Re-discoveries, mad romantic

The English Patient has pulled off the accomplishment of being among my all-time favorites in both novel and movie form. (The film's soundtrack, for one, is stunning.) Michael Ondaatje is amazing - when I read the novel at age 17, I had never come across anything quite like it.

While the film has two main narratives (present and past), each goes in roughly chronological order. The novel goes into the past of more characters, and completely mixes up the chronology in favor of an unveiling, piece by piece, of the characters and their tales. And the descriptions - they are lyrical and haunting. Ondaatje has also published collections of poetry, and it shows in his prose.

God, I love this book. It's been so long since I've read it, I can't give specific details. But reading it is like stepping into a whole other world, and putting yourself into Ondaatje's very sure hands.

Sweet Suite

After finishing Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise, I decided I needed a few days to mull over what I wanted to write here. But then I waited too long, and I have to return the book right after work. So here is my capsule review:

This novel is gorgeous - the descriptions are so lush, and the people are real even as they are archetypes. (I also loved the scene in which the cat goes exploring, arriving back at his owner's bed seconds before an air raid.) The juxtaposition of love and life with invasion and occupation is fascinating and very moving - the French were not innocent in their loss to the Germans, but nor should they be held fully accountable for collaboration. There were so many shades of grey.

But what makes the book truly amazing is the story of its genesis. Nemirovsky was a well-known writer in France before the war, a Ukrainian Jewish refugee from the Soviet Revolution. She wrote the novel essentially contemporaneously with events, and while struggling to survive. A losing battle, it turned out; she was arrested and deported to Auschwitz in summer 1942. Her husband followed her a few months later, but her two daughters lived, hidden, with her notebooks.

In the 1990s, they revisited the notebooks, which were previously too great a source of pain, and discovered that in addition to notes and a journal, there was a full-fledged novel taking shape. Suite Francaise is only the first two sections of what was to be a full "suite" of France during the war and occupation, a difficult task for Nemirovsky, as she did not know France's fate. After the body of the novel, the book includes Nemirovsky's journal and notes, laying out a rough sketch of her plans for the future parts. One guiding light was Tolstoy and War and Peace, which should give you a sense of why I liked this book so much.

Anyway, it is stunning. Purely stunning. I will be looking for more of her work in translation (or possibly even in the original French).

Re-discoveries, Russian style

The random choice for this week turned out to be Resurrection, by David Remnick. It's the follow-up to his Pulitzer-Prize winning Lenin's Tomb, from his reporting from the final days of the Soviet Union. These books are stunning - and Remnick became my hero, a status that only grew when he took over at the New Yorker.

These are both long books, especially the latter, but are well worth the read. Remnick is an amazing observer, and weaves the incredible tale of Glasnost into a coherent narrative. In Resurrection, the story is the nascent Russian democracy, and the Yeltsin's struggle for reelection. It's less than ten years old, but already you can see how far the Russian republic has slipped from its post-Soviet aspirations. There was a period where the enormous wealth and corruption didn't necessarily have to lead to an autocratic president.

As a trained Russian historian, these two books are obviously a little form of nirvana (I took Lenin's Tomb with me to Italy) but anyone interested in current events and politics - or even just excellent reporting - will get a lot out of Remnick's work.

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Re-discoveries

A weekly series where I comment on a book that I read before the launch of the Library

The inaugural feature, chosen semi-randomly (I ran my hand down the bookshelf) is Remembering Mr. Shawn's New Yorker, by Ved Mehta, a long-time staff-writer at the magazine. It's a memoir of his years writing for Mr. Shawn, and an ode to Shawn's career as an editor.

I read this book a year of so after becoming enamored with the New Yorker, and its rhapsodizing tone suited my admiration. But even at the time I recognized it was a little much. Shawn wasn't superhuman. (btw, Shawn is also known for being the father of Wallace Shawn, who played Vizzini in Princess Bride)

What I liked best about this book was the detailed description of how an article makes its way from germ of idea to the pages of the magazine. And the characters that peopled the magazine during the era.

In all, a charming read :)

A little bit of whimsy

I finished Literacy and Longing in L.A. this afternoon. I stick with my previous statement that it was a bit of a letdown. But still sweet. Dora may be shallow, but she is also giving. And the ending, while unsatisfyingly written, is at least satisfying in terms of plot.

One thing I loved was the occasional reference to landmarks that are part of my LA as well. Like Dutton's. Although it's called McKenzie's, the central bookstore is unmistakable. It was nice to see such a haven for books get a starring role in a novel.

On a different note, I saw The Science of Sleep tonight. Michel Gondry, who wrote and directed, is an odd one. His protagonist, Stephane, can barely tell the difference between sleep and wakefulness, and therefore often neither can we. But the love story between him and his neighbor, Stephanie, is both quirky and heartwarming. It's only in his dreams that Stephanie reassures him that they are on the right track. When awake, things never seem to go quite as well. And yet you believe it is the sleeping Stephane and Stephanie that represent the true nature of their relationship.

