This was a great read about several Filipino women - one who supports her family as a nurse, returning to the Philippines at one point before marryingThis was a great read about several Filipino women - one who supports her family as a nurse, returning to the Philippines at one point before marrying and moving to the United States. The focus eventually turns to Hero, who is a refugee after living as a political prisoner for ten years. She finds home and family in a Filipino community in California and even finds love. The end of the novel, in fact turns into a bit of a romance novel, and possibly the most realistic portrayal of a bisexual woman I have seen in fiction.
I learned a lot about Filipino languages, culture, and history that I didn't know before.
There are a lot of pop culture references inside the novel itself, much of them for Filipino movies, tv shows, and music. If you felt left out or uneducated, you can at least listen to the ...more
My book club is going to be mad at me because I just know I'll be the only one with a "meh" reaction to this book. I was never going to read it becausMy book club is going to be mad at me because I just know I'll be the only one with a "meh" reaction to this book. I was never going to read it because of the fertility storyline, and because it has had so much hype, but I try to read the books for this book club, so what could I do.
I like the multiple storylines, where you don't immediately know what is going on and you have to figure out who is speaking. Usually you can get inside different characters' heads this way, but in this case, while we get to know Yejide pretty well, most points of view only serve to narrate the actions in the novel from different perspectives, but often the motivations or true feelings of those narrators is excluded. This kept me too distant from Akin, Yejide's husband, who makes several decisions in the novel that I never understood and seemed inconsistent with his character.
I have read several novels at this point that take place in Nigeria and feature Yoruba people, so I understand some of the cultural elements - the importance of family, the older generation having more authority, the expectation that wives serve their husbands and in-laws on their knees. I feel like this structure set up the reasons for why Akin would be expected to take a second wife after Yejide does not get pregnant, but then there is some breakdown in this motivation in several other plot points.
(view spoiler)[Akin is too timid to stand up to his parents about taking a second wife (which we learn later on that he never wanted) but he is conniving enough to talk his brother into seducing his wife and to aparently kill his second wife with no remorse or consequences? And Yejide, who sacrifices so much for this belief system, is able to just walk away without knowing if her daughter survives? And the extended family network never lets her know that her daughter is around in 15-20 years? These things didn't really fit for me. They help make the plot work but seem a bit unlikely with the worldview the author already established the characters having. (hide spoiler)]
Apart from the confusion I have over some of the choices, I feel like this book reads largely like tragedy porn. Maybe I've just had too much tragedy. After all, I did not knock A Little Life for it and it is like the epitome of this genre. But maybe I've reached a saturation point or maybe the pacing of the tragedies in this book just feel so overwhelming that instead of feeling moved or sympathetic, I was tipped over into disbelief.
I know I am not the mainstream opinion on this one. I suspect book club discussion will be a good one. (Will they kick me out if I am not in love with books everyone else likes?)...more
Despite my personal dislike of quirky old person narratives, I really found myself enjoying this novel. Herra Bjornsson lives in a garage where she isDespite my personal dislike of quirky old person narratives, I really found myself enjoying this novel. Herra Bjornsson lives in a garage where she is dying from emphysema, and is thinking back on her life. And what a life! She came of age in Iceland during World War II. I had never stopped to think about Iceland during World War II, and the book gave me the occasion to do so. Technically Iceland was ruled by Denmark at the time, but Denmark was invaded by Germany while the island of Iceland was occupied by the British. And in 1944, Iceland declared its independence in the midst of the worldwide chaos.
So what do you do if you are a young Icelandic girl whose father fights for the Nazis? Herra moves with her mother to the Danish island of Amrum where hundreds of people are taking shelter from the war, until they are forced to relocate. At that point she is sent to live with a family who is supposed to only take her in for a few months. But when her mother doesn't make the rendezvous point and Herra's father goes back to the front, she is forced as a young teen to attempt to survive on her own, taking her through areas of Denmark, Poland, and Germany. When she returns to Iceland, her father is ostracized and she can't forgive her mother, while her grandparents (the president of Iceland) have war-forgetting cocktail parties for the new wealthy class that profited from the war.
Between the chapters of this history are chapters from the "present day," which in this novel is 2009. Herra is bedridden but she has internet access and spends much of her time trolling people on the internet, including her daughter-in-law. One of her neighbors teaches her how to be a low-key hacker and this leads to other shenanigans.
The reference to 1,000 degrees is the temperature at which a body is burned for cremation, and one memorable scene has Herra making her own appointment at the crematorium.
I think without the balancing of the feisty old person Herra, the story may have seemed overly melodramatic. It did add a lot to the story to know where she ended up. And it isn't glamorous!
