Thoughts on books 1-4
Jan. 5th, 2008 10:24 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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50books_pocNot a warning but just a note to say I couldn't really express what I thought about the books in an especially meaningful manner but here you go.
Cut for rambling and pseudo-spoilers.
1. Clay's Ark by Octavia E. Butler
I first heard of her after her death in 2006 on someone's LJ. She sounded like she was an interesting person and so did her books and I've been meaning to check them out. But, to be honest, it also sounded like her books would be too deep/serious/issues-oriented for me and that I wouldn't properly understand and appreciate them. Well, I wish I had gotten around to her books sooner. Clay's Ark was a surprise. I read it in October and I'm still wondering if I liked the book. I could definitely appreciate why other people like her writing though. While I was expecting her to touch on issues of race, gender and sexuality, I wasn't expecting a sort of broad commentary on the state of the world outside as expressed through her dystopian view of the future. Or more accurately, I didn't expect her to go where she did to examine those race, gender and sexuality issues. And I can't really explain what I mean by that. :S All I can conclusively say is I like the matter-of-factness of her writing and her book definitely made me think. I also definitely want to read more of her work.
2. Goddess for Hire by Sonia Singh
I chose the book because I intended to randomly find a book by a person of colour on the library shelves; doing this made me realize just how few there are. (Call me Miss Obvious.) Anyway, this was a really light-hearted read. I don't read chick-lit but this book certainly confirmed my preconceptions of the style. The main character mentioned various brands enough times to make it read like she was being paid for it; there was the whole finding-the-right-guy thing and look-I'm-attractive thing plus a healthy dose of female-rivalry. I found out a bit about the sort of lifestyle that affluent Hindu Indians have in south California. Not sure if what I found out was accurate by any means but there you go. I did appreciate the whole mystical angle (the main character finds out she's an incarnation of a Hindu goddess) because it made for some mild fun as she was scrambling around. There was also quite a bit of feel-good moments while the main character was coming to realizations about the real world or whatever. I guess the goddess thing was a fun plot device if nothing else. One joke that stuck out was the main character saying she cared about the environment and then we find out she drives a Hummer. I'm a bit unsure what to think of this book too. I mean, it was fun to read but also kind of unsettling. Unsettling because, on the surface, this book was chick-lit but there were many mentions of heavier issues such as interracial relations, immigrant families' expectations for their second-generation children, modern young people's doubts/uncertainties about their directions in life, etc. I wanted to read more about them than just the often passing mentions. Or maybe I'm expecting too much from a book that wasn't intended to be extended commentary about that kind of stuff. In conclusion, I liked the book, it was fun to read and it made me think more deeply than I expected.
3. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
I think I'm seeing a pattern here but this book also made me think. And as I typed that, I'm thinking what book doesn't make me think and what kind of stupid question is that because all books make me think, duh.
Anyway, this book won the Booker Prize and it was written by a Canadian and I picked it up because I wanted to read a book by a Canadian person of colour. I had caught clips of the movie adaptation a couple of years ago and, I'll admit, I was expecting some sex scenes. But after reading the book, I'm disappointed that there were so many in the movie and that the movie, from my brief glimpses, was so focused on the English patient's story. Before I had read the book, I expected the story to be about him but it's not only about him. I was pleasantly surprised to read about and I found I cared a lot more about the other characters: Hana, Kip and Caravaggio.
Again I was surprised at how the author talked about the Issues; it hit me over the head. I am talking about the climax when Kip founds out the US has bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The story was kind of on this gradual trajectory with Caravaggio getting details from Almasy (the "English" patient) about his real identity and what happened to him and Hana and Kip's relationship and Kip going about his business disabling bombs/mines and seemingly random flashbacks to events in Kip's past and I wasn't sure where this was leading and then boom, this huge upset. It totally made me re-examine my feelings about the bomb. I'm Chinese-Canadian and my dad despises the Japanese for their role in WWII, their invasion of China prior to the "official" start of WWII, their lack of an apology and reparations for the war victims in Asia and feels they deserved those bombings. Me, I'm not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, I understand the want for revenge and all that, especially because of the brutality of some of the Japanese army's actions. On the other hand, the justification of the bombings - the killing of many innocent people - doesn't sit well with me either but I never thought of it in terms of the Americans bombing non-whites or that anyone other than those involved, i.e. Americans, Japanese people and their victims, would care. Or in other words, I didn't expect an Indian character to feel so strongly about it so there you go.
