Sylvie Madeleine's Book Review Corner

THE SWAN THIEVES by Elizabeth Kostova

2009-12-28T11:31:00.000-08:00

Thank you Miriam for this Arc copy

Hardcover: 576 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (January 12, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0316065781

Synopsis:

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe, devoted to his profession and the painting hobby he loves, has a solitary but ordered life. When renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient, Marlow finds that order destroyed. Desperate to understand the secret that torments the genius, he embarks on a journey that leads him into the lives of the women closest to Oliver and a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.

Kostova's masterful new novel travels from American cities to the coast of Normandy, from the late 19th century to the late 20th, from young love to last love. THE SWAN THIEVES is a story of obsession, history's losses, and the power of art to preserve human hope.

My view:

This is my first read by Elizabeth Kostova I have yet to read THE HISTORIAN. Her second novel reads like a mystery with a romantic twist which takes us from 1999 to 1879 France. Throughout the distance of a century, lives intertwine and a mystery unravels which will have you guess to the end. Although art is a predominant factor the characters come through strong and vibrant throughout the novel.

I liked this book a lot.

The ending had me intrigued,

WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGED THE AMAZING JOURNEY OF AMERICAN WOMEN FROM 1960 TO THE PRESENT by Gail Collins

2009-11-20T09:17:00.000-08:00

Reviewed for Hachette Book Group

Thank-you Valerie

Hardcover: 480 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (October 14, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316059544

Synopsis:

"Gail Collins's When Everything Changed points out what the women on "Mad Men" know: that period in our history was less enjoyable for the ladies.... The early pages of Ms. Collins's book are peppered with accounts of incidents so outrageous they almost seem like jokes....but Ms. Collins underlines the serious consequences of such risible moments by including the stories of individual women-from overworked housewives to marginalized politicians-whose lives were cramped and deformed by the culture's low opinion of their capabilities.... Ms. Collins reminds us of how many aspects of our lives were affected by the battles these women fought. And even readers who lived through this era may be surprised to discover how much they never knew, or have forgotten...Among the impressive features of Ms. Collins's book is her genial, fair-minded sympathy, her refusal to smirk at the excesses of the most radical '70s feminists or at the stance of women, among them Phyllis Schlafly, who counseled their sisters to stay home where they belonged. This evenhandedness seems all the more admirable later in the book, when she considers the significance of Hillary Rodham Clinton's and Sarah Palin's roles in the 2008 presidential election."

My thoughts:

I arrived in the United States in August of 1966 in the middle of the worst airline strike (I was 7 month pregnant and needed to arrive in California before the deadline which forbid women to fly pregnant after 7 month). I was unaware or naive to many of women's limitations at my arrival. My husband, an American citizen changed this for me quickly. He became a man I did not know as soon as we landed at JFK by threatening me not to speak, lest I should embarrass him (I had a rather strong French accent), and a list of things "women do not do in my country... I remember this as being very hard on me. Basically, I had to obey my husband from now on after a life of freedom in my country as a woman. I eventually divorced this man in 1972.

Gail Collins, book "WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGED..." was a real wake-up call to what had happened to me so long ago and finally made so much sense. I remember everything mentioned in this great book. I became a feminist and was liberated from some awful male abuse. Betty Friedan's book "THE FEMININE MYSTIC " mentions:

"The feminin mystic has succeeded in burying milions of American women alive. There is no way for these women to break out of their comfortable concentration camps except by finally put forth an effort that human effort which reaches beyond biology, beyond the narrow walls of home , to help shape the future."

This statement by Betty Friedan might sound radical today, when women have so many more choices as mothers and in the workplace, even so, we women still have a ways to go. I remember being smothered into a life which was expected of me as a mother and woman and reinforced by men, be it a husband, boss, doctors etc...Personally I believe my 3 boys did not profit from this confinement their mother was expected to live in. I noticed how much happier they where when I broke those rules, dated, traveled et... and had a babysitter to watch them.

"WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGED..." needs to be a must read by young women and men, learn their mother's history, understand that not so long ago life wasn't easy for those mothers, and women in general. Men should read it to learn from it and perhaps be surprised at the disrespect we women received. Yet for whatever reason there is a feeling in me that men still have a ways to go. If women do not stand up and continue to stand up for our rights we will stay where we are today. Throughout the book the disrespect women in the '60, '70, 80, '90 where subjected to is shocking...and I know it is still going on today, if more discretely, after all women have recourse to Sexual Harassment laws today, which in my days in 1966 did not exist at all.

