Little Bee

"From my country you have taken its future, and to my country you have sent the objects from your past. We do not have the seed, we have the husk. We do not have the spirit, we have the skull." ("Little Bee" formerly titled "The Other Hand" by Chris Cleave)

I had this novel passed on to me well over a year ago by a friend of a friend who had recently finished it herself. There is something so unique about taking a book previously loved right from someone's hand. There is no crack of the spine when it is opened for the first time and the pages have become soft and comfortable to the touch. Almost like an aged glass of wine ready to be consumed.

This book was definitely unforgettable. The novel begins one fateful day on a Nigerian beach when two European tourists attempting to enjoy the sunshine and a beverage are thrust into an unknown world where they are forced to make a life altering decision that will ultimately unravel and challenge their relationship, family, and inner belief in humanity. The little girl that is the centre of that decision becomes a mirror of who they thought they were, who they are, and who they will ultimately become. Through the horror and injustice that ensues that girl (Little Bee) becomes a beacon of light providing strength, laughter and love to a broken family.

While many aspects of this book were memorable I would argue that the hype surrounding the second wave release is slightly over the top. This is a beautiful book but is it the new classic that everyone should be talking about? In my opinion other works such as "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver, "July's People" by Nadine Gordimer, and "Disgrace" by J.M. Coetzee provide a much higher level of prose while entwined with a beautiful African narrative.

Then again not all readers are looking for the same thing and if you have never read a novel about Africa and the equally powerful horror and beauty contained within then this is a great place to start.

Water for Elephants

Engrossing, astounding and at times disturbingly startling. This novel takes its reader into the captivating world of circus life in the 1930's. When the protagonist Jacob encounters a tragic loss, he leaves his ivy league vet training early to hop a train into a life filled with misfits and beauties. When he falls in love with Marlena, the show's star performer and wife of the horrifically abusive and psychotic animal trainer, he finds himself silently suffocating in a world where compassion is cast aside.

This was an incredible read and an even more impressive literary feat. The research performed by Sara Gruen in order to be able to demonstrate the world and timeframe in which Jacob finds himself is so vivid that you smell the cotton candy, hear the horses stomping and see every little wrinkle and hair on Rosie's (the elephant) skin.

Not for the faint of heart as some of the animal encounters are difficult to read but should you be searching for a historical read with a glimpse into a different time and way of life while intertwined with a unique and beautiful story-line this is the book for you.

The Road

The Road by Cormac McCarthy tells of a post-apocalyptic world where father and son fight not only for survival but for a glimmer of hope. Set amidst a landscape seemingly devoid of all compassion, structure, sustenance, and humanity the two struggle along while leaning on, and at times held up by, the bond that they share.

While McCarthy's work is a quick and simple read, the setting descriptions and continual pull at the heart-strings keep the reader interested and hopeful. In a world where all is lost, the indistinguishable love between father and son casts a flickering ray of light across a barren and horrific backdrop.

For the Love

"A loveless world is a dead world, and always there comes an hour when one is weary of prisons, of one's work, and of devotion to duty, and all one craves for is a loved face, the warmth and wonder of a loving heart." Albert Camus

A Great Wake-Up Call

Get into it.

I woke up lazily today at around 7:25am to my phone ringing off the hook.... "Get your ass out of bed and walk down the street" was the message when I finally answered. I am so glad I got that call. I'm also glad that I was randomly working from home (and not 5 minutes from my office cubicle which I would have been normally).

When I got my ass in gear (randomly in a pair of white track pants and a bright red hoodie) and got to the end of my street I was greeted by thousands of people dressed in white and red waving Canadian flags and cheering as loudly as they could. May I remind you that this was well before 8:00am.

I grabbed a coffee and stood at the side of the road like everyone else and watched as the madness ensued. First there were the sponsors giving away free canadian flags and 'swag' followed by the RCMP and then lastly the torch. Well not quite last. The torch came and then 200 or so people running behind the torch to keep up. It honestly brought a tear to my eye and tightened my throat.

