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Post by sprite on Jul 11, 2021 15:54:16 GMT -5
Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee
It covered Korean history from interwar to the mid-80s, through the life of a young Korean woman who moves with her new husband to Japan. SHe's pregnant with a married man's child, but her new husband doesn't mind, and they do have a good marriage.
It focusses on the discriminations Koreans face in Japan, the effect of being stateless, the curious state of children who are the second generation of their family to be born in a country but still at risk of being deported to a place where they barely speak the language.
It also looks at the different roles for women, as both the Koreans and Japanese struggle with the idea that a woman is born to serve and suffer.
Curiously, she does this mostly through the changes in the ways the male characters interact with and react to the different women in the story.
Highly recommend. I stayed up way too late several times reading this!
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Post by scrubb on Jul 12, 2021 19:15:26 GMT -5
I just finished "Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery" by Henry Marsh. The author is a neurological surgeon. Most of his work is related to brain tumours.
The book affected me more than anything I've read for some time. I have a "manageable" but incurable cancer and while I'm currently in a strong, long-lasting remission, I know that my cancer will recur and eventually (maybe not for 20 years) kill me, unless a cure is found in the not too distant future.
Henry Marsh's book is about neurology and the horrors of brain tumours, not about my kind of cancer. But much of what he discusses is universal - it's about how people face a terminal prognosis; it's about how hospitals treat patients; it's about how doctors interact with, and feel about, their patients. it has made me think about my prognosis again, from a new perspective. It's not entirely positive or entirely negative but it feels profound.
It's a very honest book. Dr. Marsh admits that he's arrogant, short tempered, and often unlikeable. At the same time, it's clear that he establishes bonds with his patients, castigates himself for his failures more than anyone else ever could, and has learned some wisdom with his years of experience. He continues to have no patience or even tolerance for beaurocracy and middle-managers, to the point that he's horribly rude. But it's clear that he is a patient advocate, who resents changes and requirements that he feels are pointless and/or damage the patients' experience. While he suffers some from remembering the past too fondly, he does at least occasionally recognize that there have been some improvements in health and safety that make sense and improve things overall.
It's an excellent book, regardless of whether or not the author is likeable.
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Post by lillielangtry on Jul 13, 2021 0:32:43 GMT -5
THanks for the review, scrubb. That sounds like a really strong read. (44) Tara Westover, Educated Ah, bit late to the party here, huh? I'm sure lots of you have read this, it was huge a couple of years ago. I took it off my mum's shelf. So it's the memoir of Westover, who was brought up in a Mormon survivalist family in rural Idaho with a father who seems to have a serious mental condition (obviously undiagnosed, as he won't go to a doctor for any reason). She never goes to school until she decides as a teen that she wants to study at university, teaches herself to pass the entrance exam, and ultimately ends up with a PhD from Cambridge. It's a fascinating and beautifully written piece, although I found the descriptions of the horrific injuries various people suffer (without medical assistance) very difficult to read. I also found how she explores the difficulty of cutting yourself off from your abusive family - leaving them, and then going back and falling into those patterns, and then leaving again - very moving. This was hyped for a reason. (45) Peace Adzo Medie, His Only Wife This novel is from Ghana and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. It's about a young woman whose family arrange a marriage with a man from a very rich family. Awkwardly, he already has a relationship with another woman, but the family don't approve of that match. So basically the whole book is will-he, won't-he actually come and live with his bride in the face of huge pressure from both their extended families. It's very interesting on themes of love versus familial obligation, material gain, etc, but I'm just not sure how it left me feeling. (Also I should add there are various novels from Africa dealing with polygamy from the woman's point of view, notably The First Wife by Paulina Chiziane and it's mentioned in So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba, and I'm sure there are others) |
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Post by Oweena on Jul 13, 2021 8:09:22 GMT -5
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
This book is getting a lot of hype right now and it was a quick pick at the library. I'm not really a mystery/thriller reader, and I'm not sure this book really fits that descriptor but I feel like the book world is constantly on the lookout for the next Gone Girl-type book and has settled on this one for the summer season.
I'll admit the writing sucked me in after the first few chapters but at chapter 13 I'd figured out the supposed big twist so it was just a matter of how it would be revealed at the end, which I found completely implausible.
This book was a better "summer read" than that lame-ass 28 Summers I suffered through last week.
Heading back to the comfort of non-fiction now...
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Post by scrubb on Jul 13, 2021 19:59:16 GMT -5
(44) Tara Westover, Educated This was hyped for a reason. I appreciate the review - everyone who recommended it to me when it was so big was someone whose taste in books was unknown to me, so I've whiffled on whether or not to bother reading it. |
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Jul 14, 2021 20:17:12 GMT -5
45. War Brides, Helen Bryan. A fictional account of five women from diverse backgrounds who met and became friends in an English village during World War II, and their reunion 50 years later. The war changed many things in all of their lives. One was a Jewish refugee, and the book covers some of the dreadful things they endured. Each married, hence the title.