I would like to see this book as a must read be it in High school or College level

CHILDREN OF DUST by Ali Eteraz

2009-11-11T10:09:00.000-08:00

*****

Thank-you Julie Harabedian, FSB Associates

for this copy

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: HarperOne; 1st edition (October 13, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061567086
ISBN-13: 978-0061567087

THE WASHINGTON POST:

Ali Eteraz has been a devout Muslim, a disillusioned skeptic and everything in between. Throughout his meandering spiritual journey, his faith has given him great pride and contentedness but has also been a source of deep shame, anger and frustration. This emotional struggle is the backdrop for his memoir, "Children of Dust," which chronicles his childhood in Pakistan, his family's immigration to the United States and finally his return to Asia as an adult. Eteraz grew up attending a madrassa in rural Pakistan, where he spent his days memorizing the Koran and enduring harsh beatings for his mistakes. When his family relocated to Alabama during his adolescence, he struggled to fit in with his peers while adhering to the strict religious practices his family enforced. "I was too embarrassed to admit to non-Muslims that it was Islam -- archaic, anachronistic, exotic Islam -- that controlled me," Eteraz writes. "Admitting that would lead me to be viewed as an outsider -- and I wanted nothing more than to be American." From there, you might say Eteraz got religious whiplash: He describes periods of intense absorption in the dutiful practice of Islam, followed by phases of doubt and cynicism. In particular, he deeply questioned his faith after a harrowing trip to Pakistan, where he narrowly escaped being killed by fellow Muslims who suspected he was a U.S. agent. Finally, the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks changed his worldview definitively. "I felt an unbridgeable distance from those militants across the globe that I'd long ago felt drawn to and then, more recently, had felt pity for," he writes. Amid all the soul-searching, Eteraz manages to amusingly describe his teenage antics and poke some fun at himself for all the superficial ways he tried to make friends envy him for his piety. These honest details make his story even more compelling.

My View:

Ali Eteraz takes us on a journey from his birth to today and what a journey it is! Ali's parents and relatives, Pakistani Muslim fundamentalists expect their son, "Abir ul Islam", translated Perfume of Islam to literally spread their fundamentalist faith across Islam.

To prepare their son for such an endeavor, they enroll Abir ul Islam into a school called "madrassa", where he learns to memorize the Koran by rote not understanding the meaning of the words. Each word pronounced is a breath of God, so meaning is not necessary. I was shocked by the brutality employed to keep students on the straight and narrow during classes.

Ali Eteraz ( the author will change names while progressing with his journey towards a peaceful Islam . Ali Eteraz is his name these days.) reveals Islamic traditions with which I was unaccustomed , some quite serious, others humorous.

I can imagine how difficult it must have been for Ali to fit into an American high school, dating, even holding hands with a girl being forbidden to him. We watch him struggle with this serious issue as a teen with hormones rampant as any teenager. Yet as the years go by all the many forbidden temptations ordered by Islam guide the author to reflect on a truth which leads to peace, which he still pursues.

I recommend this memoir to anyone who wishes to see peace in this world, for all countries, religions. Ali Eteraz is a unique voice searching for this precious peace and I wish him all the luck he will need.

I hope the end of this memoir will be as much a surprise to those who read "CHILDREN OF DUST" as it was to me.

SPOONER by Pete Dexter

2009-11-02T11:25:00.000-08:00

Thank-you to Hachette Book Group for this review copy

Thanks Miriam

THE WASHINGTON POST:

