Books - Book Review - How to Be Good - Nick Hornby

This novel was the June selection of the International Fiction Book Group of New Orleans.

The book club members and I felt sorry for Kate of North London. Even though she is a physician, she doesn't lead the life that she would if she lived in the US. She has no maid, no nanny, and her husband, a local newspaper columnist, doesn't value her contributions to the household expenses and does nothing to help with the child rearing and housework.

Poor Kate is frazzled. She works 10 hour days (with an assigned caseload of 2000 patients) and comes home to a messy house. She doesn't have meaningful conversations with adults, because her husband is always angry, she has no time for her friends, and her husband has alienated the friends they used to have together. Plus, one child is digustingly in favor of the dad and the other child is acting out, in order to get some attention.

So, she has a brief affair. None of us in the group are in favor of affairs, but we kind of understand why she did it.

And she hopes that this failing doesn't mark her as a bad person. She tells her husband that she doesn't want to be married to him anymore via a cell call from the parking lot where she met her lover. "If you choose to conduct yours on a mobile phone in a Leeds carpark, then you cannot really claim that it is unrepresentative, in the same way that Lee Harvey Oswald couldn't really claim that shooting presidents wasn't like him at all. Sometimes, we have to be judged by our one-offs."

Basically, she is a good person who has gotten fed up with her life and is probably close to a breakdown.

However, David is jolted and decides to change from an angry, judgemental person to a good person, but he goes too much to the other side. He gets a guru and still continues to pay little attention to Kate.

This novel led a to great discussion about the medical systems here in the US versus the ones in Europe. All of us believe that change is needed, but not the system that is in the UK right now. Kate gets mean to some of her more challenging patients, and we hope that the proposed system being advocated by the current President doesn't lead to all doctors behaving like this.

All of us also admired Hornby's gift of getting a woman's voice right. This passage struck a strong chord with me. In Chapter 12, Kate muses about her current life, "Getting married and having a family is like emigrating. I used to live in the same country as my brother. I used to share his values and his tastes and his attitudes and then I moved away. And even though I didn't mean to do, I started to speak with a different accent, and think differently, and even though I remembered my native land fondly, all traces of it had gone from me...the new world isn't all it was cracked up to be, and the people there are much saner and wiser than the people who live in my adopted nation."

I had similar feelings when I was briefly married, so I really admire Hornby's gift to articulate this ambivalence in Kate.

This novel is a great snapshot of life in London in the 21st century of a middle class family who undergoes a crisis. It's not all dreary, and it has hilarious moments in it.

Stuff - NOCCA - Community Art Lectures

The heat has been horrid here for the past few weeks, but I determined not to let my mind go limp.

One way I am fighting lethargy is by attending the Community Arts Lecture at the NOCCA Sen. John Breaux Library.

The first meeting was about Getting Published by Julia Johnson, Associate Professor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi and Vol. 13, issue 1&2 editor of the Mississippi Review and a member of the Center for Writers.

First of all, she suggested to start turning in work into journals like the Mississippi Review, enter contests like The Mississippi Review Poetry Series, and follow links like these: 39 Steps, Poet and Writers tools, (and I am mentioning my personal favorite, Mslexia - What's On .) She also said to try to attend AWP conference.

Johnson then showed us a writing technique, based on seeing a work of art. She showed us amazing works by Yves Klein (I now must find books about his works) and read OUT LOUD some of her poems inspired by Klein's paintings and poems by W.H. Auden and Charles Wright.

Since we were running out of time, she encouraged us to do the same.

The universe always works in perfection. I was finally able to borrow a copy of A Convergence of Bird - Original Fiction and Poetry Inspired by the works of Joseph Cornell (Jonathan Safran Foer, editor). There are many color plates in this book, so I can write about Cornell's works, before the book is due. And with the upcoming holiday, I even have time to read the poems out loud!

And when I do that, I will write to Johnson to let her know about this post and of my poems.

If you are in town, please come to these lectures:

Thursday, July 16, 7PM USING COLOR FEARLESSLY-Mary Cooper.
Thursday, August 20, 7PM VISUAL ARTS MARKETING-Gene Meneray
Thursday, September 17, 7PM PROMOTING LOUISIANA MUSIC -Scott Aiges

Please contact, Jennifer Cooper for more information: (504)940-2912 or email jcooper@nocca.com

Books - Book Review - The St. Bernard Fire Department in Hurricane Katrina - Michelle Mahl Buuck

This book counts as my LONG book selection in the 9 for '09 Book Challenge.
I usually read books that are 250-300 pages; this non-fiction work is 352 pages.

