Bio about Cultural Revolution in China - A Leaf in the Bitter Wind by Ting-Xing Ye

I couldn't help but think of this book when we read Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. In fact, I think it ruined my reading of the novel because I kept comparing it to this biography! It's a compelling story about a woman who grew up during the Cultural Revolution in China and experienced a similar dismal "re-education" as the narrator of the Little Chinese Seamstress. I definitely recommend it if you are interested in this very volatile and fascinating time.

Did she really learn from Balzac?

These are the questions we should have used for our discussion! A lot better than that poor student's essay questions. We discussed some of these things when we met, including the irony of Luo's desire to "re-educate" the little seamstress when he himself is enduring forced re-education by the state.

http://www.litlovers.com/guide_balzac.html

One thing we didn't discuss was the end of the book and the seamstress's claim she learned from Balzac "that a woman's beauty is treasured beyond price." It's obvious that this novel was influenced by Balzac's writing but what does the seamstress mean by this comment? I like to think that she's a realist, not the romantic dreamer Luo and she's ready to leave the mountain once and for all. She's going to make her fortune however she can rather than leaving her fate to her father or Luo. Thoughts? Counter-arguments? This line left me somewhat stumped when I finished reading and perhaps that's why I was a little dissatisfied as well.

Discussion Questions for Ondaatje's In the Skin of a Lion

For possibly the first time, we could not find discussion questions for a book club selection! I never thought Google would fail me but it happened.

So we decided to make our own questions! It was easy: through discussion of the book, we naturally had questions of our own. That and we've used enough of these sorts of prompts over the years that this felt like familiar territory.

I think the parts that we discussed the most and that intrigued us most were the historical elements Ondaatje encorporated into the narrative. It was fascinating to read about structures in Toronto, such as the Bloor Viaduct and the waterworks, and how they were built. We were all familiar with Ondaatje's literary style and found this book a more satisfying read than Divisadero, a past werking title pick.

And now what you've been waiting for: Discussion Questions! Scholars we are not but these are some topics we wondered and discussed ourselves.



1. Why does Patrick's father become a dynamiter? How does this influence Patrick's life?

2. Patrick watches Finnish loggers skating at night, observing them at play. How does this prelude his later interactions with other immigrant communities?

3. Why does Ondaatje include historical people, places and things in the novel? Ambrose Small and Rowland Harris are historical figures - does this influence the way the novel should be read or does it just ground the story in Toronto history?

4. What is the symbolic significance of Patrick becoming a "searcher"? How is he a searcher throughout his life? What is he searching for?

5. What is the nature of Clara & Alice's relationship?

6. Alice describes several distinct periods in her life. How does her art and career as an actress imitate her life or does her life imitate her art?

7. Patrick is a Canadian-born living and working amid several immigrant communities in Toronto. Describe how the novel illustrates the nature of community and belonging for Patrick and the new immigrants.

8. Throughout the novel there are detailed descriptions of miserable working conditions among the poor and working class and, by contrast, the extravagant lifestyle of the rich, including Harris' decision to use herringbone tiles at the waterworks. What political or social commentary does the novel make?

9. Patrick sets out to destroy public property after Alice dies. Were his actions triggered by grief or is he trying to make a grander social statement? Who does Patrick blame for his grief and how does he choose his targets for the vandalism?

10. Who owned the bag of dynamite Alice was carrying when she died?

11. Was Patrick's confrontation with Harris a dream/fantasy?

12. What does the novel say about obsessive love? How is Clara's relationship with Ambrose toxic? Why does the novel end with Patrick goes to Clara?

13. What is the significance of the title and prefacing quotation from The Epic of Gilgamesh?

Jung, Uncovered

I came across this lengthy but intriguing article about C G Jung in New York Times Magazine. I thought I'd share because we had a lot to say about Jung as a fictional character when we read Timothy Findley's novel Pilgrim.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/magazine/20jung-t.html?pagewanted=1&em

When we read Pilgrim, I knew little about Jung, particularly his personal life. His professional writing and work in psychoanalysis left me a little cold. However, his influence alone makes him interesting and Findley's fictional portrayal in Pilgrim made me wonder what this guy was really like.

This article describes the lengthy and contentious effort to get Jung's mysterious Red Book, published. What caught my attention was the bit about only a handful of people having read a highly sought out book that was stored in a Swiss bank account for decades. That had the book collector in me salivating...