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by Carolyn See Full disclosure: I was on the judging committee when Pete Dexter won the National Book Award for his amazing novel of American racism and mayhem, "Paris Trout." That book is among this country's very best, I believe, and I remain one of his most devoted fans. His is a voice like no other, though James Ellroy and Elmore Leonard may be counted among his distant literary cousins. What Dexter does is to marry the use of the most frightening violence with the loftiest of artistic goals; we are forced to look at our country through a film of fresh blood. This is not a literary conceit on the part of the author; it has to do with his real life. In 1981, when he was a hard-boiled columnist for a Philadelphia newspaper, he wrote a piece that enraged members of a very tough neighborhood. He -- rather unwisely -- went to that neighborhood, either to confront or to explain, and was beaten within the proverbial inch of his life. He carries the scars and afflictions from that encounter to this day. His obsession with violence is honestly come by, and all his novels are stamped by it. In "Spooner," his autobiographical new novel, Dexter takes a look at himself, implicitly admitting that he's a little on the high-strung side, to put it mildly. He attempts -- if I read him correctly -- to answer the question: What makes a person turn out to be like Pete Dexter? It's a hard question for a person trained as a journalist who's used to looking outward, or for a man of action who prefers boxing to many other pastimes. How do you look inside and come up with an answer that makes sense? (The project must have been hard. The author writes that the book went 31/2 years beyond its publication deadline. "When you come across sentences you particularly don't like, keep in mind that I probably didn't like them either.") Nevertheless, here's a novel that's different from anything Dexter has written before. His namesake, Spooner, born in 1956, comes second in a cluster of four siblings. His mother is a martyr whose family lost its fortune in the Great Depression, and his father died too young for Spooner to know him. Most of the first 50 pages are given over to describing the back story of a paragon -- the saintly man who became Spooner's stepfather -- who makes a hardscrabble living for his new family as a teacher in the hardscrabble town of Milledgeville, Ga., all the while bearing ill-concealed dismay and sometimes contempt from Spooner's mother. (The town of Milledgeville is real; Dexter speaks in an interview of his first conscious memories being from that place, and also says that the African American section of that town served as the background for "Paris Trout.") The young Spooner is a nut case, pure and simple, getting into one crazy scrape after another, most notably breaking into the homes of neighbors, peeing into the shoes of the men of the house, then putting those shoes into the families' refrigerators. He engineers car wrecks, climbs on every roof, gets into all the trouble he possibly can -- in marked contrast to his three siblings, who succeed in every way. Flash forward to Spooner as a young adult, first in Florida, then in Pennsylvania. He works himself up from crashing poverty to a position as a noted newspaper columnist. Then comes the infamous "God's Pocket" episode (here the neighborhood is called Devil's Pocket, as is the actual Philadelphia area where that novel was set), where almost every bone in his body is twisted or broken by a gang of irate thugs. He is married by then, and just as tough -- and irrational? -- as they come, until he's felled by this attack. Spooner moves to Whidbey Island, off the Pacific Northwest coast, where he continues work as a novelist. (The story remains unnervingly autobiographical. There is a Dr. Ploof, for instance, who in real life is a dentist on that island.) Combative as ever, Spooner finds himself locked in battle with a next-door neighbor. Bulldozers are involved. And that wonderful stepfather, whose separate life the author has followed all along, takes sick and dies, honorably cared for by Spooner, who is still not sure about having lived up to his mentor's shining example of compassion, industry, learning and love. This is strange material for a man who wrote unsparingly of the grossness of smallpox in "Deadwood," the merciless rape and destruction of a little girl in "Paris Trout" and the eating of raw flamingos in "Train." It's new ground and a new tone. Jocose, ironic, even cheery. (The author's photo shows the man smiling!) Dexter seems to look at this life as something of a tall tale, and he's right -- there are sentences that don't seem to be exactly his. The book has a Mark Twain feel to it: Of journalists, Spooner remarks: "Some of them drank too much after work and threatened to write books," and the ghost of Hemingway creeps in during the Devil's Pocket debacle: "It was surprising to him how good it felt, knowing he was not about to be shot." There are other quite goofy surprises -- Spooner appears on the same dais with Margaret Truman, an event that must have happened to Dexter but, one hopes, without quite the chaos described here. That story is a lovely paean to crazy old ladies and their book clubs everywhere. So, this book is different! Not exactly what Pete Dexter usually writes, but madly interesting in what it sets out to do. I freely admit to a bias: As far as I'm concerned, Dexter can do no wrong.

My View:

I know...the synopsis above is a bit long, however I thought it important. SPOONER by Pete Dexter is a much different novel than some of you might expect of Pete Dexter. I love this novel/disguised memoir.

I also need to mention: I absolutely love this book and wish there was more of "Spooner". I happened to live in Philadelphia in the '70 and do remember Pete Dexter as a columnist, I also remember an incident which took place in upscale Rittenhouse Square which the author mentions, and the incident in "Devil's Pocket" not that I hung out anywhere close to this place and of course the shooting of mobster Angelo Bruno. My boyfriend at the time and I had just finished savoring a great Italian dinner in south Philly when, on our way home we passed the scene of the crime with Angelo Bruno still in his car, slumped over the steering wheel. People gathered like at an exciting event, children rode their bikes, it was all very festive . In short, Pete Dexter took me back to my time in Philly and did it so well, through Part 4 I was in Philly!

Of course this is only one part of this great book which I assume is sort of a memoir. I am the mother of 3 boys, and aware what boys can get into, I had to laugh at some of Spooner's growing up antics, granted they where at times outrageous yet it showed great inventiveness. There is no time to become bored reading this novel/memoir, it kept my attention from beginning to end.

