by Kevin Barry
This book has been on several best seller lists in the past year. It is a bit of a strange book but I enjoyed it. It kind of reminded me of writings of Samuel Beckett, particularly Waiting for Godot.
The book centers on two old men, waiting at a ferry terminal. They are down and out criminals who in the past made a lot of money in the drug trade. They admit they did some bad things along the way, including murder. They are waiting at the terminal to try to see if the daughter of one of the men arrives on the ferry. As they are waiting they gradually revisit their past, they torment young people who arrive, asking them if they know the girl they are waiting for.
Maurice, is the father who is waiting for his daughter. As the story progresses we learn that he was married to a woman he loved very much. They did a lot of drugs. They had a baby girl. It is a wonder the child survived her parents drug lifestyle. At one point Maurice abandons his wife and daughter and heads to Spain where he shacks up with a drug dealer contact.
At one point the man's daughter does arrive in the terminal, looks down and sees her father and his friend but decides not to make contact with them. I personally agree with her decision. I think the father probably wants forgiveness but I don't really think he deserves it and I think he would likely manipulate her if they did reconnect.
The story might sound uninteresting but the language the author uses, the interplay between the two tragic-comic characters is very interesting. Even though this too is not a happy book it certainly kept my attention.
Thursday, 9 April 2020
Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree
by Shookoofeh Azar
This is one of the books on the shortlist for the Booker International Prize this year.
I like to read works from different countries and cultures. However, I found this book a kind of downer. Part of my reaction might be because we are in the midst of the pandemic right now.
The book is set in Iran. I know the author wanted to show how cruel people could be to each other but I found the book bizarre and depressing.
The story is told by a dead girl, the young daughter of the family. She dies when soldiers set fire to their family home because they are considered dissidents. The girl, a ghost, is able to see her family and follow their activities. Somehow they know she is there.... she does take things from the family home and move things around so perhaps that is how they know she is there.
After the daugther's death the family moves far out into the country thinking they can get away from all the terror. The father works with the nearby villagers and helps to get houses built and schools so the community thrives for a time.
The brother in the family is taken to prison and dies there because people seem to have forgotten about him. The mother seems to have a nervous breakdown and walks away wandering around the country, eventually she has an affair with a man she meets.
After a time the family tell the young girl they don't want her around anymore.
The other sister in the family has an affair with a man, he leaves her for another woman and she also leaves the family to turn into a mermaid. The family make a tank for her but eventually realize she needs to be released into the river. Near the end of the book the mermaid leaves the water to see her family and is abused by men who try to figure out how to have sex with her, then she is killed.
The family home falls into disrepair. At the end the mother returns and the father and mother are back together.
I know the author wanted to comment on the violence in Iran but found it so tragic that all the children had to die. The book did not seem to offer any hope for the future.
This is one of the books on the shortlist for the Booker International Prize this year.
I like to read works from different countries and cultures. However, I found this book a kind of downer. Part of my reaction might be because we are in the midst of the pandemic right now.
The book is set in Iran. I know the author wanted to show how cruel people could be to each other but I found the book bizarre and depressing.
The story is told by a dead girl, the young daughter of the family. She dies when soldiers set fire to their family home because they are considered dissidents. The girl, a ghost, is able to see her family and follow their activities. Somehow they know she is there.... she does take things from the family home and move things around so perhaps that is how they know she is there.
After the daugther's death the family moves far out into the country thinking they can get away from all the terror. The father works with the nearby villagers and helps to get houses built and schools so the community thrives for a time.
The brother in the family is taken to prison and dies there because people seem to have forgotten about him. The mother seems to have a nervous breakdown and walks away wandering around the country, eventually she has an affair with a man she meets.
After a time the family tell the young girl they don't want her around anymore.
The other sister in the family has an affair with a man, he leaves her for another woman and she also leaves the family to turn into a mermaid. The family make a tank for her but eventually realize she needs to be released into the river. Near the end of the book the mermaid leaves the water to see her family and is abused by men who try to figure out how to have sex with her, then she is killed.
