The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I began this long-titled little book a couple days ago and am finding it quite enchanting! It is a short read- I decided to go ahead and get it done so that I could feel that I was making progress, as Pillars has not been moving as quickly as I had hoped. This small novel is set in Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands (between England and France) and London. It is written as a series of letters between the main character Juliet and various others- her agent, friends, and the members of this literary society. The society was created during World War II as a quickly-hatched way for the members to avoid arrest by their German occupiers, and it grew into an intriguing little book club. Juliet is writing an article on the philosophical benefits of reading and has chosen to include this society in it, which is how she becomes acquainted, through the writing of letters
(which I am beginning to see as quite an art), with the charming and often eccentric members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I am looking forward to finishing this lovely little tale- an easy read with a fascinating perspective and a highly enjoyable host of characters

The Pillars of the Earth- Update 1

So I started The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett. It is a BIG book (976 pages!!). Naturally, when I saw it, I promptly decided that I had been quite a fool to choose books for this project based merely on interest value and not at all on length or challenge level (still not the most wise choice, but oh well!). Upon starting to read it, though, I found that it is written in a very easy style, and it didn't take too long to get through a sizable chunk. My grandparents were here for the weekend, so that slowed me down a little bit, but I should be able to finish it in a reasonable amount of time.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
The thing that I am really trying to get my head around right now is how quickly Tom (the master-builder, so far the main character) marries Ellen. His wife died during the night and by morning/midday he has asked this other woman to marry him. He seems like an honorable, honest man, though, so we'll see how he progresses during the story.
*****END SPOILER*****
So, I have only gotten through a little less than 100 pages of this, but the time period is interesting (Middle Ages), the characters have background and personality, and the plot, while it seems to have been a tad slow-moving when I think about it, has been actually rather gripping when I've been reading it.
Hopefully I will have time to read some more later tonight. When I've read a bit more, I will post another update. Until then, happy travels!

Half of a Yellow Sun

Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, was my fourth book- and the most stunning. The title refers to the flag of Biafra- This was set in Nigeria, but really in Biafra, a country in southeastern Nigeria. Biafra was a short-lived republic, but this novel beautifully shows the strong intensity that was a part of this nation's short lifetime.

Half of a Yellow Sun had a glorious mix of people- 5 main characters, but a whole host of additional ones who added an incredible depth and diversity to the story. It was about so many things more than the history of Biafra, which I found quite interesting, and I will try to give a little bit of my thoughts on the various storylines without giving too much away for those who want to read this- something I highly suggest you do.

The most stirring was the great number of deaths and the horrible way many of those came about. This novel was graphic, the kind of thing that you find yourself thinking about and shuddering, unable to comprehend the bitterness and hatred that would drive anyone to do something like that.

On a kinder note, I found the story of Olanna and Kainene, twin sisters raised in Nigeria, beautiful. They had grown apart over the years, twisted away from each other because of certain events as well as the simple passage of time. Throughout the book, though their relationship swung wildly up and down at times, they grew closer again. The war and the horrors of the war and the realities of the war were what helped them get back to such sisterly terms again, but in the end, the war was also what finally tore them apart.

Adichie described the war and all the tragedies that came along with it with the skillful words of a true master of her art. She told of the high-speed intensity of moments of panic so well I felt I was there, of the horrible sights and smells and sounds that I felt it was happening again. Another thing that I found intriguing yet awful was the way that Baby, Olanna's child, was so used to the war going on around her. She would be rushed into a bunker to avoid the bombings and merely play quietly with the crickets. She collected pieces of shrapnel for fun. The other children, too, were made so numb to the war that they continued to play war games with each other. Though most children at some time or other are sure to use sticks and free time to fight pretend battles, it seemed that in the midst of an actual war, they would act differently. These children, as, I am sure, many other children growing up in war zones around the world, didn't think twice about what was happening around them, so much so that they were able to pretend and laugh about the vicious realities that were going on so terribly.

For this book, I have it sitting on the table in front of me, and I have pulled out a few lines that seem apt. So to prevent any potential problems, the following is not owned by me in any way, shape or form :)

On page 361, there is the phrase "a memorial to death." In a way, I think, this was the driving force of this book. I don't know why Adichie wrote this, but to me, it seems that it was a sort of "a memorial to death."

