A book review: Him Standing by Richard Wagamese

Confession: I got this book as an advanced reader’s copy through a librarything give-away waaaay back in April, but it got buried under other books so I didn’t get around reading it until yesterday.

Anyway, Him Standing is definitely more of a novella or a fairly long short story as opposed to a novel. It’s only 129 pages long and the margins/print are HUGE so the page count is misleading. This, of course, doesn’t impact the quality of the work; it’s only a statement about the book itself.

Simply put, (and without spoilers) this story details the misadventures of a young woodcarver when he is taken advantage of by an evil shaman. Him Standing reads almost like a myth/fable providing a nice (but brief) glimpse into the richness of the folklore and mythology of the Ojibwe people. The writing style is very straightforward and the pacing is quick providing an easy, easy read. However, Wagamase’s simple prose should not be mistaken as being stunted or overly-simplistic. His words seem to accurately reflect the gritty/simple lives of his characters and he does still manage to fit some beautiful passages/imagery into this work.

Because the time commitment to read this book is so low and because this story provides a window into a culture that has not received the largest of audiences, I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a nice story.

A book review: No-No Boy (by John Okada)

Hello! So I bought this book because 1) it talks about the plight of Japanese Americans after WWII and 2) it takes place in Seattle. Both of these things resonate with me, because I’m 1/4 Japanese and I’m currently living in Seattle. However, despite BEING a little bit Japanese, I am not Japanese (obviously). I have no genuine understanding/appreciation of what it means to be Japanese. No Japanese culture/heritage was passed down from my grandmother to her children, so I have no authentic sense of Japan. It’s always bothered me a little bit that she decided to do this, because there are so many fascinating, wonderful, beautiful things about Japan and I wish I could relate even just a little bit. However, reading books that take place during this time period give me a bit of insight into the hatred that was targeted at Japanese Americans during and after WWII. This helps me gain a greater appreciation for my grandmother’s reasoning; by not teaching my father how to be Japanese, she was trying to save him from experiencing some of the hardships and prejudice that she suffered.

A book review: Lonely Woman (by Takako Takahashi)

Simply put, Lonely Woman is a collection of short stories. However, each of these five stories is linked; in addition to sharing a feeling of loneliness (the title is accurately descriptive), they are also related by various primary/secondary characters (though the main character of the story always changes). This is interesting because it allows you to think about each story individually, or you can opt to view them as a whole. As you continue to read more, your perception of the characters from the previous stories subtly changes and grows; your appreciation and sympathy for them deepens.

A book review: A Year in the Maine Woods (by Bernd Heinrich)

I’ve been a fan of Bernd Heinrich for several years now. I’ve read a lot of his work and have enjoyed everything I’ve had the good fortune to get my hands on. A Year in the Maine Woods was no exception; it is a lovely, relaxing, informative book. Reading it lead to an overwhelming sense of well-being mixed with an urgent longing to go out into the forest and explore on my own.

The premise of this book is very simple: a man goes and lives in his cabin in the woods for a year and writes about his experiences. But Heinrich is a not really what you’d call an ordinary guy. He’s pretty quirky. In a good way. He’s a naturalist and scientist and an educator. His observations are rich and varied, insightful and thought-provoking.

A book review: Still Life with Woodpecker (by Tom Robbins)

In this post I will refrain from talking about baseball and instead give you a book review. Lucky you! But first, a brief introduction into my reading life/history…

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I love books. They are the thing that I love the most and have loved the longest and the hardest. If I don’t spend at least an hour reading each day, it genuinely feels like I’m missing out. Although I’ve enjoyed reading since I was 4 or 5, my tastes have of course changed. I used to read a ton of fantasy (and some science fiction) when I was in middle/high school, but during my undergraduate years, and especially over the past five years I’ve spent in graduate school, I’ve migrated away from ‘harder’ genres and have read a lot more random/literary fiction. Over the past two years I’ve also really cultivated an appreciation/love for Japanese literature (translated into English).

My all-time favorite author is Bill Watterson. My other favorite authors are Kevin Brockmeier, Yasunari Kawabata, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Richard Brautigan, Osamu Dazai, Italo Calvino, and Mark Twain. I would absolutely and wholeheartedly recommend any of these authors to anybody. At the beginning of 2009, I started keeping a reading log and promised myself to try and read at least 75 books a year. Since then, I’ve read 373 titles (good for ~82 a year), so I’m doing a good job. Feel free to click on things for more details about my bibliophilism.

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Okay. On to the book review!