Morning Light by Holland Kane

Not light reading. Not at all. 

About Morning Light by Holland Kane: Emily, a twenty-four-year-old dancer and choreographer, confronts her husband's fixation with right-wing Catholic dogma that condemns her use of birth control. His faith is so powerful that he refuses to have sex with her, even though he desperately wants to. As awful as this broken faith feels, she is troubled more by her best friend's losing fight with cancer, and seeks to help her friend's grief-stricken, precocious, son--the seventeen-year-old David. But the boy's willful ways turn the tables on her. Denied intimacy by her husband, the boy's passion asserts itself, and everyone's life is explosively altered. 

Twenty years later, the successful David, a theater director, gets his hands on Emily's secret journals and uncovers her covert emotional life, revealing family secrets unknown to him, and discovering prickly truths about himself. Part literary memoir, part poignant psychological drama, this haunting love story explores the secrets of attraction and the mysteries of obsession--a boy's coming-of-age, and one woman's search for love and success in a year of intense achievement and painful loss.

My two cents

Emily is young and beautiful; she is a choreographer and dancer. Her husband Rick loves her ... but is going through a dilemma-of-sorts, his extreme Roman Catholic faith (or is it blind belief in a priest he idolizes?) gets him on an abstinence kick, much to Emily's dismay.

Not that Emily has a lot her on plate already: her dear friend and mentor Sara is battling cancer and she is choreographing her next major piece for her big debut. David, Sara's teenage son, becomes Emily's distraction and she succumbs, making him her lover. What does this action hold for Emily and Rick's marriage? How will besotted David get over Emily? What does the future hold?

***

This is beautiful storytelling! I found especially intriguing (and well-done) how this was told in retrospect -- the successful theatre director David is telling his love story and musing upon Emily's actions and feelings, including his insights into some of Emily's diary entries.

One highlight is that I found the descriptions of creating art and dance very engrossing. Dancers and art lovers will surely enjoy Kane's appreciation of the rapture (and disappointment) of creating anything of beauty.

The subject matter is heavily laden with hot buttons: religion, sex with a minor, pornography, adultery. This is heavy stuff. There are some sections which turned into some rather dense rambling and if you're not in the mood for that, this may grate on your nerves. Otherwise I think the book does a wonderful job of showcasing various religious, ethical and moral dilemma, and how it can potentially impact people's lives over the long haul. Hold any judgement and I think you'll be fine.

***

Verdict: Unfolding as a retrospective, this book will prod, poke and challenge you. I'd recommend this to people who like Jodie Picoult's ethically challenging tales, and those who have a soft spot for dance and art.


I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

 

The Tragedy of Fidel Castro by João Cerqueira

Who ever thought I'd be laughing about religion and politics? 

Synopsis: When God receives a request from Fátima to help prevent a war between Fidel Castro and JFK, he asks his son, Jesus, to return to Earth and diffuse the conflict. On his island, Fidel Castro faces protests on the streets and realizes that he is about to be overthrown. Alone, surrounded, and aware that the end is fast approaching, he plays his last card. Meanwhile, Christ arrives on Earth and teams up with Fátima, who is convinced she can create a miracle to avoid the final battle between JFK and Fidel Castro and save the world as we know it. At the end, something really extraordinary happens! Humorous, rich with metaphor, and refreshingly imaginative, The Tragedy of Fidel Castro was chosen as the book-of-the-month and book-of-the-year by Os Meus Livros magazine.

My two cents:

After a synopsis like that (and a cover as edgy as that!), I couldn't resist this book. In this reimagined world, God entreats Jesus to help Fátima prevent a war between Fidel Castro and JFK. Can Jesus and Fatima with their old-school miracles actually avert the disaster? But wait, let's get a few things straight. Although the characters have names that we're all familiar with, they aren't who we think they are ...

***

I was initially intimidated by this book because it deals with two areas that most people just steer clear of: religion and politics. Inspired by Jose Saramago's incisive alternate history (I am thinking Cain) and with tinges of magical realism, I had a hunch that this was going to be a challenging read.

