grondfic

Book 37 - Carl Hiaasen "Hoot" (Macmillan)




Dare I say it? This book was a 'hoot'! This is a fun read with wonderfully developed characters that still offer ruminations for deeper thought. Three middle school youth band together to protect a species of endangered owls from corporate expansion and their neglectful attitude toward the environment in their rush to expand. It offers food for thought about resistance to corruption, care and protection for the environment and encouragement for those who think they might not be able to take a stand. The book is well written and reads fairly quickly as Hiassen combines intimate knowledge of the Florida landscape with wit and insight. A wonderful and worthwhile read!

Graham Swift "Last Orders" (Picador)




This is Swift's Booker Prize-winning novel from 1996, and for me it is a re-read. Some have noted similarities between it and Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, but that does not detract from its quality which has been evident in Swift's writing since his earlier success with Waterland (a novel that was short-listed for the Booker). While I found it a bit slow at first, it eventually evolved into a captivating tale of English working-class families in the four decades following WW II. When Jack Dodds dies suddenly of cancer after years of running a butcher shop in London, he leaves a strange request--namely, that his ashes be scattered off Margate pier into the sea. None could be better be suited to fulfill this wish than his three oldest drinking buddies--insurance man Ray, vegetable seller Lenny, and undertaker Vic, all of whom, like Jack himself, fought also as soldiers or sailors in the long-ago world war.

The narrative start is developed with an economy that presents (through the characters' own voices, one after another) the story's humanity and depth with a minimum of melodrama. The group is uncomfortable at first as evidenced by weak and self- conscious jocular remarks when they meet at their local pub in the company of the urn holding Jack's ashes; but once the group gets on the road, in an expensive car driven by Jack's adoptive son, Vince, the story starts gradually to move forward, cohere, and deepen. The reader gradually learns why it is that no wife comes along, why three marriages out of three broke apart, and why Vince always hated his stepfather Jack and still does--or so he thinks. As you might expect there are stories shared with topics like tales of innocent youth, suffering wives, early loves, lost daughters, secret affairs, and old antagonisms. There is even a fistfight over the dead on an English hilltop, and a strewing of Jack's ashes into roiling sea waves that will draw up feelings perhaps unexpectedly strong. Graham Swift is able to avoid artificiality by listening closely to these lives and presenting realistic voices that share stories of humanity with the proverbial ring of truth. If you have seen the film version, then you will know these characters, but if you have not, I totally recommend this novel forst.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky "Notes from Underground" (Everyman's Library)



For the first half of the book, the author appears to be on one long rant using the irritable, abrasive, and antisocial main character who rambles on about his philosophy and thoughts on life. Although this unnamed character is an educated and supposedly intelligent man, he comes across as a paranoid loner who despises Russian society.

The second half of the book is composed of the narrator sharing various stories from his life that illustrate how alienated he is from the world. The narrator is quite dislikeable, and I found his bitter and vengeful stories exhausting. I was very happy to reach the end of this book.

Luckily this was a short book of less than 200 pages, although its’ density and unpleasant subject matter made it seem much longer. I made the mistake of choosing a short book in the hopes that this would mean an easier read and I have since read that Notes From Underground is considered one of his most difficult reads. I’m not sure I would have been able to complete the read if it had been in a different format rather than the short installments that I read much as one would take a twice weekly dose of medicine. I’m not here to judge whether this is a great literary achievement, I rather suspect it is, but it is also a difficult read that I had trouble understanding, and I am glad to be done with it.