Book Review: Plum Wine by Angela Davis-Gardner

Posted on January 27, 2012 by CarrieK

Title: Plum Wine
Author: Angela Davis-Gardner
Genre: Historical fiction, multicultural fiction
Publisher: Dial Trade Paperbacks
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy from my personal library
First line: The chest arrived on a gray afternoon in late January, three weeks after Michi-san’s death.

Barbara is an American woman teaching English in Japan during the Vietnam War. She is a stranger to the culture, the language, the people. Her neighbor and fellow teacher, Michi-san, is the only one to make her feel welcome and help cross the cultural divide. When Michi dies, Barbara is bereft – and surprised to discover that Michi has left her a bequest: a tansu chest filled with bottles of homemade plum wine. Each bottle is wrapped in paper – and the papers are covered with elegant Japanese calligraphy. There is one bottle of wine, one sheet of paper, per year – going back twenty years. Barbara, unable to read the Japanese, turns to Seiji, a mysterious young man and friend of Michi’s. As they work together to translate Michi’s legacy, they are drawn together – but is Seiji telling her everything the parchments contain, or is he protecting a secret of his own?

Why is it so hard to write a review of a book that I merely “liked?” If I love a book, I have no problem writing the review. If I hate it, chances are I didn’t finish it. But if I thought it was just “okay” – that’s when I’m stumped.

I truly wanted to love Plum Wine. When I bought it a few years ago, I stood in the aisle of the bookstore, absorbed in the first chapter, and I was excited to read it. But then other books crowded in, and I didn’t get to it until now. Megan at Posey Sessions mentioned that this was one of the books she wanted to read in the new year, and so we decided to read it together and have Twitter discussions. Those discussions – and knowing that Megan was reading along with me – definitely increased my enjoyment with the book, and also made me take the time to articulate why it wasn’t working all that well for me.

There were sections of this book that were written beautifully, and I appreciated the way the author dealt with the cultural differences between Barbara and the Japanese people among whom she was living and working. I’d be interested in knowing if the cultural divide is still as wide now as it apparently was during the Vietnam War era. The customs and culture were fascinating – the tea ceremony, the plum wine, the Kitsune (the fox myths) – all of these added to the picture of a people steeped in history and tradition.

My favorite sections of the book by far were the interactions between Barbara and her students. It was interesting to see the dilemmas they were facing, things like arranged marriage or being considered “untouchable” for working as a mortician, especially considering that the time period was only 50 years ago. The story that Barbara uncovers while reading Michi’s writing is also intriguing – and gives the reader a lot of insight into what life was like for Hiroshima survivors.

Unfortunately, the writing was very uneven. While there were some beautiful passages, there were other sections – especially dialogue – that were awkward and didn’t flow. In many scenes, the dialogue seemed very stilted. And the romance between Barbara and Seiji, which becomes a main focus of the story, didn’t work for me at all. It was portrayed as a great passion, with Barbara’s character continually talking about how drawn she was to Seiji, how much she wanted to be with him – and yet his character did not work as the object of that much passionate obsession. He was a very unlikable character, and even though I realized he had a reason for being emotionally handicapped, I couldn’t find anything to care about in the romance between the two.

Megan and I had some interesting discussions about the book on Twitter. She had some of the same reservations as I did about the book, but she ended up liking it much more than I did, so you’ll definitely want to click over to her blog and read her thoughts – her review should go up this afternoon. This is definitely the case of a book that some of you will probably love – it just wasn’t a great read for me.

Megan was very interested in the Kitsune, or fox myths, that play a big role in the book – especially in Michi’s family history. She was inspired to do some research and digging, and has written a fascinating post on the myths, their history, and other sources of information.

Posted in historical fiction, multi-cultural fiction | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Book-to-Movie Review: The Children of Men by P.D. James

Posted on January 26, 2012 by CarrieK

I reviewed both the book The Children of Men and the film adaptation in 2007. The reviews were originally posted on my personal blog, and I wanted to move them both here to Books and Movies. Instead of doing two separate posts, I thought it would be interesting to see them contrasted in one post. First, the book:

Title: The Children of Men
Author: P.D. James
Genre: Dystopian fiction, science fiction
Publisher: Vintage
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy from the public library
First line: Early this morning, 1 January 2021, three minutes after midnight, the last human being to be born on earth was killed in a pub brawl in a suburb of Buenos Aires, aged twenty-five years, two months and twelve days.

The Children of Men opens in 2021. It has been 25 years since the Omega, the name given to the last year that included any human births. No babies have been born or conceived since. Doctors and scientists have exhausted all resources in their search for a reason for this phenomenon, as well as a solution. All efforts have failed, and the human race has accepted the fact that it is dying out.

