Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

I have to confess that until 2 months ago I had never heard of Their Eyes Were Watching God or Zora Neale Hurston. But the love gushing forth on the Classics Club page plus other on-line forums had me intrigued. So I decided to join in the sync reading experience to see what all the fuss was about.

Firstly, I was fortunate to discover that I could get a gorgeous edition of the book thanks to the Virago Modern Classics designer collection.

Secondly, this edition came with a heartfelt introduction from Zadie Smith.

And, finally, the story just rolled through my heart, grabbed my attention and demanded to be read, enjoyed and savoured as quickly and as soulfully as possible.

Zadie mentions in the Introduction that she usually dislikes books that use "accurately rendered folk speech". I don't usually have a problem with this device, in fact, I have a lot of love for some books famous for it (i.e. Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, The Colour Purple). Zadie also changed her mind whilst reading this book.
 

From the start, Janie's voice is inside you. It has character, depth and personality. It's like peeling an onion in reverse; Janie's flesh and blood life is built up layer by layer through her voice. She grows on you from the inside out.
Hurston is the master of turning a phrase that stops you in your tracks. And I suspect each time you read this story, the various phrases will work their magic differently.

For me, this time around, I loved,
"Her hair is not what you might call straight. It's negro hair, but it's got a kind of white flavour. Like the piece of string out of a ham. It's not ham at all, but it's been around ham and got the flavour." (I loved this because I could picture exactly what her hair looked like even as I had a hammy taste in my mouth!)

"He looked like the love thoughts of women."

"He kin take most any lil thing and make summertime out of it when times is dull." (This is one of the qualities I love about my husband. I instantly felt kinship with Janie for loving and appreciating such a good man. Even though many of Tea Cake's other qualities did not seem so lovable to me.)

"They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God." (the whole way through the book I was trying to work out the title. It was a lovely ah-ha moment.)

Zora Neale Hurston by Berto Ortega

I could gush so much more about this book, but I like to keep my reviews short and sweet.

Simply put - if you loved To Kill A Mockingbird, The Colour Purple, Mark Twain or Jane Austen you should get yourself a copy of this book right now!

Montebello and Shark Net by Robert Drewe

I started reading Montebello back in November last year with great expectations.

I had read Shark Net (2000) when it first came out and adored it from start to finish. It was a memoir of Drewe's childhood in Western Australian during the time that Perth was terrorised by a serial killer, Eric Cooke.

The lives of these two men crisscrossed at various times which allowed Drewe artistic licence to weave his life story with that of Cooke's. The story was told with that dry, Aussie humour we're all familiar with. And although, a lot of the stories were highly personal, they contained the universal themes of love and belonging and identity that we all connect to.

I remember at the time being particular taken by Drewe's stories of his father as the 'company man'. His dad was a Dunlop man. My dad was a Commonwealth Bank man; like Drewe, we also had a houseful of company product. From 'get with the strength' money boxes, pens and books to t-towels and soft cloths for dad's bowls bag.
We participated in festival parades with blow up elephants and helped to fill school fete show bags with rulers, pencils and notepaper all emblazoned with the company logo. Drewe's stories of Dunlop shoes, ashtrays, pens etc decorating his childhood home made me laugh out loud.

Drewe also painted a picture of suburban West Australia that was just as evocative, visceral and familiar as Tim Winton's WA.

The ABC TV drama that evolved from this book a few years later focused more heavily on Cooke's story than Drewe's, but reminded me again just how much I enjoyed Drewe's telling of this story.

I was expecting a similar treatment in Montebello, with the obvious exception being this time his personal narrative would be wrapped around the detonating of three bombs by the British in the 1950's off the WA coast.

There were moments when this book grabbed my attention.

Drewe's stories of early Byron Bay whaling triggered a conversation with my dad who grew up in that area and his memories of the whaling. And I enjoyed hearing about Montebello, where it is, what it looks like, what's happening there now etc, but there wasn't enough of this stuff to keep me truly engaged.

