Book Reflections

I hate seeing a book on my bookshelf and thinking "what was that about?", so I've decided to keep a log of books I've read and some reflections I have on them. I am also that type of person who thrives on shared experiences and conversation, so I hope talking to myself on a blog might sort out some unanswered thoughts I had about plots, characters etc....



The Help
Kathryn Stockett

A light, easy read... which is surprising considering its subject matter is actually quite heavy. Set in the South and centered on the relationships between middle-aged women and their African American 'help'. Stockett doesn't seem sure of what she really wants to focus in on and puts an egg in each basket: friendship, love/dating, social class divisions, racial divisions, parental relationships/expectations. This made for a well rounded story, and there's something for everyone's taste in the book, but I think it prevented the book from really pulling me in to the story emotionally and seemed clogged. The movie version leaves out a good 20% (or more) of the books content, but it doesn't affect the connection to the characters. I also felt much more emotionally connected to the characters in the movie and their struggles: infertility, suffering racism...

I loved the imagery of the time period (pearls, bows, and holiday parties). I was able to experience the color, smell, and taste of every scene described. Without bogging the reader down in detail, Stockett paints vivid pictures for the mind's eye to enjoy. The characters are easy to relate to: mothers, daughters... and who hasn't met a b***ch like Hilly in their lifetime? What I liked most about the story is that at its core it is a woman's book. There are some men in the story, but the women are all the focus and development. I also enjoyed that it's a book about women my age, rather than about teenagers or wise older women. I felt like I was right there at bridge club with the ladies and could have jumped into a number of their conversations about family, fashion, news, dating etc... It felt like Sex In the City... 50 years ago.

The book changes narrators between three of the main characters every few chapters. I really enjoyed this because it chopped the book up a little and kept the excitement and readability strong. I found myself flipping through the end of one characters story, eager to pick up where I left off with the other. I liked the narrators Minny and Aibileen more than 'Skeeter'. It's interesting to me that the book is written entirely by a white author and tells the story of a white author writing the stories of black women. The book shows the nasty nature of the white ladies in the story, and I felt like I was really reading the story from the perspective of the help. In reflection I wonder how those black women who lived through those ordeals feel about the book- does it represent their experiences? I know I would never question the angle of an author writing about extra-human occurrences... Like Stephen King... could you say to him, "Yes, but Stephen, how do you know.. have you ever personally been possessed?". I guess all good fiction authors do that, put themselves in shoes they may have no idea what it's like to walk in.

In all, the book was a B+. Really liked it, but had to ask myself why I was on the verge of tears during the movie, but smiling while reading the book. I enjoyed the ease of reading and the way Stockett invested so much into the development of every character that appears in the story, even the ones we only encounter once or twice (exhausting... yet refreshing as well).

Great House
Nicole Krauss

My friend Kat recommended this one to me because she really enjoyed it. I trusts Kat's judgment, so when I wanted to quit at page 100, I didn't. The book waits until about 10 pages before the end to really explain what's been happening in the last 270 pages. If you're like me, and need a bit of a carrot to chase through the book, this one will frustrate you, and you might not make it to the end of the story. Once I did get to the end, I still wasn't greeted with the satisfaction of everything suddenly making sense. The book jumps from storyline to storyline each chapter, and I was hoping for an ultimate intersection of all the stories: like in Crash... where at the end you're like, "whoa...!". I didn't get that from this book, which is tough for me because I like resolution. The other story lines do connect vaguely and the center of their connection is through furniture, namely a desk that each of them has an emotional connection to. One storyline simply disappears and is maybe a metaphor for the emotion you feel while reading the book (I know that's a complicated thought, but will make sense if you read the book... maybe?). At the end I had to reconcile myself with the loose ends and disappeared characters. It's not the individual strokes that make up this painting, it's one of those with little dots. If you look too closely and try to understand each dot, you miss the picture.
I can usually get through a book in a week or so, but this one took me over a month because it is dense with emotion and thought. Krauss challenged my vocabulary and capacity for abstraction.
A sample: Yes, a deficiency of effect, born of a deficiency of spirit. That is the best way I can describe it. And though I had been able to hide it for years, countering the appearance of a certain anemia in life with the excuse of another, more profound level existence in my work, suddenly I found I couldn't any longer."

Overall, a B. I still don't know what it all meant, but feel a mournful kinship with the characters long after closing the book. Maybe it'll grow on me as my mind wraps around it a little more.


Wicked
Gregory Maguire
The back story to The Wizard of Oz centered around the childhood, schooling, and young adult years of the Wicked Witch. From the start, the book is laced with strange sexual stories that don't tie into the overall story and seem purely gratuitous. Elpheba (the witch) has a troubled childhood/adolescence and seems to be exploited and harassed by those in power; teachers, the wizard, her parents... She begs sympathy from the reader through the first half of the book and then mentally starts to unwind in the second half.

The book almost seems to be written by two different authors as the scene, pace, and characters shift dramatically in the second half. Underlying political turmoil is brought out at times, but never really clear what is happening politically in Oz. At times the author introduces political ideals and characters without explaining them, and left me wondering if I'd missed a prequel to this prequel. It felt a little like picking up the 3rd book of Harry Potter and they run off to play Quidditch and you're like: what's a snitch?

I likely wouldn't have continued to read the book except: 1- I never quit a book because I hate feeling like maybe it got good when I quit. 2- I wanted to see when/how/if it would ever tie into the Wizard of Oz. 3- I had a 12 hour flight from London and it was the only book I packed.

In the end there wasn't any redemption for me. *SPOILER* Though Elphaba is allergic to water (it stings her skin) throughout the book, it never seems lethal. In the ending when Dorothy comes to see Elpheba and not intending to kill her sort of accidentally spills the water on Elpheba and kills her. Throughout the book Elpheba is guarding a mythical book, and willing to die to keep it from the Wizard.  As she dies, the book just disappears from the plot. Whoa!! Where'd that whole story line go? And why don't we EVER find out why/how her lover died (since she is working to avenge and seek pennance for his death the whole second half, shouldn't we know?). Anti-climatic for me who waited about 500 pages for an ending that wrapped everything up.

I still can't decide if it was fairytale and whimsical, too semi-adult, mystery, or what. I hope the Broadway was better. I'm not really interested in seeing it after this book.
Grade: C-

I'm currently reading: We need to talk about Kevin

Check back for my thoughts.