Currently Reading

Once again, I am behind on my Currently Reading blogs. I’m just going to stop saying “Once again”, because I’m ALWAYS behind. I think it’s becoming my trend to remember to blog after every 3 books. Or maybe the end of the third book is somehow corresponding with my 1 hour of time that I truly consider to be “free” per month. Hence the reason I have not blogged in . . . about a month.

Lots of things are happening, I just can’t seem to find the time or energy to talk about them.

And while it is possible that no one else will find my Currently Reading blogs interesting, I feel a strong desire to catalogue what I’ve been reading. I think this desire is due in part to the fact that besides working, reading is about all I do – and I barely have time for that these days.

So here goes, three book reviews condensed into one post:

The first book is really short – I think it’s only 80 pages or so. I guess it would be considered a novella. It’s My Mortal Enemy, by Willa Cather. Yes, I am getting closer and closer to finishing all of her works, which is both exciting and bittersweet. This story is told from the perspective of Nellie Birdseye, cousin to Myra Henshawe. Myra is married to Oswald Henshawe, and the narrative revolves around Nellie’s two main encounters with the couple, plus her memories of facts and fictions about the couple told to her by friends and relatives. Through Nellie’s encounters, Cather provides a glimpse into the marriage of Myra and Oswald, showing what their marriage looks like at different stages in their lives. Myra is the ward of a wealthy uncle. When Myra is young she decides, against the threat of disinheritance, to run away with Oswald to New York and start a life with him. Oswald is poor, but has promise and Myra is certain that with time, they will find themselves happy and living comfortably.

Nellie’s narrative begins when she meets Myra and Oswald on their visit home. The visit is short and Nellie is eager to see Myra again and learn more about her. Nellie has heard all of the stories about the couple and is eager to see what has come of their scandal. She travels with her aunt to New York, to pay a visit to Myra and Oswald. The couple seems to be living just as they had planned, and at first glance, their lives appear wonderful to Nellie. However, (and there’s always a “however, isn’t there) as Nellie becomes privy to a few revealing encounters, she soon realizes that all is not as it seems. They travel in an artistic circle, which appears glamorous on the surface, but they are struggling to maintain a life in the city – and Nellie perceives a strain between them which at first, she suspects must be about money. Cather uses the typical notion of financial strain to reveal a peculiarity in the couple. One would think that money is at the root of the strain, but it’s not. It’s something deeper, something that Nellie can’t seem to grasp. Cather ends Nellie’s visit in New York, and it is years later when Nellie next encounters the couple. Their circumstances are drastically altered and through the change, Nellie is able to see what is at the crux of their relationship, what is killing it from the inside out.

I’ll stop there. It’s a short story, but it is packed full of so many ideas about relationships and perceptions and how one’s own nature can be the very thing that sabotages any chance of happiness. Cather is the master of being able to convey so much with so few words!

The next novel is, again, by Cather. It is titled Shadows on the Rock and it is WONDERFUL! I know I probably say this about everything that she writes, but I think it may be my favorite, or at least tied with a couple of her other works for favorite. It is set in the 17^th century and is about the founding of Quebec. It follows the lives of the early French settlers in the area. The main family in the novel is Euclide Auclair, the village apothecary and also a widower, and his daughter Cecile. The novel centers on their lives and the lives of the people in their little community. In many ways, this novel is a discourse on the practices of these early settlers - their religion, their means of survival, their connections to their home country, etc., but it is so much more! It is the story of the founding of a national identity. The thoughts and fears and passions of these first settlers are ingrained in the ongoing story of Canada. They are the “shadows on the rock” of the modern-day Quebec. My favorite character is Cecile’s little friend, Jacques. He is the son of a pathetic, shiftless woman, who gives him no real care, but he has such a strong desire to be good. He is drawn to good, clean, beautiful things - they seem to suggest salvation and safety to his young mind. His innocence and the care of his community is what seem to save him – such a lovely idea. The Catholic religion is very present in the novel. Cather’s depictions of what is good in religion and what is bad are always so truthful and insightful. It is a great story of beginnings and is, as always in a Cather novel, full of wonderful descriptions of both character and landscape.

The last book is My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki. I feel as though I should include a disclaimer with this review.

***DO NOT read this book if you have a strong affinity for meat*** Or maybe I should be saying ***DO read this book is you have a strong affinity for meat***

The book has very graphic depictions of cattle production and meat processing. It is disturbing, but very truthful.

I think the second disclaimer is the best, because despite the graphic nature of the novel, it is a wonderful book and I think it should be a mandatory read for every American citizen, or even for every single human being who consumes commercially produced meat! But the novel is not just about meat.

The protagonist of this novel is Jane, a Japanese-American and a documentarian by trade. She is approached by a Japanese television company, sponsored by beef industry executives, to produce a Japanese television show called My American Wife!. The show will document the daily lives of American housewives and will feature a segment in which each wife will prepare their own recipe for a beef dish. Jane is hesitant, but accepts the assignment and begins a year of travelling the U.S., visiting the different wives. Jane starts the year detached from the work she is doing, but as she learns more about each wife and also about the beef industry, she becomes entangled in the deception that pervades the industry. She becomes intent on exposing the truth about the beef industry, but even more, she desires to understand the truths in her own life and in the world around her. The novel also has a parallel story, which follows Akiko Ueno, the wife of Joichi, or “John, a representative of the beef industry execs who fund the tv show. Akiko is lives in Japan and is trapped in a terrifying, abusive marriage. Her husband assigns her the task of watching each episode of My American Wife!, hoping that some of the American sentiments about what makes a family will rub off on Akiko. His plan is successful, but not in the way he had hoped. What Akiko learns from Jane’s shows is the beauty of difference, and most importantly, that happiness is possible.

The novel is so beautifully written and yet it is also so hard to read. It is disturbing, enthralling, touching and best of all – it educates.

I cannot recommend this book enough. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE read it.

The most important thing I learned from this book is awareness. We should all be aware of what we are sending out into the world. We should constantly be questioning our actions and our motives. We should always be thinking “Is this the best I can do? Is this product, or this idea, or this work the best I can give?” If it isn’t, then we should go back to the drafting table and work until we know that what we are sending out is the best. So many people are content with “good enough.” I don’t think I could stand to live in a world where everyone espouses that sentiment. I look around and I’m scared by the number of people who are settling for “good enough." But most of all, I’m scared by the overwhelming mass of people who prefer to stay comfortably blind to what is going on around them.

I love this book, because it ends on a very hopeful note. And I felt very hopeful when I contemplated the idea that novels like this can and are bringing about positive change. This book was actually published back in the 1998, so there are some improvements that have a happened since it came out, but we still have a very long way to go till we get where we need to be. We are the ones who shape this earth, and books like this are wonderful in helping us figure out how the world should look. It is definitely worth reading and is most definitely worth considering the ideas presented.

I think the next novel should be a fun, interesting read. I'm going to be reading Dana's book club selection, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society!

images via amazon.com, longitudebooks.com and popculturebookreview.blogspot.com