Drewe kept meandering off into personal territory that read like a diary entry. By the time we got to his third marriage I wasn't sure if this simply wasn't an exercise that he was doing at the behest of a marriage guidance counsellor!

In Montebello, the remembering seemed too personal somehow. Perhaps it was all still too raw and unprocessed for Drewe which made it hard for a universal message to shine through. And the dry humour I remembered from Shark Net also seemed to be missing.

Friday Flashback hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies is a new meme that encourages us to remember a book we read over 5 years ago that is still in print and that we haven't blogged about previously. Shark Net is published by Penguin Australia and I highly recommend you hunt down a copy.

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a lovely meme hosted by Bermuda Onion each week to highlight new (to us) words that we come across in our daily reading.

My gorgeous copy of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is one of the Virago Modern Classics Designer collection.

It has an introduction by Zadie Smith that I saved for the end in case it had plot reveals. It did.

It also had several literary words that I was unsure of.

Today I used the free dictionary for my definitions.


1. Aphoristic
It was a category that did not include aphoristic or overtly 'lyrical' language.

adj

1. of, relating to, or resembling an aphorism

2. tending to write or speak in aphorisms

aphorism

n.

1. A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion; an adage.

2. A brief statement of a principle.

2. Quotidian
In the mouths of unlettered people she finds the bliss of quotidian metaphor.

adj.

1. Everyday; commonplace.

2. Recurring daily.

3. Neologisms
We all deserve to savour her neologisms (sankled, monstropous, rawbony).

n.

1. A new word, expression, or usage.

2. The creation or use of new words or senses.

3. Psychology

a. The invention of new words regarded as a symptom of certain psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia.

b. A word so invented.

4. Theology A new doctrine or a new interpretation of scripture.

 

I'm delighted to now have a big word to throw back at my husband whenever I accidentally create a new word!!

Children's Book Council Shortlist for Early Childhood Books 2013

The CBCA Early Childhood Shortlist for 2013 is:
The Terrible Suitcase by Emma Allen
With Nan by Tania Cox
The Pros & Cons of Being a Frog by Sue DeGennaro,
Too Many Elephants in this House by Andrew Joyner
It's a Miroocool! by Christine Harris
Peggy by Anna Walker

I have to confess that my response to this year's CBCA shortlist was a little on the ho-hum side.

I do like The Terrible Suitcase, but mainly because of Freya Blackwood's whimsical illustrations. I feel that the first day of school story has been recycled so many times that something different or special needs to be added to make it stand out from the crowd (that's where Blackwood's illustrations come into it I guess.)

With Nan is a simple story about a boy walking through the bush with his nan looking at how things can be disguised or camouflaged.

 (26 May 2013 - This week I read With Nan to my storytime group...and we all loved it. It was perfect for 2-3 year olds. The simple text was well supported by the illustrations. At the end the children enjoyed going back to spot the hidden creature on each page.)

The Pros and Cons of Being a Frog took a humorous look at friendship and being different.

I loved the illustrations and font choices too. This is a quirky tale that fits in to the school curriculum themes of belonging and identity. This is probably may favourite book from the list.

Too Many Elephants is a fun read aloud story for younger readers (and the only one I've had a chance to read aloud to a group so far).
They enjoyed the visual impossibilities and the simple text. But Andrew Joyner's illustrations didn't really capture my imagination (or the group of young children I read the book to.)

It's a Miroocool introduces younger readers to a version of Audrey from Audrey of the Outback (an early reader chapter book that has been available for a number of years now.) Audrey is making all sorts of plans for the tooth fairy's visit in this picture book. There was something about the grinning Audrey that put me off this book from the start.



Peggy is a sweet chicken story about wet, windy weather and the adventures that can happen to a chicken along the way. Being lost in the big city and finding one's way home again - are important themes and fears in the life of a young child. The lovely water colour illustrations add a calmness to this adventure story that makes for a perfect bedtime story.

