Friday, July 20, 2007

Reading up a storm.

With still no TV, I've been reading like crazy. These are my mini-reviews.

A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid. This is a jewel of a book. Small and quick to read, but scathing in it's commentary on privlege, corruption, colonialism, and race. I've never wanted to visit Antigua more, nor have I ever felt so guilty about the impact I have on such a small place. One charm of this book is that it seems to have been stolen from a library and Jamaica Kincaid talks of stealing books from her local library in an effort to educate herself. Be prepared to be appalled.

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. This is the story of Paul Farmer's work in Haiti. An infectious disease specialist, Paul Farmer is changing the way that TB is treated in the world and saving lives. His indefatiguable spirit is an inspiration. As someone that regularly thinks of packing up and moving to a third world country, this book has me more grounded in reality, but ready for the chance to lend a helping hand.

The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman. Book 1 of his Dark Materials series. I loved the story, which reminded me of the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and A Wrinkle in Time, but I was annoyed by the ending. It's making me wonder if I should bother with the last two books in the series or is it more of the stuff I don't like and less of the stuff that I like.

I just started the Life of Pi, so I'll let you know how it goes. I've been reading a little slower because of all the stuff... all that overwhelming stuff that I talked about yesterday.

I think I need to come up with a closing... I hate just ending without saying goodbye. How about "Much love and type to you soon"...

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Was it the anti-religiousness of The Golden Compass that you did not like? It is only going to focus on that more as the books go on, although I think they are amazing reads. I am curious to find out what different people think of the books.

Kathryn said...

I guess I felt it got heavy handed in delivering its message. Some of the anti-religious stuff got annoying to me... like comparing circumcision to what they were doing with the daemons.

But mostly I just don't like be beaten over the head with stuff after an author has quite deftly crafted the first part of the story. Just continue and let us figure it out or not... I'd rather stay confused than feel like something is being rammed down my throat.