Duplicate Keys

Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was a disappointment to me. I disliked all the characters and the naive, blissfully unaware, Alice was too stupid to be a librarian, much less a friend. Non of the characters were well developed and their lives were pitiful.

The plot was about some friends in their 30's who had come through the hippie commune era and were living in New York. The band had had a hit record, but had done nothing much since. They seemed on the border of going some place, but never quite made it. The story begins with Alice, the narrator, entering Susan and Dennis' apartment to find Dennis and his adopted brother, Craig, murdered. Apparently everyone and their brother had keys to this apartment. Because of the murder and the suspicion surrounding it, the group unravels and a lot of hidden things become apparent.

There is some suspense as the book draws to a close and I felt compelled to find out why the two men were murdered even though it is apparent who did it about midway. There were some good points made in the book and insight into people's lives, but at times I felt like I was reading an essay rather than reading a book with a plot. I like Jane Smiley's writing, but and I felt like she had something to say here, but the burden of it was too great to place on Alice's shoulders.

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Daniel

Daniel by Henning Mankell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is extremely poignant and compelling as well as being unsettling. It is the story of a strange Swede, Hans Bengler, who goes to Africa to find an unknown species of insect to name after himself. He ends up finding an orphaned black boy about 8 years old whom he brings back to Sweden. He feels that he can give him a better life even though the trader where he found the boy tells him he will only destroy the boy.

Hans uses Daniel in part of a carnival type lecture series to get people to come in and listen to his lecture on insects. Non of the people involved consider Daniel or his needs. Daniel, on the other hand, longs for his home in the desert and sees, in his mind, his parents who were killed by white men. He meets with people who stare at him, pet him and sometimes regard his as the devil, but no one thinks of him as a real person. Daniel has been trained to say, "My name is Daniel. I believe in God" as a formula, but in his own mind, the voices of his parents are growing stronger and stronger. He hears of Jesus, who walked on water, and he is determined to learn to walk on water in order to go home.

The book calls into question the recent adoptions of young children whose culture is so different from the one they are adopted into, especially children older than 3-4. There are a lot of cultural implications that may not be being considered.
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Gourmet Rhapsody

Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Pierre Athens is a renowned food critic who is givin 48 hours to live. He remembers something that he tasted years ago when he was a youth, long before he became a food critic. The taste was the single thing he has been looking to find again for years and now that his life is ending he is desperate to find it.

After reading The Eloquence of the Hedgehog, I was anxious to read this. The story was written after Eloquence, but it takes place before it in the same apartment building. So far it is pretty good.

You can't read this book very fast. The sentences are complicated and there is an abundant use of metaphors that need to be understood and related to in order to get any meaning. The writing is very precise with each sentence often written to evoke a specific image without which, there is no meaning to the text. I have to stop myself and reread some passages because I realize that I have not kept up with the metaphors and have no idea where the text is going. At first, this seems tiresome because I want to finish the book and then I remind myself that this author is trying to create, for her readers, all of the sensory details of the taste of a food.

I've learned something from this book. Here's an example. When I was a child and visiting Mississippi one year there was a bumper crop of watermelons. There were so many that we went in the fields and broke melons open and only ate the heart. I have since eaten scores of watermelons and none ever tasted that good no matter where I got them. From this book I realized that it wasn't just the melons, it was the combination of sensations that made them the best I would ever taste. I was young and playing in the fields and creeks and I brought to the watermelon a desire for the taste, the wetness and the coolness that I will never have again. The watermelon was at its peak and had just been plucked from the vine. There was a wild abandonment in breaking it open on the sandy ground and digging out the heart that I will never experience again. It wasn't just the taste of the watermelon that I would need to create, it would be the whole experience. That is what Pierre Athens is looking for.

This was extremely interesting. At first, I didn't think the conclusion worked, but after thinking about it, it was perfect. The language was beautiful. There were so many sentences I wanted to read again and again just for the sheer pleasure of the words. This is not a book for everyone, but I enjoyed it and I think it left me changed.


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Daddy Long-Legs

Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this a long time ago and found it to be so entertaining as is its sequel. It is an old book, written in 1912, but still delightful. Jerusha Abbott has been raised in an orphanage, but one of the trustees noted that she was very bright and arranged for her to go to college to study to become a writer. The only thing he requires of her is that she not know who he is and that she writes to him monthly. He only responds to her through his secretary. The only thing she ever saw of him was his legs which were very long and she took to calling him "Daddy-Long-Legs." She writes letters in a cheerful and engaging way as she details her life in college. Her benefactor is very generous and as she meets young people and is invited places, he provides her with clothes and the things she needs. She doesn't like to take his money and is determined to pay him back, so she writes stories to sell to magazines.

This is such a sweet story and very entertaining. The reader is able to get an idea of who Daddy Long Legs is and watches "Judy," as she calls herself, develop. The ending is never in doubt, but since her benefactor never writes back to her there is still some question as to how it is all going to work out.


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The World According to Bertie (44 Scotland Street, #4)

The World According to Bertie by Alexander McCall Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bertie is just about my favorite character and in this book we see a lot of him. His biggest problem in this book is, of course, his mother and we have the addition of a baby brother, Ulysses, who looks suspiciously like Bertie's therapist. Bertie, who doesn't lie, mentions this a couple of times. His mother has decided that he should have his good "friend" Olive over to play with him weekly and he is in despair, not only can he not stand her, but his mother has painted his room pink again.

Pat is having her heart problems again. She and Matt have begun a relationship when the unbeliveably and narcissisticly handsome Bruce is back in Scotland. Matt is sweet and kind and...Pat is confused again.

One of the biggest problems in the book is that Angus Lordie's dog, Cyril, has been arrested for biting people and is in the pound awaiting trial. He is almost sure to be put down and Angus is beside himself. How can he get Cyril out of jail?

Reading this book is like visiting old friends.


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Summer On Blossom Street (Blossom Street, #6)

Summer On Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lydia Goetz, owner of "A Good Yarn" knitting shop decides to start a novel new knitting group. "Knit to Quit." It doesn't matter what you are quitting, just let knitting get you through it. She doesn't have to wait long for willing customers and new knitters. First there's Phoebe Rylander who wants to end her relationship with a man and Alix Turner who has to quit smoking when she and her husband want to have a baby. Then there's Bryan Hutchinson whose doctor recommends he take up knitting as a way of reducing stress.

Anne Marie Roche has made a pleasant life with her adopted daughter, Ellen when someone from the past comes in the shop to complicate it and then Lydia, herself, has her own stress when she and her family agree to keep a rebelious teen-ager for a week until she can be placed.

As usual, the knitting group becomes more than just a place to learn to knit. In bits and pieces stories are told and friendships are forged. This is a delightful book about what happens when strangers are thrown together by a compelling hobby called knitting.


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Never Enough

Never Enough by Joe McGinniss

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I read this book because I was interested in the characteristics of the female sociopath. I found it fascinating and it was hard to put down. This is the story of Rob and Nancy Kissel. Rob, who was an investment banker for Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong. He work and traveled all the time earning a huge salary...one that includes a $15 million bonus at times if that gives you the idea, and was rarely home, but who does seem to love his wife and children.

The fascinating one in this book is Nancy. To me it was like reading a text book description of a female sociopath and then having someone turn those traits into a person. One of the things I found interesting was her inability to see how many of her actions were totally inappropriate. In many ways, she was trying to function in a society that was from a different universe, which is exactly the problem with sociopaths. Her total lack of empathy led her to do things that were bizarre and treat her children in ways that showed that they were only things to her. She lived in a universe in which she was alone and everything and everyone were props for her pleasure.



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