Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The Buddha In the Attic

If you're looking for a short, powerful novel to round out your reading list for this year, I suggest Julia Otsuka's The Buddha in the Attic, finalist for the 2011 National Book Award in Fiction.  The novel traces the journey of Japanese "picture brides" from their oceanic journey to the United States during the early 20th Century, through their eventual "disappearance" from the communities in which they settled, to live in government sanctioned internment camps during WWII.  The focus of the book, however, is the time in between these two experiences, during which Otsuka provides readers an intimate portrait into the lives of women who face a variety of joys and (mostly) hardships in their struggle to obtain a piece of the American Dream. The unnamed narrator recalls "a few of us," "we could not have known," "our new husbands"--emphasizing a collective experience that simultaneously unifies the characters, and creates empathy in its readers.  Poetry lovers will especially appreciate the lyricism created by Otsuka's narrative approach.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

What'd I Miss In 2011?

It seems like all the major magazines, newspapers and online publications have a list of "must-reads" this time of year.  Check out these links for some trusted opinions of books you may have missed this 2011:

Year-End Wrap Up:  The 10 Best Novels of 2011 (NPR)

Best Books-2011 (Publisher's Weekly)

Best Fiction of 2011 (Kirkus Reviews)

Best Non-Fiction of 2011 (Kirkus Reviews)

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Blue Nights

A popular choice for book circles, readers may be most familiar with Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking (2005) which recounts the year following the death of her husband, John Gregory Dunne.  Her latest work, Blue Nights, turns to the death of Dunne and Didion’s only (adopted) child, Quintana Roo, which came only two year’s later.  Undoubtedly, Quintana’s death inspires, even drives Blue Nights--a metaphor Didion beautifully establishes in the work’s first chapter--then weaves throughout her most poignant memories of Quintana.  But to suggest that Blue Nights is a work solely about the death of Didion’s daughter is an oversimplification.  The larger impressions are those of fear and loss:  Didion inevitably turns inward, observing herself aging, and becoming increasingly alone, in a world not only without her husband, but now without her daughter.  Certainly not uplifting, but heartfelt, highly recommended reading.  There may be few memoirists whose prose and storytelling are as hauntingly poetic as Joan Didion’s.