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Schoolgirl by Osamu Dazai, Translated by Allison Markin Powell

January 17, 2012 by

Schoolgirl by Osamu Dazai is a short book of less than 100 pages from One Peace Books and is translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell.  The novella, which reads more like a narrative poem, has readers spend the day with a teenage girl who is adjusting to life after the death of her father and as a blossoming women in a post-WWII Japan.  Readers clearly see the clash between traditional Japanese customs of women who are quiet and subservient to others needs with the young woman’s need to express herself and be an individual.

“Waking up in the morning is always interesting.  It reminds me of when we’re playing hide-and-seek — I’m hidden crouching in the pitch-dark closet and suddenly Deko throws open the sliding door, sunlight pouring in as she shouts, ‘Found you!’ — that dazzling glare followed by an awkward pause, and then, my heart pounding as I adjust the front of my kimono and emerge from the closet, I’m slightly self-conscious and then suddenly irritated and annoyed — it feels similar, but no, not quite like that, somehow even more unbearable.” (page 7)

Like many pieces from Asian culture, spirits make an appearance, but these ghosts are thoughts and images that assail the young girl on a daily basis — perhaps images of war or the regrets she has about how she has treated her mother since her father’s death or even the moments she shared and failed to share with her father when he was alive.  It is clear that she is wavering, stuck between her girlhood and her pending womanhood — the past and the present.  She revels in the simple beauty of nature, while she reviles the obsequious nature of her family life.  The dichotomy of her existence plagues her throughout the novella as she rails against her servile nature and tries to hold back her individuality, at least in the presence of her mother.

“Falling asleep is such a strange feeling.  It’s like a carp or an eel is tugging on a fishing line,or something heavy like a lead weight is pulling on the line that I am holding with my head, as I doze off to sleep, the line slackens up a bit.  When that happens, it startles me back to awareness.”  (Page 93)

Dazai and Powell have captured the inner workings of a teenage mind with ease, and for those who have moved beyond those years, it could be tiresome.  However, there is beauty in Dazai’s simple prose that captures feelings so easily, evoking camaraderie with readers and deep seated understanding.  Not much happens plot wise in the novel, but its not necessary as readers come to understand the protagonist and her motivations.  She’s angsty, eager to please, frightened of the future, and mourning her past.  Schoolgirl by Osamu Dazai, translated by Allison Markin Powell offers readers a stream of consciousness in a young girl’s life during not only her transition from girl to woman, but from her country’s transition from the past to more modern sensibilities and the struggle that places on individuals torn between tradition and change.

**I received this book from Caribousmom, and was eager to read it as part of my efforts to read more translated works in 2012.**

This is my 2nd book for the 2012 New Authors Challenge.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2012, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

January 6, 2012 by

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo is told from the point of view of the horse, who is sold at auction to a drunken farmer and is written for a younger audience, grades 5-8.  In this coming of age story, the young boy Albert Narracott and his Red Bay Joey grow up together and the bond they create lasts through a number of obstacles.  Joey is sold and is off to war — The Great War — to work as a cavalry horse.  Like soldiers in war, Joey must learn maneuvers and be conditioned to fight, which really translates into unlearning farm work and learning how to get his rider safely through the enemy lines.  Morpurgo takes Joey and his readers on a harrowing journey through France where much of the battles take place, and like soldiers, horses were captured as prisoners of war.

“All around me, men cried and fell to the ground, and horses reared and screamed in an agony of fear and pain.  The ground erupted on either side of me, throwing horses and riders clear into the air.  The shells whined and roared overhead, and every explosion soon seemed like an earthquake to us.  But the squadron galloped on inexorably through it all toward the wire at the top of the hill, and I went with them.”  (page 59)

The anthropomorphism of Joey is stunning in this novel.  Morpurgo really understands how to create an animal character who seems more like a human being.  Joey struggles with war fatigue, fear, loss, and a whole set of other emotions, but while away from Albert, he holds onto the love and comfort of his farm life.  Along the way he is treated well and mistreated.