There is even more here - commentary on the Icelandic people, the discomfort of representing the great white ideal because of Hitler (her father was a professor of myth/history ... the line gets a bit blurred by the Nazis of course), the reactions of normal people to war and other atrocities, survival, and even sexual awakening (this last one makes me consider whether or not this is mild enough for a book club recommendation.)
There is enough humor to balance the stark realities, and Herra is probably the most kickass invalid you will ever encounter. I enjoyed it far more than I expected, and will seek out additional books by the author, someone who somehow escaped me in my year of reading Iceland. Shame!
Thanks to the publisher for providing early access to this title via NetGalley. The book comes out January 9, 2018....more
Jonathan, at 19, is the narrator of this novel, told in letters written to his friend Laith from military prison in Israel.
This novel is about the onJonathan, at 19, is the narrator of this novel, told in letters written to his friend Laith from military prison in Israel.
This novel is about the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine, but on a much more personal level. It is about family and family history, and how that molds our path. It is about friendship and the barriers that arise, how far intimacy can go when it confronts your identity. I found it overall to be just a bit too long, but enjoyed the read.
Jonathan moved with his family to Israel, where he is getting ready to join the military. In his younger years he befriends Palestinian twins, after his mother meets their mother at a protest.
Jonathan is Jewish, and is finding his identity inside Israel where he is the majority, an experience he hadn't had in the United States. His new friendships are tenuous, and he instinctively hides his friendship with Laith and Nimreem from his Israeli-Jewish friends. (Laith and Nimreem, coincidentally, also consider themselves to be Israeli but have to endure far more curfews and checkpoints than Jonathan does.)
At one point he goes to Greece to explore his family's roots, and he uncovers still-present racism, hatred, and learns more about the deaths of his family members, and the destruction of their lives there. This is a part of who he is and why he wants to be in the military, but there is a bit of idealism in his sense of duty, of military service. Nimreem knows this and confronts him in various ways, from yelling to poetry (the work of Mahmoud Darwish is important in this novel, and the title comes from one of his poems), but it takes him more time and experience to understand what she is trying to say.
Thanks to the publisher for providing access to this title through NetGalley....more
This is a lovely little story about what gives life meaning, but it reads as heartfelt instead of didactic or cheesy. It stems from the author's experThis is a lovely little story about what gives life meaning, but it reads as heartfelt instead of didactic or cheesy. It stems from the author's experience of the Japanese sensibility that meaning comes from contributing to society, and wanting to explore other understandings of the meaning of life. The narrative manages to start with a focus on dorayaki (pancakes with sweet bean paste) and shift to a focus on leprosy communes, but it works. Only a few characters, with time to develop meaningful relationships, to allow them to connect and grow. Definitely recommended for anyone who enjoys stories about small but meaningful lives, well told.
I requested this book in Edelweiss based on the title and description, but now see there is a movie in the original language. ...more
When Lauren W. came on the Reading Envy Podcast as a guest for , she brought this book to talk about. It wasn't long before I had to try itWhen Lauren W. came on the Reading Envy Podcast as a guest for , she brought this book to talk about. It wasn't long before I had to try it, and I'm so glad I did.
How did this book pass me by? It is a novel about three women, all related, trying to make their way in a small community in Jamaica. Delores is the mother and matriarch, working hard to make what money she can, completely dependent on the waves of tourists coming through. Margot, her older daughter, appears to work in the service industry for one of the top hotels, but as the story unveils the truth, you learn that she has been selling herself for money, and has been doing so within the context of her employment. She is saving her money for her younger sister, so Thandi can go to school, become a doctor, and escape this very hard life. But Thandi is more focused on a skin-lightening regimen and working on her art. Because she goes to private Catholic school with students who are above her neighborhood's income level, she walks a confusing line between poverty and privilege.
There are other things going on. The sex worker industry seems to be part of the hidden world of the most successful hotels and resorts, and Margot may not be able to work her way out of that the way she thinks. Not only that, a new resort is poised to move in on the land where her entire community lives, and she may play a role in displacing them. Margot is also in love, and with a woman who has already been shunned by the community, since being gay in Jamaica is still very much against the law and a punishable offense. Her neighbors call her a witch and children are afraid of her. The character of Delores ends up having more secrets than anyone, and I was so impressed by how that story was told, and also how she is pretty much unapologetic for what she has done. What choices do the women in this story have?
It is a very well written story, and asks the reader to confront their own role in these issues. I have visited some of these places mentioned in the book, and feel like I have met a Delores and not bought any of her goods. It raises the need for conscious travel, understanding whether your hotel pays local workers ethically, and whether they turn a blind eye to (or profit from) the trafficking of women and sex.
I listened to the audio based on Lauren's recommendation and was quite pleased at the nuance and performance of the narrator, Bahni Turpin. I will be looking for more of her performances for sure....more
Jenny (Reading Envy)
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