Broken April

Broken April is the story about the Code that exists on the high Albanian plains. The premise of the Code is this. If someone murders one of your family members, you must murder them. Then when you murder someone else's family member, they must murder you. You can see how this cycle would lead to a lot of bloodshed. Those in the murder game wear black armbands. On top of this, there are more complex social and moral rules associated with the murder. The Code is called "Bessa"

The novel takes two paths. The first path is a young couple honeymooning on the Albanian plains. The husband is a social scientist, and for some reason thought that a way to celebrate his marriage would be to visit the murderous back country. The second is the story about a young man, who is caught up in the murder cycle, and now has to wear the black armband. He is traveling across the country to pay the tax for the murder that he commits at the beginning of the novel. 

The two paths cross here and there, and although they never speak, there is a connection between the young bride and Albanian. The story is very deep and complex as both the young bride and Albanian struggle with the moral issues associated with the Code, one as an outsider, and another as part of the machine. 

Reading this book, it wasn't terribly engaging since it moved slowly, the Code was so bizarre, and none of the characters interacted with each other. But after having taken a break from it, I think that the true value of this book is that which is unwritten (sort of like the Bessa itself?). The author leaves a lot of what the characters are thinking up to the readers imagination and provides merely the context for trying to understand this twisted old society. 

In summary, this book is not going to be anywhere near "thrill a minute", but at the same time, it is thought provoking and well written, and I can see why it made the list. 

In related news, I listened to a really interesting story on NPR this afternoon about how Albanians (who according to the story are primarily Muslim) sheltered German Jews during WWII. Not to make a political statement or anything like that, but because Bessa dictates that when visitors show up to your doorstep, you treat them as if they were your own family. This is how many of the Jews that made their way to the Albanian countryside survived during WWII, by donning the clothes of their hosts, and taking on Albanian names. 

Kim

I will be the first to admit that I have horribly neglected this blog. There have been a lot of things going on outside of my reading activity, and to be honest, looking back, I'm not even sure where the last 8 months went. 

I can only think of 3 books I read during that time. 

One of them is Kim. I picked Kim because I like the name, and due to stress and other things, I was going for some long hanging fruit. And a book written in the 1950's for an audience of 15 year old boys was just the ticket. 

Kim is a little Indian orphan boy who does what most little Indian orphan boys do - beg for food, scamper around, and carry messages of war for horse traders. In his city, Kim meets up with a priest, who requires some help, because the priest does not have the street savvy that Kim does. So, Kim embarks on a long journey with the priest to find the River of Life, which takes him across the plains, up the mountains, and allows him to meet a whole colorful cast of characters. 

There is a little twist in the plot though, as Kim's dad was a white man and his mother was Indian. On their journey, Kim is found by an English regiment and placed into a boy's school for the children of white men. 

This book was nice, and uncomplicated. There was a lot of really great scenery and character development, and of course you have the inherent conflict between "Kim the Sahib" and "Kim the Scamp" as he struggles to find his identity in colonial India. The story is about how people from unlikely backgrounds interact with each other as well - the Bengali, Tibetan Monk, and Arab horse trader all serve as defacto guardians for Kim, ensuring that he has an adventure, but not enough adventure to get himself killed. 

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

In 1899 Paul Laurence Dunbar published a poem entitled "Sympathy". I don't think he imagined that a line from this poem would become inspiration for one of Maya Angelou's autobiographies. The story opens with Maya (called Marguerite by all but her brother Bailey) and Bailey are essentially left on the doorstep of their grandmother (Momma) in Stamps, Alabama. We then journey with Maya and Bailey through their lives until Maya turns 16.

Through the eyes of a young girl, we see how bad racism was (and, sadly, probably still is) in the south. We journey with Maya as she learns to face the racism head on, and while it clearly affects her, she is far from succumbing to it. Her experiences are unlike anything that I could possibly imagine and yet Angelou's poetic language pulls the reader in with a universal understanding of her plights. Although racism is not the only issue that face Marguerite as she journeys through life, it is definitely the major theme of the novel. The problems that Marguerite face are not just hers, they are of her race, and on a broader level, the troubles of all people. Discovering who you are, where you fit and, when you don't like where you fit, attacking the issue head on to better yourself.

The book is written in such a way that almost each chapter can be read individually. They appear to be short stories, though there are definite themes that tie each one together as they follow Maya's progression into adulthood. The racism that Maya faces as she grows into adulthood is the tie between Dunbar's poem and the story itself. In the poem, Dunbar laments that the song the caged bird sings is a "prayer from his heart's deep core". I think that this is what Angelou is trying to convey throughout this autobiography, and my guess is the four other autobiographies that follow. While the bird might be caged, it still has a voice. Even if that is all that the bird has, it still has a hope for the future, for a better life. That's what I really got out of this novel. No matter how bad things may seem, there is hope for better. We just can't let the cage we're in keep us there.

Moral of the Story: Don't give up. The cage can be broken and someday we'll fly free.

