From page one, House had me sitting on the edge of my seat. America is on fire? A fundamental religious sect holds absolute power? The ocean is in conFrom page one, House had me sitting on the edge of my seat. America is on fire? A fundamental religious sect holds absolute power? The ocean is in constant gale? Other countries won't accept American refugees?
Lark and his family are fleeing the persecution of The Fundies. His mother is an intellectual - a brazen one at that - and she will be imprisoned for her high level of education. They escape with another family to a quiet, unknown corner of Maine. Here, they live simply and self-sufficiently for about 2 years. Lark, Arlo and Sera have heard about things like cars and pop music but all of that is gone now - distant memories that their parents recount. Lyrics from REM and the Water is Wide are sung now with simply guitar accompaniment as they watch the moon rise.
When wildfires threaten to burn their secret enclave, they leave for Canada and eventually bribe their way onto a ship headed to Ireland.
Throughout the novel, Lark faces unending obstacles - threats, dangers, loss, grief and he navigates his way through this unknown land. But he also finds love - a love that builds on mutual trust and need.
I was completely taken by the way that House tells Lark's story - starting in the middle and reflecting back on what he has come through so far. Initially it reads like the first scenes of a movie - exciting, thrilling, confusing, menacing - and then it throttles back to peaceful, watchful and pensive.
I reduced a star because it eventually felt too simplistic, in the Young Adult vein. Perhaps this was because of the short 290 pages and the tidiness of the conclusion after so much chaos. In any case, it was my first Silas House read and I will definitely be seeking out more....more
Donoghue digs out some old, lesser-known fairy tales and rewrites the endings with stronger, relatable female characters. These women are driven to coDonoghue digs out some old, lesser-known fairy tales and rewrites the endings with stronger, relatable female characters. These women are driven to control the path of their lives and are willing to risk failure or give up wealth in order to live the way they choose.
I especially enjoyed her take on Rapunzel and on Snow White. But a few of the tales were unfamiliar to me and, since she only retold portions of the stories (usually the ending), the plot was lost and I was unable to fully understand the adaptations Donoghue made.
The weakness of this book lays in Donoghue's assumption that these story lines are familiar and in her lack of referral to the original tales' titles. Her attempt to link each tale to the following tale felt forced, like a long run-on story where everyone is connected....more
The first half of this novel was gripping. Reading about Jean's experience in a WW2 death march in Malaya was incredible. Shute created a strong charaThe first half of this novel was gripping. Reading about Jean's experience in a WW2 death march in Malaya was incredible. Shute created a strong character in Jean and deftly brought to life this little-known ordeal of a roaming POW group of women and children. (truly in Sumatra; portrayed in Malaya for the novel)
I was also taken with the long-distance romance between Jean and Joe, wondering if and how they were ever going to end up on the same continent and create a relationship out of nothing. I was rooting for the pair from the sidelines!
But ... in the latter half of the novel, the story line lost momentum and I lost interest. This part focussed on Jean's entrepreneurial drive to create a town out of a dusty intersection in the Australian outback. Using her inheritance, Jean becomes a land baroness and creates a consumer-based monopoly that lures women to stay in this town, now that it has its ice cream parlour, clothing shops, swimming area and probably a nail salon. Folks get married and have children, causing the town to triple in size in just a few years. Jean was probably voted mayor.
Throughout this capitalist endeavour, Jean grows in confidence in things not typical for women (like riding a horse and driving a car ...more
The 1996 Everest disaster was a beginning for me - the start of my love of non-fiction. There was something in the accounts of that devastation that eThe 1996 Everest disaster was a beginning for me - the start of my love of non-fiction. There was something in the accounts of that devastation that even now, almost 30 years later, continues to pull my attention towards athletic, endurance and extreme ventures of all kinds.
But the entire Everest disaster embodies a classic example of "The truth takes the stairs". As soon as this disaster happened, Jon Krakauer wrote his personal account of the incident and had it published in Outside magazine 4 months later (Outside having footed the bill for his summit attempt). The pre-Twitter world was dying to know what had happened at the top of the world and this biased, prideful article was consumed as The Truth.
In his article and again in Into Thin Air, Krakauer demonized Anatoli Boukreev, making him sound arrogant and irresponsible. Boukreev was made out to be the key reason that Hall, Fischer and Namba all died after summiting on that fateful day. Krakauer picked him as scapegoat and heaped him with blame.
But this book sets so much straight. Boukreev was one of 2 guides working under Fischer for Mountain Madness. In the pre-summit preparations, their key Sherpa developed HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema) and had to be removed from the mountain, accompanied by a second Sherpa from the team. As a result, Boukreev's role shifted more towards filling the gap of the 2 missing Sherpas and supporting the Sherpa team in their summit preparations. His role moved away from client comforting and pre-climb encouragement.
In a high-altitude fog himself, Krakauer couldn't have known the conversations that Boukreev had with his boss, Fischer, high above the South Col - conversations which directed Boukreev to descend quickly and prepare to rescue the failing climbers.
Walton (ghost writer) does a fabulous job of piecing together Anatoli's play-by-play of those critical 48 hours through interviews, journals and deep research. The heroic actions of Boukreev both on the mountain and in his subsequent rescue operations ended up saving about 10 lives, all while Krakauer lay prone in his tent, unable to assist his own teammates. Boukreev not only saved his own company's clients but also many from Krakauer's team and the Taiwanese team. And this was all done after Boukreev had set the ropes, established Camp 3 & 4 and summited Everest himself.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has read Into Thin Air. Give Boukreev, in memoriam, the credit he deserves for his part in saving so many lives that brutal day....more
Loading...
