About the Book:

Hours before his untimely—and highly suspicious—death, world-renowned astrophysicist Thom Bergmann shares his discovery of extraterrestrial life with his wife, Lucy. Feeling that the warring world is not ready to learn of—or accept—proof of life elsewhere in the universe, Thom entrusts Lucy with his computer flash drive, which holds the keys to his secret work.

Devastated by Thom’s death, Lucy keeps the secret, but Thom’s friend, anthropologist Pierre Saad, contacts Lucy with an unusual and dangerous request about another sensitive matter. Pierre needs Lucy to help him smuggle a newly discovered artifact out of Egypt: an ancient codex concerning the human authorship of the Book of Genesis. Offering a reinterpretation of the creation story, the document is sure to threaten the foundation of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions . . . and there are those who will stop at nothing to suppress it.

Midway through the daring journey, Lucy’s small plane goes down on a slip of verdant land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Middle East. Burned in the crash landing, she is rescued by Adam, a delusional American soldier whose search for both spiritual and carnal knowledge has led to madness. Blessed with youth, beauty, and an unsettling innocence, Adam gently tends to Lucy’s wounds, and in this quiet, solitary paradise, a bond between the unlikely pair grows. Ultimately, Lucy and Adam forsake their half-mythical Eden and make their way back toward civilization, where members of an ultraconservative religious cult are determined to deprive the world of the knowledge Lucy carries.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is a book that I really had mixed responses to.  I am not exactly sure how I feel about it, and there are parts of it that the only description that applies is odd.  My first exposure to Naslund’s writing was through Ahab’s Wife. Naslund has a real gift for presenting old stories in a new light; she challenges her readers to find out how classic stories can be pertinent to the modern world.  Her treatment of Melville’s classic, Moby Dick is one that I found particularly insightful, and much more readable that the original.  And in this new work she turns her attention to another significant story of the human species — the story of creation, and the theme of the Garden of Eden.

This story explores the contradictory beliefs that inundate our world, most of them surrounding our religious beliefs, scientific investigations, and contradictory points of view.  All of these vying perspectives are presented through Naslund’s use of not only the different creation beliefs, but also the underlying suggestion of the history of the discovery of “Lucy,” once the oldest humanoid remains ever found.  Add to all this a story that is, for the most part set in a new — or “modern” presentation of Eden, with a new Adam and Eve — and you begin to see that our modern understanding of our mortal origins are anything but certain.  In addition to the clash between the creation stories and the scientific discoveries, Naslund also gives us an insight into the varying religious creeds, and their understanding of our created origins.  Many of these divisive points of view frequently lead to confusion, confrontation, and in some cases even violence.  Which is why I found this book interesting to read.  The issues that Naslund portrays are more than just valid, but they are also important for humanity.  They are the base of who we are, and how we perceive ourselves as a species.

As far as these issues go, the story is not only insightful, but also courageous in its willingness to delve into controversial questions without flinching from the hard questions we frequently face today.  But it also does so in a non-judgmental, and even open minded fashion.  This isn’t a story about religious belief, or even about the stand off between science and religion.  Rather, it is a question of is there a possibility of both of these perspectives existing in unison, in this world.

There is one glaring weakness in this particular book, however.  That is the number of unanswered questions that the story itself, opens and then fails to bring to closure.  In addition to two bizarre deaths that are suggested to be murders — but never fully explore, this book also has a mysterious secret society that wants to destroy modern advances with very little explanation of why, and even one primary character that has a very mysterious background with almost no insight as to why.  There appears to be a raging war in the year 2020, but we aren’t sure where it is, or why Adam has become a victim of this war. There there is also the fact that most of the book has the primary characters naked for most of the novel.  But it isn’t so much about sexuality, as the presentation of corruption, and the downfall of man. Overall, the book does present some of the main themes that I felt Naslund was trying to explore — but I came away feeling like there were also some gaping holes in the plot that left the reader wondering what — exactly — just happened.  So if you are looking for closure on this one, it may not be as satisfactory as some of the other books I have read.

