Caín by José Saramago

Book Summary (from Goodreads.com)

In this, his last novel, José Saramago daringly re-imagines the characters and narratives of the Old Testament, recalling his provocative The Gospel according to Jesus Christ. His tale runs from the Garden of Eden, when God realizes he has forgotten to give Adam and Eve the gift of speech, to the moment when Noah's Ark lands on the dry peak of Ararat. Cain, the despised, the murderer, is Saramago's protagonist.

Condemned to wander forever after he kills his brother Abel, Cain makes his way through the world in the company of a personable donkey. He is a witness to and participant in the stories of Isaac and Abraham, the destruction of the Tower of Babel, Moses and the golden calf, the trials of Job. The rapacious Queen Lilith takes him as her lover. An old man with two sheep on a rope crosses his path. And again and again, Cain encounters a God whose actions seem callous, cruel, and unjust. He confronts Him, he argues with Him. "And one thing we know for certain," Saramago writes, "is that they continued to argue and are arguing still."

A startling book- sensual, funny- in all ways a fitting end to Saramago's extraordinary career

My Review

Now, why did it take me so long to finish the book? I mean 9 days! Well…did I mention I moved? I’m sick and tired of this excuse, but is true, the last 2 books I read took me forever, but that’s just because I needed my sleep, badly! But let’s go the reviewing, shall we?

This is the third book I read from Saramago, and I think we can safely say that I like his style. I realize that the absence of paragraphs, the dialogues that are not visually separated, etc, are not for everyone, but I think once you get used to it, you can read it as any other book.

The story starts, not with Cain and Abel, but with Adam and Eve, this is the first time Saramago presents to us his version of god, one that will talk to his creations just as you and I would talk. Then, as most of us know, they get kicked out of Paradise, and after several years Cain, Abel and Seth come to the scene. 

After killing his brother, Cain is punished by god with a mark in his forehead and he is condemned to wander. The trick is that he won’t wonder just around, he will travel “in time” from biblical story to biblical situation. He will fall in love with Lilith, he will stop Abraham before killing his only son and he will be there in Noah’s Ark. 

All through the book, Cain will criticize god, for his acts, his reasoning, etc. He even points out that this god that everyone is following is a jealous god, full of anger and grudges. There is a moment when he is talking with god and the later says:

                “Some deny my existence […] they are out of my law, of my reach, I cannot touch them”.

If it hasn’t been obvious to you by reading his prior books, this should be clear enough. Saramago is quite critical of the image that Catholic Church gives people to believe in. I haven’t read The Gospel according to Jesus Christ but in Death without interruptions you can already see a lot of critics, not only to society itself (also a recurrent theme in his work) but to the church itself.  Through Cain’s voice Saramago even accuses god to be “crazy and without a conscious”

I like the book a lot. I know it doesn’t necessarily show when you consider how long it took me (again people, I needed to sleep!) It was quirky, funny, satirical…it was fun to read, even though I kept feeling my grandma wouldn’t like me enjoying the book so much (she is really attached to the church still).

I loved the following sentence:

“Progress […] is inevitable, fatal as death. And life”

 

Every time that I read one of his books, I end up with a list of sentences that stuck to me, and that’s good, that means (for me) that the book went deeper inside of you than you thought. However, I don’t think it was as good as Death with Interruptions, and that’s why this one is getting one mushroom less. I think is a lovely way to finish an amazing career, short and sweet

Hardcover or Paperback

OMG, it's been so long since I had time to write a discussion! Right now I'm still at the lab (lately is either here or at home, I swear I'm just watching the summer pass by through a window) but I have a long incubation, so I can take some time off.

I was discussing the other day with my boyfriend and some friends about our views on paperbacks vs hardcover books. Personally, I like both, but I don't mind having a paperback instead of the hardcover because it takes less space in my bag and (usually) weights less too. Also, and as a student this is something I cannot neglect, they tend to be less expensive. I think it doesn't really matter, since the story is the same, and that's what I want in a book, a good story.

