I received a review copy from the publisher in return for this fair and honest review
The World Before us by Aislinn Hunter
There are books that are "love it or hate it" and this is certainly one of them. As is often the case, this book has beautiful language and descriptions, meandering lines of thoughts and unconventional narrators. It is slow and takes its time to develop the mystery and to show how things connect. Not every question is answered. This can either fascinate the readers or bore them to death and insanity (quite fittingly).
From the short synopsis, this wasn't what I expected. Had I gone in knowing all this, I would have enjoyed it more, instead of getting frustrated with a book that seemed to go nowhere for a long time. Expectations...
Monday, May 25, 2015
Saturday, May 9, 2015
The Marriage of Opposites
This book was provided by the publisher, in return for a fair and honest review
The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman
Telling the story of "common people", "looked over people", "people surrounding a famous person", "insider view told by a family member", etc, has become a popular genre. From lesser known biblical characters to forgotten painters, it seems that every possible angle is being explored in order to tell a story with a celebrity hook. In this case, the plot revolves around Rachel Pome Petit Pizzaro, whose connection to fame is her son, Camille Pissaro, dean of Impressionism.
Rachel is seen as a headstrong, outspoken, unpleasant woman (the reader will tend to agree, specially as the book progresses). She grows up with her best friend, the family servant's daughter, and eventually accepts a marriage of convenience to help her father's business. Eventually widowed, she falls in love with her husband's nephew, which is forbidden by the Jewish faith. Of course, this doesn't stop her. Eventually, one of her sons (her favourite, of course) goes to France to become a painter. Interwoven are the story of Justine and her daughter, family secrets and mistaken impressions.
That sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Unfortunately, the book let me down. The characters are often barely sketched out (just try to describe her second husband, for example). The story often jumps several years, leaving the poor reader confused. And it both foreshadows to the point of obviousness (come on, who didn't know Justine's parentage a third of the way in?) and springs things completely out of the blue (Isaac's background). Hoffman also wants to be poetic and literary, using and abusing the symbolism (such as changing a historical character's background to fit).
That sounds pretty harsh but the book is better than that. The first part is an amusing read and most of the faults are concentrated in the second half. I felt as though Hoffman suddenly realized she had to get to a certain point before ending the book and started axing sideplots and minor characters. For example, near the end one of Rachel's child is extremely ill. There is no build up: the narrator just informs the reader of the fact, even though we had seen no sign of Rachel's worry until this point.
Would I recommend this book? Not really. There is better light reading out there.
The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman
Telling the story of "common people", "looked over people", "people surrounding a famous person", "insider view told by a family member", etc, has become a popular genre. From lesser known biblical characters to forgotten painters, it seems that every possible angle is being explored in order to tell a story with a celebrity hook. In this case, the plot revolves around Rachel Pome Petit Pizzaro, whose connection to fame is her son, Camille Pissaro, dean of Impressionism.
Rachel is seen as a headstrong, outspoken, unpleasant woman (the reader will tend to agree, specially as the book progresses). She grows up with her best friend, the family servant's daughter, and eventually accepts a marriage of convenience to help her father's business. Eventually widowed, she falls in love with her husband's nephew, which is forbidden by the Jewish faith. Of course, this doesn't stop her. Eventually, one of her sons (her favourite, of course) goes to France to become a painter. Interwoven are the story of Justine and her daughter, family secrets and mistaken impressions.
That sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Unfortunately, the book let me down. The characters are often barely sketched out (just try to describe her second husband, for example). The story often jumps several years, leaving the poor reader confused. And it both foreshadows to the point of obviousness (come on, who didn't know Justine's parentage a third of the way in?) and springs things completely out of the blue (Isaac's background). Hoffman also wants to be poetic and literary, using and abusing the symbolism (such as changing a historical character's background to fit).
That sounds pretty harsh but the book is better than that. The first part is an amusing read and most of the faults are concentrated in the second half. I felt as though Hoffman suddenly realized she had to get to a certain point before ending the book and started axing sideplots and minor characters. For example, near the end one of Rachel's child is extremely ill. There is no build up: the narrator just informs the reader of the fact, even though we had seen no sign of Rachel's worry until this point.
Would I recommend this book? Not really. There is better light reading out there.
Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World
This book was provided by the publisher, in return for this fair and honest review
Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World by Rachel Swaby
This book is a light but interesting read. Organized by the main branches of science, it dedicates a few pages to each of 52 scientists who were women. Yes, that is an awkward phrase but I feel I need to highlight that they are being judged as scientists, first and foremost. Not one of them felt out of place, picked simply to round off the list. Each one made major contributions to their fields. Some won Nobel prizes while others were passed over for their colleagues. All of them worked hard and produced amazing results.
