January 1 – December 31, 2012

I am not only co-hosting this challenge – I’m joining it! Sign ups may be found on this post.

Last year I did not reach my goal for this challenge, so I’ve chosen a different level this year:

The Plump Primer level challenges the reader to read SIX chunksters. As I read them, I’ll be listing them below with links to reviews.

1. The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman (624 pages) – COMPLETED January 8, 2012; rated 5/5; read my review.

Although a perpetual challenge, The Notable Books Challenge asks that participants set yearly goals. This year I hope to read at least 12 books from the lists.

Visit the dedicated blog to see reviews of Notable Books or to join the challenge.

Here is what I read in 2012:

1. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (2011 NYT Most Notable) – Completed January 23, 2012; rated 3.5/5; read my review.

Here are some of the books I either own, or would like to read in 2012:

• Bound, by Antonya Nelson (from 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• Foreign Bodies, by Cynthia Ozick (from 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• How to Read the Air, by Dinaw Mengestu (from 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• The Invisible Bridge, by Julie Orringer (from 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• Matterhorn, by Karl Marlantes (from 2011 ALA Notable AND 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• Sourland: Stories, by Joyce Carol Oates (from 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• The Surrendered, by Chang-rae Lee (from 2011 ALA Notable AND 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, by David Mitchell (from 2011 ALA Notable AND 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff (from 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• The Wave, by Susan Casey (from 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• Homer and Langley, by E.L. Doctorow (from 2010 Tournament of Books)
• The Book Of Night Women, by Marion James (from 2010 Tournament of Books)
• Under the Dome, by Stephen King (from 2010 Tournament of Books)
• The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver (from 2009 NYT Most Notable, AND 2010 Tournament of Books)
• Miles From Nowhere, by Nami Mun (from 2010 Tournament of Books)
• Burnt Shadows, by Kamila Shamsie (from 2010 Tournament of Books)
• Woodsburner, by John Pipkin (from Christian Science Monitor Best Books 2009)
• The Thing Around Your Neck, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (from Christian Science Monitor Best Books 2009)
• The Lost City of Z, by David Grann (from 2009 NYT Most Notable, 2009 PW Best Books, 2010 ALA Notable, AND Christian Science Monitor Best Books 2009)
• The Hakawati, by Rabih Alameddine (from 2009 ALA Notable Books)
• American Rust, by Philipp Meyer (from 2009 NYT Most Notable)
• A Mercy, by Toni Morrison (from 2010 ALA Notable, AND 2008 NYT Most Notable)
• Heyday, by Kurt Anderson (from Christian Science Monitor Bests – 2007)
• The Septembers of Shiraz, by Dalia Sofer (from 2007 Christian Science Monitor Best Books AND NYT Most Notable-2007)
• The Plague of Doves, by Louise Erdrich (from 2009 ALA Notable Books AND 2008 PW Best Books)
• The Likeness, by Tana French (from 2008 PW Best Books)
• Day, by A.L. Kennedy (from 2008 PW Best Books)
• The Boat, by Nam Le (from 2008 PW Best Books and 2008 NYT Most Notable)
• Away, by Amy Bloom (from 2008 ALA Notable Books)
• The Whistling Season, by Ivan Doig (from 2007 ALA Notable Books)
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007 NYT Most Notable)
• The Art of Fielding by by Chad Harbach (2011 NYT Most Notable)
• The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka (2011 NYT Most Notable)
• 11/22/63, by Stephen King (2011 NYT Most Notable)
• The Sense of An Ending by Julian Barnes (2011 NYT Most Notable)
• A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France, by Caroline Moorehead (2011 NYT Most Notable)
• Great House by Nicole Krauss (2010 NYT Most Notable)
• Every Man Dies Alone, By Hans Fallada; translated by Michael Hoffman (2009 NYT Most Notable)
• The Other by David Gutterson (2008 NYT Most Notable)
• There But For The by Ali Smith (2011 PW Best Books)

Although a perpetual challenge, The Notable Books Challenge asks that participants set yearly goals. This year I attempted to read 15 books from the lists. I fell short, but I am still happy with what I accomplished.

