The Book Thief

From time to time I read a book, or in this case, listen to a book, that just doesn’t resonate, though the general population loves it.  So was the case with the award winning book The Book Thief by Markus Zukas.  The book is set during the time of Nazi Germany and features the main character, Liesel Meminger, a ten-year old girl being transported from her home to live with her foster-parents, Hans and Rosa Huberman.  The story focuses on Liesel’s relationship with the Hubermans and the various neighbors in the small town of Molching, just outside of Munich.  The story begins on the eve of World War II and through the end of the period of time where the Nazi leadership changed the landscape of Europe with hate and killing occurring at every corner of the country and beyond.  Young Liesel has just left her home having been present for her brother’s funeral but what she learns in her new home is a lesson that may haunt her for the remainder of her life.  You see, this story is narrated by “Death” who is in the right place during the occupation of Hitler and his men attempting to remove all people of Jewish descent.  Liesel moves through the city spending time with her various friends and towns people, always the feeling of death around every corner, which seemingly he is.  The Hubermans befriend one Jewish person, Max, and hide him illegally in their basement.  It is this relationship that Liesel learns to give and grow as a young woman.  There are others as well, such as the Mayor’s wife and young Rudy Steiner, who do not support the Nazis.  There is a great deal of detail in the various relationships among the characters and the atrocious times, even the bomb that kills most of the town, yet Liesel seemingly avoids dying.  Maybe it was the fascination with death and the symbolic reading of “the Grave Digger’s Handbook” – (can you be hit over the head any harder?)  that alluded my own interest or inability of finding deep connections, no idea.   In the end, we learn that Liesel has died after living a long and happy life with a husband, kids, and grandkids (ah – vindication!). Then we learn Max actually survived the concentration camp, and he and Liesel reunited at the end of World War II. The novel ends with Death giving Liesel back her book, The Book Thief, as he's taking her soul away from her body.  And so the book thief, Liesel, who grabs books when she can, comes full circle, with life then comes death.  I never felt any real affinity for the story and the subtext underneath being presented by the author.  Not all books are made for everyone….

Goodnight Moon

Imagine being a child again?  What a wonderful time in life to cultivate your imagination and allow your innocence to be a major part of who you are.  So it happens in the well-known children’s book Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown.  I remember this book and reading it often to my two boys when they were just 2-years old.  Why did I read it so often? Besides being a great read, (I’ll be honest here) it was a very quick read.  After working full days, a short read like this one was perfect!  But more than that, it opened one’s heart and soul to being young again. The text is written in a rhyming format.  A bedroom full of wonderful objects that a young bunny sees as he says goodnight to all of those objects, seemingly one at a time.  This helps the youngster listening to the story start to put closure to the day, one object at a time, such as the red balloon, the bunny's dollhouse, and the kittens.  The pictures on each page give great detail into the room and as the pages turn, the room gets darker and darker hopefully allowing the young listener to this story have their eyes grow tired and more tired until we say “goodnight moon”… and off to sleep goes our youngster, or do they?  The one problem with this story is you may need to read it three or four times before getting that first baby snore (at least that’s the way it was for me!).  Every child should hear this story at least once, and potentially a lot more based on the amount of activities the child was involved in that particular day.  

Malcolm X on Afro-American History

Reading speeches from various leaders in American History provides a really helpful context to the times and the social strife that a particular group of people feel in the community.  I think there is none better than Malcolm X, though I am also partial to my hero Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  In this RA favorite read, I learned a great deal of the issues that Malcolm X felt the African American community was facing in his speeches from Harlem called Malcolm X on Afro-American History.  From the pulpit of a rented hall in Harlem before his tragic death, Malcom X presents the struggles of a community in a society that has very little respect and much hatred by many in the white community.  He provides a historical perspective on the African heritage and how the issues that occurred in the Congo are directly tied to the current (1950-60s) of the African American community.  Here is one powerful paragraph from his speech:

As long as the Black man in America thinks of himself as a minority, as an underdog, he can't shout but so loud; or if he does shout, he shouts loudly only to the degree that the power structure encourages him to. He never gets irresponsible. He never goes beyond what the power structure thinks is the right voice to shout in. But when you begin to connect yourself on the world stage with the whole of dark mankind, and you see that you're the majority and this majority is waking up and rising up and becoming strong, then when you deal with this man, you don't deal with him like he's your boss or he's better than you or stronger than you. You put him right where he belongs. When you realize that he's a minority, that his time is running out, you approach him like that, you approach him like one who used to be strong but is now getting weak, who used to be in a position to retaliate against you but now is not in that position anymore.

