The Blind Contessa’s New Machine tells the story of a young inventor, Turri, and a young Contessa, Carolina. When Carolina slowly goes blind, Turri creates a machine to help her write letters to her family and friends. However, the book isn’t really about the typewriter–it’s a love story. Turri’s inquisitiveness and Carolina’s blindness set them apart from their families and friends. No one really knows how to relate to Turri; his family and neighbors think of him more as a curiosity. Carolina’s husband is confused at what to do with his wife. He wants to please her, but at the same time he tries to protect her too much and fences in a young woman who longs to explore the world around her. These two characters really have no one but each other, so watching them find each other is lovely and I dreaded the thought that their affair might be discovered. Great summer reading.
Book Recommendations
The Blind Contessa’s New Machine by Carey Wallace
The Quickening by Michelle Hoover
A debut novel that captures Iowa farm life, but especially the lives of Iowa farm women. This is the story of two very different personalities who are bound by the loneliness of place. Mary and Enidina’s perspectives, struggles and values are elegantly told through the use of alternating chapters detailing their lives.
Enedina’s chapters are written to her grandson of the future, wanting to capture their life for him. He is a grandson she never meets and her story reveals why. Mary’s chapters tell of a life of secrets and self-delusion. The inner life of each is delicately and intimately displayed.
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Jennifer Egan has written another brilliant and entirely original novel showcasing not only her compelling writing but also her keen sense of where modern technology is taking us. A Visit From the Goon Squad is made up of chapters about different people in the music business. While each chapter can stand alone, this is not a collection of short stories. The stories are fully related to one another with the same characters showing up in different contexts, sometimes at different times in their lives for a result that is truly greater than the sum of its wonderful parts. Main characters include Sasha, a kleptomaniac, her record producer boss Bennie and Lou, another record producer whose life clearly peaked in the 70’s with drugs, sex and teenage girls.
The “Goon” of the title is time and leaves few of these characters better off but the storytelling transcends what could be depressing tales. One chapter is written in the form of a Power Point presentation created by Sasha’s teenage daughter. What could have been gimmicky is instead transformed by Egan’s wonderful writing into a surprisingly touching and effective story.
The final chapter that takes place in the near future is such brilliantly creative yet deceptively simple storytelling that I didn’t want it to end. In fact, I found myself wanting to read about those characters in a full novel by themselves. Anyone who is interested in the best of modern literature needs to discover Jennifer Egan. I also highly recommend her earlier novel, Look At Me.
Small Wonder by Barbara Kingsolver
While I was receiving books at Bear Pond recently, I was curious about the influx of Barbara Kingsolver books: Bean Trees, Animal Dreams, Poisonwood Bible, Prodigal Summer and Small Wonder. What was spurring this resurgence? The reason for these arrivals is The Lacuna is about to be released early in paperback.
I’ve read most of Kingsolver’s books. I’ve observed the evolution of her realistic prose over the years culminating in my favorite, The Poisonwood Bible. I thought this would be a good time to read one of her books I hadn’t. I chose Small Wonder which is a collection of essays published in 2002 with topics ranging from making sense of the 9/11 aftermath, to the fragility of nature and onto the intimate bonds of daughter and mother.
It’s poignant and wonderful to be reconnected with her writing. Each essay opens with a stunningly muted illustration by Paul Mirocha all offering a sense of wonder. An essay, entitled “Lily’s Chickens” presents a universal lesson on the impact of over consumption on the environment.
Laura Ciolkowski of the New York Times criticized Kingsolver’s “heavy-handed wisdom as unfulfilling.” But I found her overall requisite, easy going voice comforting and easily understood.
If you have read Kingsolver but not Small Wonder, try it. If you have not read Kingsolver now is a good time to start. With the early paperback release of The Lacuna you will find a nice selection of her books at Bear Pond.
This is Just Exactly Like You by Drew Perry
Did you ever know someone who consistently made a complete mess of his life but you just couldn’t help loving him anyway? Meet Jack Lang, the central character in Drew Perry’s This is Just Exactly Like You. His wife has left him to move in with his best friend, his best friend’s ex-girlfriend is putting the moves on him and his mute six year old son with autism has started speaking in complete sentences – in perfect Spanish.
Jack buys real estate on impulse, starts home improvement projects he can’t finish and generally makes so many ill-advised decisions it’s hard to keep up. But through it all you find yourself rooting for him and you slowly realize that Jack may not be as messed up as he first appears.
Ostensibly a novel about suburban ennui and modern marriage, the story is much, much more. It’s a well-drawn portrait of the ways men and women think differently, how some people need to control while others can just BE. As the parent of a child with autism, I also felt Perry’s depiction of raising a child with challenges was spot on, from enduring touchy-feely therapists to rebuffing rude stares, we see Jack learning to love his son just as he is without expecting more, which is not a bad thing for any of us to learn. The book also provides plenty of laughs along the way and it may just leave you with a desire to live as impetuously as Jack does – just to see what happens next.
