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2007, 81 pp.
Many things happen to Michael on the trip. He is captured and made to work for awhile, and then released. He finds what he thinks is the farm where his mother was raised and makes himself a home (if you can call it that) there. Struggling to survive and evade the government, in the midst of it all he still wants to be a gardener and plants a small pumpkin patch, which he guards and tends with fervor. The book is told in three parts. Parts I and III describe the storyline from Michael’s perspective. Part II is told in first person by a doctor who tries to understand Michael when he is brought under his care. This was a thought-provoking book and I enjoyed it, though I could have done without some scenes at the end. I’ll definitely read more by Coetzee. A quote:
1983, 184 pp. Thanks again for the $20 Amazon gift certificate, Heather (see below). Okay, this may be a really boring choice for most of you, but I chose this one because I probably wouldn’t splurge on a book like this ordinarily.
I’ve been playing around with my new 3-column theme (check it out!) and have had ‘issues’ over the last few days. I think I have it all sorted out now, though. You may have seen some mistakes along the way if you’ve visited recently. One of the cool things you must check out if you blog with wordpress is my new drop down navigation menu. I got it from a wordpress plug-in from Ryan Hellyer. A plug-in is where someone does the programming for you, and you just ‘plug in’ some files in your theme to make it work. I love this one-thanks, Ryan! Needless to say, this week was a total bust for reading. Not only did I spent way too much time fooling around with my theme, but my kids were also sick, and we had contractors in to waterproof the basement. I hope to get a lot of reading in today and tomorrow. Have a good weekend!  |      
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The 2008 Newbery award winner, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!, is by Laura Amy Schlitz. The book is subtitled Voices from a Medieval Village, and contains points of view from the blacksmith’s daughter, the tanner’s son, the falconer’s son, the glassblower’s daughters, among many others. I didn’t like it at all at first, but by the time I got to the story about a shepherdess singing to a grieving ewe, I was enjoying it. The illustrations by Robert Byrd were excellent.
The Life & Times of Michael K won the Booker Prize in 1983. Written by Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee, it is set in South Africa during a civil war. Michael is a gardener in his earlier thirties who has a harelip. He was institutionalized by his mother when he was a child, but at the beginning of the book when she is old and very ill, she calls for him. She would like him to take her to the village where she grew up. Getting the proper paperwork for the train is practically impossible because of the war, so finally they give up on it and try to go there on their own.