The family home falls into disrepair. At the end the mother returns and the father and mother are back together.
I know the author wanted to comment on the violence in Iran but found it so tragic that all the children had to die. The book did not seem to offer any hope for the future.
Thursday, 27 February 2020
Avenue of the Mysteries
by John Irving
This is the first book I have read by this author. It was an interesting read, but I have to say I am not sure what to make of it.
The book starts with us being introduced to the main character, a successful writer, who is a cripple. The man is on his way to the Philippines. It then jumps back in time....
The story tells of the man and his sister who live in a dump in Oaxaca Mexico. The boy is bright and has taught himself to read by reading the books in finds in the dump. He has read some very strange things, manuals, a history of the Jesuits in Mexico, etc. His younger sister is strange, she can't speak clearly because of a physical issue in her throat. Only her brother can understand her. She seems to be a mind reader, able to understand what others are thinking and comments quite sarcastically and critically about people. Her brother filters what she says often.
The children are looked after by a man who may or may not be the children's father so they are a bit more fortunate than the other dump kids. Their mother is a prostitute/cleaner at the local orphanage who has limited contact with them.
A monk, Pedro meets the kids and wants to take the to live at the local orphanage run by the Jesuits. The kids are reluctant to go. Then an American from Iowa (a priest in training) arrives on the scene and he also develops and interest in the kids. The kids meet an American draft dodger who says his father died in the Philipines(sp?). The boy promises to visit the father's grave for the man (but he doesn't know man's name nor his father's).
One day the "father" of the children accidentally runs over the boys foot with his truck. The boys foot is crushed and not repairable. He will be crippled for life. The decision is made to put the children in the orphanage but they are given their own room rather than being housed with the other children, because of the girl's disability? because their mother is the cleaner at the orphanage?
The two children are very critical of the catholic church and especially of the worship of the virgin Mary. They feel that the Virgin of Guadalupe should be the one to be worshipped. She seems to take second place to the virgin Mary. One day the children are in church when their mother is dusting the statue of the Virgin Mary. The children believe they saw the virgin give their mother an evil look before their mother plunges to her death off the ladder. This of course further inflames their dislike of Mary. Part of Mary's nose is broken off in the accident. The little girl pockets the nose.
For some weird reason the priests/monks decide the kids should join the circus and they are taken to a nearby circus. They think the girl could work as a psychic but of course she would need her brother to translate. She is given the job of feeding the lion's. The boy is taunted into trying to be a high wire acrobat but doesn't really succeed. The girl hates the lion tamer. He wants her to read the lion's minds, which she can, but she doesn't tell him what she knows. She hates him because he has sex with all the young girls once they get their periods.
The kids go to the morgue to get their mother's body. They find the draft dodger (the good gringo) has died. They take both bodies to the dump and cremate them along with a dead dog and the virgin's nose.
They later return to the church and throw the ashes all over the statue of the virgin. The priests are furious. Their "father" agrees to clean the statue and the next day the nose is back on the statue and the virgin's skin is darker. The priests think it is a miracle...
The kids go back to the circus and the sister gets killed because she climbs into the cage with the male lion. The lion tamer then gets killed by the female lions. We find out that the lion tamer got one of his girls pregnant and she died after an abortion he paid for.
The children had another friend, a transvestite. Once the sister dies the Iowan, who has fallen in love with the transvestite, suggests that he and the transvestite should adopt the boy and move to the U. S.
The priests reluctantly agree. They boy has a lovely life in America, gets a good education and becomes a successful author. He is teased about his strange parents but doesn't care because they love each other and love him. Both his "Parents" die of HIV/Aids.
Back to the present..... the author is haunted by thoughts of his past so he is supposed to be taking beta-blockers, but he finds they make him dull and have no dreams so he doesn't always take his pills. He also has a supply of viagra. He is on his way to the Phillippines to honour his pledge to the good gringo... despite the fact he doesn't know the name of the soldier he is supposed to look for.
