December FICTION selection ALL OVER CREATION

[Alexa]

Last June we read Ruth Ozeki's debut novel My Year of Meats. So now we're following up with her second novel All Over Creation. It has been described as having "a quirky cast of characters and a wickedly humorous appreciation of the foibles of corporate life, globalization, political resistance, youth culture, and aging baby boomers."

[Alexa]

I absolutely adored My Year of Meats, and I've been meaning to read this one for ages! Has anyone else read this yet? Who else is hoping to read this one this month?

[Cara]

I haven't read My Year of Meats, but I'm picking up All Over Creation from my library today. I'm looking forward to it! I'm assuming I don't need to have read her first novel to understand this one?

[Alexa]

No, as I understand it, they're completely stand-alone, unconnected novels. If this one is just half as good as her first, it will be a real treat!

[Cara]

Excellent, thanks!

[Paulina]

Anyone finished already? Really interested in what you guys think about the main character and the theme and how Rut Ozeki's viewpoint is kind of skewed?

[Alexa]

I just started this, maybe a quarter of the way through? Right now I'm not even sure if Yumi or Cassie is the main character (although I'm guessing we'll be spending more time with Yumi?). I'm also just beginning to see a potential theme of pesticides/"inputs?" Right now I'm much more interested in the family dynamics. From the outside (her letters) Yumi is looking like a really interesting character and I'm looking forward to getting to know her better.

[Alexa]

I'm quite enjoying the interweaving of relationships in this, those of family, of friendship, of love. Just when I start to think the politics is getting a bit heavy she brings it back around to the people, which is what I most love it for.

[Paulina]

Yeah, I guess it was one of the best parts of the book (I also read Time of Being and it seems like this is her strong suit). There is a lot of characters in the novel and they all have clear motivations and goals; I didn’t like Yumi (especially the way she treats her children) but that didn’t matter because she was written so well she did seem like a whole person. Ruth Ozeki seems to thrive on the fantastical and that kind of includes Yumi’s life, doesn’t it?

Plus the theme of life vs abortion is really cool if not slightly problematic there.

[Alexa]

Yumi is such a damaged person! At first she seems strong and in control, but in the course of the novel it just becomes clearer and clearer how she is just reeling from her injuries! The other really damaged person is Frankie - which leads me to the really trite (but still true) statement that it shows how much children need loving parents!

[Alexa]

So, I'm thinking maybe it could be said (still not having finished though) that this is about how life needs nurturing. There is some disagreement about where life begins, but once the children are here and the seeds are sprouted, they need all our energies to keep them healthy and able to reproduce healthily themselves?

[Alexa]

I just finished it. Wow! This is a beautiful book, one of those books that the moment I finish it I want to turn it over and read the whole thing all over again.

[Paulina]

I never think to pick up Ruth Ozeki's books, but once I do, I really like them. It's amazing how she manages to interweave so many relationships... And yeah, I kind of guess that's her message.

I think the only thing I didn't like was that she's using her books as a platform for her own life philosophies in a more overt way that I normally see in books. To me, the book was a little bit tendentious. One group was totally wrong and the other totally correct in terms of their views on genetic modifcation. Which, if applied to real life struggles we have with it, is not quite correct. I think that's the main issue I would have with this book.

But still, this is a really solid piece of fiction.

[Alexa]

Yes, I do agree with you, that every once in a while it got a bit "preachy." There did sometimes seem to be "forces for good" and "forces for evil." But then just when I began to be annoyed, she would always pull it back to the people. Will, for example, is someone who isn't at all sure of the "truth," but is simply trying to do what is best for his family while making a living. His honest doubt was refreshing. Lloyd's simultaneous worship of seeds and unborn life was somewhat challenging for me to admire, but so real! I understand that Ruth Ozeki used to be a documentary film maker, and I think that zeal to "expose" is evident in her writing.

[Alexa]

While I was reading this, I noticed a similarity between Yumi's parents and the parents of the protagonist in My Year of Meats. It really is only the most superficial resemblance (but I can only assume that the resemblance is the actual truth of Ruth Ozeki's life). But in skimming through My Year of Meats it just hit me all over again what a fantastic book that is, for anyone who hasn't read it. She really uses humor beautifully in it; I really missed that humor in this one - there's just a little around the edges, mostly in regard to the Seeds.