Adventures in Reading: "Stones into Schools" by Greg Mortenson

"Stones into Schools" is the second published installment in the adventures of Greg Mortenson, author of "Three Cups of Tea". Greg's journey building schools throughout Pakistan is expanded to include Afghanistan and other areas of central Asia. Along with the challenges inherently present in this kind of endeavor, Greg also faces the personal challenges of fame after the success of "Three Cups of Tea".

"Three Cups of Tea" is an amazing story. And "Stones into Schools" does not disappoint as a sequel. This chapter of the story is told directly by Greg, in the first person, making it a more intimate narrative. It gives us an extremely personal look into some of Greg's greatest triumphs, and some of his biggest fears and challenges.

"Stones into Schools" is a story of humanity. It's the story of how one human can literally change the world. It's the story of personal sacrifice, overcoming opposition, and of humility. It's a story well worth reading. And hopefully, it will inspire you to create some change of your own.

Adventures in Reading: "The Catcher in the Rye" by JD Salinger

I had managed to avoid reading "The Catcher in the Rye" since high school. I can't really give a reason for doing so, but I had an aversion to it for one reason or another...until I read "Franny and Zooey". The finally push came when a friend insisted that I read his "number one desert island book".

And I was not disappointed. The modern reader may not understand the importance of Salinger's most famous work because it seems so similar to many other coming-of-age stories. The thing is, Salinger did it first. A large portion of these kinds of stories that have come out since "Catcher" was published have been an attempt to capture the same genuine expression of the teenage experience that Salinger managed to encapsulate. He was raw and uncensored, and caught a lot of flack for it. However, I believe it was his refusal to mold Holden Caulfield into a moral character that has caused this book to be loved by so many. Salinger didn't attempt to craft Holden's narrative into a story about right or wrong, and in doing so, told a story that was more true than if he had.

I would most definitely recommend this one, even if only as another example of Salinger's masterful characterization. And deeper than that, it's an extremely good example of the effect a truly sincere character can have on a reader. If you'd like a more in depth critique, Google it ;)

Adventures in Reading: "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

I am blown away by how fast I can read a book after reading "Anna Karenina". Seriously.

Anyway..."Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen is a great, quick read. It's the story of Jacob Jankowski, an old man in a nursing home reminiscing about the days when he was a veterinary student at Cornell who literally ran away and joined the circus after a tragedy turns his world upside down. The flashbacks to his circus days are the bulk of the story, and Gruen does an excellent job knowing when to pull the reader back to the present time, and when to let the story go uninterrupted.

I always find it interesting when women write from a male perspective, and vice versa. It seems easier, in a way, to write from a male perspective than from a female perspective, since our culture is, let's face it, still fairly male-centric. Women seem to corner the market on female protagonists (with the exception of Nicolas Sparks, but his techniques seem to rely heavily on female fantasy of romance, and not on reality...but I digress). My point here is that I never once thought to myself, "that seems like a very female way of describing this situation". I was mostly concerned about this being a problem when dealing with the romantic relationships portrayed in the story...especially in the sex scenes. Women and men inherently view sex differently, and it's hard for the author's experience to not come through their characters when they don't know anything else (that goes for everything). All that to say, I was impressed with Gruen.

I would definitely recommend this book. It's a quick read, and an engaging story. It's also an interesting look into the behind-the-scenes world of the old train circuses. What more could you ask for, really?

Adventures in Reading: "Leaf Storm and other stories" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Sorry blog. I'm way behind! I've got excuses, but none of them are really very good, so we'll just skip them for today.

So..."Leaf Storm and other stories" is a compilation of short stories written by Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Marquez also wrote "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (which currently resides in my reading "to do" pile at home). He's a name I'd heard of, but hadn't really put much thought into. But that was before I went to the writing workshop. One of the instructors read a passage from a story called "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings". And I was hooked. I did a little research, and found that Marquez is famous for writing in the Magical Realism genre. This particular genre is really fascinating to me, and I hope that I can learn from it and incorporate elements of it into my own writing.

As for the collection itself, I enjoyed it very much. Some of the stories were a bit hard to grasp, as they truly do blend what's real and what's fantastic. I had to let go of my need for explanation or closure in some of the stories and appreciate them for the vignettes that they are.

So, yes, I would recommend this collection. It was a good introduction to Marquez and his style of writing. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to read something a bit out of the ordinary.

It's true...

Rives

I forgot about Rives until a friend and I were discussing spoken-word poetry the other day. The first one is my favorite. Sometimes I cry when I listen to it. Yeah...it's that good. Enjoy!

This evening's thoughts

"...he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.'" -- Acts 17:27&28

"The books or the music in which we thought beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things - the beauty, the memory of our own past - are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never visited." -- CS Lewis, "The Weight of Glory"

And I'm working on some writing. Don't worry...I still do that.