Book Report: A Wild Sheep Chase

What?

Great book, well written, but what?

I am sure I am not looking deep enough but I think I might be.  After reading What I talk about when I talk about running, I believe Murakami is about putting it right there for you.  The deeper message is in the mind of the reader.  

This book was outstanding and completely weird. However, unlike other very strange books, I never felt uncomfortable reading this novel.  The story line twists and turns unbelievably with precision. There were parts of the book that I understand better because I read his memoir and some of the issues that he raises, the obsession on weight gain toward the end and the running to address it specifically.

I think I would like to speak with someone with a deep understanding of Japanese history and culture to make sure I am not completely off base here.  But for the most part I believe this is a story of a lost guy within a society that lost its way and hasn't decided how to deal with its past.

I am happy I read it but I wouldn't actively suggest it to others, unless you are into that sort of thing. 

4 out of 5 Stars

Book Report: The Brothers Ashkenazi

I.J. Singer’s The Brothers Ashkenazi is fantastic.  The fictional biography of two brother spans what can only be described as the most important period of modern Jewish life.  As a student of modern Jewish history and a sucker for a good story, this book was a perfect novel to get me excited about reading quality literature.

The characters are developed so completely and the story line weaves expertly in and out of the home town, the book’s main location.  The period aspects of the book come through perfectly and the translation lends itself well to its original Yiddish, or so I suspect based on sentence structure and flow.  It was easy to forget that this was written in the 1930s rather than during the Brothers’ life times or in the present day.

I am not sure if I would have liked this novel as much if I did not have the history background to understand the nuances.  A somewhat expansive understanding of turn of the century Eastern European history and a working knowledge of the Haskalah are almost a pre-requisite to enjoying this book.  Familiarity with Capitalist, Unionist, Socialist, Bundist and Bolshevik political theory also help.   I would like to thank Dr. Hoffman and Professor Biale for the help in this regard.

Now I am sure Zionists will take offense in my saying that this period in Poland is the most interesting and important period in modern Jewish history.  To them I say you are wrong.  Without this period in Germany, Poland, and Russia (East to West, no value) there would be no truly modern Jewish life.  The Jews who pushed off the yoke of ancient restrictions and those who adapted it made it possible for all the other movements and experiences to take place.  Without these events and what came after them, Israel would be nothing more than a dream without will.

I enjoyed every aspect of this book.  Some of the life cycle transitions were a bit short but I believe that makes perfect sense considering Singer’s upbringing and his immigration to the United States.

Read this book. That is all. 

Five Out of Five Stars

Book Report: Run to Overcome

I read this book because I love Meb.  I kept reading this book because I love Meb. 

In short, this wasn't a great book.  But Meb is a really great guy.  He does great work, loves his family, runs really hard, is the personification of the American Dream, and currently the best American marathoner.

But he isn't a writer.

The story of his life should be and could be documented in more complete and interesting way.  There is no doubt a fantastic story to be told that unfolds in Meb's life.

I finished it because I love this guy, and respect him very much.  I still hope he runs and wins another marathon. 

2 starts out of 5

Book Report: Beasts of No Nation

Remember that time I was going to read something that was both not depressing and not about Africa.  Oops.

Beasts of no Nation is a powerful and disgusting view into the lives child soldiers. The author, who was born in the U.S. but spent significant amounts of time with his family in Nigeria, opens the door to a world that anyone reading this book will have trouble imagining. This was Iweala's first novel and it reads painfully true.  War is awful and kids should not have to deal with it at this level.

This book is critically acclaimed and deservedly so. Ever so often there would be an allusion or point of clarity that was so beyond our narrator but always within his voice. Without giving too much away I was pleased that the fictitious ending was both true to history at the same time that it provided a glimmer of hope.

Read this book.

5 out of 5 stars.

Book Report: Little Bee

I would love to read a book about Africa that wasn't so damn depressing.  But hey, that isn't going to happen.

This is my second book with significant African themes I have read as part of my new year's resolution.  Not surprisingly, this book also was kind of a downer. However, it was beautiful. It was powerful. And it was thoroughly fiction.

