Book Reviews

Book quote

‘To read is to be with people who, unlike those around one, do not notice one’s existence.’

My Thoughts

What a revelation to have discovered this unique author. She has such a sensitive pen, honest and vulnerable, and because of those two elements her narrative shows strength and resilience.

First and foremost it is all about books, reading and writing them, thinking about the creative process but also the healing power they have brought to this Chinese-American author. It is a memoir that draws on her life as a Chinese immigrant, her time in a mental hospital following a failed suicide attempt and literature as a source for creation and well-being.

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Book quote

“Isn’t it odd,” Maryam said. “Just like that, a completely unknown person is a part of their family forever. Well, of course that’s true of a birth child, too, but … I don’t know, this seems more astonishing.” “To me, both are astonishing,” Dave said. “I remember before Bitsy was born, I used to worry she might not be compatible with the two of us. I told Connie, ‘Look at how long we took deciding whom we’d marry, but this baby’s waltzing in out of nowhere, not so much as a background check or a personality quiz. What if it turns out we don’t have any shared interests?’ ”

My Thoughts

Last week, I posted a review by the same author and as mentioned at the end of it, I was looking forward to reading the author’s back catalogue as it seems I’ve been late to the party. As you can see, I couldn’t resist picking up another of her books because the subject matter in Digging To America piqued my interest.

In this story, two families happen to meet at the airport on the day that they both adopt a baby from Korea. They decide to stay in touch and quickly form a friendship that not only allows the two girls to meet up regularly but give their parents an opportunity to share their experiences as adoptive parents.

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Book quote

 ‘It was more than she had even thought to fantasize her entire family, gathered in one room, hearing for the first time that somebody thought she was lovely.’

My Thoughts

Anne Tyler’s books have come into my reading life at the perfect time. I read my first Tyler novel, The Amateur Marriage, a few years ago and enjoyed her style of writing and complicated characters but it’s only recently that I seem to be drawn in to dive into her literary world with complete zeal.

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Book quote

 “Nothing is what you imagine. Her mind hovered above this simple and alarming thought. The variables were too great, the particularities too distinct, life a flood of translations from the shadow-edged yearnings of the heart to the immutable aspects of the physical world.”

My Thoughts

The Burgess Boys is the last of all the author’s novels that I still had on my bookshelf to read and I finished it… just in time for the publication of her new book Oh William.

I very much enjoyed reading Strout’s books and admire her sensitive technique of writing when it comes to the gradual and non-judgmental reveals of her flawed yet human characters and their actions, their sorrow and personal struggles that in keeping and finding connections that last.

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Book quote

“Your people contain incredible potential, but they die without using much of it.”

My Thoughts

I’ve previously enjoyed Kindred, Parable of the Sower and Bloodchild by the same author and still remember admiring her astounding level of imagination, the fascinating investigations about what it means to me human, her exploration of the impacts of history on the individual and themes of an post-apocalyptic future.

Dawn is on the same level of engaging, gripping and thought-provoking fiction that leaves much to think about after reading the last page.

The main character, Lilith lyapo, wakes from a centuries-long sleep having been saved by an alien race, the Oankali. She gradually learns about the past after a nuclear war made the Earth inhospitable and her subsequent rescue alongside other survivors.

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Book quote

 ‘Less empathy, more kindness.’

My Thoughts

This is a fascinating read that offers an intelligent and stimulating discussion about why empathy is not only overrated but when looked at more closely can lead to bad decisions, prejudice and myopic and counterproductive behaviour.

Take a simple thought experiment: you are telling your GP about the pain that you are currently experiencing and as you describe the symptoms, his facial expression starts to take on a pained look, he gets more and more distressed as you describe what the pain is like, where it’s located and you watch your doctor looking physically affected, scrunching his shoulders and rubbing the areas where you are describing the location of your pain. The doctor’s behaviour is likely to increase the patient’s worry and shows that empathy – the feeling with someone – is not reassuring, will influence the professional’s state of mind and capacity for an objective examination and suggestion for treatment.

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