The book is told in two ways: through the journal entries of “Theodore Faron, Doctor of Philosophy, Fellow of Merton College in the University of Oxford, historian of the Victorian age, divorced, childless, solitary, whose only claim to notice is that he is cousin to Xan Lyppiatt, the dictator and Warden of England…,” and through third-person narration following Theo’s experiences with a subversive group known as The Five Fishes.

This book vividly demonstrates what happens when humankind vales sex for pleasure but not for procreation, when it values pleasure and comfort over justice and mercy, when it seeks for perfection and despises human frailty. It is not an easy read, in the sense that it is disheartening to read such a clear picture of what humankind is capable of if left to it’s own designs.

I don’t want to give too much of the plot away to those of you who are planning to read this book or see the film, but I will say that Ms. James gives a strong argument for valuing each and every human life. I am now a little reluctant to watch the movie, because I will be surprised if that message comes through.

And now, for my review of the film version…

Last month, I read and reviewed the book The Children of Men by P. D. James. I knew the movie was coming out (starring one of my favorites – Clive Owen), and I wanted to read the book first. Unfortunately, I think I would have enjoyed the movie much more if I hadn’t.

There are a few similarities between the book and the movie.

~They are both set in the future.
~In the future, the human race has stopped reproducing.
~There are characters named Theo and Julian.
~Theo meets a young pregnant woman and helps her evade the government.

That’s really all they had in common. The characters are completely different. In the book, Theo is a retired college professor. In the movie, he is a disgruntled office worker. In the book, he has a friend named Jasper who is also a retired college professor. In the movie, his friend Jasper (played by Michael Caine) is a pot-growing hippy ex-activist.

In the book, Theo’s wife Julian (portrayed by Julianne Moore) is a shallow character who barely makes an appearance. In the movie, Julian is an underground political activist who cons Theo into helping the pregnant girl by offering him 5,000 pounds. In the book, Theo decides to help the girl on principal and because he is drawn to her – not for money.

I could go on and on. Why is it that people find a book that they enjoy, think would make a great movie, and then promptly change everything about it? I just don’t get it.

And more than the character and plotline changes, there is the whole theme of the book: the sacredness of life and how a world divorced from a Christian worldview becomes a place of horror and outrage. The movie becomes a political manifesto of a different sort. In fact, the whole idea that people have stopped reproducing seems to be secondary to the fact that Britain has started deporting all immigrants and has descended into mass chaos.

As you can see, I was disappointed in this movie. Perhaps if I hadn’t read the book, and didn’t know what P. D. James’ original vision for the story was, I would have enjoyed it, but I’m not sure. If you are a fan of futuristic sci-fi and haven’t read the book, you might enjoy this movie. But if you loved the book as I did, the movie will be a huge let-down.

Posted in movies, science fiction | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

DVD Review: The Double

Posted on January 25, 2012 by CarrieK

When a United States Senator is brutally murdered, the evidence points to a Soviet assassin, code-named Cassius, long thought to be dead. Two men who know Cassius best are thrown together to catch him. Paul Shepherdson (Richard Gere) is a retired CIA operative who’s spent his career tracking Cassius around the globe. Ben Geary (Topher Grace) is a hotshot young FBI Agent and family man who has studied the killer’s every move. Ben thinks he knows Cassius, but Paul knows he is dead wrong. Now, time is running out to stop this merciless killing machine. Martin Sheen, Stephen Moyer, Odette Yustman, and Stana Katic costar in this tense thriller that will keep you guessing until the very last shot.

Kevin and I thoroughly enjoyed this spy thriller. I’m finding more and more films that go straight to DVD are still very much worth watching. One word of warning, though – if you’re interested in watching The Double, do not watch the trailer. It gives away a huge plot twist. Granted, the plot twist happens fairly early on in the film, and there is another major twist yet to come, but I hate it when a trailer gives away too much. Make me want to see the film, but don’t ruin any surprises for me!

Richard Gere is in his element in this type of role. It’s nice to see an actor playing his age. The very young – and baby-faced – Topher Grace is a nice foil and contrast with Gere’s steely-haired age and wisdom. The movie is well cast; I enjoyed Odette Yustman as Grace’s wife (I’ve liked her work ever since I fell in love with the series October Road), and it was fun seeing Castle‘s Stana Katic in a tiny role as a Russian prostitute.

I also liked the fact that, just when I thought I knew exactly how things were going to end, the film surprised me again. That’s what makes a thriller worth watching.

The Double will be available on DVD on January 31st. The special features include an audio commentary and a featurette.

Posted in movies | Tagged | 6 Comments

Book Review: Dust and Decay by Jonathan Maberry

Posted on January 24, 2012 by CarrieK

Title: Dust and Decay
Author: Jonathan Maberry
Genre: YA fiction, paranormal fiction, zombie fiction
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy from my personal library
First line: Benny Imura was appalled to learn that the Apocalypse came with homework.