Books Read:

1. The Three Weismanns of Westport by Cathleen Shine (from 2010 NYT Most Notable) – COMPLETED January 28, 2011; rated 4.5/5; read my review.
2. Shadow Tag, by Louise Erdrich (from 2010 NYT Most Notable) – COMPLETED February 23, 2011; rated 5/5; read my review.
3. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, by Tom Franklin (from 2011 ALA Notable) – COMPLETED March 2, 2011;  rated 4.5/5; read my review.
4. That Old Cape Magic, by Richard Russo (from 2010 Tournament of Books) – COMPLETED April 1, 2011; rated 4.5/5; read my review.
5. Unbound, by Laura Hillenbrand (from 2010 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED June 6, 2011; rated 5/5; read my review.
6. The Long Song, by Andrea Levy (from 2010 NYT Most Notable) – COMPLETED July 31, 2011; rated 5/5; read my review.
7. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Euginides (from 2011 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED November 26, 2011; rated 5/5; read my review.
8. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (from 2011 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED October 16, 2011; rated 4/5; read my review.
9. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (from 2011 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED December 13, 2011; rated 4.5/5; read my review.
10. The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht (from 2011 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED July 8, 2011; rated 5/5; read my review.
11. The Convert by Deborah Baker (from 2011 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED May 17, 2011; rated 3.5/5; read my review.
12. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (from 2010 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED May 6, 2011; rated 5/5; read my review.

Visit the dedicated blog to see reviews of Notable Books or to join the challenge.

February 1, 2011 – January 31, 2012

I joined this challenge in 2011 at the Does the Book Make My Butt Look Big level (read six chunksters in 12 months as follows: 2 books which are between 450 – 550 pages in length; 2 books which are 551 – 750 pages in length; 2 books which are GREATER than 750 pages in length).

The 2012 Challenge began on January 1st this year…and because I think it is unlikely that I will complete the 2011 challenge, I’m throwing in the towel on that one, and starting fresh for 2012.

Here is what I read in 2011:

(2) Books between 450-550 pages:

1. Sing You Home, by Jodi Picoult – COMPLETED March 5, 2011; rated 4/5; read my review (480 pages)
2. The Raising, by Laura Kasischke – COMPLETED April 9, 2011; rated 4/5; read my review (461 pages)

(2) Books between 551-750 pages:

1. Anthropology of an American Girl by Hilary Thayer Hamann – COMPLETED June 30, 2011, rated 2.5/5; read my review (597 pages)

(2) Books greater than 750 pages:

1. Steinbeck: A Life in Letters edited by  Elaine Steinbeck and Robert Wallsten- COMPLETED August 16, 2011; rated 5/5; read my review (898 pages)

January 1 – December 31, 2011

December 16, 2011: I have completed this challenge! Many thanks to Melissa for hosting. Follow the links below to read my reviews of the books I read for the challenge.

****************************************

Once again Melissa at The Betty and Boo Chronicles is hosting The Memorable Memoir Challenge – a challenge that introduced me to looks of awesome books in 2010. So, it was a no brainer to do this one again. Melissa writes:

About the Challenge: If you enjoy reading memoirs or really haven’t explored them as much as you’d like to, then this is the challenge for you.  Anything that in your mind qualifies as a memoir will meet the challenge requirements. Letters, diaries, autobiographies, books on writing memoirs … in my book, they all count as Memorable Memoirs.  Books, e-books, audiobooks are all fine.

Requirements:  It’s up to you!  I want this to be a fun and low-key challenge, yet one that will be worthwhile of your valuable reading time. If that means reading one memoir, that’s great.  If that means reading three dozen, even better.  You decide what works for you.  Overlaps with other challenges are more than fine … even encouraged.

Sign ups are here.

Review link ups coming soon.

I’ve learned from past experience that I should not overextend on challenges. So I’m planning to read SIX books for this challenge. I’ll list them as I go…

1. The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure – COMPLETED April 22, 2011; rated 4/5; read my review.
2. The Boy in the Moon by Ian Brown – COMPLETED June 18, 2011; rated 5/5; read my review.
3. The River of Forgetting by Jane Rowan – COMPLETED September 1, 2011; rated 4/5; read my review.
4. Love at First Bark by Julie Klam – COMPLETED October 22, 2011; rated 4/5; read my review.
5. Maman’s Homesick Pie by Donia Bijan – COMPLETED December 8, 2011; rated 4/5; read my review.
6. The Puppy That Came for Christmas by Megan Rix – COMPLETED December 16, 2011; rated 3.5/5; read my review.

January 1 – December 31, 2012

2012 will be here before we know it – and The Chunkster Challenge is back. This year Vasilly from 1330V has joined me in hosting this popular challenge…and we’ve made a couple of changes (including moving the start date up to January 1st) which you can read about on the sign up post. We have also decided to spruce up the blog and make it more whimsical, so I hope you’ll check out our new look too.

