A couple are taking a train to Warsaw in the winter. In their conversation with each other we learn that the husband is an author and they are going fA couple are taking a train to Warsaw in the winter. In their conversation with each other we learn that the husband is an author and they are going from London so that the husband can do a reading. They are late middle aged Jews who are returning to Warsaw for the first time since they escaped the ghetto during WW II, "nearly forty years" earlier. They reminisce. "We went sledding in the Saxony Gardens." They bicker. He says to her "Did I not tell you I wouldn't go back? But you nagged me and nagged me." But then he says fondly "You still look good. You still look Polish. Give me your hand, darling."
In the course of their trip and time in Warsaw they go back and forth between the present and the past and the reader learns more and more details about the ghetto and how people suffered and some, like this couple, ultimately survived. But there's no "moving on" from the horrors they saw and experienced.
In our world today different horrors are happening, this time in the Middle East and today, especially, the destruction of Aleppo, a great and ancient city in Syria. The horrors of war are almost beyond imagining and 50 years from now the survivors will likewise reminisce. They may survive and "move on" but they will not be undamaged. "The Train to Warsaw" is set in the past but the human suffering reminds us that it is ongoing and will continue. I think that's why this novel touched me so much....more
Why is a woman "unnecessary"? Because she lives in the Middle East (Beirut), has no husband, and lives alone. Who needs her? The reader needs her but Why is a woman "unnecessary"? Because she lives in the Middle East (Beirut), has no husband, and lives alone. Who needs her? The reader needs her but in her social milieu Aaliya has no social place, except what she makes for herself. She worked in a bookstore, loved to read, and made it her own life's work to translate world literature into Arabic. But she never published anything. She would start a translation on Jan 1 of each year and when finished, put the pages in a box and never look at it again.
The reader is treated to thoughtful ruminations on books and learns also about a slice of Beiruti social life and how to live through a civil war.
I can't improve on the selections from reviews on the book cover. Here are a few:
"With 'An Unnecessary Woman', Rabih Alameddine has accomplished something astonishing: a novel that is at once expansive and intimate, quiet and full of feeling." Daniel Alarcon
"Aaliya reminds us that storehouses of culture, of literature, of memory, are very fragile things indeed." Rachel Kushner
"...this fiercely original act of creation is the sky of Beirut throwing down a light that is both comic and tragic, alert to its own history and to its mythology, guarding over human frailty and the idea of the written word with love and wit and understanding and a rare sort of wisdom." Colm Toibin...more
Never too soon or too late to read a book about about books and reading and American anti-intellectualism and fear of knowledge and understanding....
FNever too soon or too late to read a book about about books and reading and American anti-intellectualism and fear of knowledge and understanding....
First published in 1953 in the middle of the Sen. Joe McCarthy era of panic about COMMUNISM! "Fahrenheit 451" has not lost its relevance. Wide swaths of America still believe in the dangers of thought and knowledge. The state of Texas severely restricts what books may be used as textbooks in public schools, just for one example. And if in the 1950's mindless television was so popular that many worried it would rot the public's mind, in 2015 we have a huge choice of media with much the same result that millions are so focused on entertainment and staring at their screens that conversation is often difficult and people walking down the street may step into traffic or bump into others because their attention is elsewhere.
As I started to read the whole setting seemed dated to my youth, but by the end I understood that the disconnect from reality and the unwillingness to THINK or to seek knowledge are still rampant in the US. My edition was published in 2008....more
I'm surprised that this book doesn't have 5 stars from most readers. It has been on prominent display in the Harvard Coop Bookstore in Cambridge MA foI'm surprised that this book doesn't have 5 stars from most readers. It has been on prominent display in the Harvard Coop Bookstore in Cambridge MA for a few years. Obviously, it has its fans. I finally picked up a copy of this small book to take to read on an international trip and enjoyed it intensely.
A man, George Washington Crosby, lies dying in current time. So its about the end of life, in part. After a few pages a paragraph begins, "Nearly seventy years before George died, his father Howard Aaron Crosby drove a wagon for his wagon." Hence "Tinkers."