I felt strongly about this book but again, like or dislike? Can't say. I know I definitely liked it more than In the Skin of a Lion, which I read when it was chosen for the Canada Reads thing. But I want to reread it now because I've found out Hana and Caravaggio are in it and since I care more about them now from The English Patient, I can read Lion with more insight.
4. Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
I wanted to read this book a) because it features Toronto, my hometown and b) because it was recommended all over the place, even by Octavia E. Butler (or at least, she wrote a book blurb for it). Ti-Jeanne, the main character, wasn't easy to like at first but I got caught up in her story and I was rooting for her. I was surprised by a lot of the characters' actions and I was questioning their motivations a lot but - I don't want to say it was fun to read because a lot of ugly things happen and the future Toronto in this book is pretty grim - it certainly was a page-turner and I want to read more of the author's work.
Cut for rambling and pseudo-spoilers.
1. Clay's Ark by Octavia E. Butler
I first heard of her after her death in 2006 on someone's LJ. She sounded like she was an interesting person and so did her books and I've been meaning to check them out. But, to be honest, it also sounded like her books would be too deep/serious/issues-oriented for me and that I wouldn't properly understand and appreciate them. Well, I wish I had gotten around to her books sooner. Clay's Ark was a surprise. I read it in October and I'm still wondering if I liked the book. I could definitely appreciate why other people like her writing though. While I was expecting her to touch on issues of race, gender and sexuality, I wasn't expecting a sort of broad commentary on the state of the world outside as expressed through her dystopian view of the future. Or more accurately, I didn't expect her to go where she did to examine those race, gender and sexuality issues. And I can't really explain what I mean by that. :S All I can conclusively say is I like the matter-of-factness of her writing and her book definitely made me think. I also definitely want to read more of her work.
2. Goddess for Hire by Sonia Singh
I chose the book because I intended to randomly find a book by a person of colour on the library shelves; doing this made me realize just how few there are. (Call me Miss Obvious.) Anyway, this was a really light-hearted read. I don't read chick-lit but this book certainly confirmed my preconceptions of the style. The main character mentioned various brands enough times to make it read like she was being paid for it; there was the whole finding-the-right-guy thing and look-I'm-attractive thing plus a healthy dose of female-rivalry. I found out a bit about the sort of lifestyle that affluent Hindu Indians have in south California. Not sure if what I found out was accurate by any means but there you go. I did appreciate the whole mystical angle (the main character finds out she's an incarnation of a Hindu goddess) because it made for some mild fun as she was scrambling around. There was also quite a bit of feel-good moments while the main character was coming to realizations about the real world or whatever. I guess the goddess thing was a fun plot device if nothing else. One joke that stuck out was the main character saying she cared about the environment and then we find out she drives a Hummer. I'm a bit unsure what to think of this book too. I mean, it was fun to read but also kind of unsettling. Unsettling because, on the surface, this book was chick-lit but there were many mentions of heavier issues such as interracial relations, immigrant families' expectations for their second-generation children, modern young people's doubts/uncertainties about their directions in life, etc. I wanted to read more about them than just the often passing mentions. Or maybe I'm expecting too much from a book that wasn't intended to be extended commentary about that kind of stuff. In conclusion, I liked the book, it was fun to read and it made me think more deeply than I expected.
3. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
I think I'm seeing a pattern here but this book also made me think. And as I typed that, I'm thinking what book doesn't make me think and what kind of stupid question is that because all books make me think, duh.
