John Ames. Not an easy read, the reader struggles with Lila to make sense of her worlds—her past, her present, her childhood, her marriage. It is a story of despair, hope, joy, love, judgement and all the elements of human existence. A few times I lost the thread of the story, but found myself compelled to finish this unforgettable novel.