“I found Topthorn was always by me and would breathe his courage into me to support me.  It was a slow baptism of fire for me, but without Topthorn I think I should never have become accustomed to the guns, for the fury and the violence of the thunder as we came ever nearer to the front line seemed to sap my strength as well as my spirits.” (page 44)

What more could readers ask for in a young readers novel about WWI?  A champion horse who earns an Iron Cross and saves his riders from certain death, but who fears and loves just as the young boy he knew did, just as everyone does.  Joey is a hero in more ways than one, and his courage is something that all young readers could learn from, especially how Joey overcomes his fear of strange lands and people.  Additionally, he strives to do his best even when he doesn’t want to do what the humans have him doing and even though it is painful to go on without food and shelter.  Survival is paramount, and Joey not only looks out for himself and his riders, but he befriends and cares for other horses in the regiments.

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo is stunning and engages readers early on in the struggles of a young horse who is taken from his home and thrust into WWI in 1914.  There are images of war, but there is nothing too gruesome that parents should worry about young readers.  On more than one occasion, readers will be moved, and chests will be full of emotion and tears will well in their eyes as Joey relates his story.  A great way to learn about the harrows of war without delving too deeply into the politics or military strategy, while at the same time demonstrating its far reaching impacts on non-military personnel, soldiers, and horses.

This is my 1st book for the 2012 New Authors Challenge.

 

 

 

This is my 1st book for the WWI Reading Challenge.

 

Filed Under: challenges, historical fiction, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, purchased, Read in 2012, reviews, Scholastic, WWI Reading Challenge 2012 Tagged With: , , ,

2011 Reading Challenge Results and More

December 30, 2011 by

I knew at the end of last year that I had signed up for too many reading challenges, especially since the little one was going to be born early on in the new year (2011), but I signed up for a ton anyway.

For those who are interested, I’m going to share with you some results.  First I read 107 books this year, which is a feat considering the life changes of a new baby and house that occurred.  I finished 2 read-a-longs (IT by Stephen King and Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles), but failed a third (Villette by Charlotte Bronte).  I hosted my own challenge — 2011 Fearless Poetry Exploration Reading Challenge, which wasn’t as successful as I’d hoped, but was renewed for 2012.

Ok, the challenges I failed to complete are:

  • 2011 Audio Book Challenge, which I signed up for 3 audio books and only listened to 1.  I had grand plans for listening to 2 others, but alas, with no commute and working from home, that didn’t happen.
  • Nordic Reading Challenge 2011, which I signed up to read 3 books, particularly those by Steig Larsson that I’ve wanted to read forever.  It just didn’t happen.
  • 2011 Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge, which was informal with Dar of Peeking Between the Pages, and I’m not sure if she read any either.  I only have to read beginning with book 5 through the rest, but it didn’t happen either.

These are the challenges I completed:

Ireland Reading Challenge, which I signed up to read 2 books.

Wish I’d Read That Challenge 2011, which I signed up to read 3 books and actually read 18.

2011 New Authors Reading Challenge, which I signed up to read 25 new-to-me authors and read 77.

2011 U.S. Civil War Challenge that I co-host with Anna and barely finished with just three books.

2011 Fearless Poetry Exploration Challenge that I signed up to read 5-10 books and actually read 33.

South Asian Reading Challenge, which I signed up to read 3 books.

Finally, even though the Reagan Arthur Challenge is perpetual, I’m dropping this from my list because I never seem to get to the books.

This year I’m experimenting with selling my Best of 2011 list to those interested for $9, and the list includes just poetry and fiction since that’s mainly what I read and review here.  Anyone who wants the list can send payment through PayPal to savvyverseandwit AT gmail DOT com or if you need other arrangements send me an email, and I will email you the link and password for the list.