Before I review this book, I need to provide some background information. St. Bernard Parish is east of New Orleans and borders the 9th Ward. It has two oil refineries, a major sugar refinery, and a fishing industry. Some of its earliest settlers came from the Canary Islands in the 1700s. There were many plantations during the 1800s. The Battle of New Orleans, the last one during the War of 1812, was actually fought in what is now Chalmette, St. Bernard Parish, not in New Orleans.

The residents of St. Bernard have a real sense of place, so much so, that very few ever left it; I believe their sense of place is even stronger than those in New Orleans. Because of that fact, and that their accents sounded similar to people in Brooklyn, we in New Orleans made fun of the Chalmations or people from Chalmette. However, since the Katrina, I haven't heard one Chalmation joke, which is good thing.

The Katrina-caused levee breaches flooded 80% of New Orleans (equivalent to 5 Manhattans), but it caused MORE damage in St. Bernard: 100% was indundated! The author, Michelle Mahl Buuck writes, "What happened was the worst case scenario for the Parish of St. Bernard. While waterways border St. Bernard on all four sides, leeves had broken on three of them. Hurricane protection leeves along the Mississippi Gulf Outlet (Mr. Go), the Industrial Canal, an portions of the federal Mississippi River Leeve belong Meraux were breached and had failed."

(Mr. Go is a man-made shortcut from the ports to the Gulf of Mexico. Residents had called for its closure for many years, but the Corpse of Engineers just didn't heed their warnings. The Industrial Canal breach first flooded the 9th Ward and then moved to St. Bernard. Storm surges in St. Bernard are estimated to have been 25 feet (7.62 meters). )

Buuck's purpose is to tell the Katrina story from the Fire Department's point of view. There are many photos included in the book, all contributed by the firemen.

I heard about this book from a One Book, One New Orleans event from last year. It was a panel discussion of "Why St. Bernard Matters." It also marked the first time that I had been in St. Bernard Parish since the Katrina.

One of the panelist told me, before the talk, that the Mounties arrived first in St. Bernard, and I was hoping that something was mentioned Buuck's book.

The first photo in this work is a satellite view of the five command centers of the parish: Domino Sugar Refinery (closest to New Orleans, in Arabi), Parish Government Complex, Civic Center, Chalmette High School, and St. Bernard High School (SBHS). If you are not familiar with the area, it's a great one to keep referring to.

Everyone knew there was going to be some flooding, but not to the extent that it happened. Firefighter Rodney Ourso recalls what he saw at SBHS: "There was a deer, struggling, swimming across the football field..You don't see that everyday."

During the height of the storm, the Domino Sugar Refinery, a sturdy, brick building built in early 1900s, began to move! "...the partition, cinderblocks were actually vibrating, moving back and forth by an estimated 4 or 5 inches." (10.2 to 12.7 centimeters)

All communications were lost, and each command station were on their own. A lot of improvisation happened to try to save and ration the little food and water there was, later rescue the living from rooftops using boats, repairing boats without power tools, cure the injured, provide some sort of toilet facilities, plan evacuations to the Mississippi River, etc. The firemen also had to keep focused on the job and not think about all that they had lost. They had no homes to go back to, no fire trucks, no fire stations, no nothing. In some ways, their trauma was worse than the 9/11 firemen. The ones who survived had homes and stations to return to.

The most vivid description for me was the efforts of the firemen in trying to prevent staph infections and foot rot. Some of their techniques reminded me of what Xavier and Elijah did (to keep their feet dry) during WWI in Three Day Road.

But, after battling heat, hunger, thirst, and trying to keep people calm for many days, help finally came: THE VANCOUVER URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM! District Commander Buuck expressed what a lot of the St. Bernard residents felt. Although they were happy to be saved, "to have a foreign government send people down here and get here before our own government makes me feel that I'm not an American."

With the fourth anniversary of 8/29 quickly approaching, I felt that I needed to read this book. Although I didn't go to St. Bernard a lot, I knew that the people there had suffered as much as New Orleans residents because of the devastation caused by the Katrina breeches.

St. Bernard Parish is recovering at a faster pace than New Orleans. The Domino Refinery recently celebrated its centennial and it has been modernized. The deadline to repair or demolish homes has passed, and those who wish to still own the property must maintain them. (In New Orleans, some abandoned homes have pools with fetid water from 8/29!) The Civic Center now holds events like graduation; it flooded up the first balcony level. The schools are slowly rebuilding. New residents, such as Liz McCarthy, are helping in the rebuilding. (She won a CNN 2008 Hero Award.)

And the Fire Department has reopened some of its fire stations and more are being planned to reopen. It recently received FEMA money to replace all the fire hydrants in the parish.

Many times, when I was reading this book, I felt as though it was fiction and other-worldly. I had to keep saying to myself, "It's real but incredible!"