Add that fact that I'm a rather apolitical reader so I was worried that I wouldn't "get" it. So I looked for some context for the storyline, a satire based on the Cuban missile crisis. According to Wikipedia:

"The Cuban missile crisis—known as the October crisis in Cuba and the Caribbean crisis in the former USSR—was a 13-day confrontation in October 1962 between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side and the United States on the other side. It was one of the major confrontations of the Cold War, and is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict.

So psyched up and with this little bit of background before starting to read a book, I was pleasantly surprised that once I got started, I didn't find it hard to get into this. I really shouldn't have worried!

***

With the two main characters, JFK and Fidel Castro (and his spy Varadero), two ideologies are subtlety dissected in their to-and-fro. What a treat: thought provoking observations and insights about Capitalism and Socialism, revolution, political factions, lots of leveraging and strategizing (usually involving some good booze and cigars), and lots of spy business. This book opens the gates for discussion on these concepts and more, without disintegrating into anything too serious.

"I come from an island of heat, happiness, and beautiful women. However it is not those features that distinguish my word from yours. In my country, the exploiters and the exploited have given way to a classless society where the state acts for the common good. Our model of Scientific Socialism generates  abundance and allows each citizen to develop his human potential.It is therefore a much more developed state than your decrepit Capitalist society based on the selfishness of the minority that exploits the workers."

"If it's so marvellous, then why do so many try to escape on rafts?" inquired the counselor ironically, sensing a chance to shine with cutting remarks after his stone -skipping failure.

"Will you be quiet? Let the gentleman speak," said JFK sharply.

"In your world, man is alienated from what he produces, transformed into a mere commodity to be bought and sold. To keep prices low, you have created an army of unemployed, thanks to laws that encourage dismissal."

"Is that so? And where people with PhDs drive taxis, not to mention the pros—"   
- p. 18-19 

Meanwhile, the religious thread wasn't as difficult for me to get into. Sure—here I was with my Catholic upbringing—actually feeling just a bit blasphemous for enjoying this so much! The beginning already sets the tone of the book: God is screaming "For God's sake!" You just know you're not going to get a serious book, right? However, for the very reasons that I enjoyed this, it may be challenging and even upsetting those who have very strict beliefs about God and Catholicism. It tackles God's relationship with Jesus, miracles, sainthood and faith. If any of these bring up any red flags, this may not be the book for you.

Nothing is held sacred in this book; that's it's beauty. It will poke, poke, poke ... faith, belief, politics, revolt, anyone's convictions, prostitution, Jesus, God, Fatima, and more ... Cerqueira spares any politically correct language, pulls the punches where needed and he doesn't hold back.

***

For those who do decide to take the plunge, this read can be extremely rewarding. Overall, I found this thought provoking while being plain entertaining, which I wasn't expecting at all!

At the least, this is bound to challenge your preconceptions of how the characters are  supposed to think and act and how events are supposed to unfold. At the most, you'll be laughing like silly when these supposedly straightlaced characters get into all sort of absurd situations and how the single call impacts a critical time in the world's history.

It takes great skill to infuse humour into such staid and potentially inflammatory topics such as political ideologies and religion. But the levity that Cerqueira injects doesn't in any way take away from the seriousness of what's up for discussion.

If I had shied away from this simply because this seemed intimidating, I wouldn't have read this unique, creative and provoking satire. Now that would have been a tragedy.

Verdict: A clever satire! I recommend this book highly if you're a Jose Saramago fan, a history buff, or someone who enjoys political discussion ... it doesn't disappoint! I would likewise recommend this to anyone who is open to new ideas and enjoys being challenged. This is cleverly written, well thought through and with an obviously solid basis in the various topics discussed.

Note: This book is a translation and is really well done. I suspect that like many translated works, reading this in the original would be much better so as to get the full effect. Now if I only knew Spanish (or Portuguese?)

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. 

