Let’s summarize quickly and chronologically: Kweku Sai, a Ghanian man, is expelled from Nigeria in the “Ghana Must Go” policy in the 80s. He becomes a renowned surgeon in Boston where he also has a wonderful Nigerian wife and four intelligent, beautiful children. After a career-ending indignity, he abandons his family to return to Accra, leaving emotionally damaged children and an overwhelmed wife in his wake. When he dies (don’t worry, not a spoiler), the family re-convenes in Ghana, and each person (and, consequently, the […]
Portrait of an Ordinary Woman
Olive Kitteridge is a book about folks in Crosby, Maine, basically a collection of short stories that amount to a (light) novel. Each story is about someone in Crosby, Maine–sometimes Olive is the main character, and sometimes she makes an appearance as a supporting character or even in someone’s memory. Olive is a sourpuss middle-aged lady, big-boned and no-nonsense. She’s described by different characters as scary, large, imposing, and she knows these things about herself with a kind of partial self-awareness that felt extremely familiar. […]
Illusions Upon Illusions
This is a book that I loved reading and recommend, but I still feel that it could have been more. Let’s discuss. Summary: Le Cirque des Reves appears without warning and is only open at night. It is filled with the most incredible, magical acts, tents, and personalities that you could imagine. It attracts young and old, it moves soundlessly and without warning from place to place, and it enjoys a spectacular run. But behind the scenes (dun dun DUN) are two old magicians, using […]
Yup, another review of The Cuckoo’s Calling
If I counted correctly, I’m the sixth Cannonballer to pick up The Cuckoo’s Calling, so you’re probably already familiar with the summary: injured war veteran and private detective Cormoran Strike, down on his luck and down to his last pence; his new girl Friday, Robin, newly engaged and enthralled with the prospect of working with a real live detective; a celebrity suicice–OR IS IT?–and a bunch of usual suspects, all with a conceivable motive and a suspicious air about them. None of the individual characters were […]
1984 IRL
While reading this book, I had to keep reminding myself that it is not, in fact, 1984. The stories Demick tells are true. North Korea is a place that actually exists. These stories happened, are happening. This is the story of North Korea as told through the lives of 6 ordinary but very different people, from the Korean War through 2010. The story is told masterfully, gliding between the details of the regime and the details of these people’s lives: there’s Mrs. Song, my personal […]
Catching up on the classics: Silas Marner
I always find it hard to rate and review classics. Usually they’re classics for a reason, I usually enjoy them just fine, and at the very least I appreciate them. Earlier in the year I read Middlemarch, which was wonderful and long, and I thought I should expand my Eliot horizons. Silas Marner is much shorter than Middlemarch, and a much easier read. You probably know the basics: old, miserly bachelor happens to become the caretaker of an orphan, who teaches him the True Meaning […]
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