More or Less Maddy

 More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova

Another gripping story by an author who shows us what it's like to live with debilitating neurological disorders. This time it's Maddie, a young girl with bi-polar disease whose dream is to become a stand-up comedian. 

As Lisa Genova's stories always are, it was emminently readable, but I found this one a little harder to get through on an emotional level. Maddie's up times were truly frightening, with the increasing recklessness of her actions seeming to cross lines there could be no coming back from, and the lows were even worse. It was so convincingly written that her self-destructive actions start to make sense and seem reasonable in her circumstances. I wonder if that could make it risky reading for vulnerable people. 

It is a good story and important in shedding light on this awful illness, but I'd be hesitant to give it to anyone I knew to be in the throes of a serious depression. On the other hand, I might be way off and it could be the very thing someone needs to hear. It would take a wiser person than I to say.  

Genova's books have done much to show us the human side of these diseases and hopefully make us all more aware and more compassionate. And besides all that, they are darn good stories.

Careless People

 Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Sarah Wynn-Williams worked at Facebook from 2011 to 2017, working up to the position of Global Public Policy Director. This is her personal account of the work she did there and the people she worked with. It begins slowly but the latter half of the book gets more intense as she describes her disappointment and frustration with things she saw and heard. 

I went into this already doubting Facebook's - now Meta's - good intentions, and what I read did not encourage me to change my mind. Not that any of it was startling news, it simply confirms what we all suspect, that Facebook, like other large corporations, makes decisions based on profit rather than what's best for the people they claim to serve. No surprise there, still it may be a bit surprising to read about the careless way Meta is said to treat its employees. It's always interesting to get an inside perspective and see how powerful people conduct themselves and function in the world. 

Of course (and this is only from info I've found online) Meta has retaliated, calling the book "false and defamatory". They sued the author for violating a "non-disparagement clause in her severance agreement" and the last I read, she has been legally prohibited from promoting the book. 

It's a case of she says/they say, with lots of people on both sides claiming the other side is wrong. We can't know because we weren't there, but I don't believe she made all of it up. It's true that in the latter half of the book she seems a little less controlled and a lot more angry, but she still comes off sounding more credible than Meta does. 

This is a story about a company that seems dissatisfied with simply being profitable. It appears they want to be more, and more, profitable, and more powerful. It's the power they already have and the reported carelessness with people that gives one pause. But that's just my opinion. Read the book and come back and tell me yours. 

It's controversial, disheartening, and a little alarming, but it's a story that speaks to the times we're living in and so is worth reading.    

My Christmas Reading - Part 2

 

Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva

This was a re-read that I found rather dull this time around. I've read it three times now and had a different reaction each time: first time wasn't impressed, second time liked it quite well, and this time was bored. I think it's headed to my give-away shelf. 

But is that not a great cover?

A Magical New York Christmas by Anita Hughes

I've read this several times and still enjoy it. It's a romance and some of it is not quite believable, but it's not overly sweet and has an interesting story. Original review here.

One Magic Christmas by Martin Noble

This is one from years ago that I decided to re-read because I couldn't remember much of it. I liked it, but in this case have to say that I liked the movie better, though I haven't seen that for years either. The book is based on a screenplay by Thomas Meehan, so maybe it makes sense to prefer the movie...?

In the story a married couple and their two children are struggling financially as Christmas approaches. The mother is not feeling any Christmas spirit at all and so a guardian angel - Gideon - must help her see the value in what she already has. She will experience what life would be like if she were to lose her family, which brings her back in the end to a place of gratitude and joy.

Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

Another romance, but what interested me was the historical aspect. It takes place in the 1950's and is set in and around Buckingham Palace. A young female reporter is sent to write about palace preparations for Christmas, where she meets a chef who is just getting his start in the palace kitchens. I enjoyed the history, the setting, and the occasional appearances of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip as characters. We get a glimpse of them as people rather than monarchs and though I realize it's fiction, I've read enough about them that much of what is written here rings true. Not sure I'd read it again, but it was interesting. 

And that's it for another Christmas. Right now I'm reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for book club and I'm still working through The Silmarillion. For fun I'm reading The Joy of X by Steven Strogatz. The blurb on the back says "A delightful exploration of the beauty and fun of mathematics...The Joy of X will entertain you, amaze you, and make you smarter."  I don't know about the smarter part, but it surely is entertaining.

My Christmas Reading - Part 1

Happy New Year! We're a week in and already I'm behind. I read a number of books over the holidays that I haven't found time to write about so here's a quick summary.

A Halifax Christmas Carol by Steven Laffoley

I was excited to find a Christmas story set in Halifax, not your typical holiday fiction setting. Many take you to sparkling cities - New York, Paris - or idyllic winter spots - Vermont, Scandanavia - all great backdrops for a festive story/romance, but not terribly realistic for most of us. 

