Words for Wednesday: Blood Meridian

Right now in book club we are reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.  It is a great book, even made the Time Magazine list of 100 best books written in the English Language from 1922-2005.  But oh man is it a book that takes forever to read.  It is filled with tons and tons of run-on sentences and is very similar to reading Faulkner.  If I were in uni I am sure this book would really have me going, but with my current life of job and baby, it is slow going.  However, I still reccommend it if you have time at work or are looking for a slight challenge.

Here is what Wiki says about the book, as far as a plot summary...

The majority of the narrative follows a teenager referred to only as "the kid," with the bulk of the text devoted to his experiences with the Glanton gang, a historical group of scalp hunters who massacred Native Americans and others in the United States–Mexico borderlands from 1849 to 1850 for bounty, pleasure, and eventually out of sheer compulsion. The role of antagonist is gradually filled by Judge Holden, a large, intelligent man depicted as entirely devoid of body hair and philosophically emblematic of the eternal and all-encompassing nature of war.

I will say that this book definitely opens up my mind to how bad people in the west literally had it in when settling America.  This is the complete opposite of the Little House books and can be hard to read due to its frank depictions of violence and suffering.  While reading the first part of this book I had a horrible cold and cough and I could really "feel" the scenes where the boy and a friend were wandering through the dessert.

I will also add that this book opened my mind to the idea of Mexicans fighting with Native Americans.  I mean, it should be obvious that of course the Mexicans had skirmishes with native peoples, but for some reason that whole idea had never entered my mind before.  I must also say that it is interesting to read this book and see the Mexicans as the ones with civilization while the Americans of the west are considered an unorganized, uncivilized bunch.

I haven't finished the book but just thought I would bring it up in case anyone is looking to flesh out their summer reading list.  It is a hard book, but really the type of thing that is good for me to read once in awhile.  I am ashamed at how lazy the world has become in regards to language.  Our vocabulary is becoming extinct and there is no excuse for me to be having to look up two words from every page on this book (I wouldn't go through the trouble but on the kindle you just highlight the word and the meaning comes up).

Words for Wednesday: The Roads to Sata

For book club last month we read one of my new favorites, The Roads to Sata by Alan Booth.  It is about a British man who walked from the northern most tip of Hokkaido to the southern most tip of Kyushuu in the 70's.  Though the book rambles a bit it is a great read for anyone who has been living in Japan for awhile as it is easy to relate to a lot of the experiences.

One of the most exciting parts for me was the fact that he walked through Tsuyama and Ochiai, the towns I call home.  Though he only talks about them for about half of a page, it is interesting to get his take on them.

As a group I think the book club felt that the author came off as pretty grumpy.  He complains a lot about Japanese children chasing him and calling out in weird English and also about Japanese adults who won't talk to him even when he is speaking perfect Japanese.  Though we have all felt those frustrations, and can only imagine how walking miles and miles would make those feelings escalate, we also felt that he could have left the negativity out of the book somewhat.

The book is great for showing sides of Japan that most people don't see.   The author definitely knows his stuff when it comes to history and Japanese legend, and he introduced me to many tourist destinations I had never heard of.

I am not sure how I would feel about the book if I had never lived in Japan.  Some people in the book club thought it might be a turn off.  Though the man is a bit short fused with the people he comes in contact with, I think it makes the Japanese people come off as interesting and unique.  Though the book has too many encounters to remember specific characters, I remember vividly certain comments.  For the most part the Japanese people  in the book come off as kind and welcoming.

I let a friend borrow it or otherwise I would quote it.  I guess you'll just have to read for yourself.

Books...

So it's been awhile and it is not Wednesday but I thought I would mention a few books I have been reading.

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I was reading The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai right up until my due date and unfortunately I haven't finished it just yet.  I was stupid not to take it to the hospital with me. Again, this was a book that I picked up on the bargain table at Barnes & Noble and didn't really think about it apart from the fact that it was cheap.  I was so lucky to pick it up because it is amazing.  

It tells the story of a man in Shanghai who is caught in an explosion at a hotel.  When he wakes up he can no longer speak Chinese.  He can read it and understand it, but he can't say it or write it.  However, he can speak some English due to the fact that he spent his childhood in the states.

