Booknote: My Favorite Books of 2014

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Some years ago, I started keeping a list of most of the books I read each year just for myself with some occasional comments.  I received a slew of new books for Christmas and near the end of the year purchased a few so I have an even higher stack than usual awaiting me.  You would think that being retired, I would be doing more reading, but so far, travel and getting settled in have intervened.  One of my 2015 goals is to set aside more time each day to read and to work my way through some of these literary riches.  At this stage of life, I’ve both given myself permission and forgiven myself for not finishing every book I start. There are just too many good books–and more being published– to spend time on one that doesn’t engage me.  I will give most works 50-75 pages before bailing out.

Back to my 2014 list.  Here are my top favorites for the year.  I purposely left off any books I have already blogged about.  In no particular order, they are as follows:

NONFICTION

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande.  Surgeon Gawande is one of my favorite writers and I always read his pieces in the New Yorker where he is a staff writer.  Since we all have or have had parents and aspire to old age ourselves, this book is a must-read.  Using case histories and even his own family as examples, Gawande delineates how we often do not act in an individual’s best interests at the end of life.

Soldier Girls by Helen Thorpe.  Three young women, socio-economically disadvantaged, joined the National Guard partly as a way to increase their income and assuming their tour of duty would all take place stateside.  Instead they were assigned to Afghanistan and one also served in Iraq.  Gripping, painful and informative about the horrors and the boredom of life in a war zone.

House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhouts.  I heard Ms. Lindhouts speak at the Aspen Ideas Festival last summer and then got her book.  It is a chilling story of her kidnapping and imprisonment in Somalia, but even more it speaks to her incredible force of spirit and tenacity to endure and ultimately survive such brutal treatment.

FICTION

Quiet Dell by Jayne Anne Phillips.  Based on an actual murder, this novel includes the crime, but focuses more on the press and the surrounding story.  Beautifully written and more accessible than her earlier, also very good novel, Lark and Termite.

Nora Webster by Colm Toibin.  I’m a big fan of Toibin’s work and loved Brooklyn.  This novel traces a young Irish widow’s trajectory of grief and its impact on her children who seem oddly neglected.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.  A tour de force of creativity.  Events occur and then are re-wound to  different endings and then re-wound again in this novel set in the early 20th century.  How might our lives been different or this one life?