On his flight to the Philippines, which has been organized by a former student of his who lives there. he is taken over by a mother and daughter who are supposedly fans of his. They stop to get a picture taken and the people who take the pix are shocked. The women grab the phone saying they don't photo well.
The man has sex with the mother or daughter as he travels to different locations in the Philippines. The man visits with his former student's family and the daughter shows up to be with him. She insists he go to a site where soldiers were tortured and he sees one of the ghosts who haunt the place. When he finally finds the photo of him and the women on his phone he is startled to see that only he is visible.
Eventually he gets back to Manila and his former student takes him to a church to see a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe that has come from Spain centuries before. Only two women, dressed in black are in the church. The man is feeling ill and collapses. At the hospital, as the man is dying, two figures in black go by in the hallway.
So that's the story.... I don't know what to make of it.... I think the man's daughter may have gotten herself killed so her brother could have a better life.... He is not married, maybe he doesn't feel he deserves a happy life? He finds out late in the book that a doctor he loved might have married him, but he hadn't asked her. What is with the mother/daughter? They are obviously spirits, are they designated to make sure he meets his fate? What is with all the sex they inflict on him? The book ends by coming full circle in the sense that it starts with the virgin in Mexico and ends with the Virgin in Manila. You cannot escape your fate. There is a lot of ranting about the catholic church. The man and his former student argue frequently about religion as the former student is a devote Catholic. A very perplexing book. The author does comment briefly that good books are not autobiographical, that real authors should use their imagination...
This is the first book I have read by this author. It was an interesting read, but I have to say I am not sure what to make of it.
The book starts with us being introduced to the main character, a successful writer, who is a cripple. The man is on his way to the Philippines. It then jumps back in time....
The story tells of the man and his sister who live in a dump in Oaxaca Mexico. The boy is bright and has taught himself to read by reading the books in finds in the dump. He has read some very strange things, manuals, a history of the Jesuits in Mexico, etc. His younger sister is strange, she can't speak clearly because of a physical issue in her throat. Only her brother can understand her. She seems to be a mind reader, able to understand what others are thinking and comments quite sarcastically and critically about people. Her brother filters what she says often.
The children are looked after by a man who may or may not be the children's father so they are a bit more fortunate than the other dump kids. Their mother is a prostitute/cleaner at the local orphanage who has limited contact with them.
A monk, Pedro meets the kids and wants to take the to live at the local orphanage run by the Jesuits. The kids are reluctant to go. Then an American from Iowa (a priest in training) arrives on the scene and he also develops and interest in the kids. The kids meet an American draft dodger who says his father died in the Philipines(sp?). The boy promises to visit the father's grave for the man (but he doesn't know man's name nor his father's).
One day the "father" of the children accidentally runs over the boys foot with his truck. The boys foot is crushed and not repairable. He will be crippled for life. The decision is made to put the children in the orphanage but they are given their own room rather than being housed with the other children, because of the girl's disability? because their mother is the cleaner at the orphanage?
The two children are very critical of the catholic church and especially of the worship of the virgin Mary. They feel that the Virgin of Guadalupe should be the one to be worshipped. She seems to take second place to the virgin Mary. One day the children are in church when their mother is dusting the statue of the Virgin Mary. The children believe they saw the virgin give their mother an evil look before their mother plunges to her death off the ladder. This of course further inflames their dislike of Mary. Part of Mary's nose is broken off in the accident. The little girl pockets the nose.
For some weird reason the priests/monks decide the kids should join the circus and they are taken to a nearby circus. They think the girl could work as a psychic but of course she would need her brother to translate. She is given the job of feeding the lion's. The boy is taunted into trying to be a high wire acrobat but doesn't really succeed. The girl hates the lion tamer. He wants her to read the lion's minds, which she can, but she doesn't tell him what she knows. She hates him because he has sex with all the young girls once they get their periods.
The kids go to the morgue to get their mother's body. They find the draft dodger (the good gringo) has died. They take both bodies to the dump and cremate them along with a dead dog and the virgin's nose.