The last book, Running the Rift, while also fiction, seemed more believable, even the end which was lacking in the believable.  Little Bee was a great story and I blew through it, wanting to know what was going to happen next.  However, it just did not have any bit of believability.  I suppose that is why it was fiction.

It also ended abruptly, but it was a perfect ending.

I was very impressed with the female voice that came from this author.  Chris Cleave wrote a wonderful book with powerful characters with deep flaws. I would recommend everyone to read this book.

4.75 out of 5 stars.

Book Report: Zeitoun

There is some really nasty stuff that happens in this country, and Zeitoun is the perfect example of this nasty stuff.

Set in the days leading-up to, during, and the months after Hurricane Katrina, this book follows the lives of the Zeitoun family as they deal with the city they loved under water, the business they built, and the strange after shocks of the Patriot Act.

As with all Eggers' books, this is beautifully written and provides a glimpse of reality that is just so close to unbelievable that it hurts to read.  However, I got home after work yesterday and read 100 pages before I went to workout and finished the next 150 after going to bed.

Abdulrahman Zeitoun (pronounced Zay-toon), a Syrian Muslim living in New Orleans, owned a contracting company, lived a normal life, and seemed to love his wife and kids.  He stayed behind to protect his investment and personal properties in New Orleans after the storm. He saved a few lives along the way.  He also saw things no one in this country should see.

He was wrongfully imprisoned on suspicions of terrorism and it changed him.  He was not extreme but devout according to the book.  This was clear based on his drive to pray regardless of conditions and rejection of pork product when he was feed during his illegal incarceration. But he was also, according to the book, a tolerant man who called a gay married couple close family friends and was honored to restore churches as Houses of God after the storm.

The book chronicles the PTSD that his wife was dealing with but it didn't really jump deeply into Zeitoun's issues.  Which is sad.  Because, as I went looking for a book cover photo today to include in this post I learned that the Zeitouns have divorced due to his violence against his ex-wife.  It is sad.

We could say it is because of the storm, his illegal processing at the hands of Homeland Security, or even, as his wife says in the above linked article, his "adoption of a 'radical' religious philosophy that she emphasized does not reflect true Muslim beliefs."  Anyway you slice it, it is sad.  In some ways I am happy I didn't Google them until after I finished the book. But in truth, his depraved violence against his wife and her sickness post-storm don't take away from the story nor does it change the injustice done.  It just makes me sad.

This book shines light on one of the worst times in Modern American History, so I suppose it was naive to expect the somewhat happy ending that was presented.

5 out 5 stars.

Book Report: Born to Run

If you run and have yet to read this book, you should.  The stories are fantastic, the "characters" are nearly unbelievable, and the writing is journalistic and induces rapid page turning.

I still wear shoes to run.

I do not believe we should toss all our technology in order to get back to the basics.  In Scott Jurek's book he discusses the need to find balance in our embrace of old traditions and the information based technology we can use to learn more about our running.  While it is great that people who have never worn shoes are able to run great distances without modern running shoes, I am not one of those people. 

I do have a few pairs of minimalist shoes and they hurt my feet. However, the form that I have learned by using them makes my stride more efficient and comfortable while I wear my supportive running shoes.  There is much to learn from other people and their heritage, however the fetish of barefoot running is just that.

The Tarahumara wore shoes that they had.  Their existence is hard and most people don't want it.  I have no interest in living in a cave in the Mexican desert. Anyone reading this blog and saying otherwise is either lying or crazy. This not a judgement on their choice to live this way, but it isn't for me.  I can take pieces of their story and change parts of my running...but beyond that I am lost at the drive to ditch our shoes.

Look at all the elite runners. All wear shoes when racing.  Many didn't wear shoes when they are kids...but all wear shoes when adults.  I just can't get my head around it.

All that said, I liked the story and the book was great.

4.75 out of 5 stars. 

(For those keeping count, I made my goal of 10 books in a year. This was one of the best New Year's resolutions I have ever made.)

Book Report: Eat & Run

While I read this in about two days (during the week and having work to do too), this book was not that good.  I suppose reading one of the best memoirs ever written according to some list I read somewhere and then reading this semi-self-help running book didn't set it up for what it could be...but overall I didn't love it.

