I liked The Reader more than I thought I would considering one of the themes. I didn’t know about the p*doph*lia aspect of it until the movie came out. I’ve wanted to read this book for awhile because it’s German, and I’ve also looked forward to the movie because I love Kate Winslet. I saw an online interview with Winslet in which she questioned whether or not the age of 15 was really still p*doph*lia. And while I agree that the age of 10 is in a different category than the age of 15 when it comes to s*x*ality, I still believe what Hanna did with Michael was wrong, and I believe that both the author and the narrator of the book do as well.
Of course, Hanna’s wrongs and shortcomings go far beyond her relationship with Michael, and those themes are of extreme interest as well. This would be a great discussion book, and I can definitely see why it would be great for book clubs. Have you seen the movie? If so, what did you think?
1995, 1997 for the English translation; 224 pages
4/5
“The place I like best in this world is the kitchen.”
I didn’t quite get to Kitchen for the Japanese Challenge, but I’m still glad I read it shortly afterwards. I liked the book, but I didn’t love it.
Food and kitchens play a central role int he book, but it’s essentially about two people finding their way through the grief process. Mikage has recently lost her grandmother, whom she lived with, and her friend Yoichi and his mother Eriko take her in. Yoichi ends up losing someone close to him as well, and the bond between the two of them becomes even closer.
Note: This book has been added as one of the new titles in the latest edition of the 1001 list.
1988, 1993 for the English translation;105 pp. 4/5
I absolutely loved Fear and Trembling. I actually watched the movie first and loved it as well. I must say it follows the book almost exactly. It’s a fascinating study of the clash of cultures. The book is translated from the French, and the film is a combination of French and Japanese with English sub-titles.
In this short semi-autobiographical novel, Amelie Nothomb describes the experiences of ‘Amelie’ during her year at a Japanese corporation. Amelie is smitten with Japan, knows the language, and is ecstatic that she obtained a corporate position as a translator in the country where she was born. The job is not all she hoped, but she tries her best to stick out her position the way a Japanese person would. I found this book (and movie) to be truly fascinating. Nothomb obviously loves Japan and Japanese culture, but even she finds that the differences of East and West are sometimes difficult to overcome.
In speaking of the Japanese woman:
“It is best to avoid any kind of physical pleasure because it is apt to make you sweat. There is nothing more shameful than sweat. If you gobble up a steaming bowl of noodles, if you give in to s*xual craving, if you spend the winter dozing in front of the fire, you will sweat. And no one will be in any doubt that you are coarse.
The choice between sweat and suicide isn’t a choice. Spilling one’s blood is as admirable as spilling sweat is unspeakable. Take your life, and you will never sweat again. Your anxiety will be over for all eternity.”
I only vaguely knew the story of Lizzie Borden, so this little graphic novel was really an engrossing look at this true crime. Geary’s drawings are great, and he presents cases both for Lizzie Borden’s guilt and for her innocence. The back of the book also has reproductions of the actual newspaper clippings. Fascinating story!
This book is part of the Treasury of Victorian Murder series that I will have to look into!
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.
Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)
by Anne-Marie MacDonald
1990, 89 pp.
Rating:
Good Night Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) is hilariously fun. Winner of the 1990 Governor General’s Award for Drama and written by the author of Fall on Your Knees, this play takes the main character, Constance, and puts her in the middle of Othello and Romeo and Juliet with very funny results. Plot lines are changed, lines rearranged, and we get to really know the players as never before.
If you’re familiar with both plays you will be in stitches in parts. Lines from the original plays are in italics to help the reader know the difference between those lines and MacDonald’s. Even MacDonald’s are written in iambic pentameter.
Highly recommended — especially for lovers of Shakespeare or those participating in the Canadian Literature Challenge.
"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)
This review contains spoilers.
The Borden Tragedy
Darkness Visible
