A Personal Matter - Kenzaburo Oe

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=7-9780802150615-0 - Kenzaburo Oe, a resident of Tokyo, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1994. The father of a child with brain damage, A Personal Matter, appears somewhat autobiographical, as it tells the story of Bird, a man whose wife has just given birth to a baby with a severe brain injury. The novel, told from Bird's perspective, follows Bird through the ensuing days as he attempts to cope with the news and his feelings of inadequacy. He wrestles with whether to allow the doctors to operate, knowing his son will never be "normal", or to simply allow the baby to die. As I explained the plot to Sarah, she pointed out that it is similar to The Memory Keeper's Daughter. She's right, but I never would have made the connection because Oe's writing is so raw and powerful - as the Powell's review starts out - it's like a "punch in the face." There were sentences I had to read multiple times to get over my shock that certain words were actually written out on the page. Oe's writing is honest and incredibly brutal, with sex and power politics constantly at play. This book definitely took me out of my comfort zone. It's not for the beach, but it's marvelous overcoming angst reading.

Clouds of Witness - Dorothy Sayers

http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780061043536-3 : This recommendation by Aunty Marji closed out Mystery Month for me. Amateur sleuth Lord Peter Whimsy is called away from vacation when his brother is accused of murdering their sister's fiance. Sayers lays out an in-depth decription of the trial - which I found fascinating and made me wonder if Sayers had a legal background. While I quickly got into this book, after about the first 70 pages, I found it hard to keep my interest - I think the writing was too old-fashioned for me. The final chapters were skillfully put together, but I didn't find myself that impressed by the resolution. I also think, though, that I enjoyed The Murder of Roger Ackroyd so much, that this fell a little short by comparison.

April was a good reading month for me, and I declare my "Topic of the Month" reading plan an early success. I was really happy to learn about some new authors (like Sayers) and read others that I've heard about for so long but never read (like Chandler). I plan to work more mysteries into my rotation and I received a lot of recommendations that I just didn't have time to get to. Yet.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd* - Agatha Christie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_roger_ackroyd - After Death on the Nile, I wasn't itching to read another Christie mystery, but I had already ordered this one from the library, so I thought I'd just check it out. This one is told in the first person by a doctor in a small English town where Hercule Poirot has just retired. After a woman commits suicide and her supposed lover is found murdered, Poirot and the narrator conspire to solve the mystery. I loved this book - immediately I realized that I just enjoy first person narratives much more so than third person. There is something about the point of view or the certainty of the descriptions that is much more engaging for me. The plot had twists and turns galore with secrets kept and lies revealed in every chapter. If you read one Christie novel in your life, make it this one. And don't forget, that when it comes to solving the mystery, it's always best to suspect everyone!!

(* - listed in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die)

Now is the Time to Open Your Heart - Alice Walker

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=17-9780812971392-0: When I was in college, I did a fellowship in the African-American studies department. My thesis was called "Survival Through Storytelling" and it focused on Alice Walker's The Color Purple and Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God - both of which are stories told by one female character to another female character. The basic point was that women survive the pain of abuse, the loss of a child, illness, love, and ultimately life by telling their stories to other women. Writing that paper transformed the way I view my relationships with other women - in a very positive affirming way. But, as much as I savored every word written by Walker and Hurston in those books, after I finished my paper I could never bring myself to read another book by either of them. I wanted to, but I think I worried that it would shatter this perfect memory I had of their influence on my life. So, it was with great hesitation that I started to read Now is the Time to Open Your Heart. This novel is the story of Kate, a woman in her mid-fifties, who embarks on a journey of self-discovery along the Colorado River. Her story (and those of the people in her life) are told through dreams, flashbacks, and memories. Walker's writing is poetic and I was happy to be reading her again, but this is no Color Purple. I do think, however, that I am going to make more of an effort to seek out other books by Walker and Hurston - I think they will be a wonderful reminder of the influence stories have had on my life, and how lucky I am to have so many amazing women to share all of mine with!

A Man's Head - Georges Simenon

http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780143037286-0 : Recommended to me by Aunty Marji, A Man's Head is authored by France's (via Belgium) most successful crime writer. In his lifetime (1903-1989), Simenon wrote over 200 novels, 75 of them featuring Inspector Maigret, the star of this book. A Man's Head begins with a convicted murderer in prison the night before his execution. Maigret, the inspector who put him there, believes that the man might be innocent, and orchestrates his escape - hoping that eventually the convict will lead him to the true murderer. I started reading this book standing up at my dining room table - 20 minutes later I was still standing. I was entranced right away, and read the book in an hour long sitting. This is the best of the mysteries/crime novels I have read this month, and I'm eager to read more of Inspector Maigret.

Through the Arc of the Rainforest - Karen Tei Yamashita

http://www.powells.com/biblio/17-9780918273826-0: This was the Stanford on-line book group's pick for the month of April. A political satire of sorts, the novel is set in Brazil and follows a cast of characters in their quest for fame and fortune at the cost of the environment. There are aspects of magical realism throughout - including a Japanese man with a sphere orbiting in front of his face, carrier pigeons who traverse continents, and a three-armed man who falls in love with a three-breasted woman. I enjoyed learning about the characters and following their individual stories, which all came crashing together at the end. It was like an adult version of the Lorax, with colorful bird feathers instead of truffula trees.

The Big Sleep* - Raymond Chandler

http://www.powells.com/biblio/17-9780394758282-4 : This novel first introduced private detective Philip Marlowe. It starts off with Marlowe hired to investigate a case of blackmail...several murders, a pornographic book ring, and numerous double-crosses later, Marlowe unwinds the mystery (except the death of the chauffeur). I found this story incredibly difficult to follow - I'm not sure if I just wasn't that interested in the writing, or if it was particularly convoluted. Marlowe is like Sam Spade in his roughness - and at one point in the story his comments toward a homosexual character were very off-putting (I tried to remember that the book was written in 1939, but it still turned me off to the story in general). I'm glad I decided to read some of these early detective stories just to see what they are all about. But, I don't see myself picking up too many more.

(* - listed in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die)