THE FISHERMEN BY CHIGOZIE OBIOMA
Published April 14, 2015 By, Little Brown & Company
A heart wrenching tale of Mothers, Fathers and Brothers. Mr. Obioma writes beautifully, when describing, his parents, on the first page, "My brothers-Ikenna, Boja, Obembe-and I had come to understand that when the two ventricles of our home-our father and out mother-held silence as the ventricles of the heart retain blood, we could flood the house if we poked them."
The story is told by 9 year old Benjamin, the youngest of 4 brothers,who formulate a deep bond when their Father is transferred to another city in Nigeria to work. The brothers feel a fit of freedom with his departure and skip school to fish.
The description of the interaction from young Ben, when his father tells his mother he will be leaving for extended periods, sets the stage.
"I remember the night Father returned home with his transfer letter; it was on a Friday. From that Friday through that Saturday, Father and Mother held whispering consultations like shrine priests. By Sunday morning, Mother emerged a different being. She'd acquired the gait of a wet mouse, averting her eyes as she went about the house."
One of my favorite descriptions in the book, is when Ben describes his younger brothers at the end of the book,
"David and Nkem were egrets. The wool-white birds that appear in flocks after a storm, their winds unspotted, their lives unscathed. Although they became egrets in the middle of the storm, they emerged, wings afloat in the air, at the end of it, when everything as I knew it had changed."
What follows is an allegorical tale, that is a mixture of tragedy and redemption.The weight of brotherhood drives the narrative to an apocalyptic end. Its a beautifully written, memorable book.
HISTORY OF WOLVES By EMILY FRIDLUND
Published Janury 3, 2017 by Atlantic Monthly Press
"One of New York Times Notable Books of 2017." Yes, I read this book two years ago and it has stayed with me. This book is not for the faint of heart. Its a book that describes the effects of religious fanaticism- and the impact of devout Christians who question medical intervention and rely on the 'power of prayer.'
Teenage Linda lives in rural Minnesota, her parents live in an aging commune, poor and Christian, struggling, seeking an intervention from God. The young, Gardner family, Petra and Leo move across the Lake, and they request Linda babysit their 4 year old son, Paul. Mrs. Gardener attempts to ingratiate Linda, so she begins to feel like part of the family. Linda remains skeptical and keeps them at arms length, as she slowly untangles a web of deceit. The father, Leo is a mercurial character in the book, and remains elusive, simmering in the background, but his role is pivotal in the destruction of this family.
One of the things I found so remarkable about this book, is how Linda is able to maintain a safe/remote distance from anyone and everyone, including, young adorable Paul. Initially this is what drew me into the book, Its very clear from the beginning, that Linda does not have the nurturing skills necessary to take care of this child.When Paul (who is 4 years old) jumps on her lap unexpectedly, this is her response.
"I prod Paul to go. It's time. But in the second before we rise, before he whines out his protest and asks to stay a little longer, he leans back against my chest, yawning. And my throat cinches closed. Because it's strange, you know? Its marvelous and sad too, how good it can feel to have your body taken for granted."
However, unknowingly, Linda is pulled in, and we as readers, are shocked by the tragic end.
MY NAME IS ASHER LEV BY CHAIM POTOK
Published, July 01, 2009 By, Random House LLC
This is another book I read in 2009 that has resonated with me, through the years. I think it is a profound statement on the power of Art, religion and the relationships between fathers and sons. Asher Lev lives in a cloistered Hasidic community in Brooklyn. The local, Rabbi Rebbe is the 'all knowing' leader of this community who wields power, whens he deems it necessary.
Asher Lev a gifted artist is at odds with his Father who describes his drawings as nonsense and a waste of time. Asher is deeply committed to his family, community and his art and feels torn, that he is unable to please his parents with his decision to pursue Art. Rabbi Rebbe recognizes his gift and provides a mentor for Asher, to assist in cultivating his aesthetic abilities. This decision, proves contentious and deeply divides his relationship with his parents.
Asher's work is a cultural phenomenon both for its beauty and religious connotations. Asher's father never quite grasps the magnitude of his son's gift even as he becomes a Artistic icon.
His father states, "It's a strange feeling to me to hear my son Asher Lev, the painter. When I grew up, a painter was someone who painted the walls and floors of our house. People ask me what you are, and I can't bring myself to tell them you're a painter."
In the end, Asher has to make a choice between the family he loves, his religion and Art. Asher at one point describes his artistic gift as 'disquieting'. I found that word to be an adequate description of the inner turmoil most artists endure throughout their lives. And a term that resonates throughout the book.
MY FATHER'S TEARS BY JOHN UPDIKE
Published By, Random House 2009
"It is easy to love people in memory; the hard thing is to love them when they are there, in front of you." John Updike
John Updike died in January 2009. In the last year of his life; 2 books of short stories were published posthumously, this one and, "The Maple Stories."
In this book, John Updike is clearly reflecting upon his legacy as an author, father of 4 and grandfather to 7 boys. All of the stories provide a nostalgic perspective on love, growing old, 'middle class everyman', religion and notably, contemplating past transgressions and a clear perspective on closing arguments to an impending death.
John Updike is a master of low key fiction, he provides the setting and the place and the characters with a handshake and tears write the story.
"I saw my father cry only once. It was at the Anton train station. I was on my way to Philadelphia, to catch, at the Market Street station, the train that would return me to Boston and to college."
"I was going somewhere, and he was seeing me go. I was growing in my own sense of myself, and to him I was getting smaller. He had loved me, it came to me as never before. It was something that had not needed to be said before, and now his tears were saying it."
I think of John Updike as the master of minimalist writing; a welp of palpable fiction in each sentence. He contemplates the inner struggle and evokes tension and turmoil, with each sentence that takes the reader on a pleasurable journey.
"We do survive every moment, after all, except the last one." John Updike
WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR By, PAUL KALANITHI
Published By, Random House 2016
New York Times Best Seller and Pulitzer Prize Finalist. I read this book in 2016 and it continues to resonate with me. At age 36, after decades worth of training as a Physician, he is diagnosed with Stage IV Lung Cancer. As the tables turn, from physician to patient, his future as a loving husband and physician transposes to what can I do to extend my life or how can I enjoy my remaining days? Its a monumental question with no answer to guide you.
We follow Dr Kalinthi through the maze of medical care, as his health improves and then digresses. It is a whirlwind of emotions, as he struggles to hold onto each and every day. He decides to continue working as a physician, as long as he is able to, because he enjoys helping others, even when his health is clearly declining.
He and his wife decide to have a child, something he and his wife dreamed of and were looking forward to before the diagnosis. This proved to be a challenging question, what does it mean to have a child when you are facing imminent death?
In the words of the Author, "I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, changed nothing and everything."
Upon the birth of his child, "Cady" once again, he feels apprehension and joy, with the remark. "I hope I'll live long enough that she has some memory of me."
His wife, Lucy writes the heart wrenching Epilogue. "Paul died on Monday, March 9, 2015, surrounded by his family, in a hospital bed roughly two hundred yards from the labor and delivery ward where our daughter, Cady, had entered the world eight months before."
Upon rereading this book, I cried once again. It is a deeply moving book, that will leave you in tears but, also with a sense of hope, knowing a man who lived and loved life, knowing death was imminent but love was eternal.
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