Cloudy With a Little Sunshine

Cloud Atlas
By: David Mitchell

This was a good book, but I’ve really been struggling with how to describe it. I’ve stopped and started this blog post several times because I just wasn’t sure how to approach it. I’m still not quite sure how to approach, so if you get frustrated by how vague this post is, I apologize in advance. But here it goes.

Cloud Atlas focuses on six characters in six different times. Each character has their own segment in the book, but there are little references that all of the characters’ stories together and hint at the possibility of reincarnation. Each character’s life was not completely his own. There were just enough hints and references to allow the reader to piece the connections together, but it doesn’t get too obvious. Mitchell assumes the reader is smart enough to piece it together, which I appreciated.

There are a couple themes that tie this book together. One is finding your place in the world. Another is that technology and corporations could cause the downfall of modern society. And finally, love, of all kinds, can overcome.

You have no idea what this book is about, do you? Ugh, this is so vague, but this book defies a quick re-cap. Just trust me – it’s a good one.

In a nutshell: It took me a bit to get into this book, but once I did, I really liked it. Three and a half stars.

Note: I watched the movie right after I finished the book and no surprise, it was not nearly as good. The movie dropped too many details from the book and went a little too heavy on other details. So, skip the movie, but read the book.

JPK

The Patriarch
The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy
By: David Nasaw

JPK – always impeccably dressed.

I have to say, I had no idea Joseph P. Kennedy (JPK) had such an amazing career. I had a general idea of how much money he made and that he had amassed some serious political clout and connections in his lifetime, but before his kids ever hit the political scene, he was making his mark in a variety of industries. He was in banking, trading, film distribution, politics, liquor importation, the Merchandise Mart, philanthropy, and more. It was pretty amazing to find out all he had done – even if it took me 800 pages to find out about it. The “remarkable life” part of the title really captures it.

Things I learned about JPK that I didn’t know before I read the book:

• He chaired the first SEC
• He may have pushed his children hard, but he was their biggest supporter – they turned to him when they needed to be cheered up
• He was a terrible ambassador
• He and his wife, Rose, spent more time apart then they did together during their marriage, but that seemed to suit them both

The Patriarch is meticulously researched – Nasaw relies heavily on primary sources, as any good historian should. My issue with this book is that he presents the historical records but offers very little analysis or insight into JPK’s motivation. Nasaw offers very little speculation about why JPK was the person he was. It seemed like the available primary sources for JPK’s childhood were pretty slim, so there is not much attention paid to that time of his life, but I’m guessing that played a big role in shaping who he was. Nassaw also did very little to address some of the well-known rumors about JPK because there isn’t much on the historical record to prove or refute them. For example, he gives JPK’s potential time as a bootlegger about a paragraph of attention at the end of a chapter and basically says, “There is no evidence that he did that.” Well, right – there is very little evidence that anyone was a bootlegger or speakeasy operator, but how did that rumor pop up and why does it persist? Some insight into that issue would have told the reader a lot about JPK and his place in the American landscape.

I wonder if Nasaw swings so hard towards the historical record because there is so much speculation and rumor about the Kennedy family? As annoyed as I got with his repeated, “Well, there’s no evidence he did that” explanations, at the same time I was thinking that it would be nice to read a book about John F. Kennedy that was less hysterical or fawning and more analytical.

Anyways, overall, this was an interesting, albeit long, read. JPK was such an interesting person and lived such a varied life – it’s hard not to be fascinated. And getting the background on how the Kennedy family got its start provides some additional insight into everything they’ve done (right or wrong) since then.

In a nutshell:  As a history buff, I thought this was a good read, but it might not be the best pick for someone who has a passing interest in biographies – get ready for 800 pages of meticulous research, followed by 150 pages of footnotes. Three and a half stars.

Maybe a Little Too Civil

Rules of Civility
By: Amor Towles

Rules of Civility has been getting a lot of buzz lately, so I snapped it up thinking it would be a good romp through jazz-age New York City with some interesting characters in tow. However, after reading the book, I’d probably describe it as less of a romp and more of a leisurely stroll.

Strolling in and of itself isn’t a bad thing, except that given the story line and the setting, Rules of Civility should have been a much more compelling read. There are plenty of interesting plot points – a car crash, a secret May-December romance, society folks, ambitious career ladder-climbing, and plenty of money. But the story just never picked up the pace. As I was reading it, it felt like things were randomly happening with very little reflection by the characters, making the story feel a little dull and detached. Who knows – maybe that was the tone Towles was going for – but it wasn’t one I connected with.

I did finish this book and I finished it pretty quickly – it was by no means a strenuous read. But I feel like I finished it more to get it done than because I was dying to know what happened. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

In a nutshell: Rules of Civility was fine. I don’t have anything strongly positive or negative to say about it, but that should tell you something. Two and a half stars.

 

Not Another Alcoholic’s Memoir

Lit
By: Mary Karr

As you’ve probably noticed, I’ll read just about everything. I’m into all genres – biographies, novels, essays, sci-fi, YA… you name it. But I seem to have a special yen for memoirs written by alcoholics and/or drug addicts (see: Dry, Smashed, Beautiful Boy, Tweak, etc. etc.) Lit was no different. On top of that, I had already read and loved Mary Karr’s most well-known book, The Liar’s Club, which was even more encouragement to pick up Lit.

Even factoring in my general fascination with this genre, I really really liked Lit. There was something about the story that resonated with me. In the book, Karr tells the story of how she sunk into alcoholism, how she climbed out, and most interestingly to me, how she converted to Catholicism as a part of her effort to stay sober. Karr started out as a bit of a heathen, completely uninterested in organized religion or the concept of god, but she recognized the need to give in to a “higher power” in order to stay sober. What starts out as a struggle to pray for 30 seconds a day leads her to becoming a practicing Catholic.

