Here’s a book that I recommend, if you haven’t already discovered it. The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, a fellow Canadian. It’s a treat to read something so well-written and evocative. It’s not a happy story, but rather a reminder of the brutalities of war, and in the midst of that, the triumph of the human spirit. Two outstanding things about the writing: the three-time repetition of a certain sentence (I won’t tell you what it is, don’t want to spoil it) and the matter-of-fact writing. It wasn’t until after I finished reading that I felt the impact of the story. If you’ve read this book, I’d be very interested to hear your reactions; it would be great if you’d leave me a comment.
Filed under: fiction
This book, Always and Forever by Cathy Kelly, reminded me of the writings of Maeve Binchy. I enjoyed it. It’s the first one I’ve read by Kelly, and I see she is quite prolific and I will look for more titles.
An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor also reminded me of another author I like, James Herriot, he of veterinarian fame, except Taylor’s portrayal is of human doctors! I had some laugh-out-loud moments, and wished the ending would not have come so soon.
I’m sorry to say, I quit half way through this book, A Midwife’s Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. It really was interesting, but I wasn’t prepared to invest more time in the second half. I think readers with a more sociologic mindset than mine would probably enjoy the whole thing!
Several years ago, PBS aired the video version of this book by Bruce Feiler. It’s a remarkable telling of one man’s journey of discovery about the lands of the Bible and the personal impact of the journey. To my delight, I found a copy in my Christmas stocking. I’ve been slowly working my way through the book and savoring the journey to places I’ve never been and am unlikely in the near future to get to. One of the things that impressed me was that so many of the people in the Middle East seem to be so aware of their history, and so closely connected to it. Canada is such a newish country, and many of us and our parents are from “somewhere else”. But even more than the physical connection, the people of the Middle East seem to also have a spiritual connection to the land, which Feiler did a great job of portraying. You can read an excerpt from the book or hear an audio excerpt at www.brucefeiler.com.
