Oprah’s Book Club Selection – My Personal Project
If you are a regular reader of All Trails Lead Home, you know that I have set a personal goal for the next year – Read and report on one book from Oprah’s Book Club each month until April, 2011.
The book I chose for June is The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. 566 pages. 2008. Harper Collins/Ecco
I will begin with the ending and get the controversial part out of the way. If you Google this book, almost every discussion or review will spend a great portion of the space lamenting the ending of the book. Most people absolutely hate the ending. They detest it. They abhor it. It disturbs them, it bothers them, it colors their view of the entire book. One person went so far as to say this...."If you want to be furious at a book, read this one!"
C’mon, now….I don’t mind the ending, and I don’t think one should read this book with the dread of eventually meeting up with the ending. Not every story has a happy ending, not every person and dog lives happily ever after. Some do, some don’t. Some do in this book, some don’t. And face it - how many classic books involving dogs end happily? So, jack up your courage and get ready to read a warm, wonderful, beautiful story. It’ll be ok….I promise.
This book is a re-telling of Hamlet, which should tell you something if you know the great Shakespeare play. Set in the late fifties or early sixties, the story revolves around the Sawtelle family who, for generations, have bred and trained a special, fictional breed of dog called the Sawtelle Dog. These dogs are bred for their intelligence, intuition and special ability to problem-solve. The main character is, of course, Edgar Sawtelle, a boy who was born mute. He connects intuitively to the dogs and compares himself to The Jungle Book’s Mowgli.
Edgar’s first memory is of his best friend, Almondine, (Shakespeare would call her Ophelia) the family dog that is his protector and constant companion throughout the book. It’s impossible to read this book and not fall in love with Almondine. Wroblewski even cleverly devotes chapters to Almondine and her thoughts.
Edgar’s parents, Gar and Trudy (Shakespeare would call her Gertrude) are close, loving parents who are totally devoted to Edgar and the dog business. Set in rural Wisconsin, Wroblewski’s lush and sweeping descriptions of country life and the countryside makes a person want to pick up and move there. Edgar’s life is ideal until his father’s mysterious brother, Claude (Shakespeare would call him Claudious) moves in with the family. Things go downhill quickly and the pace of the book picks up considerably.
The book is at once emotional, haunting, colorful, imaginative, mystical and human. The characters are well-drawn, although I would have liked to know more about the motives of some of them. It’s difficult to believe that this is Wroblewski’s first novel. Whether you love dogs or not, you will be mesmerized by this book.
The ending is fast, frenetic, crazy and gut-wrenching. You will be spent at the end of this book, and you will want more.
I loved this book. Knowing Shakespeare’s Hamlet helped me to not be shocked at the ending. If you love the book but hate the ending, maybe you should blame Shakespeare. I hope you will read this terrific book and be as enthralled as I was. I’d love to see your take on it – please comment and let us know what you think of The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle.
Out of 5 stars, I give The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle….
* * * * *
Showing posts with label Read For Your Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Read For Your Health. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Read For Your Health - The Oprah Book Club Selection Challenge
....Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me....Oh - time for another blog post.....
Oprah’s Book Club Selection – My Personal Project
The Book For May, 2010: Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
If you are a regular reader of All Trails Lead Home, you know that I have set a personal goal for the next year – Read and report on one book from Oprah’s Book Club each month until April, 2011.
My second choice in this journey was almost more than I could handle – Oprah’s 60th selection - Ken Follett’s epic 12th century novel Pillars of the Earth. Because of limited reading time, I decided to listen to the CD version of the book on my commute and various travels. I have to tell you – if you choose to read this book, it must be a long-term commitment. The book is contained on 32 (yes, 32!) CD’s. 976 pages if you choose to read the old-fashioned way. At least my public library was kind enough to package the CD’s in Part 1 and Part 2 – 16 CD’s each. I took every bit of my 3 week check-out period to get through each part.
First published in 1989, this historical novel pays homage to Follett’s love of church architecture, which I do not share. However, although the building of a cathedral is central to the plot, Follett doesn’t unduly dwell on the details of how this is actually done. The few times he lingered a little too long on something that only an architect could love, I will admit to fast-forwarding a little.
The real stars of this show are the compelling characters: Tom Builder, the, well, builder, who teams with the good and honorable, but wily prior of the Kingsbridge monastery, Philip, to raise the beautiful cathedral; Lady Aliena, the heroine of the story who rose from a horrendous experience to become a strong player in the intrigue and politics of the day; Philip, Prior of Kingsbridge, and the hero Jack, brilliant but unpredictable son of a gentle story-teller and a suspected witch. The evil ones – Brutal William Hamleigh and his strange, crafty mother, the corrupt Bishop Wallerin Bygod, the animalistic Alfred – half-brother of Jack.
