'The Tiger's Wife' by Tea Obreht

The Tiger’s Wife, Tea Obreht (3.5)

Tea Obreht is now known as one of The New Yorker’s twenty best American fiction writers under 40 (she wrote this at 25).  It has several unique characteristics.  Firstly it is set during and after the Yugoslav Wars.  It is not clear where it is set and which ‘side’ the protagonists represent.  Which is, frankly, very typical of that time – very intertwined and hard for many in the West to understand who is ‘bad’ and who is ‘good’.  It also has the feel of a Grimm’s fairy tale sprinkled throughout.  In many of the stories the main character, Natalia, hears, there are bits of fantastical events. Tea interleaves these as Natalia researches her beloved grandfather’s past.  The joy in this book is in the poignancy of these stories. My only complaint is that the story of the Tiger’s Wife felt abruptly added.  The flow of the book was halted and that story began.  It was very important, but you didn’t realize that till the end.  Given that, the book is very different and enjoyable. I felt I had gotten a look into every day life in a post war Balkan country along with the flavor of a mystical culture.

'A Clash of Kings' and 'A Storm of Swords': Book Two and Three of the Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords: Book Two and Three of the Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin (3)

I decided to group the next two books in the Game of Thrones series together, as it is apparent that they are not significantly different. That can be both a good and bad thing: good in that they each have the escapist quality of the first, bad in that neither book has a satisfactory ending of any of the storylines.  As with the first book, no character is safe from the sharp edge of the sword, so to speak, which is a refreshing style.  The series is told from the point of view of both good and evil characters who are scattered around the kingdoms.  Each chapter reads very quickly, which makes them good ‘dogs of summer’ reads.  I gave these two a slightly lower rating than the first book as I feel they are a bit like candy, only momentarily satisfying.  In addition, nothing truly new has been added and certainly nothing revealed or concluded. The next two books (four and five) have not gotten as good reviews externally. Apparently they were meant to be one book that got too large.  Many of the characters disappear in book four to come back in book five. I may have to wait until Mr. Martin officially finishes the series before I continue. Unless, of course, I get a hankering for some candy!

'Islam, the Religion and the People' by Bernard Lewis & Buntzie Ellis Churchill

Islam, The Religion and the People, Bernard Lewis and Buntzie Ellis Churchill (3)

After hearing many times ‘that’s not in the Koran’ or ‘only radical Muslims believe that’, I decided I really wanted to know more about the religion that is growing so fast and blamed for so many things.  I went to the library and scanned a few titles.  I picked this book as it seemed to discuss both the history of the religion compared with other religions and its current state.  My first surprise was that Islam is the youngest of the main religions (~700AD) and that it is closer to Christianity than to anything else (it is based on the old and new testaments, but the Jews and Christians ‘got it wrong’. Mohammed was the last and only prophet).  Also both Islam and Christianity are considered Triumphalists (fortunate recipients of the message, their duty to spread said message and only they will get into heaven), while Jews and Hindus are considered Relativists (the righteous of all religions will have a place in heaven – more like religions are various languages saying the same thing, no need to convert in order to be saved).  There were many other surprises that helped me understand some major elements of Islam as a religion and way of life.  I am giving this a ‘3’ mainly because I thought it fell short of helping to define and understand the radical Muslims.  There were many contradictions in the ‘how and why’.  One clear message the authors made was how many of the current issues of radical Muslims started with the Iranian revolution (with Ayatollah Khomeini) in 1979.  If you have a desire to learn more about the religion, this book is a good place to start.

'I am the Messenger' by Markus Zusak

I am the Messenger, Markus Zusak (3.5)

The group was surprisingly unanimous in our review of this month’s book club book.  Everyone enjoyed the majority of the book – except for a paragraph at the very end.  The story follows a young slacker taxi driver who is just sleep-walking through his life.  After inadvertently becoming a bit of a hero in a local bank robbery, he starts getting anonymous playing cards in the mail.  Each card has a number of clues which end up being information regarding people he is supposed to ‘help’.  He must determine who and how to help for each one.  Each situation is very different and there are many touching moments in these vignettes.  The book is worth reading for the cleverness and heart in these stories.  Since this book was written before ‘The Book Thief’, and the author was still honing his craft, we decided to forgive Mr. Zusak for the paragraph that did not make sense… though we still may have to write him to see what he was thinking, drinking, etc. ?!?!

'The Hunger Games (Trilogy)' by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games (Trilogy), Suzanne Collins (4)

The main subject of this book/trilogy is very dark.  It is combination of ‘Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome’, ‘Lord of the Flies’, and ‘The Golden Compass’.  In a post-apocalyptic world, citizens are kept in check by a diabolical game.  Every year each of the 12 districts has to send 2 candidates between ages 12-18, chosen from a lottery, to the Hunger Games.  They will be put in an arena, which is similar to a contrived ‘Survivor’ type of environment.  The difference is that they have to kill each other until only one is standing, the victor.  This is all done while the nation watches on TV.  While all of this is quite abhorrent, Suzanne does an amazing job of focusing on the characters and making you care about them.  The main character is a strong teenager that reminded me of Lyra in ‘The Golden Compass’; strong, talented but with a soft side.  The first book is the best, with its new ideas and clever surprises.  The second and third books add twists to keep the main plot moving: how can the oppressed fight against the establishment and not become said establishment.  If the story was not sold as Young Adult, all 3 books may have been made into one book.  They are quick, exciting reads that will keep you thinking about the characters and circumstances for some time.