Nancy Pearl's Blog, page 3

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

I frequently hear from readers, and O. Ray Pardo is someone who more or less regularly emails me about the books he's enjoyed. He's  an avid reader and friend of the library who lives in Manchester, WA.

Here's what he has to say about David Mitchell's newest novel: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet.

Guest Blog by O. Ray Pardo

Come back to the Japan at the cusp of the 18th and 19th centuries, as the author introduces us to a naive young Dutchman, Jacob de Zoet, and then peels back the onion of his storyline.  As the story winds and then rushes to conclusion we meet many different characters, with their individual points of view set in the polyhedron of prejudice, misunderstanding, and geography.  This is a story of honor, obligation, isolation, trust, treachery and love.   As Jacob discovers the complexity of Japanese culture, and the richness (and darkness) in the lives of those around him, he finds strength and confidence in his upbringing and in his ability to play the game of life. (I especially applaud the bravery of including engravings—so easy in our digital age, but so little used.)

The book is breath-taking in the beauty of its language and printing (do not wait for the paperback). 

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Now (this is Nancy again) I began this book with great hopes. I loved Mitchell's novel Cloud Atlas, but have had great difficulty in getting into the thick of  Jacob de Zoet. Reading Ray's comments makes me eager to get back to it and try again.  It's so clear to me that so much of what we like or don't enjoy at any particular time is dependent on our moods.  It could have been—it probably was— that I was looking for something that was a bit faster moving.  Or at least something different than what Mitchell was giving me.

 Ray also asked me for suggestions of what to read next, and—naturally—I changed continents and centuries by suggesting the two historical series by Dorothy Dunnett.  Anyone have any other suggestions?

Hessian Boots and Pale Yellow Pantaloons: The Novels of Georgette Heyer

Stacey Wenz is working on her MLIS (Masters in Information and Library Science) degree at the ISchool (Information School) at the University of Washington, where I teach courses in Adult Services in the Public Library and Reading Genres for Adults.  In the latter course, each student is required to read 10 novels, 2 each in the mystery/thriller; romance; commix; science fiction and fantasy; and western genres.  Here's what Stacey has to say about some recent reading that she's done for the class:

Guest Blog by Stacey Wenz 

For the classic half of the romance module, I chose to read Georgette Heyer.  About two years ago, I thought I would give Georgette Heyer a try, so I picked up a copy of False Colours.  About a third of the way into it, I gave up; the plot was slow-starting, and I felt that the language was forced.  Also, the principal character's mother got on my nerves. 

I took LIS 524, Adult Readers' Advisory, with David Wright online this last winter.  One suggestion provided to me in one of the class assignments was Georgette Heyer's The Grand Sophy.  I discounted this suggestion because of my first experience with Heyer; but another student in the class urged me to reconsider, saying that this book was one of Heyer's best and really worth reading.

So, I gave The Grand Sophy a try, and I'm really glad that I did.  Since finishing it, I have also read Frederica and Arabella.  To a certain extent, the debt that Heyer owes Jane Austen is obvious:  Sophy reads a lot like a retelling of Emma, and Arabella felt like a combination of Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey.

 Although Georgette Heyer is often compared to Jane Austen, I feel Jane Austen's novels have more depth than Heyer's.  Austen implies; Heyer hits you over the head with Hessian boots, pale yellow pantaloons, and neck-cloths.  Austen's heroines reflect; Heyer doesn't really introduce us to the thought processes of her heroines.  Austen uses a very sardonic tone to render certain characters ridiculous (such as Mrs. Bertram or Mary Musgrove); Heyer's tone with similar characters (such as Lady Ombersley) is much less ironic.  Austen's works to me are subtler; they do not operate within a formula.  Finally, I think of Austen's novels as more character-driven while Heyer's novels are more plot-driven (and I find that the plots are all similar, for the most part).  Another aspect of the comparison is that Heyer wrote several centuries after the setting of her novels, while Austen wrote of the time in which she lived.

Of the Heyer novels I've read so far, the bulk of the action happens in London, so the setting is much different than Austen's novels.  In addition, they will most likely include:  a brother with gaming debts, boisterous dogs of dubious parentage, likable heroines, and extremely fashionable heroes (always wearing Hessian boots) who are most likely described as a "nonpareil" at one or most likely more points in the book.  Also, they brim with generally sparkling conversation between the hero and heroine. 

