The Submission by Amy Waldman

Amy Waldman is a brave writer. She has created a novel about 9/11 that is both readable, dense and thought provoking without being sappy and sentimental. Not many authors would attempt to put this national tragedy in the spotlight of their first work of fiction, but more importantly, not many would be able to pull it off with such aplomb.

This is the fictional story of the politics and polarization that occurred around the building of the 9/11 memorial. Eleven jurors finally decide on the anonymous plan to design the memorial only to find out that the architect who submitted the design is an American Muslim. On the jury, the sole survivor family member is the one who stands behind the design placing herself squarely in a swirl of controversy. We follow her, the jury chairman, several other survivor family members and the architect himself as the process is dragged through the media and the rancor of racial factions come to a head.

Waldman knows her stuff. Her background as a New York Times reporter and the South Asia bureau chief, gives her the understanding of both the emotion that accompanied the first years after 9/11 and the subtle differences between the opposing factions’ points of view. She is able to give a believable voice to each of these players.

Honestly, I enjoyed the first part of the novel, but then it sort of flagged in the middle. Toward the end, I was ready to give The Submission a so-so review, until the last chapter, when Waldman brought it all together for me. The infighting, the stupidity and the negative attitudes toward all things Muslim bothered me, but in the end I realized how much I didn’t know about what happened after the glare of the spotlight faded from the people and groups that were involved. I think those of us who don’t live in New York City or know people who lived there during the attacks think of the actual tragedy itself and the people who lost their lives there, but don’t necessarily think about how, in the wake of the event, the world’s acceptance and tolerance of Islam and the Muslim world turned on a dime. This book drove that point home for me.

In the end, The Submission is a book about memory and how we memorialize tragic events. What is an appropriate memorial for one person may not be appropriate for others. What makes a memorial? How are these spaces used by the public? Are they used to help people heal or are they for reliving the events? This was the core of the book for me.

The events of 9/11 are remembered in terms of brave people doing brave things to save us from horrible acts of violence.  I think Ms. Waldman may be one of the bravest of all in the aftermath because she is unafraid to tell people’s stories with unabashed truth. She meets their stories head on and without fear of backlash and we learn from her bravery. Some are touting this book as the quintessential 9/11 book of our time. I don’t know if that’s the case, but for me it was one of the few I have read and enjoyed. While this book was not my favorite read, it might be the book I learned the most from.

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta

The premise for this book really intrigued me.  What would happen if one day random people just disappeared from earth in the blink of an eye?  How would those left behind react?  What would the world be like?  The Leftovers explores just this scenario. 

Many in the book thought the sudden disappearance of people was “The Rapture” which presented a big problem for the Christian right because there was no rhyme or reason to who got taken.  Some were Christian, others weren’t, children, old people, across races and ethnic groups. How would society square its conscience against this unpredicted and unexplained culling of the American public? I thought it sounded interesting to explore the aftermath of such an event. 

And it was…sort of.  The story followed a family of 4 through their recovery.  Each took a very different path, two joining splinter groups that function on the edge of society, another charging forward toward normalcy as fast as he can and another struggling to maintain her identity during turbulent adolescence.  The story is interesting, but not particularly gripping.  Sort of like a party game of “what would happen if…” 

I like party games as much as the next person, but this one just fell kind of flat.  The story was interesting, but honestly rather depressing.  The splinter groups that the characters joined sounded tinny and just plain weird to me – people dressing in white gowns, taking a vow of silence and smoking all the time (why?) while others travel the country barefooted, regardless of weather, with big bulls eyes painted on their foreheads (sponsored by Target? Huh?).  The requisite wacky gurus emerge to entice people to follow them in trying to make sense of the sudden disappearance.  There was not the community banding together in the fact of adversity  that you’d hope would happen.  The characters drift in separate and strange ways that didn’t always make sense to me.  Maybe it’s not so weird to imagine these things happening in the aftermath of a really weird event, I don’t know. 

That said, the author did really investigate the effects of such an event, and explore the possible reactions.  It was interesting to think of social conventions and standards being thrown aside as a result of such a change in American life.  The characters were intriguing and likable.  They were all set adrift by what happened; their lives suddenly turned inside out.  But, somehow I couldn’t buy their actions quite enough. While some were fully rendered and their actions made sense, others seemed unbelievable.  There seemed to be very little explanation of the actual event.  I just couldn’t buy that there would be no real mention of the cause of the event and what happened to the people who disappeared, even in casual conversation amongst the characters.   

I did consider this as a possible successful book club selection because it would ignite  discussion around the book’s premise, but I’d be interested to hear if any others might feel the same way I did. I found this book on the NPR list of the best books of 2011, thought I don’t know if I agree with its status.  I think there were plenty of other more interesting candidates out there.  I look forward to hearing if others feel differently.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

Baseball is the stuff of great stories. It’s somehow noble and mythical and sets an all American stage for dramatic action to take place. I know some people are just fanatical about it and I thought The Art of Fielding might be aimed at those people. Instead, like some of the great baseball movies, “The Natural”, “Bull Durham”, “Field of Dreams”, this book is really not only about baseball, but more about friendship, commitment, and the ability to be really great at something.

The story follows a young shortstop from the day he is noticed by a precocious college ball player who recruits him to play for a small Midwest liberal arts college, through his amazing college career. Henry Scrimshander seems destined for the big leagues, but when a rogue throw ends in disastrous results, all of the characters lives are jilted off kilter and set into motion.

