In this short memoir chronicling the author’s own bout with depression, Styron gives us a glimpse of the pain and madness of the disease. Styron not only provides us with details of his own illness, but also expounds on the suicides and/or depression of other authors. He also gives guidelines and suggestions for action to those who have a loved one suffering with the disease.
Styron was the author of Sophie’s Choice and the Pulitzer Prize winning The Confessions of Nat Turner. He died in 2006 at the age of 81 from pneumonia.
Thanks, Joy, for hosting this again! Last year after the challenge, I won The Only Road North from Joy, and I just finished it last month. Thanks for that, too; it was an excellent book!
I usually have to be forced to read non-fiction these days, so this challenge will be good for me. I’ll pick 5 from the following, making sure I have at least one that’s not a memoir:
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (graphic novel memoir)
Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi (graphic novel memoir)
The Only Road Northby Erik Mirandette is a story of brotherly love — between actual brothers and also between the Mirandettes and their fellow ‘brothers’ in need. Erik Mirandette was attending the Air Force Academy when he decided to take a two year break to focus on humanitarian efforts in Morocco. After being instrumental in bringing food and medicine to refugees in that country, he decided to take one last trek through Africa beginning in South Africa and working his way north to Cairo. His brother Alex, along with two friends, Kris and Mike, were in on the once-in-a-lifetime trip. After getting through numerous dangers and threats along the way, terror strikes them in Cairo when a suicide bomber attacks. Will Erik keep his faith and trust in God, even when the unthinkable happens?
This was a moving and sad story, but it was also full of hope. Thanks, Joy, for introducing it to me!
2007, 300 pp.
Rating: 4.5
It is almost always easier to learn about history through historical fiction or current world events through memoirs, and this book is no exception. Daoud Hari gives us a harrowing account of his experiences translating for various media outlets in the Darfur region. The violence in Darfur, especially toward women and children, is unspeakable. Though not overly graphic, it is still difficult to read in spots.
Similar to the plight of the Kurds, the people of Darfur have had their lives shattered due to boundaries set by people not of their region. This brief, engaging book will not only enlighten you to the situation in Darfur, but will also make you question the wisdom of meddling in other countries’ affairs at all.
a) What issues/topic interests you most–non-fiction, i.e, cooking, knitting, stitching, there are infinite topics that has nothing to do with novels? Christianity, history, computer programming, and science.
b) Would you like to review books concerning those? Not really, though I did review a few last year. I much prefer fiction.
c) Would you like to be paid or do it as interest or hobby? Tell reasons for what ever you choose. I’m not a good enough reviewer to be paid, but no, I wouldn’t be interested at this time of my life anyway. I have too many other commitments.
d) Would you recommend those to your friends and how? Yes, with caution. Only if I know someone is interested in those topics.
e) If you have already done something like this, link it to your post. My best non-fiction titles from last year were the following:
1. Wild Swans ****1/2 by Jung Chang (2007 #1 Best Non-Fiction)
2. The Bookseller of Kabul **** by Seierstad (2007 #2 Best Non-Fiction)
f) Please don’t forget to link to whoever tags you. I linked to the two people who tagged me above.
If you haven’t done this meme yet and want to, consider yourself tagged!
I don’t plan on reading any more non-fiction titles this year either, so here’s how I would rank the measly 7! titles I read. Wild Swans also made my Best of 2007 list, and it was easily the best of the bunch. I don’t know if I should increase my non-fiction reading percentage next year or not. If I do, it will probably still be no more than 10% (as opposed to 6-7%) of my reading.
The Bookseller of Kabul, although it is non-fiction, definitely reads like a novel. Asne Seierstad changed the names of the characters in the book, but even with that, it was obvious to Afghanis who the bookseller was. When the book was translated into English, the real bookseller was outraged. He has even tried suing Seierstad and her publisher, and he has also written and published his own version of events. None of which had much impact in her home country of Norway.