In 2012, I hope to read as much or more books, finish all my challenges, and have lots of fun with the blog and reading. I also plan to get back to writing…

Filed Under: 2011 Audio Book Challenge, challenges, Fearless Poetry Exploration Reading Challenge, Ireland Challenge, New Authors Challenge, Nordic Reading Challenge, Reagan Arthur Challenge, sookie stackhouse reading challenge, South Asian Reading Challenge, U.S. Civil War Challenge 2011, Wish I'd Read That Challenge 2011

Pemberley Ranch by Jack Caldwell

December 30, 2011 by

Pemberley Ranch by Jack Caldwell is a re-imagining of Pride & Prejudice set during the U.S. Civil War and opens during the battle of Vicksburg, Miss., which was the final surge of the war between union or Yankee troops and southern confederates.  Darcy is a captain in the confederate army and readers are dropped right into the action of war as the novel opens.  He’s commanding his troops as union soldiers pin them down, but then they suddenly withdrawn.  Caldwell’s prose is descriptive down to the sidearms used by the battling troops.

The book quickly turns to the Bennets’ story as they mourn the loss of their only brother Samuel and decide to move to Rosings, Texas to run a different cattle ranch and leave their home in Ohio.  Imagine the tensions following the Civil War between former Confederates and the new Yankees who migrate to the rejoined nation of the United States.  Beth Bennet and Darcy meet and sparks fly in more ways than one, and this is coupled with an underhanded attempt by George Whitehead to usurp cattle ranches, land, and power through a complex plan with help from a darker Denny and a gang of former confederate soldiers still bitter from their loss.

“‘I’m sure you did,’ Bingley laughed.  ‘They’re very nice people Will; they’re just a bit . . . boisterous.  There’s not a mean bone in their bodies.  Once you get to know ’em, you’ll see.’

‘And why should I do that?’

Charles frowned.  ‘They’re my family now, Will.  You’ll be in their company in the future if you’re goin’ to be in mine.  I won’t throw off my wife’s family.’

Darcy had the good manners to be abashed.  ‘You’re right, Charles.  I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have said that.’

‘I know Miz Bennet can talk a blue streak, but she don’t mean anything by it.  It’s just her way.  ‘Sides, you can’t say anything bad about Mr Bennet, or Beth.’

‘She’s a bit of a tomboy, isn’t she?’

Bingley shrugged. ‘She grew up on a farm, Will. What did you expect?’ He elbowed his friend with a grin. ‘She sure cleaned up nice, though. Almost as pretty as my Jane.'” (page 41)

Caldwell’s prose is exactly as it should be incorporating southern manners, but spicing it up with more than sexual tension.  Darcy continues to be proud, but softens around Beth, and Beth continues to be prejudiced against confederates, until she meets her intellectual match in Darcy.  What’s unique is that Caldwell changes the characters just enough to reflect the tensions and angst following the Civil War without losing the spunk of Austen’s characters.

Picturing Darcy as a dark, handsome, rugged cowboy should be enough for some readers, but there is mystery, suspense, and romance to satisfy everyone else.  Austen purists may wonder at the modernity in some of the scenes, but they worked for the most part.  Caldwell also uses some of the most famous lines from Austen’s work in new ways, but they flow so well with the story that readers will smile as they recognized the phrases.  Even more intriguing is the inclusion of another Austen character who is the reverend in Rosings, Texas.  Pemberley Ranch by Jack Caldwell is an escapist novel to a time in American history where things were uncertain and volatile even though the U.S. government had re-unionized.  A quick read, with action and intrigue for any Austen lover.

 

This is my 3rd and final book for the U.S. Civil War Reading Challenge 2011.

 

This is my 77th book for the 2011 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: challenges, fiction, giveaway win, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2011, reviews, sourcebooks, U.S. Civil War Challenge 2011 Tagged With: ,

Christmas at Pemberley by Regina Jeffers

December 28, 2011 by

Christmas at Pemberley by Regina Jeffers finds Mr. and Mrs. Darcy in a run of the mill inn right before the Christmas holiday as they are stranded by the snow and stormy weather on their way back from Newcastle.  Meanwhile, Georgiana is forced into the roll of Mistress of Pemberley and must contend with Darcy’s guests, including Lizzy’s parents, the Bingleys, and some other unexpected and unpleasant guests.  Jeffers sprinkles her prose with Jane Austen’s classic lines from Pride & Prejudice about Mrs. Bennet’s nerves and Darcy’s pride and Lizzy’s prejudices.  She adheres to Austen’s characterizations ensuring that Austen purists will enjoy her followup novel, but at the same time, she demonstrates how Georgiana evolves from a timid girl in the shadows of her brother and Aunt Catherine de Bourgh to become a capable woman.

