Archive for the ‘Time Period’ Category

SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN by Lisa See

SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN is an epic tale which chronicles the lives of two Chinese women, Lily and Snow Flower. Set in a remote area of Hunan Province, Lily was born in 1823, “on the fifth day of the sixth month of the third year of Emperor Daoguang’s reign.” During her lifetime, Lily lives through the reigns of four emperors. Most Chinese girls had their feet bound and spent their lives in seclusion in nineteenth century China. Isolated and illiterate, they were not expected to think or to express emotions. They were expected to bear sons. However, the fortunate women living in Hunan villages of the Jian-yong region were exempt from some of this harsh oppression. They were taught to write a special women’s language and they were allowed, on occasion, to form special friendships.

May 26, 2009  Tags: ,   Posted in: 19th Century, China, Facing History, Fiction based on Time Period, Women's Fiction  No Comments

THE NATION. GUIDE TO THE NATION by Richard Lingeman

Not too long ago, a lady called the offices of The Nation and said she was “stuck” in Abbeyville, Louisiana. “I want to move, but I want to move to somewhere where I can see a Democrat before I die,” she said. This phone call was the catalyst for The Nation. Guide to the Nation—a fun and interesting if haphazard compilation of left-leaning hot spots, organizations and businesses around the country.

May 25, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: 21st Century, Award Winning Author, Non-fiction, Political, Top Pick, Travel, United States  No Comments

SAG HARBOR by Colson Whitehead

Colson Whitehead’s newest “novel” is not strictly a novel at all. A book that he himself refers to as his “Autobiographical Fourth Novel,” it features a family that resembles his own—middle-class, upwardly mobile, and well-educated—a New York City-based family that spends summers at their vacation home in Sag Harbor, on Long island, “in the heart of the Hamptons.” Sag Harbor in 1985, the time frame of the action, has a large African-American summer community which owns compact homes on the beach, and a white summer community which lives uphill, with larger homes and panoramic views. For Benji, the fifteen-year-old main character, “There was summer, and then there was the rest of the year…It didn’t matter what went on during the rest of the year. Sag Harbor was outside the rules.”

May 23, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: 20th Century, African-American, Coming-of-Age, NE & New York  No Comments

HONOLULU by Alan Brennert

At least at the beginning of the 20th century, Korean fathers prized their male children as they would carry on the family name. Female children, whose sole purpose is to serve their brothers, fathers and husbands, languish without an education. This partly explains how the protagonist in this novel, HONOLULU, was named Regret. Not satisfied with her lot, Regret longs to read, write, learn English and not live in the shadow of her male family members.

May 22, 2009  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: 20th Century, Award Winning Author, Book Club Choice, Facing History, Fiction based on Time Period, Hawaii, Multicultural, immigration  No Comments

WANTING by Richard Flanagan

WANTING by Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan emphasizes, by its ambiguous title, two of the most contradictory characteristics of Queen Victoria’s reign—the “wanting,” or desire, to conquer other lands and bring “civilization” to them, and the “want,” or lack, of empathy and respect for the people and cultures which they deliberately destroy in the process. An unusual novel which shows the damaging effects of empire-building, on both the conquered and on the arrogant “conquerors.”

May 5, 2009  Tags: ,   Posted in: 19th Century, Australia, Award Winning Author, Book Club Choice, Literary, Victorian period  No Comments

THE SONG IS YOU by Arthur Phillips

Julian Donahue, the protagonist in the wonderful THE SONG IS YOU, is a middle-aged drifter. He directs commercials for a living and has separated from his wife after the loss of their two-year-old son. Worse, he is at a point in his life where he is clearly able to see the trajectory pretty much every action of his will trace—in other words, he sees the pointlessness of it all and is in a funk. The only thing that keeps him connected and interested, is music—more specifically, his iPod—which reminds him of all the significant moments in his life.

May 4, 2009  Tags: , , , , , ,   Posted in: 21st Century, Book Club Choice, Contemporary, Literary, Top Pick, mid-life  No Comments