For more information on this book, or about this author be sure to visit the following websites:

Huffington Post Article

TampaBay.com Book Review

New York Times Book Review

Ophrah Reading Guide

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Abe Books

Barnes and Noble

Originally posted 2011-05-03 06:00:29. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

Set two centuries from Hawthorne’s own time, The Scarlet Letter (1850) sets its heroine, Hester Prynne, into the shaping early moments of American history. The mother of an illegitimate child, Hester is compelled both by her Puritan community and her awareness of her own moral autonomy to wear a scarlet letter “A”, a symbol of her adultery, upon her clothes. Her child is seen as the evidence of her sin and her refusal to name her lover taken as a token of her moral perversity. However, Hester emerges from the novel a woman whose integrity is intact. Born from the heart of New England, The Scarlet Letter is as much about individual choice and moral responsibilities as about the birth pangs of a nation.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

I have always loved the writing style of Hawthorne.  His simple, straight forward stories are usually basic and to the point.  And yet the allegorical elements and the symbolism of these works can keep the reader constantly coming back for more.  Just when you think that you have everything figured out — someone will come along, or you will see something from a slightly different angle and it will change the interpretation and understanding one more time. 

This is a work I was first introduce to back in junior high school.  And even back then I was intrigued.  The overwhelming Puritan influence, which has played such a great part in the establishment of this country, seemed like a strange beginning for a country seeking complete religious freedom and autonomy.  Even now I see this beginning as a paradox as readers explore how much this beginning continues to influence many of our customs today.  But that isn’t what keeps drawing me back to Hawthorne.

The strongest element of Hawthorn’s writings is in the symbolic elements of the stories he creates.  From the prison door to his use of light and dark — the reader is always aware that there is much more in the setting and elements, than there is in the story itself.  Simply put this is a classic example of the old adage of being greater than the sum of its parts.  In this reading I discovered a more in depth look into the use of colors throughout.  Hawthorne’s use of scarlet red as a very sharp contrast to the drab and subdued norm of this repressed society is a sharp contrast between how the Puritan’s lived — and the world around them — which they denounced. 

I was also struck at the prominent role of Chillingworth in my most recent reading.  His moral representation of the fallen man plays a stronger element than I first realized.  Having joined the Puritan faith — but being forcibly separated from it, Chillingworth is a character that is the odd man out from the rest of the community.  In his own way he is more of an oddity than Hester and Pearl.  Raised as a strong intellectual, his intelligence sets him apart even in the Salem community.  Compounded with that is his time spent among the Native Americans as a prisoner.  Chillingworth ends up  having a wild element in his nature that becomes more of a sharp contradiction in this carefully insulated Puritan community than Hester and Pearl could ever have been.  Where Hester is the embodiment of sin, and the fall from grace — Chillingworth is all that is dark and brooding in a very evil sense.  Contrasting this element of the wild against the very epitome of perceived love and perfection in the form of Dimmsdale and there is a sudden realization that these two men are deliberate antagonists against each other.  Dimmsdale is the moral personification of the community he teaches and is responsible for.  He is the ultimate example of devotion, obedience, commitment, and dedication to the Puritan life.  Chillingworth, in contrast, is almost savage.  His hunger for revenge lead to the dark nature of brooding vengeance and deep hatred that is a sharp counter point to Dimmsdale’s stereotypical love.  These two represent the great battle between good and evil, God and the Devil, or fallen man and perfection.  In the end — each of these men prove to be completely opposite of what their respective places in the community would suggest.  Chillingworth — while filled with revenge and hatred — remains loyal to Hester.  His justified feelings of hatred and vengeance are strangely representative of the love he always had for his wife.  While Dimmsdale remains only loyal to himself.  His need to present his perfected appearance will always supersede his need to find repentance and forgiveness. 

This is a book one could read a hundred times and still come away learning more each time.  It is a strong statement on morality in all of its forms — and how even morality can warp and corrupt a whole community.  This really is one of my favorite reads, and one that I can’t recommend enough.

For more information about this author, and his works be sure to visit the following websites:

Study Guide

Symbolism and Allegory Guide

Nathaniel Hawthorne Biography

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Originally posted 2012-03-08 07:41:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

Set in the Deep South that provided the backdrop for all of Faulkner’s finest fiction, Intruder in the Dust is the novel that marks the final phase of this author’s outstanding creative period. The chronicle of an elderly black farmer arrested for the murder of a white man and under threat from the lynch mob, is a characteristically Faulknerian tale of dark omen, its sole ray of hope the character of the young white boy who repays an old favor by proving the innocence of the man who once saved him from drowning in an icy creek.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is another book that was not a voluntary read on my part.  Assigned in one of my American Literature courses — it was an obligatory read for the purpose of analysis and discussion.  To be perfectly honest, I cannot say that I am a Faulkner fan.  While the story is interesting — the writing style I fought with from the very beginning.  This is a great example of how writing styles work for some people, and not for others.  The long, run on sentences (some of them up to a page or more long) simply drove me crazy as a reader.  I found myself constantly frustrated with trying to figure out how a sentence was put together so that I could make sense of the story, which, of course, detracted from my enjoyment of the story over all.