They later return to the church and throw the ashes all over the statue of the virgin. The priests are furious. Their "father" agrees to clean the statue and the next day the nose is back on the statue and the virgin's skin is darker. The priests think it is a miracle...
The kids go back to the circus and the sister gets killed because she climbs into the cage with the male lion. The lion tamer then gets killed by the female lions. We find out that the lion tamer got one of his girls pregnant and she died after an abortion he paid for.
The children had another friend, a transvestite. Once the sister dies the Iowan, who has fallen in love with the transvestite, suggests that he and the transvestite should adopt the boy and move to the U. S.
The priests reluctantly agree. They boy has a lovely life in America, gets a good education and becomes a successful author. He is teased about his strange parents but doesn't care because they love each other and love him. Both his "Parents" die of HIV/Aids.
Back to the present..... the author is haunted by thoughts of his past so he is supposed to be taking beta-blockers, but he finds they make him dull and have no dreams so he doesn't always take his pills. He also has a supply of viagra. He is on his way to the Phillippines to honour his pledge to the good gringo... despite the fact he doesn't know the name of the soldier he is supposed to look for.
On his flight to the Philippines, which has been organized by a former student of his who lives there. he is taken over by a mother and daughter who are supposedly fans of his. They stop to get a picture taken and the people who take the pix are shocked. The women grab the phone saying they don't photo well.
The man has sex with the mother or daughter as he travels to different locations in the Philippines. The man visits with his former student's family and the daughter shows up to be with him. She insists he go to a site where soldiers were tortured and he sees one of the ghosts who haunt the place. When he finally finds the photo of him and the women on his phone he is startled to see that only he is visible.
Eventually he gets back to Manila and his former student takes him to a church to see a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe that has come from Spain centuries before. Only two women, dressed in black are in the church. The man is feeling ill and collapses. At the hospital, as the man is dying, two figures in black go by in the hallway.
So that's the story.... I don't know what to make of it.... I think the man's daughter may have gotten herself killed so her brother could have a better life.... He is not married, maybe he doesn't feel he deserves a happy life? He finds out late in the book that a doctor he loved might have married him, but he hadn't asked her. What is with the mother/daughter? They are obviously spirits, are they designated to make sure he meets his fate? What is with all the sex they inflict on him? The book ends by coming full circle in the sense that it starts with the virgin in Mexico and ends with the Virgin in Manila. You cannot escape your fate. There is a lot of ranting about the catholic church. The man and his former student argue frequently about religion as the former student is a devote Catholic. A very perplexing book. The author does comment briefly that good books are not autobiographical, that real authors should use their imagination...
Saturday, 18 January 2020
The Innocents
by Michael Crummy
This book has been getting a lot of acclaim. It was on the short list for the Giller Prize.
This was a very interesting book. It is the story of two young children, living in a bay in Newfoundland who are left orphaned and to fend for themselves when their parents die. The boy is 12 and the girl is younger.
The kids are really innocent and there is no one else around to help them or teach them. The girl doesn't have any idea what to do when she eventually gets her period. Sometimes they sleep together to keep warm... at times they engage in foreplay kind of activities not understanding what it is or why or that it might not be a good idea.
They work really hard and eke out a living, fishing and gardening and collecting berries. A supply ship comes once a year and the boy takes the salted fish harvest to the ship as his father did before. They get some supplies of flower, salt, etc. The supply ship people are concerned about whether they will survive but the boy insists they will try for a year or two
The children buried their parents at sea, a young sister died and she is buried near the family garden. The young girl was around when the baby was born and later hears her mother say she would like to kill herself (post-partum depression). The girl is traumatized by what she saw her mother suffer in the birth. The young girl talks to her sister often.
They have a number of strange adventures... they see a ship stranded in the ice one day. When they go to it they find out all are dead on board, the boy discovers evidence of cannibalism but doesn't tell his sister about this. They take some wood, clothing and other supplies from the ship and take it back to their house.
On another occasion the boy gets ill and they the girl gets very ill. The boy feels she will die but through some chance of fate a ship arrives and a man and woman help to nurse the girl back to health. The man also shows the boy how to use his father's gone to shoot animals and to set traps for animals.
