A Widow for One Year

I decided it was time to read something a bit more meaty than some of my recent books. I picked A Widow for One Year, by John Irving, from my unread books pile. Purchased from a recent library book sale ($5 a bag!), I looked forward to reading a second Irving book, having read A PRayer for Owen Meany for 9th grade English. I remember loving that book - even if it was over 10 years ago.

I did not love this book.

A Widow for One Year revolves around several characters. One is Eddie O'Hare. At the age of 16 he finds summer work as an assistant to childrens' book writer Ted Cole. His real job, however, is to be a sexual companion to Cole's wife, Marion. Ted has a revolving door of affairs, and Marion remains married to him solely for the benefit of their 4-year-old daughter Ruth. However, in addition to being miserable in her marriage, she still grieves over the now years-past loss of her older sons in a car accident. Eddie proves a welcome (although weird and creepy) distraction from all that. Eddie falls in love with her and can never get over it. Marion leaves Ted, but in the process leaves Ruth and Eddie as well.

Ruth is the main character, if there is one, but she doesn't play a large role until about 1/3 of the way through the book. Fast-forward about 30 years, and she's a famous author. While researching a book, she uncovers mayhem in Amsterdam which will alter the course of her life. She grew up without a mother and still hasn't found contact with Marion, although she does find Eddie and they become close friends. Later on, she will believe she has fallen in love, marry, become a widow for a year, and then actually fall in love.

There are many other major characters: Ted and Marion, Ruth's friend Hannah, a Dutch cop, and a host of other pivotal minor characters. Their lives all become intertwined. And there's a whole lot of sex.

In high school and college English courses, teachers and professors force students to over-analyze books, looking for themes, metaphors, allusions, and a host of other literary elements. Most students come to the point where they discover that such exercises are a bit over the top. Often an overly analytical reader will find elements and make connections that the authors themselves did not know about! In truth, there are two types of good writers: those that just write and do it well, and those that very intentionally think about every little detail and literary tool at their disposal. Irving is of the latter mold, made abundantly clear through his introduction

What does this mean? With Irivng, you're going to get a well-written book with great attention to detail and remarkable depth. That's a fantastic start. I must say that reading this book felt refreshing. The characters were extremely well developed and the plot was appropriately complex.

Rich writing alone, however, does not instantly make a book great. I must say that I did not particularly enjoy this book. Far too many of the fiction books that I have read lately have been very light and fluffy with average (or less) writing and little to no depth to characters, setting, or plot. It was nice to read something more substantial, but outside of that I found the book to be dreadful.

Each character in this book is obsessed with an idea or emotion that they are never able to overcome. Most people, I've found, do not hold on to things for 30-40 years. Some do, I suppose, but it really was grating to read about. Irving created these characters with that in mind, but over 540 pages it becomes overbearing.

Most offensive, however, is one of Irving's (self-revealed) main themes: sex. There is an awful lot of sex in this book. An awful lot. While sex is a natural, beautiful thing, the exploitation of it is disgusting. That's what Irving does much of his writing. There are some nice sections to it, and if 50% of the sex were cut from the book it would still carry the same punch and would be a more legitimate work of art. This, however, is 50% excellent novel, 50% pornography masked as literature.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

37 books, 139 days...at this rate I'll read 97 books

Preacher on Wheels

Okay, this last book was a cheap one - coming in at 128 pages and a small size. But it meets my rules, and I wanted to read it because it's one of the few books left in our house that I haven't read outside of my "recent purchases" pile.

Preacher on Wheels, by Paul Hostetler , contains a collection of amusing stories about Hostetler's father, Eli Hostetler. Raised Amish, Eli broke from the faith (and faced shunning) to marry a woman outside the community. Later he would join the Brethren in Christ Church, become a pastor, and raise up a number of churches and mission groups. He had an unusual affinity for machines and automobiles, and most stories revolve around a car or some kind of wacky invention.

The younger Hostetter uses vivid vocabulary in his writing but despite some interesting story material, fails to produce an engaging book. The stories are amusing but rarely funny. I think you either have to be a family member or a church member in order to fully appreciate these stories. Some of the stories haven't aged well - including conflicts over things that are hard to relate to, such as whether watching movies (at all) is sinful, or whether neckties are appropriate church clothing.

I was happy this was a quick read. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't all that great.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

36 books, 134 days...at this rate I'll read 98 books

Silent Spring

It's about time I got around to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Having worked in an Environmental Charter School for most of the past three years, I really should have read this book at some point in time. In its time, Silent Spring revolutionized how Americans interact with the environment. Now, almost 50 years later, much of her book still rings true.