You will love Calmer Ottosson, Spooner's step dad, a great gentle character we meet for the first time before his court martial for an incident which held me in stitches.

This my first introduction to Pete Dexter the writer althoug I read his columns. I need to remedy this quickly. I am going to put "PARIS TROUT" and "PAPER TRAILS" on my reading list. I understand from reading the synopsis, his previous novels aren't humorous, still as a writer Pete Dexter intrigues me to read him.

Excerpt:

For the first time in his life Spooner found himself content to be where he was, also over time this would come at a price, the earliest sign being that sometimes he would catch some glimps of Mrs. Spooner and the baby together and find himself barely able to move, at the fear of losing what he had. The truth was Spooner wasn't wired much for getting what he wanted, and had never given a thought to protecting what he had, in fact had never considered that any of it could be protected or even that it was in his hands. Until the woman came along, and then the baby, he had always taken it for granted that anything that fell into his lap would also fall through his lap sooner or later"

SEX, DRUGS AND GEFILTE FISH edited by Shana Liebman

2009-10-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

Reviewed for "Hachette Book Group"

Grand Central Publishing

Paperback: 288 pages

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (October 26, 2009)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0446504629

This book is an ADULT read

Synopsis:

Liebman, arts editor of the hip Jewish lifestyle magazine Heeb, introduces a refreshing set of essays that reveal an array of both ordinary and extraordinary modern-day Jewish experiences. Arranged by theme (sex, drugs, work, youth, family, body and soul), these four dozen essays—the products of a Heeb storytelling performance series—explore the humorous, scandalous and often sentimental moments in life. Rebecca Addelman re-evaluates the college summer she spent in Israel getting naked with another kibbutz volunteer and a middle-aged Israeli. Andy Borowitz conveys the irony of a Jewish Harvard graduate (himself) writing a hip-hop sitcom for Will Smith: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Most outstanding is Eric Weingrad's account of spying his loathed Hebrew school teacher naked during a Sabbath night spent at her house. The contributors—musicians, actors, comedians and writers—will be familiar to many. Full of wit, irony, heartbreak and vindication, these essays will undoubtedly please those in search of an honest but creative look at Jewish life and its many trials.

My view:

My first thought was, please have a sense of humor : "Do not let the cover influence you in a negative way". I love the cover, but then again I have a sense of humor and understood I had to delve further to see what was to be found beyond and am I glad I did.

Understand : I am born a strict Catholic, you know: go to church under threat by parents ( usually, no dating the coming week if I did not go, if you know me, I went ). 12 years of education by nuns...slept in a convent 5 days a week and went home on week-ends...if I was good and made the marks, nothing under a B. Ok you get it, threats and tons of guilt.

So when I started to read this hillarious book of story telling I kept refering to the back pages labled "Contributors" to make sure this was as advertised "A brave new generation of Jewish story tellers", I was under the impression story after story to be back home with my parents, brothers and friends....Finally I came to a sentence which enlightened me :

From: Lesbians at Temple by Lisa Kron of Broadway fame:

(One time I asked my friend Moises why people talk about Catholic guilt and Jewish Guilt like they're the same thing. I said "It doesn't feel the same to me but I can't figure it out". And he said, "Okay, here's the difference: Jewish guilt is that you feel like it's your job to save the world and you just haven't done enough. And Catholic guilt is that you just shouldn't be here at all"

So this is why I was confused, Catholics and Jews share this awful responsibility, which seems to follow us through life "GUILT"

Like I mentionned above, the cover represents more of a rebellious picture than what you will find inside this story telling book. You do not have to be a Jew or a Catholic to laugh out loud, it might help a little but in the end those are true stories those many authors are just yearning to tell and if you are human they will have you muse over a time in your own life.It is a great feeling to know we can all identify with one another regardless what religion, believes we hold dear.

My advice? GO OUT AND BUY THIS BOOK! you will not regret it, and do get back to me and tell me which story you remember most or touched you most.

My favorites are many but those touched me:

BENZOS AND BREAST CANCER by Stephanie Green ( Her upcoming book is CANCER IS THE NEW BLACK" )

OUT OF THE BAG by Noah Tarnow

His story had me laughing so hard, if you love cats, it's a must read!

GRANMA BETTY by Liz Feldman

Sweet

The truth is, I liked them all, some touched me more than others but all where absolutely great.