“”Yes, our Mary has snatched up a viable candidate.  At least, Mrs. Bennet has said such on countless occasions, so I must believe it so.  After all, Her Ladyship has deemed my wife to have no mental deficiencies.’

Charlotte chuckled lightly before saying softly, ‘Lady Catherine is perceptive in her evaluations.’

Mr. Bennet smiled knowingly.  ‘Lizzy has assured me that nothing is beneath the great lady’s attention.’

Mrs. Collins tightened the line of her mouth.  ‘Her Ladyship is all kindness.  She has taken it upon herself to oversee my domestic concerns familiarly and minutely, offering advice on how everything out to be regulated.'”  (page 67)

Even better, readers experience more of Mr. Bennet’s wit and see Kitty as more than just a silly young girl.  Lizzy’s precarious situation with her pregnancy has Darcy worried, especially so far away from home.  But both take the situation in stride and offer the kindness they have in abundance to those in need.  Darcy and Lizzy are at the inn meeting new people and sharing accommodations with a myriad of travelers.  Meanwhile, Georgiana is juggling unwanted guests, and in many ways the guests are rallying and teaming up against Lady Catherine.

Jeffers adheres to Austen’s characters and social commentary while building upon the original novel to create characters that evolve and come into their own.  Christmas at Pemberley by Regina Jeffers is an quiet novel that meanders, enabling readers to spend the holidays with some of their favorite characters, but those looking for big plot twists and action will not find much of that here.  Jeffers has created a solid novel that could stand alone.

This is my 76th book for the 2011 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: challenges, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2011, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , ,

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories Volume 1 edited by Joseph Gordon-Levitt

December 27, 2011 by

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories Volume 1 edited by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (I found at Bermudaonion and had to check out) is a collection of short stories and illustrations. hitRECord is an open, collaborative website joining musicians, authors, illustrators, and other artistic people in the creative process. The book itself is short with a mere 83 pages, very little text, but engaging images.

Some of these stories are witty and play on old wives tales and sayings, while others use text as an image to convey their messages.  A quick read over the holidays or during a waiting room jaunt at the doctor’s office, this slim volume will provide moments of amusement and fun, but there also are moments of sadness when the sun comes out to play and his friends disappear.

For a collaborative project, it would seem that there is something missing, particularly since musicians participate in the collaborative.  It’s almost as if the book should be an ebook with sound to accompany the images enclosed between the covers.  The volume is just one in a series of books planned, and may work better on the website rather than in book form.

However, that is a minor criticism given the inventiveness of the stories and the collaboration that has taken place to create the volume.  The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories Volume 1 by Joseph Gordon-Levitt is mostly aimed at an older audience, but certain stories could be read aloud to kids for their enjoyment and discussion with parents about the meanings behind the words and pictures.

This is my 75th book for the 2011 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: challenges, fiction, Harper Collins, New Authors Challenge, purchased, Read in 2011, reviews, short stories Tagged With: ,

2012 Challenges

December 16, 2011 by

I’m still working on finishing up my 2011 challenges, which I absolutely went overboard on.  But in the meantime, while I’m preparing for the holiday festivities and finishing up challenges and making the Best of list, I wanted to get out there with two challenges I will definitely be participating in.

Ok, yes, they are challenges I have a hand in creating, but that’s just half the fun.

First, I’ll be signing up for the Wade level (4-10 books) in the WWI Reading Challenge at War Through the Generations.  I know one of the books will be A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway since it is the book that we selected for the mid-year read-a-long.

