Colum McCann won the National Book Award in 2009 for Let the Great World Spin. This Side of Brightness is one of the Irishman's lesser-known works.
It's 1916 and Nathan Walker works as a sandhog digging tunnels under New York City. His current project is a tunnel under the East River that will carry trains between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Under the ground, the sandhogs - black, Irish, white, and Italian - dig together in the darkness, making them all equal. Above ground, they couldn't be more different. Everything changes when a sandhog dies in an accident and Walker bonds with the two remaining sandhogs, a bond that will last for three generations.
The plot twists in this book are subtle and, if you aren't reading closely enough, you will miss crucial moments in the story. The author uses a minimum of words to convey plot details which leaves it up to the reader to interpret, and I prefer this style of writing.
Before I read this book, I was not familiar with tunnel digging. Now, I can tell you all about the methods and health hazards that accompanied it at the time. I was never interested in tunnel digging before, but the way the author describes it is genuinely intriguing. However, the most important thing I learned from this book was about the extreme racism that existed. As an African-American, Nathan Walker was treated disgustingly in New York City. He couldn't walk into certain shops and was constantly called names on the streets. I felt uncomfortable and sad when reading this but I'm glad I did.
The story takes place in New York City over the course of 75 years. McCann is very talented at aging the city and the characters. The descriptions of the city are accurate and detailed and this added a sense of genuineness to the novel.
I really enjoyed this story. It was interesting and different. Five out of five stars.
When it was originally published in 1954, Lord of the Flies sold fewer than 3,000 copies in the United States. Today, it is required reading in many US high school and college English classes.
The story centers on British schoolboys stranded on an island after their plane crashes. The boys are quick to realize that there are no adults and that they need to fend for themselves. Two leaders emerge: Ralph and Jack. Ralph's priority is keeping a fire lit in order to be spotted by a passing ship, while Jack is more focused on hunting pigs to obtain meat. Their different concerns cause a schism between them and, from that point on, they lose all interest in cooperating and havoc results.
This novel asks the reader if humans, as portrayed by the children, are inherently good or evil. Golding wants us to believe the latter. He has created a story about innocent young boys who, when there are no rules, do unforgivable things to each other. I agree with Golding, because it's easier to do the wrong thing than the right thing.
Golding peppers his novel with symbolism and detail. The symbols were enjoyable to spot and their meanings developed over time. The details which described the island gave the novel a more realistic character.
My only negative criticism would be of the dull moments in the plot. In the middle of the book, there's a repeated cycle of back-and-forth conflict between Ralph and Jack. I found this boring.
Overall, I really enjoyed this work. It spelled out very well the theme of man's intrinsic evil and, for that, I give it four and a half out of five stars.
Lucy Knisley is an American comic artist and musician. Relish is her second book of three.
Lucy Knisley has spent all of her 29 years around chefs and gourmet food. Relish is the memoir of all her food experiences, written in her hand and illustrated in comic-book style.
This book has much to offer the reader. First, it offers recipes, not just plain old recipes but ones with a story. Knisley must have written and illustrated at least twenty different recipes, all of which I plan to try out (I've already tried the excellent chai tea).
The second gift of this book is the sources of the amazing foods that Lucy describes. This is really useful because, like Lucy, I travel a lot and I am looking forward to trying the places she has visited.
Thirdly, this memoir contains the greatest descriptions of food I have ever read. They're sense-provoking and accompany the illustrations perfectly.
Finally, at the back of the book, there is an entertaining miniature photo album with pictures of her and her family in the kitchen. This gave the book a sense of genuineness and it was interesting to see the influences behind her culinary adventures.
Lucy's illustrations of New York, Chicago, Italy, Japan, and Mexico are accurate and creative. Her descriptions of international foods are the best parts of the memoir.
This book is a great read for the cook or the passionate eater because it will inspire ambitious cooking, eating, and traveling. Five out of five stars.
I would like to wish all my readers a very happy and healthy new year.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is perhaps F. Scott Fitzgerald's most famous short story. It was adapted into a 2008 film starring Brad Pitt.