The characters are just delicious – Henry’s best friend and unofficial trainer, his gay roommate, the college president and his daughter and the rest of Henry’s teammates are beautifully rendered. They make one big messy group of people that are in and out of each other’s lives in ways that are hard to imagine when the book begins. I came to love them all for different reasons, but mostly for their eccentricities and their loyalty to each other. Each of them is striving for greatness in his/her own way. Henry’s best friend is convinced that he needs to go to law school while in reality his true talent is recognizing great athletes and helping them reach their potential. The college president is nearing the end of his successful career and realizing that his success has been at the expense of his true self while his daughter is in a failing marriage where her husband has kept her from ever figuring out what her true talent is. All of this is set against the meteoric rise and potential fall of Henry’s college baseball career.

Harbach writes of college life so realistically it reminded me what I had forgotten about the day to day world of the undergrad. The dining hall, the dorm and the student bar are a perfect backdrop for a hopeful story about the life’s potential.

I resisted this book for a while. I saw it in a magazine and thought “another baseball book, not my thing.” Then it showed up on a lot of lists for best books of 2011 and I reconsidered. I’m glad I did. This is Harbach’s first novel and I am in awe of his plotting and craftsmanship, his ability to develop characters and make them believable. I find a lot of parallels between this book and those of John Irving. It has the same feeling of myth and magic while exploring squirmy subjects and real life situations. Like Irving, I envision Harbach with a little smirk on his face as he types away. I, for one, will be watching for Harbach’s future work with anticipation on mine.

Book Picks for 2011

I admit it. I love those lists that everyone sends out at the end of the year, those "best of" lists.  I'm always interested to see what a certain organization or individual likes and often find good suggestions that way.  I'm sure the publishers like them too.  As I mentioned, I keep a log of all my books for the year and rate them on a rudimentary system.  I thought a fun way to start this blog is to recap last year's greats (in my opinion).  So here's Book Addict's list for 2011:  Ta Da!

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay - This one has made it to my all time Top 10.  It's a powerful book about boxing (yes boxing), South Africa, and Apartheid.  It follows a young boy to adulthood pre-WWII as he grows up navigating the racial and familial challenges of South African society. And yes, the boxing was really interesting!

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach - Fantastic book!  Stay tuned for an upcoming review.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett - Wow, this appealed to me on all kinds of levels.  Rainforests, indigenous people, scientists and a great story.  This one is about a woman research scientist that goes deep into the rainforests of Brazil to find out what happened to her lab partner who has disappeared while studying a fungus that enables women to stay fertile throughout their lives.  Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors and she doesn't disappoint with this one. 

An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin - yes, that Steve Martin.  A quiet, but lovely book about the ins and outs of the New York art gallery world.  About a young woman who is making her way as an art dealer from the auction houses to the private gallery, and her questionable ways of getting there.  Beautifully written, beautifully illustrated with color art plates, just a beautiful little book.

A Likeness by Tana French - Last year we moved so I read a lot of mysteries.  I think they kept my attention better during the crazy upheaval.  This was one of my favorites.  Its about a woman detective who goes undercover to solve a murder of a women who was using the detective's identity.  Most of the story takes place at a country estate outside of Dublin where a bunch of college kids are living communally.  The book is well plotted and full of twists and turns - made me an instant fan of French's.

Swamplandia by Karen Russell - Alligators, Swamps, weird family dynamics and a hell-themed amusement park - who could ask for anything more.  This journey into the wild world of the Bigtrees, a family who lives and runs a small alligator farm tourist destination.  I love books that take you where you never thought you'd go and this own definitely does.  Quirky, fun and poignant.

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo - If you liked the Dragon Tattoo series, you'll love the work of Jo Nesbo.  Nesbo (spelled with one of those o's with a line through) is Norwegian so the book has the same Scandinavian feel as the Dragon Tattoo books, but his stories are way scarier!  I read this while my husband was traveling, and had to keep putting it down because I got so freaked out.  Its a murder mystery with a serial killer who leaves snowmen at the scenes of his crimes.  The detective is a great old curmudgeon and the plot surprised me even to the final pages. 

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skoot - This is truly my one and only nonfiction book for the year.  We read it for book group and I expected it to be slow going, but I was so wrong.  This story of the woman who's cells, unbeknownst to her and her family, were grown in the lab and became the foundation of worldwide medical research is fascinating. I learned so much about medical research and found her family's interaction with the medical world sad, yet full of hope. 

So there you go.  These are my picks.  I hope you'll find something good in here.  Let me know what you think... Happy reading!

Book Addicts Unite!

If you know me well (or even just a little bit) you know that I am a certified book addict.  I can't get through the day without reading just a few pages of my latest book, I subscribe to book magazines, I love my book group, and have been known to read a particularly good book at stoplights.  What you might not know about me is that I'm also a book geek. For many years, I've kept a running log of what I read, page totals and rated them on a rudimentary system so I can remember the ones I really enjoyed.  My husband just shakes his head...

This year I'm stepping it up.  When I finish a good book, I love to recommend it to people.  Often I get a glazed look and the "How do you have time?..." question so this year, I decided to post my reviews for those of you who really enjoy books and might benefit from my opinions.  There is nothing a book addict likes better than feeding another's addiction.  So, here' goes. 

What I'm planning to do is review whatever I'm reading and post it here.  I read a wide variety of books, mostly fiction, that I hear about at book group, or in a magazine, from other book friends, or on the web.  Some say I have a penchant for books about the west, which I guess I own up to, but truly I love well plotted books with some action and adventure and really well drawn characters.  My greatest criteria is that a book has to be well written to make my cut - no unbelievable dialogue or serious grammar gaffs. 

So I hope you'll follow me on this journey.  As you know, we book lovers always like a good discussion, so feel free to comment and recommend books yourself.  Hopefully we'll both enjoy a year of great reading together.