This one is set in 1918 Halifax, N.S., a city devestated by the great explosion of a year earlier. The author makes it very real, writing of soldiers - some without limbs, some broken mentally by the unthinkable horrors they've seen - coming home at long last only to find the homes and families they'd been longing for gone forever. And now the deadly influenza pandemic killing millions around the world is coming for them.

In the midst of all this sorrow, a couple of reporters - one fresh and optimistic, one seasoned and cynical - cover stories of returning soldiers, desperate families, and orphaned children. The cynic is convinced there is no reason to hope that life will ever be good again, until one day a young boy comes in off the street and leaves 25 cents on the front counter "for the kids" he's read about in the paper's tragic stories. What follows is a search to locate him and find out why he would give away what little he had, a search during which everyone involved will be changed, especially our Scrooge-like cynic.   

This was an uplifting story and a nice surprise. There is a romance - it seems a Christmas story must have one - but it's mostly about finding a reason for hope in the midst of despair. This is one I will probably read again next year.

The Birds of the Air by Alice Ellis Thomas

I didn't see much in the plot or the characters in this one. One particular scene was so unlikely and ridiculous that it reminded me a little of Cold Comfort Farm (which I, in fact, loved). It's about a family getting together for Christmas with none of them very happy about it except the mother who tries very hard to make it nice. There's not much joy to be had here with most of the characters surly, usually for good reason. Having said that, I do think it deserved more than the cursory reading I gave it, so I'll read it again and see if I can't find a little more in it.

Christmas in Vermont by Anita Hughes

A sweet...bordering on too sweet...story about a girl spending some time away over Christmas at a cozy Vermont inn. The trip is a gift from a friend with an ulterior motive - she knows an old boyfriend will be there at the same time and is hoping the two will make a connection. They do of course and it ends as you would expect. Some of it is a rather unrealistic but it's a light holiday read if that's what you're looking for.

The Christmas Tree by David Adams Richards

There are two short stories in this little book - The Carmichael's Dog and The Christmas Tree. In the first, two boys find a puppy and decide to keep it as a Christmas gift for their mother, but when a police car with the dog's owner shows up at their house, and their frantic attempts to hide it are unsuccessful, they face losing the dog and the good will of their neighbours. 

In the second story, The Christmas Tree, two boys go on a very long trek to find the perfect tree only to realize when they get there that they didn't think to bring an axe. On the way home the perfect tree appears out of nowhere. Nice stories, both.

Christmas at Thompson Hall and Other Stories by Anthony Trollope

 

Five refreshingly different short stories in Trollope's wonderful writing. What more could you want? Original review here.  

 

Wishing One and All 

a Very 

Merry Christmas 

and 

Happy New Year

God bless you

every one!

The True Life of J.S. Bach

 The True Life of J.S. Bach by Klaus Eidam

A detailed look at the life and accomplishments of Johann Sebastian Bach. Like the other Bach biography I read this year, it deals mainly with his music and his work life - the positions he held as Court Composer to the King of Poland, Court Music Director to the Prince of Anhalt-Cothen, and School Choirmaster of The St. Thomas School at Leipzig. There is little about his personal life in either book so perhaps that information has not been preserved.

Many times throughout this book I felt far out of my depth, but at the same time it gave me a sense of who Bach was and how he worked, and that has made his music all the more interesting to me. I've listened to classical music knowing only what I liked and didn't like. This book has helped me appreciate it a bit differently, to not just listen but to hear it. I'm paying attention now, trying to see what the composer has done with it. All of this is on a very elementary level of course, but it's added enjoyment to my life and I'm grateful for it. 

Though the content dives deeply into Bach's music it remains readable, even for novices like me. One curious aspect of it is how determined the author is to correct previous biographers, who in his view drew too many inaccurate conclusions about Bach. He is out to correct them all, using phrases like "certain scholars would have us believe", "a lot of nonsense has been scribbled that..." and "they are utterly mistaken". He says some "have exhibited not only simple ignorance on occasion but an absolute dearth of musical expertise" and that some "specialists set out not to demonstrate Bach's learing but chielfly their own. They were not interpreting Bach but indirectly proclaiming their own importance via Bach." Ouch. Strong words from a man who obviously has enormous respect and admiration for the composer and is determined to defend him. That he wants the world to understand the "stunningly magnificent musical architect" as he does is not a bad thing, but his intensity is almost comical at times.  

This book was a bit of a challenge, but worth it - even the bits I had to wade through - for the sheer exhilaration of learning, of beginning to understand things I didn't before. That never gets old.  

One last thing I'm taking away from it is a soul-searching quote by a writer named Jean Paul (1763-1825) who said "daring judgements often spare us the effort of deeper insights." Again - ouch. I wonder how much music, how many books, how many people I've dismissed in judgement to spare myself the effort of deeper insight. Too many, I think.