Thursday, January 20, 2011

The Good Earth


One of the books I selected as a part of my 2011 reading challenge needed to be Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction. (So many titles to choose from!) I finally picked The Good Earth by Pearl Buck and discovered that not only did this book win the Pulitzer Prize in 1932, but in 1938 she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces". It’s interesting to note that she refused to accept the prize in person because it was being presented in Nazi Germany.

The Good Earth was published in 1931 and eventually translated into more than 30 languages. Much of its appeal has to do with Buck’s talent for describing ordinary details and customs of pre-revolutionary Chinese peasant life which she was able to do because she grew up in China and was acquainted with its history and culture. She was also familiar with Chinese literature and oral story telling traditions, which is reflected in the narrative style she uses in her novel. As a result I feel there was an authenticity to the way the story unfolds in simple words and phrases, as well as the sparse dialogue between characters whose way of speaking and interacting with each other is dictated by strict social norms and conventions.

I enjoyed this book very much and it left me fascinated with Pearl Buck herself. A little bit of research on-line revealed that evidently she wrote The Good Earth in less than three months and went on to become quite well known because of the awards it received. Nevertheless, despite her Nobel prize for literature, the “literary establishment” (heavy weight writers like William Faulkner included) thumbed its collective nose at her even going so far as to criticize the Swedish Academy for awarding her such a prestigious prize.

Today her books are considered dated when compared to novels about China that are being written by contemporary Chinese writers. But in the thirties she was one of the few, perhaps the only, person writing about China. And the fact that that's where she grew up, learning to speak Chinese even before she could speak English, certainly qualified her to write about what she learned there.

Throughout her life, she and her second husband Richard Walsh, (who was also her publisher) were involved in a number of humanitarian efforts through the East/West Association an organization devoted to mutual understanding between the United States and Asian Countries. Pearl Buck also founded Welcome House, known today as Opportunity House, the first international, inter-racial adoption agency in the United States, as well as establishing The Pearl Buck Foundation. “This then is our responsibility,” she said in one of her speeches, “to share what we have, so that the benefits of human wisdom with its infinite deities, may be enjoyed by all.

Eleanor Roosevelt was one of Pearl Buck’s role models as was Margaret Mead; and Pearl was an avid advocate of women’s rights and racial equality. It was probably for these reasons, as well as her interest in Asian cultures that the F.B.I. kept detailed files on her for years. She had been classified as a Communist sympathizer but at the same the Chinese government accused her of being a “running dog of capitalism,” and her books were banned there until as recently as 1997.

The Good Earth was made into a film in 1937 and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two of them (Best Actress and Best Cinematography). Ironically, the Actress who won the award for her portrayal of O-Lan had not been the first choice for the role. In addition to employing Chinese as extras and giving the role of Wang-Lung’s sons to Chinese actors, the role of O-Lan had originally been intended for Chinese actress Anna May Wong. However, the Hays Code miscegenation rules banned the portrayal of mixed race marriages on screen, and so she was rejected because the actor who took the part of Wang-Lung was white.



Monday, January 17, 2011

My Life in Books 2010

"Early Autumn"
Deborah DeWitt Marchant

Having fun with the titles of some of the books I've read in 2010...

I used to belong to The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (Michael Chabon)

People might be surprised to discover that I’m Alias Grace (Margaret Atwood)

I will never be The Last Wife of Henry VIII (Carolly Erickson)

At the end of a long day I need The Echoing Grove (Rosamond Lehmann)

Someday I hope I'll have The Perfect Summer (Juliet Nicolson)

At a party you’d find me in The Music Room (William Fiennes)

I’ve never gone Out Stealing Horses (Per Petterson)

I really don’t enjoy Strong Poison (Dorothy Sayers)

I would like to visit Wolf Hall (Hillary Mantel)

In my next life I want to live at The Barn at the End of the World (Mary Rose O’Reilley)

My advice is to make Final Payments (Mary Gordon)

I hope I never run into the demon in the house (Angela Thirkel)

Saturday, January 15, 2011

A Year in Books 2010

Woman Reading in a Study
Mary Ferris Kelly

Feeding my obsession for keeping track of things like this, here’s a review of books I read in 2010

