Book Review: Jerusalem Reading

I snatched this from something I wrote when we were in Jerusalem but never publicly posted.  It's a bit outdated, but useful for readings related to our time there.    

I reread Everything is Illuminated.  It's one of my favorite books, and this time I got about 2/3rds through it before I lost the thread.  It's much further than I got last time, so that's something.   It's a beautiful, thought provoking, heart breaking, and life celebrating book...that is difficult to entirely "get".  Maybe that's why I like it.  If you want to think about something or be completely baffled, you should read it.   It's about family, history, religion, identity (specifically Jewish Identity), what it means to "love" someone, and a host of other things.

I reviewed Foer's second novel "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" in earnest on the Provo City Library Staff Review Blog (when I was employed there, wipe a tear). 

Four Mothers: Horn, Shifra: Picador: 288 (old habits die hard)

I had never heard anything about this author or this book and it was a pleasant surprise.  It told the story of four generations of women living in Jerusalem through the war of 1948, the Jordanian Occupation (48-67) and then the 6 day war in 1967.  It was epic and sad (two things I love) and did  a great job of fleshing in the un-thought-of details of history.  Great storytelling.

Rashi's Daughters

I actually didn't finish this book. It is a series with several books following that detail the lives of Rashi's daughters.  (Rashi is an actual well known Jewish Medieval Rabbi.)  At first I loved the slow reveal of what life was like for this Jewish group in Medieval France, but after a while it just didn't hold my attention.  It would be great for a YA historical fiction read, but I just wasn't in the mood.  I might try it again later.   

In the Image: A Novel: Horn, Dara: W.W. Norton & Co.: 280

Owf.  That's how I feel about this book. There were moments of genius, but most of the book was a little pretentious and a little contrived.  One moment of genius occurs near the end where the story of Job is retold backwards through the familial history of one of the main characters.  As if to say that the parameters of our present are the product of our our ancestor's tragedy.  When we choose good and happiness despite every historical reason not to we are confirming God and refusing to deny him.  That part stole my heart, but the rest of it just irked me.  Horn didn't give reader's the chance to read between the lines before shoving the obvious down our throats.  Take it or Leave it.

Jerusalem: One City Three Faiths: Armstrong, Karen: Ballantine Books:  1997

Karen Armstrong is really something.  A historian, a religious historian who still thinks that religion is good is hard to come by and she is the perfect balance of skeptical historian and good willed faith affirm-er.  This book is a readable history of Jerusalem and the Holy Land in general.  Fabulous.

The History of Love: Krauss, Nicole

Another repeat.  Last night I almost put it away, but then It reminded me of how good it is.  Similar themes as "Everything is Illuminated" (the authors are married afterall....) and similarly bizarre and thought provoking.   

You might have noticed that every single book I'm reading is about Jews or Jewishness.  Well, when in Rome!  (er Israel)  It's been a good cultural exercise along side living here.  I've also read a slew of travel books - I can't get enough of them.

Book Review: The Lotus Eaters

The Lotus Eaters: Tatjana Soli: St. Martin's Press: Fiction: 386

I am often frusterated with fiction because there is so much telling and so little showing, but I have to say, Tatjana Soli's debut novel "The Lotus Eaters" is a triumph of fiction - vividly showing us the lush landscapes of Vietnam and the devastating realities of war. On a micro scale this book is about the relationships a female war photographer creates during Vietnam and the way she is forever changed at its end, but it is also a much larger narrative about the depths of destruction encountered in war and its slow seduction. It's about "going native" and becoming placeless after the intense experiences of life.

This novel is beautiful, gripping, and utterly transportive. A great adventure and eye opener about war on a personal level.

Book Review: My Life in France

My Life in France: Julia Child, Alex Prud'homme: Kindle Edition: 2006: 336 pages print length.

I didn't know much about Julia Child before reading this book and I wasn't very interested to know more, but this delightful memoir just stole my heart.  The book begins as newlywed Child moves to Paris for her husband's new position in the cultural affairs section of the Paris embassy.  What begins as a whim to occupy her time quickly grows into a lifelong obsession as Child cooks her way through classic French dishes.  Culminating in the publication of her first cookbook and the subsequent success of her television series, The French Chef, this novel is truly a Tour Du France, culinarily and geographically speaking.  

I really came to admire Child's fearlessness and the way she looked life's dissapointments in the face while embracing its joys.  She was certainly uncoventional and describes life long political sparring with her conservative father and being "cold blooded" when one of her cookbook's co-authors wasn't taking on her fair share of the work.  But she was also hardworking, intellectually curious, and fully devoted to her husband.  In fact, this novel is in part a very sweet love story.  At times I wondered if there was more to the events than what she revealed, but her telling of them was marvelous none the less.  

As a traveler, food lover, and wife of a Public Affairs diplomat I was smitten with this book from the first chapter.   

(This was my first completed Kindle book and I can't say how much I love my kindle!)