Scott Jurek's story is an interesting one and one I trust others could learn something from.  However, as he notes, it isn't that special.  He was a kid who had it tough but not that hard (it might have been worse but the book doesn't dive that deep into it) and he had trouble with his marriage that doesn't seem that extraordinary (or it might have been but the book doesn't dive that deep into it) and he worked really hard at becoming the greatest ultra runner of all time but not harder than I think you would have to in order to run more than 100 miles in a day (or he did but the book doesn't dive that deep into it).

I will say that I very much enjoyed the stories of the races and wish he went into more detail (see above) about what he had to do and what made him run like this.  I run marathons and I have to change parts of my life to get by...I believe it would have made the book better to know more about his non-running struggles.

This was also my first "with" book.  I believe after flying through this light read that I could tell when Steve Friedman's hand was heavier than Scott Jurek's dictation.  It wasn't always extremely apparent but it was clear after a while.

A couple of words about vegans.  There is no such thing as a non-militant vegan.  I believe Jurek might come close, but not really.  A vast majority of the recipes in this book seem good, but would be improved with butter.  I will however, try to recover with less animal product now...so in some ways Jurek wins.  In others I had a burger last night and it was good.

Three and half out of five stars.

Book Report: Homage to Catalonia

George Orwell is a bad ass.

That could very much end this report but I cannot leave it there.  I choose to read this book because it was listed on a list of the best memoirs ever written by some person who read a lot of memoirs.  While I am no expert in such things, or any things really, I happen to agree.

The narrative chapters about Orwell's time at the front and his posts during the May fighting in Barcelona were raw and beautiful at the same time.  He pulled no punches and provided an honest view of something I never want to know.

While written in the 1930s, there are a number of parallels to today's economic situation in Europe generally and Spain specifically.

I will say that the chapters about the internal anti-Facist political struggles behind the front were extremely complicated and hard to follow.  I understand that, at the time, they were used to set the record straight (or as straight as they could be set) but they were tough to follow today.

War sucks and this book does nothing to convince you otherwise.  However, it does provide insight into the mind of someone willing to die in the muck to fight against what should not be.  It was clear that Orwell in someways enjoyed the fight and what he was doing, but he didn't pretend that it was something beautiful.  His heroism was beautiful, as was his desire to leave the country.  His dedication to democracy and workers' rights was as inspirational as was his dash to get out of Spain before he was killed or arrested.

4 out of 5 stars.

Book Report: Gentlemen of the Road

I have never read a book for pleasure so quickly.  In less than a week I flew through Chabon's 2007 adventure fiction, Gentlemen of the Road and think I loved every second of it.

The story is fast moving but written in Chabon's typically grand style.  Considering the tempo of the story, the multi-page sentence structure does not work for speed at which the narrative unfolds.  There were a number of places that required me to go back a few pages to make sure I read the storyline correctly...and most times I did not, which took a bit of the fun out of the page turning.

However, other than being well written, this book was great.  An easier read than Chabon's other novels but equally entertaining. I came to Chabon late and read The Yiddish Policemen's Union first, so I came to expect his books to be historically interesting and well-researched. 

Yet after reading the Afterward in my edition of this book, I learned that Chabon didn't write much out of his comfort zone of his own life prior to this book. It seemed effortless to me, but I am sure it was a labor of love and it came across as such in pages of this book. 

I have no need to provide a re-cap or analysis beyond that this was a good choice and I will be picking up The Amazing Aventures of Kavalier & Clay after I read some depressing stuff about the Spanish Civil War.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Published in a Book

Almost two years ago, I was contacted by a woman who was working on her Master's thesis on 20's and 30's Jewish life in America.  I had written a pretty easy going post on the in-your-face Jewschool blog about joining Shaaray Tefila, my New York congregation, and its young adult program JeTSeT's Shabbat Unplugged and this student was interested in using the post for her work.

Sure, go for it. It would be my honor.  She then asked if she could put it in her book.  I said great! Thanks.  That was December of 2010.

A few weeks ago, I got an email saying that the book was out.  I looked at the cover, recognized a number of friends and "Liked" their links on Facebook but didn't think I was in the book because I didn't remember anything besides the brief interactions in October and December of 2010. 

