Vacation Reading and Viewing - December 2008
Recommendations for airplane, bus, ski lounge, home theatre...
Books
Richard Bach: Jonathan Livingston Seagull
This quick read has inspired many through its simple tale of a seagull who wants more out of life than just eating and sleeping. [Kelsie Brust, '11]
Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture
An elderly woman in an Irish insane asylum gradually opens up to her thoughtful but distracted psychiatrist while concealing from him a script recording the major historic and personal events during her century of living in Sligo. [Rich DuRocher]
Kevin Brockmeier: The Brief History of the Dead
I'm not much of a sci fi--or the newer term, "speculative fiction"--fan, but I loved this book, which is set in the not too distant future and incorporates social critique, survival adventure and fantasy; his prose ranges from hard-hitting to poetic and surprises throughout. [Jenny Dunning]
John Fowles: The Magus
This book is about a young English man who takes a teaching position at a school on a small island in Greece after a botched love affair. On the island he has some supernatural experiences and, in trying to get to the bottom of them, spirals deeper and deeper into a mystery that is much bigger than he could have expected. This book is as exciting as a Dan Brown novel yet reads like fine literature. What more can I say? One of the few books I could not put down. [Peder Garnaas-Halvorson, '12]
Nell Freudenberger: Lucky Girls
This collection of short stories, winner in 2003 of the PEN/Malamud Award, is the debut of a remarkably gifted young writer. The stories are all set in Southeast Asia or on the Indian subcontinent, and students who have been abroad might particularly enjoy reading about characters in unfamiliar places searching for love and coping witdifference. [Mark Allister]
Hermann Hesse: Narcissus and Goldman
This story contrasts the lives of a cloistered monk and wanderer who are best friends. With deep symbolism and appealing prose, this story moves beautifully in its quest for truth, beauty, and happiness. [Kelsie Brust, '11]
Tony Hillerman: A Thief of Time
To say that Hillerman wrote mysteries is to significantly underestimate the Anglo/Navajo cultural context, intricate plots, Southwestern landscape, and fascinating cast of characters in his books. Hillerman, who died last month, considered A Thief of Time his best book. [Mary Steen]
Margot Livesey: The House on Fortune Street
A great story, but even more fun if you've read Lewis Carroll, Charlotte Bronte, and Charles Dickens! [Diana Postlethwaite]
Donald Miller: Blue Like Jazz
This book provides a new modern perspective on life, religion and love. Miller uses stories from his own life to relate profound and uplifting truths to the reader about human nature and how humans relate to God. [Kelsie Brust, '11]
Qiu Ziolong: When Red is Black
During a year of many plane rides, I fell into Qiu Xiolong's series of detective novels, When Red is Black, Death of a Loyal Character Dancer, The Red Mandarin Dress, and the rest. These novels are set in contemporary Shanghai but always exploit the tensions between characters who grew up embracing the zealotry of the cultural revolution and those who have rushed amorally into the arms of capitalism. More than the twists of plot, I enjoy learning about China's food, landscape, smells, housing, and classical poetry--of which Chief Inspector Chen is an expert translator to English. [Karen Cherewatuk]
Marilynne Robinson: Home
I'm half-way through this intense family drama, set in a small-town in Iowa in the 1950s. A beautifully written, compelling read by the author of Housekeeping and Gilead. [Carol Holly]
Zadie Smith: On Beauty
A liberal adaptation of E.M. Forster's Howard's End and a contemporary Victorian novel to boot. [Jenny Dunning]
Sarah Waters: The Night Watch
This novel is set in an exquisitely- sometimes horrifically- detailed recreation of the London Blitz and its aftermath. Waters begins the novel with three stories which then move backwards through time, merge, and reveal the characters' tangled web of secrets. Fascinating and finely drawn characters, a marvelous evocation of a remarkable time and place, and a clever, postmodern narrative structure that keeps the reader in suspense to the final page. [Mary Trull]
Movies
Blow Dry
When the British Styling Competition comes to their Yorkshire town, an estranged couple (Alan Rickman and Natasha Richardson) reunite for the sake of their son (Josh Harnett)---sort of. Blow Dry (Miramax 2001) is a wacky comedy in which forgiveness and a good haircut triumph over cancer. [Karen Cherewatuk and Rich DuRocher]
For books and music and movies...
http://www.headbutler.com/ [recommended by Diana Postlethwaite]
For more St. Olaf English Department reading recommendations and review click here.