Malcolm X is not afraid to present his beliefs through the lens of the experience of the black man, and how African Americans cannot feel sorry for their plight instead must work to change it. Malcom X provides an overview for a new power struggle facing society. He believes that the world is getting smaller and that global issues will surface in all places around the world (A man ahead of his time!).  His section on the “trap of racism” has excellent depth and knowledge of the world as he experienced it.  Knowing one’s ancestry is critical for good reason, not having it be repeated again. While not everyone will agree with the way he writes, he spends a good deal of time explaining his historical connections and uses good references for his beliefs.  This is an important read for anyone interested in American history.  We all need to understand so that history is not repeated again.  A short read that will make you think and realize that we can’t allow senseless acts of death like Malcolm X to be forgotten. 

Digital Fortress

You know I really like mystery thrillers and no better author for a good one than Dan Brown.  Brown’s book, Digital Fortress, kept me at the edge of my seat throughout.  It seems like he thinks through every possible movement of his characters and the psychology of each person’s motives.  In Digital Fortress, the story revolves around what happens when the National Security Agency’s (NSA) ability to provide surveillance on the decoding of the internet is stopped (who thought the NSA could even decode every bit of the encrypted internet?).  This is a story of good guys and bad guys and when good people are driven to extremes because of their commitment to the government and their blind love for someone.  Brown always adds a love story and a bright agent/professor, and in this case it is a Georgetown University of Modern Languages professor, David Becker, and his fiancé Susan Fletcher, the NSA's Head Cryptographer.  Fletcher is called into assist on a special project when it is learned that former NSA employee Ensei Tankado has dealt the NSA a decryption code that all citizens of the world will get access to so they can unravel ALL top secret government records.  But wait, Commander Trevor Strathmore, NSA Deputy Director of Operations, is there to fight the decoder.  Many of the NSA staff randomly find out about Tankado’s plot and have various involvements into the response, but some to their death.  David Becker is brought in as a civilian unaware of the danger that he faces by some hoods trying also to find the code to own Tankado’s “Digital Fortress” program.  This book has all of the makings of mystery and saving the world’s secret weapons from evil.  I really enjoyed the story except like many mysteries I read I actually knew who the “bad guy” was from pretty early on, though Brown tries to hide the identity from his readers.  Still, I’d say a generally great read!  Very hard to put this one down! 

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Time for an “oldie, but goodie” with just a tad bit of controversy.  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is what I would call a period piece which gained fame from his first novel, Tom Sawyer.  The tale is told from the first person, Huck Finn.  Finn, a friend of Tom Sawyer (who actually appears in this tale), has come into a good deal of money and that’s where the mad journey begins.  Huck is re-united with his abusive father who decides to take the son back (for the money for sure), but Huck escapes by faking his own death!  During the journey heading on the Mississippi River, Huck finds Jim, a slave of Miss Watson, whom Huck knows.  The two decide to travel together and bond, even though Jim’s price for return would net Huck a larger nest egg.  Huck’s disappearance is believed by those back home to be at the hands of the escapee slave Jim.  Huck grows fond of Jim and during their travels together meet an interesting cast of characters, including a preacher, a Duke, and a King.  In each case, the stories of these characters capture the local “flair” of the time and exposes the depths of racism and prejudice against African descendent slaves.  Huck and Jim’s bond grows to the point where Huck hides his identity when Jim is finally recaptured.  Huck plays the role of his friend Tom Sawyer in attempt to keep Jim safe from his captors.  Tom saves the day when he arrives and the trickery is concluded, but Tom announces that Miss Watson, Jim’s owner, has died and that Jim was to be freed upon her death!  To make things even better, Huck learns that his father is dead, he was the dead man that Jim had found during their travels earlier in the story.  Lots more to this one where language and character development are the stories strong suits.  The transformation of a white southern boy to defend a slave was ahead of its time.  This is a really good read for young readers beginning the process of learning about differences.   The language is a bit rough and not a big fan of the southern twang.

