The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Format: Paperback

Pages: 408

Series: The Sparrow #1

Source: Library

Genres: Science Fiction

Publisher: Ballantine Books (Random House)

Publication date: September 8th 1997 (first published January 1st 1996) 

There is a difference between being responsible and being culpable

First impression

When I first finished this book I needed some time to re gather my ideas. I fell for the narrative and continued reading because at every step of the book the typical interpretation of things is questioned. How relationships are built and what makes a sentient society. How we define culture and friendship and abuse. The end (no spoilers, don't worry) of Sandoz's story made me cringe uncomfortably mostly because it made so much sense and the sorrow and hatred he had developed suddenly fell right in place with all the context. While I liked this book in general, I cannot bring myself to go for the sequel. 

It's like all sickness [...] His heart desires something he cannot have

Final thoughts

The Sparrow jumps from different time points: Early in time the discovery of extraterrestrial life and the quest to find it in person and in the future the story told by the only survivor who makes it back to Earth, Emilio Sandoz. He is a changed man and through the book we learn what type of person he was before joining priesthood, while on Earth and after traveling to Rakhat.

As I advanced in the book I noticed that I just needed to know more about each character, even if at first they would feel secondary to the story; while I admit that the beginning was quite a slow start for me, once the pace picked up I was passing pages like there was no tomorrow.

My favorite characters were by far were Anne and George Edwards, not only as a couple (a very nice and complex couple) but as individuals they were so interesting. How I would love to have dinner parties like theirs all the time! Imagine the fun of it. I cannot say that there was a character that I didn't like, even the priest (and I just forgot his name) that was so against Sandoz. Because all of the characters come from such different backgrounds, they add to the complexity of the team in an intricate way that for me at least made it even more involving and more touching as I learned more about them.

I absolutely loved the way the author deals with the subjects of faith, love, friendship and off course, culture. Particularly when presented with the 2 main alien groups. Unlike a lot of other reviewers, I didn’t cry but I have to admit that it was a very emotionally charged book, for all the subjects I mentioned before. Every character that left the story did it in a way that you would remember them.

More than a religion questioning, I feel the main point of the book is an anthropological question. That said, and as interesting as I found this first installment, I can’t find it in me to go for the sequel. I keep feeling that The Sparrow moved me as much as it could and it genuinely scares me to ruin the experience if the sequel doesn’t live up to expectations. I would recommend this book for fans of Science Fiction with a lot of philosophical questioning behind.

The Evening Chorus by Helen Humphreys

Format: Paperback

Pages: 294

Series: NA

Source: Copy sent by the publisher for review.

Genres: Historical Fiction, WWII,

Publisher: Mariner Books (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Publication date: February 3rd 2015

The publisher contacted me and I received this book for free. This review is not sponsored nor influenced in anyway. Thanks to Mariner Books for the book.

First impression

Being my first book by the author I wasn’t sure what to expect as writing style, but I am very happy to say that hers is a very fluid one while at the same time conveying a lot of sentiment from her characters. The story, or stories rather, follow the life of 4 main characters that are affected by WWII in very different ways. Is the third book I read almost consecutively this year that takes place in this period and I have to say, while they were all very different, this is without a doubt the one I enjoyed the most. Not a happy book by any means but gratifying as read.

Final thoughts

Starting in 1940, the author presents the life of 4 individuals: James Hunter, a POW captive in his first mission, taciturn and very reserved; Rose Hunter, his wife who while waiting for his return has started to question whether she married the right person or not; Enid Hunter, his sister, who loses everything after her apartment is bombed; The Kommander, a German officer that will affect James’ life even after the war is over.

There is a lot of sorrow and hurt in these stories, all pushed to confrontation under the war circumstances. What is more, after the war is over and presented in the second part of the book (starting in 1950) they all will have to deal with their new lives and forced to carry on without the things they took for granted before the war.

Using the war as an inevitable influence of the time, Humphreys explore what we usually consider is love and how this sentiment might change when bigger things are taking place. I have to say, at first the jump in time took me by surprise and it took me a bit to get into the characters again, they felt so different somehow…but as I continued reading it just felt normal that they had changed.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for lovely story about relationships and how they can be affected by war and peace.

Sunday Salon: Reading with music

Do you guys reading while listening to music? I do. Not always, but mostly when I am alone. I've realized over the years that I cannot concentrate if things are too quite and this applies both to when I am studying or just reading for pleasure.

 

Off course it cannot be any sound in the background. It all starts to when I used to live with my brothers, very noisy little fellas. They where always more active and loud that I ever was, so I got used to doing my homework or reading to their games and fights. When I first had to study with them around, the silence around was just distracting!

