Books - Book Review - The Book Thief - Markus Zasak

As a first time book group leader, I read this book twice: once to get the plot down, and the second time, to capture details to discuss. And in both readings, I was very impressed with the writing.

Mr. Zusak started his writing career as a children’s author. But, the group and I felt that this is transition book to the adult fiction arena. There are some elements of a children’s book, but the issues that he explores are more for adults.

The story is about a Liesel who lives through WWII. Her family is not Jewish, but they didn’t support Hitler either. She ends up as a foster child in a small town near Munich with Rosa and Hans.

Liesel is not the narrator of the novel, but Death is. We find this out early on. In the first page, we get hints it might be Death, but before you reach the 10th page, you are rather sure.

Death has interesting descriptions and thoughts. He likes to see the sky; he notices that “…a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations, with each passing moment.” His favorite sky color is “..chocolate-colored sky. Dark, dark chocolate.” The human heart “is a line, whereas my own is circle, and I have the endless ability to be in the right place at the right time. …”

He also observes that “..the poor (at a train station) were the most easily recognized. The impoverished always try to keep moving, as if relocating might help. They ignore the reality that a new version of the same old problem will be waiting at the end of the trip…” These lines especially resonated with the group; we saw how the poor people who didn’t evacuate during the levee breaches in Hurricane Katrina suffered and how they are having problems adjusting to their new homes, especially financial ones. Poverty is universal and timeless, observed one of the group members.

Books also play an important part in this novel. Liesel didn’t know how to read until she worked hard with Hans to learn. She took books, but only as many as she felt necessary. She would re-read them and think about them and absorb all thoughts.

When she and her neighbors had to go to the bomb shelter, she also read to them to keep everyone calm. Her voice kept them from thinking too hard about the destruction in nearby Munich.

When she meets Max, she meets a soul mate in reading. He makes up two stories for her. In one, he paints pages from Mein Kampf to create a new and wonderful work. The second one, he writes about the crazy times they are living in, by declaring that Hitler used words, instead of weapons to first convince Germany and Austria to follow his vision. The second story may seen childlike to explain such concepts, but this viewpoint is an accurate one.

Would this book be appropriate for a teen? We believe so. With Death as the narrator, some of the horrible events that happened in Nazi Germany seem detached. It’s not so heartbreaking as Anne Frank, but you can still learn a lot of how it was for regular people to live through this era. Another group member was dreading reading some of the details but Death’s detachment from humans allowed her to finish the novel without being too upset.

There are several elements that still show that Mr. Zusak is still in transition. One group member encourages tweens and teens to read books by Lemony Snicket, and she noticed that some literary devices used by Mr. Snicket are present in this book. Death defines some words and gives some “previews” of events that will happen later. There is a chapter summary, and the page number typeface seems to be like rubberstamped.

In an explanation of fate and chance, Death illustrates this concept with die and rolls with the explanation. It was so literal that it went over my head, and the other group members had to explain it to me.

We enjoyed reading The Book Thief, and we are looking forward to future novels by such a talented young author.

Books - Bookgroup was successful!

The first meeting of the International Bookgroup was successful!

I was able to get all the advertising in the newspaper and on the Internet on time.

Two people, the bookstore manager, and I showed up.

We enjoyed meeting in each, and the discussion was interesting.

Later on, I will write more about our views of the Book Thief.

Right now, I am still catching up on reading my magazines and deciding to whom I will pass them on.

Stuff - Reading Magazines

I haven't been reading books lately, because I am finally receiving MAGAZINES!

Hurricane Katrina flooded the main processing post office in New Orleans almost 11 months ago. Because of curtailed services, no magazines nor catalogs nor junk mail have been delivered.

I have been peeking at magazines at the grocery stores but not buying any. All the magazines look like someone else has been reading them and are in bad shape. No, I couldn't go to the library, because they weren't receiving any either.

However, magazine delivery started in my neighborhood again. I am reading The Economist, Reader's Digest, and Health Magazine. I am still waiting for Smithsonian Magazine.

When I know that service is more reliable, I will order a couple of other magazines.
I want to get Artitude and a writing one.

After I enjoy reading magazines, I pass them on to friends or other places, where there are many people.

Stuff - Release Party for Intersection

Since I am the Publicity and Marketing person for Katrina-Ku, I was eager to go to the book release party for Intersection, to find out how to have one when our book is released.

Intersection was written by many authors and diverse photographers, all working independently. All the pictures were later matched to a story, and then printed.

Well, I must say, the release party was a fabulous! Most of the artists were present. People who would have normally never ventured to this neighborhood came and had fun.

Since the art gallery is still being renovated, brown wrapping paper was used as wallpaper. The tables, with great goodies to eat, were first covered with brown paper and then palm leaves. Not all the lights were working, so the party organizers hung Christmas twinkling lights for illumination.