Down These Mean Streets

This book falls into the category of “memoir”/“cultural beginnings in the US.”  A very popular type of read among the RAs, very much influenced by their own family heritage or that of others they learn about during their time at NYU/in NYC.  This book, Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas, tells the story of growing up in the barrio in Spanish Harlem during the 1940s/50s at the same time as the “Ozzie and Harriet” portrayal of American society.  Piri tells very different sides of life, one where racism, prejudice, drugs, and sex rue the day.  Piri faces multiple levels of discrimination as the oldest in his family being of more “African complexion” than his siblings, which leads to numerous challenges he faced as a young boy trying to make his way through a world that should you not look a certain way, you would not be accepted.  Piri turned to the peer influence that involved drugs, stealing, and unfortunate decisions at every turn.  Being the oldest, his father never paid him any attention and always felt less than what he should be.  Piri joined gangs which in turn began a spree of robberies and eventually to a shoot-out at a bar, where he shot a police officer who hung on for dear life.  Piri was sentenced to prison.  Being in jail seemed almost like one of those present day television docu-dramas telling the real story of the levels of “control” found among the prisoners. Amazing how things haven’t changed.  Piri lost his first love while in jail and turned to Islam through the influence of a prison chaplain.  Once he began to realize this was not the life he wanted to live, he conformed to the “successful” path to recovery.  After a long term in jail he was released and we are left with Piri returning to the “learned way of life in his circle.”  He was faced with returning to the same road or changing.  While it appears Piri makes the decision to change his ways, the reader realizes that one never knows and Piri could easily be back in prison once again.  Piri’s story is powerful, especially for the time in which it occurred.  Sociologist would benefit from learning another side of the 1940s “everything is wonderful” storyline.  For me, while compelling, not my favorite type of book to read. 

Another Country

Why I love Reading the RA favorite books is because they vary so much in depth and topical area.  Another Country by James Baldwin is the story of an African American male living in the Greenwich Village-area (circa 1970s) that is fighting something within himself, especially his race and his sexuality.  This is the theme of the book throughout, finding oneself and dealing with the various stages of friendship, admiration of others, the demons within, infatuation and the urge to act on it. Rufus is a complex character, as are all of Baldwin’s characters in this story.  Rufus falls in love with a white woman who recently left the South after escaping a failed marriage.  Rufus is overcome by past relationship issues and eventually falls into a ritual of physically hurting the ones he loves.  Rufus has a core group of friends, all artists of some sort (actors, writers, and musicians).   Rufus, after losing his latest love to an asylum, determines life is not worth living and jumps to his death via the George Washington Bridge.  His remaining living friends, including his sister Ida, come to each others' support trying to figure it all out.  What happens is a series of love trysts between women and men, men and men, crossing race and breaking up marriages and alliances.  What a very complicated read strewn with characters that do have some level of reality and despair.  The characters are actually pretty intriguing though their motivations and drive seem somewhat inconsistent with their development by the author.   It reads as if it should have been set on some commune where the characters are “taught” this is the way we live to succeed.  While this in no way was a book one could have guessed how the story would end up, it led me to say “ok, so what?”  I understand the timing and how the era makes for a fitting story, I just didn’t get to feel a sense of care when it wrapped up.  Probably would have made it as a made-for-TV weekly movie.  Certainly not a boring read, but somewhat unbelievable.  Wasn’t really sure what the author wanted the reader to get out of this one.  Not my favorite read, but could see how this would be a good read for people questioning sexuality or even how to commit themselves in a relationship.    

Leonardo da Vinci: Flights of the Mind

It takes all kind of books to make you feel like a well-rounded reader… for instance, Charles Nicholl’s Leonardo da Vinci: Flights of the Mind which tells the story of the life of da Vinci.  This is a historical review of da Vinci’s life.  Not having much background, only surface material from history courses, I learned a great deal about the complex artist and inventor.  da Vinci’s life had humble beginnings, raised by his father from a one-night love affair, da Vinci never met his mother.  The author scoured many literary sources to piece together the latest book on the life of the man.  From Milan, Mantua, and Venice and finally back home again, da Vinci was a private man, could have been because of his sexuality (deemed punishable by death for some who were known to be homosexual at the time, c. 1470s – 1519).  Nicholls shares stories from his youth, the people who influenced his art and thinking about life, his apprenticeships, travels around Italy, his alleged affairs, his works of art, and various other thinkings that affected the world in his time.  I had no idea his drawings helped with the creation of airplanes and other mechanical devices which did not come to fruition until centuries after his life.  da Vinci was a Renaissance man who “hung” with the artists and deep thinkers of the time.   I loved how the author presented all of his art work and drawings in the book with the “back story” on how and why each was created.  I often forget how brilliant and influential da Vinci was to art from his Mona Lisa, The Vitruvian Ma, The Last Supper, St. John the Baptist, Virgin of the Rocks, and Madonna (to name a few).  da Vinci had numerous jokes written throughout his notebooks, some he may have penned himself!  Freud had a field day thinking about the life of da Vinci, probably loved this particular joke penned in one of his books: 

A woman was washing clothes, and her feet were red with cold.  A priest who was   passing by was amazed by this and asked her where the redness came from, to which the woman immediately replied that it was caused by a fire she had underneath her.  Then the priest took in hand that part of him which made him more priest than nun, and drawing near to her, asked her very politely if she would be kind enough to light his candle. 