The reality struck with Shane Lulei's answer to Buuck's question, "Is Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath the worst thing that you have been through?" Lulei's answer really shows his sense of duty. " We lost our whole community, and we don't know what's going to happen next. But my family and friends are all safe. As far as I went through, this is what I'm trained for; it's my job."

Stuff - Literacy Event - One Book - One New Orleans

For my June event for the 2009 Mini- Challenge, I selected - Promote Literacy.

I am a volunteer for One Book, One New Orleans. The first phase was recommending and then reading books for the September - October 2009 reading period.

I (yes, moi) nominated Sara Roahen's Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table! And it won!

It's a small slice of the various types of foods that you can find in New Orleans and where you can find them.

This book is suitable for all ages. As a adult, I discovered other places that serve my favorite foods and learned the history behind the food.

For adult literacy readers, the chapters are self-contained, so that the new readers can tackle one or two chapters and not lose the sense of the book.

High school students can enjoy reading about what makes this city special.

Even children can read about the sno-balls (snow cones) and compare notes.

We met with the author the other night at dinner, and she was excited with some our preliminary plans and made suggestions for others.

I don't know how much we can achieve in the time frame and how much things will cost, but I am hoping that we can do most of them.

I know that I will have a fun October and early November as a participant!

I will give you updates as soon as I know them.

Plus, if you have any ideas, please leave a comment! We are still in the planning stages and have time for more ideas.

Books - Book Review - A Year of Pleasure - Elizabeth Berg

For me, Elizabeth Berg is a quiet writer. She writes about women, not famous ones nor rich ones, and follows them through life changing events that unfold slowly in the novel.

Bette is on a road trip from Boston to the Midwest. "..my mind seemed to uncrinkle, to breathe, to present to itself a cure for a disease it had not, until now, known it had. Rather than the back of an airline seat or endless, identical rest stops on the interstate, I saw farmhouses in the middle of protective strands of trees, silos reaching for the sky, barns faded to the soft red of tomato soup.."

Her beloved husband had died, and she was totally lost. During their happy marriage, they hadn't needed many friends. Now, she was lost. What to do next? All the plans she had made with John were now useless.

Bette moves to a small town near Chicago and slowly recovers from the shock of the death and starts to plan her future. And, she wants to enjoy life, a piece at a time.

Part of the pleasure is to slowly return to the personality that she had when she was in college.

This novel is sad in certain portions, but Bette soldiers on, with some setbacks.

Even though I may never experience widowhood, Berg does a great job in showing what a widow would probably experience.

Books - Book Review - The Last Queen - C. W. Gortner

BookGirl tempted me with this book! I had to find it and read it!

I heard about Juana La Loca at home only. She is another daughter of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. Their other daughter, was Henry VII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

Since I was educated in North America, I knew more about Catherine. I was always in disbelief of how Isabella just forgot about her in cold England and did nothing to rescue her. And now finding out about Juana, I have a worse impression of Isabella and hope that she is never made into a saint, because she doesn't deserve it.

Juana married Philip, the ruler of Flanders. She didn't want to go there and leave her beloved homeland. Just after she heard the news and realized that her mother would never change her mind about the marriage, she felt, "this world I loved so much, it would not mourn me. It would not even feel my absence. It would continue on, agelessly indifferent in its beauty, it's wall absorbing the echoes of its departed."

At first the marriage does become a love match. But power and money start getting in the way. Juana finds out that she can trust no one. The story grips you in a way that I just could not put down this book, even to get enough sleep so I wouldn't be a zombie at work the next day.

In all novels, I like to read about the daily living conditions. There are mentions of "toilets" and of how Queen Juana had to "spread dried lavender on the carpeted floor of my tent to keep our environs feel of louses." She traveled by horse from Galicia to Castile, but she did it in style.

This historical novel is a great introduction to the other ruler of this great royal family, a forgotten member, who seems to be remembered by madness only and not what she did while in power.

Books - Book Review - Three Day Road - Joseph Boyden

This novel is the first of my Canadian reads. I recently got a certificate and bought mostly Canadian works.

I am not familiar with the Great War as much as WWII. So, when I can learn about WWI, I jump at the chance.

The title refers to the length of time that it takes to get from the train stop to Xavier Bird's home in northern Canada. And the road is not really a road; it's mostly waterways and stopping on land to rest for the night. And, it's also the journey of recalling the past, exorcising the ghosts, and getting ready for the present.

Xavier Bird is the nephew of Niska, a Canadian Oji-Cree. She can see into the future and is also a healer, of both the body and the spirit.

She tells some of the story in the novel and other times, it goes back to Xavier, relating what he saw and thought while in Europe. Then, it goes back to the present, the journey they are both making back home.

