Archive for November, 2008

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

ISBN: 0435905252
148 pages
published in 1958.
October 12nd – November 29th.
You can buy this book at this link.

Things Fall Apart is a pretty relentless description of life in Nigeria before missionaries and Europeans arrived. Relentless in that instead of being drawn into that common conception of pre-Christian involvement as a sort of peaceful, perfect place its brutality and violence is shown. However, it also avoids the temptation of making these tribes out to be murderous subhumans. There is a lot of killing and bloodshed, but also a strong sense of family, tradition and community within its pages. The story follows Okonkwo, a very strong-willed, determined man who has made a prosperous life for himself and the struggles that he faces in his own community due to his thick-headedness and the ones he encounters when Christians arrive in his community. He’s depicted as a very ruthless, cruel man yet at the same time becomes appealing as he is given human characteristics (caring for a boy he was forced to take into his home, his love of one of his daughters, etc).

I really liked this book. It was a short read (most of it was read in the bath-tub :3) and a simple read. I enjoyed being immersed in the Okonkwo’s culture and traditions and learning many of the words and concepts that were a part of his everyday life.

Zamba by Ralph Helfer

ISBN: 0060761326
272 pages
published in 2005.
October 12nd – November 28th.
You can buy this book at this link.

I want so badly to really like this book but some innate creep factor is putting it off for me. I think part of it may be the writing style of this book, but I can usually get over that if the story is especially good and the author just failed in his ability to explain that. Sometimes the story gets me through it. Not so much here because a lot of it seemed so forced and so… well… extravagant isn’t the word I’m looking for but it’ll have to do.

Zamba is about animal trainer Ralph Helfer’s lion (title) who he raises with ‘affection training’. It’s basically an ‘oh my god, read this heartwarming tale about a man’s love for his animals’ which has its place and all but this time it falls a little flat, and just seems SO far-fetched in places. I am constantly questioning the validity of memoirs though so don’t listen to me. I actually kind of feel like Helfer is a spiritual nutcase now.

The book is fun reading though, no matter how poorly written and how… um… nuts he seems. But I enjoyed it so. Yeah. Shrug.

Marley & Me by John Grogan

ISBN: 0060817097
320 pages
published in 2005.
October 11th – November 22nd.
You can buy this book at this link.

I went into this book expecting to be unimpressed. I’m not really into dog-books – or really books written by animal-lovers at all. Why? Pet owners have this really nasty habit of being completely obnoxious and overbearing about their animals. I care a great deal about the animals that have shared my life with me but I try not to be annoying about it. People have a tendency to attribute these unreal, fictional qualities to their pets. Also – never ending photographs. I hate pet owners.

However, Marley & Me was more a story of a growing family – a family that, coming from my own circumstances, I looked upon with a mixture of curiosity, joy and resentment. It was the sort of family that I had always wanted to be a part of and never had a chance to. No matter though – it was well told, clever and I enjoyed the author’s humor and personality. It’s really clear from the beginning that this is a man that has experience talking to and about people and knows how to appeal to them and get on their good sides.

It has all the makings of a good book, and the title character is certainly lovable enough. It’s not hard to come away with what the author intended you to take from this book. It’s well-written, interesting, funny and emotional at all the right moments and altogether an enjoyable read. Guilty pleasure it may be, I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading it. Diversionary reading at its best.

A Sunday At The Pool In Kigali by Gil Courtemanche

ISBN: 1400034345
258 pages
published in 2000.
October 11th – November 18th.
You can buy this book at this link.

A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali is a love story that takes place during the Rwandan genocide between an older Canadian man from Quebec and a young woman from Rwanda. The novel sort of traces the timeline of the genocides using their romance as a constant throughout it. The scenes in it are bleak – the story itself is bleak and the writing is abrupt and cold (although I’m not sure if that is because it was intended to be that way or whether it is just the fact that it was translated from French).

It’s actually quite good. I think of myself as kind of jaded and very rarely find stories difficult to stomach, but I had to put this book down a couple of times. That alone sort of compelled me to finish it. The people in the book are likable in their own ways – very identifiable personalities, characteristics – three-dimensional and interesting. Each death described in the book in its brutal, honest way is uniquely painful and saddening. (Although I found the main character to be something of a DOUCHEBAG.) This is a good book. It’s worth reading, especially for people like me that beforehand knew about the genocide but aren’t particularly well-educated about it. I’ve been doing some aimless internet research due to the book which is always a good sign. I can almost guarantee I’ll continue to read and learn about the subject.

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

ISBN: 0141312424
117 pages
published in 1959.
November 7th – November 17th.
You can buy this book at this link.

I read this book as a child and I remember sort of liking it. I think I mostly just wanted a pet falcon. But, the story is basically a narrative of a young boy who goes off and lives in the woods by himself and figures out how to survive. He makes various woodland friends and tries to keep away from civilization. He makes a few human friends. They visit. Blah blah.

The story is fun, the characters are fun – the main character is actually a bit boring and I enjoyed the side characters more (especially Bando) and the descriptions of the processes he went through to live off of the land. But I just find the storyline itself a bit weird and far-fetched and unbelievable, which I guess made it difficult for me to suspend my belief while reading.

I think it’s a fun book for children though and it is a young adult/children’s book so it fits its audience. :]

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