The story itself, at least for the modern reader, may seem trite, and even over used.  However, in the time that it was written, this story had a great deal of impact, and said a lot about the society in which it was set.  The deep South, with a black man accused of murder in white America — and going in the reader pretty well decides that they know what the outcome will inevitably be.  In the days before the Civil Rights movement, and the second class designation attached to the black race — this story explores the painful growth process of the early days of the racial difficulties confronting the American South.  But Faulkner does have an ability to present the unexpected in his writing — particularly in the twists of the story line — it is just a little hard to follow.

The Suspense that Faulkner creates through simply his words is probably the strong point of the story.  Faulkner did have a great gift for being able to build an intense situation into almost unbearable drama, with very little action even going on.  As one of the earlier presentations of the courtroom drama — this book is packed with the constant intensity of the inevitable that does keep the reader wanting to finish, no matter how difficult the sentences may be to follow.  And ultimately, Faulkner’s gift with words is amazing in the extreme. 

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

Intruder in the Dust Essay

William Faulkner Biography

William Faulkner Society

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Originally posted 2012-02-27 07:22:02. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

No book except perhaps Uncle Tom’s Cabin had as powerful an impact on the abolitionist movement as Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. But while Stowe wrote about imaginary characters, Douglass’s book is a record of his own remarkable life. Born a slave in 1818 on a plantation in Maryland, Douglass taught himself to read and write. In 1845, seven years after escaping to the North, he published Narrative, the first of three autobiographies. This book calmly but dramatically recounts the horrors and the accomplishments of his early years—the daily, casual brutality of the white masters; his painful efforts to educate himself; his decision to find freedom or die; and his harrowing but successful escape. 

An astonishing orator and a skillful writer, Douglass became a newspaper editor, a political activist, and an eloquent spokesperson for the civil rights of African Americans. He lived through the Civil War, the end of slavery, and the beginning of segregation. He was celebrated internationally as the leading black intellectual of his day, and his story still resonates in ours.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is a book I finally decided I had to read following my last semester with American Literature.  I learned relatively quickly that this is a book that is frequently referred to — and I needed to understand how it fit into all the other topics that were being discussed in my lit courses.  I have been putting this one off for so long because I find the topic disconcerting.  So when I finally picked it up and started reading I never would have guessed that I was about to find a new favorite book!

Frederick Douglass is an amazing man.  His life and story are more than just engrossing — it is truly the solid foundation of history.  And his ability with words simply makes this book live.  From his first memories of slavery to his greatest orations this is a man that captivates readers and draws them in.  He is a powerful speaker, and his surviving orations are as powerful and pertinent today as at the time of their first issue.  But what I found most engrossing of this read was Douglass’ charisma that resonates throughout the book.  This is a man that does more than simply define “The American Dream.”  This is a man that turns that “American Dream” on its head.  His humor, devotion, dedication, oratory skills, and intelligence redefined what it meant to be black in America — in a time when the blacks were still fettered in chains, both literal and figurative.  But more than that — Douglass has a gift for giving life through the written and spoken word to what many of us today would like to consider a long dead topic.  

Douglass’ portrayal of slavery is both honest and moving.  He presents it in the light of the crime it was, and opens the eyes of readers to not only the horrific moral stain it carried — but to the lasting consequences that continue to haunt our society today.  This work is still as insightful and significant a read today as it was when first penned.  Douglass clearly and decisively identifies the consequences of slavery — and how those consequences festered and grew to impact our world more than a hundred years later.   

But Douglass is not your run of the mill abolitionist.  He also insists that the cure for the racial difficulties our world struggles with can only be cured through mutual effort.  He suggests that the whites need to move beyond their perception of indoctrination, and see the black race for the great and influential men and women they are.  And the black race needs to step forward and work as hard as they ever did as slaves to define themselves, for themselves, as the great people they truly are and can become.  

