Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

First things first. I've already read Born a Crime and reviewed it, once. So, here's my 2016 review of Born a Crime. This time, I read the book for group discussion and then it rained on the night of the meeting. I won't drive the 30 miles to my book group when it rains because the traffic is a little too dangerous driving through our God-kicked-over-the-bucket downpours, but I did get to talk to our group's host to see what people thought.

The general consensus was that everyone loved the book and thought it was a nice, light read for summer. I didn't get to hear any specifics, otherwise, but my friend Jeanine gave me permission to quote her thoughts from an email:

"This was one of the most entertaining books I have read in a long time. I thought it gave an interesting take on what it's like being on the inside of Apartheid while still managing to keep things moving and sparing us the most agonizing details. That's good for a summer read. At the same time, it's a good lesson about the resiliency of the human spirit in difficult circumstances." 

I had some thoughts that were a bit different, this time around, and I'll just mention one thing that meant a bit more to me. The first time I read Born a Crime, I had not yet been to South Africa. So it was interesting, the second time, reading about Trevor Noah's time in the townships and actually having a frame of reference. We would call townships the poor side of town or maybe something like the "projects". He does a great job of describing what they look like. You see a lot of tin shacks and small houses built from blocks, stores set up inside shipping containers, and sometimes just a random wall or set of walls. I wondered about the walls. He said people will at first build a shack and then they'll slowly build on by adding a wall at a time and then eventually putting on a roof. But, they're people who have very little money so it takes time to build and that's why you'll see these really random looking walls beside the shacks.

I flipped through my pictures from Langa, a township in the Cape Town area and found a shot of some smaller tin homes next to houses:

Langa doesn't look slummy; it's a poor area but really a fairly tidy, functioning community. The thing that interested me the most was the fact that it's pretty much an island unto itself, according to the man who took us on a tour through the township. Some people leave to work jobs in the city but you can do all of your shopping, get a haircut, order phone service, and go to school, etc., within the township. It's a necessity for the township to function that way because not everyone has access or the money to afford transportation to the big city, which in this case was Cape Town. That reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Born a Crime:

People always lecture the poor: "Take responsibility for yourself! Make something of yourself!" But with what raw materials are the poor to make something of themselves?

People love to say, "Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime." What they don't say is, "And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod."

~from p. 190 of Born a Crime

Highly recommended - One of my top 5 memoirs of all time. I need to find a copy of this book on audio because I've heard it's even better hearing it read by Noah. It would definitely be helpful to hear some of the African words pronounced. A wonderful true story of life as an outsider in his own country, life during Apartheid and after, life as a poor person who learned that humor makes anything bearable. I just can't say enough positive things about this book.

©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar

The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar is a book that I reread to familiarize myself with the story before moving on to The Secrets Between Us, the follow-up by the same author. Because I read The Space Between Us in 2006, just before I began blogging, I've never reviewed it anywhere beyond the website for HarperCollins' long-defunct First Look program, so I'm unable to link back to my thoughts at the time I first read it.

The Space Between Us is the story of Bhima and her relationship to her employer, Sera Dubash. Bhima has been working for Sera for 30 years. During that time, she has helped raise Sera's children, tended to the bruises inflicted by Sera's cruel husband and helped her through his death, cooked, shopped, cleaned. She's been a part of Sera's life and Sera has treated her well, yet looked down at Bhima as a resident of a Bombay slum, at the same time. Now, Bhima's granddaughter, Maya, has fallen pregnant. Sera has been paying for Maya's college education as a kindness to Bhima.

As Bhima tends to a granddaughter who is both depressed and suffering from morning sickness, she is often late for work and Sera is gradually becoming frustrated. The Dubash family encourages Bhima to take Maya for an abortion, the only way she can be saved from ruining her chances at finishing her education and hopefully improve her lot in life. While the present dilemma is described, the stories of both women unfold -- their marriages, hardships, and how the two women comforted each other through many crises. But, resentment is growing on both sides and when Bhima makes a shocking discovery, what will happen?

Highly recommended - Masterful storytelling. When I started reading The Space Between Us for the second time, I remembered more the feeling of the book than the story itself. I knew it had left me moved and uplifted, but beyond that I didn't remember a thing apart from where it was set and the fact that the main character had a rough life. So, I wasn't sure what to expect at all. Bhima's story is a tale of someone whose life gradually falls apart. She didn't begin her marriage in the slums and it's hard reading about the family's downfall. But, it ends on a glorious, hopeful note.

