When Tin Win, a successful NYC lawyer, suddenly disappears, his daughter, Julia, believes there must be a good reason. She knows that her parents weren't a warm, fuzzy couple but Julia and her father have always been close. Then they discover a letter from a woman in his native Burma. Julia believes she will find an answer to her questions there. Off she goes to the small village of Kalaw which is now in a country known as Myanmar in search of her father's real story. Here she meets the enigmatic U Ba and the tale begins. It reads like a fable of love, obligation, tragedy, and determination. Perhaps it is the unexpected setting or the archetypal characters (right down to the evil uncle) that makes this seem like something out of the Brothers Grimm rather than a Hallmark moment. It is nonetheless a lovely read with an ending that will maybe surprise you but at the very least will make you say ahhhh.
Monday, December 23, 2024
Babel by R.F. Kuang
The subtitle of this book is An Arcane History and mysterious it is. Part fantasy. Part dystopian history. Part political discourse. All ideas you just wish you could discuss in a book group that was willing to read all 545 pages. This hefty tome can't be sold as a quick read because on almost every page is something you really want to spend time dissecting. One of the most thought provoking books EVER!
Robin Swift, orphan from China is taken to England by the Englishman he will learn is his father. There he joins the new cohort of students at the Royal Institute of Translation at Oxford University in the 1830's. He is joined by Letty, a typical blond haired English rose, Rany, a privileged but bitter young man from India, and Victoire, a young woman from Haiti tired of feeling like an outsider. All brilliant. All hand picked. All so excited to be at Oxford - and yet....
The Institute is housed in a secured round tower on the Oxford campus referred to as Babel. In this dystopian society, there is power in the fact that very few ideas can be exactly translated from one language to another. This "lost in translation" power is stored in silver bars which run the industrial, colonial power that is England. All four students eventually come under the influence of the Hermes society. Led by a former disillusioned R.I.T. student, the society is looking to change the existing balance of power - a power that begins with the students in Babel. Can this be done without violence is the question? In fact in some countries (this book has been translated into many languages - haha) the title translates back to English as Babel(or the Necessity of Violence):An arcane history of the Oxford Translators Revolution - which says perhaps more than necessary in a title. But then, it's all in the translation.
Still Life by Saran Winman
Art, life, war, luck and a sentient parrot - what more could you ask for? I would pay to have the kind of conversations Ulysses and Evelyn have. The story begins at the close of WWII. Ulysses is a young British soldier more likely to see good than bad even in a war. Evelyn is a much older art conservator trying to get into Florence to assess and rescue art lost and damaged by war. Their meeting is an unlikely random chance but it is a meeting of two minds destined to connect. Ulysses returns to a messy life in a small town outside of London filled with unforgettable characters including Claude the parrot and a daughter for whom biology is an unnecessary requirement. A most incredible set of circumstances finds him back in Florence with another group of people you just hope really exist somewhere. It's a book that will take you to your happy place or at least Florence, Italy. And so many wonderful conversations!