Karr’s writing style – straight-forward, but descriptive – helps her tell this story. It could have become preachy or too sweet, but her style helps her avoid this. She’s simply trying to get her story out there without trying to convince you that the way she did it will work for everyone.

In a nutshell: Really good read – I cranked through it in about three days. Four stars.

 

Those Russian Monarchs Sure Were Dramatic

Nicholas & Alexandra: The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty
By: Robert Massie

Nicholas, Alexandra, and their children

It’s official – I’m now on a Russian history kick. Particularly Russian history written by Robert Massie. Nicholas & Alexandra is the second book I’ve read by Massie (see Catherine Really Was Great) and this one was just as good as the first one.

Nicholas & Alexandra was Massie’s first book, originally published back in 1967, proving that his writing style was strong off the bat. He does a great job of describing historical events and characters, with the appropriate amount of detail and context, and without losing sight of the story. His biographies read like novels. And on top of it all, he writes about fascinating people!

Before reading this book, I had a basic understanding of how the Romanov dynasty ended, but I did not know all the details. I didn’t realize it was both as complex and as simple as it was. Massie does a great job explaining the complex aspects – the wars, trends, and revolutionary movements developing throughout the Russian empire – and the simple aspects – that Nicolas and Alexandra actions were largely driven by their attempts to deal with their son’s hemophilia. It was Alexis’ hemophilia that provided Rasputin with such close access to the royal family and through them, the Russian government.

Massie provided a very balanced telling of the Romanov family’s downfall. Alexandra is often blamed for allowing Rasputin access to the tsar and Russian government, but Massie makes sure to explain why she acted the way she did. He doesn’t let her or Nicholas off the hook, but he still allows for sympathy. He also makes it clear that it wasn’t solely Rasputin that brought down the Russian empire. There were so many other factors at play that to blame it all on Rasputin is unfair.

Massie also provides a close look at Nicholas and Alexandra’s family life. They were deeply in love with each other throughout their 20+ year marriage and intensely focused on their children. Until the end, they were focused on each other and their family. It was good to see the human side of their lives.

In a nutshell: Massie did it again! Four stars.

The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing

American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of the “It” Girl and the Crime of the Century
By: Paula Uruburu

Ms. Evelyn Nesbit

Stanford White and Evelyn Nesbit come up on a walking tour I give for the Chicago History Museum (The Glitzy Gold Coast tour – they start back up in the spring if you’re interested). After giving both of them a small mention in this tour for the last two years, I was interested enough to do a little more research into their story and came upon this book.

Turns out, Evelyn and Stanford have a fascinating true story that doesn’t seem to be very well-known anymore. She was a famous model and chorus girl at the turn of the twentieth century. He was an even more famous architect who designed the original Madison Square Garden, a good number of well-known homes and businesses in New York City, and a few homes in Chicago. Stanford was known to have a taste for younger women and bizarrely, after essentially raping her, became Evelyn’s benefactor and lover. Because Stanford was already married, Evelyn went on to marry another man, Harry Thaw. Harry had an unhealthy obsession with Stanford and his questionable relationships with younger women, especially his relationship with Evelyn, and because of it shot Stanford point-blank in the back of the head at Madison Square Garden.

American Eve tells the whole sordid story of Evelyn, Stanford, and Harry, including the details of Harry’s trial, the first to become a major public sensation (the OJ Simpson and Casey Anthony of the day).

The author put together a very well-researched book and the story flows pretty well. However, her writing style drove me a little nutty. She definitely had her thesaurus open when writing this one and if two words would do, she always made sure to use ten. The title is a good example of this, but just in case you need a better example, here is one line from the book:

“In what would prove to be a decade of overindulgence that would nearly devour itself and sink with titantic hubris only a few years later, the chosen class of calculating Calvinists who sat at the top of the food chain ruled over their classless empires of excess, believing they were blessed with ‘divine right’.”

Got that? Or did the excessive adjectives and clauses throw you off? If it’s the latter, then this book probably isn’t for you. But if you can get used to the flowery, verbose style, then it’s a decent read.

In a nutshell: Three stars. A good story and well-researched, but the writing style was a little too much.

Room with a Capital R

Room
By: Emma Donaghue

Room was a random pass-along book that I ended up really liking. It was a quick read, but the subject matter was not easy to read.

The entire book is told from the perspective of five-year-old Jack, who has spent his entire life in a small shed in the “Old Nick”‘s backyard. His mother (“Ma”) was kidnapped when she was 19 and has been held prisoner by Old Nick in the shed ever since, including giving birth to Jack completely alone.

Ma works really hard to give Jack as normal of a childhood as she can, given the circumstances. She holds their lives to a rigorous schedule, makes sure that Jack learns to read, get exercise, and eats well. But Jack’s entire frame of reference is the shed they live in, which he refers to as Room. Every thing in Room has a name – Wardrobe, Bed, Duvet, Melted Spoon, etc. – and Jack treats them as living characters in his small world.

This story has obvious references to the real-life story of Jaycee Duggard’s kidnapping, but by telling it from a five-year-old’s perspective, Donaghue puts a new spin on the story. She manages to tell the entire story in a small child’s voice without it becoming annoying or cliched. Instead, Jack’s voice puts the trauma of the situation and Ma’s love for Jack into stark relief, creating a lot of moments that are both disturbing and poignant.

In a nutshell: An interesting quick read. Three and a half stars.