Final verdict after 976 pages (32 cd’s)….Pillars of the Earth is a great novel and well-worth the time commitment. Read it and you will not be sorry.
The book begins with a public hanging and a curse, and the frenetic pace slows only rarely. This is the type of book that you hate to put down. The best stories pit good against evil, and Follett’s story, at its core, does just that. The good characters are not perfect and are usually somewhat flawed, but the evil characters are bad to the bone.
Beware – there is brutality in this book, both to humans and animals. I totally skipped over a bear-baiting episode and a cat-stoning. Just didn’t want to deal with them. (Ironically, a friend who is also a Pillars fan, told me later that the cat escaped the stoning – something I would have known had I not taken the easy way out.)
A good companion website to the book is: http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/Your-Guide-to-The-Pillars-of-the-Earth-by-Ken-Follett
I made it through the 32 disks and was sad when it finally came to an end. This book was a good and trusted companion on my drives to and from work and the longer treks to visit family. The book was satisfying, even though the really bad guys took way too long to get their just rewards! I didn’t just like the book, I loved it. A true epic, historical tale, and you don’t even have to be a history fan to enjoy it.
There is an eagerly-awaited mini-series based on this book coming up this summer on STARZ. This might be a good reason to subscribe, at least until you see the movie.
Follett has released a sequel to Pillars of the Earth entitled World Without End. A friend of mine read it and loved it, so I’ll probably give it a try when this Oprah challenge is finished.
Out of 5 stars, I give Pillars of the Earth….
* * * *
Oprah’s Book Club Selection – My Personal Project
The Book For May, 2010: Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
If you are a regular reader of All Trails Lead Home, you know that I have set a personal goal for the next year – Read and report on one book from Oprah’s Book Club each month until April, 2011.
My second choice in this journey was almost more than I could handle – Oprah’s 60th selection - Ken Follett’s epic 12th century novel Pillars of the Earth. Because of limited reading time, I decided to listen to the CD version of the book on my commute and various travels. I have to tell you – if you choose to read this book, it must be a long-term commitment. The book is contained on 32 (yes, 32!) CD’s. 976 pages if you choose to read the old-fashioned way. At least my public library was kind enough to package the CD’s in Part 1 and Part 2 – 16 CD’s each. I took every bit of my 3 week check-out period to get through each part.
First published in 1989, this historical novel pays homage to Follett’s love of church architecture, which I do not share. However, although the building of a cathedral is central to the plot, Follett doesn’t unduly dwell on the details of how this is actually done. The few times he lingered a little too long on something that only an architect could love, I will admit to fast-forwarding a little.
The real stars of this show are the compelling characters: Tom Builder, the, well, builder, who teams with the good and honorable, but wily prior of the Kingsbridge monastery, Philip, to raise the beautiful cathedral; Lady Aliena, the heroine of the story who rose from a horrendous experience to become a strong player in the intrigue and politics of the day; Philip, Prior of Kingsbridge, and the hero Jack, brilliant but unpredictable son of a gentle story-teller and a suspected witch. The evil ones – Brutal William Hamleigh and his strange, crafty mother, the corrupt Bishop Wallerin Bygod, the animalistic Alfred – half-brother of Jack.
Final verdict after 976 pages (32 cd’s)….Pillars of the Earth is a great novel and well-worth the time commitment. Read it and you will not be sorry.
The book begins with a public hanging and a curse, and the frenetic pace slows only rarely. This is the type of book that you hate to put down. The best stories pit good against evil, and Follett’s story, at its core, does just that. The good characters are not perfect and are usually somewhat flawed, but the evil characters are bad to the bone.
Beware – there is brutality in this book, both to humans and animals. I totally skipped over a bear-baiting episode and a cat-stoning. Just didn’t want to deal with them. (Ironically, a friend who is also a Pillars fan, told me later that the cat escaped the stoning – something I would have known had I not taken the easy way out.)
A good companion website to the book is: http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/Your-Guide-to-The-Pillars-of-the-Earth-by-Ken-Follett
I made it through the 32 disks and was sad when it finally came to an end. This book was a good and trusted companion on my drives to and from work and the longer treks to visit family. The book was satisfying, even though the really bad guys took way too long to get their just rewards! I didn’t just like the book, I loved it. A true epic, historical tale, and you don’t even have to be a history fan to enjoy it.
There is an eagerly-awaited mini-series based on this book coming up this summer on STARZ. This might be a good reason to subscribe, at least until you see the movie.
Follett has released a sequel to Pillars of the Earth entitled World Without End. A friend of mine read it and loved it, so I’ll probably give it a try when this Oprah challenge is finished.
Out of 5 stars, I give Pillars of the Earth….