Today, I thought, I should check to see who else made the final cut for the book.  And I found my name on the contributor's list.  A nice way to start a Monday.

Unplugging Expectations, By Donald C. Cutler

So I am now a published author. 

You may want to buy this book.  So here is the link: Living Jewishly: A Snapshot of Generation.

I have yet to get my copy, and I look forward to reading the other essays, but I got to say I am pretty proud that my essay made it into print.  I have written a lot of this subject and had another blog post (which I think is better) that was published on RJ.org on a very similar topic around the same time. The more we learn about engagement of younger people in the Jewish community, the better we will be in the longer term. And if my point of view will help make our communities and congregations stronger, then I am a very pleased, published author.

Book Report: Running the Rift

Naomi Benaron's well researched and beautifully written book was impossible to put down.  Following the story of a young boy through school, running, and genocide in his native Rwanda, Running the Rift is a great book.

As a student of international politics and the West's abject failures during the Rwandan Genocide, as well as a runner, I found this book to be a painfully perfect historical fiction.  While you know what happens, and if you don't you need to do some research, you can't stop reading and must know what happens next.  The interpersonal relationships are complex, real, and haunting.  The political realities of a neo-colonial Africa are presented without pretense, even when presented by a white American woman.

Benaron explores the real impact and long term effects of European definitions and divisions on neighbors and families. The nationalism felt by all was overpowered by myth that was eternal even if it was perpetuated by European colonialists.  The powerlessness of moderation over extremists was defeating.  Only the extremist tendencies of Jean Patrick -- which were positive in nature, but extreme all the same -- gave a reader hope for the future.

Benaron's inclusion of a degree of fiction in the form of love blunted the harsh realities of the early 1990s in this small central African nation.  The love story, which honestly didn't seem very believable, enabled me to read this book before bed without nightmares.  However, it was the many stories lines of humanity, which remind you that while reading this horrific history, people tend to be good, even in times of extreme evil.

5 out of 5 stars. 

Book Report: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

I think I have found the reason why I have been a little off as of late.  My running schedule just picked up quite a bit.  This week will be a recovery week of 29 total miles and next week I hit 39 and then on to 40ish mile weeks until late October.  Over the past month of so, after fighting against my back and pissy hamstring, I had yet to have a good run.  I had been dreading the training and was extremely worried about my goal time for the New York City Marathon in November.

The reality was that I was injured and was just working through it.  Lo and behold, I did my prescribed exercises and daily foam rolling and my injury healed and my running improved.  I began to feel so much better and finally, this weekend, on my longest training run to-date, I had a great run. Fourteen miles with no pain and a ton of energy to spare.

While not a traditional book report blog post, I felt it was appropriate considering what I just finished reading. Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a strange book.  It chronicles his life as a runner, novelist, and a few other things.  It is widely considered a must read by runners, or at least by every runner I talked to about this book.

I finished the book feeling somewhat confused about the point of this collection of loosely incorporated essays. But as I broke out of my running funk, this very well-written some-what of a downer of a book, put me into another funk.  The story lines seem to say that amateur endurance athletes take on these crazy goals for no good reason or simply to prove it to ourselves that this Sisyphean feat is possible.  While I tend to believe this is the case, I want to change my point of view on the subject, as well as some others.

I had a long Gchat conversation with my mom about "the point" of doing things recently.  I went on about effecting change and the ability to do so being governed solely by access to money.  If you are a long-term reader of my blog, you will know that I used to be an impassioned advocate for a number of progressive causes.  If you are just joining me, you know I am sick to death of politics.  And this feeling started to creep into my other societal experiences.  This is the other subject I believe needs a perspective change.

My running has helped me become more focused and see things more objectively.  When you are out running for hours on end, you are forced to think a certain way.  Food is fuel.  Water cannot be wasted on washing your face.  The way your foot hits the ground changes the way your entire body works.  Sadly it is near impossible to apply the lessons  learned on the run in the real world.  The last few years have thought me a lot, but only about myself.

