Bear by Marian Engel

Read: 2005

Lou is a recluse, working in a basement and rarely going out. After five years of living like a mole, she is given an assignment: to catalogue a 19th century library in northern Ontario. Soon after she arrives, she encounters the house's only other inhabitant - a bear.

This is a rather shocking story about a woman exploring her sexuality with a bear. Yes, you read that correctly. Yes, it's graphic.

I read this book as an assignment for my Canadian Literature course in university - a course that prompted this émigré to define Canadian literature  as "roughing it in the bush with animals."

Reading this book for a class was a great experience. We spent about two weeks on it, during which we had to discuss, as a class, sex with bears. By the end of the unit, our chairs were polished with the amount of uncomfortable shifting we were doing. The best part was that, at the beginning of the year, we all had to sign up to read a portion of a book (pages to be decided by the professor) in class. We got to pick the book, but of course no one had read Bear yet so no one knew to avoid it. I will always remember that poor girl who had to stand up before at least 50-60 people and read a scene in which a woman has sex with a bear. Her face would have blended in perfectly with a basket of tomatoes.

I initially enjoyed Bear because it was shocking. It was fun to tell my friends about what I was reading for class, and to watch their faces contort in wilful disbelief. But as time passed and I've had the chance to remove myself from the "omg, I'm going to be sick" factor, I've come to realize that Bear is actually a great work of fiction.

There's an economy of elements to the book. No character is present who isn't necessary to Lou's psychological development. There are no filler scenes. I've also come to notice that much of the book is either symbolic or allegoric. Even the house Lou is living in, and her movements within that house throughout the story, can be reinterpreted in view of her transformation.

This is a really good book. It's rather uncomfortable to read, but it's short and you then get to say that you've read a book about a woman having sex with a bear.

Night Watch #2: The Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

Read: 19 December, 2010

During a battle with a powerful witch, Day Watch witch Alisa is drained of all her power. She is sent to a children's summer camp to work as a councillor while she recovers and, there, falls in love with a young man. Everything seems to be going well until her powers start to return and she realizes that her lover is a witch with the Night Watch!

In Night Watch, we got to see how the Others on the side of the light operate. Now, we get a glimpse into their enemy organization, the Day Watch.

This was a great addition to the series! I really enjoyed how the Dark Others were presented. They aren't evil, per se, they are just approaching life and relationships differently. In fact, I think that many people would agree with their individualistic philosophy. Lukyanenko did a great job of making the two sides distinct, with thoughts and motives that are diametrically opposed, while at the same time making them eerily similar. I think it's a mark of a master writer to be able to convincingly write about a feud between two enemies while convincing the reader that both are entirely justified.

As with Night Watch, the book is composed of several short stories that don't seem to have a whole lot to do with each other. But by the end, it becomes apparent that each has actually been building up towards a particular climax, that every seemingly unrelated event has actually been part of the leaders' strategies. Again, it's truly impressive how Lukyanenko is able to pull this off without it ever feeling contrived. The climactic reveals are truly revealing, and not in a cheaty way.

The setting is wonderful. It's a magical world laid over our own modern day one, and this is done very creatively. But most impressive is how very Russian the magic system is! There is little natural limit to what the witches can do, something that would be a recipe for Mary Sues in the hands of most other authors. But here, the use of magic is restricted by a complex hierarchical bureaucracy. It's like something straight out of Brazil!

And, as a fan of Russian music, I've been having a great time trying to match up the translated lyrics with the original songs.

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

Read: 24 November, 2010

When we found out we were having a son, I started reviewing my planned reading lists for gender-interest. That's when I realized that my knowledge of "boy books" is woefully inadequate. I have oodles of "strong willed girl finds her place in society as she transitions into womanhood" books - more than enough to fill any childhood. I certainly want my son to be exposed to these kinds of books, but I realized that I was going to have to expand my repertoire to include at least some books that aren't about girls getting their first periods if I was going to make a life-long reader out of this kid.

I decided to start with the classics of boy's literature, and that's how I ended up reading Robin Hood.

It was fantastic! Even though there was a serious lack of menstruation, there was more than enough exciting adventure to compensate.

The book is told as a series of short stories that build on each other only very loosely. Each one is an adventure involving Robin Hood and his companions; many of them tell how a particular individual came to join Robin Hood's gang.

The stories are exciting and full of action (and more than a little violence). They are also full of witty arguments, which are often very clever and funny. I found myself laughing out loud more than a few times!

Robin Hood is a sort of trickster figure, often seen playing pranks on others that sometimes backfire.

It's a great book! I'll definitely be recommending it to my son once he's at least put diapers behind him. It's a children's book, but it's certainly worth the reading for adults too!

PS: Given what I knew already of the Robin Hood legends, I was surprised to find out that Maid Marian is such a non-character - at least in this rendition. She's mentioned a few times as Robin's girlfriend, but that's the extent of it. I don't think she even makes an appearance in the story, and we certainly never learn any biographical details about her!

Gil & Alys Cunningham Mystery #1: The Harper's Quine by Pat McIntosh

Read: 11 September, 2010

I think that anyone who pays some attention to my reviews here would easily be able to guess that I love mysteries and I love historical fiction. So when I came across Harper's Quine as a book that offers both, I had to buy it. But, as is so often the case, it sat on my shelf next to a whole lot of other unread books as I tried mightily to catch my reading rate up to my shopping rate.

Finally, finally, it was time to give Harper's Quine a turn, and I immediately regretted that I had waited so long!

