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Book Review: The Year of the Flood

Posted by Lahni in Can Lit | Canadian Author | Challenges | Dystopian Fiction - (2 Comments)

the-year-of-the-floodThe Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

Read for: The Canadian Books Challenge

I find the more Atwood I read, the more I appreciate her writing.  Sometimes I don’t love the plot but her writing is brilliant.  If you’ve read Oryx and Crake you might recognize the setting and some of the characters in this novel.  It took me a really long time to clue into this though.  I did read Oryx and Crake right when it first came out so it’s been a while.

In this novel, there’s been a supervirus (the waterless flood) that’s spread through out a large majority of the population.  The story is told through two of the survivors, Ren and Toby who have managed to avoid the plague by being isolated from the general population.  Through flashbacks we learn that Toby and Ren were once part of the same religious group – called the Gardeners – and have since left for various reasons.  Eventually, Ren and Toby are forced to leave their respective hideouts and they are able to find others from their pasts and eventually each other.

I really liked this novel.  I sometimes have a hard time reading dystopian literature because it can be so disturbingly accurate.  Somehow this one didn’t get to me the way others have. (And not because it’s unrealistic.  Maybe I’m just becoming desensitized to it because I’ve read so much lately!)  With people making such a big deal over the swine flu and a possible pandemic it becomes a lot more real to read about a virus that killed huge portions of the population.

The characters in the book were likable and realistic.  It was really interesting to read how Toby viewed  Ren after they were reunited and see how different it was of Ren’s own view of herself.  I think this is quite often true in the real world.  How we see ourselves can be very different from how others view us.

I have a really hard time writing reviews of Atwood’s work because there is so much to talk about that I just don’t know where to start.  I also feel like I don’t want to give away too much of the story because it’s so much better to read it without knowing what’s coming next.  So for those reasons I think I’ll stop now.  Just read the book yourself!  It’s good.

Book Review: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Posted by Lahni in Can Lit | Canadian Author | Challenges | Dystopian Fiction - (15 Comments)

TheHandmaidsTaleThe Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Read for: Banned Books Week, 1% Well Read Challenge, Canadian Books Challenge

The more I read of Atwood, the more I come to realize what a brilliant writer she is.  I read a few of her books about ten years ago and I think I just wasn’t ready for them yet.  Everything I’ve read of hers recently (even the ones I haven’t enjoyed) have really struck me in some way or another.

Most people have read this one, and those who haven’t usually know what the general plot is so I’m going to make my summary brief.  This one is another dystopian society – Gilead.  Offred is a handmaid which means that her sole purpose is to procreate.  Handmaids are sent to Commanders and their Wives in the hopes that they will conceive a child.  If she does, she bears the child and then moves on to another Commander.  Handmaids (and in fact all women) are allowed almost no freedoms and are carefully watched to be sure that they do not  step out of line.  As the novel unfolds, Offred, whose real name is never revealed, reveals Gilead came to be.

I really liked this book, actually a lot more than I was expecting to.  Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down (which for me and Atwood is rare).  As I mentioned earlier, Atwood is a brilliant writer, but besides that she has the ability to tell a really great story.  Even though, Offred was in a truly depressing situation, Atwood kept giving little hints that all was not lost, there was hope yet.  Offred clung to the hope of her daughter and husband from “before”.  She was able to find friendship in unexpected places.  I liked that in the darkest of times, Offred was able to see the simple beauty in the flowers (or perhaps she imagined them, which makes it that much more amazing).

On the other hand, parts of this book were terrifying because Gilead is so plausible.  Almost every part of this society has some historical (and some not-so-historical) counterparts.  There have been times in the past and in the present in parts of the world, where women have been treated as less than human, as just bodies to clean up, cook and have babies.  Even the way Gilead was formed was scarily real and even reminiscent of certain incidents following 9/11.

I am really glad I finally took the time to read this book, but I’m also glad I waited until this point in my life because I don’t think I would have understood it as well without the lens of experience I’ve been able to view it through at this time.