The tale moves back and forth in time - from late 20th century Massachusetts to mid 19th century rural Maine. Reflections on human life, American history, fixing grandfather clocks, the history of time telling and on and on. 190 pages. Intense, elegaic, heart warming, how to die....
I was fascinated by this story. I got so engrossed that I forgot that part of the end was revealed at the beginning.
Having been a Peace Corps volunteeI was fascinated by this story. I got so engrossed that I forgot that part of the end was revealed at the beginning.
Having been a Peace Corps volunteer English teacher, 1964-66, in a "place near the Euphrates (specifically, Adiyaman, just north of the river as Urfa is just south of it) the local Kurdish village environment was familiar. Adiyaman and Urfa are towns (now very large) but the outlying villages were all Kurdish speaking and very poor in the 1960's. I'm not so familiar with London, actually, but I knew Turks who were living and working in Germany in 1971.
The story of the complex relationships among the family members and the stresses and opportunities afforded the children of a generation which grew up in a very limited and utterly different social environment rang true. The family could have settled just in Istanbul and have had a similar experience.
It's not clear to me whether Shafak writes in English or whether she always writes in Turkish and the novels are translated. I fault the publishers for not making this clear. I have the same uncertainty in my own mind about "The Forty Rules of Love" which I also read recently....more
As the cover of my edition says "A Novel of Rumi." A little background may be in order. Rumi is a mystic poet who lived in Konya, Turkey in the 13th cAs the cover of my edition says "A Novel of Rumi." A little background may be in order. Rumi is a mystic poet who lived in Konya, Turkey in the 13th century. His family were refugees from Balkh (now in Afghanistan) who fled west from the Mongols. Rumi wrote in Persian, so Persians also claim him as one of their own. In fact, I heard an American professor who had taught in Iran that his Iranian students were incredulous that Rumi lived his life in Turkey. The other real personage in the novel is Shams of Tabriz (in what is now northwestern Iran) a wandering dervish who wandered into and out of the life of Rumi and who apparently influenced Rumi so profoundly that he turned from being an ordinary, if very popular cleric, into a mystic famous for his poetry and also as the originator of "whirling."
"The Forty Rules of Love" is a novel set in 14th century Konya and 21st century Northampton, MA. It took me a bit to get into it but it was on my shelf, indeed I heard Safak talk several years ago and I have a signed copy, and it was recommended by a friend.
I can do no better by way of description than to quote from the blurb on the back of my copy. "This lyrical, imaginative novel…unfolds in two parallel narratives. In the thirteenth century, the Sufi poet Rumi encounters his spiritual mentor, the infamous wandering dervish known as Shams of Tabriz, and is transformed from a successful but unhappy cleric into a committed mystic and advocate of love. In present day Massachusetts an unhappy [I would say discontented] (long-married mother of three)…inspired by Rumi's message of love, finds the courage to undertake her own transformation. Blending East and West, past and present, Shafak provides a compelling, dramatic, and exuberant account of how love works in the world."
I notice that the GoodReads list gives a Turkish title "As(hk" as the original title, but the copy I have has no indication of a translator, so Safak, who is fluent in English and even taught for a while at a couple of universities in the US may have herself written both an English version and a Turkish one....more
Kent Haruf was (died 2014) a writer with a magical touch of making very plain and straightforward stories about ordinary residents of the fictional toKent Haruf was (died 2014) a writer with a magical touch of making very plain and straightforward stories about ordinary residents of the fictional town Holt, Colorado into quiet prose poetry.
Holt is out on the plains of eastern Colorado, which hardly exists in the imagination of most of us, who think of mountains, but is about a third of the area.
The bachelor McPherhon brothers take in a pregnant high school student and then see her off to Colorado State University, but they form a continuing family unit. Other characters are quietly heroic. Still others have dysfunctional lives, and may live in trailers.