The Red Book was a diary Jung kept during a period of personal crisis. He recorded his dreams, musings, hallucinations and questioned the stability of his mind, like any introspective analyst, I suppose. If I recall correctly, Findley incorporated the Red Book into his novel. It's been so long since we read the book I can't really remember!

Be sure to click on the "multimedia graphics" sidebar" for more pictures of the Red Book, including some incredible full-colour artwork. It looks like a medieval manuscript!

It appears you will be able to buy it at Indigo but with a price tag of $187.50, likely only the most die-hard Jungians will get a copy. Thank goodness for the library!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

LOLOLOL... I saw this and immediately thought of Maria.

Onto Book Three, Delightfully

I'm actually gonna do it. I'm actually gonna get through all five Canada Reads books before the debates! Woo hoo!

I started with The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant, by Michel Tremblay. This is the ultimate example of NOT judging a book by its cover. The front is stark white, with a cheesy circular cutout revealing a waving old woman with too much makeup on... kitchy! Even if the woman is the author's mother... still! However, I loooooved the book. I just found out that almost all of my family comes from Quebec, and although they were moved into southern Ontario by the time the second World War began (which is when this book is set), I still found it fascinating to learn about the slang used by the Quebecois, their thoughts on the Europeans, and the tight communities found in Montreal. The mythological component pushed the book beyond the "really really really good read" point, all the way to, "I'm going to recommend this to everyone I talk to!"

Next came Outlander, by Gil Adamson, which I chose as January's book club book. I must say, so far I'm very impressed by the Canada Reads selections. Outlander is a beautiful account of a half-mad woman running from her dead husband's brothers- and her husband is dead because she shot him with his rifle. Hooey! Well, the account is as beautiful as a story of that nature could be. I loved this book because it's set in the wilderness and tells how the widow survives- through her own actions, and her own dumb luck (or is it fate?) It's an adventure story, a love story, and a thriller all rolled into one. And it's awesome.

Now I'm reading The Book Of Negroes, by Lawrence Hill. I'm only a few pages in, so I can't really comment on it too much yet. But so far, I like it. As mentioned, I've been digging into my family's history lately, and I think my favourite ancestor is my great x 4 grandfather, Jean Baptiste Gignac. He was born in Quebec in 1746, which is right around the time when the protagonist in this story is born (except she was born in Bayo, in the Congo). Being able to relate on that level will make the book much more enjoyable for me, I think!

I Sound Like A Broken Record...

Again, I have to admit to not posting much on this blog. Nothing really to admit to, since it's plainly obvious. Could it be that blogging was just a phase, a trend? Maybe for me. I hope I jump back on the wagon, though, since I do like the idea of blogging. It's just getting around to actually doing it that's a problem. There's a huge, seemingly unavoidable, expanse in my mind, between ideas and actions. Like those giant puddles on every street corner in Toronto, after a snowstorm followed by a rise in temperature followed by a rain shower (such weird weather we have). Meh!

Anyways- I'm posting today about Canada Reads! The books have been announced, and I've chosen one for our next book. The Outlander, by Gil Adamson. I read the summaries for each book, and this one seemed the most interesting to me. Plus, it shares a name with one of my all-time favourite books, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I don't think the books will share much else than that, though.

I'm hoping to get through all of the five chosen books for this year's Canada Reads debate. I've never been able to do it before- I've never even gotten close (probably because I haven't really tried). This year, though, will be different. Ha! Luckily, there are a couple lighter reads, mixed in with some of the daunting, heavier ones (literally, and subject-ively speaking).

Oh, if anyone is struggling to think of a gift for me, you can pick me up all five books at a discount from CBC... just thought I'd throw that out there! LOL!

If Only... IFOA... International Festival of Authors

I say "if only..." because I know I won't end up going to any of these readings. And, of course, I think saying the acronym out loud is kinda funny. LOL. It's a great festival though, and I thought it would be worth a post on here...

The 29th Annual International Festival of Authors runs from October 22nd to November 1st, and features readings, interviews, lectures, round table discussions and book signings with the most popular Canadian and world literature writers. It all goes down at the Harbourfront Centre.

