Book Review: THE PULL OF THE STARS by Emma Donoghue

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Influenza delle stelle - the influence of the stars. Medieval Italians thought the illness proved that the heavens were governing their fates."

I became a fan of Emma Donoghue's after reading "THE WONDER," which will soon be a Florence Pugh/ Ciaran Hinds film. Raved all about it to my book club so I won't do so here, hehe, but it was UNFORGETTABLE.

So when I saw my local bookstore carried her next novel, it was an automatic buy! And I only found out that it was about a pandemic when I cracked it open and dove headlong into Dublin in 1918, where a country was crumbling from a world war, an Easter insurrection, and the deadly Spanish flu ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

"A nurse is like a spoonful of tea leaves. Her strength only shows when she's in hot water."

Emma Donoghue's female characters stand apart because they're no-nonsense, dedicated, and dutiful. If they do happen to find romance, it's unlooked for and it isn't the focus of the story. Her heroines are utterly dedicated to A Great Cause, one they aren't afraid to break social norms for.

Just like in THE WONDER, this book was based on the true story of the incredible Dr. Kathleen Lynn, "The Rebel Doctor," and an amalgamation of real nurses and hospital aides from the period.

"The way this godforsaken island's misgoverned, it's mass murder by degrees. If we continue to stand by, none of us will have clean hands."

I found it very interesting, style-wise, that Donoghue never used quotation marks in the entire book. It had the weird effect of making me more focused than usual, and everything seemed more immediate, as if events were unfolding right that very second TO ME.

Emma Donoghue's genius lies in making a tiny room (in this case: a maternity ward) the center of the universe. The reader feels that every patient, every blood pressure reading, every temperature check is the most important thing in the world!

If you're worried that your heart is becoming cold and callous with the daily heartbreaking news, don't be! Because Emma Donoghue will break that ice and make you cry with this book, not just for what has happened before, but for what continues to happen today.

How hellish it was to combat a pandemic a hundred years ago, with no vaccines, no medicine but gauze masks, whiskey, onions, and avoiding the color red! How far we have come! And how far yet we have to go!

Another feature of Emma Donoghue's writing is that she can both showcase our terrible inhumanity (she has this thing for the hypocrisy found in some members of the Catholic Church) and yet leave her readers believing that humans are capable of being our best selves in the worst fixes, that we can go beyond our personal hells to strive for the common good. All this, with a book I was simply powerless to put down (thank goodness it was a Sunday)!

It should be noted that this is strictly for mature readers only due to the controversial themes!

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Book Review: FOUNDATION'S EDGE (Foundation # 4) by Isaac Asimov

Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"All humanity could share a common insanity and be immersed in a common illusion while living in a common chaos."

A friend and fellow Asimov admirer (hi Rich!) told me that Books 4 and 5 are completely different from the original trilogy.

And upon finishing Book 4 in the series, I do agree.

Perhaps it's only to be expected. When Asimov wrote the first part of what would later become the original FOUNDATION novel, it was the '50's. The world changed so much in thirty years, and so did his concerns. FOUNDATION's EDGE was written in the '80's, an entire generation later.

If the original FOUNDATION trilogy could be read as a metaphor for the struggle between democracy and fascism, this fourth book introduces a new enemy: AI.

Who is more powerful? The man with a gun? The man who controls the will of the man with a gun? Or an artificial intelligence (with the hive mind power of an entire planet under his/their control) capable of controlling both men?

What is more essential for humanity? Free will? Peace and order? Or life and growth?

"However small the chance of catastrophe might be, if enough people take enough chances, the catastrophe must happen eventually."

I am left with an urgent need to continue with Book 5 straightaway, since the TV series starts in a week! And with a bit of horror and despair comes a dawning realization that I need to read Asimov's other series of books (the Robot ones!!) if I want to be able to fully appreciate the mind-blowing epic that is FOUNDATION.

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Book Review: SECOND FOUNDATION (Foundation # 3) by Isaac Asimov

 Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"It was a time of absolutes, of the great final generalities, at least in thought. It was a sign of decaying culture, of course, that dams had been built against the further development of ideas."

This is the third book in the original FOUNDATION trilogy: this epic literary quest about the mathematician/prophet Hari Seldon's mission to preserve civilization from mankind's destructive tendencies of war and chaos.

What I appreciate about Asimov is how unpredictable the plot is: you THINK you know where it's going, who's the bad guy, where the secret hideout is... but then you're proven wrong. And the most seemingly insignificant character or tidbit in dialogue can turn out to be the most important of them all. Very few authors can do this. Agatha Christie and Isaac Asimov are absolute masters of this!

Most sci-fi novels are about external forces like big space ships and hyperspace and deadly futuristic weapons of mass destruction. And FOUNDATION has them, but this volume in particular was mainly about the battles FOR minds, WITH minds.

"When can a man know he is not a puppet?"

Imagine if an enemy, intent on being invisible, was able to meddle with your brain, changing your motivations, your very self, entirely undetected?! The horror!!!

And it's so relevant to today, if you think about it. We ARE battling for hearts and minds and souls, and so the true conquest is no longer of physical territory, but of idealogy.

It's the best feeling in the world to finish this book, knowing I have Books 4 and 5 on hand. Ahehehe.

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I miss "you"

Sometimes you appear in dreams. 

I wake feeling younger, feeling the thrill of being seen, of being understood by one who reads the same books, who can quote from our common favorite poets. 

But then I remember the real you. 

And although I try not to judge, I realize that I never really knew you, for I too was surprised by the choices you made. 