This book is a powerful and positive read.  It deals with many moral issues and demands that we need to continue to work — even today — on improving the racial relations defined in the past.  Douglass envisions a world where the blacks are accepted as Americans, with all the rights and privileges they are entitled to in conjunction with all other Americans.  He also suggests that this is not a road that can be paved with the effort of only one race.  The barriers of master and slave, black and white, bond and free, must all be obliterated.  And on their ruins we need to start over in building a world that is no longer defined through race, color, religion, or ethnic origin.  Rather, we need to reconstruct a society built on the efforts, abilities, strengths, and greatness of men and women.

For more information about this book and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass/History.com

Documenting the American South

The Online Library of Liberty

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Originally posted 2012-05-09 06:42:05. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the book:

When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum’s classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?

Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to be the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This book is the adult, steroid version of The Wizard of Oz, and if you have fond memories of this childhood classic — this might be a book you want to consider before jumping in.  If you have problems with close attachments to your childhood favorites — and the recasting of those fond memories, this book might not be for you.  There is certainly adult content, and adult themes throughout the book, and the characters are vastly different from what we all grew up knowing.

The base line story is found in this book — however, you need to do a little looking to find it.  Additionally, this story is based on trying to expand the world of Oz.  Maguire seeks to give us a broader insight into the world of Oz, and the characters found in the original story.  The Cowardly Lion, The Scarecrow, the good witch Glinda, and even the Wicked Witches of both the East and the West.  Each of the characters is developed on a much broader base, and a wider world for political intrigue, rebellion, civil unrest, and even social vying for power.  But this book also creates some conflicts in the characters — and their personalities as a whole.

It takes a little adjustment to see the Wicked Witch of the West as an anti-social patriot, with little to no magical power.  She has an overwhelming sense of justice, and a need to see that abuses of power do not go unpunished.  However, with everything she is trying to accomplish, we are given a fatally flawed character that is doomed from the beginning to a life of failure, and ineptitude.  But her greatest search is not in the quest for justice, or the desire to overthrow the “evil wizard,” but rather in challenging the question of “what is a soul?” and “who, if anyone, has one?”  Though set in a fictional, fantasy world — this book does challenge some of the prevailing concepts of God, and the processes of belief.  This character, the child of a rabid proselytizer, and a mother of loose morals is flaw in more than just appearance from the beginning.  And in the end, the green skin is the least of her difficulties.  This conflicted character challenges readers to explore the basis of belief, and the vast differences that exist in the myriad beliefs that men subscribe to.

There are many other aspects of this book that I found somewhat troubling — but not enough to quit reading the book.  The significant amount of sexual content, and the violent nature of the story as a whole, while providing a little more substance for this childhood story — also turned this story into a very unchild-like rendering of this classic.  But it also delves into political intrigue and how it leads to civil unrest, and disrupts the peaceful existence of the society as a whole.  Through this presentation — Maguire explores the question of evil, its origins, and its relation to actions, intents, and power.

This book also provides an interesting look at a combining of our world and the fantasy world of Oz.   The Wizard, in addition to Dorothy and her escapade through this magical land are simply the surface, according to Maguire’s rendering.  There are other characters that also have strange connections to the world we know, which the reader comes to understand through careful reading.  These connections drive a lot of the motivations of some of the other characters, and defines the relationships of this world in vastly troubling interactions.  These interesting suppositions makes this read an interesting premise, different from the original, and opening the door for us to rediscover this childhood classic in our very adult worlds.

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

Gregory Maguire Website

Harper Collins Publisher Website

USA Today Author Interview

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Abe Books

Barnes and Noble

Originally posted 2011-05-31 06:00:15. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

With the publication of her first novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers, all of twenty-three, became a literary sensation. With its profound sense of moral isolation and its compassionate glimpses into its characters’ inner lives, the novel is considered McCullers’ finest work, and an enduring masterpiece.

At its center is the deaf-mute John Singer, who becomes the confidant for various types of misfits in a Georgia mill town during the 1930s. Each one yearns for escape from small-town life. When Singer’s mute companion goes insane, Singer moves into the Kelly house, where Mick Kelly, the book’s heroine (loosely based on McCullers), finds solace in her music. Brilliantly attuned to the spiritual isolation that underlies the human condition, and with a deft sense for racial tensions in the South, McCullers spins a haunting, unforgettable story that gives voice to the rejected, the forgotten, and the mistreated–and, through Mick Kelly, to the quiet, intensely personal search for beauty.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This was a book that was another assigned reading through one of my English classes.  So, again I don’t think it is the sort of thing that I would have normally picked up on my own.  The story is both intriguing, and in some ways depressing.  This is certainly not one I would qualify in the happily ever after category — but it is still worth the read all the same.

