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Friday, August 31, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
A 9/11 Novel That Gets It Right
The novel The Submission, by Amy Waldman, is:
A. Entertainment Weekly's #1 Favorite Novel of 2011
B. The Suburban Mosaic's 2012-2013 Book of the Year for adults
C. The library's Tuesday morning book group selection for September 4th
D. All of the above
If you guessed all of the above, you are correct! It's also one of the best books I read in the last year, and it is in many ways the perfect selection for the Suburban Mosaic Book of the Year program, a suburban Illinois community reading program that seeks to foster cultural understanding and reduce prejudice through literature.
The novel takes place in the aftermath of 9/11 and is told from multiple viewpoints. Among them are two 9/11 widows, one wealthy and privileged, the other an impoverished illegal immigrant; the hot-headed brother of a fireman who died in the towers, guilt-ridden over their estrangement; and a gifted architect, the winner of a contest to design the 9/11 memorial. When it is learned that the contest winner is an American Muslim, the memorial judging committee and others are caught up in a national debate in which emotions and personal agendas threaten to fragment a grieving country.
The author, Amy Waldman, has the gift of sympathy, and she enables readers to feel for and understand characters whose actions they may ultimately disagree with. That she is able to do so and take on subject matter that might feel exploitative in lesser hands is a major achievement, and the novel is a thought-provoking page-turner.
The Suburban Mosaic also selects books of the year for teens and children. The teen selection is the best-selling Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green. The other titles are Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (for grades 5-8), How Tia Lola Learned to Teach (for grades 1-4), and Spork for pre-kindergarten readers. Check one of them out to share with a young person and/or sign up at the 3rd floor desk to attend The Submission book discussion on September 4th.
Have you read any novels that address 9/11? What are your thoughts on them?
Friday, August 17, 2012
Love it or Leave it?
While going through “My Shelves” on the library’s online catalog, I realized that the number of books I’ve finished hasn’t been going up nearly as quickly as it used to. And, as happens strangely often, the answer to “why” came in the form of a quote from a Pixar movie. In this case, it was Ratatouille. This is an exchange between an awkward, up-and-coming chef and a renowned food critic:
It dawned on me that the food critic‘s answer is the same as mine—lately, if I find that I don’t like a book, I put it down, and pick up the next thing on my never-ending list of book to read. Now, “not loving,” I don’t mean, “I don’t like what’s happening.” It means if it’s begun to feel like a chore to read it. For example, if I find myself bothered by the author’s lexical choices, or not connecting at all with the characters. It means that basically, this book and I haven't "clicked." I usually hate the thought of reading being a chore.
But on the other hand, is it ok for reading to sometimes be a chore for the sake of self-betterment? As an English major in college, I certainly didn’t always enjoy the assigned reading. One professor I had even apologized for the fact that we had to read Pamela, assuring us that if we managed to trudge through it, we’d understand why it was an important work in the end, however much we wanted to quit. And he was right—in the end, I was glad I finished it… even if I’ll never get those hours of my life back. And really, can you even judge whether you like a book or not if you give up halfway through? Maybe the ending will make it all worth it. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve done myself a disservice, especially thinking back on books that I might have missed out on had I not pressed on through a tedious beginning and finished.
When you’re reading something you just haven’t clicked with, do you press on and get it done for the sake of finishing it (or giving the ending a chance to change your mind), or move onto the next book?
“You're slow for someone in the fast lane.”
“And you're thin for someone who likes food.”
“I don't like food. I love it. If I don't love it, I don't swallow.”
It dawned on me that the food critic‘s answer is the same as mine—lately, if I find that I don’t like a book, I put it down, and pick up the next thing on my never-ending list of book to read. Now, “not loving,” I don’t mean, “I don’t like what’s happening.” It means if it’s begun to feel like a chore to read it. For example, if I find myself bothered by the author’s lexical choices, or not connecting at all with the characters. It means that basically, this book and I haven't "clicked." I usually hate the thought of reading being a chore.
But on the other hand, is it ok for reading to sometimes be a chore for the sake of self-betterment? As an English major in college, I certainly didn’t always enjoy the assigned reading. One professor I had even apologized for the fact that we had to read Pamela, assuring us that if we managed to trudge through it, we’d understand why it was an important work in the end, however much we wanted to quit. And he was right—in the end, I was glad I finished it… even if I’ll never get those hours of my life back. And really, can you even judge whether you like a book or not if you give up halfway through? Maybe the ending will make it all worth it. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve done myself a disservice, especially thinking back on books that I might have missed out on had I not pressed on through a tedious beginning and finished.
When you’re reading something you just haven’t clicked with, do you press on and get it done for the sake of finishing it (or giving the ending a chance to change your mind), or move onto the next book?
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