Harriet's Corner
The Bi-Monthly Newsletter of What to Read
Issue #5: In which she reexamines her OCD...
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Dear Friends and Dear Readers,
I have never described myself as an obsessive compulsive personality type, and those of you who know me would heartily agree. And yet, looking over the stack of books I intend to recommend to you in this letter, I'm starting to have second thoughts. I had a hard time pulling myself away from books about the Middle East and Islam. And when I did, I found that I was back to my perpetually favorite subject: World War II historical fiction. (Dawn, I know that this makes you very happy.) So bear with me here....these books are really good......and I promise totally different books for the next letter.
So, let's start with Islam.
The Ornament of the World by Maria Rosa Menocal (paperback, $14.95)
I just love to read history books that are as compelling as this one. The title refers to Cordoba and the enlightened world of the Islamic ruled Al-Andalus (Andalusia) from the ninth century until the expulsion of the Jews and Muslims from Spain in 1492. Ms. Menocal sets the stage in the opening chapter of her book as she describes the journey from Damascus to Cordoba of Abd al-Rahman, the sole survivor of the massacre of the Umayyid Muslim ruling family. Rahman became the inspiration for the Cordoba enlightenment. After an overview of the political history, Ms. Menocal proceeds through the centuries in an anecdotal manner. She brings to life the movers and shakers of the Middle Ages. Some have criticized this book for painting a very rosy picture of a turbulent time. Having said that, I still strongly recommend this book as a window on a little known period of history.
The Trouble with Islam by Irshad Manji (hardcover, $22.95, paperback due out in March) Ms. Manji was born in Uganda to Pakistani Muslim parents. They emigrated to Canada when she was four years old. She grew up to become a journalist, a feminist, a television personality, a lesbian and a writer-in-residence at the University of Toronto.......not our image of a typical Muslim woman. Her book is written as an open letter to her fellow Muslims. She is an exciting voice of Islamic reform, totally irreverent and extremely humorous while tackling the most serious of issues. I cannot even begin to describe this book, so I will let her opening sentences do it for me: "I have to be honest with you, Islam is on very thin ice with me. I'm hanging on by my fingernails, in anxiety over what's coming next from the self-appointed ambassadors of Allah....Through our screaming self-pity and our conspicuous silences, we Muslims are conspiring against ourselves.....We're in crisis and we're dragging the rest of the world with us." And she doesn't let up for 200 pages. Apparently, her book has sparked considerable debate in the Muslim community and has also sparked multiple death threats! Read it and find out why.
Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks (paperback, $14.00)
I am sure that many of you have read this book either long ago and just recently when Ms. Brooks was in town to speak. If you have not read it, you should. Although it was written ten years ago, it is an extremely important book to read now to understand the Muslim woman behind the veil. She puts into perspective the historical and cultural forces that shape the lives of Muslim women. A particular eye-opener to me was to learn the ways in which the Koran and hadiths have been twisted and convoluted by Muslim men to repress their women. Combining this book with "The Trouble with Islam" is a fine introduction to the understanding of the Islamic world and the place for women in that world.
Now on we go to World War Two......
The Bielski Brothers by Peter Duffy (paperback, $14.95)
This is a remarkable true story that made me think I was reading the best of John LeCarre. The Bielski brothers came of age in the small town of Novogrudek, Belarus in the early 1940s. When the shock and disbelief of the Nazi's plan had sunk in, the oldest brother, Tuvia decided he had to fight back. He and his brothers ultimately created a base camp in the dense forest surrounding Novogrudek. They convinced others to join them and as more and more people arrived, a robust community developed, a "Jerusalem in the Woods". The brothers also created their own militia, also hidden in the forest. By the time the Nazis withdrew in 1944, the militia had killed hundreds of the enemy and 1200 people triumphantly walked out of woods. This was all accomplished literally under the noses of the Nazis. How the brothers accomplished this and the personal stories of the individuals involved makes for a breathtaking tale.