A CHANGE IN ALTITUDE by Anita Shreve

2009-10-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

Reviewed for Hachette Book Group

Hardcover: 320 pages

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (September 22, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316020702

Synopsis

Margaret and Patrick have been married just a few months when they set off on what they hope will be a great adventure-a year living in Kenya. Margaret quickly realizes there is a great deal she doesn't know about the complex mores of her new home, and about her own husband.

A British couple invites the newlyweds to join on a climbing expedition to Mount Kenya, and they eagerly agree. But during their harrowing ascent, a horrific accident occurs. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Margaret struggles to understand what happened on the mountain and how these events have transformed her and her marriage, perhaps forever.

A Change in Altitude illuminates the inner landscape of a couple, the irrevocable impact of tragedy, and the elusive nature of forgiveness. With stunning language and striking emotional intensity, Anita Shreve transports us to the exotic panoramas of Africa and into the core of our most intimate relationships

My View:

Having read every book written by Anita Shreve, I have my favorite and not so favorite.

With A CHANGE IN ALTITUDE the author choses a different style than found in her previous novels. There are three parts to this novel. Part one had me hooked, it was what I expected of Anita Shreve. The short crisp sentences which bring us ever so gently to a climax, in this case a tragic accident.

Part two takes us away from her usual style. If you like a lush description of Africa, Kenya in this case you will like this novel. The human factor Anita Shreve is so well known for is still there, the complicated transition which takes us from an early marriage to a more settled life between a husband and wife, men and women who enter those lives, disturbing their idea of marriage is all there to be found. Except somewhat lost in a travel log type of narration for which I did not care much.

The protagonist Margaret, a photojournalist through who's eyes we vew this novel is a newly married American woman on her first trip to Africa, accompanied by her husband Patrick an equatorial physician.

Very quickly their lives will change, an accident for which there might or might not be blame.

I found Margaret a little anoying never quite figuring her out to be good wife to Patrick or not. Patrick on the other hand becomes quite an annoying individual as the novel progresses.

Part three takes us back to the style I like in her novels and we are in for a cliff hanger.....

I rate this novel a 3 3/4 only because of some lengthy passages in part two which might be interesting to some readers. I would rather read a shorter novel who's thread is not interrupted.

THE WOMAN WHO NAMED GOD by Charlotte Gordon

2009-10-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

Reviewed for "Hachette Book Group"

Little, Brown and Company

Hardcover: 400 pages

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (July 28, 2009)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 031611474X

Charlotte Gordon offers a unique look at the Old Testament relationships between and among Abraham; his wife, Sarah; and his mistress, Hagar. Gordon approaches the biblical text as a literary study as opposed to a literal divine revelation. With no theological ax to grind, she draws upon the work of theologians, scholars, archaeologists, and historians to unpack a widely misunderstood and misinterpreted saga. Most interesting is her focus on the exiled, shamed, and shadowed Hagar, whom Gordon elevates to a mystic and prophet. Gordon ultimately shows that these biblical characters are complex and multilayered; they behave, in short, like human beings who wrestle with foibles, passions, and jealousies. Most important, the story speaks to the 21st century and its marital ambivalence, dysfunctional family systems, pervasive divorce, as well as to 9/11, the so-called "Axis of Evil," and West Bank unrest. The author's vision is that the retelling of this ancient tale might awaken the world to redemption. The sons of Hagar and Sarah, after all, came together in peace at their father Abraham's funeral. General readers with even a casual interest in religion and its impact on history, as well as on current events, will appreciate the lens through which the author peers.

I grew up in a strict Catholic family and was schooled by Dominicant nuns, so The New Testament was the Book I was raised on. Over the years I did learn more about the Bible.

In the Catholic Faith "The Crusades" is one of the first lessons we learn, in my case anyhow. I had a real problem with the nuns who held this war as a holy war with saints etc...the West went of to the Near East to kill nonbelievers, so they decided...

By reading Charlotte Gorden's dissertation about the birth of three nations I learned facts I did not know in such debth, which brings me to Abraham and his relationship with God. We are all Gods Children, fathered through Abraham and his wife Sarah and Hagar. The Bible is clear about this but the interpretation isn't always. Over the years be it Jews, Christians or Muslims, each added their interpretation of the original text, and have disagreed ever since...

"THE WOMAN WHO NAMED GOD" tries to make us understand whatever religion we happen to be born in we are through God and Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, Isaac and Ishmael all Gods children Muslims, Jews or Christians.

This is a well researched book, it is more a dissertation or thesis. You will find a bibliography and excellent research notes. It is not meant to be a Chrstian book as some reviewers thought and seemed insulted. The author makes this clear, she is adressing the world 4000 years ago and today. I think everyone who reads this book will retain something , which is good.