Review: The Master & Margarita

Author: Mikhail Bulgakov

Title: The Master & Margarita

Description: I’ll give it a shot. There are some odd folks in Russia who seem to have the ability to predict the future. Some poets die, or go insane. There are flashbacks to the trial of Jesus by Pilate. Demons are involved, as is Satan himself. Confusion ensues. There is a woman named Margarita who loves a writer named The Master. She gets involved with the bad guys, but all seems to turn out in the end.

Plot: As you may perceive, I didn’t really get the plot.

Characters: I didn’t get the characters either.

Writing style: The book was originally written in Russian. I read the Ginsburg translation which is supposed to be the best; I can’t imagine how incomprehensible the other translations must be. It’s also supposed to be satirical. I guess I don’t know enough about communism in Stalinist Russia to get the satire.

Audience: Very smart people. Smarter than me.

Wrap-up: Absolutely hated it. Could be the worst book I ever actually finished. Since I don’t give zero stars, I guess it gets 1/5*

Review: Something Lost Behind the Ranges

Author: Phyllis Mazzocchi

Title:  Something lost behind the ranges: Memoirs of a Traveler in Peru

Description: Mazzocchi is on a quest to see Machu Picchu, but a strike delays her, so she takes an unplanned detour around Peru, including a visit to Lake Titicaca.

Source: One of seven books nominated for Foreword’s award in the travel category (I’m a judge this year).

Writing style: Mazzocchi has an unusual writing style; she seems to have a poetic bent, enjoying unusual phrases and vivid metaphors. I’m reading Vernacular Eloquence by Peter Elbow right now. He writes about how phrases don’t sound right to the ear even when they look alright on the page, and that’s what I kept thinking about as I read this book. Even though she employs unusual language, the phrases often just sound awkward.

Audience: It’s a travel memoir.

Major ideas: Not sure—the author travels alone and does a lot of reflection, but unless it’s as simple as “Machu Picchu is a sacred spot,” I missed it.

Wrap-up: The book lacked a central theme; the author’s random wandering in response to the strike is reflected in the apparently random structure of the book. 2.5/5*

Review: Dark Waters

Author: Jason Lewis

Title: Dark Waters (The Expedition Trilogy, Book 1): True Story of the First Human-Powered Circumnavigation of the Earth

Description: Lewis and his partner attempt a circumnavigation under only their own power. This book is first in a planned trilogy, and covers the building of their pedal boat, the Moksha, their bicycle ride across Europe, their Atlantic crossing, and their crossing of the U.S., Stuart by bicycle, and Jason by roller blade.

Source: One of seven books nominated for Foreword’s award in the travel category (I’m a judge this year).

Writing style: Lewis is funny and pretty self-aware. He admits his shortcomings when he sees them. Lewis moves fluently between life-threatening danger—rogue waves, pirates, lack of food—daily drudgery, and his efforts to discover the meaning of life.

Audience: those who enjoy high adventure.

Major ideas: Writing about the meaning of life (or trying to) is a dangerous temptation. All too often, someone will spend hours in meditation and contemplation and come up with profound revelation, only to fail hopelessly to put it into words that rise above the trite. Of course, I’m tempted to go into long digressions here about the nature of language and its relation to reality, but I’ll resist.  I’ll also refrain from telling you the meaning of life—it’ll be much more exciting when it’s revealed to you in the book.

Wrap-up: Definitely worth a read. 4/5*

Review: Kilimanjaro

Author: MG Edwards

Title: Kilimanjaro: One Man’s Quest to Go Over the Hill

Description: Edwards decides to tackle Kilimanjaro as a sort of midlife challenge to himself as he debates the path his life will take in the future. With three like-minded friends, he plans an attempt on Kilimanjaro. He takes us with him through the process from planning to aftermath.   

Source: One of seven books nominated for Foreword’s award in the travel category (I’m a judge this year).

