Findley, Timothy "Dust to Dust"

Findley, Timothy "Dust to Dust" - 1997

Knowing that I don't like short stories very much, a friend of mine gave this to me and said "You have to read these, they are great." What can I say? They were very interesting. I enjoyed reading them, there were quite a few different stories. The author succeeded to stay with his stories for long enough so you didn't have the feeling something was missing which is usual the feeling I get.

Quite a good collection of short stories.

From the back cover:

"Is it the dust of death, blowing across a Mediterranean island, and etched by the footprints of a small boy who seems to be a disturbing emblem of his parents' unhappy marriage? Or the fine, but offending dirt that is dealt with so tidily by a diligent hausfrau - almost as tidily as her fellow neighbors rationalize a brutal crime? In Dust to Dust, Timothy Findley is a master of mortality and the powerful, yet often imperceptible bond it forges with memory and reality."

Woolf, Virginia "To the Lighthouse"

Woolf, Virginia "To the Lighthouse" - 1927

The verdict on "To the Lighthouse" was similar to that of many classics. Those who love classics enjoyed it. Those who don't didn't even give it a try. Some of them were glad they forced themselves to read it.

I loved this book. It was almost like poetry. The style was wonderful. Virginia Woolf describes the people most beautifully, the feelings, the thoughts, the way she describes the changes, the atmosphere, how they looked at each other, you can recognize it in your own life. Her descriptions are very detailed. She really understands people, thinking about that they don't say much to each other, it's even more amazing how she can write about this. Some found it difficult initially but were able to get through the first part. Some parts were extremely moving.

We talked about following the research first, I think that is very helpful here. You have to go back in time and put the author and what she wants to discuss into context. A great book about the beginning of the feminist time.  It is not an easy book but definitely worth the effort.

It was a creation of Victorian period.
This book also brought us do talk about the stream of consciousness and Henry James. Very philosophical.
The difference between mind and brain, the brain is the physical organ and the mind the psychic one. The mind pulls away, the brain draws to, there is a continuous pulling and drawing in the book.

We also discussed Virginia Woolf briefly, her bouts of marital instability, her anxiety. Her mother died when she was 13, it is just amazing how she internalized the relationship of her parents at that young age. She was a very smart lady.

According to Publisher's Weekly, "To the Lighthouse" also belongs to the Top 10 Most Difficult Books.

We discussed this in our international book club in May 2010.

From the back cover:

"The serene and maternal Mrs. Ramsay, the tragic yet absurd Mr. Ramsay, and their children and assorted guests are on holiday on the Isle of Skye. From the seemingly trivial postponement of a visit to a nearby lighthouse, Woolf constructs a remarkable, moving examination of the complex tensions and allegiances of family life and the conflict between men and women.

As time winds its way through their lives, the Ramsays face, alone and simultaneously, the greatest of human challenges and its greatest triumph--the human capacity for change."

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

I also read "Mrs. Dalloway".

Haddon, Mark "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time"

Haddon, Mark "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" - 2003

This was one of our most discussed books - because of its contents. We all agreed that we liked the book, it was well written, the style technique was very good, you could really feel with them, understand the issue now, some shed a tear at the end. The author tries to highlight that autistic figure/feel and accomplishes it very well. The book was written very discreetly, you could notice that he worked with children.

One would have thought Mark Haddon had the syndrome himself. Someone read it twice and noticed different things as the first time.

We also admired the ability the British have to take these families and put that into perspective, make a dysfunctional family seem funny at times and so make them look "normal". The author made it easier to read about these problems with his comical side.

It was interesting to discuss this with people looking at the situation from so many different levels, members with experience or no experience with autism, social workers, nurses and members who never worked with children. One of our members studied early childhood education and could explain a lot to us.

Some of us were surprised that we liked it because we didn't anticipate that. Someone said she wasn't prepared to enjoy it. But we all did.

We agreed that every child is so unique and has different needs. It's rewarding when they trust you and so disturbing if they can't get close. If there was a solution to heal autism, should we use it? These people see the world with other eyes and can contribute a lot if we let them.

We discussed this in our international book club in May 2008.

From the back cover:

 

 "'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone. Christopher is fifteen and has Asperger's Syndrome. He knows a very great deal about maths and very little about human beings. He loves lists, patterns and the truth. He hates the colours yellow and brown and being touched. He has never gone further than the end of the road on his own, but when he finds a neighbour's dog murdered he sets out on a terrifying journey which will turn his whole world upside down."

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

Waltari, Mika "The Dark Angel"

Waltari, Mika "The Dark Angel" (Finnish: Johannes Angelos) - 1952

After having read "The Egyptian" by the same author, our book club decided to read this one a year later as long as our Finnish member was still here, especially since this was the one book she has read more often than any other book. A lot of Mika Waltari's novels have a religious background, there is always an issue of faith in his books. His language is great and he teaches a lot about churches and the background of their history. His books are very detailed and accurate, especially this one is so well drawn together. Most of his books cover different cultures, different religions, powerful, greedy people, but they also show that love conquers all. All the different human qualities were represented in the different characters.

"The Dark Angel" is situated in Constantinople during its fall in 1453. The whole dilemma is explaiend through the eyes of a guy with Greek and Latin ancestors who has lived among the Turkish. A very interesting history book, interwoven with a love story.