My boyfriend on the other hand, prefers hardcovers. He just likes them better. But to be fair, he rarely reads outside home, and when we do, we go to a park and we just put both books in a bag carefully.

So what about you guys? Hardcover or Paperback?

TSS: Making decisions

Hello everybody, How was your week? My was busy, busy. The weather is gorgeous outside, and yet I spent 4 hours Saturday and Sunday in the lab, working...I'm grateful my experiments are going well, but why can't I make my cells take the week-end off?

Anyway, I'm reading Cain, from Jose Saramago, and I think I will be done soon, but as the end of the book approached and I was looking at my To read list of 2012 I realized I have a bunch of books in my library that should make it into that list too. And then I panicked, I thought about my reading challenge this year, and which books should I choose from the bunch to accomplish this challenge, and how I also wanted to read others, and....long story short, I realize I can't keep a steady "to read" list in a short term. I decided then to just have a "Reading Soon" list, of the books I'm most eager to read. I think I will still make it into my challenge, but I will feel less guilty (guilty with myself, but that's the worst kind) if I read outside of the list.

So that's it for the week (I know, not much, but I'm afraid right now my thesis is taking all priorities)

Have a great week,

 

The Gospel of Damascus by Omar Imady

I got this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers and here is my review

Book Summary (from Goodreads.com)

The Gospel of Damascus is an eschatological novel that weaves sacred traditions to tell the story of eight angels who identify and prepare Yune Bukhari, a Damascene man born to a Christian mother and Muslim father, to be one of the successors to the Disciples of Christ. The preparation process is complex and entails spiritual and sensual experiences which Yune must successfully undergo. Guiding the preparation process are golden scrolls which can only be opened at very specific dates. The story appears to culminate on Christmas Eve 1999 when Yune, along with his co-disciples, believe Christ will return. Yune is shattered when Christ fails to descend on the White Tower east of Damascus. But thirty-three years later, the preparation of Yune is over and he is finally permitted to witness the event he had anticipated for so long.

My Review

I was attracted to this book by it’s summary at LybraryThing.com. The whole story seemed interesting, as its premise was an intertwined tale of several religions and cultures, a subject that I really enjoyed.

This is Imady’s first novel, but you can tell from the writing that is not the first time he writes. The rhythm is fluid and easy to follow through the story of Yune. Also, the fisrt part of the book, in which a lot of terms, facts and situations are introduced flows a bit better (in my opinion) than the parts involving dialogues or the most fictional part. 

The main character of the story, Yune is a fire horse, a boy born in the year of the horse (Chinese culture) but in a year that this will be called the fire horse, someone who will show the characteristics of this animal symbol (individualism, love of freedom, hatred to mediocrity) in a highly accentuated manner.

The story is not told by Yune, but by Raqeem, one of the 8 angels entrusted with the task of facilitating God’s design on earth. These angels come to Earth for a certain period of time, and are the guardians of different qualities such as spiritual change, balance, wisdom, etc. In this case, Raqueem is to help the formation of Yune, and all he knows is that this boy will bring a big change to the world. Every certain time, he will open a golden scroll that will contain “instructions” in the form of riddle to know what to do next.

We follow then the growth in every possible manner of Yune, from traveling, learning and falling in love, to jealousy, lost of love, and finally the forming of a covenant with 12 disciples to prepare for the second coming of the Christ. He believes it will be on Christmas Eve 99 but, as it turns out, nothing extraordinary happens then. It will take the shattering of his soul and heart, and a world-wide transformation, as well as 33 more years, for Yune to see what he was being prepared for.

Did I like the book? Parts of it, specially the beginning as I said before. However there was a lot of subject introduced at the beginning, which usually doesn’t bother me if it comes back later, but it was not really the case. Also, as I mentioned, the dialogues need more work to read fluidly. I liked the idea behind the book as well as some messages left from i: that you have to find yourself before finding anything else, that you won’t arrive to your final destination knowingly and that it will be hard but worth it once you get there.

TSS: It's done!

