Carol Anita Ryan's Blog, page 8

The Unsaid: A Novel says a lot

Unsaid: A Novel

Unsaid made me feel like wet laundry put through an old fashioned wringer washer—emotions that I’d forgotten existed were squeezed out of me, but as in Greek tragedy it was a liberating catharsis.

The premise of the story sounds a bit odd—a vet observes her survivors coping with her death.  This is how we learn about the recently deceased narrator’s husband and their menagerie of pets, as well as the events/decisions that still haunt her. Several subplots swirl around the main story revealing more information about the narrator and main characters.

A courtroom drama resolves the story. The husband, a lawyer, represents the narrator’s best friend in a case that allows for an airing of animal rights issues —especially chimpanzees— as property.  The author’s prose engages the reader’s senses, intellect and emotions from the start.  The writing style never gets in the way.  It’s one of those books you enjoy, even while your heart is breaking.  For those who feel a connection with animals (particularly but not limited to dogs and chimpanzees) this book will resonate with what you always suspected, but probably left unsaid. 

I suggest seeing the docudrama film Chimpanzee as a companion to this book.

A pleasure to read, a treasure to own: Getting the Words Right review

Getting the Words Right

I was slogging my way through a novel when I downloaded Getting the Words Right by Theodore A. Rees Cheney.  You might think the novel would have held my interest against capture by a book subtitled: 39 ways to improve your writing.  But, you’d be wrong.  Even though the novel was written by a prize winning author and had a compelling plot and characters, the style was awful.  It was as though I was riding a bike uphill into a headwind. Cheney’s book was like coasting downhill.  His book not only showed me why I hated reading  the novel, but gave me clear examples of how writing can be improved—and why it should be.  Cheney’s style shows as well as tells what’s good and what’s better.  The book is so well written, the examples so relevant, that any reader would enjoy it.  Those who aspire to write well will treasure it.  To top it off, Cheney includes his recommended readings: more good books for better writing in any genre.    

Several reviewers have criticized the type size of the printed version.  I recommend the Kindle edition for those of us who prefer larger type.  I make use of the underlining functions and note taking features of the kindle and along with its search capability; I anticipate using my Kindle edition as a trusted reference tool.

Walking the dog for fun and profit

a lucky dog wins two walks

Many people have called my dog lucky, and maybe they’re right.  But, certainly I’m the lucky one in our relationship.  At a recent fund raiser for SPCA, Napoleon won two professional dog walks when my raffle ticket was drawn. 

I contacted the owner of ‘Good Karma Premier Excursions and Dog Walking’, Teryn Smothers, last week to claim the prize.  Teryn is a charming recent college grad who started her own business incorporating her love of animals, especially dogs.  She had an almost hypnotic effect on my dog.  He likes people, but he went gaga over Teryn.  In a matter of minutes he was rolling on his back luxuriating in a stomach rub that I could see competed in his mind with the delights promised by the sight of his leash in her hand.

Teryn got to know my dog before taking him out for a walk.  She offered me some training tips as well. From her comments to me and from Napoleon’s response to her, I am convinced she has found her calling.  I don’t know if her business will be profitable, but I applaud her drive in providing a service based on her skills and interest.   At a time when it’s especially difficult to find a job, Teryn has found a career.   Good Karma site

Aung San Suu Kyi meets with the Dalai Lama in London

Two living legends

Two of the most inspiring people of our time met in London this week.    Whenever it seems the human race is lacking, look to this picture to remind yourself there are actual superheroes.  (Not shown is Nelson Mandala another one.)

Often celebrity is confused with worth.  One of the benefits to internet access is we can learn about those people who through their greater understanding, make decisions and sacrifices that advance the human condition. 

 

South Africa explored in No Time Like the Present

 

No Time Like The Present

 

In the novel No Time Like The Present, Nadine Gordimer (Nobel Prize winner for Literature in 1991) sets up an interesting plot and brings to life a cast of engaging characters.  The setting is contemporary South Africa.  A young bi-racial couple who met during their common struggle against Apartheid now lives in post-Apartheid South Africa.

 This book is chock full of fascinating details about South Africa.  Zulu tribal life, Jewish and Christian white culture, and refugees from other parts of Africa are only a few of the milieus explored.  There are thought-provoking situations involving corruption of youthful ideals, the effect of poverty and poor education on democracy, and xenophobia in all its forms.  This book deserves five stars for interesting content. The story is a good one and the author sets up interest/anxiety about what’s going to happen.  It kept me reading.

 The author obviously knows her subject thoroughly; however: she doesn’t bother to make her prose readable.  There were too many sentences that had to be read multiple times to decipher the meaning. My tongue tripped over the syntax.  The problems include simple things like to whom does a pronoun refer, and who is narrating?  Standard mechanics of communication (using question and quotation marks appropriately) were not used.  Word order can be a style choice, but when it results in obscuring meaning, I vote for clarity.  There were far too many places where an unidentified narrator made inscrutable asides.

It would be a worthwhile project for someone to re-write this book in more readable English.

 

Born in the U.S.A: A Fijian First Birthday Party

presented to the community wearing tapa cloth

I have never heard ‘Happy Birthday’ sung as beautifully.  Fifty adults stood and sang to a one-year-old, as though they meant every word of all three verses.  Their voices came together for the occasion not because they were professional singers who had rehearsed, but because they were used to singing in their disparate churches and other groups, and the sound was powerful. The singers were family or friends of the child’s parents—some had come from Fiji for this important milestone in the little girl’s life. The baby was dressed in a traditional tapa dress and was held up by a relative facing the group during the song.  Most of the other speeches and prayers were in Fijian, but the birthday song was sung in English so I could add my voice.  The birthday song become something more than usual.  It wished happiness and good fortune, but in the context it was sung it also pledged a community’s support for a new member.

