Book Selections for March 2011, Meeting

Diane presented these choices for our March Bookclub meeting. Vote will take place at the January 30, 2011, meeting.

Bridge of Sighs
Richard Russo, 2007
480 pp.

In Brief
Six years after the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize—winning Empire Falls, Richard Russo returns with a novel that expands even further his widely heralded achievement.
Louis Charles (“Lucy”) Lynch has spent all his sixty years in upstate Thomaston, New York, married to the same woman, Sarah, for forty of them, their son now a grown man. Like his late, beloved father, Lucy is an optimist, though he’s had plenty of reasons not to be–chief among them his mother, still indomitably alive. Yet it was her shrewdness, combined with that Lynch optimism, that had propelled them years ago to the right side of the tracks and created an “empire” of convenience stores about to be passed on to the next generation.
Lucy and Sarah are also preparing for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Italy, where his oldest friend, a renowned painter, has exiled himself far from anything they’d known in childhood. In fact, the exact nature of their friendship is one of the many mysteries Lucy hopes to untangle in the “history” he’s writing of his hometown and family. And with his story interspersed with that of Noonan, the native son who’d fled so long ago, the destinies building up around both of them (and Sarah, too) are relentless, constantly surprising, and utterly revealing. (From the publisher.)
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Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness
Tracy Kidder, 2009
Random House
304 pp.

In Brief
Tracy Kidder, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of the bestsellers The Soul of a New Machine, House, and the enduring classic Mountains Beyond Mountains, has been described by the Baltimore Sun as the “master of the non-fiction narrative.” In this new book, Kidder gives us the superb story of a hero for our time. Strength in What Remains is a wonderfully written, inspiring account of one man’s remarkable American journey and of the ordinary people who helped him–a brilliant testament to the power of will and of second chances.

Deo arrives in America from Burundi in search of a new life. Having survived a civil war and genocide, plagued by horrific dreams, he lands at JFK airport with two hundred dollars, no English, and no contacts. He ekes out a precarious existence delivering groceries, living in Central Park, and learning English by reading dictionaries in bookstores. Then Deo begins to meet the strangers who will change his life, pointing him eventually in the direction of Columbia University, medical school, and a life devoted to healing. Kidder breaks new ground in telling this unforgettable story as he travels with Deo back over a turbulent life in search of meaning and forgiveness.

Cleopatra the Life
For those who think they know enough about Cleopatra or have the enigmatic Egyptian queen all figured out, think again. Schiff, demonstrating the same narrative flair that captivated readers of her Pulitzer Prize–winning Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) (1999), provides a new interpretation of the life of one of history’s most enduringly intriguing women. Rather than a devastatingly beautiful femme fatale, Cleopatra, according to Schiff, was a shrewd power broker who knew how to use her manifold gifts—wealth, power, and intelligence—to negotiate advantageous political deals and military alliances. Though long on facts and short on myth, this stellar biography is still a page-turner; in fact, because this portrait is grounded so thoroughly in historical context, it is even more extraordinary than the more fanciful legend. Cleopatra emerges as a groundbreaking female leader, relying on her wits, determination, and political acumen rather than sex appeal to astutely wield her power in order to get the job done. Ancient Egypt never goes out of style, and Cleopatra continues to captivate successive generations. --Margaret Flanagan n shows us what it means to be fully human by telling a story about the heroism inherent in ordinary people, a story about a life based on hope. (From the publisher.)

Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived

About the Author
• Birth—November 12, 1945
• Where—New York, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., Harvard; M.A., University of Iowa, Writers' Workshop
• Awards—Pulitizer Prize and American Book Award, 1992
• Currently The simply astonishing, exhilarating story--complete with high adventure, betrayal, and resurrection--of Modoc, elephant extraordinaire, told by Helfer (The Beauty of the Beasts, 1990). They were born on the same day, a hundred years back, in a Black Forest village: Bram Gunterstein, son of a circus animal trainer, and Modoc, an Indian elephant headed for big-top life with the Wunderzircus, a provincial troupe. Their love for each other develops early, when Bram is just a toddler and Modoc a youthful one-ton package, and Bram's father on his deathbed councils Bram to watch after Modoc. That he does, and the tribulations and pleasures they share defy the imagination: The circus is sold out from under Bram to the sinister Mr. North; Bram stows away on the vessel transporting Modoc, leaving behind the girl of his dreams; discovered, Bram wins over the captain, but the ship sinks during a hurricane; Modoc and Bram float to the shores of India, where Bram learns further tools of the trade at the maharaja's elephantarium; there he lives in a teak-built compound, tends to Modoc, and is honored to have an audience with the sacred white elephant; he woos and wins a woman from the village but is warned that North is on his trail. He strikes out with Modoc to the teak plantations of Burma, is captured by rebels, loses his wife, confronts North, journeys to the US and fashions a spectacular show for Modoc, wins back his earlier love, only to have the elephant sold out from under him again. Helfer (an animal trainer by trade) happens across Modoc and buys him in the 1970s, then Bram appears yet again. The story is told with a heart-tugging warmth that, granted, at times slips into Disney mode, but that feels credible: There is, amazingly enough, a truthful tang to the picaresque proceedings. One glorious pachyderm and one cracking story.