Xavier mostly grew up in the wilds with Niska. He did make friends with Elijah, who was educated by nuns in a school that forced the Cree and other native people to be separated from their families and culture.

However, Elijah managed not lose his language and learned hunting skills from Xavier. However, Xavier really does not have a strong command of English and depends on Elijah to translate for him in Europe, until Xavier becomes fluent.

I don't know how in the world Elijah hears about WWI, but he convinces Xavier to sign up. They end up in the trenches of Belgium and France as snipers.

Xavier is the more thoughtful of the two. When they receive orders to leave "this quiet place of Saint Eloi and marched down there as reinforcements. Words. The rumours fall like rain here."

Boyden describes the horrible living conditions in the trenches. In order to battle the dreaded trench foot (when "the feet are black and swelling"), Xavier and Elijah "wear the tall mocasins I made a long time ago back in Canada. They dry quickly and allow our feet to breathe.."

Waiting for the next battles can be monotonous, so Elijah signs up for burial duty. But, "before he leaves a corpse, Elijah tells me that he has taken to opening each man's eye and staring into them, then closing them with his calloused right hand, letting a strange spark of warmth accumulate deep in his gut..Before they go to their place, Elijah, he says, the spark fills his belly when it gnaws for food."

This novel shows how two men can love each other as brothers and how sometimes painful decisions have to be made to show the love. It also relates the horror and boredom of WWI. I also learned more about ceremonies that are practiced by the Cree and wonder whether they are still done today.

Even though I read this book very quickly, I had to slow down in certain parts. Boyden writes Xavier's English in a not-quite-right way. Considering that Xavier didn't really learn the language until he went off to war, it was a great literary device.

I will recommend this novel to my book club and hope to start Boyden's award winning novel, Through Black Spruce very soon.

Books - Book Review - In the Time of the Butterflies - Julia Alvarez

Selection for May: Read a library book.

Yes, I know, it's a little late for May, but why not?

I borrowed this book from the New Orleans Public Library to read for the International Fiction Book Club of New Orleans.

Alvarez' book concerns a group of siblings living in the Dominican Republic durint the time of the dictator, Trujillo.

I knew absolutely nothing about this period in Dominican History, so I liked that aspect of the novel.

It also is Alvarez' telling of the resistance of the Mirabel sisters against the dictator. They had comfortable lives as young girls, but there was always a current of fear. In a school play, which Trujillo attended, the sisters were afraid of being too beautiful. Trujillo liked young girls, and he would take them for a bit, until he got tired of them or they became pregnant.

Trujillo not only imprisoned people and had them executed, but he was able to make everday life miserable.

The oldest Mirabel sister finished law school and was ready to start a practice. However, Trujillo was able to have some paperwork revised, and she never was able to work in her profession. She railed and ranted but was powerless to change things.

In 1959, Patricia had a sense of foreboding. "My eighteenth year of marriage, the ground of my well-being began to give a little. Just a baby's breath tremor, a hairline crack you could hardly see unless you were looking for trouble."

This is great introduction to this time period and will help you to understand some of the background of Junot Diaz' The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

Books - Book Review - The Opposite House - Helen Oyeyemi

This novel fits the Cover category of my reading challenge, 9 for '09.

It's really interesting. When I first bought the book, I thought it was a London Street. But turning it upside down, I think that it's either a street in Havana or in Lagos.

Most probably Havana, since there are ancient Fords and other American cars parked on the street.

Maja is a double immigrant. She was born in Cuba. Her father was a professor and her mother was his student. They left Cuba, "young man Papi with his unkempt Afro and tortoise shell spectacles. Once he had finally achingly understood that Castro's Revolution was not his", they moved to Germany first and then London.

Maja's mom became pregnant with a son in London. And as she got older, she went deeper into Santeria, the voodoo of Cuba. Maja's dad can't accept his wife's beliefs.

It is also the story of Yemaya Saramagua, who travels between London and Lagos, by using a door and not an airplane. This part was confusing to me, because Yemaya seems to interact with Maja's friends also (or was it just in the dreams?)

Besides telling the story of Maja's feeling of not belonging, this novel also gives an overview of the immigrant experience in this century. Maja meets up with Magalys, a childhood friend from Cuba.

Magalys feels that "... sometimes it just doesn't feel like anywhere over here. I look at maps and stuff and none of the places seem real. I thing that what happens when you dont' belong to a country though - lines are just lines, and letters are just letters and you can't touch the meaning behind them they way you can when you're at home and you look at a map and you see, instead of a place-name, a stretch of road or an orchard or an ice-cream palour around the corner."

I need to re-read this novel and I might recommend it to my book group to see whether I can other insights with a second reading.