 

Now that I live with A, I don't always have music while I work or read, if he is in the room. Now, he is not loud, sometimes it will be just the sound of his keyboard. But today he had to go to the lab and I was trying to read and the house was so quite I just couldn't concentrate for more than a couple of lines... 

As I am writing this post I am listening to the Indie Rock post at Grooveshark. The only thing that I cannot use as background to read are podcasts. If the TV is on I can zone out and into my book or work; same if A is playing...well except when he plays Starcraft, the voice asking for minerals drives me crazy, even though our characters do something pretty similar when we are playing WoW and...oh wait, I just went out of topic, sorry, where was I? oh yeah, so I am listening to my music and even if songs that I love come up and usually I would start signing to them, they don't distract me. 

What is very interesting (to me at least) is that later, when I will revisit a certain book in my head it will pop up with the music I was listening too and I love this type of fusion of senses, don't you?

Tell me about your reading, do you need music or complete silence? any music in particular?

 

Listening to: The Only Thing I Know by Gotye

A reflection on reading while commuting

This is a topic I’ve had in my head for a long time, and then when I get home I always forget I wanted to talk about it. Well not this time!

One of the big things that changed in my life when I moved out of my country was the fact that I could now, more easily at least, read while commuting. And this is before I started to listen to audio books or even have my Kobo.

While I have always carried a book with me since I can remember, when I was living in Colombia, it was there mostly to be read when I was stationary, say at a waiting room or recess. Reading in the car or the bus was just not great. I did it, and got nausea pretty fast. Even when the “mass transportation system” Transmileno started, the buses would shake a lot, potholes were a constant and more often than not, I barely had space for me and my bag, let alone to open a book.

Fast-forward to when I moved to Montreal. Every ride in the metro or bus, unless I am with someone, I get to read. And not just me, it is so common here, it is a beautiful thing. Sure, sometimes it will get crowded, and then I won’t but compared to what it was before this is a rare event. People sometimes complain here that the metro wobbles but people, you haven’t seen wobbling, believe you me. Saying that I feel like I should clarify that I am perfectly conscious that are far worst commuting conditions than the ones I have experienced.

In January, A started his grown up job, which translated into us not going to the lab together and alternating with who gets the car. Now, if I haven’t mentioned it before, I really don’t like driving, but especially when I have to go to the lab on a weekend, it comes very handy to not depend on the bus schedule. However, because I am still a bit uncomfortable with driving (particularly in winter, my dislike has gone to hate) I cannot be listening to audio books yet. I have moved from music to podcasts, but that’s it for now.

So when I have to go to the lab by bus I get a bit more of reading time. It can even compensate for when is cold and windy and I my nose starts to numb…I am really not a winter person as you can see. But the point is that I get some extra reading time and for that I am grateful.

That’s all, hope you have a nice rest of the week.

As For Me and My House by Ross Sinclair

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Pages: 221

Series: NA

Source: Library

Genres: Canadian Literature

Publisher: New Canadian Library (Penguin Random House Canada)

Publication date: January 1st 1989 (first published in 1941)

First impression

On my "quest" to read more Canadian Literature I joined the Hello Hemlock book club and this was the first pick of 2015. Being the first time I read anything from the author I had no idea what to expect. What I found was a very raw, rather bleak image of Saskatchewan in the 1940s. This is not a bad thing mind you, I feel like the author managed to translate not only the coldness of the weather but the coldness of the people in his story. However, the story being told by the wife (she remains nameless all through the book) I was sad, albeit not surprised, to have it told in a submissive, almost weak voice that had let go of all desires and dreams.

It's a woman's way, I suppose, to keep on trying to subdue a man, to bind him to her, and it's a man's way to keep on just as determined to be free

Final thoughts

While I enjoyed the experience given by this story I did not enjoy the story itself, nor did I like the narrator. Our narrator was (in my opinion) the image of "her time" almost to the dot. Left her dreams of being a musician behind, bends to her husband's decisions even if she doesn't agree with them, and puts her down quite often. The book was originally published in the early 1940s, so I would think that she is a product of the woman image back then and the construction of a character that is meant to be sorrowful and heartbroken. As I mentioned, I haven't read anything else from Ross so I can't be sure if that's the way he always depicted women, but this fragile type of female character was pretty common for a long time, particularly when the author was male.

The narrator is a complex one, that I have to admit, but I just felt sad every time she would talk about herself. A couple of time she would try to take a stand, to afterwards either feel guilty, or just bend to others whims. Towards the end she sort of becomes determined, but for all the wrong reasons.

