Review of the Day: The Human Stain

Philip Roth's The Human Stain packs a wallop like few novels can deliver. The book opens by suggesting an interesting, but modest story:

It was the summer of 1998 that my neighbor Coleman Silk -- who, before retiring two years earlier, had been a classics professor at nearby Athena College for some twenty-odd years as well as serving for sixteen more as the dean of faculty -- confided to me that, at the age of seventy-one, he was having an affair with a thirty-four-year-old cleaning woman who worked down at the college.

But just when you think it is going to be a typical ivory tower novel about the late-in-life sexual adventures of a second rate academic, Roth plunges the story into never-expected depths. Colman Silk's life is built on a lie. His lover is illiterate. Her ex-husband is a whacked-out Vietnam vet. And Silk's professional nemesis throws a metaphorical hand grenade into the middle of all of it.

Roth uses the story to explore all the big, close-to-the-bone issues: sexuality, racial identity, religion, education, family affiliation, mental illness, love, and grief – all the things that leave a human stain. It's a book that leaves you gasping. You don't just finish it; you recover from it.

OTHER REVIEWS

(If you would like your review listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.)

NOTES

This would have been my "favorite book" of 2010, except that I finished the last 50 pages on New Year's Day.  It's too early to say, but it may qualify as my favorite book of 2011 as well, in which case it would deserve the double commendation. 

Teaser Tuesday: A Study in Scarlet

"He was more than six feet high, was in the prime of life, had small feet for his height, wore coarse, square-toed boots and smoked a Trichinopoly cigar. He came here with his victim in a four-wheeled cab, which was drawn by a horse with three old shoes and one new one on his off fore leg."

-- A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  An example of Sherlock Holmes's remarkable deductive powers.

I started reading this as my first e-book, using the kindle app I put on my iPhone.  But I had such an adorable little Peebles Classic Library edition on my shelf, that soon I found myself with the book in my hands, tearing through the pages.


Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday and Giveaway

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! I also have a new giveaway this week and three winners of last week's giveaway.  Keep reading through the post to find all the goodies.

MAILBOX MONDAY

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. (Library books don’t count, but eBooks & audiobooks do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists!

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here). I am very pleased to host this month.

Please leave the link to your Mailbox Monday post with Mr. Linky. If you do not have a blog, leave your mailbox list in a comment.

GIVEAWAY WINNER

I had THREE advanced reading copies of House Arrest by Ellen Meeropol to give away last week.

THE BOOK: House Arrest is set in Western Massachusetts and on an island in Penobscot Bay, Maine.  The story is told from the alternating points of view of Emily, Pippa, Sam, and Gina. House Arrest explores the meaning of family loyalty when beliefs conflict, and questions the necessity of sometimes breaking rules to serve justice.

THE WINNERS:  Using random.org, I picked the following winners of this fascinating new novel:

• Teddy Rose at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time (random #8)
• Amy at The House of Seven Tails (random # 39)
• CT Mom at Inspired by Savannah (random #1)

Congratulations to the three winners and a huge THANK YOU to all who participated. 

I'll email the three winners shortly to get mailing information.

THIS WEEK'S GIVAWAY

Again thanks to book publicist extraordinaire, Mary Bisbee-Beek, I have three copies to give away of Strange Relation: A Memoir of Marriage, Dementia, and Poetry by Rachel Hadas.  This looks like an incredible book.  A tear-jerker, I suspect, but incredible.

THE BOOK: In 2004 Rachel Hadas's husband, George Edwards, a composer and professor of music at Columbia University, was diagnosed with early-onset dementia at the age of sixty-one. STRANGE RELATION is her account of "losing" George. Her narrative begins when George's illness can no longer be ignored, and ends in 2008 soon after his move to a dementia facility (when after thirty years of marriage, Hadas finds herself no longer living with her husband). Within the confines of those difficult years, years when reading and writing were an essential part of what kept her going, she "tried to keep track....tried to tell the truth."

RULES: The contest is open until Sunday, January 16, 2011. To enter, do any or all of the following, but you must leave a comment for each one:

1. Leave a comment on this post. You must include a way to contact you (email or website address in your comment or available in your profile). If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner. (1 entry)

2. Blog about this giveaway. (Posting the giveaway on your sidebar is also acceptable.) Leave a separate comment with a link to your post. (1 entry)

3. Subscribe to my rss feed, follow me on blogger, or subscribe via email (or tell me if you already are a subscriber or follower). Leave a separate comment for this. (1 entry)

4. Tweet this post on Twitter. Leave me a separate comment with your twitter user name. (1 entry)

5. Stumble this blog, digg it, technorati fave it, or link it on facebook. Leave a separate comment. (1 entry)

There are a lot of ways to enter (maximum of five entries), but you must LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT for each one or they will not count. I will use random.org to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is open to entries from the U.S. and Canada only. The deadline for entry is 9:00 PM, Pacific Time, on Sunday, January 16, 2011. I will draw and post the winner's name in my Mailbox Monday post for January 17, 2011.