The portions of Yemaya's story were confusing to me. And, it's a refreshing telling of the Cuban experience. I am most familiar with the stories of the early Cubans coming to the US in the 1960s. Since this family left later, the feelings are different.

Books - Book Review - The Long Walk - A True Story of a Trek to Freedom - Slavomir Rawicz

This work counts as my Distance choice in the 9 for '09. Omsk, Russia, which is the nearest city to Siberia on the distance calculator to New Orleans is 10,459 kilometers or 6499 miles.

This is a memoir of Lt. Slamovir Rawicz, who was captured by the Russians and sent to Siberia in 1940. He thinks that his crime was being a Polish officer and resisting the Nazis. He believes that he was in one of the last calvary battles of the 20th century, against the Nazi tanks.

After spending a year in prison, he and other prisoners traveled from Moscow, across the country, and got off Lake Baikal. Then, they were taken by truck toward the Artic Circle and then walked and walked. Once they arrived, they had to build their own huts. They were given axes to cut down the trees and 3 meals a day: bread, coffee, soup, and a warm drink for the night.

Rawicz got a few more grams of bread by making skis for the Soviet Army. Then, he got the plum assignment of fixing a radio of the commander.

He plans an escape with 6 other men: Anton Paluchowcz and Sigmund Makowski (the Polish Army), Eugen Zaros (Yugoslavian clerk), Anastazi Kolemenos (Latvian landowner), Marchinkovas (Lithuanian), and Mr. Smith (a US Engineer who was building the Moscow subway). All the men spoke Rusian, which was useful in the first leg of the walk.

An excellent map in the front shows the route: across Lake Baikal, and the Kentei Mountains, Mongolia, the Gobi, into China, going through Tibet, but bypassing Lhasa, crossing the Himalayas, and into northern India, where Mr. Smith's English skills finally came into use.

They left with no food and found food on the way. Rawicz was the only one who wasn't a city person and he knew how to hunt and fish a bit. They were given food by villagers and no one denounced them.

They also found a young girl, Kristina Polanski, a Polish Ukranian, who was running away from a labor camp.

The BBC made a documentary, doubting the veracity of the memoir. However, a couple of things indicate it could be true.

• Circassian villages had wooden bowls, that were treated like gold. The bowls "can't be made in these mountain districts.They are fashioned with great skill from a special kind of hardwood which does not crack." And, ".. man will sometimes trade two yaks for one of those."

That's a tiny fact that really can't be made up.

• The author continued to be plagued by nightmares, despite living a quiet life in England after the war.

This work is an interesting read in the struggle for freedom and what people will do to gain it.

Books - Book Review - The Heart of the Happy Hollow - Paul Dunbar

This collection of stort stories counts as my BODY PART in the title of the What's In A Name 2 Reading Challenge.

Paul Dunbar was the son of slaves, but he was very lucky by receiving a great education. He wrote about the African-American experience during Reconstruction.

I recently complained that Gone with the Wind really didn't give voice to the lives of the former slaves and any thoughts that they had.

Well, this collection is complete opposite. White people appear, but they are not central to the plot.

But, you must be prepared for the writing. When the African-Americans speak, what is written down is their version of English. It will take concentration to read these portions, so don't be tired or sleepy when you pick up this book.

My two favorite stories are: The Triumph of Ol' Mis' Pease and The Interference of Patsy Ann.

Mis' Pease was a church lady. She divorced her husband and he remarried too quickly for her tastes. Everyone took sides in the matter and she managed to bother the 2nd wife, without seeming to be un-Christian-like. The final revenge happened when Mis' Pease died. I was laughing so loudly! (If you want to know what happens, shot me an email. I don't want to give more away.)

Patsy Ann is the oldest daughter, raising her siblings, since her mom died. One day, a neighbor tells her to make sure that her dad doesn't remarry, otherwise the stepmother will be evil. She and the children run away (but not too far, since they didn't pack much to eat or drink) and later meet a nice lady, who tells them that not all stepparents are horrible.

There are also stories of men: a farmer becomes successful, despite not accepting the offer of help from his former master, a politician starts off with good intentions, but is corrupted by power, and the homecoming of a resident of a small town who graduated from college. Plus, 12 other stories are in this collection.

These stories give an idea of what it was like living in freedom, with the pleasure of making decisions and living with the consequences of those choices.

A great read for anytime of the year!

A bit restless

When the summer approaches, I usually hibernate and read books about cold places, but I am starting a bit earlier this year. And, I am also reading more than one book at a time.



Joseph Boyden - Three Day Road - A Canadian-Cree leaves his cold part of Canada and goes off to France to fight in WWI. He's cold in Europe and when he returns home and travels by canoe to his home, he is also cold.



