The Fly Trap by Fredrik Sjoberg

I don’t know why I picked up this book and brought it home to read.  Certainly, entomology is not one of my interests; moreover, I know nothing about insects of any kind, except that they are always present and they can be annoying.  Sjoberg is an entomologist, and The Fly Trap is ostensibly a book a book about his development and his study of hoverflies.  But it is much more than that.  He delves into the fascinating story of a early 20th century entomologist, Rene Malaise, discusses the obsessive curiosity of the collector, talks about the joy of observing the smallest things in the natural world, the necessity of ‘reading nature’, and the peace derived from loneliness.  In a voice which is self-deprecatingly honest he reveals both the humor and the beauty in the life he spends on a remote island off the coast of Sweden.  His style might be said to imitate the flight path of certain insects, seemingly erratic, but somehow reaching the goal.  In short, this contemplative book’s observations of the natural world and the people in it, force us the meditate of the meaning of life and our relationship to it.   

Elmore Leonard will also be well-remembered for his 10 Rules of Writing. USA Today listed them in 2007:

1. Never open a book with weather.

2. Avoid prologues.

3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said."

5. Keep your exclamation points under control.

6. Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose."

7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.

8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.

9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.

10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

This quote from Mickey Spillane, “. . .my breath a ghost I was chasing.”  What a beautiful image.  Mickey Spillane!  Who knew?

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore.

I read both of these books while I was vacationing in North Carolina, and thoroughly enjoyed both of them.

 The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce is a story of Harold’s walk from one end of England to the other, and the novel seems to move at the same deliberate pace of an older man walking along the lanes and back roads of a country he has barely noticed before, and examining is own past.  This accidental pilgrim takes the reader along on a journey that includes laughter, tears, sometimes frustration and some sentimentality.   This is a book about love and loss, about discovery and understanding.  

On the other hand, Mr. Penumbra’s Bookstore is a book about opposites, darkness and light, technology and tradition, modern and ancient, the real and the unreal.  The characters are well drawn, and the plot moves at a steady enough pace to keep the reader turning pages.  This ia a thoroughly enjoyable book.

Additional comments

 

Below are additional comments about books we have discussed and some we haven’t

 

 

The proliferation of the ‘One Book” programs, the popularity of ereaders and smart phones, and the publishing industry’s focus on series have all contributed to the popularity of reading as a major form of entertainment.  

 

Liz

For some reason, conversations with strangers frequently turn to the subject of books and reading.  The title that has come up repeatedly in these conversations is Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand (March 2011).  People tell me it is “gripping,” that they “couldn’t put it down, that “it’s the best book I’ve ever read.”

 

Joy

I just finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog (February, 2011) and LOVED IT. Earlier I read Kahneman's Thinking: Fast and Slow, and was amused to know that, as little as I understand, HOW I come to understand things is something I know even less about. Having read "Elegance," I feel redeemed and assured -- the meaning of life is quite simple: it has all the meaning I give it. To seek love and beauty are essential activities, and I am not a simpleton for gazing at trees and finding fulfillment in their forms. However! I also know I will likely never match Barbery's masterful use of grammar, to say the least :

 

John

Here is a quote from a good Guardian article on Mieville’s Embassytown:

China Mieville knows what kind of novel he's writing, calls it by its name, science fiction, and exhibits all the virtues that make it an intensely interesting form of literature. It's a joy to find this young author coming into his own, and bringing the craft of science fiction out of the backwaters where it's been caught lately between the regressive drag of publishers marketing to a "safe" readership and the bewildering promises of change and growth offered by postmodernism in all its forms and formlessness. Embassytown is a fully achieved work of art.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/may/08/embassytown-china-mieville-review

 

Sara

 I happen to have read " . . . Mr. Feynman" (Sept. 2011) several years ago on the recommendation of a very dear friend who is a reader par excellence.  Upon receiving your email, I made the decision to read it again just as soon as I can get it   to the top of my reading priority list.   