(15 May 2013 - I have now read Peggy to a couple of groups of children to great success. Peggy's quirky habits were thoroughly enjoyed by young and old alike. The illustrations were praised and poured over. Now that I've spent more time with the list, Peggy has become my favourite nominee.)

I realise that I've been a little down on all the nominees this year. The list seems to lack a little sparkle to my mind.

I've only had the chance to read one of the stories to a small group of children therefore my opinion may change.

It always amazes me how some books can suddenly blossom as soon as you read it out loud to an audience. Like the secret, hidden ingredient missing from it all along was...children!

Picture Books for Older Readers

This is a list of picture books to read with children aged 5 to 12.

The themes and content are more complex, layered and diverse than those books for younger readers. Many schools choose to use picture books to cover many of the topics required for the curriculum (i.e. belonging, identity, fear, discovery, social awareness). The illustrations can often be quite dark and detailed. The stories can be read aloud, to small groups or independently.

This list is by no means complete.
Please let me know of any glaring omissions.

The Adventures of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

Animalia by Graeme Base (Australian)

Are We There Yet? by Alison Lester (Australian)

The Arrival by Shaun Tan (Australian)

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White

The Deep by Tim Winton

Dust by Colin Thompson

Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl

Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown

Free to a Good Home by Colin Thompson

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Herbert the Brave Sea Dog by Robyn Belton

Herman and Rosie by Gus Gordon (Australian)

Home and Away by John Marsden (Australian)

The Iliad and The Odyssey retold by Marcia Williams

Into the Forest by Anthony Browne

The Island by Armin Greder

John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat by Jenny Wagner (Australian)

The Library Lion by Michelle Knudson

The Littlest Refugee by Ahn Do (Australian)

The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan (Australian)

Luke's Way of Looking by Nadia Wheatley (Australian)

Memorial by Gary Crew (Australian)

Mirror by Jeannie Baker (Australian)

Mouse Mansion by Karina Schaapman

My Mother's Eyes by Mark Wilson

My Place by Nadia Wheatley (Australian)

Ned Kelly and the Green Sash by Mark Greenwood (Australian)

Nobody Owns the Moon by Tobhy Riddle (Australian) 

Oh, The Places You Will Go by Dr Seuss

Once There Was a Boy by Duf Leffler (Australian)

One Small Island by Alison Lester (Australian)

Perry Angel's Suitcase by Glenda Millard (Australian)

Piggybook by Anthony Browne

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

The Rabbit Problem by Emily Gravett

The Rabbits by John Marsden (Australian)

The Red Tree by Shaun Tan (Australian)

Simpson and His Donkey by Mark Greenwood (Australian)

Sophie Scott Goes South by Alison Lester (Australian)

Tales From Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (Australian)

Wanted: The Perfect Pet by Fiona Robertson

The Watertower by Gary Crew (Australian)

The Wave by Suzy Lee

When the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs

Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeannie Baker (Australian)

Willy the Wimp by Anthony Browne

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

Book Beginnings Friday and The Friday 56

This week for Book Beginnings on Fridays and The Friday 56 I've selected Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston




Beginning:
Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.




Page 56:
'Speakin' of winds, he's de wind and we'se de grass. We bend which ever way he blows,' Sam Watson agreed, 'but at dat us needs him. De town wouldn't be nothin' if it wasn't for him. He can't help bein' sorta bossy. Some folks needs thrones, and ruling chairs and crowns tuh make they influence felt. He don't. He's got uh throne in de seat of his pants.'

I'm loving this book to pieces. I can't believe I had never heard of it until I joined in the sync reading on the Classics Club this month.

Reboot by Amy Tintera

I can't tell you how sceptical I was about this book.