We were amazed to learn that the character Anna existed and lived, she emigrated to Venice, and some of the other characters lived, as well. If you visited Istanbul, you might have visited Aya Sofia, it reminds a lot of the Christian and Muslim differences and similarities.

There were so many layers in the book, as usual in historical novels. We thought we learned a lot about the history and the difference between both the Christian and the Islamic faith but also about the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic denominations. One of the causes for the big split between the two Christian churches was the "Filioque clause", the Orthodox don't believe the Holy Spirit derives from the son, so they don't have the sentence "and the son" in their creed.

We discussed this in our  international book club in May 2007.

From the back cover:

"'Today I am called a spy and the lover of the empires most desirable woman. But no one knows my true identity and no one ever shall.

For it is the year 1453; and here in Constantinople a mighty Christian empire is dying brutally as the Moslem hordes storm its massive wall.'"

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

Waltari, Mika "The Egyptian"

Waltari, Mika "The Egyptian" (Finnish: Sinuhe Egyptiläinen) - 1945

A book suggested by one of our Finnish members. She told us that the author studied ancient cultures and theology and the facts in this book are accurate. He couldn't print war books at the time, so instead he wrote this one. We all thought it was wonderful even though none of us was really that much into that kind of history. A very detailed and informative account.

The book covers not only Egyptian history but also everything about the human nature, its goodness and its cruelty. The author writes about love and war, intrigue, victory and defeat, about the role of religion that was very important at the time. It was interesting to compare the ancient way of looking at the world. It's amazing how the pharaoh Akhenaton at the time tried to create a Christian-like religion.

This novel gave a lot of discussion material. The life of Sinuhe, an Egyptian doctor, is wrapped around the history of quite a few famous and impressive pharaohs. I have actually enjoyed it so much that I started reading more about Egyptian history.

We discussed this in our international book club in May 2006.

From the back cover:

"This epic tale encompasses the whole of the then-known world, from Babylon to Crete, from Thebes to Jerusalem, while centering around one unforgettable figure: Sinuhe, a man of mysterious origins who rises from the depths of degradation to become personal physician to Pharaoh Akhnaton."

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

We read "The Dark Angel" by the same author a year later.

Lamb, Christina "The Sewing Circles of Herat"

Lamb, Christina "The Sewing Circles of Herat: A Personal Voyage Through Afghanistan" - 2002 

I have read quite a few books about Afghanistan over the years since there seem to be a lot available right now. This was by far the best one of them. (All the others were fiction.)

Christina Lamb is a journalist who knows her job. She had been in Afghanistan before 9/11 and then went back straight after when almost no western correspondent was able to get there. She met a lot of people from all sides - politicians, Taliban, normal people, especially women. And she gives a great insight into this tormented country. You almost feel like you're there with her.

Great book about this topic.

From the back cover:

"Ten years ago, Christina Lamb reported on the war the Afghan people were fighting against the Soviet Union. Now, back in Afghanistan, she has written an extraordinary memoir of her love affair with the country and its people.

Long haunted by her experiences in Afghanistan, Lamb returned there after last year's attack on the World Trade Centre to find out what had become of the people and places that had marked her life as a young graduate.This time seeing the land through the eyes of a mother and experienced foreign correspondent, Lamb's journey brings her in touch with the people no one else is writing about: the abandoned victims of almost a quarter century of war.

‘Of all books about Afghanistan, Christina Lamb’s is the most revealing and rewarding…a personal, perceptive and moving account of bravery in the face of staggering difficulties.’ Anthony Sattin, Sunday Times
As an account of how Afghanistan got into its present state, and of the making of the grotesque regime of the Taliban, this book could not possibly be bettered. Brilliant.’ Matthew Leeming, Spectator
Lamb’s book combines a love of Afghanistan with a fearless search for the human stories behind the past twenty-three years of war…Her book is not only a necessary education for the Western reader in the political warring that generated the torture, murder and poverty, but also a stirring lament for the country of ruins that was once better known for its poetry and mosques.’ James Hopkin, The Times"

We discussed this in our international book club in May 2005.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

I have also read "The Africa House: The True Story of an English Gentleman and His African Dream", just as interesting.

Landvik, Lorna "Welcome to The Great Mysterious"

Landvik, Lorna "Welcome to The Great Mysterious" - 2000

A successful stage actress has to look after her nephew who has has Down syndrome. During the course of the book, she comes to realize how special he is and changes her life.

I don't think the author had anything else in mind than writing a “nice little story” and that she did. It was quite superficial and I couldn't help but thinking that the end only turned out the way it did because she wanted to create a happy ending, not because the story led there.

I didn't care very much for this novel.

We discussed this in our international book club in May 2004.

From the back cover:

"Megastar of stage, screen, and television, Geneva Jordan now has a command performance in Minnesota, where she agrees to look after her thirteen-year-old nephew, a boy with Down’s syndrome, while his parents take a long-overdue vacation. Though Geneva and her sister, Ann, are as different as night and day ('I being night, of course, dark and dramatic'), Geneva remembers she had a family before she had a star on her door. But so accustomed is she to playing the lead, finding herself a supporting actress in someone else’s life is strange and unexplored territory. Then the discovery of an old scrapbook that she and her sister created long ago starts her thinking of things beyond fame. For The Great Mysterious is a collection of thoughts and feelings dedicated to answering life’s big questions - far outside the spotlight’s glow. . . ."