Guns, Germs and Steel

Why have humans in different parts of the world been so consistently dominant over the people in other parts of the world? How do some societies manage to produce so many trade goods and services while others simply work to sustain themselves? These are just a few of the questions that Jared Diamond attempts to answer in Guns, Germs and Steel.

As the reader may guess, Diamond states that economically and politically dominant countries have prospered because they possess guns, germs and steel. This may be obvious, but it is not this conclusion that takes up the bulk of the book. Rather, Diamond tries to explain how European and Asian cultures have been especially prosperous without resorting to racist or ethnocentric assumptions. Some of his most interesting points are the following:

• The geographic layout of Europe and Asia are more conducive to the spread of cultures and technologies than other continents.


• The fact that humans first evolved in Africa and migrated north through Europe and Asia before reaching other continents helped to preserve more large animal species for later domestication.


• These things don’t necessarily mean that Europeans and Asians are more intelligent or innovative than other societies, but that their situations have been better suited toward some types of developments.

I really enjoyed this book; I am not an anthropologist or archeologist, but I found the topic very entertaining. Diamond writes in a way to explain these complex evolutionary topics to people who are not well acquainted with the field (though I think a little bit of knowledge of human evolution is helpful). Diamond's writing and conclusion were enjoyable; I felt that I took away a good deal from reading this book. And the topic was an admirable one, reminding us that people of different cultures aren’t as dissimilar as we sometimes seem.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog By Muriel Barbery

This is a beautiful book written from the perspective of two intelligent yet introverted females; Renee, the concierge of an upscale Parisian apartment building, and Paloma, a young girl who lives with her family in the building. Each chapter takes the form of a themed journal entry. Renee hides her intelligence from the wealthy tenants of the building that she serves. Paloma tells us at the beginning of the book that she plans to commit suicide on her thirteenth birthday.

The arrival of a wealthy Japanese gentleman in the building disrupts the lives of both Renee and Paloma. Monsieur Ozu befriends each and helps them to begin to reevaluate the way that they see the world. The author’s recurring topics include philosophy, art, culture and class.

I worry that I have lost more than I should have in reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog in English rather than French (not that I could have read it in its original French). Near the end of the novel, one of the heroine’s makes a comment about having called someone vous (you, formal) rather than tu (you informal or plural) for many years. Until this moment in the novel, I hadn’t realized that she was calling her friend vous. I used to speak some French in High School – this may be the motivation that I need to learn again.

It amazes me that even though there are so many books that keep telling us that our lives are only as good as the people that we share them with, there are still many people who haven’t gotten the message. I’m not familiar with all of the philosophers and artists that are mentioned in the book, but I think that Barbery is trying to show us that understanding these scholars can only take you so far. Knowing and loving fellow humans is really the only way to appreciate all that art and nature have to offer.

The Financial Lives of the Poets (and everyone else too)

Many of us have been affected in some way by the recent economic depression, and Matt Prior the hero of Jess Walter's The Financial Lives of the Poets is no exception. When we meet him, his life is nearly in ruins - the book was just published last year and is set in our current depression. The protagonist is only days away from losing his home, he has no job, his family is deeply in debt, and he suspects that his wife is being unfaithful. You'd think that things couldn't possibly get any worse.

Interestingly enough, the day before I began reading The Financial Lives of the Poets, I heard a story on NPR talking about California's financial woes, and suggestions by some that legalization of marijuana for recreational use could alleviate some of these problems. In this context, Matt Prior's decision to become a drug dealer to save himself from economic downfall seems less satirical than it may from a distance. This is something that I am especially fond of in this novel - the concerns of the main characters are immediate. (One can only hope that the economy will improve enough to make this book seem dated in just a couple years.)

Whenever I read a book/essay/article that is meant to be at least mildly satirical, my mind slowly drifts to Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal (which I love dearly). These two pieces aren't so very different. Neither author is actually promoting the solutions that are presented in their respective works, but both are presenting a challenge: Let's come up with a better or more realistic solution.

As Matt Prior exacerbates his situation, we root for him. After all, he wants the same things that many of us want; a comfortable home and security for his family. Hopefully those who read this novel will learn from Matt's mistakes - he reminds us that life isn't about things but about the people with whom you share them.

Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Conrad

Ok, so in the review that I wrote for Lauren Conrad’s L.A. Candy, I warned readers that there would be a cliffhanger ending. Of course I had to get Sweet Little Lies from the library to see how the story would continue. When we left off, Jane’s love life was in shambles and her friendship with Scarlett was on the rocks. To make matters worse, we knew that Madison was up to no good.

The story picks up there with more of exactly what you would expect, Scarlett reads books that Conrad herself has probably never heard of, Jane uses her bad judgment and naivety to get herself into bad situations and Madison schemes for ways to try to get attention. I’m expecting the next book to contain more information about Madison’s dark past that is hinted at.

It is a little bit worrisome to think that Jane Roberts is frequently referred to as being the most relatable of the four girls on the L.A. Candy series, not because I don’t think she is closest to representing the typical 20 year old American girl, but because I think she might actually be. Sweet Little Lies offers some really fantastic examples of how a relationship can be abusive without a woman actually being beaten. I guess I just think that it is unfortunate that women keep putting themselves in these situations to the extent that it becomes the experience of the “average” girl.

Luckily, readers won’t be left with and ending quite as suspenseful as the first book in the series, although Conrad hints at future story lines, I won’t be losing any sleep over these loose ends.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

The description on the cover of the Master and Margarita tells us more about the content of this book than the typical description might. It begins “One hot spring, the devil arrives in Moscow, accompanied by a retinue that includes a beautiful naked witch and an immense talking black cat with a fondness for chess and vodka”. From reading this, I already knew that I was approaching a book that would be both unusual and magical. The devil does arrive in a Moscow that does not believe in either gods or devils, and the reader follows the exploits of his crew as they run amok. The book also contains the tale of Pontius Pilate who, although he sentences a prophet to death, still craves his companionship and redemption. The Master is a writer whose masterpiece is a novel about Pontius Pilate, and Margarita is his devoted lover. All three stories eventually intersect.

This book is absolutely surreal, which is to be expected after reading the brief description. I re-read some passages, because I thought I must have missed something. The effect is fantastic. I get the feeling that each scene melds into the next – I’m as lost as the characters. I am left wondering whether man’s only peace can be found in death. Based on what I’ve read in the Master and Margarita, that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.

One of the aspects of the book that I enjoy most is the way that the influence of anything foreign is portrayed. The devil as an unregistered foreign visitor in Moscow is very telling of the way that all foreigners may have been received in Soviet Russia. Characters in the novel are also fearful yet envious of foreign currency and those who possess it. I enjoy these subtle examples of the real social situation in a novel that is filled with magic and sorcery.

Overall, I enjoyed the book very much. It motivates me to learn more about this period in Russian history; I’m sure I missed many references that would have been obvious to someone who is familiar with the country. A book on Russian history would certainly add some diversity to my reading list.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

This novel begins in Monte Carlo when our unnamed heroine meets Max DeWinter (Maxim), a handsome widower. Rebecca is his recently deceased wife. The two marry after a very brief courtship and they return to his elegant estate, Manderley. Rebecca’s presence is still very strong in the house, and our heroine gradually learns more about her predecessor and her husband’s past. It is easy to relate to the awkwardness that the heroine must feel, constantly being compared to the graceful, beautiful Rebecca.

For as long as I can remember, awkward situations in television, movies and books have embarrassed me. There were scenes in the first half Rebecca that just made me want to cringe; Du Maurier’s heroine is so naïve and innocent that her actions just seem foolish. I am embarrassed for her. I had to stop multiple times to remind myself that it is fiction.

Without going into too much detail, I felt conflicted near the end of the book. I’m of the opinion that domestic violence is never okay and people never “deserve it.” Yet it is written in a way that portrays this in a sympathetic light. Other popular books that are out now (for example the Twilight saga) also seem to be sympathetic to people who are moderately aggressive in relationships, and I wonder if I only hold this opinion because I’ve recently been thinking about the effect of abuse in literature. I would be curious to hear whether others who have read Rebecca are similarly conflicted.

Seriously? L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad?

Though it is a book in the traditional sense, L.A. Candy isn’t the kind of book that really needs to have a book review written about it. Based on the title and the background of the author (she’s on MTV’s The Hills for those of you who don’t know), most people probably know just about everything they need to about this novel. This isn’t necessarily a negative thing though, either you like the occasional scandalous, girls’ novel about sex, love and the L.A. party scene or you don’t.

