Beatrice and Virgil

Rating: Two Stars

It was ok.  I really liked Life of Pi, so Yann Martel's new book seemed an easy one to throw to the list of books to read for our book club.  Unfortunately this book left me with an unpleasant, dark, sad, unsatisfied feeling.  For several sections of the book I felt confused and in sometimes outright bored…not sure where he was going or why, but often disturbed by some of the imagery of violence to animals.  Note - I had not looked up the story, the plot or anything about it, and casually disregarded some of the early foreshadowing in the story.

I liked the main character, which seemed perhaps a literary avatar for Martel, so I was willing to go with him on this weird, seemingly random journey to hang out with an antisocial taxidermist who's writing a bizarre play about a donkey and a howler monkey (Beatrice and Virgil).  Toward the end, as the ultimate meaning and direction he was going started to dawn on me, I began to brace myself.  I don't particularly enjoy something as awful as the Holocaust sneaking up on me - preferring instead to be given the chance to gear up for the desperateness of the event.  This is not to shy away from it (because it  should be faced), but merely for a little protection of the mental and emotional jarring experienced with going from lightheartedness to evil.

That said, I believe I understand his point (survival during evil times, and a unique perspective of the Holocaust), and thus why he did it.  As it all came together the book did have more meaning, and I will say it was craftily done (which is why it isn't getting one star). The other positives are his ability to turn out truly beautiful sentences and compositions….and I really did like Beatrice the donkey and Virgil the howler monkey.  But the last fifth of the book is extremely dark - visiting both the evils of the Holocaust, and then a deeply unsatisfying disconnected climax with no resolution…at least for me.  Again, I understand that such an ending is the literary device he chose to use to illustrate his idea….but such is not my cup of tea.  I suspect if I had known it was about the Holocaust from the beginning, I would have been able to appreciate it a little bit more, given the art and allegory used to craft the tale.  But too late.

The Joy Luck Club

Rating: Three and a Half Stars

I know this book has been out for some time, so I'm a little late to the party.  But I really quite liked it.  It took me a while to get into it…but I ultimately really loved the stories of mothers and daughters - how they saw the world so differently.  The stories of the mothers growing up in China and then having children here in America, and then the daughters that were raised here, not understanding their mothers.  There are many beautiful and heart wrenching stories, but I appreciate how the stories were told, seemingly random but ultimately tying the stories of mothers and daughters together in a beautiful way.  I also really enjoyed reading the mothers' stories, how the they see the world is beautiful, unique and proud.  It was in many ways inspiring.  I also have to say Amy Tan does an amazing job telling the stories though such specifically distinct voices - old and young - old world and new world.  Beautifully written.