The other exciting news is that we are planning on hosting the first ever Chunky Book Club. It will have its own page on the Chunkster Blog and participants do not have to join the challenge, although they are welcome to do both, of course! We currently have a poll going to choose the four books we will be reading and discussing in 2012…that poll will be open through January 10th with the results and schedule being announced on the blog on January 11th.

There may be more changes happening over there, and we hope to have some fun commentary and highlight some chunky books throughout the year…so I hope you’ll subscribe to the blog and keep up to date as we go forward.

I am still working on the 2011 challenge – and have two more books to read before the end of January. I’ll be signing up for the 2012 Challenge once I figure out the level I hope to do.

What about you? Are you planning to read some chunky books in 2012? Why not join us either in the Chunkster Challenge or the Chunky Book Club (or both) – we’d love to have you there!!!

I love the literary prizes and I own a ton of books which have either won or been nominated for those prizes…but which I have yet to read. I track many of the prizes on this page of my blog. I also have joined some individual challenges which are perpetual and encourage reading from certain prize lists. That said…I have been sorely lacking in those challenges, primarily because I read a lot of new fiction and forget to check the lists and read from my own stacks. Beginning in 2012, I am going to make a more concerted effort to read from certain prize lists. It will be a personal challenge of sorts. My goal will be to read AT LEAST ONE book from the list for that particular month – because I am trying to get a little more flexibility in my life, I may decide to read a book from one of the lists in a month when it is not highlighted – and if I do, I will count it!  Some books are on multiple lists, but I am going to try to read one unique book for each category. Make sense?

If anyone wants to join me, I’d love the company – but this is a very loose kind of challenge – no sign ups required. If you give me a link to your list, I’ll try to cheer you on!

Below I have divided up the months of the year and I’ve listed the books I currently own which would count for that particular award. As I read books, I’ll highlight them in blue and give links to my reviews.

January 2012 – Orange January (Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction AND Orange Broadband Award for New Authors)

• Swamplandia!, by Karen Russell (long list Fiction 2011) – read my review
• Scottsboro, by Ellen Feldman (short list Fiction 2009) – read my review

February 2012 – Man Booker Prize

• Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan (short list 2011)
• In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar (short list 2006)
• A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry (short list 2005)
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (short list 2005)
• The Accidental by Ali Smith (short list 2005)
• On Beauty by Zadie Smith (short list 2005)
• The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst (winner 2004)
• Brick Lane by Monica Ali (short list 2003)
• Unless by Carol Shields (short list 2002)
• True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (winner 2001)
• Number 9 Dream by David Mitchell (short list 2001)
• Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (winner 1998)
• The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields (short list 1993)
• Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (winner 1992)
• Possession by A.S. Byatt (winner 1990)
• Restoration by Rose Tremain (short list 1989)
• Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (winner 1988)
• The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (short list 1988)

March 2012 – 5 Under 35 Awards

• Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, by ZZ Packer (won in 2006)
• The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears, by Dinaw Mengestu (won in 2007)
• One More Year: Stories, by Sana Krasikov (won in 2008)
• The Boat, by Nam Le (won in 2008)

April 2012 - Edgar Award

• Faithful Place by Tana French (2011 nominee)
• A Beautiful Place to Die, by Malla Nunn (2010 nominee)
• The Dead Hour, by Denise Mina (2007 nominee)
• The Virgin of Small Plains, by Nancy Pickard (2007 nominee)
• Nemesis, by Jo Nesbo (2010 nominee)

May 2012 – Costa Whitbread Award

• The Girl with Glass Feet, by Ali Shaw (short list First Novel 2009)
• The Elephant Keeper, by Christopher Nicholson (short list Novel Award 2009)
• Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith (short list First Novel 2008)
• What Was Lost, by Catherine O’Flynn (winner First Novel 2007)
• Mosquito, by Roma Tearne (short list First Novel 2007)
• Small Island, by Andrea Levy (winner Novel Award 2004)
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon (winner Novel Award 2003)
• The Queen of the Tambourine, by Jane Gardam (winner Novel Award 1991)
• The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie  (winner Novel Award 1988)