Read more:

• My Friday 56 & Book Beginnings post for some quotes.
• An excerpt of the book here.

American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar

The paradoxes of life, culture and religion.

Synopsis of American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar: Hayat Shah is a young American in love for the first time. His normal life of school, baseball, and video games had previously been distinguished only by his Pakistani heritage and by the frequent chill between his parents, who fight over things he is too young to understand. Then Mina arrives, and everything changes.

Mina is Hayat's mother's oldest friend from Pakistan. She is independent, beautiful and intelligent, and arrives on the Shah's doorstep when her disastrous marriage in Pakistan disintegrates. Even Hayat's skeptical father can't deny the liveliness and happiness that accompanies Mina into their home. Her deep spirituality brings the family's Muslim faith to life in a way that resonates with Hayat as nothing has before. Studying the Quran by Mina's side and basking in the glow of her attention, he feels an entirely new purpose mingled with a growing infatuation for his teacher.

When Mina meets and begins dating a man, Hayat is confused by his feelings of betrayal. His growing passions, both spiritual and romantic, force him to question all that he has come to believe is true. Just as Mina finds happiness, Hayat is compelled to act -- with devastating consequences for all those he loves most.

American Dervish is a brilliantly written, nuanced, and emotionally forceful look inside the interplay of religion and modern life. Ayad Akhtar was raised in the Midwest himself, and through Hayat Shah he shows readers vividly the powerful forces at work on young men and women growing up Muslim in America. This is an intimate, personal first novel that will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.

My two cents

The book in one sentence: A young Muslim boy finds himself in the middle of a religiously fueled love story.

***

I don't know what it is about this book, but when I first saw it and read the synopsis, I knew I wanted to read it! Do you ever get that type of book "hunch"? This hunch paid off once again and I came away with yet another favourite read for this year.

Do you know the feeling of being an outsider getting a peek into something people aren't normally privy to? Do you know that feeling where you wanted to speak but couldn't for fear of being politically incorrect? This is how this book made me feel. Reading this book felt a little uncomfortable and I didn't quite know whether I would really like this. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the discomfort because it challenged me to open my mind and not pass judgement on this no-holds barred account of another culture and another religion.

This is quite the provoking read. I can see it becoming quite polarizing as it delves into, among other things:

• religion
• the place of women as prescribed by religion 
• interfaith relationships
• immigration, the immigrant life, and the melding of two cultures

(Can I breathe now?) 

To say it deals with some very tough issues is an understatement. But don't underestimate the power of Ayad's storytelling! I was so engrossed that I actually managed to read it in a few days, staying up quite late both nights.

The book opens with Hayat as a young man who, coming into his first serious relationship and spurred on by an academic discussion on Islamic history, recounts the circumstances of his life. The book is a flashback.

Thus we enter the ten-year-old Hayat's world: a young Pakistani boy living with his immigrated family in modern America. We become witness to the dynamic within his family -- his loving and rather doting mother, his strict rather secular father,  and an inexplicable coldness between his parents. His mother doesn't mask her discontent with her husband, often bad mouthing him to Hayat. His father secretly drinks - but Hayat knows all about it.

Things become complicated when his mother's best friend, Mina, comes to live with them. Coming from a conservative Muslim family and recently divorced, she is also beautiful, charismatic, well-read and highly spiritual woman. When Mina takes Hayat under her wing to further his studies of the Quran, Hayat cannot help but become totally infatuated with her.

But this isn't merely a coming-of--age love story. This is also Mina's love story. Things start to go haywire when Mina falls in love with Hayat's father's business partner -- a Jew. The story spins into a complicated, messy and emotional disaster which not only involves the two lovers but Hayat's entire family, Mina's entire family, and even the entire Muslim community in their town. Religious conflict boils over, enmeshed in two cultures.

Hayat, in his utter innocence, unwittingly plays a role in the ensuing drama. I am reminded of Atonement by Ewan McGregor when Hayat looks back on his past and thinks about what he could've done otherwise to spare people the anguish of his actions.

