In the Shadow of the Banyan

by Ratner, Vaddey

In the Shadow of the Banyan tells to story of the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia in 1975. Ratner was a child when her family was uprooted and separated by the Khmer Organization, and this book is somewhat of a fictionalized account of their experiences. While I can see some value in the choice to narrate the story from the perspective of a child, I think the disadvantages outweigh that option. As a child, much of the atrocity of the situation was not realized or understood, therefore a lot of  the Khmer brutality goes untold, or told seemingly in passing. Particularly in the beginning, this telling avoids the horrors in lieu of poetry and fairy tales. When finally some of these details are told, the style is still so lyrical it doesn't make the required impact. Since the story is also very reflective and descriptive, the mature voice of the seven year old Raami doesn't always ring true. 

A very sobering tale told with too much sugary language to give credence to the gravity of the subject. While this book ultimately manages to give a glimpse into that brief period of Cambodian history, it is no Anne Frank story. 

Update

Bible reading:

In the Old Testament, I have read through I Samuel

In the New Testament I have read through Romans 

And I am part-way through both Psalms and Proverbs. 

My plan provides daily readings from the OT, NT and either Ps or Prov.  At the moment I am a bit ahead of schedule. So far so good!

Destiny of the Republic

by Candice Millard

You might wonder why someone would choose to write a book about James Garfield, considering he held the office of president less than 200 days, and you also might question reading such a book, but Destiny of the Republic is about much more than our nation's 20th president, it is about the people and the events surrounding him that helped shape the future of America. Candice Millard manages to reveal current inventions, controversies among the medical community, political rivalries and expose the deranged life and mind of Garfield's assassin that surrounded him during his lifetime.

I did not know that James Garfield never ran for the office of president; he was elected as candidate on a whim during a lengthy Republican National Convention in which there was a stalemate between Grant and Blaine. In fact, Garfield did not want the office, and once nominated, on more than one occasion expressed his feelings of disquiet in this election. The lesson here: trust your gut!

His assassin, Charles Guiteau truly was delusional. One of the examining physicians said of Guiteau that all of the links for intelligence were strong, they just didn't form a chain. Fortunately for America, there was no Jose Baez, F. Lee Bailey or Robert Shapiro at the time or Guiteau just may have walked for shooting the president since his defenses of insanity and medical incompetence were both true.

The incompetence of Garfield's attending physician is shocking! Dr. Doctor Bliss (yes, his given name was Doctor) was a pretentious boob who wanted to make a name for himself. In the end he did so, only not the name he had hoped for. He rejected the discoveries of both Pasteur, regarding germs and Lister regarding antisepsis, both of which would have saved Garfield.

At times, Millard gets a bit gross in her details of the suffering of President Garfield, but that can be overlooked in light of all of the interesting information she includes along the way. If you are a fan of obscure history you will like this book. It is a fast and engaging read. 

Prayers for Sale

by Sandra Dallas

Imagine yourself on a cold winter night, snuggled up under your favorite blanket, sitting in front of a roaring fire with a cup of hot cocoa and a great book; that about sums up Prayers for Sale.  And that is really when you'd want to read this story, not on the beach, not on a plane, but snuggled under your blanket in front of the fireplace. Lucky for me, Oklahoma weather cooperated even in May!

Eighty-six year old Hennie Comfort relives her life through a series of stories shared with a new young neighbor in the mining town of Middle Swan, CO as she comes to terms with having to leave her home to move in with her daughter.  Life on the Swan during the Depression is hard and winters are harsh, even so it is hard for Hennie to imagine living anywhere else. Hennie's story is full of love, tragedy and trial, one (predicable) regret and one nagging bit of disquiet that she must settle before moving on. I don't think it's an accident that Hennie is a quilter and quilting references abound as she re-pieces her history and comes to terms with some of life's difficult lessons.

This is a nice story where everything is tied up with a neat (albeit unrealistic) little bow.

Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

In this short novel the world is introduced to Sherlock Holmes and his new roommate Dr. Watson. When you've seen dozens of movie and tv renditions of this famous detective, it's a little hard to start reading the books without any pre-conceived notions, but I've wanted to read them to get an idea of the character that Doyle imagined. Here's what you get from the first story: Sherlock is smart, he gathers lots of information, but only that which he deems valuable to advance his profession, he assists the top Scotland Yard detectives, his powers of observation are on steroids and he might possibly be manic-depressive.

The Study in Scarlet presents Holmes with two murders and he determines to take Watson under his wing to prove the power of observation in resolving mysteries. And so in the first half we get it all, right up to the arrest of the murderer, which is abruptly interrupted with part II that fills us in on all the back story that led up to the murders. In this case it stems from issues within the Mormon church, so we learn a great lot about their settling in Salt Lake City and a bit about their hierarchy, which doesn't paint too good a light on the Mormon's, but makes a good motive for these murders. And then, just as suddenly, Holmes is wrapping it all up in a neat little package and passing it off as elementary.

This is a fun and quick introduction to Sherlock Holmes. 

The Cider House Rules

by John Irving

I'll give John Irving credit, he can weave a good yarn! I'm not sure why it took me so long to read another of his novels after A Prayer for Owen Meany, which I read years ago (actually twice in one year), loved and would highly recommend! I might even rank Irving's story-telling up there with Stephen King, despite their very different subject matter, they can both keep you turning pages. What is a bit amazing about the two Irving novels that I've read is how he intertwines such deep and controversial subjects into a story, making you truly consider all aspects of the point, while not hammering you over the head with his opinion, yet expressing it nonetheless.

On the face of The Cider House Rules is the subject of adoption and abortion, "the work of God and the work of the devil," "delivering babies or delivering mothers." But the underlying themes of love, faithfulness and rules play a big part as well. How can you really love two people? At what point do you give up hope on someone who's gone missing? When in Rome are you expected to do as a Roman? Whose rules are you following?

Another thing Irving has mastered is character development. When you finish the book you know the characters and you like them (or dislike them as you should). Each person is unique and much care is given even to minor appearances. While the main focus is on Homer Wells and Candy and Wally and Dr. Larch, you get to know the nurses and the orphans and the migrant pickers and not only the current stationmaster but his predecessor, and it wasn't a distraction to have met them all.

Cider House Rules was made into a movie years ago, which I never saw. After reading the book I can't imagine it being done well and I'm not sure I'd want to see it anyway. I saw the Simon Birch movie, which was supposedly based off A Prayer for Owen Meany, and was sorely disappointed in the lack of resemblance to the book.

I liked this book, but would recommend Owen Meany first.

The World We Found

by Thrity Umrigar

I have a habit of getting stalled when reading books that I don't care for, and that is what happened with The World We Found. I kept trying to engage with the story line and I kept trying to care about the characters, but it never happened, which was a huge disappointment given how much I liked Ms. Umrigar's previous novel The Space Between Us.

The theme had potential. Four girl friends who have been separated by time and circumstance try to reunite when one discovers she is dying of cancer. The problem was their friendship seemed to rest solely on one event that Umrigar kept rehashing. And although the characters had some interesting aspects, they were underdeveloped and came across poorly.

In this book, Umrigar tried to present both political and religious tensions in India. Through one of the women's marriage, she offered a compelling perspective on the status of Muslim women within their homes and societies, but then failed to take a stance. She also highlighted some political and social tensions through the husbands, but again just presented the issues without a particular point of view, which is good for a newscaster, but not so much for characters in a novel.

At least this meets one of the reading challenge's title requirements.