The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer.  More straightfoward time travel from 1981 to 1918 and 1941 exploring the role of women in times of crisis–or at least the experience of one woman, Greta. She is an engaging character. A fitting successor to Greer’s The Story of a Marriage which has its own twists.

~~~~~

Here’s to happy reading in 2015!

 

 

Booknote: WWII Berlin in fiction and diary

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Although I left Berlin sometime ago, I can’t seem to leave it behind.  While in London, I bought a first novel about a German couple in Berlin during the Second World War.  This soldier and his “mail order” wife are on the German side ; the novel portrays the brutal conditions of the fighting on the Russian front and the grim state of affairs for those trying to cope at home.  And the effort these two young people undertake to stay connected to each other.  I recommend The Undertaking by Audrey Magee.

Now, thanks to a recommendation from my friend Patricia, I’ve been immersing myself in Berlin Diaries, 1940-1945, an unusual first person account of life in Berlin by a transplanted Russian princess.  The author is  Maria Vassiltchikov.  My reading of this is enlightened by having been in that city and having walked some of the streets she references.  She recounts parties socializing with ambassadors and diplomats and other royals, but as the war deepens, her concerns become more mundane and basic—where to safely stay and live, what will be available to eat, and what will be the fate of her friends, colleagues, and scattered family members.   Her brother edited the diaries, sent for publication just before her death in 1976, and his clarifications of people and places and his interjections about the events of the war are most helpful to the modern reader.  Even if you haven’t experienced Berlin, this is a worthwhile and fascinating account of this time period.

Berlin: History & Rebirth

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I did not fall in love with Berlin at first sight–but I’m warming up to it and it’s growing on me.  We are staying in the eastern part of the city and upon arrival at our hotel, I initially thought we were in the middle of nowhere and I wasn’t particularly impressed with the architecture either.  We had just come from a six hour train journey in first class which wasn’t quite the upscale ride we had anticipated and then, there was that short, but steep flight of stairs up to the hotel entrance.  We are not bare bones travelers and our two bags are a bit heavy so, it was a less auspicious beginning. However, our room is simply lovely, very spacious and quiet, and the breakfast each morning is a lavish spread of hot and cold meats, cheeses, eggs, soft and hard-boiled, smoked salmon, cereal, several kinds of bread and pastries plus various condiments. Hard to go wrong with this start to your day!

Breakfast spread at Myer's Hotel
Breakfast spread at Myer’s Hotel

The next day we discovered that we are about 5 minutes from the subway (U) and another 5 minutes in the other direction from a tram line (S) and there are lots of small family-run restaurants in the surrounding blocks which we’ve been sampling.  Yes, the architecture is rather stark and drab, and yes, the streets are grittier in this part of town, and yes, there is a lot of graffiti, but it has its own charm.  (I have been puzzling about the graffiti and wondering if it’s being kept deliberately as some sort of statement or if there just aren’t funds to clean it up.)

You do notice a difference when you get into what was West Berlin–cleaner, wider streets, more department stores, more chains, more big hotels (Intercontinental, et al), and more tourists.  That said, some of the biggest attractions are in the former eastern part so after awhile, I stopped thinking so much about which part of the city I was in and just appreciated the history that was all around me.

I suppose if one came to Berlin just to shop, that person could be unaware of its pivotal role in history.  But, having come here to explore both its museums and its history, we have been doing just that.  We first mastered the subway–once you find the English button on the automatic ticket machine, the process gets simpler–and then validated our day-long tickets.  Unlike on the London subway, once you validate the ticket, you just ride and never have to tag in or out.  Also I never saw anyone asking for or checking people’s tickets.  Honor system, perhaps, or perhaps like MUNI, we just haven’t encountered any inspectors.

Sign at Checkpoint Charlie
Sign at Checkpoint Charlie

After stopping briefly at Checkpoint Charlie, we went on to examine the section of the Berlin Wall that was left standing.  It has holes in it and markings and is a reminder of this divided city; it would have looked even grimmer on a gray day.  November 9 this year marks the 25th anniversary of the coming down of the wall and the city is getting ready for a big celebration. Preparations are underway at the Brandenburg Gate.

 

Remaining section of Berlin Wall
Remaining section of Berlin Wall

The Topography of Terrors is a small museum that provides a comprehensive look at the Nazi apparatus, all the units, the SS, the Gestapo and others, and the key individuals who were responsible for so much death and destruction.  The museum is an open gray space with large windows and panels suspended from the ceiling.  I was struck by how baldly the events were presented and by the comments from historians who offered insights, but not excuses.  Seeing panel after panel, each one a different country that was occupied by the Nazis during the 1940-45 period, brought home to me how the experience of the Dutch people was just repeated over and over elsewhere.  I also learned that some of the perpetrators went on have political careers and others are believed to have assumed new identities.

The Berlin Wall and the Topography museum are both sobering venues so it was cheering to continue on to the Reichstag and to gaze upon this re-built and refurbished parliament building which was out of commission, due to damage and politics, for many years.  Parliament met here again for the first time in 1999.  The dome that was designed by architect Norman Foster is stunning and echoes in basic shape, but not materials, the original dome.

My husband is a good planner and a great tour guide, and he had discovered that by going online at home and reserving a table for lunch at the restaurant on the terrace level (bottom of the dome), we could avoid a long line to get in and simultaneously enjoy a lovely lunch. This was all definitely worth it!  It was a warm sunny day and the skyline view of Berlin from the restaurant was spectacular and walking the spiral ramp around and up the dome was great.  At the bottom of the dome, there are panels around the circle giving the history of the building and its rebirth.

So much to see and do!  More to come on Berlin.

 

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Dome on the Reichstag
Dome on the Reichstag

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Booknote: Robert Peace

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One of Jeff Hobbs’ roommates at Yale was a young black man from outside Newark, NJ.  He was smart and personable, but kept to himself.  He also dealt drugs the entire time he was a science major.  Robert Peace lived a bifurcated life; he grew up on poor and mean streets without a live-in father and learned how to survive there and not call undue attention to himself.  But he was also smart and talented so his stalwart mother worked several jobs and stinted for herself to make it possible for him to get a good education at St. Benedict’s.  Later, he caught the attention of a wealthy donor who funded his 4 years at Yale.

Rob Peace’s life ended too soon and Hobbs takes it upon himself to dig deep into Peace’s childhood, his family, his friendships, his relationships with women and all the people who comprised his world from his youth through college and beyond.  The book is The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace.  It is a heartrending account of wasted talent and it lays bare how extremely difficult it is to overcome being poor, being black, and having no stable role models—and how one can physically leave one’s home neighborhood, but remain emotionally and mentally tied to it.  I think Hobbs’ book is overly long and sometimes too detailed, but I don’t regret investing the time to read it.