Review: Persepolis

Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi.
(Pantheon Books, 2003. ISBN: 0375422307)

One of the most powerful books I've read this year. Presented in a black and white comic strip format, this memoir tells the story of the recent turbulent history of Iran from the perspective of a young girl.

As Marji grows from child to adolescent, the Shah is deposed, the Islamic revolution takes place, and war begins with Iraq. Through it all, the author maintains her connection with her younger self's perspective. A particularly moving sequence juxtaposes the horror of young men becoming "martyrs" as they are killed in devastating numbers with Marji's excitement at being allowed to attend her first party.

Marji's parents are very modern, rather liberal Iranians, living what we might consider to be a lifestyle much like that of a middle class American family. As they react to the restrictions imposed by the new extremist government, to the brutal treatment of friends and family, and to the terror of bombs landing in their street, I was struck by how a life we take for granted can change suddenly and horribly. There but for the grace of God ...

If you haven't read a graphic novel yet, this is a good one to begin with. It is, by turns, gripping, amusing, touching, and horrifying.

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.

Choosing Books

I'm always interested in learning how people go about selecting books, especially people outside my field. We librarians have infinite resources that alert us to titles new and old. Sometimes, though, having such access can discourage me from reading a book I might actually enjoy. For instance, if I see a less than enthusiastic review of a book that initially appeared to be interesting, I usually pass it by and look for something else. Is it wise, though, to rely so heavily on the opinion of one reviewer? After all, if you look hard enough, you can find both good and bad reviews of the very same titles.

Summertime brings out the browser in me. When I'm heading out on vacation, my selections are heavily influenced by reviewer quotes that say something like, "I couldn't put it down." I love the idea of being swallowed up by the writer's world when my own life takes a quiet and lazy turn. One of my vacation books this summer was The Sister, by Poppy Adams, a modern Gothic with odd characters, a creepy old house, and plenty of twists in the storyline.

Come fall, though, I begin to look for the nominees for literary prizes. I print out the lists and use them as the basis for my library reserves for months to come. The National Book Awards, the Pulitzers, PEN/Faulkner, and the genre awards provide hours and hours of great reading. Early in the year, the professional library journals post their lists of notable titles, and they carry me right through the spring!

Review: The Wednesday Sisters

The Wednesday Sisters, by Meg Waite Clayton.
(Ballantine Books, 2008. ISBN: 0345502825)

A group of young mothers meet in a park in Palo Alto in 1968. Over the next few years, they share personal triumphs and tragedies, all while working together to develop their writing skills. Their catalog of woes ranges from infidelity and infertility to cancer.

The characters observe and sometimes participate in the many events that changed the country during those disruptive years. What makes this story different from so many others that focus on that time period is the perspective from which it is told. The young women are wives and mothers, engaged in the traditional roles of supporting their upwardly-mobile husbands and raising their children. Most novels set in the late 1960’s feature characters that are more directly and actively engaged in the political and social upheaval of the time.

A light read with a rather predictable story line, The Wednesday Sisters is nonetheless notable for its reflections on the many changes in the roles of women in society over the last few decades. Younger readers may be surprised to learn about the demonstrations outside the Miss America Pageant and to read about women athletes who were barred from competing in the Boston Marathon.

Women's book discussion books may want to consider this title.

Review: Swim to Me

Swim to Me, by Betsy Carter.
(Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2007, ISBN: 1565124928)

Once upon a time, before Disney World and Universal Studios became defining destinations, visitors to Florida found unusual attractions down every road. One of them was (and still is) Weeki Wachee Springs, featuring a "city of live mermaids." The author's story is an invention that fits snugly into the real history of the site and its performers.

Delores is a girl from the Bronx who loves to swim and who dreams of becoming a Weeki Wachee mermaid. She finds more success than she ever imagined, becoming a weather girl for a local TV station (forecasting from a bathtub in her mermaid tail) and, ultimately, the star of a combination circus/aquatic show. The fairy tale quality of the book is balanced by the back story of her unhappy family life and the breakup of her parents' marriage.

The novel takes place around 1970, and it is full of product and song placements that will make readers of a certain age smile with recollection.

Disney World has just opened as the story comes to its climax, and Walker chooses to focus on the success that Weeki Wachee Springs achieves in putting on a fabulous new show that produces jealousy in Walt Disney himself. Left unspoken is what every reader knows: that Disney's creation will come to dwarf attractions like the one in the book.

An excellent choice for book clubs.

Review: This Must Be the Place

This Must Be the Place, by Anna Winger
(Riverhead Books, 2008, ISBN 978-1-59448-997-6)

The main characters in this "coming of middle age" novel are Walter, once a German TV heartthrob, now the German voice of Tom Cruise, and Hope, an American living not very happily in Berlin with her traveling businessman husband. A third character is the city itself, where past and present live side by side -- modern structures alongside bombed-out lots and once-glamorous buildings.

Walter, at nearly forty, is still trying to reconcile the pieces of his life: an American mother, whom he later learns was Jewish; his German father; his estranged grandparents; his early success on German television; and his failed attempt to make it in Hollywood.

Hope has followed her husband to Berlin after the events of September 11. The novel examines her growing dissatisfaction with her marriage and the loss that has her sleepwalking through her life. Her friendship with Walter grows, as her husband leaves her alone for weeks at a time, while he pursues his business dealings in Poland.

First novelist Winger has a great sense of humor. Hope's husband congratulates himself for building up the economy of Poland by sponsoring late night pay-per-view naked wrestling matches, featuring former Polish prostitutes, on German television. Walter's courtship of Hope is filled with scenes both comic and touching. My favorite quote: "[Walter] felt pleased with himself; he had never dated a woman old enough to remember REO Speedwagon, let alone dislike them."

The book I read was a prepub version. According to the back cover, the novel is due out in August.

Vacation Reading

Tomorrow is my last day at work before two weeks of vacation. I've been storing up books for a while now, and I'm really looking forward to having time to read for hours and hours. I picked up Swim to Me, by Betsy Carter, at the library today to add to the pile. Pre-vacation, I'm still reading This Must Be the Place, by Anna Winger, with an aging German actor who dubs Tom Cruise's lines, and I'm listening to Rage, an Alex Delaware novel, by Jonathan Kellerman. I'll share the vacation stash with you in a future post.