A Word About Awards

THE CIRCUS OF DR. LAO by Charles Finney Award: National Book Winner 1935 Date Read: November 19, 2019 The Circus of Dr. Lao is unlike any other novel I have read. Set in a fictional, rural town in Arizona, this circus mysteriously arrives in town neither by road nor rail. The circus is comprised of mythical creatures such as a mermaid, sphinx, chimera, medusa, etc. As the towns people are drawn to this circus, they fail to be impressed and never question the origins or facts about these creatures. The big finale is the show under the big top in which a pagan ritual is performed and a virgin ultimately sacrificed. In what is a stroke of genius, the book ends with a cast of characters and questions that identify plot holes that the readers may not have known to even ponder, let alone ask. While I prefer a novel that is more character driven, this is a truly singular work and I doubt anyone could ever duplicate it. Apparently a movie was made loosely b...

LORD GRIZZLY by Frederick Manfred Nomination: National Book Finalist 1955 Date Read: November 11, 2019 Lord Grizzly is not a fun book. To me, it's a survival book in that I survived reading it. Hugh Glass is, without a doubt, an incredible character full of grit, piss, steel bolts and razor wire. The life he leads is astounding in that he actually survives his life choices. Hugh lives in early U.S. settlement days when the white man was actively stealing Indian land and paying the just price for these actions. In some situations there was peace and, often, in others there was violence. In an early expedition of Hugh's, he is attacked by a grizzly and left to die on the plains. His friends sew him together as best they can and flee. Hugh succeeds in crawling with his wounds and a broken leg back to his wife for care and recuperation  He then spends the remainder of the novel seeking revenge for his friends who left him there to die. What becomes quickly a...

THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC by Julie Otsuka Award: PEN/Faulkner Winner 2012 Nominations: Dublin Finalist 2013, LA Times Finalist 2011, National Book Finalist 2011 Dates Read: October 18, 2012 & November 5, 2019 The Buddha In The Attic is a short novel focusing on Japanese immigrants to the US and their treatment before and during WWII. Women departed Japan with uncertain futures to marry Japanese men already established in the US. What they would find when they arrived was not what they expected. I cannot imagine taking a journey like this as a young woman, often young girls, to embrace such an uncertain future - unknown country, unknown husband, unknown way of life. Arriving, these women were faced with hardships they had no knowledge was awaiting them. They faced racism, endless manual labor and poverty. Few had hope of ever rising above a bare subsistence and many longed to return. Yet, they persisted and won a place, albeit secondary and often begrudgingly, in soci...

INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison Award: National Book Winner 1953 Date Read: November 5, 2019 Invisible Man is a compelling exploration of the black predicament in the early 1950s. While other novels dealing with race (Uncle Tom's Cabin comes to mind) are more of a social protest, Invisible Man reads to me more of a glance into the varieties of black experience in 1950s America. As uncomfortable as it may be, you can't discuss Invisible Man without discussing race. I can't help but wonder if Ellison's references to Louis Armstrong early in the novel and the popularity he enjoys by whites is because Armstrong's music is peaceful and happy (and, obviously, you know - talent), which reassures whites that even in the midst of the racist misery that's been heaped upon him, it still isn't that bad. Who could make music like that if it was so bad? But I digress... Readers experience the narrator of Invisible Man who, in keeping with his invisibility is nev...

PACHINKO by Min Jin Lee Nominations: Dayton Literary Peace Finalist 2018, Dublin Longlist 2019, National Book Finalist 2017, NY Times Finalist 2017 Date Read: November 3, 2019 Spanning four generations, Pachinko chronicles the lives of Koreans who have immigrated to Japan and their struggles in acceptance by and assimilating to Japanese culture. While their treatment wasn't surprising considering Japan's homogenous culture, I was surprised by how much some went to hide their origins so they could "pass" without prejudice. The characters in Pachinko are all strong willed and determined, particularly the women. As in most cultures, the women are taught to rely on the decision-making and money-making of the men, however, when life turns dire, Sunja and Kyunghee take the fate of their families into their own hands and figure out how to put food on the table and even save some yen for emergencies. Even as Yoseb lays dying from his wounds, he expects, nay demands...

THE BAD SEED by William March Nomination: National Book Finalist 1955 Date Read: October 25, 2019 The Bad Seed was much better than I had anticipated, having formed the opinion that it was a bestselling thriller, not compelling literature. March uses this novel as a vehicle to understand the inherent nature of violence, the "Bad Seed" that resides in all of us, obviously more prevalent in some than in others. I found the debate about the genetic predisposition towards violence an interesting construct as well. Rhoda is clearly a sociopath. Her mother, Christine, learns that she is the daughter of a notorious killer who was eventually put to death in the electric chair, having killed numerous people. She believes that she passed on this "seed" to her daughter and, therefore, she is to blame for the people her daughter has killed. I initially rejected this notion, however, mental illness, such as Antisocial Personality Disorder, are genetic traits that can ...

C by Tom McCarthy Nomination: Booker Finalist 2010 Date Read: October 21, 2019 C is such an odd book. Parts are intriguing and engaging, but most of it is agonizingly boring. While I've never read McCarthy before, I cannot dispute his talent but this book seemed entirely pointless and Serge a character that I hope to never meet again. The life he lives is adventurous and takes some interesting turns, yet I never found myself engaged with his life. Serge is a precocious child, always trying to measure up to his sister Sophie, who clearly shines in early abilities with chemistry. While Sophie's life takes a tragic turn, Serge lives a life of relative adventure from England to the German front to Egyptian ruins, he never quite seems to become self-aware.  His life experience allows him trying on different miens of being such as cocaine and heroin and various types of women. Through all this, what was starkly lacking was any sort of inner life or paradi...