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Monday, February 02, 2009
Books for December and January
(I know I read a couple books that aren't mentioned here, but I can't remember what they were -- other than The Hour I First Believed, which I already reviewed at length -- so I ended up making this post a sort of homage to one of my very favorite authors.)
Years ago, when we took a trip to the art museum in Fresno, my husband and I encountered a painting that we just couldn't stop staring at. It was a nude (shut up; it's culture) on an enormous canvas, this larger-than-life depiction of a round-limbed, well-padded woman in a meadow. The thing about this picture that kept us standing in front of it staring for I don't know how long was the fact that the more we looked, the more we saw that simply blew us away. Looking from across the room, we saw a well-done painting of a lovely girl in an idyllic scene. Standing closer, we noticed more detail and precision; as we kept looking it began to seem as if the woman was going to step out of the frame and into the museum -- the artist had done so careful and exquisite a job with shading and contrast and I don't know what all else magic that artists do with their brushes because frankly I can't even draw a stick figure with any skill.
Reading an Elizabeth Berg short story is kind of like that. Her plots viewed from afar are engaging and original. Her skillful prose makes you want to read slowly to savor it. Viewed extremely closely, her stories not only reveal details about her very knowable characters, but they reveal things about you, the reader, that you may never have actually known about yourself. Her writing, as I've always said, is thick with phrases that make me realize that really I've always thought what she just said; I'd just never thought to think it in those (absolutely perfect) words before. There have been times reading her novels late at night that I have actually cried a little bit at her sheer undeniable rightness.
I read three Elizabeth Bergs in December and January. One is a novella retelling the Nativity called The Handmaid and the Carpenter. If you've only ever thought about the Nativity in Luke's timeless words, or if you can't get the thought of childhood Christmas pageants (your own or the Herdmans') out of your head, you really need to read this lovely little story, which fleshes out the story beautifully, if a little imaginatively at times. 4.25 out of 5.
I also read a collection of Berg's short stories, The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: and Other Small Acts of Liberation. This was my favorite read in a long time: an absolutely delectable collection of stories that are by turns hilarious, poignant, thought-provoking, and downright tear-inducing. Ideally, if you like Berg, you'll buy this, so that you can spread the stories out so as not to run out of them all at once. Many (but not all) of the stories center around a girl or woman who is struggling with weight or eating (or who has decided not to struggle with weight or eating) or dealing a major and painful life change. Some stories are whimsical; some make you feel like you've been punched in the stomach; all are lovely and worth every minute you'll spend reading them. I have spent a lot of time over the years pondering our culture's perception of beauty and thinness and where real women and girls fit into that, but with this collection, Elizabeth Berg made me think about the issue in ways I never had before. I am trying not to make this sound like a set of didactic morality tales or Very Special Episodes, but in case I've failed, they aren't that at all. 5 out of 5.
Early in January, I read her latest novel, We Are All Welcome Here. If I hadn't already said that The Day Ate Whatever I Wanted was my favorite read in a long time, I'd say it about We Are All Welcome Here. In fact, what the heck, I will say it. We Are All Welcome Here is an utterly unique story, set in the 1960's, about Diana, a 13-year-old girl, and her mother Paige, who is paralyzed as a result of a bout with polio suffered during her pregnancy (in fact, Paige gave birth to Diana in an iron lung). Somehow Berg manages to infuse this slightly bizarre-sounding, heartbreaking, based-on-a-true-story tale with beautiful magic. Paige, Diana, and their live-in helper Peacie are brilliantly and realistically drawn. There's not a self-pitying moment in the entire novel; the story is vivid and even upbeat. The main drama is split into several subplots, whose topics include but are not limited to: the Freedom Rider movement, single-mother sexuality, teenage drinking, sweepstaking, absentee fathers, well-intentioned-but-by-the-book social workers, and Elvis Presley (who contributes considerably to the aforementioned magic). Please do yourself the favor of sitting down for a few hours to devour this lovely story. 5 out of 5.
Comments
Ok, I read *We are all welcome here* and I really liked it. For the most part. The ending killed it for me. Killed it. (Do not want to spoil for those who haven't read it yet).
Same thing with *Dream when you're feeling blue* which I read in January. LOVED it. Until the end, which was rushed and ... and ... hmph. Words fail me.
That said, I will seek out the short stories.
Posted by: mary at February 2, 2009 01:31 PM
Mary: I don't know if we've ever disagreed about a book before! :) I loved the end of We Are All Welcome Here, although I could almost always do without epilogues. Make it part of the story or let me imagine it for myself, is my view.
Now I have to know: have you read Water for Elephants? (Please forgive me if you've answered this already; my memory is terrible.) If so, how did you like the ending of that one? I thought it was pretty dang near the most perfect ending to any novel ever. (BTW, I just realized that that was one of the books I read in January, although it was a reread -- that and Love Walked In. Both brilliant, both previously reviewed here.)
I don't specifically remember the ending of Dream When You're Feeling Blue. I did really like the book overall, although it was the least Berg-ish of any Berg book I've ever read and I thought it wasn't up to her regular level of pristine perfection style-wise. Loved the patriotic and nostalgic feel to it, though.
And how do you feel about Picoult endings? They make me want to throw things most of the time, unless I peek in advance, which (oddly) helps.
Posted by: Rachel at February 2, 2009 01:42 PM
Oh, I'm glad you're back. And Elizabeth Berg is a WONDERFUL writer. xo
Posted by: Beck at February 3, 2009 05:26 AM
Um, okay. I haven't read Elizabeth Berg in years, but I think you've convinced me.
Posted by: Kat with a K at February 17, 2009 06:39 AM
