Nikolski

Last year a read a book called Fruit. It was a very unique story about a 13 year old boy from Sarnia who is gay, obsessed with Brooke Sheilds, and his nipples talk to him. I know this sounds really strange but it was a fantastic book. It kept you on your toes, you really felt for this poor boy and how hard it was for him to not be like everyone else.

Anyways, asside from the interesting title, I purchased this book because it was the 2009 CBC Canada Reads Selection. So when the 2010 CBC choice came out, Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner, I was constantly passing it on the shelves, wondering if I should give it a chance as I did Fruit.

Now I did purchase this book, read it cover to cover and I have to say I didn't like it at all. Basically its a long winded story about three people who's lives are connected through family and/or circumstances but don't necessarily meet. The story seemed to not have a point, and if it did then I missed it completely. I'm not the best reader of material that has symbolic meanings but most of the time I can at least catch a glimpse. I was very confused so I googled some reviews. Here is what I found:

(chapters.ca) Bahram Olfati:

"Nikolski, reminds me of those storys. Thestory covers ten years in the lives of three young characters. Over the course of the novel, which takes us across Canada, the three characters converge on Montreal, where their paths will cross again and again without ever allowing them to guess what really unites them. The novel also asks the reader questions on the importance of family identity, heritage, fish migration, and the nature of destiny and ambition. All these elements come together and their meaning is revealed gradually as the story unfolds. The novel will make you smile, and will remain with you for some time after you’ve finished the story."

(ummm what? The meaning of fish migration?)

(Chapters.ca) Ariel:

"Nikolski" is full of magical symbols: a Nikolski compass forever pointing somewhere away from the true north, an old three-headed book that passed through many hands and mishaps eternally remaining as one unicum (a word I actually learned from reading "Nikolski": a book that is only a single known copy in the whole world), and garbage, as rejects that had come to carry their own weight in the world. Among all these symbols, we followed the life of two characters who live their days in parallel to each other without once realizing their own hidden connections. I was thrown by the trick that the author did to introduce a mysterious first person narrator in the first chapter and then hide him until a long while through the book. I was confused for the first three chapters in my feeble attempt to work out the convoluted (more or less because a lot of them were unrelated and unimportant to the story line later on) list of characters. Surprise. Nevertheless, "Nikolski" is an interesting read.

(okay, I see a little bit of relevance to some of the symbolism but only because of this teacher-like description. Sorry Nikolski I didn't want to dissect you that hard)

And with that I toss Nikolski two fish bones out of 5. And that is only because I like the cover design.

Summer at Tiffany: a Memoir by Marjorie Hart

Iowa University students, Marjorie Hart and her best friend Marty decide in the summer of 1945 to set out to New York City and get summer jobs. With no luck finding any openings at any of their favourite department stores, the girls (on a whim) apply at Tiffany & Co. and end up getting positions as the first female pages. Fancy jobs like these don’t come without a price though, it only paid $20.00 a week. But these two girls had the summer of a lifetime. And memories are priceless.

This book was like a time machine. Marjorie’s description of her summer is captivating. It amazes me what she experienced during her summer – Eisenhower’s Parade, Truman’s announcement the Japanese have surrendered, a plane crashing into the Empire State Building and a close encounter with Judy Garland!

In the book are copies of Marjorie’s personal pictures and keepsakes from her summer in NY, there is even a photo of her paycheck from Tiffany. It’s so great to read a story and see photos from the exact situation that’s being described. Especially the photo of her and her date Jim. Her description did not do him justice. He was definitely a cutie.

Prepare yourself to fall in love with this book. Its like closing your eyes, snuggling up beside your grandmother as she tells you a story that takes you back in her shoes to a world you can only dream of. And if you’re like me, and can listen to music while you read, listen to Miss Ella Fitzgerald’s S’Wonderful and let the beauty of her voice take you farther away.

I give Summer at Tiffany 4 blue boxes out of 5. My jealousy keeps me from the 5th. :)

Jew and Improved

For as long as I can remember I have had a fascination with Judaism. I am just in love with the spirituality, community, humour, attractiveness and basically everything that is involved with being jewish.

I ran into this book on one of my frequent trips to chapters and it seemed right up my alley. Its Benjamin Errett's story of when he converted to judaism for his wife. Not only did this book teach me a lot about the jewish faith but it was pretty darn funny too.

Errett's wife is an illustrator and designed the cover and also illustrated the chapters. I have to say this book's title and cover design made it quite the head turner on the subway.

Now to be honest this story is not the most riveting thing I have ever read. But I learned from it what I hoped and that was to get a better glimpse at what converting to Judaism is all about. Now if I could only find my jew in shining yamaka, then maybe I can get the ball rolling.

For an example of Errett's humour see his Bubby Blurb below:

Bubby Blurbs #1 from jew & improved on Vimeo.

The Forgotten Garden

I few weeks ago a friend of mine caught me off guard by asking me what my favourite book was. My first reaction was that this would be an easy answer considering the amount of books I read. But to be honest I had no response. I mentally went through my library and had nothing that stood out the same way my favourite shirt does. Then, I was roaming around Chapters and the book The Forgotten Garden caught my eye. After reading the gist of it, I was sold. I was looking for a lighter read after the darker books I had been reading and The Forgotten Garden was exactly what I was looking for on both agendas, it has taken top spot and lit my heart.