Life for many Muslim women is difficult, and that is clearly portrayed in this book. However, before I give a plot synopsis I would like to caution potential readers of the book to not think that ALL Muslim women are in this predicament. I stayed in a Muslim country in the Middle East for three months and have talked with local women and girls myself to hear their views. I have seen Muslim couples and how they interact. It’s not all bad. All families are different in how they interact with each other, whether they be Afghani, American, Chinese, or Russian. I’m sure there are some families even in non-Muslim America who treat women in a similar way that these women are treated. That said, this book will do a good job opening your eyes to the plight of (some-not all) women in non-Western areas of the world.
Sultan is the bookseller whose word is law. He is the leader of the family and even his brothers must obey him, let alone his mother, wives, and children. He rules his family with an iron fist, all the while telling himself he is a progressive, modern-minded man. He replaces (technically, adds to) his 50-something wife with a young teenager. His son Mansur resents and fears him, all the while treating his mother and aunt deplorably. This aunt, Leila, Sultan’s sister, is basically a slave to the entire family and is treated like one. I felt particularly sad for her story.
Rape, forced “prostitution” of widows, and brothers’ suffocation of their sister are only a few of the awful events in this book. In reading of these, I did question how the author would know about some of them. I was also worried about the safety of some of the family members after the book’s publication. In the end, it does reveal that part of Sultan’s family left to live with another male family member. I was very relieved to know that. I’ve thought of these characters often because they’re not just characters. They are real people.
Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligous Thoughts on Christian Sprituality makes some very valid criticisms about the Christian community. First, that sometimes Christians are obsessed with outward appearance rather than the condition of a person’s heart. I fully agree with this. I don’t think God cares one hoot what we look like–whether it’s tattoos, piercings, the color of our hair, whatever. He is concerned with where our heart is toward him. That’s all.
Secondly, that Christians don’t love “sinners” because all they see is the sin and not the person. I wholeheartedly agree with this as well. Some may be more apt to “look down their noses” at a “sinner” rather than just reach out in love. This is obviously not what God wants Christians to do.
Thirdly, that many Christians support right wing causes to the absolute exclusion of any left of center concerns. Guilty again. We do need to give to the poor and take care of the needy, particularly widows and orphans. Jesus taught that as well.
I do have some concerns with some of his philosophy, however. He seems to advocate a grace and “acceptance” that go a little too far. I’m not talking here about non-Christians at all. I’m talking about people who claim to be followers of Christ. He lifts up Christians who appear to be following God in one or more areas, but yet are still engaging in practices not pleasing to God. He implies we shouldn’t judge and just accept. Of course God is the ultimate judge of all of us. Yet, the Bible clearly states that we ARE to point out to Christians (NOT non-Christians) areas that are not God-pleasing. Donald Miller himself has actually done that very well in his book!
My point is this. Once we are a follower of Christ, God loves us unconditionally and forgives us everything we do. That I believe. His grace does go far–really far! But, just as he forgave David for being a murderer and an adulterer, he also pointed out that there would be consequences to David’s acts. These consequences were the natural result of David’s sin. Yes, we are forgiven, but we still have to face the consequences. So why not try to obey God so as to receive our reward in heaven? I’d rather not just barely “escape through the flames” and be a toilet-scrubber in heaven. Of course, that’s just a figure of speech. What? You say you’ve tried and just can’t live up to what God wants? NONE of us can. Not without his help. That’s the whole point of Christianity. We couldn’t do it ourselves, so God took care of it for us. If you have the desire to please God, all you have to do is ask for his help to do it.
In conclusion, I think the Church would do well to examine some of Donald Miller’s points. But we can’t say that it doesn’t matter what we do because God loves us unconditionally and his grace covers all–EVEN THOUGH THAT’S TRUE!!! Because honestly, I wouldn’t want to live with the consequences of my actions if I just did what I wanted all the time. And even aside from the consequences, Christians should love God and WANT to please him.
The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books
by J. Peder Zane
2007, 323 pp.