 

 Hello everybody!. I'm glad to tell you that is done!, We are finally done with the moving. I took long hours, not so much sleep, but is done! I'm so happy. I loved our new place, and I love the new disposition of our books. We separated them on fiction, non-fiction and academia. Why? because we now have enough space for it ;). I also love the fact that now we have a proper office (my PC was in my room before) so I can work without disturbing my boyfriend's sleep or viceversa. I'm expecting to be able to write more often now, I couldn't actually post this on Sunday, since we only installed my computer yesterday and I wanted all the rest to be done before sitting here. But I've thought a lot of my blog, it relaxes me to write here, I can take my time, no pressure, if people like it is awesome, it not, I have the space tho just share my thoughts.

Anyway, let's do a wrap up of the half of the year. I'm ahead on my reading challenge, which is good, because this last month I read, sure, but not a lot. I think so far my favorite book of the year is 1Q84, but I have a couple of books that also got 5 mushrooms. Is just that this was so unexpected as book to me, that so far is in the leading position. It gave me so much to say, then again Death with interruptions also did, but I knew I would like Saramago, so that's why Murakami got extra points.

The "worst" book...well I guess it would have to be From Adam to Noah. I have only 2 books with 2 mushrooms so far, but you see, at least The Road to Megara was fiction, not amazing fiction, but work in progress fiction. I think my biggest issue with Timmons, is that albeit he works hard in defending his thesis, he arguments are not valid to my eyes, or anyone around me (I read excerpts from the book to a bunch of my friends, to know if maybe it was just me who wouldn't find the book good...I wasn't alone :S)

Right now, I just finished The Gospel of Damascus, from Omar Imady and I intend to post the review later this afternoon.I just started Cain, from Saramago.

I believe that's all, I hope, as always, that you have a good week

TSS: Runing all over the place

Hello everybody! This month I had barely posted a couple of times. You would think that someone as compulsively organized as me would have it easy moving, but as it turns out, no. I can't complaint if I'm objective, but off course there are always last minute things that you couldn't foresee, like last week heat wave, I mean, who can actually work with that heat? Well...we did it, we had no choice, but my body is aching all over for the over usage he has been put through. Is worth it though, the official move is almost at the corner, but our (our!) new place is coming together nicely.

Luckily , the weather is nice once again, and during the week we will start bringing boxes and stuff. 

On the reading note, I finally finished The Pillars of the Earth. I really liked it. right now I'm reading The Gospel of Damascus  a book I got through LibraryThing Early Reviewers. I wanted to read A World without End, but I have my reading list kinda full for this year, so I will put it in the reading list of 2013.

Also, this week I learned about something amazing. Reading The Book Lady's blog last Monday on how to expand your book horizons, I discovered Paperback to the Future. You HAVE to check it out, is such a wonderful idea!. I'm thinking to give this to myself as Christmas present or B-day present since as I mentioned, I'm not lacking books to read right now, but I really, really loved the whole idea of someone finding that perfect book for you that you didn't know existed!


That's it from now. Hopefully once everything is settled I will be able to post again every Sunday and share some of my "discussion" ideas


Have a wonderful week

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet

Book Summary (from the back of the book [translated by me])

In the England of the XII century, ravaged by war and hunger, people fight each one in their own way, to ensure power, glory, sanctity, love or simply survival. The battles are ferocious, the chances are prodigious and nature is cruel. The frescoes are painted by sword, destinies are carved by axes and cathedrals are built by miracles…and saint tricks.  Hate reigns, but also love, manhandled often, sometimes hurt, but always victor at the end with a God that in true is often inattentive, and let himself be touched by men’s faith.

My Review

How did I go from Kinsella to Follet you asked? Well, simply, I’ll answer. Right before I read Shopaholic, I was finishing 1Q84, and I needed something lighter and fun before getting into something like the Pillars, which I knew was going to have a lot to digest. 

For a couple of years now, I’ve been hearing people praise this book, and I was curious. My aunt (a big influence in me) described the book as “beautiful”, and so I was sold. She is the same one who suggested to me the Earth's Children saga, and I loved those books, so I figure this might be the same. My mother-in-law had it, I borrow it and I was in the XII century England before I could say: Medieval Times.

