Never Let Me Go

It is a good time of year to reflect back on school days. School is letting out and as I see kids waiting for the bus to camp, I have some fond memories-- getting "pop privileges" in 5th grade for doing good work (I always bought a Barq's for $0.40), slumber parties with my girlfriends, going to Dog n Shake for lunch in high school and summers filled with part time working and lazy afternoons at the local pool.  I'm sure there are buried memories that aren't so pleasant (maybe all of 8th grade?) but overall I had a pretty peaceful childhood, have kept some really close friends and consider myself to be successful.

The childhoods of Kathy, Ruth and Tommy in Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro seem outwardly as idyllic as any childhood-- cliques were formed, friendships made and lost, and lessons and classes taken in a posh English country boarding school.  We learn quickly that Kathy, as the narrator, is years past school and is working as a "carer" for "donors" although it's not immediately clear what that means.  There is a slow,unraveling twist throughout the book that reveals a childhood (or at least adulthood) that is in reality anything but idyllic.

I felt kind of bewildered reading this since Ishiguro seemed to use cheap techniques to keep the reader engaged ("...which is why what happened next was so surprising...") and the things which were important to Kathy, Tommy and Ruth seemed extremely trivial to me.

Never Let Me Go is like a cross between Prep and Murakami. It was a quick, compelling read, but I never felt attached to the characters.  I'll give it 3.5/5 netflix stars.

BURNING BRIGHT- by tracy chevalier

I'm a big fan of tracy chevalier books, so was thrilled when I found this newish one on the bargain table at the booksmith. I held on to it for a month while I finished the Narnia series, but then polished the 400 pager off in about a week.
It's 18 century England, and the Kellaway family has just experienced the loss of their middle son. Hoping to escape the memories, Thomas Kellaway and his wife move their two younger children, Maisie and Jem, from rural Dorset to London (Lambeth, to be precise) at the invitation of Philip Astley, a circus owner. Thomas is a chair maker, but becomes one of the head set constructors for the circus after realizing there wasn't a large market for his quality chairs in London. The story focuses on his youngest child Jem, and his friendship with a street smart girl named Maggie. The child of a con artist and a laundress, she's confident and familiar with the ways of city folk, and takes to the much quieter Jem instantly, as he does to her. The book focuses on the progression of this friendship throughout a difficult time in English history, and touches on the controversial poetry of William Blake, who lives close by.
While not quite up to par with some of her other books, this was a quick satisfying read which kept me waiting for more.
Netflix rating? 3.5/5 stars

PRINCE CASPIAN- by c.s. lewis

1300 years after they left (in Narnia years, that is) the Pevensie kids appear on a beach on a seemingly deserted island. After some exploring, they realize that they're actually at Cair Paraval. Soon enough, they save a dwarf who tells them of the evil Miraz who's stolen the throne from its rightful owner. They realize that they're been brought back to return the throne to Caspian, the rightful king. The begin their journey by water, and Lucy's the only one who can see and hear Aslan at first. After insisting he's there, she convinces them to follow her lead and they arrive at the Aslan's How safely. Peter decides to fight Miraz in one-on-one combat, and after treachery and war, they achieve their goal.
Not bad, but it lacked some of the excitement that the first two books had.
Netflix rating? 3.5/5 stars.

Sister of My Heart

Several years ago a close friend moved from her home here in Boston, across country to San Diego. I met her through Steph and really only became close to her that final summer before she moved. She, Steph and I would go rollerblading along the Esplanade every week, we each made a quilt and genarally hung out like junior high BFFs. At the end of the summer, she had to get rid of a lot of stuff-- I bought some furniture off her, but she also gave me some of her paintings and sculptures. Within the stuff I inherited was a copy of a book entitled Sister of My Heart. It was a hardback book and the synopsis was about two cousins growing up in India and how they were close like sisters. Five years later I finally got around to reading it, and while it was corny at times, it was also all consuming-- I couldn't wait to finish it. It was easy to find parallels between Sudha's and Anju's friendship and mine with my friend. Obviously neither of us had an arranged marriage, but we've both lived through and shared major life changes and a recent business trip to San Diego allowed us both to talk about our relationships deep into the night, not unlike Sudha's ultimate trip to the U.S. to be with Anju and her husband. At first I thought the book would be straightforward, but it turned out to have a complexity I wasn't expecting: the choices the cousins make conflict with traditional story telling and place them in direct conflict with society's dictations, as well as their own desires. Their attachment to each other over the years, excluding those around them, was at times unbelievable, as were the Mothers' change of mind towards the end. The end of the book left many avenues open, so I wasn't surprised to see a sequal... The Vine of Desire. Netflix stars? 3.5 out of 5 (my love of the book and its characters increased throughout).