I'm getting a lot out of books on cd. With school reading being so overwhelming it's nice to reclaim 3 hours in the car each day I go to school for books I want to read and not have to read.
This one was read by the author which adds to the enjoyment. The audio book had a few things not in the print copy, the poems about dogs bonus track was very funny. But there is a story titled You Can't Kill The Rooster that was in the print but not the audio that I'm told is hysterical. One of my favorite parts of this collection was his story about talking music lessons from a midget obsessed with the female body. Some of the stories were a bit hard to hear, but I think those same bits would have been hard to read as well. Sedaris unapologetically talks about his drug problems while in art school and it's hard not to laugh while cringing over the lows he sunk to.
All in all this was pretty good, I wasn't completely wowed but I liked it.
(Finished September 26, 2013)
Monday, September 30, 2013
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Unaccustomed Earth: Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri
I read interpreter of maladies also by Jhumpa Lahiri at the suggestion of my dear Beth and then also at her suggestion I picked up this on in CD to listen to in the car on my very long trip to and from school.
My review will be on the work but also on the quality for the book on cd. I wasn't one for listening to books very much. In the past the exception was the Harry Potter series which for about 2 years my kids insisted on listening to every time we got in the car and so we heard the entire series about 4 times. But I think I have been converted, at least for long car trips such as my trek back and forth from home to school.
Like interpreter of maladies, Unaccustomed Earth is a collection of short stories. One of the amazing things I find with these is that while the stories pick up at a moment in the life of the characters, give us a glimpse into a set of events, and then we leave them. There isn't an ending in the traditional sense. The ending we get isn't meant to be a clean wrap up, there's no "and they lived happily ever after" only a sense of "oh please tell me more". Lahiri does this so well it is both breathtaking and heartbreaking. She also takes what can plain, even ugly words (like flaccid for example) and strings them together and makes them brilliant and amazing.
The cd experience was very interesting. The readers, one male and one female, both very good with the Indian accent and pronouncing words (names and cities) that I might have stumbled across. They were very good at reading with emotion and not using a flat tone and so inserting life into the words. It was over too soon and I am sad to say goodbye to this one.
(finished September 18, 2013)
My review will be on the work but also on the quality for the book on cd. I wasn't one for listening to books very much. In the past the exception was the Harry Potter series which for about 2 years my kids insisted on listening to every time we got in the car and so we heard the entire series about 4 times. But I think I have been converted, at least for long car trips such as my trek back and forth from home to school.
Like interpreter of maladies, Unaccustomed Earth is a collection of short stories. One of the amazing things I find with these is that while the stories pick up at a moment in the life of the characters, give us a glimpse into a set of events, and then we leave them. There isn't an ending in the traditional sense. The ending we get isn't meant to be a clean wrap up, there's no "and they lived happily ever after" only a sense of "oh please tell me more". Lahiri does this so well it is both breathtaking and heartbreaking. She also takes what can plain, even ugly words (like flaccid for example) and strings them together and makes them brilliant and amazing.
The cd experience was very interesting. The readers, one male and one female, both very good with the Indian accent and pronouncing words (names and cities) that I might have stumbled across. They were very good at reading with emotion and not using a flat tone and so inserting life into the words. It was over too soon and I am sad to say goodbye to this one.
(finished September 18, 2013)
Monday, September 2, 2013
Waiting for an Ordinary Day: The Unraveling of Life in Iraq by Farnaz Fassihi
Before I tell you what I think of this amazing book I want to share a little six degrees moment with you. One of my best friends, Ann, is married to Rick. One of Rick's dear friends is Babak. Babak is the love in Farnaz's life. A few years ago, not too long after this book came out, I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Farnaz and Babak while Ann & Rick were in NYC visiting. Farnaz was so kind and I was glad to meet friends of my friends but now, after finally having read her book, I feel even more pleased and honored to even for that short time have got the chance to talk to her.
Farnaz was in Iraq as a journalist for The Wall Street Journal during the time leading up to the US going in there and during the first few years of what can really only be called our occupation of the country.
There is some history of the tribal differences between Sunni and Shiite and a first hand account of the change in the country caused by the long running war. But the real story between the covers of Waiting for an Ordinary Day is the insight into the real people just trying to survive, to care for their families, their children. Things like visiting family, celebrating birthdays or weddings, going to work and school, all become instances of taking a risk with your life.
This isn't a sugar coated story, this is a real glimpse into life in a war zone. It is painful and messy. The beauty is that even in all the danger there is still life going on, babies born, couples getting married and love of art and culture. There is a lot of history and religious background that adds layers of complication to the situation. Farnaz does a touching and powerful job of taking her reader with her as she watches the fallout.
(Finished September 2, 2013)
Farnaz was in Iraq as a journalist for The Wall Street Journal during the time leading up to the US going in there and during the first few years of what can really only be called our occupation of the country.
There is some history of the tribal differences between Sunni and Shiite and a first hand account of the change in the country caused by the long running war. But the real story between the covers of Waiting for an Ordinary Day is the insight into the real people just trying to survive, to care for their families, their children. Things like visiting family, celebrating birthdays or weddings, going to work and school, all become instances of taking a risk with your life.
This isn't a sugar coated story, this is a real glimpse into life in a war zone. It is painful and messy. The beauty is that even in all the danger there is still life going on, babies born, couples getting married and love of art and culture. There is a lot of history and religious background that adds layers of complication to the situation. Farnaz does a touching and powerful job of taking her reader with her as she watches the fallout.
(Finished September 2, 2013)
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