Category Archives: Novels

03.24.11
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WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, READ IT BEFORE SEEING!

Did Sara Gruen, author of  the novel Water for Elephants, grow up in a circus family?  Was she an equestrian center ring star or a master trainer of elephants?  Did she and the other members or her family leave her father largely alone with his memories in a  “respectable nursing home?”  The answer to all of the previous questions is no!

How then did Sara Gruen create two marvelous parallel stories packed with  the intricate details and broad panorama of a Great Depression era travelling circus and the daily routine of a ninety-three year-old man spending his last days reminiscing in a nursing home?  My observation is that Gruen has a vivid imagination, wonderful story telling skills, and sought out the correct research to bring realistic detail to the story.

After devouring this book ( that is what you will likely do)  I think you will agree that there is little wonder why it has been on the New York Times Trade Fiction Best Seller List for 111 weeks!

I don’t know which story I like better. Is it Jacob in his old age making every effort to maintain his dignity and self-esteem? Or is it Jacob the young would-be-veterinarian out of Cornell before graduating , running away from  a family tragedy and in the dead of night hopping a circus train ? Is it the beautiful young Marlena the equestrian circus star stuck in a hopelessly abusive marriage?  Is it Rosie, an elephant that only understands Polish that becomes the glue in a love story?  Is it the collection of humanity that populates a travelling circus stuck in a daily struggle for survival?

I wonder if the up-coming movie can possibly create the color, smells, smiles, sadness, humanity and empathy that Sara Gruen has done so beautifully in WATER for ELEPHANTS.  I hope so. I will be there but I am sure glad I read the book first!

One final thought, buy WATER for ELEPHANTS in hardcover. It will stand the test of time in your library!

03.15.11
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Kane & Able If You Missed It Read It Now!

Bestselling author Jeffrey Archer’s Kane and Able is truly a fabulous novel that follows the lives of two boys born  worlds apart on the same day in 1906. They  grow into manhood  to intersect each others lives in most incredible ways.  Kane and Able from my perspective is Jeffrey Archer at his very best but of course that is a personal observation about an author who has written success upon success.

The scion of a noble New England  banking family and a Polish immigrant born of unknown parentage are each determined to excel beyond the hopes and dreams of their probable and improbable backgrounds.   Archer developes the characters and the plot and weaves a story that is impossible for the reader to predict but satisfying in every single chapter. If you need more detail check out the hundreds of on-line reviews.  Hard to find a bad one!

You will have to dust off  the paperback version of this 1979 Archer best seller if you go to the local bookstore but it comes dust-free on-line.

If you want a great Gordon’s Good Reads recommendation enjoy this book now! Everyone that I have passed it along to has been grateful!

03.11.11
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BIRKEBEINER

The American Birkebeiner  is the largest Nordic ski marathon in North America.  Jeff Foltz of  the University of Southern Maine and a resident of Camden has participated in the 32-mile race five times.  He committed to writing his first novel BIRKEBEINER after seeing the  famous Norwegian painting Skiing Birchlegs Crossing the Mountain with the Royal Child by Knud Larsen Bergslein.

Fascinated with the legend portrayed in Berglstein’s work , Folk travelled to Norway to research the thirteenth century folklore of an incredible trek by a young mother, her child and two soldiers across 7000-foot mountains, snow choked valleys and sub-zero temperatures  to save the life of her infant boy who would  one day be king of Norway.

Eight hundred years ago the Croziers and Birchlegs were engaged in a brutal  war over who would control the Norwegian throne. As the legend unfolds, Croziers overrun the Birchlegs at Lillehammer. Desperate to save the life of their two-year-old son King Hakon of the Birchlegs, dying from the wounds of battle, dispatches Prince Hakon and his mother Inga  along with two loyal medieval Birchleg Soldiers on an impossible nine-day trek to safety in faraway Nidaros.  

The trio is pursued by a force triple their size led by none other than the Crozier heir apparent, Magnus!  His mission is to kill Prince Hakon to prevent his possible ascension to the throne and preserve his own legacy. Only a Nordic skier like Folk could attempt to accurately recreate this near impossible ordeal in an environment both breathtakingly beautiful and as hostile as one can imagine.  The descriptions are mindful of the detail in the epic true story The Endurance, Ernest Shackelton’s  Antarctic sailing from Elephant Island then climbing across the impossible terrain on South Georgia Island to reach the whaling station and ultimately save every member of his crew.

Underlying the suspense and adventure is the time-honored story of motherhood, war and a mothers love for her child. In this novel Folk pursues one version of the royal child legend and makes the mother Inga the heroine.  Bergslein’s painting tells the other version of only the two Birchleg Soldiers skiing the child to safety.

BIRKEBEINER could easily be overlooked but once you open the cover, whether or not you are a Nordic skier,  you will be enveloped in the story.

02.18.11
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Tom Wolfe and Thomas Wolfe Great Novelists at Opposite Ends of the 20th Century

A good friend recently commented that Tom Wolfe’s  The Bonfire of the Vanities was the best novel written in the last half of the 20th Century. Wow! Certainly the good thing about loving books is that opinions are all wonderfully subjective.  Of course, I loved Bonfire,  it was on everyone’s lips and the movie was fabulous but as usual, never quite as good as the book!