I hope you’ll consider joining us in the new year for some reading about The Great War.

Second, I’ll be joining my own Fearless Poetry Exploration challenge by reading and reviewing books as usual.  But I also hope to make the National Poetry Month blog tour even better and bigger than it has been in the past.  Also, I hope to get some more discussion going during the Virtual Poetry Circles on Saturdays.

I hope you’ll consider joining too, since there are so many more options for those concerned about reviewing poetry books.  There are new ways to participate.

Also, as an aside, I hope you’ll get your nominations in for the Indie Lit Awards in the poetry category and the others.  You have until Dec. 31, 2011, to nominate up to 5 books published this year.

Finally, I’ll be joining the Finishing the Series Challenge over at Socrates’ Book Reviews.

I’m going to be ambitious and finish 2 series of books and I’m shooting for James Patterson’s Alex Cross series and the Sookie Stackhouse series.  For the Sookie series, these are the ones I have left to read:

  1. Dead as a Doornail (Book #5)
  2. Definitely Dead (Book #6)
  3. All Together Dead (Book #7)
  4. From Dead to Worse (Book #8)
  5. Dead and Gone (Book #9)
  6. Dead in the Family (Book #10)
  7. Dead Reckoning (Book #11)
  8. Deadlocked (Book #12) – expected publication: May 1, 2012

However, I may change my mind about what series to finish since I have started quite a few and not finished them.

 

***Update 1/5/12***

Since I’ll be reading more from my own books this year, I want to sign up again for the Ireland Reading Challenge.  This level has changed since last year, but I’m still sticking with the Shamrock Level, which is now 4 books.

I don’t have a planned set of reads, but I’d like to read Dubliners this year, so that’s definitely on the list of books.

 

 

I love this challenge.  I can use books from other challenges, and I’m always reading new-to-me authors.  I just adore this one, and I always seem to surpass my goal on this one.  This year, I’m still signing up for 25 authors, but I’ll be sure to meet and exceed that goal.

 

Which reading challenges are you joining?

Filed Under: challenges, Fearless Poetry Exploration Reading Challenge, Finishing the Series Reading Challenge, Ireland Challenge, New Authors Challenge, WWI Reading Challenge 2012 Tagged With: , , , ,

A Train in Winter by Caroline Moorehead

November 30, 2011 by

A Train in Winter by Caroline Moorehead strives to shed light on the occupation of France by Germany during World War II and the rise of the French Resistance, particularly the role of women within the resistance.  Of the 230 women who were arrested and sent to Auschwitz in Poland, less than 50 survived, and seven were alive when Moorehead began researching and writing this account of their story.  Impeccably well researched, the book takes readers behind the scenes of the French Resistance, and in many ways the level of detail presented can be overwhelming, especially for those not well acquainted with the ins and outs of the time period.  However, this iteration of facts, times, places, and events serves to demonstrate just how confusing a time the German occupation of France was for those who lived it and sought to overcome it.

“In a rising mood of hostility and mockery, they went around repeating their favourite jokes.  ‘Collaborate with the Germans?’ went one.  ‘Think of Voltaire . . . A true Aryan must be blond like Hitler, slender like Goring, tall like Goebbels, young like Petain, and honest like Laval.’  Another started with the question:  ‘Do you know what happened?’ At 9.20, a Jew killed a German soldier, opened his breast and ate his heart!  Impossible!  For three reasons:  Germans have no hearts.  Jews don’t eat pork.  And at 9.20 everyone is listening to the BBC.'” (page 34 ARC)

Clearly, Moorehead’s forte is in biography and she is deft at handling facts and ensuring that they are well explained in accordance with interrelated events and moments in time, but the text is often dry and tough to remain engaged in.  However, even among these facts, there are pockets of emotion where mothers decide to ship their children to foster families or relatives outside Paris so that they can continue working with the Resistance without endangering the lives of their children.  Still others opt to include their children in the fight to restore a free France.  Moorehead fills in some of the history and familial background in for certain women, but in a way, this litany of facts detracts from the ability of the reader to connect more emotionally to these women.

