 |
| Paradise Valley, MT, November 2012. Photo by Greg Winter |
The Sermon on the
Mount by Emmet Fox (1934). A classic and a must read for anyone interested
in the teachings of Jesus. The interpretation is surprisingly secular, similar
to New Age thinking and Eastern philosophy and thus easier to understand and
accept than the traditional fire and brimstone interpretations so widespread in
the US. Fox was a leader in New Thought, a movement influenced by the American
Transcendentalism of Ralph Waldo Emerson (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_New_Thought).
Flirting with Mermaids
by John Kretschmer (1991). Another sailing book, this one a bit goofy and
certainly not good literature! I enjoyed reading it though because it's written
by a guy who sails yachts to various destinations all over the world for a
living, and Chris was doing just that at the time. (Chris and Jo helped sail a
private yacht across the Atlantic to the Azores this past summer.)
Tschick by Wolfgang Herrndorf (2010). Simply a good old
fashioned story about a fourteen year old boy and his friend, a recent Russian immigrant
to Germany, who is the protagonist's age but has wisdom beyond his years and
life experience to add to the mix. The boys get into lots of trouble and learn
a lot about life and growing up in the process. This is funny, intense,
entertaining and enlightening.
Seven Years by
Peter Stamm, trans. Michael Hofmann (2010). I got to read this because I
volunteered again this year to help with the judging for the National
Translation Award. This is ultimately a mood piece, I think, to be read for the
writing and the nuance described in the chronicling of the main character's
relationship with his wife. However, it is definitely worth reading for the
story, lest you think there isn't much going on there. I thought this
translation had a good chance of winning the award: when I compared it to the
original German, I felt the translator had exactly captured the mood and tone.
Eat, Pray, Love by
Elizabeth Gilbert (2006). I would have thought this was schlock, but it's actually
very good. The author chronicles her struggles to overcome a depression after
her divorce and to learn to meditate. The writing is entertaining, and the
researched parts are outstanding. At times I found her bit of smugness here and
there annoying, but it wasn't enough to make me put the book down. I would
never ever go see the movie of this--the book is too good.
Oblivion by Hector
Abad, trans. Anne McLean and Rosalind Harvey (2010). A heart breaking memoir about the author's
father, a doctor, intellectual and social activist in Columbia during the peak
of the political turmoil in the seventies and eighties. There is no spoiler
here--we already know at the beginning that this man, committed to helping
fellow Columbians in issues of health, poverty, and education, will be shot to
death on the street by his own government. Abad gives us a portrait of his
father, his relationship to him, and of his whole family, and furthermore lets
us experience growing up in Medillin and the nature of the political violence
that all Columbians had to live with. Mario Vargas
Llosa, quoted on Amazon, says it
well; the book is "one of the most eloquent arguments written in our time
or any time against terror as an instrument of political action.”
Nicholas Nickleby
by Charles Dickens (1838-39). You know how I love these long, drawn out
nineteenth century English novels! Dickens is a really fun writer to read
because he is just so clever. The stories are good, but it's his cleverness
that gets me every time. When I compare him to Trollope, whom I absolutely
adore (as you know), I have to admit that although they are both marvelous
story tellers, Dickens is better. His social critique and his characters are
always right on target.
Cloud Atlas by
David Mitchell (2004). This is one of those books that makes you wonder
continually while reading, "How does he do this?" The novel consists
of six stories, each told in the first person by characters of different ages,
nationalities, and time periods, yet all six stories relate to each other and
make the novel a whole. The author is
able to become each one of his characters, and the result is completely
convincing. Reviews say that this is a "puzzle book" in which the
reader has to figure out how the stories and characters relate. If I had tried
to do that, it would have driven me crazy. I enjoyed the fantastic
story-telling and the astonishing literary quality. Later on, the connections
became clearer.