Another friend glanced at my bookshelf and saw I am Charlotte Simmons, another Tom Wolfe novel, but one that never received the acclaim of Bonfire.  It is all in the eye of the beholder but I think Charlotte is every bit as good a read.

Arriving on the scene at a prestigious university (many think it is Duke) , comes  Charlotte Simmons, poor, devout, strict, proud and beautiful. She is straight from an uneducated but loving family in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. From the moment Charlotte and her folks arrive in their less than fashionable pick-up she is confronted with the swells from the well-to-do.  Charlotte is not only beautiful, she is also brilliant and both  of these attributes are immediately perplexing and yes threatening to her new classmates.  As an incentive for you to enjoy this great book I will leave  to your imagination further details of this unfolding story.

Tom Wolfe’s research into college life is impeccable and the hard work is infused into the storytelling.  He has placed every character you could  possibly imagine at this prestigious campus. You will grow to love and cheer Charlotte Simmons and hope for only the worst for her detractors.  If you  have a daughter of college age you will bite your nails and briefly consider a commuter campus! Do not overlook I Am Charlotte Simmons. 

Tom Wolfe is from Virginia and now lives in New York City. There was another southern novelist, this one from North Carolina, named Thomas Wolfe.  Thomas Wolfe , who died  at thirty-eight in 1938,  was not related to Tom Wolfe, but he wrote two great books about coming of age.  The first,  Look Homeward Angel, was followed by Of Time and the River.

Whereas my friend considers Tom Wolfe the best novelist of the late 20th century none other than  William Faulkner described Thomas Wolfe as the best of the early 20th century.  Both of Thomas Wolfe’s books are worth every reading moment. Look Homeward Angel is by far the better known and is considered an autobiographical novel. Of Time and the River is a sequel and is every bit as captivating although a bit more patience is required.

If you have read any of  these  Tom Wolf and Thomas Wolfe novels I would enjoy you sharing your impressions.

02.15.11
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Lord of Misrule. No Seabiscuit or Secretariat Here!

 The most ardent  “rail bird”  will find Jaimy Gordon’s description of the world of horse racing at third-rate, down on their heels race tracks absolutely illuminating, intriguing and at times both sad and downright hilarious.   You will also find it surprising that Jaimy Gordon is not a rail bird at all but rather a college professor.   Her vivid portrait of the world or “underworld” of horseracing has earned her the National Book Award for Fiction.

You will  not find a Seabiscuit or Secretariat story in Lord of Misrule.  No heroes here. Only no-name horses, jockeys, trainers, hot walkers, grooms, blacksmiths, promoters and owners struggling, cajoling, doing whatever necessary to make dinner! 

No one in the grandstand, at the window or even on the rail  in Lord of Misrule has an inkling of what is going on in the barns behind the track. The side deals, the fix, claimers,  stalking horses, ice buckets, butte, you name it and Jaimy Gordon makes it real.   Her characters, mostly a tragic lot, are the personification of a world known to very few. The author has uncovered the grimness of horseracing, and the pathetic daily lives of those who survive in this gritty world.

Lord of Misrule is a fast read but the book will capture you long before the first race. A bit of history from Wikipedia.   In Britain  in the sixteenth century, the Lord of Misrule was an officer appointed by lot at Christmas to preside over the ” Feast of Fools!”   Appropriate title, Jaimy.

02.14.11
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RUSTPROOF! Holden Caulfield, Scout Finch, Jody Baxter

The newly released J. D. Salinger biography written by Kenneth Slawenski just a year after Salinger’s death will bring Catcher in the Rye (1951) and Holden Caulfield to the forefront again.    The same is true of the recent revived interest in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) on the occasion of last year’s 50th anniversary of its publication.  

Salinger’s death prompted me to revisit Catcher in the Rye and the publicity surrounding To Kill a Mockingbird’s anniversary placed me back in the center of those pages.  A wonderful experience reading these works as an adult!

While hunting for Catcher in the Rye in the   “Classics” section of my bookstore I found another gem, one which I  had not read,  The Yearling, written in 1939  by Marjorie Kinnan  Rawlings. 

The novel won a Pulitzer and was an instant best seller. Jody Baxter, growing up in back woods Florida “cracker” country with a father and mother preparing him for a life, which would be as difficult as their own. Originally it was labeled a children’s book but do not be fooled by the title, its message, descriptions and dialogue is a worthy read for all ages. The film The Yearling was released in 1946 and added tremendously to Rawlings fame.

The reference to “rustproof” in this  blog title is credited to Ivan Doig, author of House in the Sky, who wrote a wonderful prologue for the The Yearling’s paperback re-issue in 2002.  He is a well-known novelist raised on a ranch in Montana.

I believe the term “rustproof” is a wonderful description of so many great reads we have overlooked or forgotten. This blog aims to re Kindle the memory! Rawlings first novel; South Moon Under was published in 1933.