June 2012 – Commonwealth Writers Prize

• The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna (Sierra Leone) – Winner Best Book Africa 2011
• The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell (UK) – Winner Best Book South Asia & Europe 2011
• The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria) – Short List Best Book Africa 2010
• Under this Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell (Canada) – Winner Best First Book Caribbean & Canada 2010
• Say You’re One of Them, by Uwem Akpan (Nigeria) – Winner Best First Book Africa 2009
• Chef, by Jaspreet Singh (Canada) – Short List Best Book Caribbean & Canada 2009
• The Slap, by Christos Tsiolkas (Australia) – Winner Best Book South East Asia & Pacific 2009
• The Boat, by Nam Le (Australia) – Short List Best First Book South East Asia & Pacific 2009
• A Golden Age, by Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh) – Winner Best First Book Europe & South Asia 2008
• What Was Lost, by Catherine O’Flynn (Britain ) – Short List Best First Book Europe & South Asia 2008
• In the Country of Men, by Hisham Matar (UK) – Winner Best First Book Europe & South Asia 2007

July 2012 – Orange July (Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction AND Orange Broadband Award for New Writers)

• The Boy Next Door, by Irene Sabatini (winner New Writers Award 2010)
• The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, by Ann Weisgarber (short list New Writers Award 2009)
• The Monsters of Templeton, by Lauren Groff (short list New Writers 2008)
• The Memory of Love, by Aminatta Forna (short list Fiction 2011)
• Annabel, by Kathleen Winter (short list Fiction 2011)
• Whatever You Love, by Louise Doughty (long list Fiction 2011)
• A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan (long list Fiction 2011)
• The Invisible Bridge, by Julie Orringer (long list Fiction 2011)
• Repeat it Today with Tears, by Anne Peile (long list Fiction 2011)
• The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver (winner Fiction 2010)
• The Very Thought of You, by Rosie Alison (short list Fiction 2010)
• Black Water Rising, by Attica Locke (short list Fiction 2010)
• A Gate at the Stairs, by Lorrie Moore (short list Fiction 2010)
• This is How, by M.J. Hyland (long list Fiction 2010)
• Black Mamba Boy, by Nadifa Mohamed (long list Fiction 2010)
• The Wilderness, by Samantha Harvey (short list Fiction 2009)
• Intuition, by Allegra Goodman (long list Fiction 2009)
• A Mercy, by Toni Morrison (long list Fiction 2009)
• The Russian Dreambook of Colour and Flight, by Gina Ochsner (long list Fiction 2009)
• The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, by Ann Weisgarber (long list Fiction 2009)
• Fault Lines, by Nancy Huston (short list Fiction 2008)
• The Blood of Flowers, by Anita Amirrezvani (long list Fiction 2008)
• The Septembers of Shiraz, by Dalia Sofer (long list Fiction 2008)
• Arlington Park, by Rachel Cusk (short list Fiction 2007)
• What Was Lost, by Catherine O’Flynn (long list Fiction 2007)
• On Beauty, by Zadie Smith (winner Fiction 2006)
• Minaret, by Leila Aboulela (long list Fiction 2006)
• We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver (winner Fiction 2005)
• The Mammoth Cheese, by Sheri Holman (short list Fiction 2005)
• A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, by Marina Lewycka (short list Fiction 2005)
• Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson (long list Fiction 2005)
• The Falls, by Joyce Carol Oates (long list Fiction 2005)
• Small Island, by Andrea Levy (winner Fiction 2004)
• Ice Road, by Gillian Slovo (short list Fiction 2004)
• Brick Lane, by Monica Ali (long list Fiction 2004)
• The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri (long list Fiction 2004)
• Love, by Toni Morrison (long list Fiction 2004)
• The Amateur Marriage, by Anne Tyler (long list Fiction 2004)
• Unless, by Carol Shields (short list Fiction 2003)
• What I Loved, by Siri Hustvedt (long list Fiction 2003)
• In the Forest, by Edna O’Brien (long list Fiction 2003)
• Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold (long list Fiction 2003)
• Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett (winner Fiction 2002)
• The Siege, by Helen Dunmore (short list Fiction 2002)
• Five Quarters of an Orange, by Joanne Harris (long list Fiction 2002)
• The Idea of Perfection, by Kate Grenville (winner Fiction 2001)
• Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout (short list Fiction 2000)
• Fugitive Pieces, by Anne Michaels (winner Fiction 1997)
• A Spell of Winter, by Helen Dunmore (winner Fiction 1996)