It is set up more as a character analysis than real in depth story.  By that I mean that while there is a story line — it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.  The story is more character focused, than actual event focused.  But when it comes to character development and insight — McCullers is a natural.  There is a great deal in all of the characters of this book — some of it is very easy to see and identify — and other elements of it require a little time and reflection before their significance becomes clear. 

Probably the most unusual part of this book is what I considered the main character.  (This is a debatable point — as some people think it is Mick, and others think it is Singer.)  John Singer is one of those characters that is not what people would think about when it comes to protagonists.  However, as a mute, he becomes a mirror for the other characters, through which their character development becomes reflected and magnified.  He is the confidant of the town for all intents and purposes — and yet the reader comes away knowing very little about him — and everything about those that use him as a sounding board for their own crises.  While this is a strange approach to a main character — and one that many would feel wouldn’t work — surprisingly it does. 

The rest of the surrounding line up of characters is an odd mixture of just about every social ill besetting the American culture in the 1930′s.  Everything from rabid Marxists to freedom seeking civil rights activists.  But it isn’t just about the characters themselves, so much as their lives.  Through those lives we get a glimpse of the struggles of the development of Marxist ideologies, and the rise of the unionist movements.  The story also covers the early struggles of the civil rights efforts, eugenics within the black race, and the injustices practiced against the African American population, and the abject poverty that many of them struggled under.  Through Mick we get a look at the coming of age in a time of hardship and struggle.  Caught between the Great Depression and the rise of Adolph Hitler — we get a feel for the unrest of the country, and the challenges they struggled with following the financial crash that defined the entire era. 

This book is probably one of the best books I have come across when it comes to character development, and the power of strong characters in both their virtues and vices.  However, as I stated in the beginning — this isn’t a book of happily ever afters.  Much of the overriding tone is a little depressing, with a perverse element of dark humor thrown into the mix.  But if the reader is prepared for this going in, they will come away with a great appreciation for the writing abilities of this gifted author.

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

The Carson McCullers Project

The Carson McCullers Center

Reader’s Guide

The New York Times Obituary

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Originally posted 2012-02-06 07:27:52. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright’s powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is another one of my term reading books — as I needed something in the modern/contemporary American Literature era.  And with a professor that doesn’t like to define what his definition is of this particular era — other than to say it covers from 1900 to somewhere around the 1950′s — the assignment was a little vague.  So after several Google searches, I settled on this one.  I’m not exactly sure why — since it isn’t my usual fare of reading.  But then that is what school is for — challenging your opinions and forcing you out of comfort zones in order to learn to experience the bigger and wider world.

If I had to review this book in one word I think it would have to be haunting.  This book is an engrossing, troubling read.  I simply could not put it down.  It is not only the seminal work on race relations in the pre-Civil Rights movement, but it also casts its harsh light on the rocky foundation that makes up the racial conflicts that continue to exist today. 

Bigger Thomas is one of those characters that will stay with you long after you put this book down.  Not only is he not simply a stereotype of the “nefarious”  black man, but he is also a very real and human face in the argument for the necessity to overcome racial differences.  Caught up in the marginal world of struggling to become a man in his own right, with the same hopes and dreams as others around him  — both black and white — he is also trapped in a world of racial segregation that forces him to remain confined in a dangerously narrow world.  If there was ever an argument for the dangers of forced racial segregation — that argument would be Bigger Thomas. 

I think the part of this book that stands out the most is the justified anger that drives Bigger’s life.  A product of the post Civil War era — Bigger has inherited the generational scars left from the time of slavery.  Compounded with the continued racial disparity between the white and black races, and the forced structure he as a black man has no choice but to live within; Bigger demonstrates the anger that is all but consuming him.  This anger, fed through constant and unremitting fear is a dangerous concoction of emotional upheaval.  Leading to acts that at times even he is horrified to realize he has done — Bigger finds that he is ultimately out of control of more than just his emotional quagmire.  Like the world around him, which he cannot possibly hope to control — Bigger is sinking in a morass of hatred and contempt for his segregated world.

