25-May-2007: Summer Reading
I talked about the rediscovery of my ability to read books back in March:
31-Mar-2007: Catching Up Time.
Since then I have re-read five other novels that I had enjoyed in the past. They all stood up well to a second reading. In fact,
on the second read I was able to pick out details I had missed in the first read and I was able to tie elements together more
readily.
I know many people are summer readers—they like to sit outdoors in the shade with a good book. So, here are some recommendations.
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier is a deeply moving story set during the American Civil War. We see little of the
battles themselves—but what we do see is a brutal slaughter of farmers and young men armed with whatever they could lay
their hands on. Instead the novel focuses on the devastating
effects of the stupidity of war on people far
removed from the actual battle front. The grinding day-to-day struggle to survive when all the able-bodied men are either dead or fighting
somewhere, the seeming hopelessness and meaninglessness of life, are vividly portrayed. Men don't know why they
are fighting and dying, but they do know that if they walk away from it, they will be hunted down and slaughtered by the ever-menacing
patrols. Love, in such a world, becomes a strange dream of two people, hundreds of miles apart, fighting to survive.
My description makes it sound bleak, but the richness of the details and sharp character portraits make this novel compelling.
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami is one of the best novels I have ever read. I can't recommend it highly enough, though
some readers might be put off by an indigent who speaks cat language, and the fantastic appearances of characters like "Johnny Walker"
and "Colonel Sanders," but it a deeply moving story about a young man's search for meaning in the strange place we created for
ourselves in 21st century cities.
The Memory of Running by Ron McLarity is also about growth and self-discovery. In this case it is an overweight
alcohol-soaked middle-aged man running from his past. Circumstances push him into starting a cross-country run. As he
crosses the United States his fat and need for alcohol fade away and are replaced by muscles and a sense of purpose. He is
figuratively and actually becoming the person he was meant to be.
House of Sand and Fog is one of those books you can't put down. A break-down in the legal system has a woman
ejected from her family home. The house is bought by a former high-ranking officer in the Shah of Iran's military. He
sees this as an opportunity to rebuild the life he and his family lost when they fled Iran. The struggle
between the woman who lost her home through an injustice and the man who legally purchased it is truly gripping.
By altering the narrative between the two characters and presenting their respective situations as equally tragic
and equally sympathetic we are caught up in the same trap that their untenable position has put them. The strengths and
weaknesses of the characters is presented with a disarming ease and attention to their respective psychologies.
I already talked about Audrey Niffenegger's
The Time Traveller's Wife. In the realm of what might loosely be called
science fiction (time travelling and invisibility), I read
Memoirs of an Invisible Man by H. F. Saint. A man,
accidentally rendered invisible, becomes the target of a government agency determined to track him down and use him for
military purposes. He is equally determined to remain free. In a sense this is a chase novel with the protagonist
outwitting a resourceful and clever enemy, but the whole question of what it would be like to be completely invisible
is taken seriously (unlike the protagonist of the H. G. Wells' novel). It is not as easy to survive and remain hidden
as a casual thought might make it appear to be. It is a gripping and engaging story. Not quite as literary as some of the
other novels on the list, but an excellent summer's read.