What did I enjoyed about the experience was mostly related to the landscape described by the author. It was very immersive; I could easily feel the emptiness of the landscape, the loneliness of the small town and more than the physical landscape, it is easy to understand the "feel" of the town: the lack any culture other than the one related to the Protestant church, the pettiness of some of the characters and off course, the dependence on appearances in such a small enclave as this small town is portrayed.

The part I probably liked the most is the cultural critique, namely: In the car, Paul said thoughtfully that that was the worst penalty inflicted by education, the way it separates you from the people who are really close to you, among whom you would otherwise belong. I chose this quote because it is something that, as any grad student has probably felt, the more specialized you become on one subject, the highest the risk to isolate yourself of other people whom, in other situation, you would enjoy immensely.

I guess I can see why this is one of the mandatory reads for many schools here in Canada. I can also see why so many readers found it heavy to read and ultimately not engaging, or boring even. I am not sure who I would recommend this book, other than to others like me that would like to learn a bit more of Canadian Literature.

Lovetorn by Kavita Daswani

Format: Hardback 

Pages: 250

Series: NA

Source: Own (Book Outlet)

Genres: YA, Contemporary Fiction

Publisher: HarperCollins: HarperTeen

Publication date: January 17th 2012

First impression

I bought this book after Book Riot recommended it in their South Asian YA: 5 titles to read post. It had a very nice premise; a whole family moving from India to the States, the elder girl has been engaged since she was 3 years old and dealing in general with being a teenager. The book does all this things but I was disappointed with the end.

Final thoughts

Shalini is the main character of this book and she is telling the story of how her father found a new job in Los Angeles. As a dutiful daughter, she acts exited and supportive, but the truth is that she is not that thrilled of leaving everything she knew behind, including Vikram her fiancé. Arriving to LA and learning a whole different culture would be hard enough on her, but as it turns out her mother isn't taking the move so well and soon Shalini is taking care of the household, trying to deal with bullies in her class and, for the first time in her life, questioning what for so long was supposed to be her life plan with Vikram, even more so, when Toby comes to the picture.

There are a lot of things I liked about this book and they are all related to Shalini and her family being in foreign land. The amusement of finding a place that sells the food you grew up with; the sort of challenge of explaining to others things that you've grown accustomed to; the fear of changing and losing your roots and at the same time, of not changing and losing your mind. All of these things are so real when you leave your comfort and yet they are so great to help you grow as a person.

Shalini's mom goes into a deep depression due to this move; her father tries to work hard but is afraid of what might have come of his family. Her little sister on the other hand, seems to adapt very well to her new life. All of these perspectives made the book even more enjoyable.

However it was the love story that made me hesitant to give this book a 4...for most of the book the only love interest is Vikram, and while I was interested in the idea of Shalini questioning this relationship now that they were no longer together all the time I wish it wouldn't because another boy. This made her look like a girl whose decisions revolve solely around boys and I can't like that, sorry. I think I would've rather her questioning the whole idea of being engage at 3 when being exposed to other views; if at the end of it all she felt that this was what made her happy, great! It is not? also great.

And then we have the ending. Don't worry; I will not give away spoilers. All I can say is that it felt extremely abrupt and rushed. What is worst, it felt like there was not conclusion at all. I still gave it a 4 because going to it gave me what it promised. To quote Book Riot: This is great because there aren’t a lot of South Asian YA novels that deal with this transitional period, coming to the United States as a teenager and trying to figure things out.

What am I reading this month: February

Hello everyone! here is what I will be reading this month...or at least what I am planing to be reading.

For my Diversifying 2015 challenge (you can sign up here), reading more in Spanish goal AND more nonfiction I will be reading: Las Hijas de Juarez (Daughters of Juarez): Un auténtico relato de asesinatos en serie al sur de la frontera by Teresa Rodriguez. An investigation about the mass murders that took place in Juarez, Mexico.

For the Sword and Laser Book Club, we will be reading Annihilation by Jeff VanDermeer, and I cannot tell you how exited I am to get to read it!

For my "reading more CanLit" goal, I am starting the MaddAddam trilogy with Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.

Another book for my nonfiction and Diversifying count will be Is Everyone Hanging Out without me? by Mindy Kaling, and also in audio I will be finishin Lock In by John Scalzi that I started in January.

And finally, review copies: from NetGalley I have Queen Sugar by Natalie Baszile (more diverse authors); from LybraryThing I received a copy of  Every Breath by Ellie Marney; I also got a copy of The Evening Chorus by Helen Humphreys from the  publisher.

Out of those 8 books, I own 6 of them, so I am also working on my "reading more of the books I already own" goal. 

I also have to finish Death in the City of Light, that I started in January but haven't finished yet!

What about your reading for this month? what are you reading? Let me know in the comments and have a nice week.