Later another ship arrives, seeking wood for a replacement mast. The leader and his men stay with the boy and girl for a time The crew are quite raunchy, the leader regales the girl with stories of the many countries he has visited. At times the girl and this man spend some time together and the crew suggest they are having sex.... they don't
After they leave the boy and girl go back to their usual lives but one day the boy is almost drowned when a storm comes up when he is fishing. He survives and and as the girl is trying to warm him up they end up having sex.... they have no idea where a baby comes from. The girl thinks there can be virgin births, the boy thinks it might be the boat leader's. As the book ends we learn that the baby girl is told the boy is her uncle.
This was a very interesting story, the language, the descriptions of life at the time, etc. and the portrayal of the two young ones was almost like something from the bible.... Adam and Eve.
This was a beautiful but sad book, powerful and gentle, kind and brutal at times. Very impressive and memorable.
This book has been getting a lot of acclaim. It was on the short list for the Giller Prize.
This was a very interesting book. It is the story of two young children, living in a bay in Newfoundland who are left orphaned and to fend for themselves when their parents die. The boy is 12 and the girl is younger.
The kids are really innocent and there is no one else around to help them or teach them. The girl doesn't have any idea what to do when she eventually gets her period. Sometimes they sleep together to keep warm... at times they engage in foreplay kind of activities not understanding what it is or why or that it might not be a good idea.
They work really hard and eke out a living, fishing and gardening and collecting berries. A supply ship comes once a year and the boy takes the salted fish harvest to the ship as his father did before. They get some supplies of flower, salt, etc. The supply ship people are concerned about whether they will survive but the boy insists they will try for a year or two
The children buried their parents at sea, a young sister died and she is buried near the family garden. The young girl was around when the baby was born and later hears her mother say she would like to kill herself (post-partum depression). The girl is traumatized by what she saw her mother suffer in the birth. The young girl talks to her sister often.
They have a number of strange adventures... they see a ship stranded in the ice one day. When they go to it they find out all are dead on board, the boy discovers evidence of cannibalism but doesn't tell his sister about this. They take some wood, clothing and other supplies from the ship and take it back to their house.
On another occasion the boy gets ill and they the girl gets very ill. The boy feels she will die but through some chance of fate a ship arrives and a man and woman help to nurse the girl back to health. The man also shows the boy how to use his father's gone to shoot animals and to set traps for animals.
Later another ship arrives, seeking wood for a replacement mast. The leader and his men stay with the boy and girl for a time The crew are quite raunchy, the leader regales the girl with stories of the many countries he has visited. At times the girl and this man spend some time together and the crew suggest they are having sex.... they don't
After they leave the boy and girl go back to their usual lives but one day the boy is almost drowned when a storm comes up when he is fishing. He survives and and as the girl is trying to warm him up they end up having sex.... they have no idea where a baby comes from. The girl thinks there can be virgin births, the boy thinks it might be the boat leader's. As the book ends we learn that the baby girl is told the boy is her uncle.
This was a very interesting story, the language, the descriptions of life at the time, etc. and the portrayal of the two young ones was almost like something from the bible.... Adam and Eve.
This was a beautiful but sad book, powerful and gentle, kind and brutal at times. Very impressive and memorable.
The Face of a Stranger
by Anne Perry
This is the first in the William Monk series by this author. It is about William Monk, a police detective. The story opens with Monk being in hospital after being injured in a carriage accident. He has lost his memory.
A police officer comes to see him and he does not recall he is a police officer, he thinks he is a criminal. Eventually he recovers enough to go back to work but his memory is still weak. His boss treats him with disdain, accusing him of being aggressive, egotistical, only interested in progressing in his career. Monk is very disturbed to see himself characterized in this manner and fears it might be true. The boss assigns him a young assistant and tells him to solve a high profile case that was being investigated by another officer.