Haruf writes sympathetically of all the characters without any hint of patronization, criticism, or philosophizing.
Simple to read but you won't forget the hospital, the school, the social service office and the troubled souls and those who reach out and aim to do their best....more
Caleb is a Native American from what we now call Martha's Vineyard. The title character is based on a real person who graduated from Harvard College sCaleb is a Native American from what we now call Martha's Vineyard. The title character is based on a real person who graduated from Harvard College sometime in the 17th century. He was the first Native American to do so and, I must add, not the first of very many. His name was Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk. But the novel is otherwise a work of fiction. Opposite the Author's Note is a facsimile of a letter in Latin that the historical Caleb wrote to his benefactors in England who funded his education. Brooks writes "Caleb discusses the myth of Orpheus as it relates to his own experience of crossing between two very different cultures."
In the 1660's there was a small settlement of English Puritans on Martha's Vineyard. Bethia Mayfield is the daughter of Puritan minister. He and his congregation have chosen to live on The Great Island to be beyond the easy reach of "Winthrop's governance." Life is hard and bleak and the little community survives in part because it befriends and tries to educate some of the native residents. Her father learns some of the language, and Bethia, who is very smart, learns some too. Although her older brother gets the only formal education in the family Bethia teaches herself also.
One day when she is about 12 she is sent by horseback to the further side of the island to gather clams. There are some local youths on the dunes nearby. Bethia is curious about them but tries to stay hidden. It is there she first meets Caleb and says enough in Wampanoag that they eventually become friends. She rides to meet him whenever she can.
It's a long and complicated tale with the deaths of both of Bethia's parents - first her mother in childbirth and her father by drowning at sea. Eventually, her grandfather has to send both her and her brother to Cambridge -Bethia into domestic service so her brother, an indifferent student can go to school. So she is in Cambridge while Caleb is at Harvard.
Brooks did a great deal of research for this novel and scenes feel so real and intense the reader imagines the novel was even written in the 17th century - the physical conditions, the social conditions, the human interactions.
It's a tough and sad story, but compellingly told. I loved it....more
Wallender, in about 60 years old in this book, is an oddly compelling character - from the reader's pointAnother first-rate book about Kurt Wallender.
Wallender, in about 60 years old in this book, is an oddly compelling character - from the reader's point of view often bumbling and getting in his own way at the same time endearing and amazing with his doggedness and insight.
Who is the "troubled man"? Wallender? or his daughter's father-in-law, who disappears?
The story includes espionage, dark sides of Swedish politics, the assassination of Olaf Palme, the Cold War, submarines�....more
The first Mankell I read. He's a very engaging writer, so I read several others. Mystery is a limiting category. It's about humanity.The first Mankell I read. He's a very engaging writer, so I read several others. Mystery is a limiting category. It's about humanity....more
This is a dark story about the early days of the AIDS epidemic, set in Mozambique. The main character, Louise, is a Swedish archaeologist who works inThis is a dark story about the early days of the AIDS epidemic, set in Mozambique. The main character, Louise, is a Swedish archaeologist who works in Greece. She goes home to Sweden to give an academic paper and to visit her only child, Henrik, a young man in his 20's, only to find him dead in his bed. The cause of death is uncertain. Louise, the mother, is convinced he must have been murdered, but eventually the police say the cause of death is an overdose of barbiturates. Louise is frantic, incredulous.
The story unfolds in a complex way - back and forth to Sweden to visit her father, Artur, who lives up north. Her mother was dead. She searches for Henrik's father, Aron, who left her many years ago. She finds him in Australia. She thinks about her life in Greece. She and Aron search Aron's computer files and find a completely unexpected connection of Henrik to Barcelona. They fly off to Spain together.
Henrik had a girlfriend in Sweden who provides some clues. Louise and Aron learn more in Barcelona. Aron disappears completely. Louise flies off to Mozambique to follow the trail.