Obviously this is a problem as his wife and son are Chinese.  The same with his company.  His family, desperate to cure him, hire a young female Dr from the states to work with him.  However, rather than regain his Chinese, his English becomes stronger which creates tension between all of the characters.  A lot of people have given it bad reviews due to the melodramatic love story in the book, but I enjoyed it and am fascinated by the whole bilingual aspect and the expat aspect.

 

Mister Pip is a book that a friend gave to me to read when I first started maternity leave.  Again, a great find that I might have missed (there are just too many good books in this world).

It tells the story of a young girl living on an island and the only white man on that island, Mr. Watts.  Mr. Watts becomes the school teacher and he teaches the class of students by reading them Great Expectations.  Though it is a struggle due to the fact that the island children have never heard about 70% of the words in the book (nor do they have any real concept of England), the students soon become captivated by the story.

Meanwhile in the background there is a civil war going on and the small village that started out as a sort of paradise soon faces the reality of violence and oppression.  Still, the children have Great Expectations as a distraction.

Though I have read Great Expectations several times, this book made me want to read it again as the story is intertwined into this novel.  But even if you know nothing of the Dickens novel, I think this book is still a good read.  The main character is a young female, but I think men and women would find this book fascinating.  Though it would make a great high school book, I think parts might be too violent for some younger audiences.

Our November book for book club was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.  This was a book that I had read before but long ago (maybe in university...) so I didn't remember much other than a few key points.  The book is about a young autistic boy investigating the murder of a dog (my hero- the boy, not the dog) and how in doing so he uncovers all sorts of secrets about his family and neighborhood.  The story might not be the most fantastic but the style of writing is really great as the author tries really hard (and succeeds at) putting us in the mind of an autistic person.  At one point I was dreaming about math equations (and my inability to do them) as a result of the way the young man thinks.  This is a great read and also a quick read (I think I read it in a day and a half at work), especially good for travel.

Our December book for book club was Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.  I had read this book before (and had it already in my library) but didn't remember it as it isn't my favorite David Sedaris book (I can read Me Talk Pretty One Day over and over).  And because Robin was born and I wasn't sure I would make it to the meeting, I didn't actually finish it this time around.  But then again, David Sedaris is funny and he writes family so well so it is still worth a read.  It is also a good book for travel as the stories are short and easily picked up and set down (actually, I always take short story books when I travel as back up).

In this book I especially liked the story, "Let It Snow," when their mother locks David and his sisters outside during a snow storm.  She is used to having the house to herself during the day and can't handle having them home due to the snow.  To get their mom's attention the older kids try to convince their youngest sister to lie down in the middle of the road and get hit by a car.  It sounds horrible and sick and twisted, but Sedaris makes it endearing (as he always does).  It makes me think of my family (especially my mother's side) and how we aren't that weird (horrible/sick/twisted) after all.

Book Club June 25th

Last night was our first real meeting for book club in that we actually had a book to talk about.  When it was through my husband, who had been in the next room over and could hear us, asked me what we had discussed.  I told him, "the book we've been reading" and he responded that it sounded like we discussed a lot of other things.  Yes, we were off topic a lot.

The book we discussed was Tomorrow, When the War Began (which I had already blogged about) and the book ended up getting a 4.9 rating out of ten.  The general consensus was that while OK for a teen novel, the book wasn't much.  Most people felt that it lacked depth and detail and that too much time was spent on the teenage girl feelings about boys.

We also talked a lot about the fact that the author is an adult male but that the narrator was a teenage girl.  We wondered if he had chosen that route as a way to make more money, or if he really felt like he was in tune with the thoughts and feelings of a 17 year old female.  I figure that a lot of the book was probably written with the thought in mind that it was for a teenage audience.  Some of the members were surprised when others reported that the book has won awards, been taught in schools, and has been made into a movie.

As I said before in my Words for Wednesday entry I didn't think the book was that bad as I have read some really bad stuff in my day.  I also felt that it was just as good as The Hunger Games.  The book is actually a seven part series and one of our members went ahead and read the other 6 (he is a smart guy and has a lot of free time- plus I think he found them free to download on the internet).  He said that sadly a lot is left unanswered and undeveloped despite the many sequels.  Still, as I said we did give it a 4.9 with two people awarding it a 7.   It was a good book to start with and I hope the person who picked it doesn't feel bad.

