The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Afghanistan is a name heard often in current events and the media. The Kite Runner gives an up close and personal look into life and death, love and hate in a place and culture that most of us never imagined. In this book, we meet real Afghans, and walk with them through their life and trials in a culture that is in the midst of destruction. It is so easy to forget that real people are affected by events and actions in this far away place. I recommend this book to those who wish to gain insight into a culture that he borne the brunt of failed political policies of much larger nations such as the U.S. and Russia. This story is excellently told, and brings the characters and their experiences to life for the reader. Must read.

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life in Cannery Row

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A delightfully told tale of life in Cannery Row. I especially enjoyed the parts which were included in one of my favorite movies of the same title. Looking forward reading the rest of the story in Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday!

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It has always seemed strange

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

"It has always seemed strange to me," said Doc. "The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first, the love the produce of the second."

page 143, Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

stunningly beautiful

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another stunningly beautiful tale told by John Steinbeck. In a mere hundred pages, Steinbeck paints character portraits so rich and real that i could see and feel them. What a heartbreaking, yet inevitable ending to this short but powerful story of grace, love, and trust, and of the triumph of love in spite of, and in the midst of a tragic, horrible ending. It is the mark of a great author to leave the reader in a state of awe and of shock at the ending of a story, even knowing that this ending was inevitable, and even expected. Welcome, John Steinbeck, to my list of favorite authors.

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a mixed journey

Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

England is on my list of places I'd like to visit, and I enjoy Bill Bryson's writing, so what better way to get introduced to England than by an American writer i enjoy who has lived in England for over 20 years? I love Bryson's irreverent smart-ass humor. He is not politically correct nor proper, but I think he is funny. When Bryson tells a tale, he throws in enough creative embellishment to make his point without making it unbelievable. He is fun to read.

I'm glad that I read this book, but i'm not sure that I could recommend it to others. I came away from the reading with the feeling that Mr. Bryson spent about half of the book, spread out through the entire volume, talking about how England is not what it once was, especially architecturally. He spent a significant number of pages lamenting the recent poor architecture, and the lack of preservation of the very old traditional buildings and infrastructure. I am not sure why he dedicated such a large part of his book to this criticism, except that perhaps in his twenty-plus years in England, he had witnessed some of the economic and sociological policy that caused this change. Sadly this distracted from the richness of the journey.

I did enjoy the perspective and knowledge gained on a large array of things English. I especially enjoyed the insights into the people, food, and history. I enjoyed getting a feeling for many of the little details and quirks of the places and people of England. Mr Bryson traveled over the entire island for this travelogue, and gives a good sampling of the island. But even with all his misgivings and laments, a few closing quotes sum it up for the author.

"It looked so peaceful and wonderful that I could almost have cried, and yet it was only a tiny part of this small, enchanted island. Suddenly, in the space of a moment, I realized what it was that i loved about Britain - which is to say, all of it."

"All of this came to me in the space of a lingering moment. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I love it here. I like it more than I can tell you. And then I turned from the gate and got into the car and knew without doubt that I would be back."

Mr. Bryson was indeed true to those words. He moved back to England in 2003 to live, and serve as chancellor of Durham University from 2005 through 2011. A fun read, if you can overlook the recurring criticisms.


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The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time by Mark Haddon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is wonderfully written, a detective story told by a young person with Asperger's. So many great insights into time, space, people, events, and life from a perspective most of us do not have. I loved this book and wanted to read it in one sitting. I highly recommend this book to anyone with interest in, or even just curiosity about Autism. And WHAT a STORY!!! Loved it.

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