Min Jin Lee's saga about a Korean family living in Japan, Pachinko (#782) is mostly a grim tale, although the family does manage to pull itself up from its dirt poor roots to comfortable wealth through the popular gambling pinball game pachinko.
No one in the family wants to admit that this is an honorable way of making a living except for one son, yet all benefit from it. They constantly struggle against the taint of being Korean in a nation which looks down upon them as inferior, yet they do not see a better alternative after fleeing from an occupied country. When Korea is split by civil war into North and South, the prospects of returning home to a settled life there are no better. There is no silver lining in the clouds hovering over this family.
Yet, for all that, it is a compelling read. We keep hoping that things will get better for Sunja and her family. In some respects they do, but at what cost? There is plenty to ponder here, but if you're looking for a happy ending, you won't find it here.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Transcription
Kate Atkinson has been on my "To Read" List for a long time now. After reading her latest, Transcription (#781), she's moved up a notch or two on my list. This was a great book to read on a plane because I was totally absorbed in it.
A young woman is recruited during World War II to work for The Service - MI5. Her job is to transcribe the audio recordings made during secret meetings with disaffected British citizens who think they are helping the Nazis. But things soon go beyond mere typing, and the repercussions of her work will haunt Juliet Armstrong for the rest of her life.
I must admit I did not see the final twist coming, which heightened its impact. A terrific read.
A young woman is recruited during World War II to work for The Service - MI5. Her job is to transcribe the audio recordings made during secret meetings with disaffected British citizens who think they are helping the Nazis. But things soon go beyond mere typing, and the repercussions of her work will haunt Juliet Armstrong for the rest of her life.
I must admit I did not see the final twist coming, which heightened its impact. A terrific read.
The Dinner List
I was really looking forward to reading Rebecca Serle's novel The Dinner List (#780), so I packed it to read on a long plane flight. It was my misfortune that the entertainment system on the plane never worked on our nine hour flight, because I found this book virtually unreadable. I was only able to wade through about sixty pages before I gave up, and that was basically because I had no other alternative.
The plot is supposed to be about a fantasy dinner party where the hostess could invite any five people she wanted to join her. She does ask Audrey Hepburn, but other than that, it's all about her relationships, which I did not find compelling to say the least. I was expecting witty conversation from the likes of Shakespeare or Einstein or Leonardo da Vince, but instead got banal whining about why her life was so miserable. No wonder Audrey Hepburn was bored! So was I. I wouldn't recommend this one.
The plot is supposed to be about a fantasy dinner party where the hostess could invite any five people she wanted to join her. She does ask Audrey Hepburn, but other than that, it's all about her relationships, which I did not find compelling to say the least. I was expecting witty conversation from the likes of Shakespeare or Einstein or Leonardo da Vince, but instead got banal whining about why her life was so miserable. No wonder Audrey Hepburn was bored! So was I. I wouldn't recommend this one.
sit! stay! speak!
Annie England Noblin's debut novel is an entertaining romance featuring a rescued pit bull. I had read and enjoyed last year's Christmas book, Pupcakes by Ms. Noblin, so I was pleased to find sit! stay! speak! (#779) waiting for me on my travel bookshelf. It did not disappoint.
The Arkansas Delta isn't your usual glamorous setting, but that gives Ms. Noblin plenty of scope for an interesting and unusual cast of characters here. Adelaide Andrews has escaped Chicago and all its dark memories to sort out the house she's inherited from a beloved aunt. But there's more going on in the Arkansas Delta than meets the eye, and the folks in town don't want to talk about it. They just warn Adelaide Andrews to stay away from the levee, and not ask questions about other folks' business after she rescues a badly injured puppy left in a trash bag to die. When things get dangerous, and Addie's house is broken into, she's more determined than ever to get to the bottom of things, even if it puts her at risk.
Don't worry, a handsome local farmer shows up to provide the love interest, and since this is a romance, there's bound to be a happy ending.
The Arkansas Delta isn't your usual glamorous setting, but that gives Ms. Noblin plenty of scope for an interesting and unusual cast of characters here. Adelaide Andrews has escaped Chicago and all its dark memories to sort out the house she's inherited from a beloved aunt. But there's more going on in the Arkansas Delta than meets the eye, and the folks in town don't want to talk about it. They just warn Adelaide Andrews to stay away from the levee, and not ask questions about other folks' business after she rescues a badly injured puppy left in a trash bag to die. When things get dangerous, and Addie's house is broken into, she's more determined than ever to get to the bottom of things, even if it puts her at risk.
Don't worry, a handsome local farmer shows up to provide the love interest, and since this is a romance, there's bound to be a happy ending.
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
When The English Fall
What if a massive solar storm were to disrupt power grids around the world, causing cars to stop, planes to fall out of the sky, electronics and phones to cease working? Life as we know it would virtually come to a halt for most Americans, but not for the Amish.