Words for Wednesday: Tomorrow When the War Began and King Rat

As I mentioned before, we have started a book club in Maniwa.  The group is made up of about 9 foreign teachers and one Japanese friend of mine.  We are meeting once a month to select and discuss a book.  The point of the club is to get us to open our minds to books we might normally read as well as to let people share stuff that they are into.

The first selection, Tomorrow When the War Began, was not exactly the type of book I normally pick up but it was a good read.  It is a young adult novel, and that might discourage some from reading it, but apart from a few "love trianlges" I think it is can suffice for an adult reader.  It is just as interesting as The Hunger Games.

Anyway, the book takes place in Australia and is about a group of teens who go camping one week only to return to find that their hometown has been taken over by a foreign army (in the first book it is hinted at where the intruders are from, but we don't get any straight answers).  Their families are being held in a POW camp at some local fairgrounds.  The teens then have to decide whether they will surrender, fight, or go back to the campsite they have spent the past week at.

I saw a member from book club last weekend and he expressed how he loved the idea and wished it had been written with adult characters.  I think the characters are old enough in the book for it to be relatable, but I wish that we had gotten more specifics on why the invasion took place and where the invadors are from.  It is hard in this current reality for me to imagine anyone wanting to invade Australia.  Or, maybe more so, anyone having the strength and numbers to invade Australia.

I haven't read too many Aussie books and I enjoyed learning some new vocab as well as learning about farm country in that part of the world.  It actually reminded me a lot of home- especially with the fairgrounds since those are things we have in Iowa.

The book has been made into a movie but it has gotten bad reviews.  Still, I think it would be fun to watch.  There are also two sequels to the book and though I don't think I will get to them, I imagine they have the answers I felt were missing in the first book.

The second book we are reading for book club is King Rat.  It is written by James Clavell.  Though I have never read any of his other books, I am familiar with his work because he is quite popular among expats in Japan- especially the guys.  He wrote the novels Shogun, Gai-jin, and Tai-pan. 

King Rat takes place in a POW camp in Singapore run by the Japanese.  The characters are British, American, Aussie, Korean, and Japanese which is interesting since those are some of the nationalities represented in our group.  So far it is reading like a lot of other war books I have read (or POW books) and though it wouldn't have been my choice, it is interesting.

There are a LOT of characters and they aren't given too much detail so I am finding I am getting a little lost with who is who.  But I like the interaction between the nationalities.  I thought the book was going to focus generally on the brutality of the Japanese, but so far we have seen very little of that.  Instead, it seems to be westerners betraying westerners.  Though they are allies, there are a lot of tensions between the armies, which is an interesting aspect of the novel.  I had also never thought much of Australia's part in the war (I went through a WWII phase where I read a lot about the war in Europe and then the Japanese as well as China).

It takes a lot of concentration, but I recommend the book.  Although personally I am thinking Gai-jin would appeal to me more.  I must admit that I am only on page 140 of 479 pages of King Rat, so my mind could change.

Book Club

So an idea I've had for awhile finally came alive last night with the first meeting of the Maniwa Book Club.  I had always talked about doing it but it wasn't until I mentioned it to a new teacher, Alice, that I did anything.  This was because of her enthusiasm for the idea which came as a surprise for me.  I had always considered book club to be something that others would find nerdy.

Not only was she interested, but so were 8 other people from Tsuyama, Mimasaka, Maniwa, and Takahashi.  Including men and women.  I was impressed with the amount of people and their enthusiasm for the group.  Our first meeting was a simple one, partially because none of us are really sure how we are going to do things just yet.  We simply introduced ourselves and then each person suggested two books they think the group should read.  We then put all of the ideas into the bowl and pulled out two (we chose two so that we can order ahead and some members can read ahead if they like).

I must admit that the two chosen weren't necessarily the two I was interested in reading but that is the point of book club- to open our minds to new ideas and opinions.

Our first selection is Tomorrow When the War Began by James Marsden suggested by Michael Douglass, my intern.  Our second selection is King Rat by James Clavell suggested by my long time friend Ben.  I'm a little nervous about the second selection as it is about westerners in a Japanese run POW camp and we have Japanese members in the club, but it should make for a great discussion.