"Day After Night" by Anita Diamant

In her compulsively readable latest, Diamant sketches the intertwined fates of several young women refugees at Atlit, a British-run internment camp set up in Palestine after WWII. There's Tedi, a Dutch girl who hid in a barn for years before being turned in and narrowly escaping Bergen-Belsen; Leonie, a beautiful French girl whose wartime years in Paris are cloaked with shame; Shayndel, a heroine of the Polish partisan movement whose cheerful facade hides a tortured soul; and Zorah, a concentration camp survivor who is filled with an understandable nihilism. The dynamic of suffering and renewed hope through friendship is the book's primary draw, but an eventual escape attempt adds a dash of suspense to the astutely imagined story of life at the camp: the wary relationship between the Palestinian Jews and the survivors, the intense flirtation between the young people that marks a return to life. Diamant opens a window into a time of sadness, confusion and optimism that has resonance for so much that's both triumphant and troubling in modern Jewish history.

Christmas Meeting and Celebration

We had excellent attendance for our December 5, 2011, meeting at Pembrook. All members were present except for Celia who is spending the winter in FL and Bette who has returned to CA.

Book discussed was "Power of One" by Bryce Courtenay. Bev led our stimulating discussion. The book follows the life of a young boy from the age of five through about eighteen. We all had different thoughts which were shared. Wonder of wonders......we all liked the book. It was recommended that we read other books by Courtenay. There is a sequel to "Power of One". It is "Tandia".

Our Christmas Yankee Swap followed. Our tradition is to give "new" books. There were some interesting ones and I am sure that eventually, they will be shared.

Discussion and vote on our February read. Of the books presented by Claire, the majority voted for "The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford.

Our January 30, meeting will be held at Stephanie's house at 1:00 pm. The February 27, meeting will be hosted by Jane at Lincoln Green.

We had snacked and wined through our two plus hour discussion....and, then adjourned to the Big House dining room for soups, salad, and home baked bread. On a cold day in late fall, this was perfect.

All were grateful that there was no snow and clear roads provided safe travel.

Happy Holidays to all.

Book Suggestions for February Meeting

Claire offered the following fine books for our consideration:

OUT STEALING HORSES by PER PETTERSON

Trond’s friend John often appeared at his doorstep with an adventure in mind for the two of them. But this morning was different. What began as a joy ride on “borrowed” horses ends with Jon falling into a strange trance of grief. Trond soon learns what befell Jon earlier that day- an incident that marks the beginning of a series of vital losses for both boys.

Set in the easternmost region of Norway, Out Stealing Horses begins with an ending. 67 year old Trond has settled into a rustic cabin in an isolated area to live the rest of his life with a quiet deliberation. A meeting with his only neighbor, however, forces him to reflect on that fateful summer

HOTEL AT THE CORNER OF BETTER AND SWEET by JAMIE FORD

An incredible discovery has been found by a new owner of a hotel that has been boarded up for decades. It is the Panama Hotel once the gateway to Seattle’s Japantown. The belongings of Japanese families left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II have been found in the hotel. The owner opens up a Japanese parasol that Henry Lee sees and believes it belongs to a young Japanese American student he meet back in 1940s , at the height of the war,. His father is obsessed with the war in China and wants his son to grow up American. While at the exclusive Rainier Elementary where white kids ignore him he meets Keiko Okabe. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keifo forge a bond of friendship-and innocent love that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. After Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war sill end, and that their promise to each other will be kept.

In the basement of the hotel he begins to look for signs of her family’s belongings and a long-lost-object whose value he cannot begin to measure. Now a widower, he is still trying to find his voice-words that might bridge the gap between him and his modern Chinese American son, words that might help him confound the choices he made many year ago.

LITTLE BEE by CHRIS CLEAVE

This novel is told from two distinct perspectives: Little Bee, an illegal refugee, and Sarah, a British journalist. While Sarah and her now deceased husband, Andrew, take a second honeymoon to Nigeria to save their marriage, they become involved in a tense situation with Little Bee, her sister, and a group of armed terrorists on a beach in Nigeria. One of these people makes a great sacrifice to save Little Bee, but not her sister, from being murdered; however, the guilt and consequences of these choices play out in the rest of the story.

After her sister’s murder, Little Bee is found and taken to prison where she meets many other refugees with heart-wrenching stories of torture and murder. When she is mistakenly released from prison, Little Bee travels to England to find Sarah and Andrew.

Sarah story is also complex. Trying to deal with her husband’s suicide, her lingering affair, her young son, and her high-powered executive position Sarah’s own feelings begin to overtake her life, slowly crumbling her “together” exterior. When Little Bee appears in her garden the day of her husband’s funeral, Sarah is able to find the answers to what happened after that fateful day on the beach and how and why Little Bee comes to England. Little Bee’s presence gives Sarah the strength to make hard choices in her life. Finally the friendship these two share is ultimately tested in the closing chapters of the novel.

STONES INTO SCHOOLS by GREG MORTENSON

This is story of how Greg Mortenson after being taken care of by the people of a small village in the mountains of Pakistan vowed to someday return and build a school for their children. The book details how he build not just one but fifty-five schools in that area. It details the challenges he faced and how he overcame them. His heart is really for schools for girls. He is approached to build a school in some unbelievably remote location and with the unlikely cast of characters, he makes it happen, time after time. Reviewers have liked this book better then Three Cups of Tea. Though Mortenson, in the absence of Christian convictions, may place too great a hope in education, it is easy to see how education may be a least one key to a transformation of areas marked by extreme poverty and the influence of a faith that sees little reason to educate its girls

ZEITOUN by Dave Eggers

When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a prosperous Syrian American and father of four, chose to stay through the storm to protect his house and contracting business while he sent his family north. In the day after the storm, he traveled the flooded streets in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies and helping those he could. A week later, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared.

Mr. Zietoun’s good deeds were not rewarded as he is arrested and falsely charged with looting. He is sent to a makeshift prison where he is denied his rights to a phone call time and time again. As he attempts to escape this nightmare his family loses touch with him and fears the worst. All signs points to him being unfairly targeted due to his Muslim faith.