Books read (and completed): 29

Books started and abandoned: 5

Fiction: 20

Non-Fiction: 8

Library books: 14

Set in British Isles: 9

Set in Ireland: 3

Favorites:

Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (David Mitchell)

The setting and time period were both new to me -- a remote island trading post for the Dutch East India Company off the coast of Nagasaki in the 18th. The plot was a heady mix of political intrigue, murder, passion, unrequited love, loyalty, betrayal, brutality and tenderness, and the characters were fascinating - a colorful mix of all sorts of low lifes, scoundrels, thieves and toadying bureaucrats into whose midst came a few brave souls determined to do the right thing even though it placed them at great risk. I was fascinated with all the details about Japanese court etiquette and protocol, and the clash of East/West cultural values and norms.

Alias Grace (Margaret Atwood)

Atwood is a talented writer with a knack for telling a compelling story. And at the same time she expects the reader to do a fair share of the work as well. In this case we’re introduced early on to the fact that a terrible crime has been committed, but we’re not so sure that the woman who has been convicted of it really is guilty. Or (and here things get even more interesting) if she is guilty, was she really aware of what she was doing? Even more interesting is that she is based on a real person who was tried for the murder of Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery in 1843, sentenced to prison, ended up in the “lunatic asylum” for a while and was eventually granted a pardon.

Strong Poison (Dorothy Sayers)

I don't think I'll ever get tired of reading and re-reading anything that Dorothy Sayers has written. (with the exception of her scholarly works - like her translation of Dante's Divine Comedy!) And this is the book where Lord Peter Wimsey first meets his future wife - the savvy Harriet Vane, writer of mystery novels who has been wrongly accused of poisoning her former lover. Lord Peter, ever on the scene when there is a mystery to be solved, immediately suspects she is innocent and steps in to prove it, especially since he has decided that she is the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. Harriet on the other hand, isn't so sure and as it turns out it takes two more books (Have his Carcase and Gaudy Night)before she makes up her mind.

Final Payments (Mary Gordon)

This is a book about a young woman’s efforts to come to terms with who she is after having spent 11 years of her life caring for her invalid father. It’s about people who refuse to allow themselves to be happy, and what can happen to them when they cannot let go of their illusions about who they want other people to think they are. It’s about how difficult it is to face our insecurities, weaknesses, and obsessions in order to make changes that are difficult to make. I first read it 30 years ago and what struck me most forcibly back then was the way Gordon captured what it was like carrying around the kind of baggage that remained behind for those of us who were raised in staunchly observant Catholic families in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Even though I think I’ve gotten rid of most of that baggage, re-reading this book brought a lot of it back into focus.

Room (Emma Donaghue)

I was skeptical about whether the author would be able to carry off the voice of a five year old child who had spent his entire life living with his mother trapped in a tiny little room. My verdict is that she succeeded. The plot intrigued me but what I liked best about the book were the characters: Jake was at the same time achingly innocent and wise beyond his five years. And his mother's fierce determination to create as normal a life as possible for her son while at the same time scheming to escape their prison made her a compelling character.

Least Favorites:

Yiddish Policeman’s Union (Michael Chabon)

I kept plugging away at this expecting that sooner or later I'd get as enthused as I was by the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. But it never happened. The plot - an alternative history look at what might have happened had the post holocaust Jews been unable to settle in Israel after WWII and instead were granted temporary residence in Alaska -- was just far fetched enough to intrigue me. And the mystery about who killed the heroin addicted, gay potential Messiah and ex-wonder child who was also a chess prodigy hooked me once I got into it. But in the end the book just didn't deliver. Equally mysterious is the question of how this novel could possibly have won two prestigious awards for science fiction writing!!

The Story of Edgar Sawtille (David Wroblewski)

The problem with belonging to a book discussion group is having to waste valuable reading time on a book like this one. Initially I was drawn to the character of the mute young boy who used sign language to communicate with the dogs he and his family were training. And I did enjoy the parts of the book that had to do with the dogs themselves - especially since they seemed so real (and so lovable!) But beyond that….I can nothing else positive to say about this book.