Often, science seems to have been made by men, with the occasional token woman thrown in. Women are usually the assistants, the secretaries, the support staff, the ladies doing grunt work while the real thinkers arrive at the brilliant results. This collection shows that this isn't the whole truth. Many women fought to break barriers, overcome stereotypes and often were unpaid, unrecognized and unwanted.
However, this isn't a feminist book. Most of all, it is a celebration of good science despite everything that got in the way. The clear language will help any reader to learn more about medicine, genetics, bugs, physics, chemistry and the life in the lab.
Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World by Rachel Swaby
This book is a light but interesting read. Organized by the main branches of science, it dedicates a few pages to each of 52 scientists who were women. Yes, that is an awkward phrase but I feel I need to highlight that they are being judged as scientists, first and foremost. Not one of them felt out of place, picked simply to round off the list. Each one made major contributions to their fields. Some won Nobel prizes while others were passed over for their colleagues. All of them worked hard and produced amazing results.
Often, science seems to have been made by men, with the occasional token woman thrown in. Women are usually the assistants, the secretaries, the support staff, the ladies doing grunt work while the real thinkers arrive at the brilliant results. This collection shows that this isn't the whole truth. Many women fought to break barriers, overcome stereotypes and often were unpaid, unrecognized and unwanted.
 |
| XKCD nails it, as usual https://xkcd.com/896/ |
However, this isn't a feminist book. Most of all, it is a celebration of good science despite everything that got in the way. The clear language will help any reader to learn more about medicine, genetics, bugs, physics, chemistry and the life in the lab.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
The Belles of Williamsburg by Mary Maillard
I read a review copy of this book provided by the publisher, in exchange for this fair and honest review.
The Belles of Williamsburg by Mary Maillard is a collection of letters exchanged between Eliza Fisk Harwood and Tristrim Lowther Skinner between 1839-1849. They met when Skinner lodged with Eliza's foster mother (her childless godmother) while studying at William and Mary College. The correspondence was kept up over 10 years, from their friendship up to their marriage. During this period, Eliza grows from a young teen (13) to a young woman, chronicling her debut, period as a belle and their engagement.
Part of this story is uncomfortable for modern day readers: Skinner has decided he wants to marry the 13 year old Eliza and keeps up the correspondence while waiting for her to reach courtship age. From the letters, it isn't clear what attracted him to the young girl, though it wasn't unusual at the time, considering that other 13 year olds were already engaged.
It is also good to have some previous knowledge of the time period. Eliza and Tristrim are keeping in contact with each other, not writing for future generations. They don't bother to explain conventions of their time or to introduce the people around them, since both are familiar with Mrs Galt or Mr Thompson.
Overall, it is an interesting collection but reading it is long, slow and often boring. It does show how the young couple related to one another and it is very interesting from that perspective. The foot notes and excerpts from a contemporary novel add details and explanations for the reader. It isn't a narrative, though, where an editor mercilessly slashes out everything not related to the main plot, etc. It will be priceless to those interested in mid 19th century society. I doubt it will be of much interest to most readers, who may prefer a more condescend version, with more contextualization and using excerpts from the letters, instead of the whole text of them.
The Belles of Williamsburg by Mary Maillard is a collection of letters exchanged between Eliza Fisk Harwood and Tristrim Lowther Skinner between 1839-1849. They met when Skinner lodged with Eliza's foster mother (her childless godmother) while studying at William and Mary College. The correspondence was kept up over 10 years, from their friendship up to their marriage. During this period, Eliza grows from a young teen (13) to a young woman, chronicling her debut, period as a belle and their engagement.
Part of this story is uncomfortable for modern day readers: Skinner has decided he wants to marry the 13 year old Eliza and keeps up the correspondence while waiting for her to reach courtship age. From the letters, it isn't clear what attracted him to the young girl, though it wasn't unusual at the time, considering that other 13 year olds were already engaged.
It is also good to have some previous knowledge of the time period. Eliza and Tristrim are keeping in contact with each other, not writing for future generations. They don't bother to explain conventions of their time or to introduce the people around them, since both are familiar with Mrs Galt or Mr Thompson.
Overall, it is an interesting collection but reading it is long, slow and often boring. It does show how the young couple related to one another and it is very interesting from that perspective. The foot notes and excerpts from a contemporary novel add details and explanations for the reader. It isn't a narrative, though, where an editor mercilessly slashes out everything not related to the main plot, etc. It will be priceless to those interested in mid 19th century society. I doubt it will be of much interest to most readers, who may prefer a more condescend version, with more contextualization and using excerpts from the letters, instead of the whole text of them.
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