A Word About Awards

YEARS OF GRACE by Margaret Ayer Barnes Award: Pulitzer 1931 Dates Read: October 22, 2012 & May 2, 2019 Years Of Grace is, in my mind, a meditation on commitment, marriage and the roads of possibility. As a young girl, Jane falls in love with Andre, going so far as to become engaged, much to her parents' dismay. They prevail in separating the two, banning all contact. Andre goes off to Paris to study sculpting and Jane goes off to Bryn Mawr. Later in the novel, you realize that had Andre stayed, he never would have become the accomplished and renowned sculptor he was destined to be, even if he grew cynical in his later years. After coming home from Bryn Mawr, Jane meets and weds Stephen Carver. Stephen clearly falls in love with Jane, however, Jane never quite loses herself in Stephen the same way. She finally relents to his advances and marries him. Over time and children, love does inevitably grow. Without beginning from a place of passion and desire, though,

ON BORROWED TIME by Lawrence Watkin Award: National Book 1937 Date Read: April 28, 2019 On Borrowed Time is essentially a meditation on the necessity of death. Gramp's son, Jim and his wife, Susan are suddenly killed in a car accident, leaving their son, Pud, in the hands of Gramps and Miss Nellie, his wife. Due to some mysterious spell that Gramps accidentally breaks, Mr. Brink (metaphor for brink-of-death, perhaps?) is released from the purgatory of the apple tree and visits death upon Miss Nellie and her dog. Gramps is determined to raise Pud to a young man and makes the vow that Mr. Brink will not be allowed out of the tree for 16 years. As with any tinkering with life, suspending death has many unintended consequences for those in town. The local funeral business, churches and estate lawyers are essentially sidelined. People begin driving recklessly and jumping off bridges, thumbing their nose at death since they know there will no long-term consequences. In the en

MILKMAN by Anna Burns  Awards: Booker Winner 2018, Dublin Winner 2020, National Book Critics Circle Winner 2018 Nomination: Rathbones Folio Finalist 2019, Women's Prize Finalist 2019 Date Read: April 25, 2019 After the first paragraph, I could tell that Milkman would be refreshingly different from other novels I've been reading lately. Yet, this same difference would soon grate on me about half-way through.  Milkman is set in some sort of dystopian present, where danger lurks everywhere and life is lived in extremes. A world where certain names are banned, citizens are surveilled, teenagers are expected to marry and communities are segregated based on religion and political leanings. These same members of the community harass one another into conformity. Differing communities loathe each other for, what can only be presumed as, the slightest of differences, which I couldn't help thinking of The Butter Battle Book. For this very reason, Middle Sister immediately

EARLY AUTUMN by Louis Bromfield Award: Pulitzer 1927 Dates Read: December 22, 2009 & April 21, 2019 Early Autumn focuses on the Pentland family, particularly Olivia Pentland, an "outsider" that married into this prestigious family that prides itself on their Massachusetts Bay Colony heritage. The Pentlands, specifically Anson and Aunt Cassie, loathe outsiders almost as much as they loathe change.  All of the women of this novel (Olivia, Sybil, Sabine and Therese) seem trapped by their gender, unable to aspire to anything beyond being a wife, their lives entirely defined by which man is on their arm.  Further, in order to be considered a lady at all, women had to let parts of themselves die - inquisitiveness, vivaciousness, intellect.  Being so limited in their choices, all of the relationships in Early Autumn seem forced and lack genuine connection.  Olivia married Anson Pentland because she didn't find him repulsive, an incredibly low bar for marriage, pa

THE INHERITANCE OF LOSS by Kiran Desai Awards: Booker Winner 2006, National Book Critics Circle Winner 2006 Nominations: Dublin Longlist 2008, Women's Prize Finalist 2007 Date Read: April 10, 2019 All I can say about this novel is just Wow! The content is so rich and the story is compelling. It's difficult to sum up all of my thoughts.  The Inheritance Of Loss primarily follows Sai and Biju as they follow very different paths that converge in the end. Sai is orphaned and sent to live with her grandfather in India. Biju is an Indian national who is sent to the US but ultimately decides to return to India. Both characters provide unique glimpses into being Indian, being a foreigner in the US, life in a post-colonial society and the hardships of youth finding their way in a complex world. With Biju, readers see an inside view of the reverse racism that occurs among immigrants. Biju is harshly judged for being Indian, being illegal, being odiferous, for just being. He qui

THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH by Saul Bellow Award: National Book Winner 1954, Nobel Prize Winner 1954 Date Read: April 18, 2019 I settled down with this novel with the highest expectations. The National Book Award? Yes! The Modern Library's 100 Best Novels? #81! Bring it on! The first 10 pages, I thought there must be some mistake. Page after page of painstaking and tedious detail served as a forewarning this was going to be an arduous and demanding slog. And then? As I kept reading, I slowly started falling in love - the depth, the quality of writing, the sheer ambition of it. In short, this was a slow love affair that took a while to catch fire. But catch fire it did! The Adventures Of Augie March is a sweeping tale of the misadventures of a man trying to find his place in this world.  Fatherless and with a mother that seems to be hampered by low intellect, Augie begins his life from the most humble beginnings and flits through it as if a leaf on a breeze. He never

THE OLD MAN & THE SEA by Ernest Hemingway Awards: Nobel Prize Winner 1953, Pulitzer Winner 1953 Nomination: National Book Finalist 1953 Dates Read: June 14, 2010 & April 6, 2019 Many scholars with far better brains than mine have dissected this book ad nauseam, therefore, I can only offer my own impressions. The Old Man And The Sea refers to Santiago, an unlucky fisherman who hasn't caught a fish in 84 days. Often by his side is a boy, Manolin, who is fiercely loyal to him and has an unspeakable connection, although he is not his son. As Santiago heads out to sea one day on his own, he manages to snare a giant marlin that takes him days to reel in. Although he is successful in capturing the marlin and lashing it to his boat, sharks devour it from tip to tail and he arrives back to town defeated but revered. As I was re-reading this, I was struck by how timeless this novel is. The descriptions of Santiago fishing could have been written hundreds of years ago but

S ALVAGE THE BONES by Jesmyn Ward Award: National Book 2011 Dates Read: September 9, 2012 & April 4, 2019 Ward is an exquisite storyteller, able to convey longing, suffering and desire in such a quiet way that it's almost deafening. It's no mistake we don't learn Esch's name, the narrator of the novel, until the third chapter. She is almost invisible, even to herself, never asking for what she really wants, never daring to hope for more. She lets life wash over her, never putting up obstacles. She is the water and life and everyone else's desires the wave. Only at the end of the novel does she scream out for acknowledgment and her heart's desire. Ward is fearless in bringing to light taboo topics that have been vilified by society - dog fighting, teen pregnancy, adultery, abortion. She provides a glimpse into a world that is all too familiar to some and foreign to others - life in the South, poverty, and the community of blackness in America. T

THE GOOD EARTH by Pearl Buck Award: Nobel Prize Winner 1932, Pulitzer Winner 1932 Nomination: Oprah Book Club 2004 Dates Read: April 25, 2009 & October 12, 2017 I am always fascinated by Pearl Buck, having lived an incredible life for her time and becoming an accomplished writer in the process. She grew up in China, the daughter of American missionaries, and went on to become the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Get it, girl! The Good Earth is the story of the changing fortunes of Wang Lung, a peasant farmer who marries O-Lan, the slave of the local wealthy Hwang family, who's wealth is waning due to laziness and addiction. Wang Lung and O-Lan work tirelessly, slowly acquiring land from the Hwang's piece-by piece over the years. O-Lan births three sons and three daughters, giving birth and joining her husband back in the fields the very same day, never complaining.  For a brief time during intense famine, the family escapes to the city for wor