On page 375, there is a poem. I will not write the entire thing here, but a few lines may suffice. The poem is telling in no uncertain terms about the children of Biafra, hungry and emaciated, and of a reporter come to take pictures of them. The last two lines read: "Naked children laughing, as if the man Would not take photos and then leave, alone." This struck me as a call to action. We sit and look through magazines, see commercials, of children and people in need. The reporters go to tell of it, but can they take the children with them? Can they take the suffering away from the sufferers? Maybe they can, maybe they can't. Maybe they do, maybe they don't.

On page 411, there is the line, the title of a poem that one of the characters wrote. It says, "If the sun refuses to rise, we will make it rise." This, too, I found to be a central theme- even if nothing is working for you, even if you don't even have light to struggle by, you can find a way to get the light and a way to make what you want to happen, what you need to happen, happen.

Overall, more than a story of love, or a story of war, this was a story of hope. Though the Republic of Biafra lost her long fight, the people who fought it nurtured their hope throughout the years. Even when the war was over, their pain and fighting and losses had not been in vain- because they had been in hope. If anything is done in hope, surely the end result, whatever it may be, was not reached in vain. 

Hatchet

Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, was my third book. Set in Canada's wilderness, this is a pure survival story. It's a classic of sorts, but I hadn't ever read it, so this seemed like a good enough time. This was a very easy and quick read, nothing too complicated- but powerful. It's about a 15-year old named Brian who was going to see his dad, stranded in the middle of Canada after the pilot of the airplane he was in dies and the plane crashes. Brian is left alone with nothing but a hatchet that his mom gave him before he left. He survives for *checks* 54 days- and only thinks to get into the plane's survival kit a day or two before the end. During those days, he encounters a bear, a porcupine, a tornado (which made me wonder, do they actually have tornadoes in Canada? *checks again* Apparently.), and a vicious moose (evidently, they can have some temper!). Although this book was really intended for a younger audience, I was glad I read it. Being a survival/nature story, of course, I had the opportunity to get a little familiar with the landscape and wildlife of at least a small part of Canada. This was really a book about courage and hope and struggles, and if you have a few hours, it would be worth it to give this one a shot.

Ali and Nino

Post 2-
The second book I read for this was Ali and Nino, by Kurban Said. This was set in Azerbaijan (Azerbeidshan, as it is written in the text) around the time of the Russian Revolution, on the brink of World War I. The setting did shift a lot, from Baku to Persia to Daghestan to Georgia. It is, quite simply, a love story. Ali has been raised by his father to love Asia, to love the desert. He is solidly Muslim, but he falls in love with the Christian girl Nino from Georgia (the country, not the state). As they go from place to place, Kurban Said paints a stunningly beautiful picture of the countryside and the land, the traditions and the long-held feelings of hatred and love between the various people groups. One thing that struck me particularly was a scene in which Ali takes part in a mad sort of Islamic parade down the streets, the only time in the book where he seemed to have entirely lost a sort of consciousness of what he was doing. Like yesterday, that was random, but for whatever reason the scene ground itself into my memory. I did not expect the ending at all, and after I had read it, it took me a minute to process what had actually happened- the finish was done beautifully and with a swift certainty that seemed the only proper way for it to have ended.

I had never heard of this book before I read it, and I knew very little about the place where it was set or the traditions of that area. Ali and Nino can be read as a tale of love or a tale of war, a tale of lands or a tale of religions, but it was intricately woven across years and miles through every page.

The Lady and the Unicorn

Finally, I'm going to actually post something on this blog! First, a little introduction: I am challenging myself to read 52 books from countries around the world in 2012. It's a crazy idea, and I am very far behind, but if/when I finish, I am sure that I will be glad to have done it.

So, the first book I read was The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier. The geographical setting of this book was twofold- back and forth between Paris, France and Brussels, Belgium. It is set in the late 1400s, and I found it to be both an entertaining and an enlightening read. The story centered around an artist, Nicolas des Innocents, and a tapestry-weaver, Georges de la Chapelle. The tapestries mentioned in the title are a set of 6 tapestries, and they are currently held in the Musée de Cluny in Paris. I know far more now than I did before I read this about tapestry weaving- and it was very labor-intensive work. Tapestries would take months or years to weave. First, a cartoonist would enlarge the original images so that they would fit well on the tapestry frame and would add millefleurs (tiny flower designs) all over the background so that there was not too much empty space. Then the tapestry loom would be set up and the tapestry woven, carefully, by hand. One of the characters in this book was blind, and the description of the way she sensed things without vision I found most intriguing- though I'm not sure how accurate it could have been. So, on that rather random little note, I'm signing off my first post to go eat pizza!