I think the most outstanding thing about The Space Between Us is the power of its shifting perspectives and the use of memories. Umrigar unfolds the two women's stories brilliantly, taking you back and forth in time to show their unfolding stories so seamlessly that you never get the sensation that you're leaping back and forth so much as the impression that the colors and dimensions of their lives and personalities are being filled in. Wonderful writing and I'm glad I had an excuse to revisit this story.


©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - Thoughts and F2F group discussion

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman was a reread for me and I'm not sure I ever actually wrote about it on the blog when I read it, before. At least, I couldn't find a review when I looked via Google. Incidentally, this serves as a great reminder that my blog search feature has not worked in years. The best way to look for a review on my blog is to go to Google and type in the title of a book you hope I've reviewed and "Bookfoolery". If I've reviewed the book at this blog (or even mentioned it), there will be a link.

Back to the book. The first time I read The Graveyard Book, I checked it out from my local library because I've always been a little iffy about Gaiman. I fall instantly in love with about half of his books and the other half are let-downs. I never know which will be the case and will often check his books out from the library before buying them.

I remembered exactly why I didn't love The Graveyard Book, the first time. It's got a pretty scary opening. At the beginning, a toddler's family is murdered but he's saved by the fact that he's a wanderer and the door to the house was left open. After roaming to the local graveyard (which is also a nature reserve and has been closed to new burials for some time), the murderer pursues him but the ghosts in the graveyard agree to let one ghostly couple adopt him and to work together to protect him from the man who wants him dead.

It was the gory opening that I disliked. I'm prone to nightmares and have been since I was small, so I tend to be sensitive to books that are marketed to children but which I think could give some of them nightmares. And, The Graveyard Book certainly would have given me nightmares as a child.

On the second reading, though, I knew what was coming and enjoyed it for the atmosphere, the unique setting, and the story. I didn't mind the murder at all because I knew it had to happen for little Nobody Owens, or "Bod", to enter the world of the ghosts in the graveyard. In other words, I was free to appreciate the book, the second time. And, boy, did I. Especially at the beginning of the book, I could imagine reading the book aloud to children. It's so beautifully written and atmospheric, just a stunning beginning with fog creeping around the door frame and this giggly little child completely unaware of the danger while you're thinking, "Hurry, child, hurry," and feeling the chill in the air.

And, then, the happenings in the graveyard are both wildly creative and somehow believable.  "What would happen to a human who grew up with ghosts?" One of the group members asked, and then answering herself, said: "He'd learn to fade." In other words, those little magical touches within the book seem utterly sensible, given the context.

We didn't do a show of hands but I'd say more than half of my group liked The Graveyard Book. Of the ones who didn't like it, one said it was just too geared toward children and he's not really interested in children's books. One was the member who had stopped discussion of Gaiman completely when I tried to recommend his books for discussion, earlier in the year, and she said she's just not interested in anything otherworldly at all - ghosts/spirits, scifi, fantasy, etc. She's only interested in realistic fiction. One woman said, "I don't have a problem with that. I've seen ghosts." One said, "I didn't understand the purpose of the murder, apart from placing the child in the graveyard. Why was the murderer after him, in particular?" And, another member said, "I can't analyze books like you guys do, but when I opened the book I stepped into the graveyard with Bod and stayed till I closed it. I enjoyed it. It was an experience."

What a fun discussion! We didn't have any discussion questions and we went off-topic a bit more than I think some of us would have liked to but the discussion was noisy because the opinions were so divided. I was not the only person who had trouble with a book with such a terrifying opening being marketed to children. But, apparently, I'm the only person in my group who hasn't read The Jungle Book. One member commented on the episodic nature of the book (which I noticed this time - it almost felt like interconnected short stories rather than a novel) and the group member who recommended The Graveyard Book noted that it's based on The Jungle Book, so that episodic aspect is deliberate.

OK. So, I have to read The Jungle Book, soon. Fortunately, I have a copy. The bottom line is that I liked The Graveyard Book much more the second time around. Whether or not it's appropriate for children seems to be up for debate, but the writing is stunning, you get a little peek into history via the ghosts from different eras (one of whom, for example, has no idea what a banana is), and it is, in fact, a book that won an award for excellence in children's writing, so somewhere there's a panel of people who thought it was just fine and dandy for kids. I'd still keep it from children who are prone to nightmares or read it with them.