Other reviews:

If I missed yours, please leave a link in the comments.

Book Review: Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel – Another Ten!

Posted by Lahni in Canadian Author | Challenges | Fantasy | Science Fiction | Young Adult - (1 Comments)

oppelskybreaker

Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel (sequel to Airborn)

Read for: Canadian Books Challenge

This one was almost as good as the first one.  Right from the first page it was action, action, action!  This time around the legendary ship Hyperion has been spotted in the air and Matt is the only one who knows the coordinates.  The Hyperion is rumoured to be carrying a fortune in gold.  And whoever gets to it first gets to keep the riches.  The Hyperion is also said to contain quite a nice collection of animal artifacts, which surprise, surprise, Kate is dying to get her hands on.  The only problem is that the Hyperion is drifting at an impossible height so Matt and Kate have to find someone to help them who owns a very specialized ship.  And of course, Matt, Kate and their two new companions aren’t the only ones on the world searching for the Hyperion. So you can imagine all the action and adventure that is packed into this novel.

If I hadn’t just read the first book I don’t think I would have found this one to be lacking at all.  But since I did just read it, yesterday, I remembered the suspense and tension I felt while reading Airborn.  But Skybreaker was still amazingly entertaining.  I’m already deep into the third book of this trilogy and loving it just as much.  Of course, there’s a little bit of romance thrown into these books, but it’s done well.  There are no over-the-top declarations of love and it doesn’t seem to be an add-on to the plot.  It flows well with the story, without taking over.  And I love Oppel’s writing.  He has a way of describing things that allows me to see the events unfolding in my mind without getting too bogged down in long, flowery explanations.  This one gets a 10/10 too.

Other Reviews:

Did I miss yours?  Please post a link in the comments.

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Book Review: Airborn by Kenneth Oppel – A Perfect Ten!

Posted by Lahni in Canadian Author | Children | Fantasy | Science Fiction | Young Adult - (3 Comments)

airborncover

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

Read for: Canadian Books Challenge

Why haven’t I read this sooner?!  I loved the Silverwing books and somehow I just forgot about Kenneth Oppel.  Then just last week I read a review somewhere (sorry, I can’t remember where) for the third book in this series and remembered that Oppel is Canadian and realized I’d better get on these books! I read this book in a day and I couldn’t put it down!

Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on a luxury cruise ship but this cruise ship doesn’t float in the ocean, it floats over the ocean!  From the first page Matt and the crew on the Aurora are in for some major adventure.  And just when one mishap (or worse) seems to be just about cleared up, something else comes along to cause more mayhem and definitely some of the most captivating story I’ve read in a long time.  I don’t want to give anything away about what happens to Matt and the rest of the crew so I guess that’s going to have to be my summary for this one!

Not only was this book very well written, it really was adventure from start to finish.  And I just felt like I was right there in the middle of it.  And it was truly unpredictable, I was never sure what was going to happen next.  As I read, my heart was pounding, I was chewing on my thumbnail the suspense was so great!  (And it’s not often a book can do this to me!)

Overall this book was amazing.  My library had it shelved in the juvenile section but I’m not sure it should be there.  Not that there is any mature themes or anything, I’m just not sure a younger child could understand everything that went on.  (And there were people killed in the book.)  All I’m saying is that I wouldn’t read it to my 6 year old.  I remember the Silverwing books to be aimed at a younger audience.  Overall I would give this book a 10/10.  I’m so glad I have the next two sitting on my night stand waiting to be read!

Other reviews:

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Book Review: The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

Posted by Lahni in Can Lit | Canadian Author | Challenges | Historical Fiction - (5 Comments)

thebookofnegroes

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

Read for: The Canadian Book Challenge

I’m not really sure where to start with this one. This is an incredible  book and one that I think everyone should read.  It’s also an important book.  This book won the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for best overall book in 2008 and it definitely deserves it.