My reading has slowed down since my visitor arrived, fewer audiobooks, as I have a passenger when I’m driving anywhere, and for the first week, especially, I was out shopping when I’d normally be reading.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Jul 15, 2021 2:53:31 GMT -5
Managed to finish another one today. This was an audiobook I have been listening to on my few solo trips by car recently.
46. Brené Brown, Braving the Wilderness. I’ve heard her name mentioned recently, but this was the first time I had heard her (she narrates her own book). Definitely worthwhile for me, about authenticity and belonging.
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Post by scrubb on Jul 15, 2021 20:23:39 GMT -5
Last night I finished another Bookbub special. "Nikolai Delov" by James Dante. it was ok but not really recommended. I couldn't tell if the author was trying to write an action/adventure book or "literature". It's closer to the first but not particularly well done. The first 3rd is expository backstory stuff and he just writes "Then he did this. Then this happened. Then they did that". It got better after that, but his efforts to be literary are pretty laughable. As in, I laughed out loud when the characters are making out and one of them "treated her ear like a layered dessert". WTF??
That said, it was set in modern Russia and was about trying to make it in the modern economy, dealing with corruption, etc., which was kind of interesting. EXcept I know the author isn't Russian so he was really guessing at what it would be like.
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Post by lillielangtry on Jul 15, 2021 23:49:53 GMT -5
lol scrubb that sounds pretty bad! And yet I see on Goodreads you're the first person not to give it 5 stars. Shall we assume the others are the author's family and friends?! |
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Jul 16, 2021 3:35:15 GMT -5
lol scrubb that sounds pretty bad! And yet I see on Goodreads you're the first person not to give it 5 stars. Shall we assume the others are the author's family and friends?! I do wonder some times at the number of 5-star ratings given to some pretty ordinary books! |
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 16, 2021 5:13:38 GMT -5
I lol'd at the layered dessert. He stuck a fork in her ear and bit off a piece of it?
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Post by scrubb on Jul 16, 2021 21:56:09 GMT -5
lol scrubb that sounds pretty bad! And yet I see on Goodreads you're the first person not to give it 5 stars. Shall we assume the others are the author's family and friends?! Yeah, I came to the same conclusion! My cousin wrote a YA sci-fi, futuristic trilogy. I thought the first one was ok, the middle one quite good, and the final one pretty terrible. But I realized I had to give them all 5 stars, or have a lot of relatives never speak to me again. |
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 17, 2021 5:39:20 GMT -5
This is why I get most of my book ideas from the Guardian and the New York Times...
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Post by Queen on Jul 17, 2021 16:47:14 GMT -5
Agnes Grey
Anne Bronte
I've promised myself to read one classic, pre-1900 book each year to make up for not doing an arts degree and this was this year's.
It's rather meh, and very moralising.
Not enough wit or good writing to redeem it. IMHO
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Post by Queen on Jul 17, 2021 16:47:42 GMT -5
"treated her ear like a layered dessert". WTF?? I suspect he means licked it, but yuck. I hate people doing things to my ears so I think I'd be the one reaching for the fork... |
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Post by scrubb on Jul 17, 2021 16:52:31 GMT -5
I found the whole quote: "She closed her blue eyes, and he pulled her mouth to his and tasted the place where her thoughts formed the words that stirred him. They embraced as he treated her right ear as a layered dessert".  |
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Post by sprite on Jul 18, 2021 14:18:05 GMT -5
Too many 'as' in one sentence.
wasnt' Agnes Grey the one that treats Belgians as rather stupid?
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Post by sprite on Jul 18, 2021 14:40:29 GMT -5
Ah, no. it's the governess one.
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Post by tzarine on Jul 18, 2021 15:21:21 GMT -5
edith hamilton's version of the trojan war
a rollicking tragic tale
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Post by Oweena on Jul 21, 2021 8:10:14 GMT -5
The Ratline: The Exalted Life and Mysterious Death of a Nazi Fugitive by Sands, Philippe
Tracks the story of an Austrian Nazi (Otto Wachter) through his career rising through the ranks and his years spent hiding out after the war.
What makes this a bit different from other 'these were horrible human beings but I'll write a book' is the chapters are interspersed with current day discussions with the man's son who insists his father did nothing wrong and how the author goes about showing the son how his father was complicit.
The book is based off of the extensive correspondence between Wachter and his wife over 20 plus years.
It stretched out the mystery of how Wachter finally died and the irrefutable proof of Wachter's involvement way too long.