FROM HERE TO ETERNITY by James Jones Award: National Book 1952 Date Read: April 2, 2019 When you pick up a tome of this size and open to the first page, you know you are going on a long and winding journey and that's one of the reasons I love novels. You will meet characters and experience situations that you will never have in real life.  I was immediately struck at how From Here To Eternity reminds me of Tales Of The South Pacific.  I feel like I've met these soldiers before with their "come what may" attitude, false bravado and impressive capacity for self-sabotage.  While this novel reads like a macho tale full of prostitutes, gambling, drinking and fighting, Jones has the unique ability to look into a man's soul and deftly name what he finds there - longing, triviality, scorn, beauty.  Throughout my journey with these characters, all I could do is sit idly by and watch them make a shambles of their lives (Don't do it, Prew!) and was continuall

THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY by Thornton Wilder Award: Pulitzer 1928 Dates Read: November 29, 2007 & March 23, 2019 Some books fall into your hands accidentally and you are so happy they did. Others, not so much. This is one of the not so much for me. I have given this more than a fair shake, having read it twice. A second chance didn't improve my previous opinion. Yet, t his novel is widely considered "one of the towering achievements in American fiction."  In 1714, a precarious rope bridge in Peru breaks and the five travelers crossing fall fatally into the gulf below. A monk, Brother Juniper, witnesses this tragedy and embarks on a "quest to prove that it was divine intervention rather than chance that led to the deaths." "Either we live by accident and die by accident, or we live by plan and die by plan," so resolves Brother Juniper, who undertakes a thorough examination of the lives of those who perished. Rather than answering this

BRING UP THE BODIES by Hilary Mantel Award: Booker Winner 2012 Nominations: Carnegie Longlist 2013, Dublin Longlist 2014, Goodreads Finalist 2012, NY Times Finalist 2012, Women's Prize Finalist 2013 Date Read: March 21, 2019 Bring Up The Bodies is a sequel to Wolf Hall and continues the story of Thomas Cromwell, the poor son of an abusive blacksmith who rises to become a prominent figure in King Henry VIII's court. Due to Cromwell's machinations in this novel, he visits retributions on those who either mocked Wolsey's demise or played an instrumental part in it. Bring Up The Bodies focuses on the undoing of Anne Boleyn and the gentlemen in her court. I couldn't help but marvel at the capriciousness of one's fate, particularly women, in these times - one moment a queen, the next a Dowager under house arrest. One minute a prominent member of the court, the next beheaded for dubious treason charges.  "But a young married gentlewoman has no way to he

WOLF HALL by Hilary Mantel Awards: Booker 2009, National Book Critics Circle 2009 Nomination: Orange Prize Finalist 2010 Date Read: March 16, 2009 Only on the second attempt was I successful at completing this mighty tome. The first, I became so frustrated with it and quit just about halfway in. The second attempt, I fell in love. Deciding to start anew with a fresh eye and renewed determination, I adored this story and was in awe of the detail, complexity and sheer determination that went into creating this masterpiece. I find Thomas Cromwell to be shrewd, witty and thoroughly self-serving, while still embracing his obligation to those reliant on his favor. I thoroughly enjoyed the banter and found many of the passages outright funny. Mantel has masterfully created an entire world that I felt was not only realistic but relevant. While I agree with many readers that the liberal use of he/she could be quite confusing, once I understood this was entirely from Thomas’ pers

BEL CANTO by Ann Patchett Awards: PEN/Faulkner Winner 2002,  Women's Prize Winter 2002 Nominations: Dublin Finalist 2003, National Book Critics Circle Finalist 2001 Date Read: March 6, 2019 I am so very happy that I was introduced to this brilliant novel. Bel Canto is the story where in “…an unnamed South American country, a world-renowned soprano sings at a birthday party in honor of a visiting Japanese industrial titan. Alas, in the opening sequence, a ragtag band of 18 terrorists enters the vice-presidential mansion through the air conditioning ducts. Their quarry is the president, who has unfortunately stayed home to watch a favorite soap opera. And thus, from the beginning, things go awry. Among the hostages are Russian, Italian, and French diplomatic types. Swiss Red Cross negotiator Messner comes and goes, wrangling over terms and demands. Days stretch into weeks, the weeks into months. Joined by no common language except music, the 58 international hostages an

