the liar's club

I finished this novel by Mary Karr a couple of months ago but haven't found time to write about it until now. In some ways I am glad to have had time to just let the stories and themes rest in my mind before putting words to all the emotions her memoir stirred up. 

I read Karr's later memoir, 'Lit' a few years back and was inspired by her honesty and talented storytelling. I could relate to some of her struggles regarding relationships and self concept. Karr refers to instances from her childhood throughout 'Lit,' so it was compelling to read these stories in more detail, knowing how they would affect the woman she becomes. 

Though Karr writes "The Liar's Club" from her adult self's point of view, she does an excellent job capturing the perspective of a child raised in a dysfunctional home. Karr recalls horrific events as this child would- as just a day in the life, a thread in her tapestry. The reader is abhorred at some of what young Karr experiences, yet Karr shares these events in a usually nonchalant manner. 

As someone who works with children, I see the daily impact of trauma and family dysfunction on young people. Karr's reflections in 'The Liar's Club' reveal how easy it is for people to get used to, and ultimately accept dysfunction as the norm. Somehow Karr eventually escapes this mindset, but as evidenced in 'Lit,' she still has to work to manage the symptoms. 

I have read quite a bit about children growing up with an alcoholic parent, and how this can lead to codependency and other issues as an adult. Karr's memoir could serve as a case study regarding these themes, especially when paired with 'Lit.' I've yet to read 'Cherry,' Karr's reflection on her teenage years, which falls between 'The Liar's Club' and 'Lit.' I am curious to read about how Karr transitions from a girl practically raising her alcoholic parents into an alcoholic parent herself. 

Just as reading 'Lit' likely ties up some loose ends for those who read Karr's three memoirs in order, reading 'The Liar's Club' helped answer some questions I had after reading 'Lit.' After reading 'Cherry,' I plan on revisiting 'Lit' to reflect on Karr's talent at knitting together moments, and illustrating how the tapestry of our lives are made up of beautiful, tragic and everyday moments. We are the sum of all our parts. 

the light between oceans

A boat carrying a baby and a dead man washes up on shore. A lighthouse keeper and his wife, overcome by grief over their own lost child, decide to keep the baby. It is not until some time later that the couple is confronted with the shocking reality that there is a woman not so far away mourning the loss of her own child- the one they have started to lovingly raise.

This novel by M.L. Stedman was filled with suspense, agony and hope. At the same time as the author is weaving together a tale of two women, a man and a child, she is teaching the reader about the operation of a lighthouse, the dangers of life at sea, the stars and the complexity of love.

Once I began reading 'The Light Between Oceans' I had trouble putting it down. In the beginning, I was captivated by the lives of Tom and Isabel, and eventually little Lucy. The home they had created together seemed so beautiful and indestructible. I continued to turn pages (more and more quickly!) as cracks began to appear in this idealistic existence.

Later, I found myself invested in the life of Hannah Roenfeld, the baby's birth mother. I felt the pain of her loss, I understood her seeming insanity of never giving up on her daughter. I sympathized with her confusion, her frustration, her desolation, her rage.

M.L. Stedman does a fabulous job of tangling her readers up in the lives of her characters. I found myself torn between Isabel and Hannah as their lives began to intertwine. As I neared the ending I was not even sure what resolution I should hope for. Was it really mother versus mother? Or were they on the same path, two forks eventually coming together?

I wonder if Stedman felt the same loyalty to both her female protagonists and that is why she chose the ending she did. The end of the book did not bring the kind of resolution I had been hoping for, but it did bring closure, and it was enough. It was unsettling, but it was realistic. After spending a few days digesting the novel, I feel that I am more satisfied with the way Stedman chose to end it than I would have if everything had turned out neatly for every character (and how could it?)

'The Light Between Oceans' reflects the fact that things do not always go the way we hope or plan, and life is not always extraordinary. However, life is to be lived, moments are to be cherished and the light is to be remembered.

"There are still more days to travel in this life. And he knows that he man who makes the journey has been shaped by every day and every person along the way. Scars are just another kind of memory .... Soon enough the days will close over their lives, the grass will grow over their graves, until their story is just an unvisited headstone. He watches the ocean surrender to night, knowing that the light will reappear." -M.L. Stedman

let the great world spin

I picked up this book by Colum McCann on a whim at a thrift store because I was fascinated by the cover. I had never heard of the book nor the author and did not know what a journey I'd be taking once I began reading. 

