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  It's a bit outdated, but useful for readings related to our time there.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: The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner: Khaled Hosseini: Riverhead: General Fiction: 352

This aching exercise in redemption and self-knowledge centers around two young Afghan boys. Amir is the wealthy son of a prestigious man in Kabul and Hassan is his racially inferior servant. Though Amir has all the bounty that life has to offer, it is Hassan that has all of the courage and character of nobility. When Amir's cowardice stops him from intervening in a brutal attack on the ever innocent Hassan, the shame of the haunting memory permeates his whole life - even after he moves to America. Amir finally finds redemption when he travels back to war torn Afghanistan to face his demons and the characters from his past.

This book was as sad and epic as I wanted it to be, and then some. It did all of the standard "literary" things beautifully: Christ figure, mirroring characters, self discovery, the return home, issues of redemption and forgiveness etc... I thought the story was thought provoking and heartbreaking, not to mention an insightful view into modern Afghanistan. I guess what I liked the most about it was the idea that people have both parts to them; good and bad, and even the bad can "make it right again" as the book suggests - but it won't be easy.