As a former anthropology student, I know that many cultures wait until a baby is one to fully recognize him or her as a member of the community.  It has to do with childhood mortality traditionally being so high. But, I saw first- hand another reason.  By the first birthday a baby seems conscious of the whole group being focused on her, at lease during the song.  This must have a lasting effect on the baby and the adult participants. 

To be honest, I have no idea what the various religious and family elders said in Fijian.  Their tone was reverential, so I assume they were calling for everyone to watch out for the baby’s best interests.  I did understand the English thanksgiving prayer for such a beautiful baby’s birth.

This support is what everyone must want for every child.  It was a nice touch to come out and proclaim it so clearly!

Roses in Kathmandu

A rose is a rose

Our flat, a stone’s throw from the Royal Palace, had been recommended by a passing fellow-traveler.  The handsome landlord and his large family lived above us.  The garden consisted   of a few dozen rose bushes and was hidden by a five foot wall isolating the compound from the rest of the world.

Every morning the patriarch, smoking his hookah, would spend a couple hours pruning his prized roses.  He’d ordered them from a battered Jackson-Perkins catalog, which he proudly showed me.

The roses were not native, nor particularly well suited, to the climate of the Kathmandu Valley and yet they thrived.  Getting and maintaining them was costly.  Though the house and its large lot were spacious by Kathmandu standards, the owners lived upstairs so the ground level flat could be rented out. During a brief monsoon flood I saw the wisdom in that.

That a large portion of the owner’s wealth and time would be used in the pursuit of beauty was not unusual in Kathmandu.  The roses were rare, though.  Most Nepalese use their wealth for religious devotions and art.

Often when I look at my roses I’m envious of the loving care lavished on those in Kathmandu. 

Swing Dancing Through Life

I Can Dance

When I imagine the author of this memoir dancing, I see East Coast Swing.  She’s doing a complicated air-borne feat defying gravity at an amazing pace, hitting the beats perfectly. 

Laurie grew up with a disability that progresses (one of the forms of Muscular Dystrophy), but that never seemed to keep her from enjoying life, and living as she wanted.  She grew up as opportunities came along for disabled people with the right attitudes.  I’m about a decade older than Laurie and there were no disabled students in my schools.  Without elevators, ramps, etc. it would have been impossible of course.  But without people like Laurie pushing for mainstreaming in schools, it wouldn’t have ever happened.

In this extremely candid book, you’ll learn about all aspects of Laurie’s life.  She’s frank about needing help with every bodily function.  She had to get help in ways most of us will never have to deal with and she had to do so at an age when common sense and personal boundaries weren’t yet well established.   There were some difficult consequences.  But, somehow Laurie remains upbeat and keeps moving forward, like a dancer who briefly misses a beat but goes on to continue the dance gracefully.

Laurie has accomplished much.  After reading this book, I’m eager to see what’s next!

 

Chunks from outer space fall into gold country

 

modern prospector seeking ancient treasure

 

A couple of weeks ago a thundering noise alerted some residents of northern California to look into the sky.  Those that did were fortunate to see a rare sight: a large meteorite hurling through the sky on its way to a crash landing right in my own backyard.  What’s even more interesting is the likely point of impact was almost the exact location of where Sutter found gold in 1849—setting off the California gold rush.

 Almost immediately professional meteorite seekers set off to find pieces.  The meteorite came from outer space, from long before the earth existed, and promises to help scientists fill in our knowledge of the origin of (among other things) life on earth.  That’s because it’s possible components of life—including water—may be found in pieces of the meteorite.  This is a scientific treasure trove.  For that reason a few days ago NASA launched a Zeppelin flight hoping to find evidence of meteorite chunks and to locate possible craters.

 Based on first-hand observations and views from the Zeppelin, meteorite hunters (scientists and treasure seekers) are out in force in the rural lands near my home.  The going rate for meteorite pieces is $1000/gram, while our old standby in these parts, gold is merely $50/gram.

Read more: http://www.kcra.com/news/31010478/detail.html#ixzz1u8Wlmhbl

 

The Marriage Plot

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a new novel in an old format

Jeffrey Eugenides’ previous book, Middlesex, was a Pulitzer Prize winning look at gender ambiguity.  It probably changed a few minds about the efficacy of others –be they clerics or Governors—determining who may marry according to gender ID. The Marriage Plot is a staple of 19th Century fiction, the title as well as a sub plot of his latest book.  This book shines a light on bi-polar mental illness, which is more common than gender ambiguity. 

While the marriage plot drives many of the characters’ actions, the story is more about commencement—moving to the next stage of adulthood. Eugenides does a convincing job of setting the stage for the story:  Commencement day at Brown University in 1982.  Even if you’re from a different time and place the universal quest these characters pursue is as recognizable as if you’d time-traveled to your own end of school days.  Establishing an adult identity is always difficult.  Even if you are beautiful, talented, and financially comfortable as one of the main character, there are still challenges. Madeline is obsessively in love with the brilliant, but difficult, bi-polar Leonard.  While Madeline tries to help Leonard regulate his condition, Mathew (a Divinity student who loves Madeline from afar) runs away searching for something.

The author takes us to a biology research lab and on a trip to India with rich, spot on descriptions.  He manages to weave the marriage plot, the quest for adulthood, and an exploration into bi-polar mental illness into one thoroughly entertaining and worthwhile novel.