On or about his fiftieth birthday, Ambrose Zephyr failed his annual medical exam. An illness of inexplicable origin with neither known nor foreseeable cure was discovered. It would kill him within the month. Give or take a day.
It was suggested he might want to make arrangements concerning his remaining time. — p. 5 of The End of the Alphabet
Ambrose Zephryr and Zappora “Zipper’ Ashkenazi are a married couple with very little time remaining. After hearing the news of his impending death, Ambrose decides he wants to travel. The couple begin their journey with place names starting with the letter ‘A,’ then ‘B,’ and so on.
This very small book (only 119 pages) was meant to be little. It is indeed indicative of the fleeting amount of time the couple have left to spend together.
I appreciated this novella for its poignancy and tenderness, and its sad portrait of the utter helplessness of its characters. It is a book that can be read in one sitting and/or re-read again and again.
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best First Book
2007, 119 pages
Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks is about a Canadian teenage girl who is trying to cope with a myriad of issues. One of Odella’s parents struggles with alcoholism and abandons the family. Odella, the oldest of her siblings, tries to maintain order for the rest of her household while also dealing with the typical trials of the teenage years.
While I did enjoy certain aspects of the story, particularly the discussions on the characters’ Icelandic heritage, I’m afraid this book suffers from what I call ‘everything AND the kitchen sink’ syndrome. With themes of guilt, identity, alcoholism, abandonment, and h*mos*xu*ality — just to name a few, this book just had too much going on with the story in order for it not to feel a bit contrived. I just really believe that young adult novels, particularly short ones, are more effective when they deal with only one or two major issues. That is probably just a personal preference, though. Your mileage may vary.
“Because who wins if a Jew doesn’t go to synagogue?
I’ll tell you who: Hitler.” — p. 133
This collection of stories by David Bezmozgis is about a Latvian Jewish family who emigrate to Toronto, Canada. It was a NYT Notable Book in 2004.
Mark is the only child of Roman and Bella Berman. All seven stories in the collection feature Mark in his growing up years. First, I’ll give a brief synopsis of each story and then my thoughts on the collection as a whole.
“Tapka” — It’s 1980 and Mark has been in Canada for 3 weeks. He’s in the first grade and hangs out with his cousin Jana. Some elderly neighbors have a dog that they idolize, and they begin to trust Mark and Jana to take care of it.
“Roman Berman, Massage Therapist” – Mark’s father works at a chocolate factory but is also studying to become qualified as a massage therapist. He hopes an important doctor in the neighborhood will be a source for referrals.
“The Second Strongest Man” — Sergei, a very important person from the Bermans’ past, comes to Canada for a wrestling tournament.
“An Animal to the Memory” — Mark begins to have trouble with his classmates and the principal, particularly on Holocaust Day.
“Natasha” — Mark and Natasha, the daughter of his uncle’s wife, become close friends.
“Choynski” — Mark deals with the deaths of two people who are close to him.
“Minyan” — Mark’s grandfather looks for a place to live.
This is one of the best short story collections I’ve read. All seven stories were unique, but they all fit together nicely to explore Mark’s experiences. Although I thought all of the stories were extremely good, I thought “The Second Strongest Man” and “An Animal to the Memory” were the strongest. If an author can make me interested in a story about wrestling, he is very good indeed. I could really feel the menace, the frustration, and the envy of the characters come through the pages. And in “An Animal to the Memory,” the author’s depiction of Mark’s turmoil as he comes to terms with his Jewish heritage was very well done.
Highly recommended, especially for those with an interest in Jewish, Soviet/Russian, or Canadian literature.
I read this book because I needed an ‘I’ author and another book that fit the Canadian Challenge. This short novel is essentially about two sisters’ obsession with Yoshi Takahshi, their Japanese concert pianist neighbor. I love classical music so I was hoping music would play a big part in the story. Although music obviously plays a role, the bulk of the plot centers around the girls’ adoration of Yoshi.
The girls use every excuse they can to visit him and even start to decorate their rooms in a spartan, Japanese style. Yoshi encourages the girls and even invites them to accompany him on an overnight trip to one of his concerts. As you can probably guess, a s*xual situation develops. The book flashes back and forth from when Jean and Collette were young teenagers and both had crushes on Yoshi to the present in which they are now grown. Even as adult women, their obsession continues.
I most enjoyed the parts of the book where it concentrated on Jean’s struggle to continue on with her own music — especially the conversation she has with her father, also a musician. This book was the basis for a Canadian film called The Pianist (different than the film with the same name starring Adrien Brody).
I love Margaret Atwood, but Oryx and Crake was just too gritty for my taste. This was compounded by the fact that I listened to it on audio. Hearing the graphic descriptions was even worse than reading it. This was my fifth Atwood, and by far my least favorite.
The narrator is Jimmy, code-named Snowman. Crake is a sort of Dr. Moreau figure, while Oryx is a woman caught between the two. I don’t want to give away too many details for those who still want to read it, but if you’re squeamish about graphic s*xu*l situations (including child p*r*o*raphy), I would advise against it. I didn’t get why it had to have that element to the story. I also wondered why the title of the book was named that way, but in the end, I guess it was because Oryx and Crake were the two most influential figures in Jimmy’s life.
I would recommend reading other Atwoods before this one. The Handmaid’s Tale,Cat’s Eye, and The Penelopiad are my favorites so far.
"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)
On or about his fiftieth birthday, Ambrose Zephyr failed his annual medical exam. An illness of inexplicable origin with neither known nor foreseeable cure was discovered. It would kill him within the month. Give or take a day.
Mistik Lake
I read this book because I needed an ‘I’ author and another book that fit the Canadian Challenge. This short novel is essentially about two sisters’ obsession with Yoshi Takahshi, their Japanese concert pianist neighbor. I love classical music so I was hoping music would play a big part in the story. Although music obviously plays a role, the bulk of the plot centers around the girls’ adoration of Yoshi.
I love Margaret Atwood, but Oryx and Crake was just too gritty for my taste. This was compounded by the fact that I listened to it on audio. Hearing the graphic descriptions was even worse than reading it. This was my fifth Atwood, and by far my least favorite.