I'm so over teen/YA dystopian stories trying to grab onto the coattails of The Hunger Games. I was disappointed with The 5th Wave, although my husband quite enjoyed it. I therefore took my ARC of Reboot along to my stepson's soccer game with very little joy in my heart.

If not for a very exciting and close game of football, I may have gone close to finishing this book in one sitting. It captured my attention right from the start and kept me hooked all the way through (although the ending was a little soft).

I've been trying to work out why my experiences with Reboot and The 5th Wave were so different.

The writing style appeals to me a little more in Reboot, but it's not that different to The 5th Wave really. I think Tintera writes the female voice far better than Yancey did. They both have strong female characters, but Wren is far more believable and likeable than Cassie.
Perhaps it's the dialogue that reads better in Reboot, or maybe it's the romance that dances around on the sidelines? Do I simply gravitate towards books with more romance rather than more action?

I read The 5th Wave pre-Bali holiday and Reboot post-Bali holiday - could timing and mood be the difference? My husband doesn't think I gave The 5th Wave enough time to grab me before I started skimming it, but I never once felt like skimming ahead in Reboot.

Perhaps it's nothing more mysterious than that magical connection some books and some authors create with some of their readers!

I'll be curious to see how both these books go once they hit the shelves.

Reboot has some mild sexual references and fight scenes.

Reboot is a May release in Australia through Allen and Unwin.

P.S. three weeks later...my husband has now read Reboot and felt it was the better book of the two. We think the relationship between Wren and 22 was one of the key reasons for the books appeal.

The Perplexing Pineapple The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno by Ursula Dubosarsky

As a child I was not a fan of books that featured talking animals. I simply thought they were silly!

I still struggle with them now.

But if you enjoy talking animals that can solve mysteries then this is the book for you. Alberto is a guinea pig from Australia. His cousin, Coco is the bumbling Chief of Police in Argentina.

Coco sends Alberto a cryptic coded message for help and Alberto jumps on the first plane to help out.

It's silly and fun with lots of illustrated puzzle clues by Terry Denton. A few Spanish phrases are thrown in (and explained) to keep you on your toes.

Allen & Unwin are planning to publish a second book in June and a third in July.

A perfect little series for the 5-7 year old early reader in your family.

Holiday Reading - Bali

I like to read a book set in the country or region I go to on my holidays.

When we decided to go to Bali for Easter, I researched books set in Bali. There were lots of crime, true crime, drug stories and biographies available, but none of them sounded appealing as a holiday read - way too heavy and serious!

Then I discovered Inspector Singh.

The Bali book is the second book in the series, but I decided it was lightweight enough that it wouldn't matter. And it didn't.

But this was the perfect choice for poolside holiday reading.

It's set in the immediate post Bali bombing era, so the descriptions of landscapes, streetscapes and experiences felt very familiar.

And the lead female character from the Australian Police was named Bronwyn - only the second book I've ever come across with my name in it!

I finished Inspector Singh in 2 days.

Sunset in Seminyak

I had packed other books to read, but a fortuitous visit to Periplus Books in Seminyak revealed a copy of the book I had really wanted to read for this holiday.

Love and Death in Bali by Vicki Baum is set in the early 1900's and is based on real events. But it was out of print in Australia.

It was originally published in German in 1937.

Love and Death in Bali tells the story of a clash of cultures as the Dutch gradually assert control over the wayward island of Bali.

Both sides of the story are told with empathy, objectivity and just a little romance. There are elements of bumbling bureaucrats and superstitious barbarians but none of that takes away from the compelling story of a culture on the brink of colonisation.

Both holiday reads were so grounded in their Bali setting that to read them outside of Bali would have meant missing out on many of the nuances, scents, sights and sensations.

To quote Baum's raja Alit,

I have looked about me and I cannot believe there is a country on earth as beautiful as Bali. I cannot give it away to foreigners or sell it.... 

