Gossamer

Gossamer by Lois Lowry is a sweet story, and contrary to the child-oriented writing style, the book is appropriate for any generation. Further, I think that every age group can take something different out of the story. The book describes how “fragments” of our lives are collected through our treasured belongings by tiny nameless creatures and then “bestowed” through our ears. The most intriguing aspect of the book to me was what these creatures actually were, a question commonly pondered by the main character, “Littlest One”. The end of the book addressed the question, but ultimately put the answer up to the reader’s interpretation. Littlest One is told, upon yet again asking “what are we?”, that she is imaginary and that she lives “within…Within the stories. Within the night. Within the dreams,” (150). I also found the time frame of the book and how it affected Littlest One quite interesting as well. The exact period of the book is unknown, but it seems like it takes place over a mere week or two. As Littlest One gains knowledge and the ability to bestow, she does not grow, but instead turns more and more opaque, as she was born translucent. After she is done with her bestowal training, she is fully opaque and granted a new name—Gossamer. I think Littlest One/Gossamer’s transformation is applicable to growing up in out society. Gossamer was a pleasant read, yet triggered thoughts and questions of how the bestowers’ world paralleled to our own.

The Truth about Forever

The Truth about Forever, by Sarah Dessen, was a fun read, which was quite interesting to read a second time. I had previously read the book several years ago, but found I understood it better and enjoyed it more the second time. One thing I picked up on the second time was the structure of the chapters, and how they were parallel to the plot. At the beginning of the book, the first several chapters were consistently about either her parents or her job at the library—two boring, and connected topics. For the majority of the novel, however, Dessen alternated chapters between the parents/library theme and an exciting job at “Wish Catering” and the unusual people there. Overall, the book was about the main character’s, Macy, struggle balancing these two parts of her life. Towards, the end of the book, these topics collided. The last several chapters were about how her mother reacted with her new life at Wish, and how she dealt with her mother’s reaction. Chapters did not and could not alternate, for they began to mesh together, just like Macy’s two separate lives.

Casals and the Art of Interpretation

I found Casals and the Art of Interpretation by David Blum interesting and informative, but the writing could have been better. The ideas Blum presented are fascinating, but he often clouded them with unnecessary repetition and the reminiscing of his own life stories. The book was not exactly a “light” read, making it difficult to get through the many pages. It could have easily been shortened up, by combining chapters. The concept of the book itself is unique, as is the way he organized it. The book is not a biography of Pablo Casals, as the title may suggest, but about Casals’s ideas, comments, and construal of many pieces. It is not about Pablo Casals’s thinking as a cellist, but as a musician. Blum wrote the book in chapters, each one a favorite musical concept of Casals’s phrased as a quote from Casals’s. This remained true for a majority of the chapters. However, the last few chapters were more specific to Casals’s himself. Among these was an entire chapter dedicated to “Casals and Bach” concerning Bach’s cello suite mostly, which I found particularly interesting while currently playing the 3rd suite. Casals’s insight contained some of what I already knew, some of what I had never heard, and some that contradicted ideas that I thought I knew. Casals and the Art of Interpretation was a slow and slightly dry read, yet presented some ponderous ideas.