JOURNEY IN THE DARK by Martin Flavin Award: Pulitzer 1944 Date Read: March 2, 2019 I thoroughly adored this novel by Martin Flavin, savoring the glimpse it provided into a past world that is long gone by and yet startlingly familiar. Sam Braden, being raised by a ne'er-do-well father, sets his sights on the wealthy family in town, the Wyatts, as an example of what he wants so desperately to attain - wealth, influence, respect. And attain he does. Braden achieves wealth beyond his wildest dreams and eventually weds the woman he had pined for his entire life, Eileen Wyatt. I felt that while Braden was working so hard at his business affairs, he failed to carve out a life for himself that was ultimately worth living. His marriage to Eileen is never one of passion, depth or feeling and it was a relief when it ended - for the reader and for Sam. His relationship to his siblings is more fatherly than brotherly and all of them turn out to be ne'er-do-wells like their father

THE REMAINS OF THE DAY by Kazuo Ishiguro Awards: Booker Winner 1989, Nobel Winner 1989 Nominations: NY Times Finalist 1989 Date Read: February 22, 2019 The Remains of the Day is a lovely, hauntingly quiet novel with a glimpse into a world that has long gone by. Stevens is a butler of one of the fine estates in England and decides to take a motor trip to visit an old colleague, who it becomes clear he has feelings for. He meets unexpected acquaintances and conducts an inner appraisal of what it means to be an accomplished butler, which he clearly believes himself to be. I would agree. Stevens served Lord Darlington with unflinching loyalty, although Darlington himself was a deeply flawed man, allying himself on the wrong side of fascist ideals, and bringing bigotry and prejudice to Darlington Hall. Stevens can never fully acknowledge Darlington's flaws because his own life's purpose and indirect influence on the course of world events, the very things that define the 

IMPROVEMENT by Joan Silber Awards: National Book Critics Circle 2017 & PEN/Faulkner 2018 Date Read: February 19, 2019 Improvement was my introduction to Joan Silber and this novel made my reading list due to the awards it received. Prior to this, I hadn't even heard of Silber and I was very happy for the introduction.  Due to the interweaving narratives, Improvement felt almost like a series of short stories that had overlapping themes and relationships. As much as I am not a fan of short stories, I felt this format helped to develop each character and further define their impact on each other and the world around them.  Improvement centers on Reyna, a young, single mother who continually finds herself involved with questionable men. Boyd is her boyfriend who, after being released from prison, begins a cigarette smuggling scheme and ropes Reyna into helping. As I was reading, I kept hoping she wouldn't jeopardize her own well-being for this hair-brained scheme

THE HOURS by Michael Cunningham Awards: PEN/Faulkner Winner 1999, Pulitzer Winner 1999 Nominations: Dublin Finalist 2000, National Book Critics Circle Finalist 1998 Dates Read: March 24, 2007 & February 16, 2019 The Hours is one of those novels that comes along so rarely. I have read it twice and before long, I will read it again. This exquisite novel tells the story of three women whose lives are intertwined and only at the end does the reader fully understand just how. With magnificent prose, The Hours effortlessly moves between the lives of these women, each of whom are affected by Mrs. Dalloway in unique ways, from England to America, from the 1940s to the 1990s. The situations of all three women mirror situations found in Mrs. Dalloway and each of the narratives of these women occur over the course of one day, again matching Mrs. Dalloway's structure. Even the title, The Hours, was the original working title of Mrs. Dalloway. I savored each and every line of

ALL THE PRETTY HORSES by Cormac McCarthy Awards: National Book Winner 1992, National Book Critics Circle Winner 1992 Date Read: February 12, 2019 I continually wonder what happened in McCarthy's life to make him the author of such tragic tales. Lordy! All The Pretty Horses is yet another heartbreaking novel written with exquisite beauty. After reading this novel for the first 30 pages or so, the plot felt so familiar to me and I realized I had seen the movie at some point in my past. John Grady Cole is a cowboy who, along with his friend Lacey, decide to head into Mexico to find work as cowboys. John is only 16. Before crossing into Mexico, John and Lacey encounter a young boy named Blevins, who is clearly riding a stolen horse and Blevins shortly loses the horse and his pistol in a thunderstorm. This chance encounter will be the undoing of John and Lacey. John and Lacey travel further south and find work on a large ranch and John falls in love with the owners' bea