Anyway, this book won the Booker Prize and it was written by a Canadian and I picked it up because I wanted to read a book by a Canadian person of colour. I had caught clips of the movie adaptation a couple of years ago and, I'll admit, I was expecting some sex scenes. But after reading the book, I'm disappointed that there were so many in the movie and that the movie, from my brief glimpses, was so focused on the English patient's story. Before I had read the book, I expected the story to be about him but it's not only about him. I was pleasantly surprised to read about and I found I cared a lot more about the other characters: Hana, Kip and Caravaggio.
Again I was surprised at how the author talked about the Issues; it hit me over the head. I am talking about the climax when Kip founds out the US has bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The story was kind of on this gradual trajectory with Caravaggio getting details from Almasy (the "English" patient) about his real identity and what happened to him and Hana and Kip's relationship and Kip going about his business disabling bombs/mines and seemingly random flashbacks to events in Kip's past and I wasn't sure where this was leading and then boom, this huge upset. It totally made me re-examine my feelings about the bomb. I'm Chinese-Canadian and my dad despises the Japanese for their role in WWII, their invasion of China prior to the "official" start of WWII, their lack of an apology and reparations for the war victims in Asia and feels they deserved those bombings. Me, I'm not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, I understand the want for revenge and all that, especially because of the brutality of some of the Japanese army's actions. On the other hand, the justification of the bombings - the killing of many innocent people - doesn't sit well with me either but I never thought of it in terms of the Americans bombing non-whites or that anyone other than those involved, i.e. Americans, Japanese people and their victims, would care. Or in other words, I didn't expect an Indian character to feel so strongly about it so there you go.
I felt strongly about this book but again, like or dislike? Can't say. I know I definitely liked it more than In the Skin of a Lion, which I read when it was chosen for the Canada Reads thing. But I want to reread it now because I've found out Hana and Caravaggio are in it and since I care more about them now from The English Patient, I can read Lion with more insight.
4. Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
I wanted to read this book a) because it features Toronto, my hometown and b) because it was recommended all over the place, even by Octavia E. Butler (or at least, she wrote a book blurb for it). Ti-Jeanne, the main character, wasn't easy to like at first but I got caught up in her story and I was rooting for her. I was surprised by a lot of the characters' actions and I was questioning their motivations a lot but - I don't want to say it was fun to read because a lot of ugly things happen and the future Toronto in this book is pretty grim - it certainly was a page-turner and I want to read more of the author's work.
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-06 05:59 am (UTC)I know nothing about The English Patient, but re non-Americans and non-Japanese caring about the American bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I've run into a bit of "We know that America is the most evil country, because America is the only country to ever use a nuclear bomb." I've heard it quite vociferously from Indians on my friends-list, and I've heard it at Speaker's Corner in London (the crowd very much agreed with him). I might have to give The English Patient a read.
Canada Reads: do many people read the Canada Reads book? My city has a similar program each January, but as near as I can tell, hardly anyone participates. (Which reminds me, I should find out what the new Everybody Reads book is, because it's about that time...)
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Date: 2008-01-06 08:19 am (UTC)re The English Patient: I hope I haven't spoiled it for you but maybe you'll notice other hints that I was totally oblivious to when reading it the first time. Honestly, I was surprised at my reaction to Kip's reaction in the story because I thought I understood enough of the whole anti-American sentiment to not be blind-sided with his. But to clarify, his reaction was more anti-white not just anti-American.
Canada Reads: I've read somewhere that sales definitely do go up for the books nominated and selected but that was back at the beginning (started 2002, trends for 2002/3). I read the first selection (Lion) and tried to read 2003's choice but haven't kept up with the rest. But they keep doing it so people must be participating, just no one I know. Not sure how they do it in your city but the selection process is a 5-day radio program and 5 Canadian "celebrities" defend their choices and pick one book at the end so the choices are more high-profile.