Another woman. The story is very tense and Louise is personally frantic in a search for Henrik's life. Characters appear and disappear. Nothing is certain. Everything is frightening. Kennedy's brain? A clue from Henrik's computer files - an interest in John F. Kennedy's brain. What??? Why???
It's a gripping tale. The underlying theme of AIDS in the early days, the connection to Africa. Fear.
As I read, I kept thinking of the Ebola epidemic now wreaking havoc in W. Africa and spreading fear far and wide in the US, and probably Europe too. The Dark Continent. Disease, death, corruption, untrustworthy characters.
I'm just discovering Mankell. A masterful spinner of tales and a keen observer of character and place. ...more
I was moved to buy this book because of the recent "Marathon" bombing in Boston, April 15 2013. I was already aware of this story. I have it also in aI was moved to buy this book because of the recent "Marathon" bombing in Boston, April 15 2013. I was already aware of this story. I have it also in a collection of Tolstoy's short fiction. I think it was also mentioned in reference to a movie about 10 years ago "Prisoner of the Mountains." I had the mistaken impression that the movie was made from the Tolstoy story. Apparently not, but the movie is also set in the Caucasus in the late 19th century and is about conflict between the imperial Russians and the oppositional Muslims living in the mountains.
"Hadji Murad" is Tolstoy's last work, written after 1900 and not published in his lifetime. It is based on his own experience as a soldier in the Russian army fighting the Chechens in 1851. And I think also that it was based on true events. On the back of this edition is this text. "In 1851 Leo Tolstoy enlisted in the Russian army and was sent to the Caucasus to help defeat the Chechens. [In the long run, we know, the Chechens were not defeated viz furious war in Grozny 1999-2000 leading to the devastation of the city by the Russians.] During this (19th century) war a great Avar chieftain, Hadji Murad, broke with the Chechen leader Shamil and fled to the Russians for safety....Tolstoy, witness to many of the events leading to Hadji Murad's death, set down this story with painstaking accuracy to preserve for future generations the horror, nobility, and destruction inherent in war."
As we know, human beings never learn permanently about war. This story ties into the recent bombing in Boston by the Tsarnaev brothers. Before WW II Stalin removed most of the Chechens from the Caucasus and sent them to Central Asia, especially Kazahstan and Kyrygyzstan. The Tsarnaevs ended up in Krygyzstan, where Dzohkar was born. So the biggest background of what happened in Boston is long-standing.
"Hadji Murad" doesn't illuminate directly the most recent events but does provide a long background. And of course, being a work by Leo Tolstoy it stands on its own two feet as great literature....more
This is a rich and wonderful book. I was hooked by its starting out in Sarajevo just after the shelling stopped, during the break-up of Yugoslavia in This is a rich and wonderful book. I was hooked by its starting out in Sarajevo just after the shelling stopped, during the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990's. I paid a lot of attention to it at the time, was aware that the library itself was under siege and horrified that the world stood by for so long, doing nothing. Sylvia Poggioli, the NPR reporter, is a childhood friend of my current husband's but I think I was transfixed by her reporting before I even knew that. Further, I know someone who has professional connections with the library, and I had already read a novel about life under the shelling- "A Cellist in Sarajevo." Geraldine Books, herself, was a reporter there during this period.
The novel moves back and forth in time and space. The book restorer is introduced right away in the first section, is from Australia. Then we go to some of what happened in Bosnia and later Yugoslavia during WW II. Where did the book - an illuminated Haggadah come from. It's a mystery story and a history story.
I was familiar with many of the venues - I was in Mostar, Yugoslavia in 1966 - sadly, missed Sarajevo. But there's Vienna, and London, and Muslim Spain and even Cambridge and Brookline MA.
If you like history and complicated stories and unusual locations and interesting characters you should enjoy this book. Great maps in the endpapers of the hardback edition but none in the paperback....more
A gripping story. I could hardly stand to read the last chapter so uncertain was I how it was going to turn out and who would survive and who were theA gripping story. I could hardly stand to read the last chapter so uncertain was I how it was going to turn out and who would survive and who were the good guys and who the bad ones....And even so, it wasn't clear in the end.