Some of the authors we've read in our book club will be making an appearance, like David Bergen, Joseph Boyden, Austin Clarke (our fave! lol), Paul Quarrington, and David Adams Richards. Other authors I'd like to see include Farley Mowat, Roddy Doyle, Rohinton Mistry, Nino Ricci, and M.G. Vassanji.

I'd actually be interested in going to see Farley Mowat on November 1st (it's $15). Anyone wanna join me?

The Booker Prize has been announced

This is the text of the article on BBC News:

Aravind Adiga has won this year's Man Booker Prize with his debut novel The White Tiger.
The 33-year-old Indian-born writer was also the youngest author on the shortlist for the £50,000 prize. He wrote "the kind of book I'd like to read", he told the BBC. "I like books that have ideas in them and that move and entertain."

The chairman of the judges, former politician Michael Portillo, said: "In many ways it was the perfect novel." Adiga beat favourite Sebastian Barry to take the accolade as well as the other contenders, Amitav Ghosh, Steve Toltz, Linda Grant and Philip Hensher.

The White Tiger, a tale of two Indias, tells the story of Balram, the son of a rickshaw puller in the heartlands, one of the "faceless" poor left behind by the country's recent economic boom. It charts his journey from working in a teashop to entrepreneurial success.

"Making it to the shortlist on a first novel is sort of like winning and anything beyond that is quite a bonus," Adiga said. He said the book was set in today's India and "revolves around the great divide between those Indians who have made it and those who have not". "At the heart of the book it is something existential," he added. "It's a quest to break out of the circumstances you find yourself in - it's a quest for freedom."

'Perfect novel'

Announcing the winner at a ceremony in London, Mr Portillo said: "My criteria were 'Does it knock my socks off?' and this one did ... the others impressed me ... this one knocked my socks off." Mr Portillo said what set the book apart was its originality in showing "the dark side of India". He said: "The novel is in many ways perfect. It is quite difficult to find any structural flaws with it."

There were more than two contenders for the prize on the shortlist, but the winner was "absolutely not a compromise", Mr Portillo added. "There really was a decision. The judges were asked to express their satisfaction and they all did."

Adiga is the fourth first-time novelist to win the prize. Previous debut winners were Keri Hulme's The Bone People in 1985; Arundhati Roy in 1997 for God of Small Things; and Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre in 2003. Adiga is a former correspondent for Time magazine and has written for the Independent and the Sunday Times. The win means he can expect an upturn in sales and added recognition.

'Exciting winner'

According to Amazon.co.uk, the six books enjoyed average sales rises of 700% following the announcement of the shortlist last month. Booksellers Foyles said it was a "very exciting winner for bookshops" adding it could prove as popular as The Life of Pi, the Booker’s best-selling winner.

The five other shortlisted authors can also expect a rise in sales. Adiga, who had been given odds of 7/1 to win before the ceremony, dedicated the award to "the people of New Delhi". Irish writer Barry had been tipped to take the prize at 7/4 by bookmakers William Hill. The bookmakers' favourite has not won since Yann Martel in 2002.

Of the six authors in contention for this year's Man Booker, only Barry had ever been shortlisted in the past - in 2005 for A Long Long Way. Grant and Hensher had both previously been longlisted.

The award, which honours the best fiction written in English by an author from the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth, was handed out at the Guildhall in London on Tuesday.

Review of Blasted, by Kate Story

So I finished Blasted by Kate Story.


I think this book is a simple, classic example of Magic Realism, where weird or magical things happen in a "normal" setting. Ruby currently lives in Toronto, but spent her childhood in Newfoundland. The story goes from present-day Toronto to the St. John's of the early eighties or so. I cannot say much about the description of St. John's, but the current Toronto is described from the perspective of someone who lives there (I like this type of narrative, it's what got me hooked on British chick-lit, because it described London as I knew it).

In the beginning I was enjoying the setup and the descriptions of the places, though I thought that the language could have been funnier or lighter to describe some of the situations. As the story progresses, stranger and stranger things start to happen. I found these interesting in the beginning, but after a while I just got frustrated thinking "ok, I understand, get on with the story". As the story went on, the main character, Ruby, reminded me more and more of the brat girl in Elise Levine's Requests and Dedications, and I started to get annoyed.

The book is enjoyable and, as I say, I loved the description of the places. The magic realism elements were fun as well, and probably well-researched (this I have to assume, since I know nothing about Newfoundland mythology and superstitions). But I believe the situations were kept going for a bit too long. I just got annoyed by the book and by the main character. It could have ended 100 pages earlier, I believe.

