More Stuff I Didn't Like

So here are another couple of books that I started reading but couldn't finish, both because I just didn't like them.

State of Wonder is a novel by Ann Patchett, whose Bel Canto I loved. I didn't love this one. It's the story of Dr. Marina Singh, who is sent to the Amazon by her employer and lover, Mr. Fox, president of the drug company where she works. Marina is supposed to find out what's going on with Dr. Swenson, who has been down there in the jungle working on her research but who isn't very good about keeping in touch. I just found the story hard to get into, I didn't love the characters, it's just not my kind of book.

Everybody knows what The Hobbit is. I am probably one of the few adults who never had to read it in school - I went to Catholic school, they didn't go in for fantasy. So I asked Shari if I could borrow it since the library's copy is on hold forever. Again, I just couldn't get into it. I like fantasy, but Tolkien's writing is very dense, and I found his tone to be a bit condescending - intended for children, but not giving them much credit for understanding everything. So that's the end of that.

State of Wonder

The Hobbit

The Orchardist

I really enjoyed this novel by Amanda Coplin. It's the story of William Talmadge (known to everyone as just "Talmadge"), living at the turn of the 20th century in the Northwest US with his orchards of apples and apricots. He's a quiet man, living a quiet, lonely, life. Then one day two young girls, pregnant runaways, come into his orchard, and his life is changed forever.

Talmadge takes a liking to the girls - Jane and her sister Della - even feels a certain responsibility for them, so he begins to take care of them. And so a family of sorts is born, with all the heartbreaks and joys that go along with being part of a family.

Coplin's writing reminds me a bit of Hemingway's. The language is spare but extremely descriptive, and the characters have great depth and realism. And it's a heartbreaking and beautiful story that I just couldn't put down.

The Orchardist

Life of Pi

I've been on hold for this ebook forEVER, and finally got it right after Christmas and in time for my trip to Florida. I realize I am probably one of the last readers in America to read it, and I'm sorry I waited. What a fabulous novel! And I mean fabulous in a couple of different ways, as anyone who has read the book understands.

For those of you who haven't, this is the story of Pi Patel, a 16-year-old Indian boy whose family owns a zoo. When his parents decide to close the zoo and move from India to Canada, they travel by freighter with several of the zoo animals. Unfortunately the ship goes down in the middle of the Pacific, and Pi is the only human survivor - along with a hyena, a zebra, and orangutan, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

Pi's adventures on the lifeboat with this group aren't pretty, adventures they certainly are. The fact that he survives some 200-odd days in the open sea is simply amazing, and his ability to deal with Richard Parker is pretty wonderful. I also found the end to be quite surprising - I didn't see it coming at all, and that made it all the better.

I highly recommend Life of Pi, and will definitely plan on seeing the movie.

Life of Pi