My mom wonders why it is I keep reading books about death. I haven't been purposely seeking them out, so maybe it is a good question. I think it started with The Year of Magical Thinking, but then I read Dying Well by Ira Byock a couple months ago (HIGHLY recommended), and now I've done it again.
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner used to be on the same list as My Name is Asher Lev, anything by David McCullogh and Heart of Darkness for me. (Books I should read but just can't get past the beginning) I don't know why. It actually wasn't that hard to get past the beginning of this one, and it quickly made the quantum leap from that infamous list to my short list of worthwhile and favorite books. Now it is right up there next to Peace Like a River, Gilead, and Life of Pi. I loved it. Stegner does a great job of letting relationships and personalities unfold over time. I saw people I knew in it. And like most really worthwhile books, it deals with life and death. I found myself slowing down about halfway through because I didn't really want to be done with the characters or the story.
I also read Twilight, a vampire story by BYU grad Stephanie Meyer. I don't recommend reading it so soon after Crossing to Safety. That one deserves to be savored longer. However, this was a fun piece of fluff. I didn't like the protagonist's whining for the first third of the story, and I thought the author took a while to hit her stride, but it improved quickly and proved to be more satisfying than I thought it would be. Still, if you're in the mood for a vampire story, you can't beat Interview with a Vampire. It carries the weight and darkness such a story should.
What are you reading? Is it worth your while?
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner used to be on the same list as My Name is Asher Lev, anything by David McCullogh and Heart of Darkness for me. (Books I should read but just can't get past the beginning) I don't know why. It actually wasn't that hard to get past the beginning of this one, and it quickly made the quantum leap from that infamous list to my short list of worthwhile and favorite books. Now it is right up there next to Peace Like a River, Gilead, and Life of Pi. I loved it. Stegner does a great job of letting relationships and personalities unfold over time. I saw people I knew in it. And like most really worthwhile books, it deals with life and death. I found myself slowing down about halfway through because I didn't really want to be done with the characters or the story.
I also read Twilight, a vampire story by BYU grad Stephanie Meyer. I don't recommend reading it so soon after Crossing to Safety. That one deserves to be savored longer. However, this was a fun piece of fluff. I didn't like the protagonist's whining for the first third of the story, and I thought the author took a while to hit her stride, but it improved quickly and proved to be more satisfying than I thought it would be. Still, if you're in the mood for a vampire story, you can't beat Interview with a Vampire. It carries the weight and darkness such a story should.
What are you reading? Is it worth your while?
That is so funny that you just read Crossing to Safety. I got it from the library last week with that same "My Name Is Asher Lev" feeling, but just started it last night. Anyway, how far will I have to get into it before I get into it? I've only read a couple of chapters.
ReplyDeleteIt's so funny how different books feel to different people. I loved My Name is Asher Lev, but I did read it at BYU with a really interesting small class of artists taking Writing in the Arts and Humanities with a fabulous teacher. Maybe that's why I was motivated :)
ReplyDeleteI read Angle of Repose in a class at the Y (while we were roommates, I believe, and in which in one semester we read Anna Karenina and a few other novels and a bunch of short stories -- and that was just ONE CLASS! -- and one I didn't need, just for fun, too!) and enjoyed it fairly well. I need to go back to Stegner. As it is, I just picked up Ian McEwan's latest, On Chesil Beach, this afternoon, and I just finished The Alchemyst, (not The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, which I HIGHLY recommend, by the way) a brand-new novel for teens. All of this is for my newspaper book section, which I edit. I'm simply *awash* in books, thanks to this little job. It's heavenly. I'm also reading a funny little book called Three Bags Full, which comes out in a few weeks, about a herd of sheep whose shepherd is murdered and who are trying to solve the murder themselves. Quirky, indeed. I'm still trying to get my hands on Twinkie, Deconstructed, a nonfiction look into where the ingredients of Twinkies actually COME from. Apparently a bit scary! On the children's book page I'm running this Sunday, also having my daughter review an excellent book, The White Giraffe, and her friend reviewed The Invention of Hugo Cabret. All good reads for youth. So much good stuff out there, so little free time!
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