New Look

So, I decided to waste some time at work today, and I picked a new design for the site. The links on the old site were just really hard to read... and I couldn't figure out how to fix it. So, I started from scratch! It's cleaner, brighter, and there's a couple of new features... a slide show of all the pics on Flickr with the tag "[werking title]", and a literary quote of the day gadget. And oh, there's an Indigo search tool near the bottom, there. Fluff, really, but neat fluff!

I hope you guys like it. :)

Discussion Questions for Acsension

Because I had trouble finding some discussion questions online and had to make some up, I figured I'd post them on here for anyone else looking! These were prompted from a couple reviews I read about the book. Here goes...

1. The strength of this novel is the author's ability to sustain tension. In a number of scenes on the high wire, the author has a remarkable ability to involve the reader in the action, although some of the descriptions of circus tricks are difficult to picture. Do you agree?

2. Galloway offers an excellent description of the horrendous 1945 big-top fire in Boise, Idaho, in which 112 people died, bringing the age of large tent circuses to an end. Did the facts seem to over shadow the story? Did the insertion of this factual event seem natural to the story?

3. The book is also riddled with gypsy tales that have the feel of genuine folk stories straight from the forests of Eastern Europe. Even though we meet the many people who have inhabited Salvo's world, including the extended Fisher-Fielding family, which is in constant struggle over control of the circus, it is his loneliness on the high wire that we feel most keenly. Do you agree? Do you feel the Rom tales help or hinder the flow of the story?

4. How their story is told is more notable than the story itself… do you agree? There should be some dramatic tension, but this is denied. Was this on purpose? It might be argued that by using familiar expressions and simple sentences Galloway is placing Ascension on the level of folklore, fitting his literary effort in with the novel's interspersed Romany tales. I wonder if Galloway’s other novels are similarly drab?

5. Many promising symbols and thematic threads—bears, fire, adoption and belonging—are introduced then left unexplored. Some make sense if you puzzle them out, but are emotionally unsatisfying. What do these symbols mean? When his characters die, we don't grieve. When they mourn, we don't mourn with them. What do you think Galloway could’ve done differently, to portray his character's emotions more engagingly?

And here's a link to a great interview I found with Galloway, from 2004:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/bwriting/stories/s1182874.htm
(you'll have to scroll down a bit to get to the Galloway part)

Comfort Food, by Kate Jacobs

This is not a very book-cluby type of book, but I wanted to write about it anyway.

When I first heard of this book, I thought it was a cooking book, because of the title. But it is a novel, by the same author of The Friday Night Knitting Club. I didn't have a chance to read that book but some of my knitting friends said it was good, so I was glad to have the opportunity to read her next novel.

It is the story of Gus Simpson, the most famous cooking celebrity in the Food Channel. Gus is going through some changes in life and is forced to evaluate who she is and what she has done so far with her life, including her family and her professional life.

It is nice and agreeable read. Jacobs's style is best-selling type, easy to read and entertaining to follow. It has a lot of pop-cultural references and I wonder if she based any of her characters on real people, not that I would know who they are, but sometimes insiders recognize someone they know in this type of books.
The book has really good character development and an easy to follow story. It is in the chick-lit style but I believe it appeals to a wider demographic, from mothers and grandmothers to young women.
I have to confess that I developed a fondness for the characters and I even shed a couple of tears when I was reading their story. I read the whole book in less than a week and I kept looking forward to reading, I wanted to know what would happen to these people.

I recommend this book as an easy, agreeable read, again, not the book club type.
Also, although it talks a lot about food (and a lot about Spanish food, which I looooooove!!) it has no recipes.
Kate Jacobs has a website and a blog.

Keep Toronto Reading and Redhill's Consolation

Hey guys! There are tonnes of book events happening this week, mostly to do with this year's Keep Toronto Reading Program, which continues until the end of the month. I'm gonna try my damndest to get to one of the Consolation events... I'd really like to go to the events focused on the history of Toronto. Anyway... here's a link to the events listing:

http://www.blogto.com/books_lit/2008/02/bookmark_this_february_5th_to_february_11th_2008

This Week's Literary Events...

Summarized. Here's a link!

http://www.blogto.com/books_lit/2008/01/bookmark_this_january_22nd_28th_2008/