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
Embers by Sandor Marai is a novel about Henrik and Konrad, two men who share a deep friendship from childhood. The novel opens with Konrad visiting Henrik for the first time in 41 years. The reasons why the pair were separated for so long are unraveled throughout the book.
Henrik comes from a privileged, wealthy background while Konrad is from poorer stock. They both attend a military training academy as youngsters, but Henrik is much more suited to the military life, while Konrad wishes to pursue the finer arts such as music. When Henrik’s father (a military man himself) meets Konrad for the first time, he states to his son that his friend will never be suited to the military because he is a ‘different sort of man.’
As they meet at Henrik’s castle for the first time in four decades, they discuss at first what they have been doing during that time, and then come to the reasons why these two friends have not seen each other for so long. The background to the story involves the first 80 or so pages, and then a dinner party discussion between the two goes on for the remaining part of the novel. Most of this discussion is a one-sided monologue by Henrik. In fact, Henrik goes on speaking about the pair’s past for almost the entire last 70 pages. While Henrik’s monologue goes on much too long, some of the passages were beautifully written:
The feeling that bound me to my mother and to you and to Krisztina was always the same, a longing, a hope in search of something, a helpless, sad yearning. For we always love the ‘other,’ we always seek it out, no matter what the circumstances and sudden changes in our lives….The greatest secret and the greatest gift any of us can be offered is the chance for two ‘similar’ people to meet. It happens so rarely — it must be because nature uses all its force and cunning to prevent such harmony — perhaps it’s that creation and the renewal of life need the tension that is generated between two people of opposite temperaments who seek each other out. Like an alternating current. . . an exchange of energy between positive and negative poles, think of all the despair and the blind hope that lie behind this duality.
The book has quite a bit of suspense to it. I was definitely interested and engaged and wanted to know the pair’s secret, but at the end, it just didn’t quite satisfy. I would like to re-read this someday as a translation from the Hungarian to English. This translation was in English from the German translation of the original Hungarian, which doesn’t seem like it would quite work. In fact, I noticed in a few spots that the same words or phrases were repeated too close together. In one instance, ‘prettified’ was a word used twice in close proximity, and it just didn’t fit. I would read more by this author, though, if there were direct translations available.
1942, 213 pp.
Rating: 3.5
I am probably the last adult female in the world to fall in love with Anne Shirley, but it’s finally happened. Her sweet, spunky, imaginative spirit is impossible not to fall in love with.
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery is a book I wish I’d read in childhood. I know I would have gobbled up this series just like I did the Little House books. While as a child I could relate to Laura’s tomboyishness and her location on the prairie, I now see in Anne a competitive spirit that I could have also related to, particularly with academics. It also would have been nice to have the American/Canadian contrast while I was a young girl, but at least now I know what I’ve been missing. Just as those around her were spellbound by Anne, so was I. I can’t wait to read more of the series.
Raidergirl, I thought about you often during the reading of this book. I’d love to visit you in PEI someday!
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison is a quick read, but by no means is it easy or light. With subjects of poverty, inc*st, and racial self-loathing (Morrison’s own description), it is difficult at times to read.
It starts off with a sappy reading of Dick and Jane, and continues on with why not all homes are the same as Dick and Jane’s. Morrison draws each character so well, and 11 year-old Pecola, especially, is a girl I won’t soon forget. My edition had an afterward by the author which gave even more insight into what she was trying to accomplish with this book.
Although The Bluest Eye was very depressing, I can see why Morrison has many fans. I hope to get to Beloved later this year.
I read this book for the Japanese Literature Challenge and the Notable Book Challenge. This is my first Murakami. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and even though I am only rating this a 3.5, I will definitely read more by this author. I found his writing style to be very unique.
The book covers the encounters of several “night people” on one particular evening from 11:56 pm to 6:52 am. All of the characters in the book have some interconnection. I most enjoyed the story of the two sisters, Eri and Mari. One of them can’t sleep and the other one won’t wake up. I also enjoyed the philosophical discussions between Mari and Takahashi. I didn’t really get what was going on with the TV/white noise thing, but it was interesting. Does anyone have a favorite Murakami? Although I might not get to another one of his until next year, I’d like to read more.
The House at Riverton is a strong debut novel by Kate Morton. Already a bestseller in the U.K., it is slated for release in the U.S. in April of 2008.
Grace Bradley, a 98 year old former servant of the Hartford family, recounts in a series of flashbacks the events surrounding the house and the family during World War I. Grace is ever the loyal servant (perhaps too loyal) to the family and especially to one of the mistresses of the house, Hannah, who is very close in age to Grace. In the flashbacks, Grace recounts how family secrets and the devastating effects of World War I led to the Hartford family’s demise.
In the author’s acknowledgments, she cites The Chatham School Affair, Remains of the Day, Gosford Park, and Upstairs Downstairs as having influenced her and her novel. I was familiar with all of those sources, so I did feel a bit like the book borrowed too much from these works to be truly spectacular. Still, I did enjoy it, and I would definitely read a second book by this author.
"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." (John 6:27, ESV)
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?
Embers by Sandor Marai is a novel about Henrik and Konrad, two men who share a deep friendship from childhood. The novel opens with Konrad visiting Henrik for the first time in 41 years. The reasons why the pair were separated for so long are unraveled throughout the book.
I am probably the last adult female in the world to fall in love with Anne Shirley, but it’s finally happened. Her sweet, spunky, imaginative spirit is impossible not to fall in love with.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison is a quick read, but by no means is it easy or light. With subjects of poverty, inc*st, and racial self-loathing (Morrison’s own description), it is difficult at times to read.
I read this book for the Japanese Literature Challenge and the Notable Book Challenge. This is my first Murakami. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and even though I am only rating this a 3.5, I will definitely read more by this author. I found his writing style to be very unique.
The House at Riverton is a strong debut novel by Kate Morton. Already a bestseller in the U.K., it is slated for release in the U.S. in April of 2008.
