Boatmen roaring down the Colorado River, tearing through the white water of the Grand Canyon during a once in a lifetime flood is how the Emerald Mile by Kevin Fedarko both starts and ends. Three supremely talented river guides aim to break a speed record and ride the swollen river as it almost returns to the wildness of its pre-dam state.
Fedarko is a lyrical writer who brings the incomparable wild beauty of the place to life from the “nighttime sky salted with stars” to the lush wildflowers and stores of Anasazi corn still to be found. We learn to empathize with the boatmen and their aching addiction to the river and the untamed nature it symbolizes.
But – his plot moves in as straight a direction as the river boats that constantly veer around boulders and turn sharply from huge waves. Although the boat is in the water in the first chapter, it doesn’t finish the race until the last. In between, we learn about the reactions of the first European discoverers of the Grand Canyon; we get lessons about El Nino, weather patterns, and the results of these patterns from all over the world for months before the race. Then there is the history of dam building, the technicalities of construction and operating them. There is the superiority of the wooden dory to the rubber raft plus all the details in its design. A history of the birth of the Sierra Club…. the immersion in rowing skills…Whew. This true story has become a legend and Fedarko recounts every detail.
I found these diversions into the eddies, backwaters, and side streams too many. I like to immerse myself in a story that flows along at a good pace. This book reminded me of musicals, a genre I find frustrating. Just when the action is getting started, the characters stop to sing and dance and the forward motion of the plot abruptly stops. I must say however, that the other six readers in my group enjoyed the details of these side trips and found them educational and interesting. Thumbs up, they all said, while mine was neutral.
A skip-the-line hold was waiting at the library. This program is an unexpected little gift whereby a reader gets the next book available and doesn’t have to wait until number 74 or whatever comes around.
The Liar’s Dictionary by Eley Williams joyfully plays with language and words – the more bizarre and esoteric, the better. Odd words, made up words, forms of words, alliterative words. I had been told to read this on Kindle so it would be easy to look up the unknown words, but I forgot. After a while, a very short while, looking up all the words I didn’t know stopped being fun. “occasional blarts of oboe,” “he had set his abecedarian course.” “…he is quite widdershins.” The made-up words were memorable: “asinidorose (n.) to emit the smell of a burning donkey.”
Emerging from all these words are two stories a hundred years apart that take place in the same lexicography office. The earlier, Victorian, plot features a delightful twitterpated young man who takes it upon himself to add mountweazels to his dictionary entries. A century later a tribade young woman, coming to terms with her sexuality, is hired to root them out. These creative stories have unexpected endings and nicely bring the book to a close, finale, culmination.!
I approached The Book of Joy, Lasting Happiness in a Changing World with respect and expectation. Moderated by Douglas Abrams, it is a compilation of discussions between the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu as part of the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday celebration in 2015.
Maybe expectation was the problem as both of these men would probably tell me. I expected to like it. I expected to learn from it. I expected to have at least one life lesson. I was disappointed. Why didn’t I like this five-star book?
The life problems they discuss are many: grief, anger, fear, loneliness, cruelty, ambition, envy, despair, illness, death. Oh my. It was overwhelming. Advice is given for each problem. I tried to find a unifying thread in the answers. Think of others; don’t concentrate on yourself. Feel compassion and act generously; happiness is contagious; do what you can where you are. Maybe these precepts to live by sound trite because they are so true. At the end of the book, there are practices for meditation.
It struck me as interesting that one of the above authors mentioned Julian of Norwich who I had just read about in Agnes Bushell’s The Oracle Pool. Agnes’s main character starts a church using Julian’s precepts. Who was she?
Julian was an English anchoress (someone who withdraws from the world to a life of prayer) and mystic in the Middle Ages. She wrote Revelations of Divine Love which is the first book written in English by a woman. Julian lived through two iterations of the Black Death, the first of which killed at least half the population of her area. Because of her religious faith, she lived in seclusion. Pandemic and quarantine? No wonder she is having a resurgence. Currently, churches are exploring her idea of solitude strengthening faith. Her positive message, “All shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well,” echoes Bishop Tutu’s and the Dalai Lama’s optimistic teachings about looking for and finding joy in life.
Looking for a fun read, I was glad to be lent a copy of Spider Woman’s Daughter, Anne Hillerman’s debut novel written in 2013. I had forgotten about Leaphorn and Chee and was pleased to meet them again. Tony Hillerman’s daughter has continued his series with five mysteries plus another coming this April. Good plot, likeable characters, Navajo art and customs, the flavor of the Southwest make her, like Dad, a winning novelist. Perfect for relaxation.
I’m continually amazed at the sheer breadth of your reading selection. Your blog is like a salad smorgasbord! Keep it up. J
Thanks Jane. I get lots of good ideas from our group!
I agree with your comments on the Book of Joy. There were nice reminders, but I most enjoyed the camaraderie between the two of them, with humor and teasing based on their shared and sometimes differing views.
A good reminder in itself!
Yes, maybe that friendship is the unifying thread. They act kindly and lovingly towards one another even if there are differences in beliefs.
I had no idea that Tony Hillerman had a daughter who is also a writer and continuing with his genre. I will look for “Spider Woman’s Daughter.” Thank you Diane. There was a time when I devoured every Hillerman book as soon as it came out. I admired his writing style – compact, efficient, never a word that could have been omitted, yet the characters were fully developed and the story line moved right along to a satisfying conclusion. I hope Anne is as good as her dad, because I do miss Chee and Leaphorn. n
Years ago my church in Clayton, CA, did a Lenten study series and one of our speakers talked about Julian. It was very interesting and I wish I had taken notes because I can’t remember now most of what she said.
Mysteries are not high on my book list, but your comments on Anne Hillerman’s book make me want to read her book.