DRAGON'S TEETH by Upton Sinclair Award: Pulitzer Winner 1943 Date Read: February 8, 2019 Lanny Budd is a wealthy, well-travelled man with a wife, Irma, a wealthy heiress, and a newly born daughter. Lanny and Irma travel extensively through Europe prior to WWII, their daughter being raised in France by a nanny. Lanny's brother-in-law, Hansi, is a famous violinist and Lanny and Irma become close with Hansi's family. As Hitler rises to power and the Jews are put under increasing pressure, Hansi's family is swept up by the Nazis and put in concentration camps. Lanny negotiates Johannes's release (Hansi's father) only by pledging his entire wealth to the Nazis. The remainder of the novel is consumed by Lanny attempting to negotiate the release of the last member of Hansi's family.  Dragon's Teeth is an excellent inside look at the rise of Hitler and Germany succumbing to Nazi fervor. Lanny engaged in a chess match with the Nazi elite to negotiate

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME by Mark Haddon   Award: LA Times Winner 2003 Nomination: Booker Longlist 2003, Dublin Longlist 2005, James Tait Black Finalist 2003   Date Read: January 24, 2019   Every novel has something unique about it – plot, voice, construct – and this one has it all. Written from the perspective of a child with autism, Haddon has created a world where readers get to inhabit a unique mind and achieve a greater understanding of the behaviors associated with a brain that is trying to process too much stimuli. I loved every page of this.   “Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.   Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, for fifteen-year-old Christopher everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning. He lives on patt

IN THIS OUR LIFE by Ellen Glasgow Award: Pulitzer Winner 1942 Date Read: January 17, 2019 In This Our Life was somewhat shocking to me, venturing pretty deep into the adultery category, while exploring the themes of kinship and duty. The story is told through the lens of Asa, the pater familias of the Timberlake family and father to Roy and Stanley. I never did get used to their male names. Both tend to have odd relationships with men and are generally unhappy, yet are unclear as to how to fix this. In an act of complete selfishness, Stanley runs off with Peter, her sister Roy's husband, and jilting her fiancé. After Peter kills himself, her parents allow Stanley to move back into the house, which I found absolutely shocking. Eventually, Stanley kills a pedestrian with the family car and blames it on Parry, a black up-and-comer with a promising future. Stanley finally admits she falsely accused Parry and Asa proceeds to sort out the mess she created. I honestly got tir

THE MARS ROOM by Rachel Kushner Nominations: Booker Finalist 2018, Carnegie Longlist 2019, National Book Critics Circle Finalist 2018 Date Read: December 9, 2018 I picked up this book after hearing an interview with Kushner on NPR. I was drawn to it because it was set in San Francisco, particularly in the Sunset, which is where I live. I was also fascinated how she conducted extensive research on what being a female prisoner was like. In the end, however, I enjoyed the novel but wasn't blown away by it. Romy Hall has had a series of misfortunes in life, living continually on the brink and making poor decision after poor decision. The novel opens with her on a bus to a women's correctional facility to serve out two life sentences for murder. She leaves behind her youth in San Francisco, a dead-end job as a stripper and her young son, Jackson. Kushner successfully shines a light on a part of society few of us ever experience, thank goodness! The Mars Room is unique i

GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell Awards: National Book Winner 1936, Pulitzer Winner 1937 Dates Read: December 4, 2006 & July 5, 2018 I am truly torn by this novel. On the one hand, I absolutely love the writing, the imagery and the historical perspective. On the other hand, the racism and misogyny are pretty hard to take. And as for Scarlett herself? Wow, what a bitch! This sweeping saga of colonial Georgia moves from "happy" plantation life to enduring and surviving the Civil War and all it's aftermath.  Of course, driving plot device is centered on Scarlett's secret love for Ashley, a man she never quite attains and who is pledged to Melanie, and Rhett's open lust for Scarlett. Scarlett would do almost anything to obtain Ashley's favor, including having an affair with him behind Melanie's back. One of the key plot points that scholars have balked at is the depiction of the happy and devoted slave as painted here by Mitchell. Many