Running, for all its greatness, really is about self.  I used to very much care about others and how my contributions would help the whole.  But that has changed.  I don't blame running at all.  I blame political experts and fraudulent business practitioners.  The running helped me see this more clearly, but it has yet to help me get to a place where I wanted to care again.

It would be easy just to say I don't care and move on with my life.  But I don't want to do that.  So if nothing else, this book forced me to think about much more than what I think about when I think about running.  Which was good.

4 out of 5.

Book Report: Everything is Illuminated

It has been a long time since I finished a book and there are good reasons. One is that this book was not easy to read. Another reason was that I left this difficult to read book in New York after my last trip back to San Francisco.

However, after entirely too long, I have finished Everything is Illuminated by the formidable and unbelievably self-centered Jonathan Safran Foer.  Again, one of the had never, but knew I had to read books from my list, Everything is Illuminated didn't disappoint me and was worth the wait.

I did not know the story at all.  I did not even know that the book was made into a movie, which I can't imagine does the book justice. 

I enjoyed this book, Nazis, Jew killings and all.  It was lyrically written, both in the truly English sections and in the broke, Russian-English sections. The stories were woven expertly and I would read another Safran Foer book, as long as it was not about being a vegetarian.

5 out of 5 Stars.

Book Report: City of Dragons

As any of you who read this rarely updated blog know, I moved to San Francisco.

So after reading two books, one based mostly in New York and the other located in the mind of a crazy person during my quest to read 10 books this year, I went to my local independent book store (duh, it is San Francisco) to pick up a novel based in this fine city by the bay.

Now I suppose I should have known -- the author spells her name with an "i" at the end of her name to make an "e" sound.

Needless to say, City of Dragons was not my favorite. In fact I would go so far to call it bad; about three fifths of the book were just alright, one fifth kept me reading due to wanting to know what would happen in this trite excuse of a murder mystery, and the final fifth was painfully overwritten, completely unnecessary, quasi-poetry based prose, that did nothing to further the story and minimally informed the character development.

If you do choose to read this please know you are getting into a somewhat predictable yet completely unfeasible story based on the era in which it is set. The late 1930s and 1940s were not a time of race interaction, feminist empowerment, or any of the other societal commentaries attempted in this book.

One thing I will give the story was that I knew where things were taking place as I read the story. And that is fun.

So, yeah. Don't read this one. But I will say, if Volume 2 of the Miranda Corbie Mystery series was sitting on my book stand and I wasn't reading anything else, I would give Kelli Stanley about 50 pages to get my attention.

1 out of 5 stars

Book Report: Choke

While the first book took a month and a half to finish, this one took less than a week. This makes me happy for a few reasons. 1. I can read quickly. 2. I have eight more books to get my goal. 3. Novels are so much fun when they are good.

Choke is one of those books that I knew I had to read but never did. It was completely enjoyable if a bit messed up. The story was compelling and interesting. It also was sick and twisted without using superfluous profanity, which considering the content was pretty impressive. The use of the profanity actually enhanced the story line.

My one problem with the story lie was that it was extremely similar in approach to the movie Fight Club -- the rejection of the 12 step program, the style of the ending and the instability of the characters. Also, I didn't feel so comfortable reading it in public...but that is more on me than on the book.

4.75 out of 5 Stars

Book Report: The Man Who Ate Everthing

Well it took a month and change but book one of 10 is finished. I read, and very much enjoyed, Jeffrey Steingarten's "The Man Who Ate Everything."

If you like food -- eating it, making it, or just talking about it -- I strongly recommend this book. The writing is smart, self-deprecating and aware of realities of most people's lives. While Steingarten was able to take weeks at a time to master the art of home-made French Fries, he wrote the book and engaged the reader in a way that understood that most of us aren't being paid to have food experiences to write about.

And he is really funny. Reading this book helps me understand his crazy appearances on Iron Chef America.

One problem was that the book is a bit dated. The statistics were about 20 years old but the stories remain extremely interesting, educational and appropriately silly. Far too often food books take themselves too seriously. Foodies believe that they are the reason for life itself. Steingarten loves his great food stuffs, but also loves a Milky Way. And that is how it should be.

4.5 out of 5 Stars.