“Half a litre of black coffee in the morning watery soup at midday, 300 grams of bread — if they were lucky — with either a scrape of margarine, a bit of sausage, cheese or jam at night, was not enough to stop the women’s bodies shrinking and feeding on themselves, the fat disappearing first and then the muscles.  The food never varied.”  (page 203 ARC)

It is not until part two that some readers will become truly engaged in the story as the women are tortured and learn to cope with their sparse surroundings at Auschwitz.  The bravery and solidarity of these women is phenomenal.  Unless readers are willing to wade through the political ins and outs of the early French Resistance and occupation of France and the French police’s collaboration with German occupiers, they may not make it to the more engaging and heart wrenching parts of the story.  Moorehead has chosen to tell a true story and to ensure that those who were present have their say in how that story is told, but it may have served better for the story to focus on just a few of the women from the beginning, allowing them to be the face of the others’ struggles.

A Train in Winter by Caroline Moorehead is a tale of survival that needs to be told and remembered.  As one of the women from the resistance said after having survived cancer longer than expected, “Surviving is something that she is very good at.”  (page 6 ARC)

 

To visit the other stops on the TLC Book Tour, click the icon on the left.

 

 

About the Author:

The author of numerous biographies and works of history, including Gellhorn and Human Cargo, Caroline Moorehead has also written for The Telegraph, The Times, and The Independent. The cofounder of a legal advice center for asylum seekers from Africa, she divides her time between England and Italy.

 

This is my 74th book for the 2011 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: ARC, challenges, Harper Collins, New Authors Challenge, nonfiction, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2011, reviews, tlc book tours Tagged With: ,

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston

November 29, 2011 by

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston is just that, a scrapbook of a young woman in the 1920s who is striving to make something more of her life than simply becoming a wife and mother.  Following WWI, many things have changed as women seek greater liberty from their “normal” lives — seeking suffrage, going to college, having careers.  Of course, there are boys and men because women always seek companionship, but educated women are looking for equals in a relationship, not a child to care for and guide.

Frankie Pratt has a deep sense of loyalty and responsibility to her mother, but at Vassar she becomes more independent and self-reliant after a few stumbles.  While this book is told through images and very little text, readers can see how Pratt grows from a naive young woman with big dreams into an educated woman with even bigger dreams.  It’s just plain fun to journey with Pratt from New Hampshire to Vassar College and from college to New York City and Paris.

Preston incorporates typewriter-written text among a variety of newspaper and magazine cut outs, paper dolls, photographs, and other elements to tell Pratt’s story.  The scrapbook creates a fairy tale like quality to the story, which is just how it should be given Pratt’s adventures.  One aspect of the book that’s missing is textured pages and more tactile scrapbooking materials or some semblance of that feeling readers would get with an actual scrapbook.  However, that’s a minor complaint given that the author easily captures readers’ hearts with little text and very visual pages.  The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston represents a snapshot of one young woman’s life at a time when things are quickly changing for women and the world.  It’s a little powerhouse of intimate moments that coax emotional attachment and pure joy.

About the Author:

Author of the New York Times Notable Book Jackie by Josie, Caroline Preston pulls from her extraordinary collection of vintage ephemera to create the first-ever scrapbook novel, transporting us back to the vibrant, burgeoning bohemian culture of the 1920s and introducing us to an unforgettable heroine, the spirited, ambitious, and lovely Frankie Pratt.

Check out this video about the making of the scrapbook.

This is my 73rd book for the 2011 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, fiction, Harper Collins, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2011, reviews Tagged With: ,

To the End of the War by James Jones

November 28, 2011 by

To the End of the War by James Jones is a collection of unpublished fiction broken into short stories from the author of From Here to Eternity, which was made into a movie, and The Thin Red Line.   The stories in this collection were extracted from Jones’ first unfinished and unpublished novel, They Shall Inherit the Laughter, with the help of his daughter Kaylie and editor George Hendrick, who offers an introduction chock full of Jones’ early struggles to publish his writing.

