Starbucks and Yarn Swap

This is my first swap and what a fun experience. I like the anonymity of communicating with strangers who share the joy of knitting with me. 

Here is what I received from my spoiler:

The Reader

You may have noticed in my list of "Books to Bypass" in other words, don't waster your time reading, was The Reader by Bernard Schlink. Maybe I was to harsh on the book. It was very dry and I'm not a huge WWI/WWII fan, as far as period stuff goes. 

I will say that I still want to see the now released on video movie version, because it is starring two of my all time favorite actors: Ralph Fiennes and Kate Winslet. Their acting skills alone could make the movie fabulous.  That's all I have to say right now. 

Gentlemen of the Road

– Michael Chabon

I read this book several weeks ago, so please forgive me if my memory seems a bit strained.

I was drawn to Gentlemen of the Road, by the title, but more by the fact that Chabon’s other work appears equally popular and interesting.

Unfortunately, I was not at all impressed, and only forced myself to finish it on the second sitting, based on the fact that I had already read half the book. I do commend Chabon on his amazingly large vocabulary. I found a rarely used word on at least every other page, which is more than I can say for a lot of other contemporary authors.

As far as the plot goes, again, I was confused. Every chapter started a new scene and action such as horse fights and daring escapes filled the pages with more distraction than direction as to what is actually going on. It is a shallow (in the best sense of the term), short novel with not a lot of character development.

Despite being set in medieval times(?), where chivalry reigns, a subject that makes me weak at the knees with delight, the lack of depth and insight pretty much ruined it for me.

In the foreward, Chabon stated that while this novel is different in style from the previous, it is his favorite book thus far. Having not read any of his other works(and probably not going to), it’s hard to judge that statement, but I think I question his judgement.

The Secret Gospel of Mary Magdalene

I have finally finished reading, not only one book but two, in a relatively short period of time. I selected these books while browsing through my local public library.


THE SECRET GOSPEL OF MARY MAGDALENE - Michele Roberts

I chose this book for several reasons: the first is the obvious religious and historical relationship. I really enjoyed The Red Tent with Diamant’s ficticious, yet plausible account of the female perspective in the old testament. The book flap suggested that this novel would provide a similar account.

In, The Secret Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Roberts creates a beautiful prose that gives way to a totally unexpected history of Mary Magdalene and her time with Christ. The beginning of the text draws the reader in with compassion for Mary and with interest to see how she explains her personal relationship with the King of the Jews.

As the novel progresses Mary experiences an awakening due to the acceptance of Christ in her heart and Jesus as her savior. After that the lines between Jesus as lover and Christ are strangely twisted and disfigured to the point where I was sure what Roberts through Mary was trying to say.

Mary came to express herself through these visions or dreams that she had. The controversy arose inevitably because she was a female and a self-proclaimed disciple. While I enjoyed the prose aspect of these visions, I feel Roberts did not place enough thought into what they meant.

Also, as a Christian, I have a hard time accepting the fact that Mary and Jesus were never really married, but lovers. The beginning of the text opens the reader’s eyes to the life of a woman in such times. Compassion is immediately given to Mary for the life that befell her and ultimately, how she came to be the sole breadwinner for her immediate family.

While, I really wanted to like this book, since it contains several of the qualities that I generally like in novels, the wishy washy-ness was too much to continue my desire to read. Even though I did finish the text, it just was not a book that I couldn’t put down. Again, I complement Roberts on his fantastic writing style, but critique the direction the novel end up taking.

A LITTE RESPITE

Well, I'm still between books. Fiction that is. While, for the time being, I don't have as much time to read something seriously I have not abandoned books altogether.

I have looked at stacks of crochet books. Learned new patters, stitches, etc. 

I found an old Spanish 3 high school text book at the jail library and have been using it for a little refresher in my spare time at work. 

Gotta go, more later.