Carson's primary purpose to writing this book was to inform the world of the negative consequences of using chemical insecticides. She walks through several arenas, looking at how chemicals impacted wildlife, water, soil, and humans. She also proposes several solutions. She is best known for exposing DDT as a toxic killer, particularly of our national symbol, the bald eagle. Thanks to her book, DDT was banned, and now the bald eagle is no longer on the endangered species list. She also warns of several other formerly common insecticides.

Some of the material in the book seems like common sense. Unfortunately, both farmers and homeowners still apply chemicals as a form of insect control. It should be (but isn't) common sense that a chemical that kills insects just might be harmful to humans (or other wildlife).

But, objectors say, how can we control harmful insect populations? Aren't chemicals the easiest, most effective, and cheapest way to control insect problems? Carson has answers to that. It's not the cheapest method - natural solutions such as crop rotation or the introduction of a predator of the insect can be just as cheap if not cheaper. Sterilization of male insects can also be cheaper in the long run. Most effective? Hardly. Most insects rapidly (in the span of a decade or less) can develop resistance to virtually every chemical used to get rid of them. In some cases, application of pesticides has increased the insect population because it was more effective at killing a pest's predators than the pest itself. Studies have also shown sterilization of males and the introduction of a new predator as being far more effective. Easiest? Perhaps. But chemicals are often required year after year, whereas some other methods are only needed once every 10 years or more.

Some people criticize Carson for not using proper scientific research. I'm not sure where that comes from - she read quite a lot in preparation for this book. Her sources are in the back of the book (not footnoted) but include several references per page in many cases. It wasn't meant to be a research paper, but a compelling review of the science out there on the impact of chemical pesticides on the environment.

The book is well written and usually engaging. There were a few dry spots in my reading, but that may have been due as much to my prior knowledge as anything else. For a science book, it holds up remarkably well to the test of time.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

35 books, 133 days...at this rate I'll read 96 books

The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Mitch Albom first came to national attention with his short non-fiction book Tuesdays With Morrie. Albom transformed almost overnight from your above-average ordinary sports writer to popular writer. His second effort was a work of fiction (inspired by the life of his uncle), The Five People You Meet In Heaven.


In this book the reader follows Eddie, an 83-year-old man who works maintenance at a boardwalk carnival. He dies in a seemingly heroic fashion, attempting to save the life of a young girl about to be crushed by a broken ride. Eddie then wakes up to find himself in a strange place, which ends up to be heaven, but with a catch. Before he can take his place in heaven, he has to meet five people whose lives were somehow connected with his. Throughout the book, he meets these five people and learns five distinct lessons. As readers, we learn more about Eddie's life and background and discover what occurs after his death in the "real world."

I have a suspicion that all of Albom's books read like a Hallmark channel movie - somewhat emotional, inspiring, and very inoffensive. I first read Tuesdays With Morrie, which I enjoyed, and I looked forward to this book. I knew to expect something simple and easy to digest, which is both good and bad. It's pleasant enough to read, but there's nothing overly deep here. To quote Wikipedia's entry on Mitch Albom: "'Tuesdays With Morrie'' is regularly taught in high schools and universities around the world, and is also taught in some primary schools in Asia, due to its very simple writing." 


Yes, that's right. Primary school students in Asia read Albom's work. It's still well-written, but it's not pulitzer prize material or anything like that. Instead, Albom shares stories that are accessible and poignant for a great diversity of readers. That's something few writers can accomplish.


I enjoyed the book, and I think anyone could read this and like it. I'll forget it soon, though, and it packs noticeably less punch than Albom's first book. It's a nice easy read.


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars


34 books, 131 days...at this rate I'll read 95 books

The Brightening Glance

I really should have enjoyed this book. Imagination and its role in child development has always fascinated me. I wrote a paper and delivered a speech in a symposium my college held on imagination. Quickly, though, disappointment settled in.

The Brightening Glance: Imagination and Childhood, by Ellen Handler Spitz, explores the role imagination plays as children develop. Spitz navigates this through a collection of short stories, personal thoughts, and a variety of art forms. They are loosely organized into several different categories. While each chapter is organized, there is very little running narrative or overall cohesion.

Spitz writes like a professor: scholarly, verbose, and with rich vocabulary. The book winds up reading like a 230-page research paper - without much research or with any sound conclusions. Yes, this book contains interesting insight, compelling stories, and solid writing. However, the final work is just a step or two away from being complete garbage.