While this review will not contain spoilers for Dust and Decay, it will contain spoilers for the first book in the series, Rot and Ruin.

In the six months since Benny Imura, along with his zombie-hunter brother Tom, and Benny’s girlfriend Nix, defeated Charlie Pinkeye in the Rot and Ruin, they have been training and preparing to leave their home forever. Determined to travel east to find the jet they saw in the sky, Tom has been training Benny and Nix to survive outside the safe walls of their home town, to understand what it means to live in the wilderness that is infested by zombies, and by human pariahs who are often worse. Lilah, the lost girl, will accompany them on their trip – her survival and battle skills will be indispensable.

In spite of all of Tom’s planning, however, things go wrong their very first day in the Rot, and they discover that Gameland has been rebuilt. And why does Benny think he saw Charlie Pinkeye, a man who is supposed to be dead?

Jonathan Maberry has done it again (I thoroughly enjoyed book one in this series, Rot and Ruin) – written a work of zombie fiction that is character-driven, intelligent, and funny, without losing any of the page-turning plot and action. I love the way he writes the different relationships in the book: Tom’s love, protection, and good-hearted exasperation at his younger brother; the young, awkward romance between Benny and Nix; the constant ribbing yet fierce loyalty between Benny and his best friend, Chong.

The point of view switches between characters, and this gives the reader real insight into some of the characters. I loved the sections from Lilah’s point of view, and the emotional journey she travels in the course of the story is especially poignant. There are some new characters that also add to the story – especially the entertainment value: bounty hunters Sally Two-Knives, J-Dog, and Dr. Skillz. And as creepy a villain as Charlie Pinkeye was in the first book, Maberry has upped the ante with Preacher Jack, a man who embodies evil.

Dust and Decay was a total page-turner, and the ending (which had me in tears, not something I usually expect with zombie fiction) left me hungry for more. Flesh and Bone, the third book in the series, comes out in September. In the meantime, for those of you who are as impatient as I am, there is bonus material available online: a short story prequel to the first book called “First Memories”, and some deleted scenes from the beginning of Dust and Decay.

Posted in science fiction, YA fiction | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Book Review: The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe

Posted on January 23, 2012 by CarrieK

Title: The Way We Fall
Author: Megan Crewe
Genre: YA contemporary fiction
Publisher: Hyperion
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: E-galley from Netgalley
First line: Leo, It’s about six hours since you left the island.

It starts with an itch you just can’t shake. Then comes a fever and a tickle in your throat. A few days later, you’ll be blabbing your secrets and chatting with strangers like they’re old friends. Three more, and the paranoid hallucinations kick in. And then you’re dead.

When a strange virus starts infecting people in her community, sixteen-year-old Kaelyn finds herself facing a situation most adults would find harrowing. Her island is quarantined, leaving the people stranded with dwindling supplies, little or no communication, and no hope of a cure. Kaelyn’s father is a doctor at the hospital, and as he spends all his time caring for patients and searching for a cure, Kaelyn is left at home to care for her sick mother. As her community falls apart, people begin to experience fear and paranoia. Some people will surprise her by becoming their best selves, while others will descend into brutality. Kaelyn writes her experiences down in an ongoing letter to her best friend, Theo, who recently left the island.

The Way We Fall is compelling YA fiction. I was reading it during a time when I had very little time to read, and it was so hard not to just sit down and read until I finished it and discovered how things turned out for Kaelyn, Gav, Tess, and Meredith.

Crewe increases the sense of menace and impending doom by placing Kaelyn in an island community that is virtually cut off from the rest of the world. As some of the townspeople go “Lord of the Flies,” others find the best of their nature. Kaelyn becomes friends with Tessa, a girl who she had previously been jealous of. She finds it in herself to be a mother-slash-sister figure to young Meredith. And when she finds herself in the midst of a romance, she wonders how to go about the normal rituals and stages of teenage life when nothing about life is normal anymore.

The outbreak and its aftermath are believable and realistic, which was one of the scariest things about this book. Kaelyn’s response was an authentic one. Strength, weakness, hope, defeat – Kaelyn’s experiences make for a page-turner of a book.

Posted in contemporary fiction, YA fiction | Tagged , | 12 Comments

The Sunday Salon – January 22, 2012

Posted on January 22, 2012 by CarrieK

Another week has completely flown by! It was a good one, though – we got back into our school routine, and only had one day that included some meltdowns (theirs and mine). Friday morning, we gathered with other homeschooling families and watched the short film the kids have been working on in cinematography class. It was such a treat – a 25 minute film completely written, acted, filmed, edited, lighted, costumed, etc. by a class of twenty students, ages 10 to 17. My 13-year-old, Noah, was the chief editor, and received some high praise from the teacher about his leadership skills and responsibility, which made this mom’s heart proud. :)

The next couple of weeks should be a nice, relaxing treat, as the kids’ next enrichment classes don’t start until the week of February 6th. I love the variety of classes that are offered, but sometimes all the driving around is exhausting – not to mention making sure that we’re still getting all the basics covered, like math, spelling, language, science, history.