 

Claudia

A very good book I finished a few weeks ago was The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Claire Tzemach Lemmon:  A true story about a young woman who risked so much to help eke out a living for her family when the Taliban was in Afghanistan about 15

years ago; 

 

I also read two novels by Stewart O'Nan, Wish You Were Here (1st) and then

Emily, Alone.  They were not as good as I had anticipated them being (I

heard author on a full hour interview on Fresh Aire with Terry Gross) but

they were OK.  First is about Emily who has lost her husband and goes to

their summer home with her sister-in-law  to close it up, one last time and

sell it; the children come and the entire book is about that week at the

camp.  There are great family dynamics; the second book takes place several

years after the first one; Emily is still coping with being alone and has

further interactions with sister-in-law and family.......

 

A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley (3rd in that series) was

great!  I just love that little girl and her bicycle Gladys!  (April, 2011)

 

I read Unbroken (see above) and have real mixed feelings about it; thought the

documentation and history lesson was beyond reproach and I learned a lot but

I thought her actual writing style, particularly in the beginning chapters

left MUCH to be desired and I was disappointed that she did not give more

about his life after his "redemption".

 

Remarkable Creatures; another "true" novel (what do they call those that are

based on a true story) by Tracy Chevalier about the two women who are

credited with making some of the first discoveries of dinosaurs on the

beaches of England.  A good story in itself along with, I felt, wonderful

descriptions of the country side and of life in England during that time

(particularly for women);

 

In The Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White was disappointing although I did

want to read it since it also was true, based on his stay at the Carville

facility as an inmate.  

 

Liz

I should mention The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach.  It is a good story and has several wonderful characters.  Don’t be fooled by the title, though.  It is not really about baseball, although there are vivid  baseball descriptions.

 

 

 

Additional comments

 

Below are additional comments about books we have discussed and some we haven’t

 

 

The proliferation of the ‘One Book” programs, the popularity of ereaders and smart phones, and the publishing industry’s focus on series have all contributed to the popularity of reading as a major form of entertainment.  

 

Liz

For some reason, conversations with strangers frequently turn to the subject of books and reading.  The title that has come up repeatedly in these conversations is Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand (March 2011).  People tell me it is “gripping,” that they “couldn’t put it down, that “it’s the best book I’ve ever read.”

 

Joy

I just finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog (February, 2011) and LOVED IT. Earlier I read Kahneman's Thinking: Fast and Slow, and was amused to know that, as little as I understand, HOW I come to understand things is something I know even less about. Having read "Elegance," I feel redeemed and assured -- the meaning of life is quite simple: it has all the meaning I give it. To seek love and beauty are essential activities, and I am not a simpleton for gazing at trees and finding fulfillment in their forms. However! I also know I will likely never match Barbery's masterful use of grammar, to say the least :

 

John

Here is a quote from a good Guardian article on Mieville’s Embassytown:

China Mieville knows what kind of novel he's writing, calls it by its name, science fiction, and exhibits all the virtues that make it an intensely interesting form of literature. It's a joy to find this young author coming into his own, and bringing the craft of science fiction out of the backwaters where it's been caught lately between the regressive drag of publishers marketing to a "safe" readership and the bewildering promises of change and growth offered by postmodernism in all its forms and formlessness. Embassytown is a fully achieved work of art.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/may/08/embassytown-china-mieville-review

 

Sara

 I happen to have read " . . . Mr. Feynman" (Sept. 2011) several years ago on the recommendation of a very dear friend who is a reader par excellence.  Upon receiving your email, I made the decision to read it again just as soon as I can get it   to the top of my reading priority list.   

 

Claudia

A very good book I finished a few weeks ago was The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Claire Tzemach Lemmon:  A true story about a young woman who risked so much to help eke out a living for her family when the Taliban was in Afghanistan about 15

years ago; 

 

I also read two novels by Stewart O'Nan, Wish You Were Here (1st) and then

Emily, Alone.  They were not as good as I had anticipated them being (I

heard author on a full hour interview on Fresh Aire with Terry Gross) but

they were OK.  First is about Emily who has lost her husband and goes to

their summer home with her sister-in-law  to close it up, one last time and

sell it; the children come and the entire book is about that week at the

camp.  There are great family dynamics; the second book takes place several

years after the first one; Emily is still coping with being alone and has

further interactions with sister-in-law and family.......

 

A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley (3rd in that series) was

great!  I just love that little girl and her bicycle Gladys!  (April, 2011)

 

I read Unbroken (see above) and have real mixed feelings about it; thought the

documentation and history lesson was beyond reproach and I learned a lot but

I thought her actual writing style, particularly in the beginning chapters

left MUCH to be desired and I was disappointed that she did not give more

about his life after his "redemption".