The Westside Crazy Book Lady

No, that's not me. I still live in Hollywood, so I'm safe for now. But I'm reading Literacy and Longing in LA, a joint project by two Angelenas (is that a real term?). It's about a woman who is having a life crisis, and handles all crises by locking herself up and reading voraciously.

Much of this I can identify with. But I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed with the book so far. Dora, the protagonist, seems a little flaky, even if she is intelligent. And it's hard to believe her when she bemoans the shallowness of the Brentwood/West LA population when you discover that she lives (at 35) on a trust fund, thinks her size 12 sister seems fat (for LA, admittedly), and spends her days flitting around book stores and spying on her estranged husband.

But it IS white Los Angeles, so what is objectively shallow seems to make perfect sense within the context. I guess I just expected to identify with her more, and I'm finding that I don't want to be like her. (Although I wouldn't mind having a trust fund.)

The novel will probably grow on me. Expect a more positive review coming soon.

Plan B for the Earth - and why it needs to happen now

I have been sloooowly reading Lester R. Brown's Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble. I wish it hadn't been such slow going, but lots of technical details (and repetition) have a soporific effect on me. In the end, I was pretty much reading it like an academic text - pulling out information rather than really digesting each sentence. It's the kind of book you want around as a reference, full of facts and figures and lots of suggestions.

Brown is president of the Earth Policy Institute, and he is writing to attempt to save the Earth from collapse. Our use of resources is unsustainable, and even so, far too much of the planet's population lives in poverty. So Plan B is two-fold: poverty-alleviation and "earth restoration." The annual price tag for the two: $161 billion. Sounds steep, until you realize that the United States spends more than three times that much on defense each year. And we know that some of that money is being wasted. So the money is there (and in lots of other places too, for those of you Defense Dept. boosters).

While reading, I vacillated between optimism and despair. We are in bad, bad shape. And my mind still boggles: what on earth were we thinking that oil - a fossil fuel that takes eons to form - would just never run out?! Or trees? Or topsoil? But on the other hand, lots of places are doing amazing things. Sweden and Germany have reformulated their tax systems to better reflect the costs of unsustainable activities. Bogota has dramatically dropped crime while making the city more pedestrian-friendly. New technologies have so much potential for sustainable energy, water, and more - and will create new jobs at the same time.

But it's a big, overwhelming task. We need to take it seriously. As Brown puts it, "We have won a lot of local battles, but we are losing the war." It's winnable. And we have to win.

ELECTION DAY!!!

I can't concentrate at all. I don't know what I was thinking coming to work (you know, making sure future generations are civically engaged) instead of going to be a poll monitor like everyone else I know.

What would help, of course, is if I could get away from the computer and my desk and read a good book :)

And speaking of good books, I just finished one: California Uncovered, a 2005 collection of stories from Californian authors. Many of the selections are excerpts from novels, and quite a few made me curious about the larger work itself. [When I get home, I will update with some examples.] One of the editors is Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, who I have liked very much since I was in college. (I've seen her at readings too - she is lovely in person.)

On the other hand are bad stories, and that is what I've been writing (see my post below). I do not think I'm cut out to be a novelist. I tried for 2 days, and had my "novel" go in about 60 different directions. I haven't given up entirely, but I'm not convinced I should write as a chore, when I can just read something instead.

Vote, vote, vote! I love Election Day. Even if I usually don't have much to cheer about.

Update: The following were my favorites
Yxta Maya Murray (from The Conquest)
Paul Beatty (from The White Boy Shuffle)
Brian Ascalon Roley (from American Son)
Khaled Hosseini (from The Kite Runner)
Dana Johnson ("Melvin in the Sixth Grade")
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni ("Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter")

Erin's Library to Climb a Mountain

Or rather, write a novel or something in the month of November.

One of the many non-books that I read is the blog LAist. Thanks to the power of its team of bloggers, I have learned about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo to the cool kids). As far as I can tell (their site is sloooooow today), the NaNoWriMo folk are dedicated to proving that all you need to write a novel is a little push. Their push: 50,000 words in the 30 days of November. Along with tens of thousands of your closest friends. And they even forewarn that it'll be crap. At least, most of it. But if you're me, and you like to write but don't make the time (and don't actually have a fiction story flitting around in your conscious brain), it's a pretty cool deal. So I am in the process of signing up (like I said, the site is slow) right now.

Another driving factor: I like things you can count. I am very tangible in the way I look for results. September was 10,000 steps a day + and I took great joy in calculating the change in my average performance from week to week. (I added the equivalent of an 8th day/week of walking by the end of the month.) October was sit-up and arm weight month, with similarly numerical planned gains. It got boring around the 24th. So I was trying this morning to figure out what November would be. And what better challenge than something I would never do on my own, with word/day goals, and no exercise required :) So here I go. If the novel gets far enough to acquire a title, I'll let y'all know.