A man of a wealthy family has been found viciously beaten in his apartment. Monk first of all goes to the north of England to meet a sister he doesn't remember. As he meets the family of the dead man and people who knew the young man they all say that he was liked by everyone... if so why was he murdered. Monk sees a cane in the umbrella stand at the man's house and it seems to be familiar to him but why.
The caretaker of the building admits seeing someone enter the building on the night of the murder but the guest went to visit a different tenant.
As the story progresses Monk comes to realize that he visited the dead man on the night he died and he fears that he may be a murderer although he can't imagine why he would do it.
Eventually he figures out that the man's brother murdered him in frustration because the young man was accumulating debts and possibly involved with a financial scam that caused families harm and shame.
The book mentions the inheritance rules in England and the class difference issues. The wealthy people are reluctant to talk to Monk as they consider themselves to be much better than him.
It was an interesting story... I am looking forward to reading the next one in the series to see if he recovers his full memory.
This is the first in the William Monk series by this author. It is about William Monk, a police detective. The story opens with Monk being in hospital after being injured in a carriage accident. He has lost his memory.
A police officer comes to see him and he does not recall he is a police officer, he thinks he is a criminal. Eventually he recovers enough to go back to work but his memory is still weak. His boss treats him with disdain, accusing him of being aggressive, egotistical, only interested in progressing in his career. Monk is very disturbed to see himself characterized in this manner and fears it might be true. The boss assigns him a young assistant and tells him to solve a high profile case that was being investigated by another officer.
A man of a wealthy family has been found viciously beaten in his apartment. Monk first of all goes to the north of England to meet a sister he doesn't remember. As he meets the family of the dead man and people who knew the young man they all say that he was liked by everyone... if so why was he murdered. Monk sees a cane in the umbrella stand at the man's house and it seems to be familiar to him but why.
The caretaker of the building admits seeing someone enter the building on the night of the murder but the guest went to visit a different tenant.
As the story progresses Monk comes to realize that he visited the dead man on the night he died and he fears that he may be a murderer although he can't imagine why he would do it.
Eventually he figures out that the man's brother murdered him in frustration because the young man was accumulating debts and possibly involved with a financial scam that caused families harm and shame.
The book mentions the inheritance rules in England and the class difference issues. The wealthy people are reluctant to talk to Monk as they consider themselves to be much better than him.
It was an interesting story... I am looking forward to reading the next one in the series to see if he recovers his full memory.
Sunday, 22 December 2019
Girl, Woman, Other
by Bernardine Avaristo
This book won the Mann Booker Award this year along with Margaret Atwood and her book The Testament.
It was an interesting book, I like the way the author writes, at times the words seem more like poetry.
The book is about 11 black women, most of them immigrants, and their lives in England and beyond.
As the book goes on we see that the women are all connected in one way or another. The first story is disturbing, it is about a lesbian who gets lured to the U.S. by another woman. They live in an all female commune. The American woman ends up dominating and abusing the British women until she is finally helped to escape by other women in the commune.
Some of the other characters include a playwright who rejects the status quo, a young woman who is raped at 14 and starts to fail in her studies. She finally decides she will have to fight to succeed. One of her teachers encourages her an helps her. She goes on to a successful career in banking. Her teacher started out as a very idealistic well loved teacher but all the bureaucracy that developed in education wore her down and she is now considered something of a joke by the students. One woman has a daughter from IVF and has several people serve as the girls godparents. One girl feels she is not a girl and via the Internet hooks up with an Indian boy who has had a sex change to a girl. The first girl does not want to go through operations to become a man but she does shave her head and have her breasts removed. The girl and the trans boy become lovers. Another girl is shocked when her parents tell her that she is adopted, having been left on a church doorstep. Another woman had a child out of wedlock at 16. Her parents made her give up the child. She grieves the loss of this child and wonders what has become of her. At the end of the book they get connected thanks to a DNA test.
The author does a great job of portraying the experiences, the hopes, fears and disappointments of the women. Sadly many of them are not happy in how their lives have turned out. Several of them are pregnant after one night stands. Understandably there is a lot of discussion about what black people experience in the UK. I guess I feel there was too much of an emphasis on lesbianism, etc. Do that many women really struggle with their sexuality?