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton is an amazing story of a four year old girl found alone on a wharf in Australia in 1913. She doesn't know who she is or where she came from, all she has as a reminder of her past is a book of fairytales. She is found by a man who adopts her into his family and names her Nell. On her 21st birthday her father reveals to her how he found her and that he is unsure of her past. Her whole life is changed but Nell doesn't begin her search of who she really is until 1975. Shortly after, her granddaughter Cassandra comes to live with her and she gives up her investigation to take care of her. In 2005, when Nell passes away, Cassandra learns her grandmother's secret and starts out to finish what Nell started.

After reading this book I am convinced that Kate Morton is one of the best writers I have read to date. Her book bounces between different times as she tells the stories of Nell's family in the early 1900s, Nell's discoveries in 1975 and then the present investigating of Cassandra in 2005. She writes it so well that I never felt confused or overwhelmed. She even wrote out some of the fairytales in Nell's books and they are very well written.

Please see the video below of Kate herself discussing the book and what inspired her to write it. And for anyone struggling with what to read next pick this up because you won't be disappointed. I'm going to give it 5 fairy tales out of 5.

We all Shine on....

So I recently learned that if you tell a Stephen King fan that you liked one of his books they will undoubtedly thrust more upon you. Not that that is a bad thing, he is an incredible writer but reading two King novels practically back to back is a little wearing on one's soul.

A friend of mine from work lent me The Shining and I have to say I was a little apprehensive at first because I love the movie and I figured this would be a boring read since I knew what was going to happen. This was definitely not the case. The Shining the book is really nothing like Kubrick's The Shining; It's better. Not only does it have more background on the characters, more terrifying parts and a completely different angle on Jack's madness, it has a different ending! Plus just to push the differences further: Jack's trademark line "HERE'S JOHNNY" was an improvisation of Jack Nicholson and is not even in the book.

I've always been a little pigheaded when it comes to reading horror novels. I mean, its my mind and I can picture it as scary as I want it to be. This book shut me up. I had nightmares from this book and my eyes were always wide with terror when reading it on the subway.

After reading it I did a little research on how King came up with the concept and its a really interesting story. Apparently he had set his previous two novels in his hometown of Maine so he wanted a change of scenery. King flipped through an atlas and his finger landed on Boulder Colorado so he moved his entire family there. While he was there, him and his wife decided they needed to get away so they went to the Stanley Hotel (This is the hotel that King later filmed his T.V. adaptation of the Shining). When they got there, they were the only two guests due to the fact the hotel was prepping for its off-season. They stayed in room 217 and while King's wife slept he explored the hotel and had a drink at the bar with the bartender, Grady. He stayed up and finished the bones of the book that night. Seriously, it practically wrote itself.

Anyways I recommend this book to anyone who wants to send a shiver down their spine. It can get a little over-descriptive at times but King will take you for quite a ride. My suggestion though, if you haven't watched the movie watch it first and then read the book. I give it 4 Tony fingers up out of 5!

Hiroshima

"At, exactly fifteen minutes past eight in the morning on August 6, 1945, Japanese time, at the moment when the atomic bomb flashed above Hiroshima, Miss Toshiko Sasaki, a clerk in the personnel department of the East Asia Tin Works, had just sat down at her place in the plant office and was turning her head to speak to the girl at the next desk."

—Opening sentence, Hiroshima, John Hersey, 1946

I’m not really sure how to review a book like this. I’m certain that no matter what I say, it won’t do it justice. It’s a true story of 6 people who survived the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. Originally, this was an article for the The New Yorker that was printed one year after the U.S. bombed Hiroshima. It has also been called the finest piece of journalism of the 20th century.

My friend Dan Robson recommended this book to me. I can’t thank him enough for his suggestion, this book will make your jaw drop. Having just finished a Stephen King book before jumping into this one I kept having to shake my head and think “this is a TRUE story, this nightmare I’m reading about actually happened” – that thought is a lot to take in.

I give this book 5 astonished faces out of 5 and highly recommended it to anyone who can read.

Couldn't Put the Dome Down

Last night, I lost a friend. For the last month I’ve gotten to know about 40 people from a small town called Chester’s Mill and last night although all feelings were appropriately resolved, they left me forever. Stephen King’s new book Under the Dome is fantastic. From the beginning you are drawn into the lives of these seemingly simple little townspeople and then the energy, horror and humour of King’s writing keeps your attention at its peak for all 1074 pages.

Under the Dome is about an invisible Dome appearing over a small town in Maine separating it from the outside world. No one, either inside or outside the dome knows what it is made of, how it got there or how to get rid of it. The dome seems indestructible and the townspeople take the reader through their grief, panic, anger and fear. It’s very interesting to see a person’s view of how people would behave if they were cut off from society.

There is a strong morality in this book. It discusses a lot about the human capacity for good and evil. Especially how we as humans need to think about the affects of our own actions and how they may leave an impression on others. I definitely will never look at anthills the same way again. There are also political and ecological themes within the book. King was strongly opposed to the war in Iraq and he used the Bush-Cheney dynamic for the leaders of Chester’s Mill. Also, King is very serious about our ecological problems. He said, “From the very beginning, I saw it as a chance to write about the serious ecological problems that we face in the world today. The fact is we all live under the dome.”

Anyways, without giving any important plot points or hints on the ending I strongly recommend this book. I began this book without knowing very much about it and loved the journey it took me on. I give it 4 mutant monster thumbs up.

If you do read it, say hi to my friends for me.