May 2, 2014

Looking for Alaska

By John Green

I came upon John Green by way of my granddaughter, who is currently addicted to his books.  Wanting to have something to talk about with her, I downloaded a John Green e-sampler from Amazon.  The first book in the sampler, Looking for Alaska, caught my interest immediately, so I downloaded the whole book onto my Kindle.  I loved the way it was set up, starting with “one hundred thirty-six days before…” and continued moving closer to whatever was going to happen.  Since I was reading it on my Kindle, it wasn’t easy for me to skip ahead and see what was going to happen.  I couldn’t wait and kept reading until it was done.  I found the characters to be realistic and likeable, and I’m sure the appeal would be even greater to teens.  The story evoked a wide range of emotions, from laughing hysterically at some of the kids’ pranks to deep sadness at the consequences of their actions.

Although intended for Grades 9-12, I found the book engaging and well written.  It covered sensitive topics, such as substance abuse, sex and death, directly and with honesty.  I can clearly see why my twelve-year-old granddaughter loves John Green’s books.  I’m glad that she’s reading and that she has found an author who is socially conscious.  Looking for Alaska is a coming of age story geared for those coming of age in 2014.   I found it to be a great read for anyone who’d like a window into the lives of those young adults.  Definitely a good read!

May 1, 2014

An Autobiography

By Igor Stravinsky

This book came to me from our morning reading of the Intellectual Devotional: Biographies.   After reading the short, one page biography, I checked DVDs of Stravinsky’s ballets, The Rite of Spring and Firebird, out of the library.  They were wonderful and led me to search for his autobiography.  The Kindle edition is available for free on Amazon and I’m glad I didn’t spend money on it.

The autobiography was mainly about his work and people he knew.  Since I wasn’t familiar with either, it had a limited appeal for me.  There was very little as far as his personal life and/or personal feelings.  I’m not sure why, but I did read it to the end.  It must have been somewhat interesting, because it did hold my interest.  I didn’t hate it.  There were two small sections near the end that made the read somewhat worthwhile. 

One section was on how listening to music has changed.  Stravinsky felt that music was best listened to by the musically educated.  I don’t really agree with him, but his argument was interesting from a historical perspective.  I would agree that audiences and ways of listening have changed, even though I don’t agree with Stravinsky’s conclusions.

The other interesting section was a few words that Stravinsky wrote about writing music and inspiration.  Many artists share his belief that inspiration comes from application and daily hard work.  He did make a good argument for his beliefs. 

Did these sections make it worth reading?  I’m not sure.  If you have more knowledge of Stravinsky’s work and of other musicians of that era, this might be of interest.  For me, it was a decent read, but I don't think I'd recommend it.

Middlesex

By Jeffrey Eugenides

Middlesex came to me via Barbara Streisand and the movie Guilt Trip.  In the movie, she and her son listened to the audio version of Middlesex as they drove across the country.  It sounded like a good audiobook and it definitely was.  I listened to Middlesex as an Audible audiobook and I loved it.  It held my interest from start to finish.  I found myself making excuses to do activities where I could listen while working.  I have little knowledge of Greek culture or hermaphrodites, so I don’t know if it was contextually correct.  But it was very interesting and I feel like I have a better understanding of both.  Another plus for me was the Detroit setting.  I spent my childhood in the Detroit area, a little before the time of the story, and it brought back memories of the time and place.  The narration was excellent.  All things considered, I loved the book and am sure I would have enjoyed reading it, too.  Definitely a great listen!