Writing style: Edwards’ writing style grew on me. He gives some personal detail without giving too much information, and the same can be said of the climbing detail. The result is a saga of the trip that doesn’t get bogged down or go too fast. He does seem to relate his own climb to Hemingway’s Snows of Kilimanjaro story a little much—the book would stand on its own without this conceit.

Audience: Those who enjoy first-person travel narratives or stories of people tackling bucket-list type quests.

Major ideas: Edwards knows that the climb will be the most physical challenge he has ever tackled. He’s having difficulties in his career, and figures if he can master Kilimanjaro, he can face the challenge of changing his life’s path in other ways.

Wrap-up: I enjoyed this book. It’s an independent publication, so the quality (i.e. small black and white pictures) could have been better, but overall, I would recommend. 4/5*

Review: American Ghost

Author: Janis Owens

Title: American Ghost

Description: Sam Lense is in the backwoods of the Florida Panhandle researching descendants of Indian tribes, but he has a personal motive for being there as well. Once he meets Jolee Hoyt, though, he’s mostly just falling in love. An ill-fated trip to the Hoyts’ fishing camp leaves Sam fighting for his life back in Miami and Jolee feeling bewildered and betrayed. They both put the time behind them until the past insists on resurfacing yet again.  

Plot: Some places just don’t want outsiders and don’t want their secrets disturbed.

Characters: Jolee is Owens’ masterpiece; she’s a smart, independent heroine born into a family that sees women as servants in a town that no one ever escapes from. Sam can appreciate this kind of woman, but he has to fight years of tradition.

Writing style: If it’s nothing else, this is a Florida book, full of atmosphere, Cracker secrets, and the ghosts of the past. In other words, it’s neither plot-driven nor character-driven, but place-driven, which, if done well, can be the best of all.

Audience: This is literary fiction, but it’s not a difficult read. It especially appealed to me as someone with an interest in Florida literature, but I’d recommend for anyone.

Wrap-up: I haven’t read Swamplandia yet, but this is my favorite Florida novel since Paradise Dogs. 4/5

Author: Ruth Reichl

Title: Comfort me with Apples

Description: Reichl is the master of the food memoir. She recalls her life through meals she had at different times with different people—though that’s really putting it a bit simply. She remembers events and food events at the same level, and excels at describing both to the reader.   

Source: This was my choice for our book group read.

Writing style: Oh, she is so sensuous. She can describe the taste, the experience of food like no one else; she uses all her senses to encounter a meal and then replays it for us.

Audience: foodies, memoir readers

Major ideas: The book is about a difficult time in Reichl’s life: the breakup of a marriage and a romance and her experiences with infertility. She’s pretty honest with the reader about her own failings, but we forgive her because she writes so beautifully.

Wrap-up: I’m a fan, and gobbled this book up. I just wish I had someone to cook the recipes at the end of each chapter for me! 5/5*

Review: The Mine

Author: John A. Heidt

Title: The Mine

Description: Joel Smith enters an abandoned mine and comes out in 1941. When he realizes that he won’t be heading back, he begins to make a life in a new time period. He gets a job, falls in love, and even meets people he knew in his old life. But what will happen when he gets the chance to return to his own time?

Review source: I received a review copy from the author.

Plot: I enjoyed this book, and couldn’t guess where it was going. I think part of that was that the title implied that the book was about the mine, but the mine was just the time travel mechanism.

Characters: Joel seemed almost too good to be true, as did Grace, his love interest. There were some interesting side characters, but I wouldn’t say that character development is a strength of the book.

Writing style: I find it sort of interesting that authors always have to have some “mechanism” of time travel. There should be a genre that just accepts time travel and starts with the story.

Audience: Time travel.

Wrap-up: This book is part of a series called Northwest Passage that is connected by the conceit of time travel. It has a sequel entitled The Show (maybe Grace performs in a show that transports her across time). The Mine is available for Kindle right now for .99-- at that price, it's worth taking a look! 3.5/5*