Writers who read and readers who write

On my commute home, I listened to Francine Prose talk about her book Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them on KQED's radio show Forum. (What decade do you think host Michael Krasny's photo is from?)

I was a big fan of her latest novel, A Changed Man, so was curious to hear what she had to say about the craft of writing. And listening to a writer who loves books (see also Jane Smiley) talk about books is lovely. So it made up for the fact that my bus was late and then stalled, stretching the commute out to the full hour.

Prose has a list of 100+ "Books to Read Immediately" at the back of her book, so you know I'll be checking that out.

Also moving back up my list: Carolyn See's Making a Literary Life: Advice for Writers and Other Dreamers, a book that has languished because I never feel quite "ready" for it.

Book Awards, So Cal style (and other updates)

A reunion, a car accident, and a cold later....

Erin is back with reading updates.

I re-read Jane Austen's Persuasion last week (for the book club). I think Anne Elliott is a mysterious character: not as vivacious as Elizabeth Bennet or Emma Woodhouse, but not as much of a mouse as Fanny Price. She remains, yet, a bit of a cipher in relation to the strong personalities around her. But Austen remains as witty, and comfortable, and biting, and evocative as ever.

Another book that's been on my list won at the 2006 Southern California Booksellers Association awards: Literacy and Longing in L.A., by Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack. It's supposed to be readerly chick lit, and I'm looking forward to it as a light escape and a reminder that other people in this city are also obsessed with books.

Yay!!!

I'm on my way to my college reunion, but first:

Orhan Pamuk has won the Nobel Prize in Literature

The NY Times article lede:

Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, whose uncommon lyrical gifts and uncompromising politics have brought him acclaim worldwide and prosecution at home, won the Nobel literature prize Thursday for his works dealing with the symbols of clashing cultures.

And the Swedish Academy:

in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city [Pamuk] has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures.

More thoughts coming soon...

Post-nuclear dystopias

Right in time for North Korea to go nuclear, I finished reading Tatyana Tolstaya's The Slynx, a tale of a future Moscow after the Blast. While some have survived (and gained virtual immortality) to remember the good old days, most know only this world: primitive and strange. Everyone has a Consequence from the radiation, ranging from extra limbs to feathers (and more).

I don't want to say too much about it, because it's going to be a future selection in our Russian literature book club. But it's a fascinating satire of Soviet Russia, as well as a deeply disturbing portrait of the Russians' historical tendency toward cults of personality.

On another note, books play a huge role in the novel, as the main character becomes obsessed with reading:

I only wanted books - nothing more - only books, only words, it was never anything but words - give them to me, I don't have any!

It's terrifying to imagine - what if there was nothing left to read?! Luckily, that's unlikely to ever be a problem for me! :)

Trouble in Education

It has been a busy time at the Library. Catching up on some reading, and checking out some books for an upcoming book club. (Anyone interested in a 6 novel "history of Russian literature" group?) And also lots of work.

But on a guilty pleasure trip to the library on Saturday (I wanted a romance novel - it shall not be reviewed here, as I've already revealed too much about an occasional weakness), I finally broke down and checked out my first audio book.

I went with Jonathan Kozol's The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America, which had been hovering at the edges of my book list. Kozol has been writing for some time about how public schooling is failing American children; this is a pretty damning indictment of our self-congratulation of Brown v. Board of Ed while letting the schools reossify into middle-class white and lower-class of color. And lest you think this is "separate but equal," curricula and even recess are entirely different matters. And how disgusting is the administrators' euphemism "diverse" for schools that are anything but, over 90% African-American. That's not diversity, it's just not whiteness.

This is a touchy subject for me, as I've wondered what I would do if I were raising my own future children in Los Angeles. I don't think most of the schools are good enough for my children; yet I believe very strongly that more middle-class families have to keep their children in struggling school systems, and work to lift them up. On a more pressing timeline, the Munchkins (aged 7 and 4) are currently attending/will attend a public elementary school, but will they have to go private or charter by junior high?

Also troubling is the relentless emphasis on teaching to the test that Kozol finds in these schools. I have never ever liked standardized testing, although in retrospect it was pretty cool to spend school time on an activity I knew I'd do well on. But precisely because I was the queen of the multiple choice exam, I never believed that it could say all that much about how smart you were. Isn't real learning and intelligence about more than that? And hearing how much time is spent on testing instead of science, history, music, PE, or the silly activities that make school fun made me so mad that I fumed down the street.

Which reminds me... I was listening to the book while walking down the street. I loaded the cds onto iTunes, and from iTunes to my iPod, and was good to go. It's definitely strange to listen to a book, but I think as it goes, nonfiction is the way to break into it. It's all written in one voice - the author's - anyway, and so it feels sort of like a lecture. It a nice way to commute (and also works for grocery shopping).