Every now and then your name pops up again: a journal article here, a common friend mentioning you ("what ever happened to... ?") 

And I know now how it has all worked out for the best. 

Lives mingle and separate, and we are left utterly changed. 

And although I wish you well, years and years later, I can finally, honestly tell... I never really knew you.

But I miss the "you" I knew. 

As one misses sweet dreams when shaken abruptly awake. 

It is morning. Real life, and real work, calls.

Book Review: CARAVANS by James A. Michener

Caravans by James A. Michener
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Kabul today shows what Palestine was like at the time of Jesus."

The Fall of Kabul this past week is too distressing for words, as raw footage from the field made its way to social media, breaking hearts at a faster pace than decades before. And to help make sense of this barrage of emotional and heartbreaking images and videos, I thought of turning to this old book which belonged to my dad (it's so old, the dust can't be removed from the cover!).

CARAVANS is the semi-autobiographical story of an American diplomat assigned to track down a missing American girl who married an Afghan, immediately after World War II. The plot itself is nothing outstanding, and I personally found little about the American girl that was worth the trouble so many noble men took in order to find her, but this is one book you read to be transported, and besotted by the incredible descriptions of its people and landscapes! I did NOT expect that!

"You have the disease that eats at our world. You cannot find peace in old conventions and beliefs, yet you are not sufficiently committed to anything to forge new ones for yourself."

Michener writes about Afghanistan as one who has camped in its deserts, travelled amongst its people in caravans, and witnessed the most horrific public executions by stoning and beheading-by-bayonet. And he truly has.

I came to this book seeking an overview, hoping to get a sense of the people through their history. I did not expect to read a love poem to its deserts and dead cities, crumbling monuments that were ancient in the time of past great conquerors like Darius and Alexander. This is a country of past greatness, a harsh land that explains its harsh laws and people. Michener writes respectfully of two kinds of educated Afghans: one who seeks a rebirth of his country by learning from the engineering of the Germans, the weapons of the Russians, and trade from the Americans and British; the other Afghan seeking a renewal in the form of enlightened mullahs (religious authorities in the villages, both ruler and judge).

The patriotic pride comes in the Afghans considering themselves descended from the lost tribes of Israel, and Hitler supported the twisted claim to their being "founders" of the Aryan race. Michener, of course, points out this irony.

If geography is destiny, then this explains all the focus on Kabul, "the most remote of capitals," "perched at the intersection of caravan trails that had functioned for more than three thousand years." Michener said it is a cauldron, a place to test one's manhood. And yet, for all the trials and tribulations he faced there, he wrote that this was the one place he would love to re-visit. And this is one book that is well worth re-reading!

For a historical overview of Aghanistan's past, check out this 2017 NYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/29/wo...

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Book Review: THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES by Ray Bradbury

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Mars was a distant shore, and the men spread upon it in waves... They came and made things a little less empty, so that others would find courage to follow... and among the men were men who looked, by their eyes, as if they were on their way to God..."

This is the first time I've read a short story collection by Ray Bradbury, and now I'm scrambling all over our house, trying to unearth my sister's old copies of his other volumes! I thought his novel, "Fahrenheit 451," was an amazing five-star read as well, but there's something to be said for condensing such powerful philosophy in the space of a few pages.

The stories don't "sound" sci-fi. If it were not for the fact that they all take place in Mars, they could have been transplanted elsewhere... such is their universal human appeal.

Bradbury's stories show our humanity, our frailty, our sins, and asks: If humans were to populate Mars, would we be its saviors or destroyers?

Each of the stand-alone 20 something stories makes the reader pause and reflect, and are "easy" enough for any layman to understand (which I appreciate!! Because there are quite a few authors out there who seem to write for an exclusive English Literature major crowd LOL).

That's more than twenty stories in less than 250 pages. UH. MAZING.

This short volume is a masterclass in writing. The stories will remain with me for a long time. Judge not the book by its brevity, for this is Art: a mirror held to our souls, for us to see how far our civilization has yet to go, in order to be "civilized."

A re-read is in order! It's THAT good!


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Book Review: ORYX AND CRAKE (MaddAddam # 1) by Margaret Atwood

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"After everything that's happened, how can the world still be so beautiful? Because it is."

I hadn't heard of this book before picking it up, but it was by Margaret Atwood so... SIGN ME UP!

This second Atwood that I've read turns out to be another dystopian story, but altogether too similar to 2021 for comfort: a global pandemic (named JUVE for Jetspeed Ultra Virus Extraordinary) has wiped out all but one man.

Apart from THE HANDMAID'S TALE, it brings to mind another future horror novel with population and fertility as a strong theme: THE CHILDREN OF MEN, except where C.O.M and T.H.T. dealt with infertility, O.A.C. discussed overpopulation as well as the extremes of cloning and science gone haywire. The best kind of horror is the one that is all too plausible, and Atwood's take is fully fleshed out, with mad scientists doing their damndest to save humanity, only to push it to the edge of extinction.

One of the best scenes involved the last man left running for his life, with pigs as smart as humans in pursuit. I think I shall never look at the little pink porkers in the same way, ever again.

What makes the novel memorable is the build-up to Armageddon. What kind of education and childhood turns one into a genocidal maniac?

There's also a VERY twisted love story woven in, and some (negative yet truthful) Filipino representation thrown in. *sniff*

Reading O.A.C. in the middle of a global pandemic makes one realize... things could get so much worse. Let's pray they don't.

Apparently this is the first in a trilogy! And now the familiar online bargain book hunting begins.

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