Next semester, Noah and Jonathan will both be taking the cinematography class again; Noah and Josiah will be taking geology (they get to go pan for gold, which makes Josiah, my rock-lover, very excited); Noah will continue guitar, Jonathan will continue piano, Natalie will continue voice; Noah will take a Lego robotics course; and Jon will take a computer game design course. See what I mean about how cool the classes are?

I’m also looking forward to the weekend after next. Every year, Kevin and I take one weekend away, using a bit of our income tax refund. (My husband is on the ball – he’s already e-filed and our return has been accepted!) We will spend one night down in Spokane Valley (I got an awesome Groupon in my e-mail for 30% off our favorite hotel) and a second night home alone – the kids will all spend the weekend with friends. I can’t wait for some kid-free time! I love my kids, but I can tell you that by this time each year, I need to be without them for a couple days.

Reading-wise, it was a pretty good week. In print, I finished Plum Wine by Angela Davis-Gardner and Dust and Decay by Jonathan Maberry – reviews to come. On audio, I finished the 29-disc epic The Passage by Justin Cronin. I can NOT wait for the next book this summer – and I hope it is released on audio at the same time as it’s print release, and that it’s read by the amazing Scott Brick, because he made The Passage unforgettable.

I also had my first two DNFs of the year. I gave up on two audios. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre was the first – the reader is excellent, but for a spy thriller, this book is pretty boring. I made it through two discs that threw so many characters at me that I got lost – and really it was all conversation and thinking about things – nothing happened! The second one was Anne Tyler’s Noah’s Compass. Tyler is usually a go-to author for me – I enjoy all her work – but the reader for this one talked very slowly, and wasn’t that great, so I gave up. I’m sure I’ll pick it up in print at some point.

So, I started some new books, and this is what I’m currently reading:

In print:
~ The Annotated Persuasion by Jane Austen
~ The Informationist by Taylor Stevens
~ The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry

On audio:
~ The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman
~ Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

I’m not sure I’ll get much time to actually read them today, however. After church, Natalie and I are heading down to my folks’ house for the afternoon/evening. They DVR’ed the Golden Globes and the People’s Choice Awards and we’re going to indulge in some brain candy TV for a few hours. We don’t have cable or satellite at our house, plus this kind of show is much more fun to watch with others who are as passionate about movies as I am. We’ll dish on the gowns, the gorgeous men, etc. (Well, Mom, Nan, and I will. My Dad will pop in with dry comments about plastic surgery.)

What are you reading on this cold, January day?

Bookish posts this week:
~ Book Review: While My Sister Sleeps by Barbara Delinsky
~ One more week to vote for the March Ireland read-along book!

Posted in sunday salon | Tagged | 16 Comments

Bookish links for Saturday, January 21, 2012

Posted on January 21, 2012 by CarrieK

Discussion starters:

~ Caribousmom: Blogger Impact – inspired by author Beth Kephart’s editorial, The Value Rubric: Do Book Bloggers Really Matter?

Reviews and blog posts that have me adding to my to-read list:

~ The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye, mentioned by author Laurie King on Facebook

~ Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski, reviewed by Julie at Book Hooked Blog

~ The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons, reviewed by Katy at A Few More Pages

Book to movie news:

~ The screenplay for the film adaptation of Catching Fire will not be written by Suzanne Collins. Uh, oh…

Other bookish links:

~ Mystery Writers of America announces the 2012 Edgar Award Nominees

~ Are you a fan of the British television series Downton Abbey? If so, publishers have a suggested reading list for you.

~ Penguin is pulling their audiobooks from library download site, Overdrive. After Brilliance Audio pulled the same thing, I’m wondering about the future availability of downloadable audiobooks at the library.

Posted in audiobooks, blogging, book news, movies, mysteries | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

from “Fidelity” by Wendell Berry

Posted on January 19, 2012 by CarrieK

She thought it strange and wonderful that she had been given these to love. She thought it a blessing that she had loved them to the limit of her grief at parting with them, and that grief had only deepened and clarified her love. Since her first grief had brought her fully to birth and wakefulness in this world, an unstinting compassion had moved in her, like a live stream flowing deep underground, by which she knew herself and others and the world. It was her truest self, the stream always astir insider her that was at once pity and love, knowledge and faith, forgiveness, grief, ad joy. It made her fearful, and it made her unafraid.

~ from the short story “Fidelity,” published in That Distant Land: The Collected Stories by Wendell Berry

Posted in commonplace book | Tagged , | 6 Comments