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.

The Day of the Pelican

The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson was an interesting read, alerting me to a worldly conflict I’d never even heard of before. An Albanian Kosovar, Meli, tells the story of how their family fled their homeland from the Serbs, and eventually looked to America for a new beginning. The book was slightly confusing for me at first, as I had no background knowledge of that area of the world, but ultimately, I think it may have been more effective to read the book with that ignorance—The Day of the Pelican was narrated by a young girl, who did not know much more than I about why she was being attacked. My only complaint of the book is that everything seemed to go unrealistically wrong, but perhaps that was reality for some Albanian families. I found it interesting to learn that the book was based on an actually family, that was taken in by Vermonters, just as Meli’s family was. Further, I was surprised that the book portrayed the family’s welcomers in America as slightly inhospitable and unaware of Albanian culture, because Paterson learned about the family from these same people. I’m glad to have read this book, for it made me aware of horrible events that occurred in my life time, if not shortly before.

Paper Towns by John Green

Paper Towns by John Green is a satisfyingly unrealistic story, describing the journey of a graduating senior following the clues to find a girl he thinks he knows better than he actually does. The title in its self, a metaphor and recurring theme for the entire book, drew me in immediately. “Paper towns” are made up towns placed on maps, to prevent copying a company’s map; if the map design is stolen, the original company can identify because their imaginary town, or paper town, is on the map. When Quentin, a social outcast, sets out to find his neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman, a dizzying, rebellious and popular girl, who has mysteriously disappeared (and not for the first time), he recalls the one night she took him on an adventure. He remembers she said that Florida, where they live, is all just a paper town—it looks beautiful, yet plastic from far away, but so full of flaws and destructible when you take a closer look. This term, paper towns, has multiple meanings, creating confusion in the search for Margo. The book leaves the reader awakening to realism—you can’t always have what you want. The only aspect of this book that was disappointing was John Green’s characters were identical to those in his other book, Looking for Alaska, just with a different setting and plot line.

Under the Big Top

“Under the Big Top” by Bruce Feiler was an excellent read, revealing the intricate social hierarchy of the circus. Feiler joined the circus and over the course of that one year, went from being a complete outcast to becoming an accepted insider. Throughout his time with the circus, he interviewed every performer. I found what each performer had to say fascinating. They each differed from each other on many levels, but there were always several ideas tying them together. Most of them had a love/hate relationship with the circus. The remaining few just hated it—it was their back-up plan, their alternative, and they had many places they rather be, but had neither the will nor the money to leave. One character I found particularly interesting was in this group. However, what set him apart from the rest is that he did find a way out. He left the circus. But, he came back, not telling why he really left or returned. It was unspoken, yet understood, that although he grieved about the circus, he couldn’t live with out it, which is a theme repeated throughout the book. Feiler captured the spirit and character of the circus, by getting to know the performers, who had a life time of experience to share with him.

A review on a review for Under the Big Top

After reading a review by Sarah Rachel Egelman about Under the Big Top by Bruce Feiler, I do not feel as if she captured the more important aspects of the book. She discusses what it’s about, how it’s honest and fun, but ends up giving more of a summary than writing about the meaning, moral, and significance of events. However, she does a great job in describing the tone and mood of the book. For example, she wrote “All the circus employees knew he was writing a book about them, but he was also allowed to travel as a performer. Thus the perspective of this book is unique, both insider and outsider”. Feiler’s status in the circus is indeed fascinating. In fact, the book is equally about him fitting in to the circus hierarchy than the hardships and joys of the circus. On the other hand, Egelman did not pick on Fieler’s subtle hints of his opinion. In fact, she even stated that he “refrains from taking sides on the issue” of animal rights. I found that Feiler makes his views quite clear, not through his own words necessarily, but through the quotes he chooses to include in his novel, and through actual incidents. He does this so sneakily and effectively, that he leads the reader to believe that animal rights activists are all lunatics and that animals should be a part of the circus. Egelman’s reviews on Under the Big Top do tell the book’s story, but she neglected to read between the lines, and discover Feiler’s attitude, which I view as the most interesting part of the book.