Also very eye opening in this brutally honest read is the blind naivete of the white man’s world.  As the white society continues to deal in terms of condemnation and bigotry against the blacks of the community — they are surprised when a man will finally strike out against the injustice of it all.  The forced living conditions of gougingly high rents, very few employment opportunities (that all but consist of simply servant positions — a constant reminder that the whites still consider the black race as nothing more than glorified slaves), little to no educational and advancement opportunities, and most humiliating of all — not even allowing them the option of choosing where they can live, and the white race has created a war zone they are living on the edge of — and don’t even realize the danger. 

Wright is an amazingly gifted author who has presented a novel of suspense and intensity.  He is not only honest in his presentation of the origins of the racial issues that continue to afflict our society today — but he is also very frank in bringing out the fact that if we are ever going to get past this rift, we are going to have to make dramatic and sweeping changes on both sides of the line. 

This is a book that I consider a must read.  It is honest, brutal, and troubling in the extreme.  However, I consider it one of the best starting points for seeking out the answers to overcoming the racial issues that continue to tear our society apart.  For more information on this book, and about the author, be sure to visit the following websites:

Reading Group Guide

The Journal of Cultural Conversation Book Review

Richard Wright’s Life Essay

New York Times Articles on Richard Wright

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Originally posted 2012-02-28 08:01:25. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

In his journal, John Steinbeck called East of Eden “the first book,” and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families–the Trasks and the Hamiltons–whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.

Adam Trask came to California from the East to farm and raise his family on the new, rich land. But the birth of his twins, Cal and Aron, brings his wife to the brink of madness, and Adam is left alone to raise his boys to manhood. One boy thrives, nurtured by the love of all those around him; the other grows up in loneliness, enveloped by a mysterious darkness.

First published in 1952, East of Eden is the work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love’s absence. A masterpiece of Steinbeck’s later years, East of Eden is a powerful and vastly ambitious novel that is at once a family saga and a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is a review that is going to feel really strange to me!  I never imagined that I would ever see the day that a book of Steinbeck’s would ever make my list of favorite books — but it has happened.  In fact I have put off writing this one, so I could savor the moment of basking in the discovery of how gifted an author Steinbeck is — which, for those that know me, will realize how big a change this is for me.  Ever since my school days I have hated Steinbeck.  Exposed to his more depressing works during junior high and high school, I came away with a real distaste for his stories.  This year, having been assigned to re-read The Grapes of Wrath I was astounded at how with age, my appreciation for that work changed.  Having one more 10 page paper pending with a narrow field of authors to choose from for the last of this semester, I decided to challenge myself.  This is the book I turned to.  And I am so glad I did.

I have always loved the story of Cain and Able.  The intricacies of the story — and what it says about human nature have always intrigued me.  But I have always come away feeling like we only have half the story.  In reading Steinbeck’s modern day reworking of the Biblical account  — I am so glad to realize I may not be the only one that comes away from this saga feeling frustrated, and little wanting for background.  Many of the questions I have had over the years concerning this snippet of a story were presented in East of Eden.  This, of course is what I live for in a book — the opportunity to reflect, and seek further understanding through the sharing of ideas.  And though an author may be absent at the time of my reading — the voice comes through loud and clear — challenging the reader to expand their mind and understanding through questioning, and challenging their own beliefs against that of the author.  This is what makes a truly great book so worth the read.  And this is one that did the trick for me. 

What drives one brother to kill another?  This is a question that I have always been confronted with in both the Cain and Able saga, as well as that of Joseph.  And I have never truly come up with an answer that satisfies.  This work, however, challenges the reader to strive to expand their understanding about human nature, and the things that we, as humans, are capable of.  And while, frequently this can be a scary trip — it can also prove beneficial in building character, understanding, and insight into not only the self — but others as well.  We all do things that we wish we hadn’t.  And like Cal (Cain), we are capable of things that we never imagined we would be able to do — if the circumstances are right to bring out these terrible actions.  

But this book also challenges our concept of who was Cal (Cain)?  What did he feel, not only at the time of his crime — but after?  Having been given what many have deemed a curse — to have to live a long life with his guilt and knowledge of what he did — how did he learn to come to terms with who and what he was?  Did this horrific act change him?  Not only through the estrangement to his family, but also to his sources of comfort, acceptance, and belonging.  Who was Aron (Able), and what sort of rift existed between these two brothers?  Was it long standing?  Or were their times of love and closeness between these two, before the sudden and abrupt end of their lives as brothers?