This collection of previously unpublished writing is a series of interconnected stories in which Johnny Carter leaves the hospital after being wounded, goes AWOL, and moves back to his hometown in Illinois.  Carter finds that much of the frustration and aggravation he felt toward the military is shared by his comrades in arms.  Jones’ collection is more than stories; it is commentary on the machines behind war interspersed with poetry.  Carter’s life is very similar to that of Jones’ real life, including going over the hill as AWOL was called.

“‘That makes a wonderful picture,’ Eddie said slowly.  ‘Perfectly stylized and complete — on the surface.  But there are always so many unacknowledged undercurrents that nobody recognizes.'”  (page 120 ARC in “Air Raid”)

Carter is a story teller, but he easily connects with the outcasts of the army and society, seeking solace in their company.  At the same time, he’s looking for affirmation that what he sees about the military and about WWII is real.  Jones has crafted characters and situations that do not romanticize the war or the life of soldiers; instead, he wants to make their internal and external struggles raw and realistic, as he knows them to be.  There is a frankness to Jones’ prose, but there also are moments in which cliches are present when describing certain military leaders and interactions, like the Irish surgeon who patches up Gettinger and insists the man is ready for duty.  Most memorable are the truths uncovered here about war and being a soldier, especially a wounded soldier — life may look the same on the outside, but there is turmoil beneath the surface that must be dealt with.  However, dealing with that turmoil can be an unpleasant experience.

To the End of the War by James Jones provides a unique look at an unfinished novel that closely mirrors the life of the author about a time in history that has been glorified.  WWII has been considered part of the golden age and the rise of America as a world power, but was the experience as remarkable for the individual soldier as movies have romanticized it?  Jones suggests otherwise, pointing to the aggravation soldiers felt when they were told they would move back into combat after being severely wounded in battles for which they were ill-prepared.  There were rough adjustments for soldiers when they returned home, especially if they lost limbs, and there were frustrating moments when soldiers butt up against officers and the bureaucracy of the military machine.

About the Author:

James Jones (November 6, 1921 – May 9, 1977) was an American author known for his explorations of World War II and its aftermath.  He enlisted in the United States Army in 1939 and served in the 25th Infantry Division before and during World War II, first in Hawaii at Schofield Barracks on Oahu, then in combat on Guadalcanal, where he was wounded in action. His wartime experiences inspired some of his most famous works. He witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which led to his first published novel, From Here to Eternity. The Thin Red Line reflected his combat experiences on Guadalcanal. His last novel, Whistle, was based on his hospital stay in Memphis, Tennessee, recovering from surgery on an ankle he had reinjured on the island.

Please visit Open Road Media for articles and videos.

This is my 72nd book for the 2011 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: ARC, challenges, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2011, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Soul Clothes by Regina D. Jemison

November 25, 2011 by

Soul Clothes by Regina D. Jemison is slim collection of poems that explore the Black experience from a spiritual perspective.  She has quite a bit to say about the struggles Black men have with confidence, kicking habits, staying with their women, but she also has a lot to say about her own experiences and even the civil rights movement.

“writing illuminates injustice
gives language to people’s pain
pictures to failing dreams” (From “Because a door in my soul opens”, page 5)

Broken into three sections — God Gave Me Words, Soul Clothes, and Divine Reflections — and the first section tackles wider societal topics of struggle and faith, while the Soul Clothes section tackles similar struggles on a more personal level.  In the final section, Jemison reflects on those struggles and what they teach each of us about ourselves and our place in the world, as well as how fleeting life really is.