Fear of Flying

Let's see, how do I put this gently? This has to be one of the worst books that I've ever read. As far as I can tell it is some woman's attempt to put the words "fuck" and "cunt" in as many sentences as possible. Now, I'm all for female sexuality and have no problem with people having "zipless fucks" (a term coined by Erica Jong), but this book lacked something. Order, perhaps...maybe it was the plot. It begins with Isadora on a trip to Vienna with her second husband. While her husband is at a conference, Isadora, who is stuck in an unfulfilled marriage, begins examining her life and her potential of a random hook-up. The book then flies between her past relationships to the present and every time she has, or has thought about, sex...to which Isadora usually complains about how it is unsatisfying for her. Written in semi-stream-of-consciousness, Fear of Flying bounces around time with little organization.

When first published (in 1973) the book gained wide popularity because it was the first time that a woman wrote about a woman's perspective on sex. It was also published among the midst of the second wave of feminism, which I think may have had a profound impact on the success of the book. This is, for all intents and purposes, a book about a woman who is trying to sexually satisfy herself. Be it through a zipless fuck or, here's a novel concept in today's time, actually enjoying her husband (not that the husband makes any attempt to satisfy her either, which is just as bad). It was really one of the first times that a woman in a novel is free to be what has so frequently been granted to men, sexually liberated. I'm not trying to establish a double standard, because I think that I would feel just as awkward about the book if it was about a man reporting on all his conquests. I think that a further problem I had was that she didn't seem to have any remorse for what she did or said. And while, in many ways, this is an okay attitude to have if you're single, once you are involved in a relationship, the needs and concerns of the second person also need to be examined, or at least considered.

My ultimate problem with this book was the fact that I had no interest in the character. She seemed so conceited, I just never clicked with her. I really didn't care what happened to her or why she was doing what she was doing. It's difficult to word this without sounding misogynistic since everything that I say seems like a man trying to push down women's sexual freedom. And I am by no means trying to convey that, I simply think that, while this book may have been an accurate depiction of female frustration, it seemed way too extreme. Everything she did was simply for her and she took no thought into the people around her. Regardless of her gender, I think feel that Isadora lacked any characterization that interested me, which made it difficult to read. Maybe it's because I'm male, maybe it's because we live in a time where many women already feel, and act, the way Isadora does. Maybe I'm just a prude. But I doubt that I would venture into this book again.

Moral of the Story: The words "fuck" and "cunt" can not carry a novel by themselves.

The Black Dahlia

In the 1940's a young girl named Betty Short was murdered, being cut in half, her organs removed and a smiley (which is a gash ear to ear) cut into her face. This is the extent to which the real story of the Black Dahlia and the novel by James Ellroy are similar.

Ellroy's novel follows the rise of Bucky Bleichert to Warrant's Officer in the Los Angeles police department. While teamed up with Lee Blanchard, they discover the mutliated body. Although trying to discover who murdered the Black Dahlia is a major issue during the novel, it is not the primary focus of the story. Bucky and Lee's relationship, as well as Bucky's relationship with Kay Lake (who lives with Lee). It is very much a character driven story that plays itself out through the Black Dahlia murder case.

While the case of the Black Dahlia does play an integral part of the story, the journey to discover the killer is not the entire story. In fact, I wouldn't even consider the main plot. In my opinion, Bucky's development as a character, his figuring out who he is in light of everything that is going on around him, his character development. That's what's really important.

Overall I enjoyed the story. It was a bit gruesome when it described the young girl's mutilated body, and while I would have preferred to not read that part of it, I guess that it is pretty pivotal to the story. What I think that I enjoyed the most about this entire book was the fact that everything ties together. There are small details that are mentioned that seemingly have no connection to the entire story other than develop a charater trait. But by the end, all of those small details are some how tied to everything.

Moral of the Story: Historical fictions get the reader to research the real event and then become obsessed with it...if only for a short period of time.

I, Robot

When Issac Asimov created robots he gave them three laws that they must follow:

1) No robot may hurt a human being
2) Obey the orders given you by a human unless it violates Law Number 1
3) Self preservation, providing it does not violate Laws number 1 or 2

Now I've seen about five and a half minutes of the movie starring the seemingly ubiquitous Will Smith, and let me tell you, that five and a half minutes was more exciting than the whole of the book.

Rather than being an exciting story about how robots have managed to manuever themselves around the three above stated laws, I, Robot follows robopsychologist (he seems to love making up branches of psychology) Dr. Susan Calvin and her experiences of using the three laws of robotics to figure out what is going on with various robots that seem to have broken the laws. It is actually nine short stories that have been strung together as Calvin's memories and reflections.

The book is, by no means, exciting. It deals with the characterization of these robots and how they have managed to explain to themselves their behavior. It is fascinating to have Dr. Calvin explain why the robots are behaving the way they are behaving. It is an exploration of human behavior on the most basic level. Unlike the complicated emotions that go into human decisions, robots "think" on a much more basic existence. In that respect, Asimov is able to consider what, to a human would be a complex human desicion, but to a robot is a matter of what was said to him and how it was said. Which is something that as humans, we deal with the same issue. Obviously we have many more emotions and thoughts occuring within our brains that are not felt or considered by robots. But removing those, we're able to examine how a human might consider basic conflicts of interest at the most basic point.

