Books I've Read

Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I suspect that the film adaptation, which I look forward to seeing after keeping a promise to myself to read the book first, will be more melodramatic and pull on heartstrings to greater effect and purpose than Solomon Northup's telling of his life story. Northup writes in somewhat stilted prose, his style academic rather than evocative like great novels or movies. He is not trying to draw out our tears. He is not attempting with every stroke of the pen to stir up emotions. Northup is simply telling us like it was - straight no chaser. No need to exaggerate the brutality or the tragedy, no reason to willfully demonize people whose monstrous acts and barbaric attitudes speak for themselves. Is the reader outraged, astounded that people could casually treat others in such a manner? Only if the reader has a soul. Northup doesn't use his words to move us the way his violin playing moved people. He is both impartial reporter and the subject of his piece of journalism. He doesn't ask us to feel sorry for him, or to hate his oppressors. What he does is recount what it was like for a man to suddenly find himself in bondage and servitude, endure it for over a decade, and then miraculously find himself free again with a most amazing and devastating tale to tell. He tells the truth in as unbiased a manner as possible and allows us judge it for ourselves. How did any man ever convince himself that it was okay to treat another this way? How did they ignore the humanity they surely saw in the brethren they stole from another continent? How was a single one of them able to look in a mirror? Twelve Years a Slave asks these questions but is unable to answer them, nor does it bother to try. Nothing can adequately answer them. The mystery of such heartlessness has not revealed itself over a couple hundred years. This is what our country was founded on, inalienable rights unevenly dispersed with extreme prejudice. This is what we need to atone for and move forward from. This is the stain that will never fade. Yet quite tellingly, those 12 years are not what made Solomon the extraordinary man that he was. Those 12 years happened to him but did not become him. Otherwise he probably would not have been able to write his book. The past brought us to this present, but it need not define any of us. In even the most suffocating circumstances, we have the freedom to do that for ourselves.


View all my reviews Inferno by Dan Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I always have at least one brain candy author in my stable. Once upon a time it was Sidney Sheldon. Currently it's Dan Brown. He probably peaked with The Da Vinci Code. All I ask of his other books is that they come reasonably close to that level of addictive page turn-ability. More or less they have, and Inferno was no exception. It ended on more of a fizzle than a bang in my opinion, but the pace towards which Brown's prose raced to the conclusion was as swift as usual. I'm a fan of all things Dante and Paradise Lost (particularly Inferno) related in general, so I picked this book up as soon as I saw it on the library shelf. Now that it has been put back down I'll probably pick up something more substantive to chew on for my next read.


View all my reviews Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The fourth grade nothing's brother Fudge is the clear star of the book, with his older brother being the title character who primarily serves as frustrated narrator. The antics of little Fudge were quite amusing to my daughter. I might have given this book a 5-star review had the (spoiler alert) death of a pet at the end of the story not upset her so much.


 

View all my reviews Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked but didn't love this book. My wife and daughter had an even less favorable opinion. That has a lot to do with the fact that we were holding it up against other books by none other than Kate DiCamillo who holds a place of honor in our household. Since this was her latest to win the big prize we figured it would be loved just as much as Winn Dixie and Despereaux. Alas, this was not to be. I don't want to discourage others from reading it though. Kate DiCamillo on her worst day is superior to most other children's book writers on their best. So pick this one up and you may like or even love it, particularly if you're a big fan of quirky, and/or of squirrels. But in my house Flora and Ulysses needs to move towards the end of the end behind other DiCamillo classics.


View all my reviews The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle by Christopher Healy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this even more than the first installment, as did my daughter. The Princesses are much more involved in the story this time around. Emphasis continues to be on action, but there are budding romantic story lines as well. Will each Prince and Princess end up with who the fairy tales tell us is their destined soul mate, or will they claim for themselves who they are best suited to be with? The open end of this edition left the door wide open for installment #3 which has been purchased and it waiting patiently to be read.

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