The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons edited by Jerry Beck
Really, how can you not want this book? Just one look at the table of contents, which is a list of stills from the cartoons discussed in the book, will shoot you back to Saturday mornings in your pajamas in front of the TV. With the turn of every page you’ll be saying, “I remember that one! I used to love that one!” You’ll then continue to scour the book looking for your all time favorite cartoons. 100 Greatest lists some of the better-known ones like Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 Century and What’s Opera, Doc (who didn’t sing “Kill the Wabbit” along with Elmer every time it was on?) and some of the ones you may not remember so well like The Dover Boys at Pimento University and High Note (unless you’re like me and have an insane love for Looney Tunes). Plot and commentary is given for each cartoon to help further your appreciation of the shorts. Great fun and scarily hypnotic.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
How to describe this book? Magic for grown-ups? Harry Potter with an inferiority complex? Quentin Coldwater, a high school senior math whiz who’s obsessed with a fantasy land called Fillory, stumbles – or is he drawn? – into a magic college. Suddenly, he’s at home. Sort of. There, he makes friends and meets the woman who may be the love of his life. Oh, and he learns how to do magic. Quite nicely, too. Then, he graduates, and he and his friends are magicians with no purpose or goal, just ennui and disillusionment. Betrayals and bitterness soon follow, so when the chance to embark on an actual Quest – to Fillory! – arises, Quentin and friends leap at it. Magicians is occasionally very funny and frequently very horrifying. It’s always compelling. I had images of scenes from this running through my head for quite a few days after I finished it. Grossman is a very good writer.
The Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurst
You’ve probably never heard of Dirk Hayhurst. He’s pitched mostly in the minors, with a couple cups of coffee in the majors. He’s a bullpenner. He’s also written what might be the best baseball book I’ve read next to Ball Four. [Nothing's better than Ball Four. Thank you, Jim Bouton.] Gospels is the story of Hayhurst’s life in the minor leagues: the teammates, the travel, the travails. It’s hilarious. It’s heartbreaking. It’s baseball. I’d quote some excerpts here, but I really can’t…
The Tricking of Freya by Christina Sunley
This was one of our Iceland selections for the May Mystery Club reading and was really a wonderful surprise. Set in the Canadian town of Gimli [also known as New Iceland] and in Iceland itself, it’s the story of Freya Morris, her mother, and her unforgettable, magnetic, crazy Aunt Birdie. Freya, haunted by the the accident she feels she’s caused her mother to have and her aunt’s increasing unbalance and subsequent suicide [on Freya's birthday, no less], abandons the family for a solitary New York life. 15 years later, she’s called back to Gimli for her grandmother’s 100th birthday. While there, she overhears talk of a child her aunt had and gave up for adoption. Freya searches for the mysterious cousin. The book’s about family history, about Norse mythology, and about the wondrous beauty and history of Iceland. It’s lovely. Really. Read it.
Children of Hurin by J. R. R. Tolkien
In today’s world of “internet speak”, lingo, and acronyms, it can be hard to maintain faith in the English language. I’m certainly no linguistic scholar myself, but it can be unnerving to watch the standard of quality for writing drop. That’s why it has been so refreshing to read Children of Hurin. Here’s something that was written in the 1900’s, yet adheres to a complex poetic format and reads like a greek tragedy. Tolkien’s linguistic mastery is allowed to fully shine in this tale, but it doesn’t make it inaccessible. To the contrary, it is much more adult than the Hobbit and much shorter than Lord of the Rings, making it easy to get into. Also, because it is fleshing out more the history and lore of the world Tolkien created, fanboys like myself have plenty to dig into as well. I’d say the only real deterrent I found while reading this book was just how tragic the story actually is, which is also a testament to its’ legitimacy. The story itself details the tragic story of Hurin, a great leader taken prisoner in battle, and his enemy’s attempt to break his will by forcing him to witness the convoluted and intertwined downfall of the rest of his family. The bulk of the tale focuses on the son, Turin, who’s greatest motivation comes from avenging his presumed dead father. His struggle to rise to greatness ripples outwards, sending events into motion on a larger and larger scale that further his and his family’s doom. The myriad plotlines that develop, the attention to detail, and the brutally ironic nature of the book are handled perfectly by Tolkien.
J. R. R.’s son, Christopher, edits this and all of his other posthumous works. Unlike the other works, however, the text of this story runs uninterrupted by notes, and seems minimally altered. After hearing about the battle J. R. R. had with his editors over his other books, it’s good to know that his son took care to keep this story genuine.