In David Williams' thought-provoking novel When The English Fall (#778) events unfold against the background of an Amish farming community outside Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Told as a series of diary entries by an Amish farmer named Jacob, they are coping with difficulties of their own in weather fluctuations affecting their crops. But when disaster strikes the world of The English all around them, the Amish at first are immune. They are self-sufficient, and careful in preserving and storing their food. Initially, they are able to provide weekly food donations for nearby Lancaster, but as food in the cities runs out, people begin to take matters into their own hands. How will Jacob's community be affected by the ever-encroaching violence, and what response should they make to threats against them and their families while remaining true to their way of life?
It's an intriguing ethical question, and only too easy to visualize. There is much food for thought here. Unfortunately, because it's been labeled as "science fiction" many of the readers who might benefit the most from reading and discussing this book will never find it. Simply calling it "fiction" might better serve the aims of the author.
In David Williams' thought-provoking novel When The English Fall (#778) events unfold against the background of an Amish farming community outside Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Told as a series of diary entries by an Amish farmer named Jacob, they are coping with difficulties of their own in weather fluctuations affecting their crops. But when disaster strikes the world of The English all around them, the Amish at first are immune. They are self-sufficient, and careful in preserving and storing their food. Initially, they are able to provide weekly food donations for nearby Lancaster, but as food in the cities runs out, people begin to take matters into their own hands. How will Jacob's community be affected by the ever-encroaching violence, and what response should they make to threats against them and their families while remaining true to their way of life?
It's an intriguing ethical question, and only too easy to visualize. There is much food for thought here. Unfortunately, because it's been labeled as "science fiction" many of the readers who might benefit the most from reading and discussing this book will never find it. Simply calling it "fiction" might better serve the aims of the author.
French Exit
What a strange book French Exit (#777) is! Patrick DeWitt has imagined the most unpleasant, self-centered pair in Frances Price and her aimless adult son Malcolm. Her object in life is to spend her considerable fortune and be the envy of all those around her. Malcolm apparently has no ambition whatsoever.
When her financial advisor finally gets through to Frances to tell her that her money is all gone, she sells up everything not nailed down and sails off to France with the cash, Malcolm and Small Frank, the cat. She plans to spend every last Euro and then kill herself and Small Frank. Malcolm is out of the loop, to be left to fend for himself.
That's pretty much it, in a nutshell. I can't say I gained anything by spending time with these wastrels. Maybe you'd be better off if you didn't, either. Just my opinion.
When her financial advisor finally gets through to Frances to tell her that her money is all gone, she sells up everything not nailed down and sails off to France with the cash, Malcolm and Small Frank, the cat. She plans to spend every last Euro and then kill herself and Small Frank. Malcolm is out of the loop, to be left to fend for himself.
That's pretty much it, in a nutshell. I can't say I gained anything by spending time with these wastrels. Maybe you'd be better off if you didn't, either. Just my opinion.
Thursday, October 4, 2018
The Last Ballad
If you are looking for a novel with a happy ending, Wiley Cash's powerful The Last Ballad (#776) is not that book. Its characters and events are based on the 1929 Loray Mill strike in Gastonia, North Carolina. Ella May Wiggins, a dirt poor mother from the Tennessee mountains, was a central figure in that strike, stirring the textile workers with the protest songs she wrote. Needless to say, it did not end well for the real Ella May, as reflected here.
If you think you know everything about textile workers' strikes from watching Sally Field in Norma Ray, think again. It was even worse in the 1920s. Add on the racial tensions of the Jim Crow South and it's an explosive mixture.
Personally, I found the book extremely depressing, but so well written it was impossible to stop reading it. The desperate poverty described here was reality for so many living in the South. Was it better to join the Union to try to change things, risking everything, or to continue the status quo for a meager weekly pay envelope to feed your family?
The story leading up to Ella May's death in 1929 is told from a number of viewpoints, including her own. Each contributes its own piece to the mosaic of the time, place and attitudes. You might be surprised that it adds up to a picture of American history you never read about in school. Fortunately, Mr. Cash has shed new light on it.
If you think you know everything about textile workers' strikes from watching Sally Field in Norma Ray, think again. It was even worse in the 1920s. Add on the racial tensions of the Jim Crow South and it's an explosive mixture.
Personally, I found the book extremely depressing, but so well written it was impossible to stop reading it. The desperate poverty described here was reality for so many living in the South. Was it better to join the Union to try to change things, risking everything, or to continue the status quo for a meager weekly pay envelope to feed your family?
The story leading up to Ella May's death in 1929 is told from a number of viewpoints, including her own. Each contributes its own piece to the mosaic of the time, place and attitudes. You might be surprised that it adds up to a picture of American history you never read about in school. Fortunately, Mr. Cash has shed new light on it.
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