02.12.11
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Older Titles Appear On Times Best Seller Print and Electronic List

You may notice in the Sunday New York Times Book Section that there are two important new categories of Best Sellers, Fiction Print and Electronic and Non-Fiction Print and Electronic.

According to the Times, the new rankings reflect weekly sales for books sold in both print and electronic formats as reported by vendors offering a wide range of general interest titles. The sales venues for print books include independent book retailers; national, regional and local chains; online and multimedia entertainment retailers; university, gift, supermarket and discount department stores; and newsstands. E-book rankings reflect sales from leading online vendors of e-books in a variety of popular e-reader formats.

Popping off the page of Non Fiction Print and Electronic, this Sunday, February 20, 2011, ranked at number 11, is the 2005 memoir The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls!  This is a new world of reporting who is reading what and when.  It is the essence of Gordon’s Good Reads’ philosophy that people like to discover wonderful books that they may have overlooked.

If you have not read The Glass Castle, first published in 2005, I urge you to do so. You will find this memoir of survival in a very dysfunctional family astonishing and nearly unbelievable.

A suggestion. Why not read Walls’ second book about her family first? Half Broke Horses, published in 2009, a true-life novel, is the story of Walls’ no nonsense and resourceful grandmother Lilly Casey Smith. By doing, so you will learn from who Jeannette Walls received her grit, allowing her to survive The Glass Castle. It is every bit as captivating. and wonderfully written.

Enjoy!

02.11.11
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Cutting For Stone & What Matters Most

Many extensive literary reviews have delved into the inner meanings of Abraham Verghese’s magnificent novel Cutting for Stone. For many, the title itself begs that question. I was so captivated by the writing style, the evolution of the plot and the introduction of the characters that Cutting for Stone drew me in and held me close for the sheer enjoyment of the story.

Dr. Thomas Stone fathers co-joined twins with a young assistant, Sister Mary Praise Joseph . Sister Mary dies in childbirth, he abandon’s them all and  flees to America .The boys are raised by foster parents as their own. The stage is set for their incredible life journey.

The story begins in India, moves to Ethiopia and ends in New York City. Page by page you will find it impossible to abandon the twins . The players you will meet that pattern their lives are unforgettable. Verghese introduces nearly every human emotion as relationships unfold.

I have shared my enthusiasm for this novel with several friends and to the person they have thanked me profusely. You can take whatever inner meaning from Cutting for Stone that you wish. I can only promise pure pleasure. 

 Want more?

Less sweeping in scope  but every bit as compelling is another wonderful novel with plot similarity to Cutting For Stone.  Luanne Rice’s What Matters Most is the story of Sister Bernadette Ignatius and Tom Kelly who conceived a son they were forced  by church doctrine to leave behind in Ireland. Seamus Sullivan is raised in an orphanage and establishes a bond with a young girl that becomes the sought after love of his life. 

Sister Bernadette Ignatius  moves to America to become Mother Superior at the Star of the Sea Academy in Connecticut. Low and behold, Tom Kelly is the school’s caretaker! After years of their secret life, they begin the inevitable search for their abandoned son.  Meanwhile, in Ireland,  Seamus Sullivan , now a young man  seeks the only person he has ever loved, Kathleen Murphy who was claimed from the orphanage when they were both children.  As fate would have it she is a servant in a Newport, Rhode Island mansion. Now, put these circumstances together and let your imagination run as you turn to the Prologue of What Matters Most.

Thomas Stone’s sons discover their father in Cutting for Stone. In What Matters Most Sister Ignatius and Tom Kelly seek their son . Seamus begins his quest to find his beloved Kathleen.  Two wonderful stories immersed in love, miracles and heartbreak.

02.09.11
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Julie Orringer, The Invisible Bridge

Had I read Julie Orringer’s collection of short stories How to Breathe Under Water published in 2005 the beauty of her first novel The Invisible Bridge released in 2010 would have been no surprise. “Don’t even ask, just read it,”  proclaimed my bookseller as she handed me a copy. My anticipated question, who is Julie Orringer, will never cross my lips!

The Invisible Bridge is an adventure, an unlikely love story, an incredible insight into a family which in fact is partly her own. Set in Paris and Budapest as the Second World War unfolds, the book is alive with memorable characters that evolve and continually exceed all expectations. The panorama of place and time is vividly portrayed. 

I had the opportunity to meet Julie Orringer after reading The Invisible Bridge and learned that the novel was in fact partly about her grandparents and great uncles. The family was among the Hungarian Jews living in Budapest deceived by Hitler and their own government. I am getting ahead of your read!

From Budapest to Paris and back to Budapest, the knowledge and fear of the impending reality of war sears through the dialogue as the chapters unfold. Orringer guides the reader through this incredible story of highs and lows . Through it all, The Invisible Bridge never looses its romance, sense of family and the evolution of personal character through the best and worst of circumstances. 

Orringer spent seven years writing and researching the book including two years in Budapest and the effort paid off.  The Invisible Bridge is a riveting love story crafted with historical accuracy that creates realism for the reader.

I have a shelf in my library of books I think worthy of a Pulitzer. The Invisible Bridge is there !