The Last Wife of Henry VIII (Carolly Erickson)

The only reason I read this was because for some strange reason I’m a sucker for all things Tudor. Usually I'm a little more discriminating about books I read that have to do with this period, so it beats me why I kept reading after I discovered that the author had taken enormous liberties with the life of Catherine Parr, Henry VIII's last wife. Not only were facts and dates distorted, important characters eliminated and others invented but equally unfortunate was Erickson’s tendency to lapse into a writing style that seemed closer to what might be expected between the covers of a romance novel, or the script of a soap opera. And yet I suppose I shouldn't be so critical. After all, I kept right on reading.

In translation:

Out Stealing Horses (Per Pederson)

The reader is gradually drawn into what the main character is remembering about an incident that happened back in 1948 when he and his father spent a summer in a remote cabin in Norway..What I found most remarkable about this book is how adept the author was at letting us discover the depth of Trond’s feelings even though Trond himself was so unable to articulate them.

Re-read:

Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)

Strong Poison (Dorothy Sayers)

Final Payments (Mary Gordon)

Most Depressing

Famine (Liam O’Flaherty)

Oldest

Huckleberry Finn

Most recent:

Room

Recommended by others

Dogs of Bedlam Farm (Jon Katz, recommended by Lissa Brown)

Barn at the End of the World (Mary Rose O’Reilley, recommended by Paul Tanner)

Wolf Hall (Hillary Mantel, recommended by Paul Tanner)

The Help(Kathryn Stockett, recommended by my mother)

Best Title

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

Favorite Character

Lord Peter Wimsey (Strong Poison) is at the top of my list of fictional characters I would most like to be able to spend some time with! But it would have to be a strictly Platonic relationship because after all he is a married man, completely devoted to Harriet Vane after having had to work so hard to convince her to marry him. But I’m in love with him nonetheless which is why I’ll keep on reading and re-reading all the books Dorothy Sayers has written with him in the spotlight.

Books by authors who were siblings – both were Vita Sackville-West’s grandchildren

The Perfect Summer – Juliet Nicolson

Sissinghurst – Adam Nicolson

Favorite quotes:

The next day dawned bright and fair, and Wimsey felt a certain exhilaration as he purred down to Tweedling Parva. ‘Mrs. Merdle’, the car was sparking merrily on all twelve cylinders, and there was a touch of frost in the air. These things conduce to high spirits. (Strong Poison)

If we were all on trial for our thoughts, we would all be hanged. (Alias Grace)

Time is important to me now, I tell myself. Not that it should pass quickly or slowly, but only be time, be something I live inside and fill with physical things and activities that I can divide it up by. So that it grows distinct to me and does not vanish when I am not looking. (Out Stealing Horses)


Wednesday, January 5, 2011

More ideas


illustration by Marie Cardouot
for the DIXIT boardgame

I had so much fun coming up with books for my reading challenge (see previous post) that I decided to come up with an entirely new challenge -- and it doesn't even have to do with reading!

Surprise someone:
Try a new food:
Check the voting record of one of your US legislators:
Do something you were going to do last year, but never got around to:
Write a LETTER to a facebook friend and send it via snailmail:
Memorize something:
Perform a random act of kindness:
Get rid of something you really don't need anymore:

Let me know if you'd like to join me in this challenge!

illustration by Marie Cardouot
for the DIXIT boardgame

Monday, January 3, 2011

Reading challenges

image by Deborah DeWitt Marchant

Thanks to my good friend Emma, I've discovered a plethora of readers' blogs and reading challenges. Some of them are fairly complicated - with ground rules, sign up forms, feedback links, point systems and award procedures based on the number of books completed by a certain date. Others are much more relaxed, consisting simply of categories and tags for selecting books to be read in the coming months. I opted for the latter and had fun looking around until I finally decided on the "Back to the Classics" challenge:

And here's my list:
A Banned Book: Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
A Book with a Wartime Setting (any war) - The Winds of War, Herman Wouk
A Pulitzer Prize (fiction) Winner - The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck (1935)
A Children's Classic - The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Graham
19th Century Classic - Middlemarch, George Elliot
20th Century Classic - The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton
A book that could be considered a 21st Century classic - ????
A book to re-read from college - Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky