The Three Books of March

"Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another's skin, another's voice, another's soul."

 -Joyce Carol Oates, author of We Were the Mulvaneys and 40 other novels, quoted from flavorwire.com

#######################################################

It's been an active month of reading for me, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I read Hillbilly Elegy, A Man Called Ove, and The Life We Bury. I discussed Hillbilly Elegy in my last post, and I am still savoring this true story about a man who was born in Jackson, Kentucky and spent most of his youth in and around Middletown, Ohio. He writes about what it was like to grow up in an extremely dysfunctional family and to get past those experiences to graduate from law school in an ivy league university. The reading of this book led me to find a book that a Tennessee friend recommended, White Trash. The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America. This book isn't "easy reading," but it's very interesting so I'll write about it when I finish it (that won't be anytime soon!).

Before I start writing about the other two books that I read in the past month I want to let you know something interesting. I wasn't aware of this news, but this week I found out that The Immortal Life of Henrietta Laks is being made into a movie and will be released sometime next month. I was mesmerized by this story when I read it a few years ago, as I've mentioned in my posts in the past. This movie stars Renee Goldsberry, Oprah Winfrey, Courtney B. Vance, and others. Apparently it's going to premiere as an HBO movie on April 22, 2017, so look for it. I'm not sure how I'm going to watch it since we don't have HBO, but I'll search diligently for a way to be able to see it. 

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman is a book that kept popping up on my Amazon searches so I thought, why not? Backman also wrote a book that I discussed earlier, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. It's a newer book so it's probably hard to get at the library, but I discovered something new: they now have copies of recent books in a special location in the library, but readers can only keep them for one week. So I read non-stop and finished the book in three days. These books that are only for one week are labeled with a yellow band on the side as well as a yellow note on the front. I'm so glad the library added this section for speedy readers and people who are just dying to read a newer book and don't want to wait until a copy becomes available.

 This book centers on the life of a man named Ove, 
a depressed 59-year-old widower who is planning to end his own life.  
He is probably the crankiest person you've ever "met," and he finds something to complain about all the time. Nothing is good enough for Ove. He complains about the neighbors and acts as a sort of "neighborhood policeman." Since his wife died, Ove has not been able to enjoy anything in his life so he plans various ways to end it,  but things don't work out, mostly due to the interference of neighbors. In the end, it's the people in his neighborhood who help him see what's really important in life. I don't want to spoil it for you so I won't go into too much detail, but it's basically a character study of a man who asks critical questions that we might be able to relate to. These are questions that many of us have asked ourselves in the past.

The other book that I read recently is The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens. It's about a college student, Joe Talbert, who comes from a bad home experience but manages to stay in college while his mother and autistic brother live in a nearby town. Because of his mom's alcoholism and bad relationships, Joe must be the leader in the family and takes steps to protect his brother from a dangerous home situation. While working on an assignment for his English class, Joe discovers Carl Iverson in a nursing home and decides to write his assignment about him. Joe learns a lot from Carl, and the two become fast friends. But why is Carl in a nursing home? And why does Joe become so wrapped up in his writing assignment? There is a lot of danger and mystery in this book, so if you enjoy that type of thing you will like this one. One thing I thought about as I read his book is that I don't think a young college student would behave in the way that Joe does. I really think Joe is characterized as maybe a 30-year old at least. The way he talks, his relationships, how he communicates, etc. are unbelievable for me. I just don't think a young man his age would behave in the way that Joe does. That's just my opinion. I read that the book has won several awards as a new novel or "best debut novel," so readers are enjoying it. I wouldn't say that the two books I've discussed today are "great novels" in the realm of The Poisonwood Bible, Cutting for Stone, Huckleberry Finn, Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Edgar Sawtelle, but they are both good reads and have a lot to say about life. I could see them being good books to discuss in your reading group. 

So, what is a good novel, anyway?

Well, it has a long, epic story with intricate characters who deal with many different kinds of issues. It has to be interesting to people. It has to "catch you" on the first page. It has to have appropriate and beautiful language that makes the reader want to go on to the next page. Lots of twists and turns help to take the story on and on, but it also has to know when to quit. It must also have a memorable plot. I tend to read a lot of non-fiction because I love to learn, but I also learn from novels that are well-written. Fiction and non-fiction must reel me in so that when I'm finished I can say it was worth my time and energy.

What are your thoughts? Feel free to leave a note below. Have a wonderful weekend....

Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com

My parents gave me this fun mug for Christmas.Look closely as the titles appear.