I guess I have to say that after reading the book I have to ask, so what? I guess it is partly about the desire to find love and acceptance and that nonstandard relationships are an option. A lot of them were trying to find out their background/roots or felt incomplete because they didn't know their origin. One of the women, the one who had the DNA test is shocked to learn that a small percentage of her DNA is from Africa.
This book won the Mann Booker Award this year along with Margaret Atwood and her book The Testament.
It was an interesting book, I like the way the author writes, at times the words seem more like poetry.
The book is about 11 black women, most of them immigrants, and their lives in England and beyond.
As the book goes on we see that the women are all connected in one way or another. The first story is disturbing, it is about a lesbian who gets lured to the U.S. by another woman. They live in an all female commune. The American woman ends up dominating and abusing the British women until she is finally helped to escape by other women in the commune.
Some of the other characters include a playwright who rejects the status quo, a young woman who is raped at 14 and starts to fail in her studies. She finally decides she will have to fight to succeed. One of her teachers encourages her an helps her. She goes on to a successful career in banking. Her teacher started out as a very idealistic well loved teacher but all the bureaucracy that developed in education wore her down and she is now considered something of a joke by the students. One woman has a daughter from IVF and has several people serve as the girls godparents. One girl feels she is not a girl and via the Internet hooks up with an Indian boy who has had a sex change to a girl. The first girl does not want to go through operations to become a man but she does shave her head and have her breasts removed. The girl and the trans boy become lovers. Another girl is shocked when her parents tell her that she is adopted, having been left on a church doorstep. Another woman had a child out of wedlock at 16. Her parents made her give up the child. She grieves the loss of this child and wonders what has become of her. At the end of the book they get connected thanks to a DNA test.
The author does a great job of portraying the experiences, the hopes, fears and disappointments of the women. Sadly many of them are not happy in how their lives have turned out. Several of them are pregnant after one night stands. Understandably there is a lot of discussion about what black people experience in the UK. I guess I feel there was too much of an emphasis on lesbianism, etc. Do that many women really struggle with their sexuality?
I guess I have to say that after reading the book I have to ask, so what? I guess it is partly about the desire to find love and acceptance and that nonstandard relationships are an option. A lot of them were trying to find out their background/roots or felt incomplete because they didn't know their origin. One of the women, the one who had the DNA test is shocked to learn that a small percentage of her DNA is from Africa.
Wednesday, 4 December 2019
Reproduction
by Ian Williams
This book one the Giller Prize this year. It is written by a poet/writing prof.
The book starts out with a young teenager (Felicia) and an older man (Edgar)meeting in the hospital as their mothers appear on the verge of death. They converse a little to pass the time. The girl's mother dies, the man's mother doesn't.
The girl is an orphan now. She is trying to finish her high school work. The man invites her to live at his place and look after his invalid mother. The man is the head of a company and travels a lot on business. He doesn't seem to have much care for his mother and seems to spend his time drinking an smoking in various hotel rooms. He and the young woman start having sex, he has told her he had a vasectomy. However, in a few months the girl is pregnant. When she tells him she is pregnant he offers to pay for an abortion. He schedules one but she doesn't go through with it. When the man finds this out he unceremoniously fires her and kicks her out of his house.
The book then jumps to the future when the woman and her son Armistice (known as Army) are struggling to survive financially. They end up living in part of the house of a divorced man (Oliver) who is bitter about he was treated by his ex-wife. Army, always aware of being poor cooks up all sorts of schemes for making money, e.g. setting up a barber shop in the garage of the house.
Oliver's kids live in the U.S. with his ex-wife. They come to visit him for the summer. Army really likes the daughter (Heather) but she ignores him. She gets attracted to a guy who works at Walmart(?). In a very disturbing scene in the book she is drugged and gang raped by the Walmart guy and some of his friends. She ends up getting pregnant. Her mother is furious with her ex for letting this happen and send the girl back to Ontario to have the baby to avoid scandal.