“Civil rights activists told me to fight the battle

They didn’t tell me
I’d be weary, exhausted, disgusted, betrayed, disenchanted” (From “Hold on to God, a lawyer’s prayer”, page 7)

Some poems have an internal jazz-like rhythm with a message. However, this collection’s poetry is direct and without frills, and in many ways read less like poetry and more like sermons or pep talks.  All of these poems are direct and strive to get readers thinking about today’s world and the struggles of Black men and women.  Readers will enjoy her frankness, and her faith is strong.  Soul Clothes by Regina D. Jemison is a spiritual collection that strives to provide readers with an inside look at the Black experience and the strength of faith.

Since this was published in 2011, it is eligible for this year’s Indie Lit Awards.

 

This is my 71st book for the 2011 New Authors Reading Challenge.

 

 

This is my 32nd book for the Fearless Poetry Exploration Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: challenges, Fearless Poetry Exploration Reading Challenge, New Authors Challenge, poetry, Read in 2011, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , ,

The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate

November 17, 2011 by

The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate is the tumultuous tale of Josie Henderson and her family.  Josie is a successful scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, but the journey that helped her achieve her dream was wrought with sadness and anger.  Her brother “Tick,” once her ally against their alcoholic father, has just emerged from another stint in rehab and seeking her help, which brings to the forefront everything Josie has tried to push aside and avoid.

The narrative begins in Josie’s point of view and then shifts to that of her mother, her father, her brother, and her husband Daniel.  Southgate is trying to tell a well-rounded story about heartbreak and disappointment, but readers may find the additional points of view unnecessary.  Even without the other perspectives, Josie’s voice is solid enough to carry the entire story.

“Nothing had changed and everything had changed.  I worked better than I had in months on my grant, suddenly inspired;” (Page 160)

Salt can build up and make the mouth water with its bitterness, but often the hunger for salt can take over.  In this way, Southgate’s novel is about that hunger that comes when we search to fill an emptiness within us with the nearest object or pleasure (i.e. alcohol, drugs, sex).  Josie’s brother and father are addicted to alcohol and/or drugs, but while Josie has become successful in her career and married an intelligent man, she’s looking to fill her own holes.  Her addiction is different from that of her father and brother, but no less dangerous.

“Life weighs a ton.  That’s why I love the water.  Nothing weighs anything there.”  (Page 7)

Southgate’s characters are multi-faceted and struggling.  Josie has pushed her issues to the back, but they are still a weight around her neck, dragging her down.  Tick knows he’s lost and continues to struggle for level ground, but their father has found redemption through the 12-step program and more.  He hit rock bottom and lost it all.  The story arc here is not surprising, and Josie doesn’t really lose her critical streak of other’s life decisions, even when she is choosing wrongly for herself.  However, perhaps that’s one of the problems with addiction.  Meanwhile, there seems to be a particular emphasis on race, but its connection to the addiction story line is not clearly drawn and leaves readers wondering what truths Southgate is trying to uncover.  It almost feels as though race is a crutch being used by the main character to justify her actions, which is bothersome.

Through frank prose, Southgate dives deep into the psyche of addicts to explore the turmoil created and the pull of home even when you try to run from the past.  The Taste of Salt is an exploration of the love and bitterness of addiction, how it tears families and individuals apart, and the depth of love that keeps families moving forward.

About the Author:

Martha Southgate is the author of four novels. Her newest, The Taste of Salt, is published by Algonquin Books. Her previous novel, Third Girl from the Left, won the Best Novel of the Year award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and was shortlisted for the PEN/Beyond Margins Award and the Hurston/Wright Legacy award. Her novel The Fall of Rome received the 2003 Alex Award from the American Library Association and was named one of the best novels of 2002 by Jonathan Yardley of the Washington Post. She is also the author of Another Way to Dance, which won the Coretta Scott King Genesis Award for Best First Novel. She received a 2002 New York Foundation for the Arts grant and has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. Her July 2007 essay from the New York Times Book Review, “Writers Like Me” received considerable notice and appears in the anthology Best African-American Essays 2009. Previous non-fiction articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine,O, Premiere, and Essence.

 

I originally read this for Book Club at Devourer of Books, with Linus’s Blanket.

 

 

This is my 70th book for the 2011 New Authors Reading Challenge.

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