I hear my sister in my head telling me to quit being such a snob about Jane Austen.  I really liked The Grand Sophy, Frederica, and Arabella.  I've gotten my sister hooked on Heyer, too; and she said that while Heyer is not Jane Austen, you can see that people who like Jane Austen will also probably like Georgette Heyer.  I think this is because of the beloved plots we continue to recognize in stories today (like Pride and Prejudice and Emma).  Heyer certainly capitalized on these in her own writing, and it is always delightful territory to revisit.  As my sister pointed out in a recent email exchange about Georgette Heyer:  "It is SO MUCH FUN to read."

I think it is the spirit of fun that continues to draw readers to Georgette Heyer today.  It is delightful brain fluff that puts us in mind of other stories and delights us with these associations.  

 Now (and this is Nancy again) if that doesn't make you want to pick up one of the Heyer novels that Stacey mentions—and I would add Sylvester and The Reluctant Widow to the list—I don't know what will.  Many people discover Heyer because their grandmother read her; I came very late to the Heyer game and haven't regretted a moment spent reading her, or the amount of bookshelf space her novels occupy in my home.

We Were the Mulvaneys

Here's another blog post from Stan Thompson.  It's so much fun for me to read about why someone enjoys a book. I hope Stan's enthusiasm will encourage you to check out a copy of We Were the Mulvaneys.

 Guest Blog by Stan Thompson

I only discovered Joyce Carol Oates a few years ago and now she has become one of my very favorite authors. Although it's not her most recent book, I have just finished We Were the Mulvaneys. The story, set in the picturesque countryside of New York State, follows the ...

The Boys from Little Mexico

Lisa Sibbett is a high school English teacher and a dedicated fiction reader.  As she put it in an email to me, "With so many great novels and short stories and plays and poetry out there, I've often wondered how people have the time to read true stories. This coming year, though, I'll be teaching Social Studies, and in preparation for that I've finally branched out. A whole new world has opened up. Here's a review of one of my favorite non-fiction books I've read this summer, Steve...

The Trail We Leave

by Rubén Palma

Larissa Kyzer wrote me about a collection of short stories that she thinks is phenomenal, written by a Chilean-born Danish author. 

After she finishes her Master's in Library Science, Larissa wants to move to Copenhagen to learn Danish.  Her ultimate plan is to be a middle/high school librarian who spends those long summer vacations translating wonderful books into English.

 She has her own blog, The Afterword, which includes an archive of her book reviews on literature in...

Sienkiewicz Trilogy

Sometimes people email to tell me about the books they've been reading recently.  It's always great fun for me to get one of these emails, both because it's intrinsically interesting to hear about what others are reading but also because I somehow inevitably add the books to my ever-growing "to be read" list. 

Here's a recent email from Kay Robart, who describes herself as "a technical writer who reads constantly and hosts two book clubs. I especially love good historical novels and...

Waiting to Know You

by Karisha Kal'ee'ay

Stan Thompson is an engineer for an electronics company in Costa Mesa, CA.  Via email he told me that he spends his "days thinking about small mundane details that our customers will probably never care about, but I spend my evenings lost in fictional worlds where anything can happen."  Because he travels often (like to The Consumer Electronics Show, where, I must say, technonut that I am, I've always wanted to go), he spends many evenings reading.  Here's one of the...

Instead of a Letter

by Diana Athill

Over the last decade or so, Diana Athill has written a series of well-reviewed accounts of her life as an editor and writer in London.  It's hard to see how any inveterate reader wouldn't devour them with joy.  Yet each time a new book was published, I wondered anew why her first—and to my mind, still her best (as much as I've enjoyed the others)—memoir, Instead of a Letter, had never been reprinted.  I loved it when I read it in 1962 and lent copies to all my friends until it ...

The Lotus Eaters

by Tatjana Soli

Two superb debut novels about the Vietnam War were published earlier this year.  The first, Karl Marlantes's Matterhorn, definitely deserves the wide readership that made it a New York Times bestseller and a library top-circulator. (As I write this, I see that there are 241 holds on 30 copies at the Seattle Public Library; 53 holds on 73 copies at the Cuyahoga County Library System; and 232 holds on 57 copies at the King County Library System, so those readers have a terrific r...

Under Heaven

by Guy Gavriel Kay

Guy Gavriel Kay's Under Heaven (Roc, 2010) is, in a word, superb.  Like many of his earlier novels (including The Lions of Al-Rassan, The Last Light of the Sun, Sailing to Sarantium, and Lord of Emperors), this is historical fiction at its absolute best. It's gorgeously written and, though thoroughly researched, wears its scholarship lightly. Under Heaven is set during the 8th century Tang Dynasty, one of the most dynamic in China's history (although in the novel the...