April Book Reviews
As March was full of Animal/vegan books, I took a break from them in April and focused on some fiction I had been meaning to read (mainly so I could watch the movies about book #1 and #2).
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. 365 pages, published 1997.
This book came out while I was in 7th grade and was made into a movie while I was in college. Sticking to my guns about not seeing a film until I had read the book, I didn't see the film, but wanted to very badly. It was this desire that had me pick the book out of a bargain bin at a used book store, take it home, and quickly read through it. For those of you who haven't read it or seen the film, the movie takes place during the times of the civil war and follows two main characters, Inman and Ada, as they learn to live with various struggles they face to become reunited. Heads up, this book is very un-vegan! Having spent the month before reading about saving animals, this book was full of various explanations and details of killing and eating various animals. That aside, it was a very fascinating book and although it was quite emotional at some points, I really enjoyed it overall. I was fascinated by the stories of deserted soldiers from the south and how they were chased by the Home Guard, who would arrest them, starve them, kill them, or make them return to battle. This is the kind of stuff I never learned about in school and makes me wonder if similar things were happening in the north. So, a good read if you can handle reading fictionalized accounts of animal slaughter.
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, 480 pages, published originally in 1961. once again, this was a book I pulled out of a bargain box (this one at a thrift store) because I had heard good things about the film and wanted to read the original story first. This book takes place in 1955 and follows the couple of Frank and April as they struggled with their deferred dreams as they are crushed by adulthood, children, and the monotony of early suburbia. I loved this book. The whole time I was reading it I wished I was in some kind of book club or discussion group because it is just ripe for analysis from so many perspectives. The book got me all riled up with the inequalities of the sexes in the time period and the painful dynamics of the characters as they interact with each other and we see the world from different perspectives. The book also incorporates the stigma of mental health as seen from the world if the 1950's (shock treatments, etc) but that very character ended up becoming so much more in my take of the book. Although this book was longer than some I've read, I eagerly devoured this one in no time. The writing is great, the symbolism and character development is fantastic, and the plot, although sometimes it seems masochistic, was engaging and kept me eagerly interested in what would happen next.
A Plain Truth by Jodi Piccoult, 432 pages, published 2000. This book made it to me via my partner's mother. I had recently finished Revolutionary Road but hadn't made it to a bookstore yet. In the past Zach's Mom had always offered me books to read, but I never had the time to accept them. This time I came to her asking. An author she recommended was Jodi Piccoult. I knew others who had read her and said good things, so out of my options on the shelf I went with A Plain Truth. I chose it mainly because I was told it wasn't horribly disturbing and took place in Pennsylvania Dutch Country and concerned the Amish. Being PA Dutch myself and having gone to visit Lancaster throughout my childhood, I was interested in how the author would convey the setting and the people. I don't want to give away much of the plot because the book reads semi as a crime mystery via a lawyer trying to discover what happened to her client. I will say that I don't exactly dig Piccoult's writing style in this one and felt so much of it seemed cliche or full of dramatic retorts that seemed more so written for a movie rather than a book. The book also severely dated itself (mentions of the OJ Simpson trial for example) that caused a schism between reading the story as happening in a current setting and then being taken back 10 years in time. I wouldn't say the book wasn't good. It held my attention, many of the characters kept you involved and engaged and the book unfolded well with some unexpected plot conflicts and developments. An issue with the book that wouldn't effect many others was the translations of the PA dutch. Since I was able to understand it written in PA dutch, I would become irritated when they kept having the PA dutch directly followed by the translation. If you aren't a 'dutchie' I don't think this should cause any problems for you. For me the book was enjoyable, but not something I would go raving to my friends about. Though, when my Mom came to visit, she asked to borrow it, so I will be interested in her opinion when she finishes it.
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. 365 pages, published 1997.
This book came out while I was in 7th grade and was made into a movie while I was in college. Sticking to my guns about not seeing a film until I had read the book, I didn't see the film, but wanted to very badly. It was this desire that had me pick the book out of a bargain bin at a used book store, take it home, and quickly read through it. For those of you who haven't read it or seen the film, the movie takes place during the times of the civil war and follows two main characters, Inman and Ada, as they learn to live with various struggles they face to become reunited. Heads up, this book is very un-vegan! Having spent the month before reading about saving animals, this book was full of various explanations and details of killing and eating various animals. That aside, it was a very fascinating book and although it was quite emotional at some points, I really enjoyed it overall. I was fascinated by the stories of deserted soldiers from the south and how they were chased by the Home Guard, who would arrest them, starve them, kill them, or make them return to battle. This is the kind of stuff I never learned about in school and makes me wonder if similar things were happening in the north. So, a good read if you can handle reading fictionalized accounts of animal slaughter.
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, 480 pages, published originally in 1961. once again, this was a book I pulled out of a bargain box (this one at a thrift store) because I had heard good things about the film and wanted to read the original story first. This book takes place in 1955 and follows the couple of Frank and April as they struggled with their deferred dreams as they are crushed by adulthood, children, and the monotony of early suburbia. I loved this book. The whole time I was reading it I wished I was in some kind of book club or discussion group because it is just ripe for analysis from so many perspectives. The book got me all riled up with the inequalities of the sexes in the time period and the painful dynamics of the characters as they interact with each other and we see the world from different perspectives. The book also incorporates the stigma of mental health as seen from the world if the 1950's (shock treatments, etc) but that very character ended up becoming so much more in my take of the book. Although this book was longer than some I've read, I eagerly devoured this one in no time. The writing is great, the symbolism and character development is fantastic, and the plot, although sometimes it seems masochistic, was engaging and kept me eagerly interested in what would happen next.
A Plain Truth by Jodi Piccoult, 432 pages, published 2000. This book made it to me via my partner's mother. I had recently finished Revolutionary Road but hadn't made it to a bookstore yet. In the past Zach's Mom had always offered me books to read, but I never had the time to accept them. This time I came to her asking. An author she recommended was Jodi Piccoult. I knew others who had read her and said good things, so out of my options on the shelf I went with A Plain Truth. I chose it mainly because I was told it wasn't horribly disturbing and took place in Pennsylvania Dutch Country and concerned the Amish. Being PA Dutch myself and having gone to visit Lancaster throughout my childhood, I was interested in how the author would convey the setting and the people. I don't want to give away much of the plot because the book reads semi as a crime mystery via a lawyer trying to discover what happened to her client. I will say that I don't exactly dig Piccoult's writing style in this one and felt so much of it seemed cliche or full of dramatic retorts that seemed more so written for a movie rather than a book. The book also severely dated itself (mentions of the OJ Simpson trial for example) that caused a schism between reading the story as happening in a current setting and then being taken back 10 years in time. I wouldn't say the book wasn't good. It held my attention, many of the characters kept you involved and engaged and the book unfolded well with some unexpected plot conflicts and developments. An issue with the book that wouldn't effect many others was the translations of the PA dutch. Since I was able to understand it written in PA dutch, I would become irritated when they kept having the PA dutch directly followed by the translation. If you aren't a 'dutchie' I don't think this should cause any problems for you. For me the book was enjoyable, but not something I would go raving to my friends about. Though, when my Mom came to visit, she asked to borrow it, so I will be interested in her opinion when she finishes it.