August 2012 – National Book Award

• The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway (1953 nominee)
• Them, by Joyce Carol Oates (1970 winner)
• Wonderland, by Joyce Carol Oates (1972 nominee)
• The Optimist’s Daughter, by Eudora Welty (1973 nominee)
• The Spectator Bird, by Wallace Stegner (1977 winner)
• Beloved, by Toni Morrison (1987 nominee)
• Breathing Lessons, by Anne Tyler(1988 nominee)
• All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy (1992 winner)
• Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat(1995 nominee)
• The House of Sand and Fog, by Andre Dubus III (1999 nominee)
• The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen (2001 winner)
• The Known World, by Edward P. Jones (2003 nominee)
• Fieldwork, by Mischa Berlinski (2007 nominee)
• Shadow Country, by Peter Matthiessen (2008)
• Lark and Termite, by Jayne Anne Phillips (2009 nominee)

September 2012 – Pulitzer Prize

• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (winner 2011)
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (winner 2008)
• The Known World – Edward P. Jones (winner 2004)
• Empire Falls – Richard Russo (winner 2002)
• Interpreter of Maladies – Jhumpa Lahiri (winner 2000)
• American Pastoral – Philip Roth (winner 1998)
• Independence Day – Richard Ford (winner 1996)
• The Stone Diaries – Carol Shields (winner 1995)
• A Thousand Acres – Jan Smiley (winner 1992)
• Breathing Lessons – Anne Tyler (winner 1989)
• Beloved – Toni Morrison (winner 1988)
• The Optimist’s Daughter – Eudora Welty (winner 1973)
• The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway (winner 1953)
• All the King’s Men – Robert Penn Warren (winner 1947)
• The Magnificent Ambersons – Booth Tarkington (winner 1919)

October 2012 – International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

• The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (short list 2011)
• The Vagrants by Yiyun Li (short list 2011)
• Little Bird of Heaven by Joyce Carol Oates (short list 2011)
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Díaz (short list 2009)
• A Long Long Way, by Sebastian Barry (short list 2007)
• Graceland, by Chris Abani (short list 2006)
• Maps for Lost Lovers, by Nadeem Aslam (short list 2006)
• The Known World, by Edward P. Jones (winner 2005)
• The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen (short list 2003)
• Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett (short list 2003)
• True History of the Kelly Gang, by Peter Carey (short list 2002)
• The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Marakumi (short list 1999)

November 2012 – The Giller Prize

• Half-Blood Blues, by Esi  Edugyan (winner 2011)
• Annabel, by Kathleen Winter (short list 2010)
• The Disappeared, by Kim Echlin (short list 2009)
• Through Black Spruce, by Joseph Boyden (winner 2008)
• Late Nights on Air, by Elizabeth Hay (winner 2007)
• Divisadero, by Michael Ondaatje (short list 2007)
• The Assassin’s Song, by M.G. Vassanji (short list 2007)
• The In-Between World of Vikram Lall, by M.G. Vassanji  (winner 2003)
• The Way the Crow Flies, by Ann-Marie MacDonald (short list 2003)
• Unless, by Carol Shields (short list 2002)
• Mercy Among the Children, by David Adams Richards (winner 2000)
• Anil’s Ghost, by Michael Ondaatje (winner 2000)
• Fugitive Pieces, by Anne Michaels (short list 1996)

December 2012 – Governor General’s Literary Awards

• Half-Blood Blues, by Esi Edugyan (short list 2011)
• Annabel, by Kathleen Winter (short list 2010)
• Vanishing and Other Stories, by Deborah Willis (short list 2009)
• Divisadero, by Michael Ondaatje (winner 2007)
• The Assassin’s Song, by M.G. Vassanji (short list 2007)
• Unless, by Carol Shields (short list 2002)
• Anil’s Ghost, by Michael Ondaatje (winner 2000)
• Mercy Among The Children, by David Adams Richards (short list 2000)
• The Stone Diaries, by Carol Shields (winner 1993)
• Friend of my Youth, by Alice Monro (short list 1990)

We have a vague notion of the best place we should go, or the beautiful places we should like to see, or the kinds of places that would make us grow as a person. We yearn for a good life. We have real hopes and ambitions. We feel impatient for an unshakable faith that we can rely on. But it would require considerable effort to express such things in our typical life as a girl. – from Schoolgirl, page 31 -

A young, Japanese girl wakes up fighting sadness, and missing her father who has died. She dresses, has breakfast and plucks some weeds from the garden before heading for school. As the day unfolds, she muses about life, arranged marriages, the struggles of growing up and being misunderstood; she wrestles with ambivalent feelings about her mother. She returns home from school and visits with her family and visitors, has dinner, bathes. It is all but an ordinary day in the life of a young schoolgirl. But it is less the actions of the protagonist and more her adolescent ruminations which draw the reader into Osamu Dazai’a slim novella.