 

Remarkable Creatures; another "true" novel (what do they call those that are

based on a true story) by Tracy Chevalier about the two women who are

credited with making some of the first discoveries of dinosaurs on the

beaches of England.  A good story in itself along with, I felt, wonderful

descriptions of the country side and of life in England during that time

(particularly for women);

 

In The Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White was disappointing although I did

want to read it since it also was true, based on his stay at the Carville

facility as an inmate.  

 

Liz

I should mention The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach.  It is a good story and has several wonderful characters.  Don’t be fooled by the title, though.  It is not really about baseball, although there are vivid  baseball descriptions.

 

 

 

Breaking the silence

 

I haven’t posted anything on this site for a while, partly because  we have had a long, lingering spring which started back in what should have been the dark cold days of January and February.  It is hard to stay inside at the computer when the temperature is in the 70’s, the sky is blue, and the breezes are blowing away the humidity. Consequently, when I haven’t been reading, much of my time is spent outdoors puttering in the herb garden, or just soaking up the sunshine.  However, I do want to mention two notable, and discussion provoking, novels that I have read recently:

Night Train to Lisbon  by Pascal Mercier and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  

Both belong to a genre which might be called book books. In both novels,  the more or less chance discovery of a book sends the protagonist on a quest, one in Portrugal and the other in Spain.  In Night Train, the main character, Gregorius, is a Swiss teacher who stumbles on a book written by a Lisbon doctor who lived during the time of the Salazar dictatorshop.  In an effort to understand the man who wrote the book, Gregorius  searches out the people who knew him.  To do this, he must uncover past secrets of this mysterious and beautiful city.  In Shadow, the main character, Daniel, the son of an antiquarian book dealer in Barcelona, chooses from the Cemetery of Lost Books The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax.  This leads him nto a world of forbidden love, dark obsession and cruel power.   Although Mercier’s book is more philosophical and Ruiz Zafon’s is darker in tone, both take the protagonists and the readers on a spellbinding journey of discovery against a backdrop of political unrest.    

 

Comments:

F.A. said...

"Against a backdrop of political unrest." The backdrop is also very Iberian - it's like people are rediscovering Hemingway's setting through native writers.

29 Apr 12 @ 6:41 PM

Anonymous said...

I read Surely Your Joking by R. Feynman and found it was not just physics but a lot more about how Feynman did not let anything go by with out thinking about it thoroughly. Great book and read. Thanks Faimon

 

This is the week when everyone writes about the best books of the year.  Of course, such lists are completely subjective.  This fact is born out by the fact that no two lists even closely resemble each other, although some books appear more than once.  We can discuss the beauty of the  language, the well developed plot, the three dimensional characters, but in the long run, those qualities are not what make a book stay in one's mind to be remembered at the end of the year as one of the best.  That has to do with some undefinable way that the book connects with us when we read it.  I am not sure that connection can be quantified in any universal way.  We talk about the beauty of the language (Barbery), the well-developed plot (Patchett), or the three dimensional characters (Verghese),   but, in the final analysis, the books that stick with us are the ones we enjoyed, the ones we could not put down, the ones that stayed with us even when they were closed, the ones we hated to see end.  Hence, this is the books I enjoyed the most, out of the many I’ve read over the year.  They are not listed in order.

Cutting for Stone -- Abraham Verghese  (wonderful characters, interesting story)

The Elegance of the Hedgehog -- Muriel Barbery (beautifully written/translated, thought provoking)

The Postmistress -- Sarah Blake  (actually two stories that come together eventually)

Unbroken  -- Lauren Hillenbrand  (nonfiction, mesmerizing)

Flavia de Luce series -- Alan Bradley (pure enjoyment, wonderful characters)

These come to mind, although I am sure there are others.  What are your favorites?

 

Comments:

Deborah Normand said...

Cutting for Stone is one of those books to read slowly, like The English Patient. Then I tried Verghese's others and couldn't get through them--the curse of the best first. Bookstores are my CASA teen's favorite outing site. And on her recommendation, I bought The Boy in the Striped Pajamas at the same time I purchased Verghese's novel. If you haven't read it, do skip the movie and read the book. When we visit bookstores, I always try to buy books that I can pass on to her. Cutting for Stone was on the shelf waiting for her to turn 18. Now that she has, she will have to wait while I reread it.

