Review: Noah's Compass

Noah's Compass, by Anne Tyler. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009)

Noah didn't need a compass, Anne Tyler tells us, or sails or other navigational tools, because he wasn't going anywhere. In fact, there was nowhere to go.

Liam Pennywell has been drifting throughout most of his adult life, marrying, having children, taking jobs, but not holding on to anything very well. He has a philosophical attitude about life events, like divorce and job loss, that would be upsetting to others.

When he loses his most recent job, as a fifth grade teacher in a second-rate private school in Baltimore, he thinks about retiring. He's 60 years old, and he believes he can get by if he moves to a smaller apartment and economizes. He pictures spending the last part of his life reading all day in a comfortable chair.

On his first day in his new apartment, he is assaulted by a would-be burglar. He wakes up the next morning in the hospital with a head injury and no memory of the incident. His ex-wife and somewhat distant daughters move back into his life as he begins his recovery, and he comes to realize that he has casually lost hold of memories all his life -- memories of his marriages, of his children, of his ambition.

Liam, like so many of Anne Tyler's characters, tries to maintain his sense of self, even as incidents and individuals outside his control push him to react in uncharacteristic or uncomfortable ways. As she opens up Liam's life to the reader, Tyler shows how we can learn about hope, relationships, and happiness, even from someone like her seemingly rudderless protagonist who is trying only to stay afloat, like Noah.

Recommended.

Review: A Voyage Long and Strange (Audio)

A Voyage Long and Strange, by Tony Horwitz. (Digital Audiobook read by John H. Mayer)

Horwitz challenges traditional American teaching on the discovery of America and America’s first European settlements. Using a combination of primary research (e. g., the writings of Columbus) and interviews with modern-day descendants of European settlers and Native Americans, he pokes holes in what we think we know about such touchstones as Plymouth Rock and the first Thanksgiving.

Realizing that he, like most Americans, had little understanding of what happened between Columbus’s “discovery” of America in 1492 and the Pilgrims’ arrival at Plymouth in 1620, he sets out to fill in the blanks. Along the way, he travels from Newfoundland and the early Viking settlements of A.D. 1000; to the earliest (1565) permanent European settlement in the continental U.S. (St. Augustine, Florida); and he follows the trails of the Spanish conquistadors through the American Southwest. He spends a good bit of time focusing on John Smith and the Jamestown settlement, which predates Plymouth and the Pilgrims.

While Horwitz’s writing is wry and filled with amusing stories about the odd characters he meets in his travels, his history of early U.S. settlement is filled with violence, devastating illnesses, disasters, and greed. Horwitz concludes that the inaccurate and whitewashed version of American settlement that we learn about in school is more myth than history, but that we can expect the myths to prevail.

I listened to this title using the downloadable audio service powered by OverDrive, available online at my library, Lackawanna County Library System.

Review: When We Were Romans

When We Were Romans, by Matthew Kneale.
(Nan A. Talese, Doubleday, 2008. ISBN: 0385526253)

I love the title! Nine-year-old narrator Lawrence, his single mother, and his three-year-old sister Jemima become Romans to get away from their stalker dad who lives in Scotland, but who has been harassing them in their London home.

Lawrence has a very tight bond with his mother, and he works hard to keep things on an even keel. He constantly monitors her moods and tries to help her remain positive and happy. She, in turn, confides in him about the scary things his father is capable of, and the two of them grow even closer as they endeavor to keep their secrets from young Jemima.

As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that the family problem may be mom’s, not dad’s, but Lawrence is loyal to the mother he loves, and he believes her whenever she announces that they are in danger from his father.

Lawrence is a bright kid, interested in astronomy and history. He reads a series of “Horrid Histories” that feature “Calamitous Caesars” and “Petrifying Popes.” I can’t confirm that such a series actually exists, but I hope it does! Nine-year-olds everywhere would love it. (Update! A series called "Horrible Histories" does exist. It's published in England. Check out the series website.)

The author does an amazing job of maintaining the perspective of a young boy. The text is filled with misspellings that a child of that age might employ, working more from words he has heard than from words he has read. For example, his mother always refers to her children as “les enfants,” which, in Lawrence’s transcription, becomes “lesonfons.

When the family returns to Scotland to deal once and for all with Lawrence’s father, the reader becomes aware of just what a child is capable of doing to protect his mother and sister. The book takes us on a journey, not just to Rome, but to the edge of sanity. When We Were Romans is filled with issues, relationships, and personalities that will provide book clubs with plenty to discuss.

Awards: Man Booker Prize Nominees

The Man Booker Prize nominees for 2008 have been announced. Here's the list:

The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga
The Secret Scripture, by Sebastian Barry
Sea of Poppies, by Amitav Ghosh
The Clothes on Their Backs, by Linda Grant
The Northern Clemency, by Philip Hensher
A Fraction of the Whole, by Steve Toltz

Looks like I have a lot of reading to do; I haven't read any of these yet!

The Man Booker Prize is awarded to a book written in English by an author from Great Britain, the Commonwealth, or the Republic of Ireland. The Prize is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year.

Audio Book Briefs

I’m a huge fan of downloadable audio, available through my public library. I download titles to my MP3 player and listen in my car or when I walk.

Although I prefer reading to listening, audio books give me an opportunity to listen to things I might not otherwise read – sometimes light and popular titles, sometimes nonfiction I might not take the time to read, and sometimes classics that I might never get around to rereading. My regular commute keeps me on the road quite a bit, so I work my way through a couple of audio books each month.

Here are some books I’ve listened to this summer:

Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout

Olive, a retired high school math teacher, is not a very sympathetic character. She is often rough in her interactions with others, and she appears especially unpleasant in contrast to her husband, loved by everyone in their Maine town. Particularly heartbreaking is her inability to communicate her powerful love for her grown son, as they grow more and more estranged. We learn about Olive through the eyes of her husband and son, her neighbors, and her students, as the author tells stories about their lives. Read by Sandra Burr.

T Is for Trespass, by Sue Grafton

The latest in the alphabetical series about Private Investigator Kinsey Millhone, this book takes on identity theft as its central premise. Even though the plot is rather predictable, Grafton’s main character is always fun to spend some time with. Judy Kaye is the narrator.

Rage, by Jonathan Kellerman

Kellerman’s books are definitely not for the faint of heart. The crimes are always gruesome, and the dialogue between Dr. Alex Delaware and Lt. Milo Sturges can be pretty graphic. John Rubinstein does an excellent job of narration, bringing the two main characters to life.

Middlemarch, by George Eliot

An extraordinary book, beautifully written, funny, and filled with insights about people and relationships, is brought to auditory life by the fine narrator Kate Reading. It takes more than 31 hours to listen to this classic, but it is time enjoyably spent.