I'm not 100% sure that I would consider this a great science fiction novel. It seems to me to be an exploration of humanity with a science fiction spin on it. Had I not seen any commercials for the movie, and basing my decision solely on the book, I don't think I would have seen the movie. I just don't think it would have been an interesting movie...at all. So if you are expecting the movie to be anything like the book, don't. Given, I haven't actually seen the movie, but in the five and a half minutes I have seen, it's already superly different, which could be a good thing, I guess.

Moral of the Story: Be careful about what you say, and how you say it...you have no idea the conflict it will cause in a robot's mind...

The Brothers Karamazov

I was excited to read "The Brothers K" because I had once read a quote from Kurt Vonnegut somewhat along the lines of "All you need to know about life is within The Brothers K". The book is basically a story of patricide and how Fydor Karamazov's three legitimate sons and rumoured bastard child behave up to and after the murder. The plot pretty much touches on every topic it can, religion, sex, love, murder, family, and about a million more.

I really enjoyed this book. Each of the characters had their own flaws and shortcomings, but they attempted to love each other as best they could in their own way, despite jealousy, treachery, and having quite possibly the world's worst father. They did things to infuriate and screw each other over, but I like to think that underneath it all, if you get right down to it, they did really truly care for each other.

So, in some sense, Vonnegut was right. What you need to know is that people in this world are incredibly flawed, but it's the struggle between trying to overcome ones self and doing the right thing that makes life interesting and worth living.

Midnights Children

Midnight's Children is a loose allegory for events in India both before and, primarily, after the independence and partition of India, which took place at midnight on 15 August 1947. The protagonist and narrator of the story is Saleem Sinai, a telepath with a nasal defect, who is born at the exact moment that India becomes independent. Saleem Sinai's life then parallels the changing fortunes of the country after independence.

The story continues on how young Saleem uses his special midnight given telepathic power to bring the Midnights Children together. And as you can expect, children with varying degrees of special powers will try to overpower each other and there is conflict. In the meantime, outside of his head, Saleem's family moves to neighboring Pakistan and young Saleem goes through the struggles of youth with an inflated sense of self importance.

I think that my real issue with the novel is that you couldn't help but think that Rushde is a very self serving author. You get the impression that he is a hero in his own mind. He's not a particularly likeable protagonist, or very heroic, although his prose is written in such a way that it is constantly demanding that the reader sympathize with him and his big ugly nose with drippy nasal passages.

And then of course, outside the novel, you have all of the protests that this book caused when published because Arab's found it offensive. Granted it's no teddy bear named Muhammad, but I could see how it subtly paint's Pakistan in a less than favorable light.

It's really too bad that we don't have a label that is "eh" because that's how I sort of felt about this book. I didn't particularly like any of the characters or reading about boogers for pages on end, the plot wasn't thrilling, but at the same time, I wouldn't necessary say that this book was "bad". It was interesting to read, but nothing that you need to run right out and read this instant.

Oliver Twist

When I was in intermediate school, as that's what it was called at the time, I performed in a little musical that you might have heard of called Oliver. While in Oliver (I played the part of the Second Bobby something...it was a cop, which became a part I played frequently) I read a little kid's version of Oliver Twist. So going into this book, not only did I know the basics of the story, as I think many people know the basic story of Oliver Twist, but I thought that I had a pretty good handle of what was going to happen.

Well, let's just put it this way, the musical is wrong and the kid's book leaves some stuff out. Well, the musical also leaves stuff out. The basic story is that a child is born, his mother dies, he is named Oliver Twist, put in an orphanage that treats him (and all the children) badly, he takes a job at an undertaker's (and by takes read: is forced), he runs away to London, falls into a band of thieves, escapes, gets dragged back in, escapes again, all the while trying to discover who his family is, although we have already managed to figure out who he is related to.

Along the way he runs into many different characters, some good, some questionable. Now if you are familiar with the musical, he meets many of the same characters, though they are treated and introduced quite differently. For instance, Fagin is this happy character who we love in the musical. However, in the book he is this evil coneiving character that we hate. Likewise is the Artful Dodger, who is a not quite as questionable as Fagin, but not exactly the nicest character, though by no means evil. Nancy, a member of Fagin's gang, much to her distaste, is about the same, as is Bill Sykes, the bully and spiteful character of the book. There are also a couple of new characters that are introduced and many that are introduced considerably earlier. Unlike the musical, which has a deux ex machina at the end (if I remember properly), the book all leads up to a nice and clean ending in which the fate of all the characters of the story is explained so you are left with no questions as to what happens to who.

In the terms of a story, it's interesting, if a little repetitive to hear Oliver constantly complain, whine and cry his way through the novel. My biggest complaint is that it suffers the same problem that all serial novels from the 1800s suffers. There is too much that is really unimportant to the overall plot of Oliver. It's written in terms of a biographer and Dickens more than once references the reader as the biographer. Would I suggest that someone read it? Absolutely. Not only is it a classic and Dickens a master of the English language, but it's just one of those books that you should have under you belt.

Moral of the Story: Don't be an orphan, it sucks. And if you are an orphan, stop crying, and find your, undoubtedly, rich relatives.