Quick Thoughts: Books You Need to Read

All three of these books earned 5 star ratings from this picky reader.

Alias Grace
Margaret Atwood

Let's start with the one I read back in January (eep!): Alias Grace. Margaret Atwood, one of my favorite living writers, fictionalizes the tale of Grace Marks, an Irish immigrant to Canada who is convicted of murdering her employer. I love Grace, the unreliable narrator, the "alienist" doctor intent on finding out the truth about her crime, and the Canadian frontier setting.

I wish I'd written my thoughts when the book was fresher in my mind, but it was not to be ;-) It was very good, that I clearly remember!

Anne Of Green Gables
Lucy Maud Montgomery


 I absolutely loved the Anne series when I was growing up. That Anne girl, with her endless, exhausting supply of energy, her determination to make the best of whatever life threw at her, her fiery red hair, worked her way into my heart. I'd been wanting to re-read Anne of Green Gables for some time, hoping it would provide a much-needed comfort read. Happily, it did not disappoint. Anne and the other characters were just as charming as they were fifteen years ago when I first met them. Montgomery's descriptions of Prince Edward Island have lodged themselves deep in my imagination, making me ever hopeful that I'll one day get to see the White Way of Delight for myself.


Brother, I'm Dying 
Edwidge Danticat

This is Danticat's story of her two fathers, who were also two brothers. As perhaps you would expect from a writer, there is a theme focusing on the importance of words running throughout this memoir. Her uncle depends on his words as an orator and preacher, then loses them completely when surgery removes his voicebox. He relies on compulsively jotted notes to detail the activities around him. Danticat listens to the stories of the elder women in the family and is taught about life, and about death. She struggles to find the words to communicate with her parents, who have left her and her brother in Haiti as they try to prepare a place in New York.

The end, of course, is heartbreaking. What else would you expect with a title like Brother, I'm Dying? There is hope though, and life, and beauty.

Okay, which one are you going to read first? 

The Hanging of Angelique

The Hanging of Angelique

The Hanging of Angelique: The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the Burning of Old Montreal
Afua Cooper

"Slavery is Canada's best-kept secret, locked within the national closet. And because it is a secret it is written out of official history. But slavery was an institutionalized practice for over two hundred years. ...Canada may not have been a slave society - that is, a society whose economy was based on slaves - but it was a society with slaves."

Canadian slavery was certainly something I knew nothing about prior to reading this book. I was always taught that Canada was the promised land for slaves in the US, especially after the Fugitive Slave Act. Afua Cooper's groundbreaking book dispels that myth.

She focuses her narrative on one young enslaved woman, christened Marie-Joseph Angelique, who was accused of setting her mistress's house on fire and, as a result, burning down much of Old Montreal. Cooper is sure to put Angelique's story in context, explaining how slavery was an integral part of Canada's foundations.

Cooper does not shy away from placing blame on Angelique. In fact, the idea that this was a purposeful act, borne of the frustrations and chafing of the slave system, is central to her thesis.

"Did Angelique set the fire? Your guess is as good as mine. No one saw her light the spark that started the blaze. All the evidence was circumstantial. But I believe she did set it."

When Angelique set the blaze, she acted willfully, deliberately. She was not a woman to sit idly by and quietly bear the harsh hand she was dealt. Throughout her life she rebelled, through acts large and small. Her final act of rebellion ended up even bigger than she had probably anticipated.

Want more like this? Try:

• Sojourner Truth, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth. Another slave narrative from a woman with Dutch ties.
• Assata Shakur, Assata. A 1987 autobiography from another resistor that clearly shows the struggle continues.
• Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace. The fictional retelling of a famous Canadian murder case. In this case, the accused is servant girl Grace Marks.

Generation X

Generation X

Generation X
Douglas Coupland

So, yeah, this is about a bunch of twentysomethings in the 90s who decide to eschew the mainstream consumer culture and hang out in the desert telling stories. You'd have never had an inkling of that from the title, now would you? Seriously, though, the book is fun, if a bit predictable.

The book itself is square, with wide margins containing little drawings and asides. It was a little distracting to have these drawings taking my attention off the main text.

The writing is cute, in a look-at-me-I'm-so-clever way. Exhibit A, which turns out to be a set up for a rather destructive act of vandalism:

The Saab won't start. It alternates tubercular hacking salvos with confused bunny coughs, giving the impression of a small child blending fits of demonic possession with the coughing up of bits of hamburger.

Okay, I realize that this is making it sound like I didn't like the book. I did. It's pretty short, so the period feel doesn't have a chance to grate, and it manages to stay mostly charming. There are enough little vignettes that most readers would find something that would resonate with them, making them feel part of the club. The characters are likable, and I could imagine hanging out with them, although not everyday. I'd be that friend who drops by once a month, not the one who decides to move in next door.

Want more like this? Try:

• Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club. Okay, I haven't actually read this, but I have seen the movie. Based on the movie (liposuction, life sucking consumer culture) and Palahniuk's writing style, I am confident in declaring it's in a related vein. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
• Jonathan Lethen, Motherless Brooklyn. This is a modern noir-like mystery novel, but the feeling is similar to Generation X, in a way. There's a bunch of storytelling and interesting characters. The narrator is a young man who grew up as a foster child with Tourette's syndrome who is employed as a detective/limo driver in New York. 
• J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye. Yeah, it's a totally different era, but the concern with living an authentic experience, free from "phoniness" is eternal.

The Penelopiad: The Oddessy Retold

The Penelopiad

The Penelopiad
Margaret Atwood

The Penelopiad is Margaret Atwood's reconsideration of Homer's classic The Odyssey from the point of view of Penelope, Odysseus's wife. Penelope narrates her story from Hades, where she and her contemporaries are spending eternity, with the occasional visit to Earth and modern times.

Penelope tells her story, starting from her childhood, before Odysseus was ever in her picture. We learn about her family, how her mother, a Naiad (water nymph) was more interested in playing with sea creatures than parenting a daughter, and her father, the king, tried to drown her when she was a small child.

You can see by what I've told you that I was a child who learned early the virtues - if such they are - of self-sufficiency. I could see that I would have to look out for myself in the world. I could hardly count on family support.

Penelope does her readers a favor by reminding them of elements of the traditional telling of The Odyssey, so if you haven't looked at the poem since high school, you'll be fine. She then tells you what really happened. Of course, there's a bit of a problem completely trusting her take, as she's not exactly a reliable narrator. But why should she be? We've been hearing a slanted take on the story for millenia.

I actually found the maids to be the most interesting aspect of the story. They are just girls who are trying to make their way the only way they can. If they're favored because of their rosy cheeks, well, they're grabbing every advantage. The fates are not kind to the maids, however, as you know - they end up hanged from a ship's beam.

I loved how Atwood not only took a classic myth, framed it through the eyes of Penelope, but then offered the an additional academic interpretation of the story's meaning. Sometimes I think Atwood's viewpoint gets a little heavy handed, and it does verge on it here, but I thought overall the feminist perspective was presented in a smart, thoughtful way. This is the third Atwood novel I've read, and I'm glad there are many more out there to read!