Steinbeck has created a truly insightful work of exploratory understanding.  If nothing more, he challenges his readers to work towards learning the depth and power of some of the most difficult emotions we have to learn to live with.  When overwhelmed with love, hate, jealousy, envy, and longing — what are we capable of doing — or becoming?  Do they always end up leading to destructive ends, or is there something redeeming in working through them, and learning to overcome their harmful side? 

This is a powerful book, like that of The Count of Monte Cristo.  It has so many topics it covers, and the breadth of the story gives us an appreciation for how all of these topics are interrelated in our world.  Ultimately, in the end, the driving question behind this amazing story is what elements go into shaping us as human beings — and what separates us from other animal species?  This book is a must read.  The questions it asks, and challenges us to seek out answers to, are some of the most basic, but important in the world. 

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Originally posted 2012-03-21 06:54:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

In 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald announced his decision to write “something new–something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned.” That extraordinary, beautiful, intricately patterned, and above all, simple novel became The Great Gatsby, arguably Fitzgerald’s finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, Gatsby captured the spirit of the author’s generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald’s–and his country’s–most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed, and the promise of new beginnings. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter–tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…. And one fine morning–” Gatsby’s rise to glory and eventual fall from grace becomes a kind of cautionary tale about the American Dream.

It’s also a love story, of sorts, the narrative of Gatsby’s quixotic passion for Daisy Buchanan. The pair meet five years before the novel begins, when Daisy is a legendary young Louisville beauty and Gatsby an impoverished officer. They fall in love, but while Gatsby serves overseas, Daisy marries the brutal, bullying, but extremely rich Tom Buchanan. After the war, Gatsby devotes himself blindly to the pursuit of wealth by whatever means–and to the pursuit of Daisy, which amounts to the same thing. “Her voice is full of money,” Gatsby says admiringly, in one of the novel’s more famous descriptions. His millions made, Gatsby buys a mansion across Long Island Sound from Daisy’s patrician East Egg address, throws lavish parties, and waits for her to appear. When she does, events unfold with all the tragic inevitability of a Greek drama, with detached, cynical neighbor Nick Carraway acting as chorus throughout. Spare, elegantly plotted, and written in crystalline prose, The Great Gatsby is as perfectly satisfying as the best kind of poem.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

Have you ever had the opportunity to go back and reread something from high school or college — something you had pretty good memories about?  But when you got into it you found yourself wondering what it was about the book that you particularly loved in the first place?  Such was my most recent experience reading this great “American Classic.”  Don’t get me wrong — Fitzgerald demonstrated a masterful ability to present the American society in the change of great transition, and he brought to the forefront the magnitude of what many of those changes meant to the American culture through his impassioned, and deliberately shallow characters.  But I have forgotten what a train wreck of a story this particular book really was.  I know when I originally read it I remember thinking what a great tragic romance — and I seemed to come away seeing Gatsby and Daisy on the same level as the original star crossed lovers — Romeo and Juliet.  Now, with a very different point of view, and a much older understanding I come away from this book shaking my head at some of the subtleties that Fitzgerald presents in this little book.

I was very impressed with the presentation of the irresponsibility of a society that refused to take responsibility for their own actions.  Tom, the man that sets the entire tragedy of events in motion through his taking of a mistress is the great centerpiece of this book.  And while most people feel that the real tragedy is Jay Gatsby — by the end of this read through I wasn’t so sure.  Gatsby was certainly a victim.  However, Tom is the ultimate in all consuming ego.  His perception of there being nothing of value beyond his own world of money, and his concept that money can buy anything and everything that he could ever want or need is the base of this immoral character.  And it is through everyone of his immoral actions that the ultimate tragedy — the deaths of those that he was trying to hold on to that lead to the overwhelming conclusion of this horrifying tale.  And yet, it was the irony that of everyone he managed to destroy — Wilson, his mistress, Gatsby, and I think to a degree even Daisy’s love for him — the most unforeseen of events were the result of Daisy’s actions — and not those of Tom.  Tom could never destroy the man he wanted out of his wife’s life — only Daisy had the capacity to do that.  And it was through her lack of moral character that she managed to accomplish that feat in spades.