Benjamin Button is born an old man in 1860 and ages in reverse from then on. Over time, Benjamin gets married, has a child, goes to college, and fights in a war -- while his mind slowly regresses. By the end of the book, he returns as a baby to the care of a nurse.
This book was rich for its length. In fifty-two pages, Fitzgerald portrays an impossible situation while making the themes of youth and age seem relatable. He uses a depressing tone to describe aging which is still relevant today.
Fitzgerald's writing is the perfect mix of being concise yet still infused with richness and meaning. This novella is short but enjoyable. Five out of five stars.
I would like to wish all my readers from around the world happy holidays and a happy new year.
Inherit the Wind is a 1955 stage version of the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial. In the real-life trial, John Scopes, a substitute high school teacher, was accused of violating the state of Tennessee's "Butler Act" by teaching the theory of evolution in a state-funded public school.
This book is set in the sleepy southern town of Hillsburo, US. The town's torpor is disrupted by the arrival of Matthew Harrison Brady for the prosecution and Henry Drummond for the defense. The event is reported by E. K. Hornbeck. Most of the action takes place in the courtroom between Brady and Drummond.
The best parts of this play are the science and religion puns. For example, there is a character called "Mrs. Krebs" named after the Krebs Cycle, a scientific process directly related to evolution. These little references added smart humor.
The many symbols and motifs added depth to the play. For example, people named "clock-stoppers" represent Southerners still clinging to the Bible. Conversely, the radio symbolizes Northern believers of evolution.
Overall, this piece of fiction stands out because it brings to life the way that new ideas can influence people's opinions. Five out of five stars.
The Principles of Uncertainty is a book by the noted children's book illustrator, Maira Kalman, who has in the past drawn covers for The New Yorker.
The Principles is Kalman's memoir of "everything that is in her heart." Her heart is filled with tales of travel, possessions, people, and other interesting things. She shares her thoughts by writing and drawing them.
This book is unique. On each of the book's 325 pages, there is a hand-drawn picture or photograph accompanied by few or no words. In this case, a picture is really worth a thousand words. Just by looking at a picture, I really understood what she was thinking in her reminiscence. Usually, I don't read heavily illustrated books but this was a great change of pace from my steady diet of prose.
The drawings in this book are phenomenal. The detailed and colorful miniatures contribute much to the story and put a whimsical spin on Kalman's memoir. The comments are in her hand in script. You can see her thought process and where she made changes and crossed words out. I had never seen that before and it was creative.
The best parts of this book are Kalman's drawings and her observations about life which are honest and relatable. A solid five out of five stars.
Published in 2013, Orkney is Amy Sackville's second novel. Her first, The Still Point, won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 2014.
Newlyweds Richard, a sixty-year old literature professor, and his wife (her name is never mentioned), his twenty-one-year old ex-student, venture to the Orkney Islands for their honeymoon. As the two weeks of their honeymoon pass, we discover just how little Richard really knows about his wife.
Richard narrates the story in diary style (he starts each chapter with the day of the week). I liked this style because it established a genuine voice for Richard and it helped me get to know his character best.
The writing in this book is sublime. The descriptions of Orkney are beautiful and there is much imaginative imagery, symbolism, and figurative language. There is also a plethora of literary allusions shared by the couple. All of this made the book a rich and savory stew.
On the other hand, I found the book sometimes repetitive. Each night is the same: Richard's wife has a nightmare about the ocean and wakes him up. Each morning is the same: they wake up quietly and eat the wife's bad cooking. Each afternoon is the same: Richard's wife goes out alone to walk on the beach while he tries to concentrate on writing his book, but he can't because he is obsessed with watching her. I did not need to read this five times to get that Richard's wife is not who he thinks she is.
This novel and Gone Girl (previously reviewed) share some strong parallels. The husbands in both novels are completely unaware of their wives' depths. They try to connect to their wives and it becomes harder over time. Then, both wives do something radical to their husbands, but to say more would ruin Orkney's plot for you.
The writing in Orkney is excellent, however, the redundant plot scenarios and lack of resolution are not. Three out of five stars.