I picked it up in the first place because the title with the 'I' in Istanbul dotted, as it is in Turkish, and the evocative cover photo by the famous Turkish photographer Ara Guler just made it irresistible to someone who lived in Turkey - not in Istanbul - in the 1960's.
And when I started to read it I saw at once that it was set in real places and the inside covers had correct maps of Istanbul - would that history books would do the same!!!
There are seven sections, each with a place name - Bebek, Laleli, Pera, Kanlica, Uskudar, Buyudada, Galata Bridge. Real hotels, not only the Pera Palas, which still exists, and the Park Hotel that disappeared in the 1970's I think. Has a real flavor of Turkey from the geography to the people.
The story is set in late winter, must have been 1946, in the aftermath of WW II. The American Consulate beginning to send staff home, but the aftermath of the war everywhere. Jewish refugees stuck on ships hoping to get to Palestine (Israel not yet founded), Rumanian Jews and other escapees from the postwar chaos, Russians, Turkish Security (Emniyet), Americans doing business above and below board,Turkey beginning to position itself vis a vis its central location between northern and southern Europe, murders, etc etc.
Although I'm not otherwise a fan of spy stories this held my attention on every page. And like a spy movie, even at the end one isn't sure who was on which side when....more
I've had my eye on this for a few years - probably because my son's name is Jeff. Then there's Venice and the play on "Death in Venice."
I wouldn't sayI've had my eye on this for a few years - probably because my son's name is Jeff. Then there's Venice and the play on "Death in Venice."
I wouldn't say it's a great novel but I enjoyed reading it. I've been to Venice 4 times and it's such a memorable place that even without a map at hand I could follow the local place names.
It's like two separate novels but the second is informed by Jeff's experience in Venice. He's not named in "Death in Varanasi" but it's clearly the same character - a slightly out of sorts journalist from London. I haven't been to India but have read enough and seen enough movies to have an idea of how it looks in general and Varanasi in particular. We're carried along as our protagonist goes through several personal transformations as he experiences the enthralling complexity and chaos that is India from beggars to traffic that doesn't move but gets you to your destination and from garbage to enlightenment.
p. 189 "If there is one thing the great monotheisms have in common, it's the lack of a sense of humor. Is there a single joke in the Bible or the Qu'ran? Hinduism, I saw now, was a joke, but it was not just a joke; it was completely ridiculous. And it didn't stop there. It did away with the idea of the ridiculous by turning it into an entire cosmology! I didn't know if this was true about Hinduism, but here in this Hindu temple, the notion of the ridiculous became suddenly sublime."...more
I read this book yesterday after I posted my review of Matar's "Anatomy of a Disappearance." And that I had come to because Matar appeared on UP with I read this book yesterday after I posted my review of Matar's "Anatomy of a Disappearance." And that I had come to because Matar appeared on UP with Chris Hayes last spring when our military action against Libya was all in the news. He came to Harvard for a book talk at the Middle East Center shortly thereafter and I bought his book and he signed it.
After posting my review yesterday I also read comments about "In the Country of Men." I'm vacationing on an island in Maine and went to the small library yesterday to read. I thought to check the shelves for Matar and found the book and read it between then and when I went to bed.
It's a different version of the same story - a young preadolescent boy, a depressed mother, and a father involved in Libyan politics. This one is set in Tripoli itself, although the protagonist eventually moves to Cairo. The father in this novel was involved in Libyan politics shortly after Qaddafi took power, so it's set in a context of arrests of dissidents and executions. Whereas "Anatomy of a Disappearance" is a complex story of political exile and a cosmopolitan world from Cairo to Geneva to London and back, this novel is set in a traditional Islamic/Middle Eastern context which includes the role of women, arranged marriages, neighborhood life, relationships among boys, neighborhood gossip and so on.
What will Matar write next? Will he continue on this general theme or will there be more about London, where Matar lives, NYC where he teaches...?
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