Valentin Rasputin - Money for Maria - Stories - Kuzman who lives in Siberia, needs to get some money so his wife isn't sent away to the really bad part of Siberia.



I am just on the first story, it's only October, and the wind is really picking up!



The Long Walk - Slamomir Rawicz

Rawicz and six other guys escape from a labor camp in Siberia during WWII. And they walk to northern India!



I found a BBC link that disputes this memoir. So, I am still thinking about it.

I have also reserved two books from the library. I hope that I get them!

Books - Book Review - Unimagined - Imran Ahmad

Reading this memoir counts as my May event for the 2009 Mini Challenge - A Novel Challenge: reading non-fiction.


Imran Ahmad is not a rock star, not an inventor, not an important politician, but he wanted to write a work about bridging the two worlds that he knows: The West, as represented by the UK and the United States (and mostly Christian world) and Pakistan and the rest of the East, where Islam is the main religion.





He grew up in London, always thinking about the afterlife and its implications in not being a Christian. As he grew older, he realized what Islam meant and how he could live in West.


His story is an excellent story of being first generation immigrant. Although he was born in Pakistan, he moved to England at such a young age, that the main cultural influence was the UK.
Beside achieving the goal of explaining Islam to the Western readers, this memoir is a funny and sometimes sad story of a boy and young man trying to keep his feet in two worlds, by trying to please and make his family proud of him while also trying to do something to make him happy in life.


His tales of nasty cafeteria food, attempts of trying to fit in , his love of Star Trek and other sci-fi, his joy of learning, the pressures of being the first born child paving the way for younger siblings seem to parallel my own experiences, of growing up first-generation. However, I grew up Catholic in a mainly Catholic city, and I really didn't encounter the amount of prejudice that he did. His life was more difficult, in that sense, more than mine.


As a Londoner, he had never really travelled beyond the city. He was shocked at the northern English accents that he encountered at Stirling University in Scotland and felt it didn't sound correct. He had problems understanding the Scottish accents, but he didn't feel the same snobbiness as when he heard the northerners speak.


This autobiography is not written in the usual manner. It is written in snapshots or short recollections of memories. You don't read about the mundane, the commutes to school, all the studying that he did, all the meals that he ate, what he did on the plane rides to Pakistan, and so on.


I like the format, short and sweet, with some way of relating to the matter of acquainting everyone of his experiences.


Imran Ahmad will continue to write about his life after age 25, where this memoir stops. It will be interesting to read about his experiences in the corporate world and whether living in the US was what he was expecting.


Check out my post about his book tour and his site for more information about his adventures.

Books - Book Review - Gone with the Wind - Martha Mitchell

This is my second book for the 2009 TBR Lite Challenge.

While I was reading this novel, I couldn't put it down. Despite having watched the movie 10 times over the years and knowing how it would end, I kept plugging.

The main differences that I found between the novel and the movies are:

1. Scarlett had one child with each of her 3 husbands.
2. Scarlett is more selfish than shown in the movie.
3. Ashley wasn't so noble.
4. And, of course, the details that couldn't be put in the movie.

The main thing that I didn't like about the novel is that it really didn't consider the evils of slavery. All the white people (except for Scarlett and Rhett) whined about the past and missed the old life and couldn't adjust to it.

In Chapter XXXI, Ashley and Scarlett were living at Tara after the Civil War. He says, "It isn't that I mind splitting logs here in the mud, but I do mind what it stands for. I do mind, very much the loss of beauty of the old life I loved...There was a glamour to it, a perfection and a completeness and a symmetry to it like Grecian art. Maybe it wasn't so to everyone. I know that now...And now it is gone and I am out of place in this new life, and now I am afraid."

A bit whiny, yes, but MAN UP, Ashley. Take care of your family. Don't let Scarlett do everything.

Another thing is Scarlett's turnaround from vapid coquette to shrewd businesswoman. Sometimes I do think it's possible, because her mom was also rather vapid and later managed both personnel and monetary matters at Tara. And her vow to "to live through this, and when it's over, I'm never going to be hungry again..If I have to steal or kill - as God is my witness, I'm never going to be hungry again."

And other times, I just couldn't believe that she could learn so much so quickly. Was she just using 1% of her brain power before the Civil War and it jumped up after the war? Or was Mitchell taking creative license with this personality trait? I am still wondering about this.

When I was in school, I learned that the North had superior industrial strength. Hints of this was evident in the novel. Paper was missed quickly. When Scarlett's father wrote to her, he reused her stationery, and answered her letter by writing between the lines. Women didn't have access to new bolts of cloth to have dresses made. Coffee was now made from corn and yams, without sugar and cream. Corn pone, made of corn and butter, and baked in a pan, was a common meal during the war and afterwards.