Ok, enough raving about the book.  It’s an important book because of the subject matter.  The book is about the slave trade and I think it’s really important that we not forget how truly disgusting that whole period in history was.

But, (and I think more importantly) the book was incredible because it was captivating and interesting.  Aminata, the main character, was lovable and strong and smart and believable.  The novel tells the story of Aminata’s life, from the time she was brutally seized from her family and her life, forced to walk across the country, naked and poorly fed, branded and then pushed onto a ship to cross the ocean.  Once in America, she was sold to an indigo plantation.  After being sold again, she ends up a runaway in New York City, and lands herself in the Book of Negroes, for loyalty to the British Government.

And here’s where the Canadian history begins.  Many Canadians know who the Loyalists were but I had never heard of the Black Loyalists before.  Just before the British left America for good, the blacks of NYC were promised that if they had served the British cause for at least a year, that they would be considered free and would be transported by boat to Nova Scotia, where they would be given land to farm.  3000 blacks were listed in the Book of Negroes (which is transcribed here) and were shipped to Nova Scotia.  Unfortunately, the land was slow in coming and the Black Loyalists lived a similar existence in Canada as they had previously.  Several years later, 1200 of those Black Loyalists travelled back to Africa to found a colony called Freetown in Sierra Leone.

Aminata has always dreamed of going back to Africa so she joins the colony.  Once back in Africa she finds that things aren’t quite the way she was expecting them to be and she travels to England to help the abolitionists.  This is more than just an accounting of the journey Aminata makes.  The book also tells of many of her struggles and the tragedies that befall her as a result of her colour.  This book could have been really depressing but it wasn’t.  It was really a beautiful read.  I just can’t say enough about how much I loved this one!  This definitely gets a 10/10!

Has anyone else read this book?  What did you think?

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Book Review: The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood

Posted by Lahni in Can Lit | Canadian Author | Challenges - (1 Comments)

therobberbride

The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood

Read for: The What’s in a Name Challenge – book title with a profession in it, The 1% Well Read Challenge

I’m still unsure about how I feel about this book.  I finished it last night and after sleeping on it and reading some other reviews, I’m liking it a bit more than I did initially.

The story is about three women who are connected by their hurt at the hands of a single woman, Zenia.  Zenia is supposedly dead, but on the day that the novel begins, the friends are meeting for lunch when Zenia walks into the restaurant.  As each of the women leave the restaurant that day, they begin to remember the circumstances that brought Zenia into their lives and caused them so much pain.

Zenia is extremely manipulative and she knows exactly how to act and what to say to each of these women to be allowed into their lives and to steal their men.  We never really learn anything else about Zenia because everything she says is a lie.  Her history is a story carefully tailored for the person she’s telling it to, in order to garner the most sympathy.  Zenia must be extremely intelligent to be able to determine exactly what will work the best on each of these women, but she is not at all likable.  Her motivation for destroying these women’s relationships seems to be none other than because she can.

The story is told, in turn, from the viewpoint of the three friends.  First we hear from Tony, then Charis and lastly Roz.  Each of the women, from their own point of view, seem weak but when we view them from the other women’s perspective they become stronger and much more likable.  Isn’t this true of real life?  Are the people around us able to see our strengths better than we can ourselves?  I liked the book a lot better once I realized this.  I was feeling disappointed that the characters were all so weak-willed when I noticed that they weren’t really.  It was just their internal voice that was, but these women were a lot stronger than they thought they were.

The book was centred around Zenia and I thought it was about her, but I’ve realized that it wasn’t about her at all.  It was about the three women.  This is their story, not hers and that’s what I like about the book.  This book definitely isn’t for everyone, but if you like Atwood’s other books, you’ll like this one too.