Funny guy with a brain for seeing the beauty in things.  da Vinci turned back to the church upon his death bed.  Life has a way for some coming full circle.  His impact in the world of art is seen today and lives forever.  While the book was quite dense, art historians will revel in the stories and his experiences.  For me though, a bit too many anecdotes and connections to things that just are not that interesting to me.  I’d take a pass on this rather long and, at times, sleeper.

Ready Player One

Imagine being in 2044 and living in a time where the top 1% have it all, and everyone else lives in trash and has limited food supplies, etc.  Yet there is one BIG jackpot out there to be had for the person who can solve the mystery of the video game, which was created by James Halliday who died a billionaire.  In Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, you get a sci-fi real life action packed adventure.  Start with James Halliday, a “gamer,” who wrote a complex gaming system called OASIS (which most everyone in the universe subscribes to) and in doing so whomever can collect three keys (Copper, Jade, and Crystal) that are hidden throughout the universe of OASIS and pass through the matching gates (and find the golden egg) will receive his fortune and controlling stake in his company (worth 240 billion dollars!).  After four years of no one coming even close to finding anything, a young 18 year old, Wade Owen Watts (his on-screen name is Parzival), hits gold by opening the first gate, gaining national attention.  Unfortunately for Wade, I mean Parzival, he has many more steps to take and simultaneously ward off Innovative Online Industries, the multinational corporation that serves as an Internet service provider for most of the world and hopes to take over and monetize the OASIS.  The OIs (as they are known) are putting in big bucks to buy anything standing in their way, including Wade and his 4 “vagabond” friends.  The story includes 1980s and early computer culture games (Pac-man, Galaga, and Zork) and movie anecdotes (Risky Business, Real Genius, and Blade Runner).  The OIs vs. the five pack makes for great adventure, intrigue, and thrills.  At every step there is excitement up the very last page.  Who will win, the big almighty corporation or the upstart young tech kids?  Throw in a love story, embattled friendships, and clues that you might remember from your childhood (if you are 40 something!).  What a great story!  I can see this one becoming a movie, though I hope not!  Pick this one up, a very fast read and well worth your time.  It has it all!

Sister Outsider

Always good to learn where theoretical constructs develop in our society and clearly Audre Lorde, author of Sister Outsider, had something to do with the beginnings of “intersectionality.”  Well, what is “intersectionality?”  As Lorde discusses her understanding of who she identifies as a person, the reader begins to learn about Lorde’s upbringing and how she begins to think about herself through gender, orientation, race, and socio-economic backgrounds that merge to a complex being.  The book is a series of essays and speeches that Lorde writes/speaks about over the course of a fifteen year period, beginning in the late 1960s through the early 1980s.  Lorde was born in New York City to mixed immigrant parents.  Her parents emigrated from the Caribbean yet were born in Grenada (which is the focus of the closing article).  Lorde was married to a man and had two children before she met her eventual life partner, a white female.  This love combination added one more “identity” to her complex understanding of self.  Lorde uses some of the challenges her children met from classmates and their parents while being in school.  They were ridiculed for not only being black, but children of a lesbian and mixed race family.  Lorde tells of her anger at society’s inability to embrace differences in her interview with Adrienne Rich and other various short interviews and essays.  Not being “white enough” compared to her two siblings and trying to bleach her skin to “fit” into society were a couple of her childhood memories.  The level of hatred and bigotry that Lorde faced fueled her desire to speak out as an adult even though she faced attacks from fellow feminists, blacks, and lesbians not clearly appreciating the depth of the various identities of the author.  The book provides a brilliant perspective of the 1980s and how our society was on the precipice of the debate for gay marriage and acceptance of those outside society’s “privileged” groups.  This will be seen as a precursor to what our society will look back on 100 years from now and say, what was the big issue? (Or at least let’s hope).  Brash, angry and capable of holding her own against the fiercest of enemies, including a fourteen year battle with cancer, Lorde is afraid of no one.  This book is a nice mix of readings that captures a woman ahead of her time.