A MILLION LITTLE PIECES- by james frey

James Frey wrote about his personal experience with addiction and rehabilitation in A Million Little Pieces. At the age of 23, he woke up to find himself on an airplane, missing four teeth, and with a hole in the side of his cheek. He didn't know where he was headed, but soon learned that a friend had boarded him on the plane and sent him to meet his parents who would bring him to a rehab facility. Realizing that after thirteen years of abusing alcohol and drugs, along with several criminal charges, things weren't looking up, so he agreed to stay at the facility for the time being. The rest of the book describes his experiences with rehab, including both struggles and triumphs.
Parts of the book were so disturbingly descriptive that I couldn't read them and had to skim. Those same parts were what took the book from a simple retelling of events to an experience that the readers took part in. Regardless of the controversy over how much Frey embellished the facts, this book was a winner.
Netflix rating? 4/5 stars.

A Gesture Life

Most of us have an incident or event that we would like to atone for, but rarely do we go as far as Franklin, the protaganist of A Gesture Life by Chang-Rae Lee. This was a back up pick for book club but I decided I'd be better off by reading it, and I think I was. We learn early that Franklin once lived with someone named Sunny, but it's not clear who Sunny is, or what relation she is to Franklin. In a unique use of flashback, Mr. Lee recounts Franklin's stint in the Japanese army as a medic during WWII. He faces moral and ethical decisions everyday, many that regardless of his choice, have negative outcomes. When "volunteer" comfort women are brought to the camp to keep the morale high, it is Franklin's responsibility to make sure they are kept fit. He is a witness to, and asked to be an accomplice to, life changing violence. Years later he adopts Sunny as a young child as a way to make up for his role in the destruction of the young womens' lives.
In his later, American, life, Franklin makes a series of gestures, or tokens, to atone for everything he's been through. He's a model shopkeeper, a diligent neighbor, and a loyal friend. But no matter what he does, misfortune seems to prey on those he loves. Not one to be dogged down, he gives everything he can for those around him. It doesn't come off as desperate or pathetic, however, as he doesn't ask for recognition.
I enjoyed this book; it was an easy but thoughtful read and I'll give it 4/5 Netflix stars.
Wine pairing: Retsina Wine by Boutari. This Greek wine has pine overtones that Franklin would appreciate as they'd remind him of his well minded suburban garden. The woodsiness might also be reminiscent of working in the field during the war.

Fictions

I've recently been reminded that just because I can read English, doesn't mean it's always easy to comprehend. After my trip to Costa Rica I picked up a Latin American author, Carlos Fuentes (from my bookshelf) and although just 30 pages into the book, felt stymied. I can often read more than one book at a time (taking one with me for my commute and keeping the other on the bedside) so I picked up another bookshelf book-- Proust's Swann's Way. Not a difficult read, but dense and long. I was getting nowhere fast. Mihee had the bookclub pick and sent us three choices: Riders in the Chariot by Patrick White , A Gesture Life by Chang-Rae Lee and Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges . Thankful for a distraction, I ordered all three from the library. I looked them all over and felt like all would be worthwhile reads. Mihee picked Fictions and as soon as I started it, I felt over my head. Since I felt like the difficulties in my personal life were intruding into my reading, making it less fun than it should be, I started reading A Gesture Life, which was less onerous. I'll report on that one soon, but in the meantime, I gave Fictions the old college try. Which was fitting because I found a Spanish lit text from college and saw that I had read two stories (in Spanish) and apparently understood them enough to take notes in the margins. We focussed on one story for book club and you can see Steph's synopsis below. I went ahead and read the rest of the stories and appreciated the common themes of labyrinths, secrets, math and philosophy. His stories are timeless and take place in both real and imagined locations. Alternate and multiple realities are presented in many stories and heroes and villains are one in the same. When I was struggling with the stories, I talked to my mom and she assured me I'd feel accomplished once I finished the book, and sure enough I did. But just as one cannot watch foreign films and good for you documentaries all the time, one sometimes needs a cheap read. In case, I have this sitting on my bedside table to break open in case of emergency.

FICCIONES- by jorge luis borges

I'd anticipated great things for this novel based on the reviews of amazon customers. Five stars! By 67 of the 71 reviewers! Of the other four, three gave it four stars, and one gave it three. On paper it looked great, but I soon came to realize that these reviewers must all be the brilliantly smart, literary type. I had no clue what I was reading about. If I'd accidentally purchased the Spanish version, I might not have felt so bad, but it was all in English, and I was still lost. Part of it was that my mind wandered, and I'd have to back up and read the page again, but even when I focused, I was confused. Luckily, it's a bookclub book, and the host this month decided to pick one of the stories (I didn't mention, but it's a collection of short stories) to focus on. So I gave up at page 34, and skipped ahead to read the chapter entitled "The Garden of Forking Paths." This was much easier to handle, and the only part I understood, so this review will be on just that chapter.
Dr. Yu Tsun is a spy for the German government during WW1. He's figured out the location of a British ammunition area, and by the seemingly random events that occur, conveys this information to the Germans. He's being pursued by a British soldier, and knows he will soon be caught, so takes a train to see Dr. Stephan Albert. Once there, Albert shares some information he'd uncovered about Tsun's old relative, and the confusing book and labyrinth he'd written/constructed. Though excited about this discovery, Tsun shoots Albert in the back right before the British soldier arrests him.
I had to read this chapter out loud to make sure that my mind didn't wander, and then read it again to make sure that I understood what was going on. Once I followed the story, I found it quite interesting, and liked how the random aspects all tied together to be explained in the end. While I couldn't put this much effort into every book I read, it was a nice challenge to do so this time.
Netflix rating? 3/5 for this story. 1/5 for the book (the part that I "read" that is).

THE READER- by bernhard schlink

This is a book that's been sitting around for a while. I think I tried to read it once a few years ago, but it didn't take. After putting a ton of effort into the most recent bookclub book, I really wanted a short (and therefore quick) read. I started it one night when I couldn't sleep, and read more then half of it in two hours. I finished it in one more sitting.
At the beginning, Michael Berg (who's name we don't learn until the end) is a fifteen year old who meets Hanna, a 30+ woman, in a small town in Germany. They develop an intimate relationship which they hide from friends and family. At one point, Hanna asks Michael to read aloud to her. This continues for the length of their relationship, which ends abruptly when Hanna disappears. Several years later, Michael is in law school and attends a trial in which several woman are being tried for crimes committed while they were guards at Nazi concentration camps. Hanna is included in this group, and soon becomes the scape goat for the rest of the guards. Despite attending every day in court, Hanna never acknowledges Michael, and he soon discovers a secret Hanna has been hiding for years. Sentenced to life in prison, she remains there for eighteen years before being released. Michael stays in touch, and learns how his actions have given Hanna a way to change.
This is a good book to read in a few sittings as it's divided into sections that make this easy. I liked the incorporation of both optimistic aspects as well as dark pasts. It made the story more real, as well as interesting to read.
Netflix rating? 4.5/5 stars.