A Hillbilly, War, and More

 

"...Why didn't our neighbor leave that abusive man? Why did she spend her money on drugs? Why couldn't she see that her behavior was destroying her daughter? Why were all of these things happening not just to our neighbor but to my mom? It would be years before I learned that no single book, or expert, or field could fully explain the problems of hillbillies in modern America. Our elegy is a sociological one, yes, but it is also about psychology and community and culture and faith."

-J.D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (p.144) 

 ***********************************************************************************

 This morning I'm sitting here in the beautiful North Durham Library near my house. This side of the building has a wall of windows that allows us to look out at the sunshine and daffodils in their early bloom, just before cold weather returns this weekend. I've always loved libraries and I come here often. My first memory of a library is when we lived in Louisville, Kentucky. I was about 8 years old and loved getting "free" books to read and enjoy. I continued the trend with our own children as they grew up, and they both enjoy reading to this day. There is something about the smell of books that is unequaled anywhere. You probably know the feeling. 

I had a nice surprise when I arrived here this morning. They have a long display of newer hardback books that we can check out for just one week. Yesterday I requested some books online, some of which I had to put on hold, but I found one of them here so I checked it out for just one week. So, I need to read A Man Called Ove very quickly, and then I'll get A Gentleman in Moscow. I read books pretty quickly anyway, so I'm not too worried about trying to read a book in one week. I'm pretty excited about this new program that the library is using.

A few days ago I finished reading J.D. Vance's book published in 2016, Hillbilly Elegy.  He spent most of his early life in Middletown, Ohio, a town just about halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati. His grandparents were from Jackson, Kentucky, a small town in Eastern Kentucky where lower-class whites often had a very hard time making a living. Many of the people were, of course, coal miners, and they had little hope of doing much else with their lives. Vance's grandparents, people he calls "Mamaw and Papaw," left Jackson when they were teenagers. They heard there were good jobs up in Middletown, so they left home for the first time in the hopes of a better life. Mamaw was just 14 years old, and Papaw was 17, and they were expecting a baby. The company job in Middletown gav Papaw more opportunities so they were able to live a middle class lifestyle, own a home, and pay their bills. But their lives were so chaotic due to alcoholism, drug addiction, divorce, and more. Vance always thought of his grandparents as his primary guardians because his own mother wasn't really able to take care of him as she went in and out of prison, had several husbands, etc. Vance analyzes his life now that he is an adult, but he can't solve the problem that has plagued generations of hillbillies. He wonders how to stop the madness, as the quote above indicates, and yet he loved his family members very much. He was very close to Mamaw, even though she could cuss a sailor or pull a gun on somebody, because he knew that she loved him and wanted the best for him. He and Mamaw used to love to watch the movie "Terminator 2" together, and Mamaw say Schwarzenegger as the embodiment of the American Dream. She liked seeing an immigrant coming out on top, but Vance saw the movie more as a metaphor for his own life. He thought of Mamaw as his protector, keeper, and terminator, and she wouldn't let anyone harm him. With Mamaw, he knew he would be ok. After reading this warm hearted book, I can see why it's so popular. Today Vance and his wife are lawyers, and they definitely live the American Dream.

Another book that I finished this week is War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans. This historical novel was so good that I didn't want to put it down. It is translated from the Dutch and is dedicated to the author's father. The narrative is told from the perspective of the grandson, a man who found two notebooks that were kept by his grandfather, Urbain Martien, and he strives to understand the information that he learns. His grandfather was both an artist and a survivor of the atrocities of World War I.  Martien grew up watching his poor, lowly father paint in churches, and he would often retouch his father's work. The speaker wants to understand his grandfather so that he can accept some things about himself as well. This book is so beautifully written and is worthy of being called a great novel. I encourage you to read it or something else written by Hertmans, an internationally acclaimed Flemish author.

I listened to a couple of books on CD in the past few weeks. I listened to a book set in England, The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson, and Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson. I've read another book by Simonson as well, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. The Summer Before the War is sort of a "Downton Abbey" type of a book, and the "class" of a person is as important as anything else. I enjoyed both of her books and found them to be fairly relaxing stories. Patterson's book set in New York is about a girl and her imaginary friend, Michael. She is a lonely only child, and she longs to feel loved so she turns to someone no one else can see for comfort. On her 9th birthday, Michael has to disappear, but she later encounters him again when she is an adult. It's a fun, easy book to listen to (only 5 CDs) so if you want some light reading, it's a pretty good one. 

Well, there's so much to read and so little time, so I'll read A Man Called Ove and my Great Britain tour book in the coming week. I'm "reading up" on England and Ireland in preparation for a summer trip. Let me know what you're reading. Or, you can let me know what you'd like to read.

-Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.ongoodbookblog.blogspot.com