MY MAILBOX

The Descent of Man by Kevin Desinger



The wonderful Caitlin Hamilton Summie of Unbridled Books was kind enough to send me the ARC of what looks like a riveting new novel.

Product Description by Bob Shacochis

One night Jim, a quiet wine steward, wakes to find two men trying to steal his car. Against the petitions of his wife, he goes outside to get the plate number of the thieves truck. Instead, something comes over him and he drives away in their truck until he recovers his wits and realizes what he's done. When Jim learns that the two would-be thieves are brothers with a history of violence, he soon finds himself over his head in a mire of sinister events and must risk everything to regain what he can of his life before that night.

There are books that you can't put down, and there are books that won't go away even after you put them down, the force of their moral conundrums haunting the stories of our own lives. The Descent of Man is a spectacular showcase for both literary virtues the riveting tale of a modest but perfect life under assault, and a resonating challenge to our own self-knowledge, the authenticity of that knowledge, which can only be confirmed through crisis. Who are we when push comes to shove? What are we capable of? Do we have the fortitude to save ourselves from the bad things in the world, and the backbone--the strength of mind and spirit to protect those we love from harm? Kevin Desinger confronts us with these questions in the steady, quiet voice of Everyman, a decent guy sitting in a parlor chair, calmly narrating a firestorm that's consuming his house and family. He has written a novel that is flawless, masterful, unforgettable, and chilling in its dramatization of the way we live in fragile grace each day in America, our blessings balanced on the edge of violence and loss. 

As good as this looks, I am sticking with my New Year's reading resolution to get a handle on my Guilt List and I have passed this on to the wunderkinder at Reading Local, who will treat it with the prompt respect it deserves.  Kevin Desinger is a Portland author, so he and his book will be treated well by the Reading Local crew.




365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life by John Kralik

The senior partner at my firm gave me this for Christmas.  I guess my first Thank You goes to him.

Favorite Author: C. P. Snow

C. P. Snow (1905 - 1980) was a British author best known for his 11-volume "Strangers and Brother's" series. Published between 1940 and 1974, the series follows several characters through careers in academia and government.

He wrote several other books as well, but I am going to concentrate on S&B. 

So far, I have read the first three volumes, in red below. Those on my TBR shelf are in blue.

Most recommend reading the series in the order listed below so that the narrative is chronological.   

A Time of Hope (1949) (reviewed here)

George Passant (originally titled Strangers and Brothers) (1940) (reviewed here)

The Conscience of the Rich (1958)

The Light and the Dark (1947)

The Masters (1951)

The New Men (1954)

Homecomings (1956)

The Affair (1960)

Corridors of Power (1964)

The Sleep of Reason (1968)

Last Things (1970)

The Masters and The New Men were jointly awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1954.

NOTES

If anyone else has reviews of these books or other posts related to C. P. Snow, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

Last updated November 17, 2013.

State of the Blog, Part Three: The Challenges

It is a new year, and time to assess my reading progress for the year just closed and make plans for 2011.

This is the third of my quarterly blog assessment posts, this one focusing on the challenges I participated in last year and joined (or plan to) this year. The first part addressed the book lists. Part Two looked at my author lists.

2010 CHALLENGES

I hosted two "Battle of the Prizes" challenges in 2010.  Both started on February 1, 2010 and don't end until January 31, 2011.  Good thing, because I still have two books to read -- one for each challenge.  What a lazy host I was!

I also participated in several other challenges, to varying degrees of success.

CHALLENGES HOSTED BY ROSE CITY READER

2010 Battle of the Prizes: American Version

National Book Award winners v. Pulitzer Prize winners, rules here. There are two ways to participate -- either read one book that won the Pulitzer Prize, one that won the National Book Award, and one that won both; or read two Pulizer winners and two National winners.

The deadline for reading the books is January 31, 2011, but wrap-up posts are welcome whenever participants post them.

Several people have completed the challenge already: chaotic compendiums, 100 Books. 100 Journeys, J.G. at Hotchpot Cafe, and Musings These links are also listed on the main post. 

I've finished three of my four books:

1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Pulitzer)
2. Olive Kitteridge is Elizabeth Strout (reviewed here) (Pulitzer)
3. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (reviewed here) (National)

I had planned to read three books, with The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter for my double dipper choice. Then I realized that I do not have that book on my TBR shelf and the point of challenges, for me, is to read the books I already own.

So I made a last-minute switcheroo and will be reading Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon for my second National winner.  I am quite excited about it because it looks great.

That meant I had to add a second Pulitzer winner, so I am counting Oscar Wao, even though I didn't review it.  Apparently, the lawyer in me planned ahead for just such a situation by including this loophole in the official rules: "Reviews are not necessary, but encouraged."

2010 Battle of the Prizes: British Version

Man Booker Prize v. James Tait Black Memorial Prize, rules here.  This has the same set up -- either read one winner of each prize and a double-dipper, or read two of each.

The deadline for reading the books is January 31, 2011, but wrap-up posts are welcome whenever participants post them.

I have read two of my three:

1. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (reviewed here) (James Tait Black)
2. The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch (reviewed here) (Booker)

I still have to read G by John Berger for my double dipper choice. 

2010 CHALLENGES I PARTICIPATED IN

Bibliophilic Books Challenge



A challenge to read books about books. The home page is here.

I signed up for the "Bibliomaniac" level, which means I did not succeed in the challenge.  My plan was to read 12 qualifying books by the end of the year and I only read seven.

Had my goal been suitably modest, I would have successfully achieved "Litlover" status.  Lesson learned.

I read:

1. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby (reviewed here);
2. The Flaneur: A Stroll Through the Paradoxes of Paris by Edmund White (reviewed here);
3. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman (reviewed here);
4. A Year in the World by Frances Mayes (reviewed here); 
5. Housekeeping vs. the Dirt by Nick Hornby (not reviewed); 
6. The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte (not reviewed); and 
7. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (reviewed here).

Unfortunately, Lesley isn't going to host another Bibliophilic Books Challenge in 2011.  I hope someone takes up her offer to pass the baton, because I would like to participate again.

Birth Year Reading Challenge 

This challenge was to read one or more books published in the year you were born, hosted by Hotchpot Cafe. My main post for this challenge is here.

Luckily, there was no set number of books to read for this challenge.  I read two books, which means I earned two candles.

1. Indian Summer by John Knowles (reviewed here),
2. The Valley of the Dolls by Jaqueline Susann (reviewed here)

Unfortunately, I didn't care much for either book.  I don't know if that reflects generally on 1966 publications, or just on my poor judgment.

Book Awards Challenge

The challenge involved reading ten books that won ten different prizes.  The home page is here.

Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the challenge ended on November 1, 2010.  I didn't come close to finishing, and got through only five by the deadline:

1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (National Book Critics Circle winner);
2. The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips (Discover Award winner; reviewed here);
3. Citizen Vince by Jess Walter (Edgar winner; reviewed here);
4. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (Costa winner; reviewed here); and
5. Small Island by Andrea Levy (Orange winner, reviewed here). 

Chunkster Challenge

Again, I bit off more than I could read with this challenge.  I signed up for the "Mor-book-ly Obese" level, meaning I planned to read six 450+-page books (or three 750+-pagers). Caribousmom hosts this challenge.

I have until January 31, 2011 to finish the challenge, but I don't know that I will get any more read besides these four:

1. Three Loves by A. J. Cronin (reviewed here); 
2. The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch (reviewed here); 
3. Echoes by Maeve Binchy (reviewed here);
4. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (reviewed here) 

I tackled several big books in 2010, including the monumental The Count of Monte Cristo and the last two volumes of The Lord of the Rings, but I listened to the audiobooks. Those count in terms of a reading "life list" but not for this challenge, which specifically excludes audio books.

I am definitely going to sign up for the 2011 version of this challenge, but at a less-ambitious level. 

100+ Challenge

I signed up for this because I was pretty sure I'd read more than 100 books in 2010. I usually read around 110 books each year, and I did again in 2010.  The challenge home page is here, but I didn't do a challenge post myself.

The list of the 144 books I read in 2010 is here.

I am not going to sign up for this one again in 2011.  Although I will more than likely read 100 books this year, I am trying to read more lackadaisically.  This is one "goal" I don't need to set for myself.  Hopefully, this will encourage me to read some of the big chunksters that have been weighing down my TBR shelves for too long.


Typically British Challenge



I signed up at the "Cream Crackered" level to read eight "Typically British" novels. I blew through all eight pretty quickly, and could have done it another three times at least, since over a third of the books I read in 2010 were by British authors. The challenge home page is here.


Books I read:

1. One Fat Englishman by Kingsley Amis (reviewed here);
2. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (finished, not reviewed);
3. The New Confessions by William Boyd (reviewed here);
4. Three Loves by A. J. Cronin (reviewed here);
5. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster (reviewed here);
6. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (reviewed here);
7. Everyday Drinking: The Distilled Kingsley Amis by Kinglsey Amis (reviewed here); and
8. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (reviewed here).

2011 CHALLENGES

CHALLENGES HOSTED BY ROSE CITY READER

I am hosting the two Battle of the Prizes Challenges again in 2011. I don't have the official posts up yet, because the challenges will run from February 1, 2011 to January 31, 2012.  But if you want to sign up early, leave a comment here and I'll come back and remind you when the official posts go up.

2011 Battle of the Prizes: American Version

 

Like in past years, this challenge pits National Book Award winners against Pulitzer Prize winners.  See the 2010 challenge page for the rules. There are two ways to participate -- either read one book that won the Pulitzer Prize, one that won the National Book Award, and one that won both; or read two Pulizer winners and two National winners.

I don't know yet whether I will do the 3-book or the 4-book option, or which books I'll pick, but I have the following in mind:

Possible National Award winners:

1. The News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck
2. Them by Joyce Carol Oates
3. Morte d'Urban by J.F. Powers

Possible Pulitzer winners:

1. One of Ours by Willa Cather
2. Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler

2011 Battle of the Prizes: British Version

Just as in 2010, this challenge is to read books that won the Man Booker Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.  See the rules on the 2010 post, here.  This has the same set up -- either read one winner of each prize and a double-dipper, or read two of each.

I will have to go with the 4-book option, because, after I finish G for the 2010 challenge, I will have read all three of the double-dippers. 

Possible Booker picks are:

1. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
2. How Late it Was, How Late by James Kelman 
3. Shindler's List by Thomas Keneally

Possible James Tait Black picks are:

1. Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd
2. White Teeth by Zadie Smith

2011 CHALLENGES I AM PARTICIPATING IN

The challenge titles link to my main challenge posts.

Daphne du Maurier Challenge

This Challenge is hosted by Chris at book-a-rama and bridges 2010/2011. I was late to this challenge and only signed up for in the fall of 2010. But it goes through April 19, 2011, so I have plenty of time.


I signing up for the "Dreaming of Manderley" category, to read three novels. Since I am still new to du Maurier, I'll am starting with the greatest hits.

Books read so far: one: Rebecca (reviewed here)

Books I plan to read:

1. The Flight of the Falcon;
2. My Cousin Rachel

Foodie's Reading Challenge

Margot at Joyfully Retired is hosting a challenge for 2011 that I am very excited about: The Foodie's Reading Challenge!

I signed up at the "Bon Vivant" level to read four to six books.  My plan is to read books that are already on my TBR shelves.  Some of those in the running include (in no particular order):

• The Food of France by Waverley Root
• James Beard on Food Delights and Prejudices by James Beard
• On the Town in New York by Michael Batterberry
• Stuffed: Adventures of a Restaurant Family by Patricia Volk
• The Tuscan Year: Life and Food in an Italian Valley by Elizabeth Romer
• Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl
• Alice Waters and Chez Panisse by Thomas McNamee
• Epicurean Delight: The Life and Times of James Beard by Evan Jones
• American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields by Rowan Jacobsen
• Vie De France: Sharing Food, Friendship and a Kitchen in the Lorie Valle by James Haller
• French Spirits: A House, a Village, and a Love Affair in Burgundy by Jeffrey Greene
• A Cordiall Water by M. F. K. Fisher
• The Feasting Season by Nancy Coons
• Dumas on Food: Selections from Le Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine by Alexandre Dumas

And it might be a good idea to include this one:

French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For Pleasure by Mireille Guiliano

Chunkster Reading Challenge (no official post yet)


Wendy at caribousmom is hosting this fun challenge again this year.  The challenge sign-up post is here.

Since I didn't reach my chunkster goal in 2010, I am scaling down a bit in 2011 and signing up for the "Chubby Chunkster" level this year.  That means reading four books over 450 pages long.

The only one I am currently planning on is Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.  That's my "big book" for 2011.  I don't know which others will strike my fancy.