I am one of those easily caught up in the ever increasing debates: 'are the Olympics good for a province or are they not so good', 'is the debt worth the re-structuring of the city or would the money be better spent on the most poor postal code in North America (East Side Vancouver)'.

Whatever side one ends up taking, its undeniable the power and excitement that comes with national pride and a symbol of hope. The news has been littered over the last few years with natural disasters and economic turmoil. The Olympics may have been created originally (way back when in Greece) as a deterrent to political strife but what if for a moment it is actually worthwhile for people to forget. For people to come together as one nation, as one world and celebrate humanity as a whole.

This morning was a breath of fresh air and I truly hope all of you get a glimpse of what these games mean to this country, just as I did.

Into the Wild

"There was another irony he failed to appreciate: His struggle to mold me in his image had been successful after all. The old walrus in fact managed to instill in me a great and burning ambition; it had simply found expression in an unintended pursuit."

Jon Krakauer - Into the Wild

Beautifully put and ringing true. A line I paused on for quite some time.

No I haven't seen the movie. Typically I don't. I read more than I watch - it's not a new age yuppie statement it just 'is what it is'. I have almost finished the book and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer truly is an inspirational and fascinating read.

I am more of a fiction lover myself. I find nothing to be more enjoyable than the experience of running away with a character and a story written by a talented author. Quite often I find non-fiction to be missing one of these key components. In my opinion non-fiction works are quite often a beautiful or heart-wrenching story lacking the artful pen that brings them to life so to speak.

Jon Krakauer proves to be a wonderful exception to this personal belief. He is a powerful author who has not only done justice to the individual and subsequent story he has captured in print, but has become the potential voice for an entire generation. The true story of Chris McCandless (pictured above), the 24 year old American who died on an Alaskan wilderness break from civilization, is the story of a disturbed yet idealistically charged individual set upon a course that no friend, family member, or foe could break.

Some believe (most actually) that Chris McCandless was a desolate and stubborn individual set on his own demise. Others think McCandless was a tragic young man simply lost in his own thoughts. While both of these beliefs may have an aspect of reality to them, it was McCandless' undeniable passion that created an air of infatuation around his tale. He was highly educated and very well read (the book is littered with quotes from famous literary texts found scrawled into the sides of the bus where his remains were found).

Chris McCandless was, while young and naiive, an inspiration. He was a passionate young man representative of a generation unafraid to believe in something. No longer numbed by the sparkly promise of material consumption, power, and wealth. I believe there will be more like McCandless to come. Maybe not those who march into the middle of Alaska ill-equipped for the harsh realities of mother nature - but those equally ready to reject all that has become our modern day and age - or more appropriately dubbed - 'normal' living.

East of Eden

Once again I am swept in and tossed by the surging power of a classic. Timeless and powerful in an ever-changing landscape of politics, religion, media and cultural drift.

"There are monstrous changes taking place in the world, forces shaping a future whose face we do not know. Some of these forces seem evil to us, perhaps not in themselves but because their tendency is to eliminate other things we hold good. It is true that two men can lift a bigger stone than one man, and bread from a huge factory is cheaper and more uniform. When our food and clothing and housing all are born in the complication of mass production, mass method is bound to get into our thinking and to eliminate all other thinking. In our time mass or collective production has entered our economics, our politics, and even our religions...

Our species is the only creative species, and it has only one creative instrument, the individual mind and spirit of a man. Nothing was ever created by two men. There are no good collaborations, whether in music, in art, in poetry, in mathematics, in philosophy. Once the miracle of creation has taken place, the group can build and extend it, but the group never invents anything. The preciousness lies in the lonely mind of man.

And now the forces marshaled around the concept of the group have declared a war of extermination on that preciousness, the mind of man. By disparagement, by starvation, by repressions, forced direction, and the stunning hammer-blows of conditioning, the free, roving mind is being pursued, roped, blunted and drugged. It is a sad suicidal course our species seems to have taken.

.... I can understand why a system built on a pattern must try to destroy the free mind, for that is one thing which can by inspection destroy such a system....If the glory can be killed, we are lost."

John Steinbeck - East of Eden