Why? I'll try to be brief. The main issue I had while reading was trying to figure out who the intended audience was, and what her point was in writing this book given that audience. Let's look at the options:

Audience 1: Scholars in the field of education or child development. After all, the writing is definitely college-level.
The Problem: While it reads like a research paper, there's not enough research in the book for it to be in such a category, and there are far too many personal recollections. There's some analysis of child behavior and thinking, but too much of it comes from her personal experience, and there's really not a true thesis to the book, unless it's something utterly simplistic, like "imagination is an important element of child development"

Audience 2: The general reader. Spitz mentions several times how important it is for people to bring their childhood imagination back to life.
The Problem: It's written at a pretty high level and assumes decent background knowledge of child development. Its writing style would dissuade many casual readers as well.

Audience 3: Parents. Spitz offers a lot of advice to parents though the book.
The Problem: Most parents I know have little spare time to read, and those that do rarely have the time and energy to put into such a slow read. The parents that would read a book like this already know the mostly common-sense observations and tips Spitz writes about. The parents that might need the advice in this book are not going to be reading this book, I can guarantee you that. Why write a book that is inaccessible to the majority of your audience?

Additionally, Spitz comes off as a privileged elitist. One of her suggestions is that children get regular access to professional art performances (art museums, concerts, theater, etc), and really should be in the front rows to get the full experience. That stuff is EXPENSIVE. Sure, I'm good at finding free/discounted stuff, but not regularly enough to suit Spitz's standards. That's just one example of many where it's assumed that people are of equal privilege as her. It gets frustrating after a while.

Another annoying thing is that she spends about 1/3 of the book talking about her childhood experiences or the wonderful things she does for her daughter. Guess what? I don't really care to read every little detail about your childhood experiences. I didn't get this from the memoir/biography section of the library. Finally, her scholarly style saps a lot of interest from the short stories she shares, which gets old fast.

Okay, I wasn't brief. Negative reviews are always easier to write than positive reviews. In summation, this book has a small audience at best, very little purpose, and no strong points to make. Disappointing.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

33 books, 130 days...at this rate I'll read 92 books

The Salmon of Doubt

The Salmon of Doubt is the second "unfinished" work out of the last three books I've read. I really can't allow this to become a habit.

Salmon contains a smorgasbord of writings collected from the personalSaving... computers of Douglas Adams, famous for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, shortly after his tragic death in 2001. The works range from interviews to essays, from random musings to short stories, and includes the first section of a new Dirk Gently book he worked on prior to his death.

Adams writes in the style of Vonnegut - humorous and witty, yet insightful and clever. Many of the essays, musings, and interviews contain laugh-out-loud moments. Some of them contain meaningful insight. Some contain eerily accurate pictures of the future of computing (predicting wireless technology and the popularity of portable computers in 1989, also hinting at super-programs such as the current forms of word and excel).

The 80 or so pages of the new Dirk Gently book (to be titled The Salmon of Doubt, hence this volume's title) are, for the most part, compelling and polished, despite being drafts. I wanted to continue reading to see what happens - but alas, I cannot.

I enjoyed reading this book, but I would caution people on a few things. First, Adams is a self-described radical atheist. Several articles expound upon his atheistic views. These articles reveal Adam's intellectual arrogance (as seen elsewhere in the book) and were annoying to read. Second, this book is for Adams fans only - wait to read this until you've read at least the Hitchhiker's series and the Dirk Gently books. Otherwise you will likely find yourself lost or disconnected. Finally, the Dirk Gently snippet is likely to annoy you. It's great and highly imaginative, but it leaves you hanging with so many questions. Imagine if the TV series Lost had ended after the second or third season. Is it even worth the energy to read? I think so, but others may disagree.

I think I may have to re-read the Hitchhiker "trilogy" soon. I enjoyed this tastes of Adams I got from this book and want more!

Rating: 3.5 stars (It's not so much a book as it is a random collection - in other words, a chance for his publishers to make some extra $$$)

32 books, 127 days...at this rate I'll read 92 books (I'm catching up! Yay!)

How We Decide

How We Decide, by Jonah Lehrer, is a response to Malcolm Gladwell's popular book Blink. Other book responses exist, but this one consistently gets the best reviews and highest praise. I decided to give it a try.

Lehrer looks into the human mind and how it makes decisions. He uses both individual (very compelling) case studies - like Gladwell - but also discusses psychological studies and makes connections with the functioning of the human brain. The end result is a fascinating study of how humans decide. He argues that there's no one best way - we need to use both rational thought and our emotions, but each strategy is beneficial in different arenas. Yes, sometimes gut impressions (like Gladwell describes) work well when decision-making, but at other times deliberate thought works better yet.

Well-written, scholarly yet accessible, and compelling, How We Decide is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in popular psychology. I could go into more details, but they are better expressed in the book. Enjoy!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

31 books, 125 days...at this rate I'll read 90 books