Other reviews: caribousmom, dancing badger

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Book Review: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Posted by Lahni in Canadian Author | Non-fiction - (1 Comments)

outliers

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

After reading The Tipping Point and Blink I was very excited when I got an email from the library letting me know that it was my turn to read this newest of Gladwell’s books.  This one is about outliers, an observation that is numerically distant from the rest of the data. Using examples and case studies, Gladwell argues that successful people are more than just smart.  He claims that birthdate, opportunity, cultural background and ethnicity have a lot to do with what a person accomplishes in their lifetime.

A lot of what Gladwell reveals is surprising.  He begins the book in a discussion of the birthdates of hockey players in the WHL (Western Hockey League) and points out that a huge majority of hockey players are born in the first half of the year.  There is a completely reasonable explanation for this.  Want to know what it is? Read the book.

Gladwell also goes on to introduce the 10 000 hour rule and explain why so many successful computer guru’s are born between 1953 and 1957.  (My dad is a successful  programmer, and guess when he was born?  You got it, 1955, the year that Gladwell pinpoints is the ideal year for computer geniuses to be born in, along with Bill Gates and other famous software engineers.)

Ever wonder why Asian’s are typically so much better at math than everybody else?  Gladwell has an answer for that too!  He also discusses a Korean airline that had a terrible track record, and how they were able to turn that around just by looking at cultural issues.

Outliers was really interesting.  I don’t think it’s as good as his previous two, but still definitely worth reading!

Book Review: St. Urbain’s Horseman by Mordecai Richler

Posted by Lahni in Can Lit | Canadian Author | Challenges | Funny - (0 Comments)

horseman

St. Urbain’s Horseman by Mordecai Richler

Read for: Orbis Terrarum Challenge – Canada

This is either the third or fourth book I’ve read by Richler.  I like his books because although they are definitely can lit they aren’t as depressing as some books in this genre tend to be.  This one was no exception.  Richler’s novels (at least the ones I’ve read) tend to be satirical and sometimes funny without being satirical, which according to the wiki article linked above is one of the traits common to can lit, who knew?  (Probably lots of people, but I haven’t read that much can lit that was funny!)

Anyway, this one is about a man, Jake, who is on trial.  The book is one of those story’s where the reader isn’t given a lot of information and has to try and piece it together until your suspicions are confirmed near the end of the novel.  Richler gives us a peek into Jake’s life at the time of the trial and the reasons he is on trial but then back tracks to give the reader more insight into the Jake and his character.  As Jake remembers different incidents and times in his life he begins to question who he is and where he’s been.  St. Urbain’s Horseman, the title character is Jake’s cousin whom he pretty much worships even though he hasn’t seen him for years.  I don’t want to give away too much more about the horseman and Jake’s trial because part of what is good about the book is finding these things out as they are revealed in the book.

I wasn’t really sure if I would like this book when I first starting reading.  It took a while to get into it because as I mentioned before, the reader isn’t really given a lot of information.  I think Richler did this on purpose though.  He introduces his character, charging him with a crime and then puts him on trial.  By the end of the novel, the reader knows whether Jake is guilty or not before the circumstances around his crime are described.  We know whether or not he should be acquitted because we know Jake and we know his character.  What I didn’t like at first, I had come to appreciate by the end of the novel.  I would defintely recommend this book to most people.  It is kind of crude though, so you might what to avoid it if that kind of thing bothers you.

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Book Review: The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint

Posted by Lahni in Canadian Author | Fantasy - (8 Comments)

the-onion-girl

The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint.

Read for: Once Upon a Time Challenge

So apparently, de Lint has written several other books that take place in Newford, his fictitious city but I’ve never read any of the others. I read some where that I probably wouldn’t want to read this book if I’d never read any of the others from Newford.   A lot of the supporting characters in this novel have starred in their own novels prior to appearing in this one.  I did not find that a problem for me.  I kept wishing I had already read them, but not because I felt I missing any of the story but just because the little tidbits the readers were given about their lives were so compelling.

