By David Park
The Poets' Wives: A Novel was actually a book I listened to by mistake. Someone on Goodreads recommended The Poet's Wife, as a book I might enjoy. I didn't look carefully enough and chose the wrong book when browsing Audible.com. It turned out to be a very serendipitous mistake. After listening to the Audible version of The Poets’ Wives: A Novel, I have to disagree with the other
reviews that I’ve read. I really enjoyed
it. I found it to be an interesting and
entertaining audio book.
Each of the three sections was a distinct story about the marriage of a
poet, as told through the voice of his wife.
Two were actual poets’ wives: Catherine Blake, wife of William Blake and
Nadezhda Mandelstam, wife of Osip Mandelstam.
The third story involved the wife of a fictional poet in modern
times. When picking the story, I was
very aware that the stories would be about the lives and relationships of the
characters, particularly the wives, and was not expecting a lot of poetry.
The three stories were similar in style: first person narration told
through flashbacks into the past. Perhaps that’s why I liked it so much. All of the three women were older, looking
back through their lives. Their personalities
and experiences were all different, as were their partners’. Perhaps having a narrator give life to their
individual voices made the story more appealing and coherent. I thoroughly enjoyed the audio version and
would definitely recommend it. For me,
it was very good listen. Now onto finding The Poet's Wife, which I do intend to read.
The
Orchid Thief
By Susan Orlean
The
Orchid Thief is one of the books that has been beside my bed for
quite a few years. It wasn’t what I was
expecting and turned out to be a very pleasant surprise.
The book is nonfiction research done on orchids and a particular orchid
hunter, John Laroche. Susan Orleans was
intrigued by a short newspaper article she had read concerning the arrest of
Laroche and three Seminoles for stealing orchids from the Fakahatchee Strand
State Preserve. What Orleans presents in
The Orchid Thief is her journey to Florida
and into the world of orchids. It’s more
of a memoir than a mystery. Orleans made
the real world of orchids interesting, engaging and, at times, very funny. Definitely a good read!
Brian
Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones
By Paul Trynka
The life of Brian Jones, as told by Paul Trynka in Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones, is a sad story. Brian Jones was an extra special person who
didn’t know how to handle life. From
start to finish, people were horrible to him.
The fact that his own parents wouldn’t even mark his tombstone with love
says it all. Brian Jones was extremely
talented. He just wanted to be loved and
to follow his passion, music, which he did.
He was a great musician, but a tragic young man.
Trynka was definitely sympathetic toward Brian Jones and his challenges
in life. The book is filled with stories
of Jones’ pain and suffering. It also
gives new perspective to Jones and to his relationship with the Rolling Stones. The impact of that relationship and of their
exclusion of Jones is explored in depth.
While he encountered much sorrow throughout his life, it’s likely that
rejection by the Stones caused him the most pain. Brian
Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones is definitely an interesting read. After reading the preview copy from
Goodreads, I highly recommend it to fans of Brian Jones and/or the Rolling
Stones.
There Was
and There Was Not
By Meline Toumani
What an interesting book! There Was and There Was Not WAS simply
fascinating. I eagerly awaited a preview
copy from Goodreads, as it’s a topic that is very relevant to me. Living in New Jersey, I’ve been in classes
and have taught classes where there has been obvious tension between Armenian
and Turkish students. I knew that there
was some kind of historic problem, but I had no idea how deep and serious the
divide actually was.
Meline Toumani shares her journey to Turkey doing research as an Armenian
American journalist. She explains the
source of the conflict, the Armenian genocide of 1915, as objectively as
possible, considering she is of Armenian descent. Her writing is engaging and does look at the
issue from both sides. She actually
lived in Turkey for four years, during which time she explored the genocide
issue from all perspectives.
I liked Toumani’s writing style, which seemed personal and sincere,
while still journalistic. She achieved
her objective of exploring Turkey, Armenia and the genocide issue. Her conclusions made as much sense as possible,
considering the unresolvable nature of the conflict. There
Was and There Was Not gave me the background about the conflict I was
looking for. I now feel that I will be
able to approach both Armenian and Turkish acquaintances and students with more
understanding and sensitivity.
Definitely a great read and highly recommended as a resource for
teachers!