I was also really impressed with the presentation of the dramatic divisions that exist within the American society.  And while we like to claim that we are a society that grew without classes, this book is a strong testament to the falsity of that claim.  Money, race, moral character, geography, professions — all of these and more we have used to divide our unusual society into one of sharp division, and vast diversity.  We may like to claim that anyone can become a millionaire in this country — but that doesn’t exactly tear down the barriers that exist, and that will continue to keep us divided from those that don’t consider us worth of belonging to their perceived group of social elite.  Gatsby is probably one of the greatest examples of a “lame duck” character that I have ever seen.  Everything he does — everything he is — will never be good enough to buy him into the one home that he wants desperately to be invited into.  And yet — as Nick reminds him on more than one occasion — that one home may not be as great a place to be as Gatsby always seemed to believe.  Combine that with the overwhelming feeling of fatalistic foreboding that exists in this book, beginning to end, and I came away amazed that this is given to high school students to read — when they have not yet lived long enough to understand the subtleties that are going on in the back story.

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

The Brief Life of Fitzgerald

American Masters

Study Guide

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Abe Books

Barnes and Noble

Originally posted 2011-01-25 07:00:23. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression follows the western movement of one family and a nation in search of work and human dignity. Perhaps the most American of American classics.

The novel focuses on the Joads, a poor family of sharecroppers driven from their Oklahoma home by drought, economic hardship, and changes in financial and agricultural industries. Due to their nearly hopeless situation, and in part because they were trapped in the Dust Bowl, the Joads set out for California. Along with thousands of other “Okies”, they sought jobs, land, dignity and a future. When preparing to write the novel, Steinbeck wrote: “I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this [the Great Depression and its effects].” The book won Steinbeck a large following among the working class, perhaps due to the book’s sympathy to the workers’ movement and its accessible prose style.

The Grapes of Wrath is frequently read in American high school and college literature classes. A celebrated Hollywood film version, starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford, was made in 1940.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

I was first exposed to Steinbeck’s writing, like most people, while I was in junior high and high school.  At the time, I really learned to dislike his subject material.  I always came away feeling depressed — extremely so.  Consequently, over the years I have made a great effort to stay away from most of Steinbeck’s books.  This semester, having been assigned to reread this book, I was a little frustrated that I was going to have to force myself to plow through it one more time.  And I have to say — I was more than a little surprised.  With this reading I learned that age, understanding, and perspective really has an impact on how a book is viewed.  It was really strange to come away from this book with a feeling of hope, and faith in the human spirit, and will to live. 

The story, set during the depression, provides a look at how much the world changed in the midst of this financial crisis, and dust bowl years.  The beauty of how much people can change, in order to adapt to their surroundings, is a hopeful look at how we, as a culture, overcame some of the hardest years that ever beset our nation as a whole. What was particularly insightful is the huge void that developed between banks and farmers.  This is particularly insightful at this time of our economic difficulties.  It is a reminder that it can always get worse, and that we, as a people, have the ability to overcome these financial set backs.  The Joads give us a great look into the strength of the family, and how much we draw strength and sustenance from the family unit. 

What I found particularly insightful on this reading is how corrupt the banking system can be.  The danger of the indifference to people, in the quest for ever more money and power is a troubling matter that is haunting us particularly strongly at this time.  And this book is a powerful reminder of the danger of allowing this kind of greed and corruption to continue without check, and without accountability.  In a time when Federal aid monies are disappearing into the pockets of bankers, in the form of illegal bonuses, this book reminds us that this is a practice that has been going on much longer than the immediate crisis we find ourselves in.  It is also a reminder that only we can take control of the world we live in.  If we leave it to the bankers and politicians, we will eternally find ourselves at the mercy of greed and vice. 

In these times of financial troubles and family crisis, Steinbeck’s book reads particularly true.  It is a look at the power of the individual, and the family — and its ability to survive and overcome the greed of big business.  It is also a reminder that there are things much more important than simply the pursuit of money, and luxury.  Steinbeck, in one reading, has become one of my favorite authors.  I have had to reconsider my opinion of his works as a whole, and I have come to appreciate his works.  This is a book that I can’t recommend enough — particularly at this time of our economic volatility.

For more information about this book, and its author — be sure to visit the following websites:

John Steinbeck Biography

National Steinbeck Center

The Grapes of Wrath Study Guide

The Grapes of Wrath Research Guide

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Originally posted 2012-03-17 07:15:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter