Book 18 - Girl with a Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier

As we approach the halfway point, I am still woefully behind. However, this is my second book this week, and I've started another, and I have another that is almost done, so there is hope yet.

Book 18 - Girl with a Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier

This is an interesting book in that imagines the story behind the painting of the same name by the 17th century Dutch master Vermeer. As the author tells it, the girl in the painting is named Griet, the daughter of a tile painter who can no longer practice his craft, due to the loss of his sight in a kiln accident. In order to help out financially, Griet is sent to work as a maid for Vermeer's wife, who is expecting her sixth child. One of her jobs is to clean the studio of the artist. Vermeer is very particular about the placement of items in the studio, especially of course the arrangements of items that he is painting, and apparently efforts of past servants to clean had been quite unsatisfactory. Griet possesses a unique sense of things being in their proper space, and is able to clean the studio without upsetting the master. In fact Vermeer recognizes her keen eye and attention to detail, and winds up having her assist him, grinding paints and even occasionally offering suggestions on the setting of the works in progress.

As a pretty teenage girl, Griet attracts the attention of a number of the men around her. Van Ruijven, Vermeer's patron, is constantly making lecherous advances toward her. Pieter, who is the butcher's son and much closer to her age, courts her for marriage. Her parents encourage him, as she would be financially secure in his family's business, and they would get free meat. Even Vermeer holds feelings for her, and although he resists acting on them, he is still jealous of the other men.

Griet is unsure of which way her life should unfold. Should she continue working as a maid, enduring the machinations and backbreaking labor of the household for the opportunity to explore her artistic sensibilities with the master Vermeer? Or should she do what is expected of her and marry Pieter, live a relatively stable life, see to the well-being of her parents and start family of her own? Or should she choose another path entirely? Ultimately, sitting for the Pearl Earring portrait is the catalyst which sets into motion events that cause her to make her choice.

This book paints a fascinating picture of life in Delft in the 17th century, and tells a wonderfully imagined story of this girl coming of age, but there are very few surprises. Perhaps it is a reflection of Griet's simple hard-working protestant upbringing, or a commentary on the place of women in 17th century society, but the story moves along much as you expect it, and Griet does pretty much what you would expect her to do, most of the time. Still, it's a lovely story, and worth a read.

Book 17 - Game Change - John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

I'd been wanting to get to this book for a while now, but there was a wait list at the library. My name finally came up, so I had to drop the other book I was reading so I could read this. I'm glad that I did.

Book 17 - Game Change - John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

Game Change is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the 2008 presidential campaign. It was written by a pair of political analysts who conducted exhaustive research and interviews with just about every major player from the campaigns of both the Republicans and the Democrats. What is revealed is a much more sharply focused picture of the rivalries between the candidates, their gaffes and peccadilloes, and the infighting among their respective staffs.

While Heileman and Halperin cover all the major candidates, much of the book is focused on the race for the Democratic nomination, especially the epic battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to become their party's candidate. The book reveals, among other things, the initial indecision by Obama on whether to run, the highs and lows felt by both candidates as the moved up and down in the polls, the infighting among Clinton's staff, and the interference of Bill Clinton in the campaign. The Edwards campaign is not ignored, however. Edwards' affair and illegitimate child is discussed in detail, as well as his wife's somewhat unstable mental state.

Over on the Republican side, the authors describe the meltdown and resurgence of the McCain candidacy. The Republican battle lacks the drama of the Democratic story, and seems more like a war of attrition, with each candidate's weaknesses eventually doing them in. Giuliani can't win the conservative vote, Huckabee can't get beyond the conservative vote. Thompson doesn't really seem all that interested in campaigning. Romney, despite his deep pockets, also struggles with the conservatives of the party, and McCain looks like the lesser of two evils for evangelicals suspicious of his Mormon background.

The authors have a field day with the VP candidates as well. The friction created between Binden and Obama by Biden's frequent gaffe's are discussed, but the authors devote much of their attention to Sarah Palin. McCain's campaign was looking to make a splash with their choice, and had been seriously considering the idea of running Independent/Democrat Joe Lieberman as the VP nominee. At the last minute they opted against it as too polarizing, and needed to make another choice. Palin's name was floated, and a vetting process that should have took weeks was done in a few days. Little was known about her when she was named and the McCain campaign had to struggle to answer questions the press was asking about her. They soon found that she lacked much of the basic expertise that would have been expected of someone a heartbeat away from the Presidency. It was also revealed that faced with the pressure of preparing for the debates and interviews she had somewhat of a mental breakdown, and their was great concern as to whether she could handle the position.

Even if you are not a political junkie, I think you would like this book. It is not so much focused on being a comprehensive historical account of the campaign as it is in relating the drama of the campaign. It relates the political strategies, unforeseen events, scandals, tragedies, infighting, victories and defeats that made this bid for the Presidency one of the most memorable in history.

Book 16 - The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner

Well, I'm not really catching up, but I'm not really falling farther behind either.

Book 16 - The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner

The Sound and the Fury tells the story of what would seem to be the last generation of the Compsons, a once great southern family now in decline. Set in the deep south of the early 20th century, the story centers around four siblings: Caddy, Quentin, Jason, and Benjy. Caddy is a somewhat promiscuous young woman. She marries early and quickly divorces, and due to her dalliances, the paternity of her daughter is unknown. Each of her brothers is obsessed with Caddy in someway. Benjy, who is severely mentally challenged to the point of being non-functional, thinks Caddy "smells like trees," but when faced with evidence that she is sleeping with men, he becomes extremely agitated and begins to wail and moan. Quentin loves Caddy and even falsely admits to committing incest with her in order to claim fatherhood of her baby and save her reputation, but no one takes him seriously. He too cannot stand the fact that she is with so many different men, and eventually kills himself. Jason is obsessed with Caddy because he blames her for his lack of success in life and resents having to help raise her daughter, who seems to have inherited her mother's promiscuity. Caddy's husband was supposed to hook him up with a cushy bank job, but this fell apart when she got divorced, and now Jason is forced to work as a clerk in a grocery store.

The book is divided into four sections, each one representing a particular day. The first, third and fourth are set in 3 consecutive, but out of order days in April of 1928, while the second section is set in 1910. In addition to this odd sequencing of days, Faulkner also tells the story using four different voices. The first chapter is told by Benjy, who has little sense of time, and shifts constantly and without warning between various memories and current events. The second chapter is told by Quentin, whose mind races while he prepares to commit suicide, such that obsessive thoughts of Caddy's sexual escapades are constantly interrupting the narrative. Things become much clearer in the third section, which is told by the bitter misogynist Jason. In Jason we finally have a better chronicler of events, but we are forced to see these events through Jason's bitterness and cynicism. In the final chapter Faulkner switches to third person, allowing him to tie up the multiple story elements.

As you have most likely already surmised, dysfunction abounds in the Compson household. Mr. Compson drank himself to death, and Mrs. Compson is a hypochondriac who constantly complains about everything, and is supposedly to sick to do anything for herself. Benjy is legitimately and completely non-functional. He has to be dressed, fed and constantly watched. They are taking care of Caddy's daughter, named after Quentin, but do not allow Caddy near the house or to see her daughter. Jason is stealing money from his mother, who for some reason trusts him implicitly, and is also pocketing the child support that Caddy sends for Miss Quentin. The only sane and moral people in the house seem to be the black servants. Dilsey, a house servant, is the true bedrock of the household. She keeps the house, prepares all the meals and waits on Benjy and Mrs. Compton hand-and-foot. She also helps to run interference between Jason and Miss Quentin, who have nothing less than contempt for each other.

I found this book a little hard to get started on because of the stream of consciousness nature of the first two chapters, but once I got into it, I enjoyed it. I haven't read any other Faulkner, so I don't know how this rates against other things he wrote, but if you want to experience this great American author, I think this would be a good place to start.