The stories in this novel take place in the 1970s and are loosely based around the real-life story of Phillip Petite, a man who walked a tightrope between the twin towers in 1974. The novel is made up of several interwoven stories, all from different points of view.

The author has an inspiring ability to cause a reader to invest fully in a character, when even pages ago the reader was fully invested in another life. McCann's characters range from a conflicted Irish clergyman to a middle aged woman mourning the loss of her son, from a grandmother who walks the streets to a young artist couple caught up in crisis. As a reader, I found myself connecting with each character, feeling anger, sorrow, joy, confusion and more alongside them. 

At the beginning of the novel, it seems the only common thread between the lives of its characters is some form of interacting with, noticing or being awed by the tightrope walker. By the end though, the reader is able to see how this patchwork of characters is connected in more ways than one.  

I come away from reading "Let the Great World Spin" considering the many ways in which our lives are tied together. I wonder about how little time we spend getting to know our neighbors, seeing their struggles, finding common ground. McCann's words showed me that life is full of obstacles and hardships, but when we zoom out, it truly is a thing of beauty. 

rise and shine

I just finished this New York Times best seller by Anna Quindlen yesterday and I am still not quite sure how I felt about it. Perhaps it's the daughter of an English teacher or the introspective writer in me that has trouble getting excited about books that do not have layer upon layer of meaning under the surface. maybe I had trouble connecting with the characters and the New York City lives they lived. Regardless, this was not a book I would 'write home' about (although I will, as mom lent it to me after I gifted her with it for Christmas).

The plot itself was intriguing and I did at times get lost in the lives of the characters. Quindlen does a great job of developing her characters, casting one sister as a foil to the other.The one area I was able to connect to in this novel was the relationship between the sisters. Though our characteristics and lifestyles differ greatly from those of Megan and Bridget, my sister and I are also very different people with opposite strengths and the ability to drive one another crazy. However (like Bridget's Megan) my sister is the only person that truly 'gets' me. She can read a twitch of the eye, a quiet sigh or a shift in position and know exactly what I am thinking.

I enjoyed that Quindlen's story transported me into a lifestyle so outside my own. She exposed two sides of New York City life and neither has much in common with the small city life I live.

Overall, Rise and Shine was an enjoyable read, but likely not one I would read again. It was nice to have a novel to 'escape' into but I am hoping for more depth in the next book I decide to read.

the namesake

I picked up this Jhumpa Lahiri novel a couple of years ago as I'd seen previews for the movie of the same name and found the concept compelling. While it took awhile to grow to care for the characters, within a few chapters I could identify with Ashima (the mother). Although my life experiences differ greatly from hers (she married a stranger and immigrated from India to the United States), I could identify with her gradual journey from reliant to independent.

As I read about Gogol (the son) growing up, I began to identify with him as well. Gogol must navigate between his parent's traditional expectations for him and the desires and hopes he has for himself. At times, he follows his parent's advice and other times he follows his own heart. Both occasionally bring him joy and sometimes frustration or sorrow.

I felt Lahiri did an excellent job developing her characters and their relationships with one another. I especially enjoyed reading about Gogol and the various relationships he experienced throughout the novel. Lahiri was not incredibly sentimental in the way she described these relationships, but instead completely honest. Honest about the anxiety and hope of new beginnings, the mundaneness that can creep into even the strongest relationships, the loss and regaining of self, the fragility of goodbye.

Another strength I appreciated about Lahiri's writing was her ability to present an important moment without outright stating its significance. Oftentimes, it was in the words she did not say that the reader could sense the importance of a moment. For example, at one point Gogol is spending a vacation at the lake with his girlfriend Maxine and her family. He begins to picture her here, many years later, teaching her children to swim, sitting by the lake with wrinkled skin and silver hair. This is a beautiful, sweet moment, however something is missing. Lahiri has Gogol visualize Maxine's future but he is never a part of that image. Lahiri does directly point this out, but as a reader you wonder where he is and what it means that he is not a part of this vision. It is the first glimpse of foreshadowing where Gogol's relationship with Maxine may lead.