There were no air conditioners either; thankfully it was a cool night, and the window fans really helped in circulating cooler air.

Proceeds from the book help the NOCCA, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and a public school for creative high school students. The school did not flood during Katrina, but part of its roof was damaged by her winds, and the building did get wet.

If you want to see one of the pictures, see this article. The people posed on a street for this picture; they are not zombies or dead.

The book is excellent and a fun read. I highly recommend it.

Books - Book Review - Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Life of America's First Poet - Charlotte Gordon

Charlotte Gordon wrote an interesting biography of Anne Bradstreet. Anne and her family landed in Massachusetts in 1630! The United States wouldn't exist for another 146 years; Massachusetts was an English colony.

These settlers were the Puritans, who were escaping from the rule of Charles II and his Roman Catholic leanings. I am Catholic, so I don't agree with all the religious viewpoints of Anne and her family.

If you want to be a writer and say you don't have time, look at how determined Anne was to write poems. Even though she had servants, she had to oversee the education and raising of her many children, supervise the servants, find food to cook, make medicines from herbs, plant vegetables, make major decisions about running the family's finances (since her husband was traveling in various parts of Massachusetts), move a few times (to more wild places), take care of sick relatives, go to church twice a week, find time to do research and keep her mind active, write letters to relatives, and other duties that I can't remember.

She basically did most of her writing when her children were asleep and slept less herself. She had to do a lot of thinking ahead of time, because paper was so precious. She could not waste paper scribbling. She managed to write complicated verse on her limited resource.

Anne had a book of poems published, which was a success in England. It's amazing how her words had such an impact in the Old World. Everyone wanted to hear a voice from the frontier.

The book has a several examples of her poems, but not an entire one. There is an extensive bibliography, so you can find out more information about her works.

Stuff - Reading in Scots

The Baby Boomers are getting worried about being senile, so someone is selling a little machine that has puzzles and memory recall games to keep your mind agile.

Throw it all away, I say.

There is a better way: reading in Scots, if you normally read in English.

About a year ago, I read Buddha Da by Anne Donovan.

The father in the novel becomes a Buddhist. This quest for serenity upsets the rest of the family. Each chapter of the novel presents the point of view of various family members, but the story progresses in each chapter and doesn’t slow down.

Buddha Da was on the short list for the 2003 Orange Prize for fiction. Here’s a sample of the Scots language

How did you like it? Get the book, and really stimulate your mind.

However, if you were blown away, start in shorter chunks. John McDonald writes the one breath poems, haiku, in Scots and English. I like reading his work, because his daily observations are so different from mine.

It’s a cooler place in Edinburgh right now, as compared to the oppressive heat that I am living through right now.

So, give it try and let me know how alert you become.

Stuff - Artistic Residencies at A Studio in the Woods

I volunteered at A Studio in the Woods by bringing some food for a reading by a New Orleans writer.

I would have gone there for any reason.

The Studio in still within the city limits of New Orleans, but the visionaries who started this art retreat, the Caramichaels, kept it as pristine as possible.

Their home has no air conditioning, but it was still cool that night. With all the trees, grass, almost no concrete and some ceiling fans, there was a cooling breeze on that hot late June night.

I heard the crickets, cicadias, toads, and other nocturnal animals singing in the night. I felt such peace and calmness there.

The Studio is providing residencies for New Orleans artists who still can't come back to the the city yet.

As a part of each residency, the artist presents some piece of work that they created during their time at the Studio.

I have been to a dance recital by Monique Moss and a reading by Valentine Pierce, who wrote wonderful poems and essays.

I will continue to volunteer at the Studio. I want to continue to be inspired and to help the New Orleans artists come back home.

Books or stuff? - KatrinaKu blog

Ok, I don't know whether this category counts as a book (because the book is still at the publishers) or stuff (where I make general comments), so here goes:

I am one of the members of the New Orleans Haiku Society.

The Society is publishing a book about the Hurricane Katrian diaspora and our impressions of the city before the year anniversary of landfall.

The name: Katrina-Ku.

Why write more about the 'Kane (as I call, because Hurricane Katrina gets to be a mouthful to say and to write)?

Because, the citizens of New Orleans, St. Bernard Parish, Plaquemines Parish, and people in the southwestern part of Mississippi are still dealing with the aftermath.

Many homes need to be either rebuilt or demolished. Many parts look so grey, as though a bomb went off.

But, we are hopeful that the area can come back, if not the same, maybe better than before.

We of the New Orleans Haiku Society kept in touch via email in the first few months after landfall. We continue our email communications, even though our monthly meetings have resumed. The members who can't live here still keep in touch and contribute their poems.

It's restorative and fun to write our haikus.

With this book, we hope that the rest of the world can feel our hope. Plus, if you buy our book, you will be helping in the recovery effort without being exposed to the mold and muck and rodents. Proceeds will be given to arts groups in New Orleans, so that art can help feed the souls of our citizens.