Despite my dislike of the viewpoint of the novel, it gave a glimpse to the end of an era and how people react to changes in life.

Click here and here for some historical comments that I made about Gone with the Wind.

Books - Book Review - Inverted World - Christopher Priest

Some bloggers are reading titles from NYRB press, so I was tempted to try one that hadn't been reviewed yet.

The Inverted World takes place in a future on a planet that is terran-like but may not be Earth.

Going foward, on a track, that is dismantled. Keep on moving, year after year.

The civilized people of the CITY live in a moveable world. They trade (itmes and labor) with the other people that they meet and sometime mate with them, but they try not to have much to do with the others.

The world has to keep moving away from the south to avoid being crushed by gravity. The engineers who travel to the north to map out the route for the city notice that time passes differently from the city people.

The CITY is organized in guilds but it's not the same as the old Earth guilds. All the guilds have the purpose of keeping the CITY alive and moving.

The novel mainly follows Helward, from the time he is a teen to adulthood. He sometimes remembers his earlier life and tells the readers about it. And describes what he has to do to attain a top position in the guild.

I was gripped by this work. I wanted to stay up all night to finish it and find out what happens to everyone in this world.

I need to re-read to catch the finer points.

Books - Lecture by Imran Ahmad - author of Unimagined

This event counts as my April event for the 2009 Mini-Challenge: Go to a Book Event: attending a lecture about Unimagined.

Months ago, I read an interesting review and interview about Imran Ahmad's biography on Trevor's blog. Trevor had such a positive blog that I added Ahmad's work on my TBR pile.

A few weeks ago, I was happy to hear that he was coming to New Orleans to speak! (Although the church isn't far from my home, it's another world. This neighborhood was badly, badly flooded in the Katrina, and I hadn't been there since 2005. The streets have so many potholes and little hills, that I felt like I was on a roller coaster. Really, really bad! I was afraid of having a flat tire, but my love of books made me determined to fight the horrid roads and not turn back.

Check the April 8th entry for his impressions of the neighborhood.)

The church was full of members and there was a nice interaction between Ahmad and the audience.

His talk was in three parts: talking about Islam, reading funny portions of Unimagined, and answering questions about the writing process and future works.

When he started his talk, he wanted it mentioned that he is a member of the British Muslims for Secular Democracies. He emphasized the point that not Muslims are terrorists, just as in the West, not everyone believes in the same things. He noticed that many people (including Muslims) don't realize that there are many factions of Islam; in a similar manner, there are many factions in the West (including Christianity). Anyone who does not bother to find out what is going on to cause the factions and the viewpoints of the "other side" belongs to the "Lazy Tribalism" group, that polarizes and dehumanizes people who don't believe what one follows.

In the second part, he read portions of his book. Including how he could barely stand up when this picture was taken, how cute everyone said he was, etc. But, despite all that, he lost the Bonnie Baby Contest in Karachi, Pakistan, because the judges were friends with the parents of the girl who won!

He later relayed the story of losing out to the last serving of his favorite lunch, fish and chips, to a boy who skipped the line, and he was left with eating some horrid meal.

There were more passages read, each one funnier than the previous one. Ahmad prefaced each section with a memory to

make us understand the context and had us all in stitches.

In the last part, he told us the process of writing his memoir: After reading Paulo Coehlo's The Alchemist, he was inspired to follow the purpose of his life. He started by writing for 1/2 hour, read the result and decided it wasn't too bad, and continued on. He spent most of Christmas 2005 and New Year's 2006 writing and finished by February 2006. The writing process was very joyful to him before and not a chore at all.

Now came the difficult part: getting published. After not having much success on this front, he decided to self publish and sent a copy to anyone he felt who like to read it. The most influential person to receive a copy was Scott Pack, the former Buying Manager: Waterstone’s (one of the biggest booksellers in the UK) ,who suggested a literary agent.

I think that I asked whether he had heard from some of the people that he wrote about. Ahmad said yes and some were upset that he didn't use their real names. He couldn't find them and felt it was not appropiate without their permissions. In future editions of Unimagined, this might be corrected. Another person wanted to read more; he said the second part should be published in the near future.

Ahmad also answered some more questions about Islam and his belief that his work can help others understand what Islam really means.

Afterwards, I spoke to him briefly and promised to buy his book. I also mentioned that I read Trevor's review and he remembers speaking to Trevor for the interview.

I highly recommend that you listen to him speak, if you have the chance. You will learn about Islam and learn about life for a 1st generation UKer.

I'm back

I had a nice hiatus.

I was able to list new blogs that I follow, link my book reviews to the list, read other blogs, and catch up on my magazine reading.

I gave the magazines away to a local hospital waiting room.