31 Dec 11 @ 5:36 PM

Liz said...

I think Cutting for Stone grows on you, but it does require a 'suspension of disbelief.' I haven't tried anything else by him.

1 Jan 12 @ 10:31 AM

Pat Morgan said...

I thought I'd weigh in on the end of the year book review, just to share some favorites with another group of readers. I have a favorite list of strong women writers who develop compelling backstories for recurring characters who star to lesser or greater degrees in intriguing plot lines. A new acquaintance is Louise Penny who writes the delightful Thre Pines series around Inspector Armand Gamache. For developing a crazy quilt of thoroughly, recognizably human characters, Penny is unmatched. For making those characters flawed and complex and utterly likable, she deserves every accolade. As the author explains on her website, " ... the Chief Inspector Gamache books, while clearly crime fiction, are not in fact about murder or even death. They're really about life. And friendship. About belonging and choices. And how very difficult it can be, how much courage it can take, to be kind." If possible, read the book in the order written. If not possible, travel to the Quebec village of Three Pines and meet folks who will delight your soul and break your heart. A briefer mention, though no less deserving of time and typing, nods to Dana Stabenow and her characterization of the Alaskan widlerness, inhabited by the often surprising always intrepid Kate Shugak, and to Elizabeth George who brings Inspector Lynley back for a seventeenth excursion into the world of Brit mysteries. Be warned: these are writers and characters who will seduce you into wanting more. If you are new to either, there is an impressive backlog of titles to satisfy the appetite. Happy New Year to all-- and good reading!

1 Jan 12 @ 9:19 PM

Susan said...

Being in a book club, one would think I'm an avid reader. Since retiring and getting an e-reader, I do read 3x what I used to read. That being said, the books I read are ones the book club chooses. This is always based on somewhere we will visit, most recently Fairhope, AL. In A Temple of Trees (Suzanne Hunter), fiction, and The Poet of Tolstoy Park (Sonny Brewer) true story somewhat fictionalized, were two of my favorites. (We actually met both of the authors.) If you want to read one of these, I would start with The Poet. . Otherwise, I read was catches my attention or something recommended. I enjoyed The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo series, Water for Elephants, The Help, The Girl from Berlin (bought in Berlin where my daughter lives), and Warhorse by Michael Morpurgo. Morpurgo has written over 100 books for the teen population. As a teacher in England, he read to his students, and wanted stories for them to read. Warhorse is based on an actual horse during the WWII era and is written through the voice of the horse, Joey. Although my mother took us to the library or book mobile every week during the summer, I didn't read as much as my sisters. Knowing now that I was somewhat dyslectic, it makes sense. So, I'm catching up on my teen books. I never liked to analyze books too much, just enjoy them, hence, iffy grades in English in hs and college.

1 Jan 12 @ 9:21 PM

Beth said...

In terms of books I've read this past year--easier for me to list writers whose work rarely fails to draw me in. Anita Bruckner is one of these. I have never been disappointed in her work. Penelope Lively's work has struck out with me a couple of times, but I think HEAT WAVE is as near perfect as a novel can be. I was delighted to discover that John Banville writes mystery under the name Benjamin Black and thoroughly enjoyed the one I managed to find. I found UNBROKEN to be one of the most compelling, heart-breaking and eye-opening books I've read in a long time, and passed it on to people who swore they would pass it on. I tried the new novel by the author of A BEAUTIFUL LINE, whose name escapes me, but couldn't get into it. A BEAUTIFUL LINE is well-written, but after a while I felt I was in BRIDESHEAD REVISITED as written by a lower tier writer. I often return to favorites--Graham Greene, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, et al. I read a lot of mysteries--after a day of making up stories, whether a play or a novel, I find them pure escapism, particularly writers like T. Jefferson Parker and Lee Child. I always enjoy reading the letters from other people on this list, and thank Elizabeth for keeping this very interesting group going.

4 Jan 12 @ 9:53 AM

 

This is more a discussion than a review.  Two guys apparently in the front seat of a car, are discussing the book Surely You're Joking  by Richard Feynman, who, according to his official website, was scientist, teacher, raconteur, and musician.  He assisted in the development of the atomic bomb among other things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcOHcAVpd8M