* * * *
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Oprah's Book Club Selection #1 - The Poisonwood Bible
This is the beginning of my new project, reading one selection from Oprah's Book Club each month, and reporting on it in a Wednesday blog. April's book is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.
This 1998 novel is set primarily in Africa, The Belgian Congo. It is the story of a fanatically-religious man, his wife and four daughters. Nathan Price, the patriarch, is a Baptist minister who moves his family to Africa in 1959 to save souls and bring the Africans to Christ. This is really the story of the girls, ranging in age from 5 to 15 at the beginning of the novel, and is told in the voices of the four girls and Orleanna, their mother.
The mother and daughters struggle to absorb the cruel changes from their lives in the United States (Georgia), while dealing with their father's unstable fanaticism and rigidity. The Congo's turbulent politics of the 1960's intertwine with the struggles of the women as the girls age and begin to grow up. It becomes obvious that their father, increasingly belligerant, will never leave Africa, and the women are faced with difficult choices as the Congo's government becomes more and more unstable.
The fates of Orleanna and the girls take widely different paths as the 1960's give way to the 1970's, 1980's and finally, 1990's.
If you have read some of Kingsolver's earlier works such as The Bean Trees, you will be surprised at The Poisonwood Bible. Extensive research obviously went into this highly-detailed historical novel, and it appears that Kingsolver grew up as an author with The Poisonwood Bible.
I highly recommend The Poisonwood Bible. Kingsolver just gets better and better as she ages and evolves as an author. Her latest, The Lacuna, tops The Poisonwood Bible by a hair. If you choose The Poisonwood Bible as your next read, you won't regret it!
This 1998 novel is set primarily in Africa, The Belgian Congo. It is the story of a fanatically-religious man, his wife and four daughters. Nathan Price, the patriarch, is a Baptist minister who moves his family to Africa in 1959 to save souls and bring the Africans to Christ. This is really the story of the girls, ranging in age from 5 to 15 at the beginning of the novel, and is told in the voices of the four girls and Orleanna, their mother.
The mother and daughters struggle to absorb the cruel changes from their lives in the United States (Georgia), while dealing with their father's unstable fanaticism and rigidity. The Congo's turbulent politics of the 1960's intertwine with the struggles of the women as the girls age and begin to grow up. It becomes obvious that their father, increasingly belligerant, will never leave Africa, and the women are faced with difficult choices as the Congo's government becomes more and more unstable.
The fates of Orleanna and the girls take widely different paths as the 1960's give way to the 1970's, 1980's and finally, 1990's.
If you have read some of Kingsolver's earlier works such as The Bean Trees, you will be surprised at The Poisonwood Bible. Extensive research obviously went into this highly-detailed historical novel, and it appears that Kingsolver grew up as an author with The Poisonwood Bible.
I highly recommend The Poisonwood Bible. Kingsolver just gets better and better as she ages and evolves as an author. Her latest, The Lacuna, tops The Poisonwood Bible by a hair. If you choose The Poisonwood Bible as your next read, you won't regret it!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Read For Your Health - Oprah's Book Club Selections, The Complete List
As promised, here is the complete list of Oprah's Book Club Selections. Read it and get inspired!
To recap, the challenge to myself is to read (or listen to) at least one selection from this list every month. I will also blog about the book in a Wednesday post. I would like to have some have some companions in this endeavor, so please consider joining me. Your book reviews are welcome!
Ok, without further ado, here is the list....
2009:
Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan
2008:
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
2007:
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier
2006:
Night by Elie Wiesel
2005:
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
Light in August by William Faulkner
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
2004:
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
2003:
Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
2002:
Sula by Toni Morrison
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
2001:
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Cane River by Lalia Tademy
Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail by Malika Oufkir
Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio
We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
2000:
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz
Open House by Elizabeth Berg
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
While I Was Gone by Sue Miller
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Back Roads by Tawni O'Dell
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
Gap Creek by Robert Morgan
1999:
A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton
Vinegar Hill by A. Manette Ansay
River, Cross My Heart by Breena Clarke
Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
White Oleander by Janet Fitch
The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
Jewel by Bret Lott
1998:
Where The Heart Is by Billie Letts
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen
Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman
Paradise by Toni Morrison
1997:
The Best Way To Play by Bill Cosby
The Treasure Hunt by Bill Cosby
The Meanest Thing to Say by Bill Cosby
A Virtuous Woman by Kaye Gibbons
Ellen Foster by Kaye Givvons
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
Songs in Ordinary Time by Mary McGarry Morris
The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou
The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds
Stones From the River by Ursula Hegi
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
1996:
The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard
To recap, the challenge to myself is to read (or listen to) at least one selection from this list every month. I will also blog about the book in a Wednesday post. I would like to have some have some companions in this endeavor, so please consider joining me. Your book reviews are welcome!