I am keeping up with the Daily Lit readings of Moby Dick. If I heard about a 21st century relationship similar to what Queequeg and the narrator are having, I would think that they were bro-friends (See Definition 2 - love that new word.)

Melville does digress, but I am enjoying them. I can visualize how Manhattan and Nantucket looked like in the older days and did verify that Peter the Great, Czar of Russia, worked as a simple laborer in a shipyard in other to find out more about shipbuilding in order build Russia's first Navy.

Queequeq and the narrator have arrived in Nantucket but haven't boarded a ship yet.

I answered some questions about my health for my insurance company and got a $75 gift certificate for my troubles. It was hard deciding whether to go to a restaurant or to buy books, so I decided to treat only myself: Books.

The Barnes and Noble gift certificate allowed me to buy:


The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant (movie with a young Sam Neill, sigh)

Unimagined: A Muslim Boy Meets the West - Imran Ahmad (heard him speak two weeks ago. will blog about the talk this week, I promise, Trevor!)

Traipsing in Canada with:
Through Black Spruce - Joseph Boyden
Three Day Road - Joseph Boyden
Map of Glass - Jane Urquhart (heard her speak at an author's event in Dallas, years ago!)

I am eagerly waiting for the UPS guy to drop off the box.

More reviews and bookly posts to follow.

SPRING BREAK!

Actually, it's a spring cleaning.

I have to clean up a lot of things on this blog:

• Add more books links to my review portion
• Write 4 reviews
• Add more sites that I read
• Read my Daily Lit for Moby Dick (I've read only 2 of the 27 I've received so far!)

So, I should be back in a week or so.

Stuff - 1st Q Winner of 9 for '09 Reading Challenge

As the host for the 9 for '09 Reading Challenge, I have the great pleasure to announce the winner for the First Quarter of 2009: Sarah of Crafterrific.

I wrote down all the names of anyone who posted something in 9 for '09 during January, February and March of this year.

My Mother (a fair person) drew Sarah's name.

I have decided not to give any books away, since I don't want to feed your book addictions.

But, the prizes are still wonderful.

A HANDMADE journal from BookGirl's Studio!

BookDarts bought from DeVilles Books in New Orleans.

Keep those posts coming. Another drawing will be held in early June and then in August, if you have read 5 books by then.

Books - Historical Notes - Gone with the Wind - Martha Mitchell

I finished Gone with the Wind, but I am not ready to give my literary opinion yet.

I am going to comment about life after the Civil War.

When Scarlett finally marries Rhett, she goes to New Orleans for her honeymoon.

She goes to the finest restaurants and devours crawfish. This didn't sound right to me. Crawfish didn't really become popular until the 1980s or so. It was considered poor people food.

And I was right. I am reading Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table by Sara Roahen for the One Book, One New Orleans nomination process. She has done extensive research of all the foods that we eat down here.

Roahen writes, "Crawfish have a long history in Louisiana as a poor man's food - in reputation, in stigma, and in reality..Marcelle Bienvenu and Carla and Ryan Brasseaux record that even as recently as the 1930s, Cajuns limited their crawfish harvests to time of flood, when they were too plentiful to ignore, and Lenten periods of fasting. The authors found newspaper articles from the 1870s that referred to crawfishing parties, "but these ventures frequently sought only bait for fishing expeditions." "

So, Scarlett wouldn't attend such a party and she wouldn't venture to an ugly, hot swamp. And, by the time of the honeymoon, she had enough money and wouldn't be caught dead eating a poor man's food. This part of the novel is therefore, historically inaccurate.

I was interested in the lives of the slaves, but Mitchell doesn't cover it extensively. From the reading of the novel, I gathered that house servants were treated better than the field hands and were a bit snobby.

I found an autobiography in the Making of America site, compiled by the University of Michigan). The staff at UMich digitized many books from previous centuries. (There is another similar project at Cornell.)

I found 2 references to house servants: in an autobiography of Charles Ball, who was a slave and the autobiography and viewpoints of Charles Woodward, a Kansas abolitionist, who moved to Georgia after the Civil War.

Both examples point out the differences in treatment of the field hands and house servants and why they didn't like each other after the war.

I was surprised that gentle Ashley would join the Klan. "He's too refined and not white-trashy," I thought.

Woodward also comments on the Ku Klux Klan by stating its formation started after the Civil War and after the former leaders felt they had to do something to get some power back.

So, Mitchell was accurate in the last two topics.

Everyone also comments about Scarlett being such a serious business woman. In my previous job, I saw lots of documents in which a business woman needed a loan to expand her business or buy homes to rent later. So, women alone in the South could survive. Now, can one become such a person practically overnight? That's one of the things that I will discuss in my next posting of Gone with the Wind.