This book is about Jane Roberts and her best friend Scarlett who move to Los Angeles to work for a party planner and attend college, respectively. At a club, the girls are discovered by a producer for a mysteriously named television station (PopTV), and invited to participate in a new reality show that he is planning. Of course, the show is a success and the girls quickly become famous. Don’t start this book if you aren’t prepared to commit to reading the series – L.A. Candy has a cliffhanger ending, so readers will also want to check out Conrad’s next book, Sweet Little Lies.

I feel confident in saying that Lauren Conrad doesn’t know who Descartes or James Joyce are, and she has never read Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, but she talks about this literature as if she were familiar with it. These references just add to the fun; I shake my head and wonder what the editors were doing. I think the assumption that someone “helped” her to write this book is pretty safe, but for the purposes of this review, I’ve referred to Conrad as an author.

As with all sweets, L.A. Candy isn’t especially healthy and should be enjoyed in moderation. (How's that for a cheesy end to a review?)

The Believers by Zoe Heller

The back cover of The Believers by Zoe Heller introduces the book thus: “When a stroke fells radical New York lawyer Joel Litvinoff, a secret is revealed that forces Audrey, his wife, to reexamine everything she believed about their forty year marriage.” I was able to guess from reading this description what his secret was – I bet you can too. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite so obvious from reading the beginning of the book that something was going on, so I think that the fact that this was included on the book’s cover is a bit of a disappointment. There is potential for the family’s revelation to be a big surprise, and some crafty re-wording could have prevented this giveaway.

But I don’t want to dwell too much on my qualms here, because it didn’t really detract from my enjoyment of the novel, and it is at least quite descriptive of the plot. Though Joel’s wife Audrey does little to continue her life as Joel lingers in a coma, their children do move forward. By the end of the novel, the family isn’t really revolving around their absent father anymore; rather, each child has been subtly influenced by his illness.

Based on the title, I mistakenly believed that this book would be more about the religious beliefs of the family. While that does play a part in the story, I have since interpreted The Believers as referring to a much broader kind of belief. The characters reconsider their beliefs on family, lifestyle, love, death, and yes, religion.

Audrey spends most of the novel acting angry and cruel, with rare moments of affection and sympathy bestowed upon her loved ones. Even though her outbursts are often shocking, I think this is how I prefer her to act. After all that happens in the course of the book, if Audrey isn’t a little bit justified in acting like a jerk, I don’t know who is. If her nasty remarks make me uncomfortable, it’s probably just because I’m a little jealous that she can get away with it. Near the end of the story, she seems to regret her harsh past, but I don’t.

Push, Pushing, Pushed

The heroine of Push by Sapphire, Precious Jones, is perhaps one of the most tragic characters in contemporary literature (at least, I can think of very few characters that rival her misfortunes). Often times, when I am reading a book, I think back to earlier portions of the story to find the protagonist’s mistake – the thing that they could have changed that would have prevented later misfortunes. In the case of Precious, I don’t think that this mistake exists; she was just a normal, good child who was overlooked and mistreated.

I assume that many folks already know the subject of the novel, due to its popularity and the movie based on the book that was recently released. For those of you who are not in the know, Precious Jones is an overweight, illiterate teen girl who at the beginning of the book is pregnant with her second child. She is abused by her mother and has been raped by her father repeatedly for several years. The story is about her attempts to receive a quality education and the dedicated instructor who encourages her. The determination and endurance that Precious exhibits is inspiring and a little bit heartbreaking.

Though this topic may seem grave and terrifying, the reader also sees the side of Precious’s life that is typical of any teen girl. She is cautious and concerned with her hair and clothes. She feels self-conscious about her body. Despite the years of rape, she still wants to meet a boy who loves her and finds her attractive. Even though my life and circumstances are very different from those of Precious, it is easy to relate to her.

In a fairly short novel, Sapphire manages to create a vivid picture of her heroine’s life, personality and aspirations. Perhaps one of the more impressive feats that Sapphire has accomplished is that her dialog and narration sound authentic, but are still easy to read. In this way, Sapphire brings us not only into Precious’s Harlem community, but her life.