the final judgement of suite francaise, by me!

I finished Suite Francaise and it was amazing! it was broken into two sections--"storm" and "dolce." the first one dealt with the war and evacuation. the second was focused on occupation. there were to appendices that were translations of irene's handwritten notes on the novel. they indicated that she meant to write several other "sections" to add, that focused on other parts of the war (i remember one was to be called "captivity"). tragically, she was killed in Auschwitz before they--or any other fantastic works--could be completed.

before reading irene, i had never considered before that a book could be effective, and beautiful, by simply writing characters, moments, descriptions, rather than making a fluid plot the focus. but she achieves plot nonetheless, and i love the way her characters cross paths and contribute in some way to one another.

in addition to her talent and imagination, she is also ironic and intelligent. she makes her point about the depravity of man and the destruction of war by hardly making mention of it. in her notes, she writes "if i want to create something striking, it is not misery i will show but the prosperity that contrasts with it...it must be done by showing contrasts: one word for misery, ten for egotism, cowardice, closing ranks, crime. wont it be wonderful! but its true and its this very atmosphere im breathing."

i especially got caught up in Dolce in the character of Lucile, who tastes true love but is kept from it by war and its complications. the story was unraveled so that i felt the hope and despair of Lucile as she met love and then unexpectedly was deprived of it.

irene nemirovsky wrote several other books before the war and her deportation, so even if you arent interested in the subject of this particular one, check out her other books! she really is a delightful writer and a rare find.

What's in a Name?

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri is the story of a name. We follow this name throughout the novel, there is a sort-of love-hate relationship with the name that the characters develop with the name. Gogol. Yes folks, the name is Gogol. Gogol Ganguli in fact. This is the name of Ashima and Ashoke Ganguli's first-born son. In Indian culture everyone is given 2 names; a "good name" (the official name) and a familiar name, a sort-of nickname. Gogol was supposed to be the familiar name of Gogol Ganguli, but because of certain circumstances (you need to read this book!) it becomes his official name. Ashima and Ashoke marry by arranged marriage and immediately move to the United States where Ashoke (the husband) had been living for many years. Ashima has to adjust to life, and weather, in New York after living her whole life in India. This book is really the story of the Ganguli family. Their whole life unfolds, from the beginning of their marriage to the birth of their 2 children, to death. It's a beautiful story, an intimate look into the lives of Indian-Americans and the struggles they face living so far away from home(Americans can be terribly ignorant and misunderstand Indian culture). The interesting thing about this novel is the way the journey of this family is centered around the name Gogol: why it was the name given to their first born son (it is a Russian name, not an Indian name), how it became his "good name", how Gogol grew to hate his name, and then later how he regretted changing his name to Nikhil (aka Nick-- nice and American nickname).

If you love Indian culture like I do,
If you have any interest in immigrant life in the U.S.,
Or if you love a good story, read this book!

eat, pray, love

I just finished this book, which was loaned to me by a co-worker.
It is in three sections, one per country in which the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, spends four months of dedicating herself to some portion of her healing/finding herself again journey. In Italy, she eats and sleeps and learns Italian just because it is beautiful. In India, she lives in an Ashram and meditates and chants in Sanskrit. In Indonesia, she relaxes and meditates, makes friends, and falls in love again.
I got bored in India and didn't really get into it again until half-way through Indonesia. She has some interesting spiritual beliefs that I don't agree with, mostly, but I couldn't really figure out why until one of the last chapters. It's all about her. She wouldn't say that, but that's how it seems to me. She can't accept that God, or the Universe, or whatever she wants to call her Higher Power, could be beyond human-ness and that his/its ways wouldn't conform to her own understanding. Of course, throughout the book she refers to her beliefs that God is in us, and is us, and that in order to find lasting peace we must only come to realize this and maintain our balance in that truth.
Liz Gilbert wants to find all she needs within herself, and enjoying those around her. The second part, I like, but the first would never work for me.

what i love about...

suite francaise by irene nemirovsky has been a delight so far.
it is basically a series of character sketches and then those characters tend to cross paths in random ways as they all deal with the french's quick defeat in WWII. it is so beautifully and carefully written. she even gives the cat a chapter and a personality :).
highly recommended--i'm halfway through...

Austenland

Shannon Hale usually writes the sort of kid's books that aren't really just for kids. She's branching out into adult novels in Austenland, and she explores the grown-up themes of the quest for true love and the despair of ever really finding it with grace, sympathy, and a lot of really funny one-liners. The heroine, Jane (of course), is a sweet, witty, under-confident graphic designer with a ridiculously awful relationship history and a deep secret crush on Mr. Darcy. A rich distant relative ferrets the secret of her obsession out of her before her death, and leaves her as an inheritance an all-expenses-paid trip to Austenland. Jane's not sure what to think of this resort where the guests immerse themselves in Regency culture, costume, and manners, and are discreetly charmed and "wooed" by male actors, but finally she resolves to take the opportunity as a kind of immersion therapy to put her crush on unattainable male perfection to rest. But can she, really?