The Rosie Project: Fun, Quirky Novel.

If you are an avid reader you may relate to my recent sentiment. I've had a stretch of reading that has left me flat.  I didn't feel up to blogging about those books; maybe I will get inspired in time, but I've been feeling a bit worn out with my reading and I have been in desperate need of a pick-me-up.

Just my luck, to find The Rosie Project waiting for me on my shelf, and it was just what the doctor ordered!!!

This is a quirky, creative and off beat novel about an autistic geneticist who decides that he needs to find a suitable wife, and thus begins The Wife Project. He carefully crafts a 300 point questionnaire which is scientifically based, and .

It's origins as a screen-play are evident. There are scenes in the novel that are clearly included for dramatic, visual impact. The slug out with Don and Rosie's father comes to mind most clearly.

Comical moments, where I did laugh out loud. Don practicing various sexual acts with a skeleton in his office, as the Dean pokes her head in …assumes that he is fixing the model.

Anyway, there are many laugh out loud moments and it really is an entertaining read.

The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud

Messud's 5th Book

What does it mean to be the Woman Upstairs? Well, for Claire Messud, it means that you are the quiet spinster that no one really knows, and who no one really cares about. It's the woman who is dutiful, and loyal to her responsibilities, but that is devoid of excitement and frivolity. The Woman Upstairs is Messud's novel about Nora Eldridge, a prim and proper school teacher who wants to be needed, and who needs to love someone.

In her vulnerable and raw state, she falls in love with a family: Reza, her young student, Sirena the artist, and her husband Skandar that academic. In Nora's way, she has a one-sided love affair with each of the family members, which ultimately leave her alone, empty and finally enraged.

Diorama: Nora's Chosen Art Form

Nora is a repressed artist of questionable skill. Her art is repressed, and contrived--not unlike the life
she has created for herself. She toils at making detailed dioramas (yes, those shoe box scenes that are very popular in grade 3). She gets little to no satisfaction from making them, and yet, doesn't seem to realize that she needs to find a more liberating form of artistic expression.

Cambridge: Nora's Hometown

This novel is a great character study of a middle aged woman who is trapped in an isolating life, of her own creation. She has every freedom imaginable, and yet she fails to find satisfaction and happiness. Her mother who has recently passed away warned Nora not to let her life pass her by without really savouring it. Before her death, she expressed her frustration at not experiencing more in her life and yet, Nora seems to be floundering through her years.

Claire Messud

This novel is a good character study, even if at times a little frustrating because Nora is really mixed up. I found that there were some really insightful bits too. But the one fatal flaw of The Woman Upstairs is that is has little to no plot. It is truly an encapsulation of 2 years of Nora's uneventful life. Now clearly, I'm no expert in writing, but no plot is a huge problem for a fictional novel. It leaves the reader a bit flat and wanting at the end.

Mr. Pip by Lloyd Jones--Forgot to post…but here it is anyway!

Here's a summary provided by Goodreads:

On a copper-rich tropical island shattered by war, where the teachers have fled with most everyone else, only one white man chooses to stay behind: the eccentric Mr. Watts, object of much curiosity and scorn, who sweeps out the ruined schoolhouse and begins to read to the children each day from Charles Dickens's classic Great Expectations.
So begins this rare, original story about the abiding strength that imagination, once ignited, can provide. As artillery echoes in the mountains, thirteen-year-old Matilda and her peers are riveted by the adventures of a young orphan named Pip in a city called London, a city whose contours soon become more real than their own blighted landscape. As Mr. Watts says, “A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe.” Soon come the rest of the villagers, initially threatened, finally inspired to share tales of their own that bring alive the rich mythology of their past. But in a ravaged place where even children are forced to live by their wits and daily survival is the only objective, imagination can be a dangerous thing.

So, my mother recommended this novel to me as a charming and heart warming read. For the most part (with a few glaring exceptions), we have similar taste in reading. But on this one, I have to say that it left me flat.

Now, I admit that I do most of my pleasure reading before signing off for the night. There are times in my life, when I fall into be, and really shouldn't be allowed to read. It is in these exhausted stupors that I read and (perhaps) don't see the novel in it's best light. I will not deny that this could be the case here, but here's what I didn't enjoy about the novel.

First, I thought that some of the characters were simplistic. The bible thumping mother…The white english teacher…

[SORRY…I WAS INTERRUPTED ON THIS BLOG ENTRY, AND NEVER FINISHED IT UP. NOW I CAN'T REMEMBER ENOUGH OF THE BOOK TO COMPLETE IT! I'M JUST GOING TO LEAVE IT LIKE THIS CUZ IT'S MY BLOG, SO I CAN!!!]

Journeyman…Sean Pronger Gets Around!

So I've neglected to blog for some time…not because I don't like to write, but because I haven't been reading all that much these days. I am a real estate agent, and this is my busy time of the year. Not too many days go by that I don't read, but spring and summer time are my busy work times, so I haven't finished as many books lately.

Sean Pronger's Journeyman has kept me company during these last few months. I bought this book as a Christmas present for Claudio. He's not much of a reader, but I have these secret hopes that he will, one day, find as much pleasure as I do from reading. (OK, I guess that's not likely, so I decided to pick up Journeyman and read it for myself.)

Manitoba Moose:
His Happiest  Time

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed Pronger's autobiography. It was an honest and entertaining story of a man who bounces from team to team and from league to league always with aspirations of making a living by playing professional hockey. Living a hockey life in the shadow of his younger brother Chris Pronger, Sean tells an entertaining story of his ups and downs. He is honest and self deprecating. He never overstates his talents, and he tries to be as honest as possible with his feelings about team mates and coaches.

This hockey story as a straight account of one persons attempts in the NHL and other lower leagues. I really enjoyed his gritty accounts of the locker room and team bus experiences (and charter planes when he's in the Big Show). These stories were funny and eye opening. They made me respect the  3rd and 4th line grinders a lot more than I had ever thought.

I've read Ken Dryden's book called The Game (see one of my previous blogs). Boy was that a pile of bullshit piled a mile high. What can you expect from Dryden: written by a lawyer turned politician, it was so contrived and manipulated, there was never any genuine stories that were believable.

This isn't the case with Journeyman. Here, the author makes every effort to keep it real, and to name names when necessary. Sean Pronger isn't an elected official, and as such, you get a real life account of the trenches. He isn't afraid to call certain coaches jerks (Pat Burns), and some trainers inconsiderate. He names certain players as selfish and spoiled. On the other hand, he also is very gracious in his praise for the players, coaches and agents who cared about the journeymen of the game.

Sean Pronger's Biz Venture

On a personal note, I wanted to mention that I thought it was wonderful that Sean didn't spend a lot of time discussing the merits of his younger brother's abilities. Sure we all know about the hockey superstar Chris Pronger, but that is not the subject of this book. Sean dismisses Chris quite authoritatively throughout the book, and justifiably. This is not the story of a superstar. It's the story of a player who lived in the shadows of the shining star. Sean allocates less than a chapter to the examination of his relationship with his brother. This amount of discussion is entirely fair given that it's his story, not Chris'.

I have experienced the force of nature that is created by a brother who makes a mark in the NHL. It creates a huge shadow for the siblings, and it sometimes shapes how they are treated by others. Without a simple greeting or introduction, "Hey, how's your brother?" is tossed out at the sight of the star's sibling. It really is sickening for the sibling after some time. It can really be offensive, and I appreciate Sean's honesty when it came to discussing this aspect of his family dynamic. I loved his honesty when he said he wanted to  fill in some of the people who see right past him without any consideration of his well being first. (Unfortunately, it's a common occurrence for many siblings of NHL stars.)