Skippy Dies - Paul Murray

After reading Skippy Dies, I felt like I had spent the last week as an adolescent boy.  It was an interesting experience to say the least (given I'd never been in that position before).  Paul Murray does an excellent job of exploring life at an all-boys English boarding school, one that is on the cusp of becoming progressively more secular.  This book explores the impact that the death of a school-mate has on these boys, as well as the events leading up to the death.  This book manages to be touching, without pandering.  The reader doesn't get everything they want in the end, but that's a good thing.  I never like knowing exactly where the author is going to take me.  Although long, I read this book quickly and found many parts "laugh out loud" funny.  If you're looking for something that is both intellectually stimulating and a roaring good read, I recommend Skippy Dies.  It's a recent reading highlight!

4/5 Stars

Stanley Park - Timothy Taylor

I used to think that vacation reads had to be lighthearted romps.  Over time, I am finding this to be less true.  While they can be lighthearted, what is most important to me is a strong narrative.  Timothy Taylor's Stanley Park was a perfect choice for my trip to Doubtless Bay (New Zealand).  Taylor tackles what is obviously a very tough issue in this book: homelessness (which as a Canadian ex-pat, I am aware is a huge issue in Vancouver).  He does this with great sensitivity, pointing to the unique stories that each person has to tell and also their unique relationship to Stanley Park.

It's actually quite a hard book to describe as it has many layers.  Essentially, it is told from the perspective of a young chef (Jeremy) in Vancouver.  He is struggling to keep his restaurant afloat, while also dealing with this anthropologist father, who has been living in Stanley Park in an effort to tell the stories of its homeless inhabitants.  As the book progresses, Jeremy's struggle to keep his restaurant is juxtaposed against Jeremy's growing relationships with his father's homeless friends.  Through his cooking, Jeremy tries to stay connected to the land (i.e., through cooking local).  His father compares Jeremy's role to his own as his father is trying to understand how the inhabitants of Stanley Park are connected to the land.

While growing his restaurant helps to progress the story, it is Jeremy's interactions with his father's friends that makes this book something quite special.  An excellent book that compels and makes you think (and at points, makes you hungry).

5/5 Stars.  

A Meaningful Life - L.J. Davis

This was a really great read that I first heard about on the Kevin from Canada blog.  In many ways, it tells the story of the American Dream gone astray.  Ultimately, the main character (Lowell) becomes disgruntled with his current life, believing it not to be meaningful.  He sets out to create a meaningful life for himself by purchasing and "doing up" a house/manor in a very poor part of Brooklyn.  For this reason, there are interesting lessons about the challenges of gentrification.  Davis describes what can and does go wrong when Lowell obsesses over restoring one part of Brooklyn to its former glory.  In the process, Lowell himself becomes fascinated with the former owner of the manor, and seemingly seeks some of this man's notoriety in his own life.  The result is a darkly comic novel, with wry observations about the failure to live up to self-expectations.

For me, the really enjoyable part of this book came at the beginning.  There was simply so much humour infused in the early parts of the text, and the author's observations of character were extremely insightful.  I loved the way he described his father-in-law in the quote below.  You can absolutely picture people like him out there.

Apparently, he was meek and craven through and through, the kind of man who would always strive industriously to remain beneath any situation that might arise or sort of creep up on him, the kind of man who went through life continually ducking his head.  Lowell got the impression that if somebody finally came and told him it was time to go to the gas chamber, he would hop right into the truck, asking them to call him Leo.

All in all, this was an excellent book.  And the text is so timeless that I felt it could have been written yesterday (though it was actually first published in 1971).

4/5 Stars.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson

Others have described this book as "cute" or "charming" and I can't disagree.  It definitely is those things.  While an enjoyable enough read, I don't think it's something that will stick with me.  It tells the story of the intercultural romance between a retired major and a shopkeeper of Pakistani descent.  It goes through the typical building of the romance (albeit made more interesting with quirky characters), the typical obstacle to true love, and then [spoiler alert] ultimate fruition of the characters' romantic goals.  Reading this book won't change your life, but it isn't a bad way to spend a few evenings.  Simonson draws a compelling portrait of a rural English community, allowing you to enter an alternate reality for a few hours (unless of course you live in rural England).

3/5 Stars

Hearts and Minds - Amanda Craig

I totally loved this book!  I felt that one of its strengths was that it had a little bit of something for everyone.  It had a serious side, looking at issues relating to immigration in London.  There was a mystery that ran through it; and for the softies, it also had a romantic side.  Seriously, this book has something that will appeal to almost everyone.

On a personal note, I think I also related to the book as I'm an immigrant to New Zealand.  While there were the sad cases of the refugees in Hearts and Minds, there were also more typical immigrants as well.  Although I'm Canadian, I could relate to the case of the American living in London.  There's something about trying to find your way in a culture that's similar in many ways, but also very different.  It is really about finding your comfort zone and being true to your identity.  I think back to my years in the Intercultural Communication Lab, and Berry's model of acculturation.  It's about integration--keeping the Canadian part of yourself intact, but incorporating what it means to be a New Zealander (though no, I still don't do rugby).

By all means, grab this book.  As I've said, it's got something for everyone.

5/5 Stars

Never Let Me Go - Does the Movie Stack Up?

Many moons ago I read and really enjoyed Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.  I remember it as a sombre read, with a twist.  Granted it's been ages since I've read it now, but I think I remember the feeling of reading it enough to make a brief comparison.  The movie holds true to this sombre mood, but is somehow less compelling.  I didn't feel a sense of urgency to understand what was going on (to be fair, this might be because I've read the book).  The other issue that I had related to Ruth's character.  In the movie, she seemed absolutely awful.  I didn't get this sense in the book.  Perhaps her desperation translated better on paper.  At any rate, it wasn't an awful movie--but the book was just so much better.  As is often the case (though not always--Girl with a Dragon Tattoo was a fabulous movie), the book out-classed the movie.

Last Night in Twisted River - John Irving

Much like its title, Irving's book takes you on many twists in turns in the characters' lives before reaching the inevitable climax.  The premise of the novel is interesting--following a father and son on the run from the (corrupt) law after the son accidentally mistook the constable's girlfriend for a bear and killed her.  The book doesn't read like your classic fugitive novel; instead, it gives you a glimpse of this family's lives over the course of around fifty years.  There are times when "the law" closes in, but this isn't the dominant focus of the book.  Instead, it looks at the relationship between father and son; though, this is influenced by their role as fugitives.  Overall, this is a well written and often compelling book.  The main flaw in my mind is the book's length.  It simply seems to go on too long and needed to be more tightly edited.  That said, it's worth picking up and does take you into an interesting world, filled with unique and well described characters.

4/5 Stars