"The Namesake" was a relaxing read and offered a glimpse into the immigrant and first generation American experience. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a captivating read with not too many layers. I am looking forward to finding and viewing the movie now!

the girl's guide to hunting and fishing

To start, this book (by Melissa Bank) has nothing to do with literal hunting or fishing. It has to do with the elaborate dances we as females do throughout life to attract 'the one.'

I saw this book on a list of 'books to read before you turn 30' and serendipitously spotted it at a thrift store a week later. As I am turning 30 later this month, I sped through the book this last couple weeks, striving to see what made it make the 'list.'

The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing was engaging and a quick read for me. I was able to identify with some of the main character Jane's experiences. Jane narrates most chapters, and each is told at a different period of her life (adolescence, twenties, middle aged, beyond). I enjoyed watching Jane grow as a more self respecting woman as she aged.

This book was definitely not life changing for me in the ways that many others have been. The one take away I have is that through all the different periods of her life, Jane's voice was still Jane. Yes, she grew wiser through experience, she stood up for herself more, she began to love and respect herself more. Yet, her voice was consistent. I have heard many older women say they feel like their 20 year old self in an older body and reading this book helped me understand that. Even as Jane aged, she still had the same hopes, dreams, memories, sass, etc.

I would recommend this book to other women my age who want a quick read that will have them laughing, relating and reminiscing.

poisonwood bible

My mom, sister and I decided to have a book club this summer. We read Poisonwood Bible and met up for a weekend to enjoy one another's company and discuss the book.

I read Poisionwood Bible as a high school junior. I remember sitting in Mrs. Worthington's class discussing the nuances of the text with a classroom full of AP students, all of us in various stages of discovering our own philosophies on life. Growing up in liberal Olympia but also in a fairly conservative family, I understood both sides of the debates that would often emerge in class in response to Kingsolver's words.

Reading Poisonwood Bible for the second time, a little more than ten years later, was a different experience. Rather than reading the book while my own perspectives were still growing and moldable, I read it this time against the backdrop of fairly solid views about life. Rather than push me towards some idea, this time Kingsolver's words challenged or agreed with beliefs I already hold.

What stood out to me in this reading was the fact that I could identify with some aspect of each of the Price daughters. I wonder if Kingsolver wrote them in a way that they each represented some element of humanity.

I identified with Rachel as someone who can sometimes have a limited view of the world. Living in the United States this is so easy to do. We do not have a sense of where the food we eat comes from, the labor that goes into the products we use on a daily basis, the suffering that is happening on the other side of the planet. Although Rachel was not a likeable character for me, many times I felt I could see myself in her naivety and simplified view of life.

Adah was the character I identified with most at the beginning of the book. Adah sees herself as often in the shadow of others, even forgotten. While her twin sister Leah is always aiming to please, Adah does not believe she could please her father if she tried (or even cared). While I do not feel these things as poignantly as Adah, I identify with parts of this and especially the vivid (albeit sometimes strange) inner dialogue she has.

This time around I identified more with Leah than I had before. I identify with her childhood spent striving to be a perfect daughter in her father's eyes, and her adulthood spent seeing her father as the mortal, imperfect man he's been all along. I also identify with Leah's experience of this perspective change not only with her earthly father, but her heavenly father as well. Though not in the same ways as Leah, I can identify with her view of life, death and humanity expanding, forcing her narrow view of God and faith to be stretched beyond capacity. After what she has experienced in the jungle, Leah would be unable to keep believing in the God she grew up believing in, unless she allowed that faith to be transformed to something bigger and in many ways, altogether different. I have been through this process as I have grown up and seen that life is a lot bigger than me- so God needs to be able to be too.

Lastly, there is Ruth May. She is the youngest, and the first to die, however I believe she had the most positive and long lasting impact on all the lives the story touches. Ruth May is the character I hope to grow into. She loves selflessly, gives without asking questions and is completely honest.

Reading Poisionwood Bible for the second time was a gratifying experience. I especially loved being able to discuss it over breakfast with my mom and my sister. I hope to read many more books together with them through the years!