This particular novel is about Jilly Coppercorn (for those of you who have read the rest of the Newford books) who has appeared in several, if not all of the other books in the Newford series.  Anyway, the book begins with Jilly being hit by a car and subsequently waking up in the hospital unable to move one side of her body.  This is a huge problem for her because she is an artist and uses that side of her body to paint.  Another side effect of her accident is her new ability to visit the other world or manido-aki in her dreams.  Manido-aki is a basically a parallel place where anything is possible.  I don’t know much about native american mythology, but I think most of what goes on in this other world is based on that mythology.  (Correct me if I’m wrong!) She has friends there that are shape shifters and she befriends a man who was brought into life by an author who had imagined him for several of her stories.

As Jilly is trying to recover from her accident she is told that in order for that to happen she’s going to have to look inside first to heal an old hurt before she will be able to heal her physical body.  Jilly has had a hard life and as she looks back at the things she’s had to endure the story shifts to someone from her past that may be able to help her heal those internal hurts.

My favourite part of this book was the dreamlands and the way that de Lint wove it into the story.  I am looking forward to reading more books about the people of Newford that are able to travel back and forth between the World As It Is (what they call our world) and the dreamlands.  Some people are able to travel back and forth at will and others must enter through their dreams.  The book dealt with some pretty heavy issues (sexual abuse, drug use and prostitution) but I didn’t feel bogged down or depressed by these parts of the book.  De Lint didn’t going into descriptive detail about these things but more sensitive readers might want to avoid this book.  But overall, it was an enjoyable read and I will definitely be picking up some of the other books from the Newford series.

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Book Review: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

Posted by Lahni in Can Lit | Canadian Author - (0 Comments)

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

*Warning – There are spoilers in this review!*

I was going to do this book as one of my favourites, but I’m not sure yet that I can put it up there with some of the other books I’ve reviewed.  I did just reread it and couldn’t put it down.  I think I even liked it better this time around.  Anyway, onto the review!

Atwood starts the book with this line: “Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge.”  She just dives right in.  The book is divided into alternating parts.  One set of sections is narrated by Iris Chase Griffen at the age of 83.  Her writings are a journal that she is writing for her estranged grand-daughter, basically the story of her life.  The other set of parts starts with newspaper articles that tell more of Iris’ story and alternates with a novel attributed to Iris’ sister Laura, and published posthumously by Iris.  Laura’s novel is also called The Blind Assassin.

Iris begins her story with Laura’s death and then begins to describe their childhood as daughters of a  successful industrialist.  As the girls grow up they lose both of their parents and Iris is married to one of her father’s competitors.  As a result Iris and Laura end up in Toronto living with Iris’ husband, Richard.  Iris’ marriage is not a happy one and Laura does not get along with her brother in law at all.  As the novel goes on, we realize that there is a very good reason for Laura’s hatred of Richard, which Iris is unaware of.

Meanwhile,  the reader is treated to Laura’s entire novel.  It’s a story about an unhappy married socialite carrying on an affair with a communist agitator in hiding.  There are no names or details in Laura’s novel but as the story continues, you realize that the story is autobiographical and that Laura is not the author.  The details of the affair are never described, but he tells her a story in instalments.  It is in this story that we meet the blind assassin.

What I love about this novel is the way Atwood tells the story.  The reader starts out with many questions.  As the story goes on, all of those questions are slowly answered.  I just love the way Atwood gradually reveals more details as the novel unfolds. I also love the way she tells a story within a story within a story.  (I read one website that described compared them to Russian nesting dolls.) You’d think is might be complicated and confusing but Atwood does such a good job timing and relating the different parts of the story that it’s easy to follow.

The novel isn’t a happy novel with a happy ending, but I do think it’s very well written and very poetic.  This is the kind of writing that is truly amazing.  I can see why it won the Booker.  Other books by Margaret Atwood that I would recommend are Alias Grace and Oryx and Crake.  (Two entirely different books though…I’m warning you!)

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