©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

More minis: Well Wished by Billingsley (reread), Orphan Train by Kline (reread), I Love It When You Talk Retro by Ralph Keyes

She eased onto the ice and cast her words in front of her, threading the air with her voice and tugging it taut with a bright invisible line. And the ice flowed into her legs -- or maybe it was that her legs flowed into the ice -- and even when she took the air in a jump there was some secret that whispered between the ice and her feet. 

[p. 62]

Well Wished by Franny Billingsley is a reread but I'll go ahead and write a bit about it, just for grins and because I happen to love Franny Billingsley's writing.

Nuria lives with her grandfather, whom she calls "the Avy", in tiny Bishop Mayne, a village with a magical Wishing Well. One can only make a single wish in a lifetime and that wish must be worded very carefully or things can go very, very wrong. One such wish caused all the children in town to disappear -- all but 11-year-old Nuria, who lives up on the mountain.

When a single child returns, Nuria becomes friends with her. Catty Winter is unable to walk after illness took away the use of her legs. She and Nuria spend time together in a cabinet under the stairs, which they have decorated. They're very imaginative children. When Catty convinces Nuria to make a wish with her and the wish goes horribly wrong, Nuria wants to rescind the wish. But, Catty does not. How will she convince Catty to speak up so things can return to normal but without making Catty's life as bad as it was, before?

Highly Recommended - There are a lot of things I love about Well Wished: its complexity, the relationship between Nuria and her grandfather, the creativity of the children, the word game ("Bring me a description") Nuria plays with the Avy, the way the story is resolved. It's a lovely story. I read a few reviews while I was reading the book because I noticed it didn't have a very high rating at Goodreads and found that some people considered Nuria a bit snarky. She's a wit, definitely, but I don't think of her as negative. Rather, it seemed to me that she's a good person who wants to do the right thing. And, the writing is lovely.

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is also a reread. This time, I read it for discussion with my local book group. I suggested it when our group leader asked me if I knew of any discussion-worthy books that weren't downers, as we'd read a series of truly dreary books and everyone was in need of an upper. I recommended Orphan Train, which she quickly read and added to the schedule for discussion.

I'm not going to write a full description since I've reviewed Orphan Train in the past (that's a link, at left, to my old review) but it's a story that flits between the story of a teenager in foster care in the present day and a historical story about a young orphaned Irish girl who was sent on a train to the West. Their lives, as it turns out, bear some uncanny parallels. The story ends on a very happy note.

We discussed Orphan Train, last month, and used some of the questions in the paperback version for discussion (but it was also a partly organic conversation). I don't recall anyone at all saying they disliked the story and it was definitely a good choice. Everyone was relieved to have a break from sadder reading material and there was plenty to talk about.

Still highly recommended - Loved it the first time; appreciated Orphan Train even more upon rereading.

I Love It When You Talk Retro by Ralph Keyes is about the crazy things we say, the origins of some of the words and phrases that we use, and how some of them have been altered by time, shifting their meaning -- sometimes to its opposite.

I bought I Love It When You Talk Retro as a remainder and had set it on the end table with the thought that I planned to read it soon. If you're a regular here, you know I decided to go ahead and read the book after my husband spilled coffee all over my copy. It's not in great shape.

Although I can't recall what rating I gave the book, I liked it a lot but didn't love it. The history of words and phrases is, of course, fascinating to me because I'm a lover of words (I'll bet most of you share that with me). There were only a couple problems with the book. One is that sometimes the author was wrong. It didn't happen often, as far as I know, but I did catch a few mistakes. The second problem is that the author seemed to grow tired of his subject matter toward the end of the book. Within the last 50 pages, the depth of history seems to narrow, the passion wanes and the reader is left with questions that were answered earlier in the book when describing other retro terminology. The final problem is kind of shocking for the type of book: the author inserts his opinion where it is absolutely not appropriate. He may, for  example, say the origin of a phrase came from a particularly bad movie, for example -- his opinion, not necessarily the opinion of the reader or even the popular viewpoint.

Recommended with slight hesitation - Because of the three problems mentioned, I can't give I Love It When You Talk Retro an enthusiastic recommendation but it was fascinating enough that I occasionally read passages to my husband and he enjoyed them as much as I did. So, it's worth reading, even though it may not be a perfect book.


©2015 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.