The story is divided in 6 parts, plus a prologue, and covers 51 years, starting on 1123. King Henry the first is king and he loses his only heir in a shipwreck. Needless to say that this will open the door for a Civil war after, but that’s the back story here. The first 2 parts of the book are grouped under “Ellen”and the 4 others under “Aliena” two main characters of the book, and although this grouping does not imply that the sections will be told under their sole perspective the things happening will touch them both a little bit more. 

The main characters tree is found here, but unlike A Hundred Years of Solitude, you won’t need the tree to follow the story, since there is no a lot of main characters.  The first one to take a main place is Tom the Builder, an honest man, sometimes to naïve, that dreams only with building the most beautiful cathedral possible. He travels with his family, and for a long time luck won’t be to his side. It was hard for me to like him completely, because he is that type of character that is too good for his own good. But don’t worry; you will like him for a lot of things.

We also have Phillip, a monk. Well natured and really devout, he is a neutral character to my eyes. He is not bad, but although he is good under the church premises, he will be often unjust to people who helped him, although he doesn’t see it this way. 

Then we have Aliena, my favourite character. I was so happy to see that Follet gave women such an important role in a book set in a time that women were treated so poorly. Aliena, the daughter of the Earl of Shiring is an intelligent, well educated and beautiful young woman, who at the beginning of the book is engaged to William Hamleigh (ugh, we will talk about him later) but refuses to marry him, for he doesn’t read, knows nothing about culture and well…she is just better off. This decision however, will come to with a big price for the Earl family, as you will see all through the book.

My second favourite character was Ellen. She is an outlaw, that at age 15 lost the love of her life and had a baby (Jack). At the beginning she leaves in the forest, but faith has it that she will meet Tom, fall in love again, and come back to the city. I liked her a lot since she was the one criticizing a lot of the ways that ruled the story, most of them based on the ecclesiastic law.  She will say what she thinks will not fear the consequences. Jack, her son, has this characteristic too, and he will pass through a lot in part because of this, in part because people dislike him for his talents.

Jack is also one of the main characters, the one who will be the most involved with the cathedral at the end of the book. Thanks to him we will leave England, travel to continental Europe and see the construction of the cathedral with different eyes. Never in my life had I thought about the building of this massive constructions, and then in this book: bam! information all over the place.

Then off course, we have the bad guys. I will only talk about the character I disliked the most, but you will find more characters building intrigue. William Hamleigh, a despicable man, he will use and abuse people, take pleasure on the pain and suffering of others, and will feel always like a victim. He will act like a boy in the body of a man, full of caprices and disdain. One of those characters that will say in the middle of the movie: If I can’t have you, no one will…chanchanchaaaaaan

Let’s clarify something: my aunt was wrong. This is not a beautiful book, it’s beautifully written. But oh my you will suffer for the good ones. The way Follet describes the human nature is involving, and you will feel their pain, hate and happiness. But is not pretty. The things that happen to Aliena for example, made me put down the book sometimes and say out loud: “C’mon give the poor woman a break!”. 

I also like, as I mentioned before, the roles given to women all through the book. There’s a particular moment where Aliena is offended about the unfair treatment men give to women, thinking they are incapable of taking care of themselves, and she starts questioning it.  She rises once and again, ever more powerful, succeeding against all odds.

At the end everyone gets what they deserve, good or bad, and that off course made me happy. All through the book I kept wondering if the book was going to finish crudely, which wouldn’t surprise me given all the dark moments in the book. But no, at the end, if not a happy ending there will be a just ending, and I think this was far better. 

Finally my aunt was right in the fact that this book was for me. In all I really enjoyed the book, once again I was afraid to read it in French, but the story is so well told that is easy to follow no matter the language. Granted, there were a couple of words I had to look up, but I was looking for the definition, since only with the translation I still wasn’t sure what they meant. A lot of clerical terminology, I’m afraid.

Should you read this book? I think so; you will love it if like me you like books that take actual facts and intertwine a fictional story with it, is fun seeing old habits or costumes, and see how much somethings have changed, but not the essence of the human being.