New Year, New Books
Where does the time go? Here it is almost the middle of January and I haven't posted anything for the new year. Well, for those who may stop by once in awhile to see if I've added anything new, "Happy New Year, one and all!" I must say for me that the time after a holiday period when one gets back to the routine is generally satisfying. Is that how it is for you?
This month I have already met my writing group and next week my book discussion group will meet. We are reading Amy Tan's Saving Fish From Drowning, the story of a group of American tourists in modern-day Burma, or rather, Myanmar. Customs, superstitions, prejudices, ignorance, trigger happy guards, the "ugly American," the do-gooder, they are all there in a hilarious mix where adventure or mis-adventure is just around the corner. I'm enjoying the book, one of those that makes you occasionally laugh out loud! And I love Amy Tan's writing - similies and metaphors are woven so intricately into her work. One image comes to mind: describing a night sky she says 'above them was a colander of stars.' I really love that image, it seems so perfect!
The book I read just prior to this was A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews. It's the story of a the life of a teenage girl in a small Mennonite community. Nomi is questioning the values and beliefs of the community at a point where her mother and older sister have been ex-communicated. Part of the story involves her search for answers, for trying to make sense of things. I found it somewhat "over the top" in it's recounting of Nomi's rebelliousness - her running around, defiant behaviour at school, experiments with drugs; it got a bit boring as it was just one incident piled on another all the time. It was not always easy to remain sympathetic to her as a searching individual. And I know a number of Mennonites and girls from such communities - I'm not sure all would have such an unflattering and unfair view of things.
For Christmas, a book I received was Giller prize winner Vincent Lam's Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures. It's a book of inter-connected stories about the medical world - a sort of insider's view. I'm looking forward to reading it.
This month I have already met my writing group and next week my book discussion group will meet. We are reading Amy Tan's Saving Fish From Drowning, the story of a group of American tourists in modern-day Burma, or rather, Myanmar. Customs, superstitions, prejudices, ignorance, trigger happy guards, the "ugly American," the do-gooder, they are all there in a hilarious mix where adventure or mis-adventure is just around the corner. I'm enjoying the book, one of those that makes you occasionally laugh out loud! And I love Amy Tan's writing - similies and metaphors are woven so intricately into her work. One image comes to mind: describing a night sky she says 'above them was a colander of stars.' I really love that image, it seems so perfect!
The book I read just prior to this was A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews. It's the story of a the life of a teenage girl in a small Mennonite community. Nomi is questioning the values and beliefs of the community at a point where her mother and older sister have been ex-communicated. Part of the story involves her search for answers, for trying to make sense of things. I found it somewhat "over the top" in it's recounting of Nomi's rebelliousness - her running around, defiant behaviour at school, experiments with drugs; it got a bit boring as it was just one incident piled on another all the time. It was not always easy to remain sympathetic to her as a searching individual. And I know a number of Mennonites and girls from such communities - I'm not sure all would have such an unflattering and unfair view of things.
For Christmas, a book I received was Giller prize winner Vincent Lam's Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures. It's a book of inter-connected stories about the medical world - a sort of insider's view. I'm looking forward to reading it.
posted by mamie @ 10:45 AM
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