The Corrections

The Corrections (2001) by Jonathan Franzen. This is one of the best books of the decade. There was some interesting controversy surrounding it when it was chosen by Oprah's book club. But that is all forgotten when you read the book, which follows the adventures and mishaps of the Lambert family of St. Jude, a mythical Midwestern city. The mother and father, Alfred and Enid, are well into their 70s when the novel begins. Their children, Gary, Chip and Denise, are in their 30s and 40s. At first, it seems that Gary and Denise have their lives together, and that Chip is the black sheep of the family. But as we get to know them better, we learn that Gary and Denise, each in their own way, are plenty screwed up. This book is not just a serio-comic look at a dysfunctional family, but also a wide-ranging and profound commentary on the culture we live in -- or at least lived in. "The Corrections" came out just before 9/11, so Franzen was unable to incorporate that tragedy into the the fabric of his story. But maybe that is just as well. The book provides a sharp snapshot of America just before everything changed, and it is instructive as well as amusing. Grade: A

A Visit from the Goon Squad

A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010) by Jennifer Egan. In Goon Squad, Egan tells a series of linked narratives, each sharing a character or characters with at least one other story in the book. Some of the stories are interesting, some not so much. Egan pulls off a showy feat by telling the narratives in a wide variety of styles and points of view. If the book has a problem for me, it is that it has too many characters, and it's just too hard to keep track of them all. The title refers, I think, to the book's mention, a few times, that time is a goon. What makes time a goon I'm not sure, but that's what the book says. Grade: B

Bonk

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex (2008) by Mary Roach. The author scours the world for the latest on scientific research into all things sexual. The book has lots of interesting footnotes, and Roach does not hesitate to interject humorous asides when the situation warrants it. This is not great literature, or great science, but it's an entertaining read and very informative. Grade: B+

One Day

One Day (2009) by David Nicholls. I don't remember ever reading a book which moved me the way this one did. One Day tells the story of Emma and Dexter, two young Brits who graduate from college at the same time and hook up on graduation day, July 15, 1988. The novel picks up their story on July 15 of every year after that, until 2007. The pair dance a dance made up of half friendship, half love, for 20 years, and each chapter of the book presents us with a snapshot of where they are in the dance in every particular year. Emma always loves Dexter, but he is too self-absorbed, too promiscuous, too drunk to see what's in front of him. Will they end up together? I was never sure. The writing in this novel is just brilliant, the dialogue is pitch-perfect, the sense of time and place is right on. I was so involved in the story that when a major character died, I cried. I've never read a book that made me cry, no matter how sad. This book is both funny and sad -- at one point it made me laugh out loud. The bottom line is that this is one of the best books I've read this year, and I highly recommend it. Grade: A

Sybil

Sybil (1973) by Flora Rheta Schreiber. I read this book for the Hope Center book group. It was chosen by popular vote, so I went along. I found it to be fairly interesting, although I have read books and seen movies on the same subject in the past. Sybil is a woman with 16 separate personalities, none of which she is conscious of. She was severely abused by her mother as a child, and her psyche fractured into different personalities in order to deal with different aspects of the abuse. Dr. Wilbur helps her, through psychoanalysis, to re-integrate her personality. The abuse that Sybil suffers at the hands of her mother is shocking (it really amounts to torture), and her recovery is touching. It's quite a good book, but also quite dated, having been written almost 40 years ago. A lot has changed in the meantime; for example, I doubt if any psychiatrist today would use sodium pentothal to treat a case of dissociative identity disorder, the current name for Sybil's illness. But in spite of these quibbles, the book is a worthwhile read. Grade: B+

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2007) by Stieg Larsson. In this third book of the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy, Larsson completes the story of Lisbeth Salander, the girl of the title. He also more-or-less completes the story of Mikael Blomqvist, the journalist with the odd relationship with Salander. The obvious complaint about this book is that Salander spends most of it cooped up in a hospital room, recovering from wounds incurred in book No. 2 of the series. Only in the last 100 pages or so is there any action; up until that point there is a lot of talk, exposition and intrigue leading up to the finale. At 563 pages, the book is rather long, and requires a substantial commitment of time from the reader. I felt that this commitment was only partly rewarded; although the ending is satisfying, it takes too long to get there. There may have been an extra subplot thrown in that wasn't needed. Grade: B+

The Last Train from Hiroshima

The Last Train from Hiroshima (2010) by Charles Pellegrino. Looking through the eyes of survivors, this book tells in gruesome detail what it was like to be in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on those fateful days in August, 1945, when atomic bombs were dropped on both cities. In words both explicit and poetic, Pellegrino describes what Japanese survivors called the pika-don, or flash-bang, of the bombs, and their devastating after-effects. In this account, you will encounter burning horses, whirlwinds of fire, and swarms of blue "fireflies." You will read about ant people, who aimlessly followed each other in long lines of souls traumatized by the blast; and of alligator people, so badly burned by the flash of the bomb that their skin resembled that of an alligator. There are some surprises in the book, too. For example, the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki was two to three times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. A fact I didn't know, because news of the Nagasaki bomb was suppressed for so long. Overall, this is a vivid and touching story about the very worst results of total war. It deserves to be read by everyone who has the time to do so. Grade: A-