My Reading for October

1. The Giver by Lois Lowry
After reading Hunger Games and Matched (and previously Brave New World), I understand the dystopian genre better. The Giver seems to be the one book that these other ones rely on and have based their stories upon. One of my favorite books dealing with dystopian issues is Fahrenheit 451. To this day I'm amazed that the communist regime in my country allowed it to be translated, because it is the very book that made me understand communism and personal freedoms vs. community sameness. The Giver deals with this kind of issues but from a 12 year old's point of view. The society in which Jonas lives has eliminated pain and emotional distress by having everyone be the same, eat the same foods, have the same schedules, etc, basically everything is taken care by the governing council. There is only one person in that community that has all of the memories and understanding of life as it were before. Jonas was chosen to replace him. He had to start his training consisting on transferring all of the memories from the Giver to him. He had to feel pain and joy, and many other feelings that were taken away genetically in order for the society to be peaceful and experience no strife. I liked the individual details that Lowry added to the story such as the color idea, and love and music senses. Having lived under a dytopian society myself, I felt the book lacked logic in explaining certain things. As human beings we are born with a desire to be independent and have in us a curiosity about life that no matter how strict governments become we can overcome. This book didn't give much of an explanation on how these human beings with hearts and minds of their own had become robots. Nevertheless, thinking that the author had meant the book to be a metaphorical story rather than historical account of dystopian societies, I really enjoyed it. A good book for middle age kids to read and discuss about individual freedoms and the consequences of abusing them or giving them away.

2. The Blind Contessa's new machine by Carey Wallace
This was such a beautifully written book, and the plot was so promising. I just wished the author had worked her characters more and given them depth. The Young Italian Contessa, Carolina Fantoni, is discovering in her twenties that her vision is slowly disappearing. No one believes her, neither her parents, nor her gorgeous fiance. But her eccentric best friend, Torri, has always taken her seriously and understands her as she tries to describe how her vision is fading away. A stronger friendship develops and as Carolina's vision vanishes completely, Torri, who has fallen in love with her and the wonderful person she is, invents a machine with which Contessa Fentoni can type letters to him. Thus, we have the invention of the first type writer. The story is true, and the names stand for actual people. The description that the author shares through the now completely blind Carolina, as the Contessa has dreams of color and full of life, are breathtaking. However, I wished Ms. Wallace had developed those characters more and given them true life. Mostly we know about the characters through the statements that the author is making about them, instead of understanding them through dialogue and behavior. And I didn't like the ending at all. Now you have to read it to see what happens. Go ahead, it's a good read, regardless of the few flaws I mentioned.

3. The Boy with striped pajamas by John Boyne
A story about the Holocaust, written from a young boy's perspective. Bruno is the son of the German commander who is assigned to watch and deal with the Jews in Auschwitz. There Bruno, unaware of what's going on inside the camp, makes a friend outside of the fence, a Jewish little boy of the same age. And there starts the story of friendship that knows no boundaries, although it is a friendship that consists of two boys from different sides of a fence. It is elegantly written without showing the horrors of that deathly place, but at the same time it encourages thought and emotion in the readers' mind and heart. This book isn't meant to be an historical account of what happened to the Jews in Auschwitz. It is written more as a fable for us to feel the importance of love and kindness. Judgements thrown because of someone's religion, race, or nationality will always bring up fences, and those fences can only pull people apart and destroy. A good book for any age, and especially a simple way to introduce the Holocaust to young readers.

4. The Sweetness at the bottom of the pie by Alan Bradley
I'm positively, utterly, and completely an Agatha Christi fan. When it comes to mystery, she is the queen. I love her descriptions, her plots, her characters, her heroes, her antagonists, and above all the intelligence she puts in her mysteries. I've read a great many mystery authors, but no one has ever come close to her, till... well till I read Alan Bradley's book. Just so you know how much I enjoyed this author, let me tell you that I put on hold all of his other books that I could find. The sweetness at the bottom of the pie is a mystery novel, but written as if it were a classic. I loved everything about it. I loved the story set in the English country side. I thoroughly enjoyed each character, especially the 12 year-old Flavia, who not only is brilliant and has an amazingly deductive mind, but who is an eccentric, mature and hilarious girl. And I especially loved the writing, so flowing, full of metaphors and just beautiful. The mystery wasn't the main theme in this book; it wasn't to me what kept me reading. It was the characters, their interaction with each other, and above all the language. I was thoroughly amazed at the way this author expressed himself. And if you love chemistry, true chemistry and not Harry Potter magic, this book makes you want to go and open your high school chemistry texts to follow along just to enjoy the beauty of this world and how everything is so beautifully connected to each other, and just simply to understand Flavia's obsession with different kinds of poison. Enjoy!