This is a universal story about what it is like to grow from childhood into adulthood. The angst, moodiness, and introspection are all typical of adolescents who feel largely misunderstood.

Nobody in the world understood our suffering. In time, when we became adults, we might look back on this pain and loneliness as a funny thing, perfectly ordinary, but – but how were we expected to get by, to get through this interminable period of time until that point when we were adults? – from Schoolgirl, page 89 -

In Schoolgirl, the protagonist longs to grow up, but clings to childhood. She has the added burden of dealing with the death of her father, and her feelings toward her mother range from irritation to love.

I felt ashamed about the earlier resentment I had harbored towards Mother when Imaida had been here. I’m sorry, I formed the words softly. I only ever think of myself, I thought, I let myself be coddled by her to my heart’s content, and then take such a reckless attitude with her. – from Schoolgirl, page 83  -

Schoolgirl was the work which brought Dazai’s writing to the forefront of the literary world in post-war Japan. Within its pages can be found the cultural mores of this period in history, where girls in Japan were still finding themselves in arranged marriages. The young girl in the story worries about being forced into marriage to an older man who she does not love.

Across from me four or five salarymen who looked about the same age were just sitting there.  They must have been around 30. I didn’t like any of them. Their eyes were empty and dull. They had no vigor. But now, if I so much as grinned at them, I could very well be dragged off by one of these men, falling into the chasm of compulsory marriage. – from Schoolgirl, page 35 -

Dazai’s style is like a long, narrative poem – observant, simple and oddly compelling. I read this book in less than two hours, but found it haunting me for several days. Dazai does not name his narrator, and so she becomes symbolic of all young girls growing up and trying to define their identities against their families and society at large. Despite an underlying sadness there is also a great deal of optimism in this novella. When the young girl drops off to sleep at the end the tone is decidedly hopeful.

Schoolgirl is a literary work which appears simple on the surface, but explores themes of identity, family and grief. Readers who enjoy literary fiction will find this an interesting read.

Recommended.

• Quality of Writing:
• Characters:
• Plot:

Overall Rating:

This book was read in translation from the Japanese (translated by Allison Markin Powell)

FTC Disclosure: Many thanks to One Peace Books who sent me this novella for review on my blog.

Revisiting my childhood is like standing on the shores of a turbulent sea: achingly beautiful and dangerous – the thunderclap of breakers, the foamlicks of crests, the way swells undulate, graceful as pregnant women, the boil of froth through sand in a rip tide. And I, who never learned to swim, long to submerge myself in those pristine days when miracles were possible, when everyone still loved me. – from Solitaria, page 107 -

Vito Santoro’s body is unearthed at an Italian villa and this discovery sends shock waves through his large, extended family. For decades, Vito’s sister, Piera, has been telling the family Vito was sending her letters from Argentina – so what is the truth about his death? Piera seems to be the only one with answers, but she is refusing to talk to anyone except her Canadian nephew, David. Eager to solve the mystery, Vito’s siblings, wife, nephews and nieces converge on Piera’s villa in Italy where long ago secrets are revealed, rivalries are re-established, and the answers to Vito’s apparent murder become murkier than ever.

Genni Gunn’s novel, Solitaria, is told primarily during the 1940s in the first person voice of Piera, a solitary and intractable woman who is the matriarch of her family.

Donna Piera – La Solitaria, as she is referred to by the townspeople – is not docile or senile, ill or still. She rarely goes out of her house, yet people of her generation cross themselves when they hear her name – either as a protection against her or as a benediction towards her. She is not bedridden, penniless, or feeble. She interacts with the world outside her house through the telephone, with a tongue so sharp and barbed, people inspect their ears after a call, looking for puncture marks. – from Solitaria, page 136-7

Piera is controlling, manipulative and weaves tales from her childhood which at times seem hardly believable. In fact, Piera as narrator is unreliable. Her sisters and brothers have different memories of the same events and her sister-in-law (Vito’s wife, Teresa, who barely tolerates Piera) remembers Vito as a dedicated and devoted husband. The reason for the conflict between Piera and Teresa becomes more clear as the story unspools. Through Piera’s voice, Gunn explores the unreliability of memory, creating an uneasy novel where the truth is always a little out of reach.