***

This is a story of paradoxes, a confluence of spirituality, religion, relationships. There is the paradox of spirituality versus organized religion. Whether we like it or not, we are living paradoxes. In this book, there are many examples. There is the paradox of Hayat's teenage friend being known as being a spiritual prodigy ... yet acts upon his very male urges. There is his father, who Hayat fears will be severely punished ... because of his love for alcohol, a sin in Islam. There is his Auntie Mina, a devout Muslim ... in love with the Muslim-loathed Jew. There is the  relationship between man and woman ... which is known by many to be abusive yet is not challenged because it is shrouded and even condoned within the propriety of religion. There is his religious community, which preaches of love and respect, yet shows disdain and even hate for someone of another religion.

Hayat cannot wrap his head around these paradoxes as his world is still in black and white, absolutes and he has yet to learn the subtleties of gray. It is the raw honesty of how these paradoxes are described and come into play that really struck a chord in me. Substitute any other religion for Jew or Muslim and this story could be anyone's life -- prejudice and intolerance rear its ugly head in insidious ways in our everyday lives.

When Hayat grows older, he comes to some surprising realizations and he is able to make sense and make peace with himself, his family, his religion, and most of all, his beloved Auntie Mina. I was touched by the ending. This is one of those rare books that I felt was truly honest and I appreciate Akhtar's ability to write in a sensitive, caring and respectful manner.

Verdict: A beautifully sensitive story of a Muslim boy's life and love in today's America. Highlights that the message of tolerance and respect for humanity cuts across the boundaries of religion, gender or age. I highly recommend this for those who want to learn more about Islam, immigrant life, and the complexities of relationships.  

Random quotes:

"I keep telling her the fact that Nathan's Jewish is a good thing. They understand how to respect women, behta. They understand how to let a woman be a woman, to let her take care of them. They understand how to give a woman attention. I told Mina-Auntie that he will give her a life she can never dream of with a Muslim man. Muslim men are terrified of women ... all of them." She leaned in, kissing me on the nose, her face just inches from mine, her soulful eyes swollen with abounding love. "That's why I'm bringing you up differently, so that you learn how to respect a woman. That's the truth, kurban: I'm bringing you up like a little Jew." - p. 117

"'To be a Sufi,'" she continued, "'means to give up the world and everything in it. To be a Sufi means to depend on nothing, to want nothing, to be nothing.'" [..] She sobbed quietly into another tissue. "This is what life does to us, behta. It grinds us, grinds us to dust. The Sufi is just someone who doesn't fight it. He knows that being ground to nothing is not bad. It's the way to God." - p. 274

Book Depository

I won a copy of this book in a giveaway.

Powers by John B. Olson

Powers by John B. Olson

Summary: “Bury me standing. I must be buried standing.” Powers, the follow-up to John Olson’s Shade (“a must-read for those who enjoy Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti” —Publishers Weekly), introduces a sheltered Gypsy girl named Mariutza. Her grandfather utters a mysterious last request before dying in her arms after being shot by ten cloaked men.

Those same men die before her eyes, but strange powers continue to pursue Mari through the swamps of southern Louisiana where she has always hidden from “the Badness.”

The whole world seems to join in the chase—helicopters, soldiers, government agents, and the police are all trying to kill her. Mari’s only hope of survival is to find Jaazaniah the Prophet, the mythical hero of her grandfather’s bedtime stories. But she has never been outside the swamp or known other humans besides her grandfather and one teacher. How can this lone girl survive the bewildering world of men long enough to find a prophet who might not even exist?

My take: Very well-written suspense novel about a gypsy girl and her search for a prophet. It's a quick read, as the suspense builds up slowly and you want to find out what happens next.

A little confusing in its use of gypsy words -- with no glossary or explanation (e.g. dikh sight, The Badness). But then maybe because this is the sequel ... I didn't read the first book!

I was given this book through the LibraryThing Early Bird Reviewers.