Ok, without further ado, here is the list....
2009:
Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan
2008:
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
2007:
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier
2006:
Night by Elie Wiesel
2005:
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
Light in August by William Faulkner
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
2004:
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
2003:
Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
2002:
Sula by Toni Morrison
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
2001:
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Cane River by Lalia Tademy
Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail by Malika Oufkir
Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio
We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
2000:
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz
Open House by Elizabeth Berg
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
While I Was Gone by Sue Miller
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Back Roads by Tawni O'Dell
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
Gap Creek by Robert Morgan
1999:
A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton
Vinegar Hill by A. Manette Ansay
River, Cross My Heart by Breena Clarke
Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
White Oleander by Janet Fitch
The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
Jewel by Bret Lott
1998:
Where The Heart Is by Billie Letts
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen
Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman
Paradise by Toni Morrison
1997:
The Best Way To Play by Bill Cosby
The Treasure Hunt by Bill Cosby
The Meanest Thing to Say by Bill Cosby
A Virtuous Woman by Kaye Gibbons
Ellen Foster by Kaye Givvons
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
Songs in Ordinary Time by Mary McGarry Morris
The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou
The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds
Stones From the River by Ursula Hegi
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
1996:
The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Read For Your Health - A Challenge To Myself.....
A friend and I were looking at a list of Oprah’s Book Club books recently, and we were shocked to find that we had only read a few of the 65-plus books on the list. These are not slouchy books – they are some of the best literature of the last hundred years or so. Unlike the best-seller lists, which can be unreliable at times, Oprah’s list contains the books that are considered among the greatest of what our American writers have to offer. My friend and I consider ourselves fairly well-read - at least we did before we looked at Oprah's list.
In the past I have concentrated on biographies, history and the occasional historical novel, but I feel a need to widen my horizons and concentrate on novels for the next year or so.
The challenge to myself is to read (or listen to) at least one Oprah Book Club book per month and report on each one in a Wednesday post. For at least a year. Starting in April.
I know, I know, some people blow through four or five novels every month, but I have this pesky job that keeps getting in the way of things I really need to do. Then there’s the blog, family and all those other little things that make up life. My “reading” is often limited to listening to the book on my I-Pod while commuting to and from work and on my two-hour trek to Mom’s every other weekend.
So, given my current schedule, I am going to set the bar low enough so that I might actually be able to sail over it. One book a month, and a Wednesday report.
Anyone want to join me? Next week I will post the entire Oprah Book Club list. Give it a shot – what do you have to lose? You might just get a little smarter in the process!
The challenge to myself is to read (or listen to) at least one Oprah Book Club book per month and report on each one in a Wednesday post. For at least a year. Starting in April.
I know, I know, some people blow through four or five novels every month, but I have this pesky job that keeps getting in the way of things I really need to do. Then there’s the blog, family and all those other little things that make up life. My “reading” is often limited to listening to the book on my I-Pod while commuting to and from work and on my two-hour trek to Mom’s every other weekend.
So, given my current schedule, I am going to set the bar low enough so that I might actually be able to sail over it. One book a month, and a Wednesday report.
Anyone want to join me? Next week I will post the entire Oprah Book Club list. Give it a shot – what do you have to lose? You might just get a little smarter in the process!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Read For Your Health - How About A Great Novel?
Anyway, a friend of mine (thanks, Linda!) turned me on to a terrific historical novel, which I will pass on to you.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2006) is told in retrospect by the narrator, Jacob Jankowski, who is 90 or 93 years old - he isn't sure. Living in a nursing home, Jacob reflects on his life with the circus in the middle of the Great Depression. The Benzini Brothers' Most Spectacular Show On Earth is anything but spectacular - it is a second or third rate little circus that travels town to town by rail.
23-year-old Jacob jumps a train one night after suffering a breakdown following the death of his parents in an accident. He has dropped out of Cornell just before taking his final exams to become a veterinarian, and is surprised to find that the train he jumped was a circus train. He becomes the animal doctor and lives a circus life.
Gruen pulls no punches in describing the horrendous conditions of the Depression and the squalid life that a second-rate circus provided. Animal and human cruelty abounded, and survival instincts kicked in as Jacob struggled to make a life out of what confronted him daily.
"Freaks", "midgets", "rubes", "drunks", the "magic of the big top" - they all come alive in Water For Elephants. Don't be fooled, this is not a happy, uplifting book or a "chick-flick" book, but it is a great page-turner and will hold your interest all the way through its 335 pages.
If you're short on time, try the audio-book. I downloaded it from the library to my I-Pod and listened to it on my daily commute. For free.
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