The Leftovers: A Novel
by Tom Perrotta
The Leftovers--great for a book group (8/17/2011)
Having read Tom Perotta's Little Children, I knew this would be another slice of suburban life. However, this is not ordinary life. It's life in the aftermath of a worldwide "disappearing", or rapture, of a large number of the worlds' population. The odd part is that the people who vanished seem to have been randomly selected.
Perotta focuses on a few who try to continue as before, and others who choose to live in reaction to this event. The omniscient narrator follows the lives of young people as they come of age, as well as several adults, male and female.
I think this would make a great choice for a book discussion. The characters are real people--teens, parents, spouses, and everyone has had to face an unexpected life event at some point or another. Plus, we have all wondered about the afterlife, and have heard about millennial groups, and have thoughts on the subject.
The Discovery of Jeanne Baret: A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe
by Glynis Ridley
The Re-discovered Jeanne Baret (1/11/2011)
Jeanne Baret was a fascinating character, who like many women, was forgotten, despite her accomplishments. She traveled the world in the time of discovery, collecting botanical specimens. On a relatively small ship, in close quarters with scores of men, she masqueraded as a man, as women were not allowed aboard.
Unfortunately, she never wrote an account of her travels, and what narratives do exist, are not consistent with one another. The author is meticulous in her scholarship, and provides much important information about the society, and gender roles of the period. Still, what Baret thought and felt can only be guessed at, and the author's guess is only that. I suppose if she didn't make a stab at imagining this, that the book would be quite short.
I found myself arguing with the author, playing devil's advocate, offering my own interpretation. Maybe if she had paralleled what she wrote about Baret with another woman's story that was better documented, I wouldn't have felt that it was more a projection of the author's emotions and ideas, than an accurate picture of Baret's.
The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean
by Susan Casey
Catch The Wave! (8/24/2010)
Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.--John Burdon Sanderson Haldane
The science of oceanography has advanced greatly since the invention of sonar, and satellite technology. One result has been to confirm the existence of giant ocean waves, over 80 feet tall. Sailors had long described them, but were not believed, as there was no scientific explanation for them, until the advent of quantum mechanics. Now we not only know they exist, but are appearing more often.
Author Susan Casey profiles the scientists and researchers who work in this cutting edge field. She also enters the world of the elite surfers who vie to catch the tallest, gnarliest waves in the world. I found the science more interesting than the surfers, but there's plenty about both, for wherever one's interests lie. If you prefer to have an adventure from the comfort of your armchair, this is the book for you.
Susan Casey has written a book about sharks, and was the creative director for Outside Magazine during the 1990's. She is also the new editor of O, the Oprah magazine.
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