The Children's War by Monique Charlesworth (hardcover, $24.95)
Early on in this book, the heroine, Ilse Blumenthal, a young German Jew on the run from the Nazis, muses ..."All those children. Nobody lets you know what happened to the children...Nobody will tell the story of the children." Ms. Charleswortth does tell us about the children, and in such an artful and beautiful way that it sheds new light on the terrors of that war. This work of fiction follows two young children throughout the war: Ilse who flees first to relatives in Morocco and then to meet up with her father in France, and Nicolai, a young Aryan boy in Hamburg who holds the Nazis in contempt even as he dresses in the Hitler Youth uniform and marches in their parades. This is a finely crafted tale of just two of the millions of children who had no childhood in Europe during World War Two.
A late addition to my WWII section is A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell (hardcover, $25.95) just published and I just finished reading it. A wonderful work of historical fiction based on interviews with surviving Italian partisans and many of the European Jews who were hidden by the partisans and ordinary peasant families.
Our heroine, Claudette Blum is a fourteen year old who is scrambling over the Alps with many other jewish refugees looking for peace in Italy. But as soon as they arrive, all hell breaks loose and the Italian countryside becomes a confusing battleground for the Allies, the Nazis, the Jews in hiding, the resistance fighters and the civilians just trying to survive. Ms. Russell develops characters with depth and complexity.
Judy insisted I lighten up with a few recommendations that won't reduce you, dear readers, to tears and nightmares. So, now for some fun!
Shanghai Station by Bartle Bull (paperback, $14.95)
Ok, here is a swashbuckling, edge of your seat romp through the seedy back streets of Shanghai, 1918. Our tender young hero, Russian aristocrat Alexander Karlov, flees the family estate with his mother and twin sister just before the Red Army swoops in. On the train to meet their father in Shanghai, disaster strikes. Karlov arrives in Shanghai consumed by a desire for vengeance which leads him into perilous alliances with prostitutes, drug lords, Cossack warriors, the police of the French Concession and an American girl with the unlikely name of Jesse James. This book has all the trademark excitement of Mr. Bull's earlier works added to the exoticism of steamy Shanghai in the early part of the last century. This book made my most recent nine hour flight seem like a few short minutes!
The News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck (paperback, $13.95)
Well...this is not exactly light reading, and not exactly fun. In fact, parts of it are horrific. I'm not sure why I put it in this section....maybe because of the beautiful cover and the idyllic opening chapter. The year is 1854 and Francisco Solano, the future dictator of Paraguay, begins his courtship of the stunning young Irish woman Ella Lynch. It begins with a plume that falls from Ella's hat as she rides her horse in the Bois de Boulogne. Francisco, enchanted, woos her with a native made poncho, a horse named Mathilde and a Paraguayan band. Ella follows him to Paraguay and takes up residence as his mistress in Asuncion, the backwater capital. Completely isolated and estranged, Ella is seduced by Solano's grandiose plans to make Paraguay a great military power. War with Brazil, Uraguay and Argentina decimates the countryside and much of the population. This is an intriguing account of historical events in a country little known to many of us. Ms. Tuck won the National Book Award for fiction this year. Interesting to note that after she won the award she was invited to Paraguay, a country she had never visited. She was taken to task for her negative portrayal of the dictator and the war. As usual, the truth must lie somewhere in the middle.
The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier (paperback, $14.00)
Ms. Chevalier may be a bit formulaic, but it works so well in this book. She takes what is known about the commission and creation of the spectacular lady and unicorn tapestries and fills in the holes with her well imagined fiction. She creates a story of intrigue, illicit love and history. The setting is Paris and Brussels in the late fifteenth century. The only problem is that as soon as you finish this book you will want to rush right off to the Musee du Moyen Age (Cluny) a Paris to see these tapestries and to identify the details that have such significance in the telling of Ms. Chevalier's tale.
Happy Reading! |