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Post by Queen on Jul 22, 2021 6:47:03 GMT -5
The Man in the Brown Suit
Agatha Christie
It's a very early novel, 1924, there's some problematic language (part of it is set in South Africa...) the construction is a bit messy, but it's redeemed by some keen observational writing based on AC's own travels.
Fun to read. Will look for the movie version.
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Post by sophie on Jul 22, 2021 8:26:24 GMT -5
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. A romp through some fantasy, some comedy and some drama.. an enjoyable read. Apparently being made into a series on prime video.. will be interesting!
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Post by scrubb on Jul 24, 2021 20:00:35 GMT -5
The Assassin's Song, by M.G. Vassangi. He's originally of Indian descent, born in Tanzania, now lives in Canada. His background is interesting, as he's a theoretical nuclear physicist as well as a writer and lover of literature.
The story follows a boy, then man, from Gujarat whose father is a "Sahib" - an avatar of a god - and he is expected to be the successor. The chapters go back to the 1200s and 1300s to tell the tale of the wandering Sufi who established the shrine where they live (and was the first god there, I guess).
The young man doesn't want to be a god. The story is set against Indian history, with partition, Gandhi, various riots, etc. It's a coming of age story with a bit of a difference in that while many people may struggle to choose between what their family wants and what they want, most families don't want their children to become gods.
It was quite good - I enjoyed it - but did feel that it could have been a little smoother. The old stories from the 1200s didn't really add as much as they could have. But overall, well worth reading.
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Post by Oweena on Jul 25, 2021 9:07:35 GMT -5
To the Friend Who Did Not Save My Life By Hervé Guibert translated by Linda Coverdale
Guibert was a French actor and photographer.
First published in 1990 the book recounts the authors diagnosis of AIDS.
The first part describes his mentors death from the disease. The second half is focused on Herve's quest for a cure for himself and one of his lovers.
It's unflinching in describing the fear, phobia, and discrimination of the 1980s when AIDS was the gay cancer.
One character is his American friend (high up in a pharmaceutical company) who dangles the hope of a vaccine in front of Herve, but never delivers.
It's a devastating look at how AIDS was viewed back then and made me remember the hysteria of the time.
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Post by sophie on Jul 25, 2021 9:31:06 GMT -5
All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny. Another book in the Inspector Gamache series, but set in Paris for a change rather than in Quebec. I like this series: drama, suspense and interesting characters. This one is a bit better than the last couple, imho. Deals with a big multinational company and some shoddy practices being hidden with international ramifications.
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 25, 2021 12:21:06 GMT -5
Oh Oweena, I should read that.
I was working for a medical newspaper when AIDS reports first started coming out. So aside from this book probably being touching, my having gone through the period personally (I had friends who died), it also would be interesting to read from an historical perspective.
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Post by scrubb on Jul 25, 2021 13:13:47 GMT -5
All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny. Another book in the Inspector Gamache series, but set in Paris for a change rather than in Quebec. I like this series: drama, suspense and interesting characters. This one is a bit better than the last couple, imho. Deals with a big multinational company and some shoddy practices being hidden with international ramifications. I'm undecided on the series, but I keep reading them when I find them on sale. Some of the plots are really clunky/unconvincing, I find, and the language sometimes feels a bit amateur. But generally I like the characters a lot, and sometimes the language is great. I'm probably due to find another one soon - I think I've only read about 1/2 the series. |
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Post by Oweena on Jul 25, 2021 13:21:46 GMT -5
Oh Oweena, I should read that. I was working for a medical newspaper when AIDS reports first started coming out. So aside from this book probably being touching, my having gone through the period personally (I had friends who died), it also would be interesting to read from an historical perspective. It's a tough read, and it did bring back all sorts of memories from that time. It made me remember so much from that time, friends of mine discussing AZT and T4 counts, and being tested anonymously, and so much more. When he writes about the nurses taking his blood without gloves... That brought back the memory of when they started telling us at work that we needed to 'glove up' when dealing with bodily fluids due to this mysterious illness. And how much we fought that rule claiming we couldn't slow down dealing with injured people by putting on gloves first. I spent the first few years of my career in the 1980s directly touching blood and other bodily fluids and now you would never do that. And how we would freak out over getting a needle stick once we realized how it was passed. |
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Post by lillielangtry on Jul 25, 2021 14:01:33 GMT -5
That's interesting Oweena. My dad was a dentist in the 80s and I also remember him complaining about the introduction of mandatory gloves and masks. Seems so weird now.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Jul 25, 2021 17:38:01 GMT -5
47. Among the Islands: Adventures in the Pacific, by Tim Flannery.
An excellent and often funny account of Tim’s expeditions to the Melanesian islands researching their native mammals.
The only thing puzzling me about his account is why he was eating tinned mackerel in Solomon Islands, which has an excellent tuna cannery.
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