Piera’s story is not the only thread which weaves through this literary novel. David, her nephew, is revealed in alternating chapters which take place in modern times. David is a man unsettled. He carries on a long-distance relationship with a woman named Bernette who is still a mystery to him. David seems to be as solitary in nature as Piera.

Two marvelous years of nothing. They hardly know each other. Three times this past year, they’ve met in a city mid-way between their homes and fucked for a weekend. Weak. Weak. End. – from Solitaria, page 10 -

Gunn meshes the lives of David and Piera to reveal the underpinnings of a complicated family. Vito’s murder becomes the lynchpin around which the lives of the characters spin. Through the memories of Vito, the reader begins to get a glimpse of the convoluted family relationships. If the characters cannot agree as to what happened to Vito, they can agree that he was the catalyst for the drama and dysfunction in a family whose lives were dictated by tradition, family secrets, and political and social upheaval in 1940s Italy.

The children were all seated in a circle around Vito. He was the stranger they feared and wanted to become. He was their black sheep, the disgraced one, their brother, their hero. – from Solitaria, page 95-

Gunn’s novel is an elaborate narrative which is quite literary in style. The pace of the book is slow at times, especially those chapters which deal with the modern day relationships. The sections where the reader gets to hear Piera’s unique voice are more compelling. Despite an ending which I could see coming, the novel manages to keep the reader engaged until the final page.

Readers interested in Italian history during the 1940s, and those who enjoy family sagas and literary fiction will find Gunn’s novel an interesting look at the complexities of human behavior within a family.

Solitaria was long-listed for the prestigious Giller Prize this year.

• Quality of Writing:
• Characters:
• Plot: 

Overall Rating:

Read more reviews:

• Historical Novel Review
• The Mookse and the Gripes
• The Koala Bear Writer
• Jenn’s Bookshelves
• Top Mystery Novels
• Reading Matters

Are you a book blogger who has read and reviewed this book? Leave me a link in the comments to your review and I’ll add it to the list above.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Genni Gunn is a writer, musician and translator. Born in Trieste, she came to Canada  when she was eleven. She has published nine books: three novels—Solitaria, Tracing Iris and Thrice Upon a Time; two short story collections—Hungers and On The Road; two poetry collections— Faceless and Mating in Captivity. As well, she has translated from Italian two collections of poems—Devour Me Too and Traveling in the Gait of a Fox by renowned Italian author, Dacia Maraini. One of Genni’s books, Mating in Captivity, has been translated into Italian. Two more are forthcoming next year. Read more about Gunn and her work by visiting the author’s website.

FTC Disclosure: Many thinks to the publisher who provided me a copy of this book through Diane Saarinen for a blog tour of the novel.

When he thought of Wind, when he thought of Aleksandra, when he thought of his father – when Daniel thought of anyone he had known who was now dead – what survived of them was not only love. What survived also were the echoes of all the resistance they had thrown up to life (and therefore to death). Sure the love, but also the rage, the refusal, the running, the shouting, the punching, the probing, the flailing, the crying, the sprint of sex, the furious hunger to be. When Aleksandra and Wind had hit the pavement, it was the releasing of resistance. – from The Marriage Artist, page 148-9

Daniel Lichtmann is a New York art critic married to a beautiful Russian immigrant and photographer named Aleksandra. When Aleksandra plunges to her death from a rooftop, she does not go alone. The body of Benjamin Wind, an artist who has taken the world by storm and received accolades from Daniel, is found next to her. Their deaths are sudden and unexplainable. Although it seems apparent that the two committed suicide in some lover’s pact, Daniel cannot accept his wife’s death at face value.

Josef Pick is only ten years old and living in pre-WWII  Austria, the son of Jewish parents who deny their faith, when he discovers a hidden talent: the ability to draw ketubot (Jewish marriage contracts which are an integral part of the Jewish faith). Josef’s contracts are so astonishingly beautiful and intricate that they belie his lack of artistic training. His gift draws him to his maternal grandfather, a Rabbi living in the Jewish section of Vienna. Josef will come to manhood as Hitler’s troops invade the city – forced to reconcile his confused view of marriage, his faith and belief in God, and what it means to love another.

These two characters – Daniel and Josef – are separated by half a century, but are astonishingly connected. As Daniel searches for truth in the death of his wife, he will discover the answers hidden in history, religious belief, and the elusive threads of family.