5. A guide to art edited by Sandro Sproccati
Since I've been writing about my trip to Europe these past few weeks, I felt the need and the desire to flip through some art books that I own. It's hard to find good art books. I like mine big, with lots of illustrations and art prints corresponding to the artists, as well as an historically written account of the art periods. That's how I like to study art. Nevertheless, since I was reading a bunch of other books, and I still had the desire to dig into some art info on my own, I grabbed this book and kept it in the car. It's small and can fit in my purse, but it has a lot of pictures and information. A good compromise for me to read between waiting for doctor appointments or while resting between cooking or cleaning. I love having books like that with me at all times, just in case I don't have enough time or concentration for the ones I'm actually reading. Charlton and I enjoyed looking at the pictures while waiting on the older kids finishing their activities. What kind of books do you keep in your car for quick reading?

6. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedman
A very interesting book dealing with the issue of the role of women at home and in the society at large. It was written in the 60's and the audience for which it was written toward was the middle class women who after having raised their kids and sent them to school, were trying to find satisfaction and fulfillment in their role as housewives. Betty Friedman's challenge to these women was to get out of their depression and alcoholic habits, and do something about their lives. It was meant to be a wake up call for these educated women who had put their lives on hold because the society had told them that they could feel happy if they had a good husband, well behaved children, a beautiful home and helping out with social activities, and nothing more. Friedman is challenging them to look deep inside them and see what makes them happy. She is trying to open their minds, and mentality of the society itself, by reminding these women that vacuuming all day, washing dishes from morning till night, and going to lunches with friends isn't what life is all about. Women are mothers, wives, and friends, but they are also individuals. Starting a feminine revolution in the idea that it's okay to want more from life than just vacuuming, she also was very determined to point out that they loosing their intellect with drudgery while they could put it in good use by becoming engineers, scientists, politicians wasn't the way to go. I can only imagine how much of a break-through this book must have been at that time. Although today we as women have more options that those then, I still find young women who feel trapped between ideologies, be those social or religious, and who have hard time being happy, be that working outside the home or inside. I don't agree with everything Betty Friedman is saying, and especially with the condescending tone she expressed herself toward the stay-at-home moms. But I understand the historical background she was writing this book. These educated women had been fed the fairy tale of staying home and fulfilling their role as housewives, (but doing nothing to improve their own education or increase their knowledge,) would make them happy. Let me be clear about my own feelings on this very important topic. I believe that the most important role, job or calling, whatever you want to call it, for women of this world is that of motherhood. There is nothing more beautiful for me to be with my family and raise my children to become well rounded individuals. That is primarily in my hands, and I don't see it only as a responsibility but a privilege that brings me joy, whether that be teaching my kids how to vacuum, wash bathrooms, or read Shakespeare with me. I find joy in everything I do and teach my children. That said I feel very strongly that I am also an individual who needs learning and growing each day. Some women find their growth by working, some by serving, and some by reading, and who knows in how many other ways. The most important thing for me is that I give it my best in whatever I'm doing, and never neglect the continuous education of my mind and spirit. I always feel that I'm the most happy when I have given my best in all I do, whether that be as a mother or as just Melita. President Hinckley advised us all to:

"Now, be faithful, be true, go forward, be ambitious. Don't short-circuit yourself. Don't stop now. Keep growing. Keep going. Educate your minds and your spirits and never lose sight of the fact that you are a child of God with a divine destiny and capability of doing great and good and wonderful things. Don't sell yourselves short. Don't cheapen yourselves. You know who you are. Each of you knows that you are a child of God and that your Heavenly Father expects something great and noble and good of you... You just have to do your very best with all the capability you have. You have to do your very best. And somehow, if you do that, God will open the way before you and the sun will shine, and your lives will be fruitful and you will accomplish great good in the world in which you take a part."

Let me also share with you a quote from President Faust concerning us women. When Gillian was born I had part of this quote posted on the wall. Somehow I don't think it was for Gillian. Being a first time mother was hard for me, but keeping the big vision before my eyes helped me be a much better mother than I could have ever thought. Finding joy while doing it was the crowning blessing of it all.

"As daughters of God, you cannot imagine the divine potential within each of you. Surely the secret citadel of women’s inner strength is spirituality... You sisters do not know the full extent of your influence. You sisters enrich all of humanity. All human life begins with you. Each woman brings her own separate, unique strengths to the family and the Church. Being a daughter of God means that if you seek it, you can find your true identity. You will know who you are. This will make you free—not free from restraints, but free from doubts, anxieties, or peer pressure. You will not need to worry, “Do I look all right?” “Do I sound OK?” “What do people think of me?” A conviction that you are a daughter of God gives you a feeling of comfort in your self-worth. It means that you can find strength in the balm of Christ. It will help you meet the heartaches and challenges with faith and serenity."