At one point Edgar contacts Felicia and offers her money, initially $10 and $20,000, Felicia always refuses. Eventually he sends her a cheque for more than $100,000 again she refuses. It turns out Edgar is being accused of sexual harassment and it appears he wants Felicia to be a character witness on his behalf. She doesn't agree.
After Heather has her baby Oliver and Felicia take on the baby as their child Heather has named the child Chariot but he is known as Riot, and he is quite a trouble maker. He wants to be a film maker but keeps getting kicked out of school for bad behaviour. Oliver and Felicia don't have a sexual relationship but they do act like a blended family. They never tell Riot who his mother is, but he suspects.
All along Army has asked who his father is but Felicia doesn't tell him. Felicia finds out Edgar is sick with cancer. Army then discovers who his father is and invites him to come live with them as he prepares to die. Felicia and especially Oliver are furious about this. Army's behaviour is not really altruistic. He hopes to get money from Edgar's estate.
When Edgar dies he leaves most of his estate to charity, his house to Felicia and a mixed tape of music for Army.
I found the names Armistice (Peace)/Army and Chariot/Riot interesting. The original names are quite powerful, in a good way but the nicknames are vary aggressive.
This was an interesting story about an unconventional family. I enjoyed it.
This book one the Giller Prize this year. It is written by a poet/writing prof.
The book starts out with a young teenager (Felicia) and an older man (Edgar)meeting in the hospital as their mothers appear on the verge of death. They converse a little to pass the time. The girl's mother dies, the man's mother doesn't.
The girl is an orphan now. She is trying to finish her high school work. The man invites her to live at his place and look after his invalid mother. The man is the head of a company and travels a lot on business. He doesn't seem to have much care for his mother and seems to spend his time drinking an smoking in various hotel rooms. He and the young woman start having sex, he has told her he had a vasectomy. However, in a few months the girl is pregnant. When she tells him she is pregnant he offers to pay for an abortion. He schedules one but she doesn't go through with it. When the man finds this out he unceremoniously fires her and kicks her out of his house.
The book then jumps to the future when the woman and her son Armistice (known as Army) are struggling to survive financially. They end up living in part of the house of a divorced man (Oliver) who is bitter about he was treated by his ex-wife. Army, always aware of being poor cooks up all sorts of schemes for making money, e.g. setting up a barber shop in the garage of the house.
Oliver's kids live in the U.S. with his ex-wife. They come to visit him for the summer. Army really likes the daughter (Heather) but she ignores him. She gets attracted to a guy who works at Walmart(?). In a very disturbing scene in the book she is drugged and gang raped by the Walmart guy and some of his friends. She ends up getting pregnant. Her mother is furious with her ex for letting this happen and send the girl back to Ontario to have the baby to avoid scandal.
At one point Edgar contacts Felicia and offers her money, initially $10 and $20,000, Felicia always refuses. Eventually he sends her a cheque for more than $100,000 again she refuses. It turns out Edgar is being accused of sexual harassment and it appears he wants Felicia to be a character witness on his behalf. She doesn't agree.
After Heather has her baby Oliver and Felicia take on the baby as their child Heather has named the child Chariot but he is known as Riot, and he is quite a trouble maker. He wants to be a film maker but keeps getting kicked out of school for bad behaviour. Oliver and Felicia don't have a sexual relationship but they do act like a blended family. They never tell Riot who his mother is, but he suspects.
All along Army has asked who his father is but Felicia doesn't tell him. Felicia finds out Edgar is sick with cancer. Army then discovers who his father is and invites him to come live with them as he prepares to die. Felicia and especially Oliver are furious about this. Army's behaviour is not really altruistic. He hopes to get money from Edgar's estate.
When Edgar dies he leaves most of his estate to charity, his house to Felicia and a mixed tape of music for Army.
I found the names Armistice (Peace)/Army and Chariot/Riot interesting. The original names are quite powerful, in a good way but the nicknames are vary aggressive.
This was an interesting story about an unconventional family. I enjoyed it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)