Gil Cunningham is expected to enter the priesthood. But when he becomes mixed in with a murder investigation, he is led to meet the lovely Alys, his future becomes rather less than certain.

I really enjoyed this books for quite a few reasons. The biggest is that the mystery is solvable by the reader - pay attention while Gil gathers clues, and it's possible to figure out the murder rather early on. It's a little frustrating to see Gil continue to stumble about in ignorance, but it's immensely satisfying to be proven correct at the end. These are my favourite sort of mysteries!

Another aspect I really enjoyed was the relationship with Alys. Alys is an active participant in the mystery solving. She's smart, capable, and contributes a lot to the detective work. But at the same time, this doesn't feel anachronistic. Unlike Rowland's Uechi Reiko, Alys is not a modern feminist trapped in the past. She's a strong woman, but she's still plausible. And, as a woman, she has many responsibilities. While her father and lover are out having great adventures, she must remain mindful of her household and its need to be continuously managed.And she can't just "do it all" - there are times when she can't get to a particular task that's relevant to the mystery because she is occupied with being the lady of the house.

If I had to look for a flaw, it would be with the fate of the baddie. I've complained about this before, I know, but I find it rather distasteful when the baddie(s) meets with a gruesome end. I understand that it's supposed to be cathartic, or some such nonsense, but it just strikes me as barbaric. A simple hanging, while only slightly less brutal, would at least have the benefit of being that age's expression of justice.

But leaving that aside, this was a truly remarkable book, a rare gem. I can't recommend it highly enough to anyone who is a fan of mysteries and/or historical fiction!

Misquoting Jesus by Bart D. Ehrman

Read: 28 September, 2010

It is often said that the Bible is the divinely inspired word of God. But which Bible?

In Misquoting Jesus, Ehrman takes the reader through some of the changes that have been made to the Bible over the years, both deliberate and not, and the techniques scholars can use in an attempt to uncover what the original might have said. He does an amazing job of making some pretty complex material accessible to a lay reader.

My first encounter with Ehrman was through his textbook, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. I was a Christian at the time, and, while I knew that the Bible had been translated and that it was therefore subject to the manipulations inherent in translation, I had no idea just how deeply the transmission errors lie.

As I read through Ehrman's textbook and studied the material in class, I found my faith deeply challenged. Just as Ehrman describes in his introduction, our way of knowing God is through scripture. And if scripture is flawed or inaccessible, what can we truly say we know about God?

This thinking put me on a path that eventually led to my deconversion.

Misquoting Jesus is every bit as challenging as The New Testament. I find it rather interesting that the most damning argument against Christian belief comes from the Bible itself - from reading it, from understanding it within the context of its writing, and from learning just how fragile texts can be.

But Ehrman never argues against the Christian faith. He is by no means a Dawkins or a Hitchens. Rather, he simply presents the research and allows it to stand, or fall, for itself.

The Gathering Night by Margaret Elphinstone

Read: 31 October, 2010

One night, Bakar disappeared. His family is left alone, with only an old man to hunt for them. But then a stranger appears with a story of a great wave that killed his people, and this sets in motion a series of interweaving stories, told by the many voices of the People.

Set in prehistoric Scotland, The Gathering Night is a story about survival, as well as a community's attempts to heal itself after a tragedy.

As I was reading, I couldn't help but to compare this novel to Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear series. I think it might be blasphemy to say this, but I found that Elphinstone actually did a better job. Both authors try to convey a lot of "land knowledge" in their books, explaining the various things that can be eaten for example. But while Auel simply lists them in page after page of plant names, Elphinstone builds it right into the story.

The story itself is captivating. I've been very critical of books with multiple narrators in the past, but it works in this case. The set up for telling the story is plausible, and the narrative voices are distinct enough to feel like the story is really being told by several different people (but not so much that it feels like a gimmick).

All in all, I'd say this is a very worthwhile read. It preserves all off the appeal of prehistoric novels while avoiding many of the flaws.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Read: 19 September, 2010

I bought the book because I kept seeing it everywhere and I thought - why not? Then it sat on my shelf for a long time as I read other books on my reading list that were a higher priority.

When my dad came to visit, he was looking over my bookshelves and saw that I had The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I admitted that I hadn't read it yet, and he told me that I absolutely must. Well, with an endorsement like that, how could I refuse?

I say this because it tainted much of my experience of the book. When I got to the anal rape scene, for example, all I kept thinking about was my dad reading it... and liking it. Yes, I know, the book is excellent and I'm sure that my father's endorsement was not predicated on a predilection for anal rape. Still, though, it made reading about anal rape even more uncomfortable that it is normally.

Not that I normally read about anal rape...

But apart from all that, this was an amazing book. It's a mystery - a disgraced journalist is hired by a wealthy businessman to solve the 40-year-old murder of his niece. But it's far more than that. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a statement about misogyny and violence towards women. In one way or another, each of the book's plots and subplots hinge on hatred towards women. Larsson strikes that very delicate balance between making his point without being it. Again and again, he shows us violence against women, but he never allows it to normalize. It's as horrific the last time as it is the first.

And boy, is it ever horrific! The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was an extremely uncomfortable book to read. Larsson takes society's dirty little secrets and shoves them right in the reader's face with unrelenting force. But the writing is so masterfully executed that I found myself unable to put the book down, even while my head and stomach both were reeling.

When my dad was making his pitch for the book, he said that it's incredibly long, but that the style is so accessible that he was able to finish it in under a week. It took me only a couple of days. It takes a while to get into, introducing the vast network of characters slowly, and it might be easy to give up within the first couple dozen pages. But stick with it, the payoff is well worth the wait.