Rating: 3.5
This book has top ten book lists for 125 writers. Zane then scored these selections with a #1 pick getting 10 points and a #10 pick getting 1 point to come up with an overall list. The top ten works are the following:
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (1877)
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (1857)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1869)
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1955)
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1884)
Hamlet by William Shakespeare (1600)
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (1913-1927)
The stories of Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)
Middlemarch by George Eliot (1871-1872)
I find it interesting that the breakdown according to nationality was 40% Russian, 20% British, 20% American, and 20% French. I LOVE Russian lit-especially Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. I have read the titles in bold and would like to read the other books on the list in the following order: Middlemarch, War and Peace, The Stories of Anton Chekov, Lolita, and then In Search of Lost Time. I want to read Middlemarch in 2008 and perhaps War and Peace as well.
There were various other top ten lists in the back with the following as the #1 pick for each:
#1 work of the 20th century: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
#1 work of the 19th century: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
#1 work of the 18th centure: Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
#1 work of the 16th and 17th centuries: Hamlet by William Shakespeare
#1 work of the 15th century and earlier: The Odyssey by Homer
#1 author by number of works selected: William Shakespeare
#1 author by points earned: Leo Tolstoy
#1 work by an American author: Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
#1 work by a British author: Hamlet by William Shakespeare
#1 work by a Russian author: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
#1 work by a French author: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
#1 work by a living author: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Marquez
#1 comic work: Don Quixote by Cervantes
#1 work of fantasy/science fiction: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Carroll
#1 mystery/thriller: The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
He also lists all 544 books mentioned by the writers in point order with a summary for each. I did glean some titles for my TBR pile that I’ll list here:
The Golden Argosy edited by Van H. Carmell
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
Mrs. Bridge/Mr. Bridge by Evan S. Connell
Stones for Ibarra by Harriet Doerr
The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
The Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos
Wheat That Springeth Green by J. F. Powers
The Gate of Angels by Penelope Fitzgerald
The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles
The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty
The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
Silence by Shusaku Endo
The River of Earth by James Still
The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald
The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett
I like lists of books so you may be wondering why only a 3.5 rating. I just really liked The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop and The King’s English so much better. Also, out of the 125 authors that participated, I had only heard of 55 of them. As I read through the selections, I found that other than the obvious classics I haven’t read and the above titles, I just wasn’t interested in many of them. Doom and gloom and s*x and violence. I don’t have to have a happy ending to enjoy a book, but I do want to feel something other than utter hopelessness.
“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.”
Darkness Visible
The Only Road North by Erik Mirandette is a story of brotherly love — between actual brothers and also between the Mirandettes and their fellow ‘brothers’ in need. Erik Mirandette was attending the Air Force Academy when he decided to take a two year break to focus on humanitarian efforts in Morocco. After being instrumental in bringing food and medicine to refugees in that country, he decided to take one last trek through Africa beginning in South Africa and working his way north to Cairo. His brother Alex, along with two friends, Kris and Mike, were in on the once-in-a-lifetime trip. After getting through numerous dangers and threats along the way, terror strikes them in Cairo when a suicide bomber attacks. Will Erik keep his faith and trust in God, even when the unthinkable happens?
The Bookseller of Kabul, although it is non-fiction, definitely reads like a novel. Asne Seierstad changed the names of the characters in the book, but even with that, it was obvious to Afghanis who the bookseller was. When the book was translated into English, the real bookseller was outraged. He has even tried suing Seierstad and her publisher, and he has also written and published his own version of events. None of which had much impact in her home country of Norway.
Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligous Thoughts on Christian Sprituality makes some very valid criticisms about the Christian community. First, that sometimes Christians are obsessed with outward appearance rather than the condition of a person’s heart. I fully agree with this. I don’t think God cares one hoot what we look like–whether it’s tattoos, piercings, the color of our hair, whatever. He is concerned with where our heart is toward him. That’s all.
The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books
