Nemesis - Philip Roth

After a less than stellar run of books, I was pleased to pick up this one.  I'd been a bit intimidated by Philip Roth in the past, but the review of this book by one of my favorite bloggers had been so stellar and the topic was so compelling, that I couldn't resist.

Roth tells the story of the polio outbreak in Newark during the blazing summer of 1944.  His prose evokes the fear felt by children and their parents that they may contract polio.  The novel focuses in particular on one of the children's instructors (a playground coordinator) and his reaction to this epidemic.  It hones in on how polio influences his faith and how this equips him (or not) with the tenacity to cope in such a difficult time.  Roth also flashes forward in his novel to explore the fallout of polio many years later.  He speaks to the fact that polio need not make one a permanent victim and that for some, there is hope.

I found this book interesting in that this was a point in history that I knew little about.  I was fascinated by the fact that polio spread most rampantly during the summer.  I'd had  no idea and this pattern lies in contrast with other communicable diseases, like influenza.  I found myself wanting to read more of the medial literature to find out why.

All in all, I highly recommend this book and it has compelled me to pick up more Phillip Roth novels.

The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemmingway

Nothing much to say other than...ugh (and what a horrible cast of characters)!

Still Point - Amy Sackville & Last Woman - John Benrose

Although the stories are quite different, these two books both suffered a similar flaw and one that can often be quite fatal: the whiny narrator(s) phenomenon.  While the stories themselves were compelling enough, I couldn't engage with the characters.

Still Point sounded so promising on paper.  It told the story of a "great" romance between an arctic explorer and his wife, while also exploring the relationship and ennui of one of the explorer's descendants (it was this woman I found unbearable).  It eventually gets to the point, but by that time I didn't really care.

The Last Woman explores a love triangle in the context of a First Nations land claim in Southern Ontario.  I think that if the book had focused more on the land claim, it would have been a better book.  Instead, I found myself saddled with three characters who lamented the past and all that they'd lost.

I can't fault the writing of either of these books.  Both were filled with lovely prose.  It is unfortunate then that both were undone by the depressing characters.  They did elude to a mental fragility to help explain the female characters' despair, but this still did not help me enjoy the books any further.

Gillespie and I - Jane Harris

This book was a fair bit of fun.  I went into it expecting a bit of a page-turner and on the whole it delivered.  Though it may have taken a little bit longer to get to the point than I expected.  That said, the narrator was engaging and the world she created was an interesting one.  Set across two points in time (the late 1800's and the early 1930's), this book tells the story of the narrator's relationship with an artist's family and the fallout from a heinous crime. Worth a read.

Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese

For those with an interest in Ethiopia, this book is a great introduction.  It tells the story of two twins born and who reside on the grounds of an Ethiopian hospital.  They will both grow to be medical professionals (and are born to medical professionals), and so much of this book is viewed through a health lens.  However, it also touches on the culture of Ethiopia--from the food to its rich history.  The characters are all quite compelling and the portrayal of the twins' differences is fascinating.  After loving Galore, I felt lucky to pick up another enjoyable book so soon.

Galore - Michael Crummey

I take a great deal of time choosing the ideal holiday book and this must be one of the bests EVER.  I loved the story of this small Newfoundland community, with all its quirks.  It was really interesting to follow the generations through time.  And one of my favorite parts was when a doctor from the outside joined the community and was able to talk about them (at first) as a scientific observer.  He noted all of the genetic defects that resulted from the in-breeding that had gone on.  The characters were all sharply written and distinct.  There was a woman who had all her teeth pulled to keep the males at bay, a seeming narcoleptic, and a man who emerged from the belly of a whale.  I can't recommend this book enough...you will find yourself submerged in this sea community until you're done.  And even then, bringing yourself above water will be difficult.  This community is still with me, two months on...

Midnight In Paris

I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I actually enjoyed a Woody Allen movie! I know! I can't believe it either!

A couple months ago, Kristie and her book club read the book The Paris Wife by Paula McCain.  Some of the others in the book club started talking about the movie Midnight in Paris that was coming out in the near future.  As it turned out, when the time arrived, only one person from the book club wanted to go, so they decided to drag the husbands along.  I've got to say, that I went in there pretty much kicking and screaming, but as it turned out, I found it pretty good on the whole.

Without too many spoilers, the story is about Gil (Owen Wilson) and his fiancee, Inez (Rachel McAdams) who are on a vacation in Paris when they bump into a couple friends of Inez: Carol (Nina Arianda) and Paul (Michael Sheen).  Paul is an old professor of Inez that she use to have a crush on, and is, not to put too fine a point on it, a total prat! And Sheen plays the part really well.

Anyway, as the film goes on, in order to avoid mingling with Paul and Carol, Gil decides to take a walk around the city of Paris, a city that he adores and pines for whenever he is away.  On that night, at the stroke of midnight, Gil is inexplicably transported back in time to Paris of the 20s where he meets many of his idols: Hemingway, Picaso, Cole Porter, Gertrude Stein, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and a host of others.  While on many of his blasts to the past, he begins to fall in love with  Adriana, (Marion Cotillard) a muse of Picaso, Hemingway, et al.  Without giving away the ending, lets just say, I like how it ended.

Like most Woody Allen movies, I had two issues with this one.  The first was the pairing of two people who's characters couldn't have lasted for five minutes together, much less long enough to be engaged.  The second was how Woody Allen does dialogue. Virtually all Allen movies have people stepping over each other's lines as they have pseudo-intellectual conversations about nothing in general, and the actor's seem to be encouraged to speak as if they every thought in their head has to exit through their mouth at the exact same moment.  There never seems to be any coherent thoughts that spew out of their mouths.

Despite these two flaws, like I've said a couple times, the movie is actually pretty good, and I'd recommend going to see it.

I give it 3/5 stars.