Andrew Winer has written a multi-layered, brilliant novel about identity, marriage, love, and our connections to each other through our shared histories. The book is narrated through the parallel stories of Daniel and Josef, moving back and forth from the present to the past. Winer’s characters are richly developed – real, flawed, complex, and wholly believable. The result is a stunning and haunting novel which pulls the reader through its pages and doesn’t let her go until the emotional ending.

Winer weaves the historical elements seamlessly through the novel, setting the reader down in Vienna during the terror of Nazi invasion. But, Winer does more than just give us history…he uses history to show us the importance of identity ( a strong theme in the novel). When Hitler’s troops rounded up Jewish people, forced them into cattle cars and murdered them in mass numbers, he essentially stole the identities of individuals. By shaving their captives’ heads, the Nazis neutralized their gender. They tore families apart, disconnecting individuals from their shared pasts. They used mass graves to dispose of remains. They stole people’s futures. They even negated their names by labeling them with the letter “J”.

The officer examines her child’s documents first, meticulously transcribing HERMAN JOHANNES PICK in his notebook, along with the rest of the two-year-old’s particulars. As she watches the officer finish with a practiced flourish by setting down in bold ink the letter “J” beside her son’s information (just like he did for the other Jews registered by his hand on the same page), she is stirred by everything that is annihilating about identification…the reek of human inventory, the chilling exactitude of a street address, the futurelessness of any single person’s name. – from The Marriage Artist, page 226 -

But it is perhaps the examination of life’s meaning intertwined with the connections we have with others which elevates this novel to something extraordinary. The Marriage Artist makes salient and honest observations of marriage, love, death, and the binds that connect families from generation to generation.

Perhaps the boy was seeking instructions of a much weightier kind, answers to questions for which there are no easy answers: What does one do with a life? Which path should one take? How might one live each moment? What will happen to us? – from The Marriage Artist, page 53 -

And so it is, that Josef experiences his first conscious recognition of the deep, the thorny, the bizarre pull between family members that most people call love but, more often than they would care to admit, resembles tolerance. – from The Marriage Artist, page 101 -

Aleksandra may have married him, but she had died with Benjamin Wind. Could he accept that death was the stronger bond, or worse, that his marriage had not been what he had believed it to be – not necessarily a lie, but something narrower than love? – from The Marriage Artist, page 14 -

As Daniel struggles to reconcile the affair between his wife and Benjamin – that then led to their demise – he begins to question why people are drawn together. What are we looking for when we choose another person with whom to share our life? Are we perhaps, only looking for ourselves reflected through another person’s eyes?

[...] if there was any truth to the notion that when we love we are not really looking to see something new, but rather our own ideas embodied in the other person – qualities that awaken echoes already resounding in us. – from The Marriage Artist, page 256 -

Winer was formerly an artist who wrote art criticism, and he is clearly in his element when he explores how art forms our impressions not only of the external world, but as also a reflection of who we are. Some of the most moving passages in the novel show art as self-expression and a means to touch others.

The Marriage Artist is so beautifully rendered that I found myself moved almost to tears at its conclusion. What Andrew Winer does with his words is paint a portrait of his characters’ lives against the backdrop of history. And yet, although history is certainly important in the novel, it does not define it. Winer’s gift is his ability to demonstrate the timeless nature of our ruminations about life, death and faith.

I was blown away by this novel. Very few authors are able to explore such complex themes with such brilliance. I was carried away by the prose, enraptured by the characters, and felt compelled to keep turning the pages. The Marriage Artist is a must read for those readers who love literary fiction. It will certainly be one of the best books I have read this year.

Highly recommended.

• Quality of Writing:
• Characters:
• Plot:

Overall Rating:

View images of Ketubot

Don’t take my word for it – read other reviews:

• Mostly Fiction
• Luxury Reading
• The Crowded Leaf
• Devourer of Books

FTC Disclosure: Many thanks to Picador for sending me a copy of this book as part of BOOK CLUB (this book will be discussed on Nicole’s blog on October 25, 2011).

  BOOK GIVEAWAY

I am really excited to have an extra copy of this book to give away to one lucky reader of my blog. When I read a book I love as much as this one, I just want to share it with others. To enter, follow the instructions below:

• Contest is open through October 31st at 5:00 pm PST.
• Contest is open INTERNATIONALLY.
• Click here to take survey
• One entry per person.
• One winner will be chosen randomly and announced on my blog on November 1st, 2011.

Good luck!