They do not know our gods and they do not understand the laws by which mankind must live. They would pull down the temples, and the gods would forsake our island, and soon it would become as barren and ugly as the deserts of China.

They would grow sugar-cane, not as our peasants do, just enough to sweeten their food and for the children to enjoy; they would cover the whole country with sugar-cane....they would lay the sawahs waste and cut down the beautiful palms and fruit trees to make room for their towns.

They would turn our peasants into slaves and brutes, and leave them no time for cockfights and festivals and music and dancing. And our women would have to cover their breasts...an no-one would wear flowers in their hair anymore or make offerings to the temples.
And they would squeeze the joy from the hearts of our children...and make them bitter and unkind and discontented, as the white men are themselves.

Fortunately, these dire predictions did not come to pass.

Rice paddies of Ubud

Bali is an incredibly beautiful island full of colour, traditions and contrasts, its people are friendly, spiritual and courteous to a fault.

It is an island that holds to its traditional beliefs and ways of life even as it allows modern conveniences and modern ways to infiltrate. The Balinese take on new ideas and adjust them to fit in with what they know and feel comfortable with.

An offering to the gods

Our time in Bali was a magical experience from start to finish.

My understanding of the place was enriched by my two reading choices.

We will return one day and I will search out Colin McPhee's book A House in Bali for that trip!

Have you had a perfect holiday/book matching experience too?

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

I loved both The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns so my hopes were high for Hosseini's latest book.

I wasn't disappointed.

And the Mountains Echoed is a story of loss and abandonment.
Loss of family, country, face, life, health, identity, home and memory are experienced by different characters at different times.

This loss informs relationships, choices and patterns of behaviour.

Each character is sympathetically drawn.

The language flows beautifully and elegantly, joining time periods, countries and characters lives seamlessly.

My only fault is that I was enjoying some of the individual stories so much, I didn't want them to stop. Towards the end, a few of these stories felt a little rushed and some of the poignancy of the ending was lost in the haste (another loss perhaps?)

Both The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns had a particularly strong, confronting, disturbing scene to contend with. I was waiting on tenterhooks for a similar moment in this book. It wasn't until the end that I realised what 'the moment' was for this book. Because I was waiting for something else, I initially missed seeing it for what it was.

And the Mountains Echoed is storytelling with heart.

 It is due for May release in Australia.

The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington

This was my book for the Classic Club Spin.

And what a lovely choice it turned out to be.

The Magnificent Ambersons is a delightful old-fashioned read; a family saga that highlights the declining fortunes of one family during the industrialisation of turn-of-the-century small town America.

George Amberson Minafer is one of the most unlikable characters in literature. He is arrogant, selfish, spoilt and careless. Like the local townsfolk, you keep hoping he will get his comeuppance.

The skill of Tarkington is such, that when it finally does happens, you actually feel a little sorry for George.
But only a little. George's remorse, when it comes, is too little, too late.
The true generosity of spirit shown by Lucy and Eugene right up to the end only highlights further what was lacking in George.

The tension in the middle of the novel as you realise what a dastardly deed George is about to do against his own adoring mother is heartbreaking. With each step you want to reach into the book and grab George by the scruff of the neck and shake him into commonsense and human decency.

As for Aunt Fanny - the conniving, manipulative bitch wrapped up in victimhood and helpless ignorance! It seemed fitting somehow that Fanny and George only had each other for company at the end.

Booth won the Pulitzer Prize in 1918 for The Magnificent Ambersons (and again in 1921 for Alice Adams).

The Magnificent Ambersons is the second book in Booth's Growth trilogy. The books are only related by theme, not characters. (The other two books, if you're interested are The Turmoil and National Avenue).

My edition of The Magnificent Ambersons is a Modern Library one. The inside front cover has a list of the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels of the Twentieth Century. The Magnificent Ambersons snuck in at number 100!

(This is the house that Tarkington based the Amberson mansion on - Woodruff Place, Indianapolis.)