Category Archives: Books

A couple weeks ago before I heard about the hoopla surrounding what right-wing or left-wing people were saying about the movie “American Sniper,” I picked up and read Chris Kyle’s 2012 book of it because I was curious to get a glimpse of the war in Iraq from a Navy SEAL’s first-hand account. My brother had given the book to my husband for Christmas and it was lying around. I didn’t know much about it other than it seemed like a scary-ass war book from its title, the movie trailers, and the fact that Chris Kyle is credited with the most sniper kills in U.S. military history.

Indeed the book is scary and disturbing as war is. I’m sure no one can fully comprehend the reality or horrors of war who haven’t experienced it as our troops have. Chris Kyle’s account is quite blunt and candid. He tells of how he became a Navy SEAL and about his four tours in Iraq from 2003 to 2009. He takes readers along the way through the intense urban combat he experienced in the Iraqi cities of Fallujah, Ramadi, and Sadr City. Mostly Kyle was responsible for sniper overwatches, where he and his team set up in or on top of buildings, protecting Marines or Army troops on the ground by shooting anyone who posed them harm. He also did foot patrols with troops and went door-to-door, weeding out insurgents and weapons caches.

It’s heart-pounding warfare not for the squeamish. Kyle was shooting to kill each time and makes no bones about it in the book. He was doing his job, he says, before the enemy killed him or other troops. He was so good at being a sniper that the insurgents labeled him the “devil of Ramadi” and put a bounty on his head, while U.S troops referred to him as “the Legend.” He placed his priorities in God, country, and family in that order (despite his wife’s disagreement). And his moral clarity about protecting his Team by killing enemies never wavers in the book. He has no regrets about his service other than he couldn’t save more U.S. troops, or trade places with the three U.S. Navy SEALS who lost their lives during his time there.

I’m sure Kyle saved very many lives in the line of fire. He served four tours in Iraq in incredibly dangerous conditions, while at the same time missing out on his family when his kids were babies. I commend him and the troops for their service to the country and Allied mission. He says in the book he wasn’t doing it for the Iraqi people, who he doesn’t seem to put much faith in, but solely for the U.S. He doesn’t go into why we were in Iraq in the first place but simply went where elected officials declared war.

Kyle’s view is definitely a patriotic account but is it, as some say, propaganda? I think he lets readers decide what they will. Quite a few will find the book like I did disturbing in his love of war and killing — how he was concerned with the numbers and in getting the most kills, and how he refers at some points to the Iraqis as savages and details mowing down the “bad guys’” and delighting in their slaughter. It takes a toll just reading about it, much less doing it. Though I’m sure we need tough guys like Kyle to wage our dangerous battles and protect the country.

Apparently the latest edition of the book has been toned down a bit. Though candidly opinionated by Kyle, the book at this point has been vetted by the military, two co-authors, and lawyers alike. Such scenes as in the movie’s trailer that shows a mother and son moving toward the U.S. troops with an RKG grenade was redacted from the book says the movie’s screenwriter. Gone, too, is the subchapter apparently in which Kyle wrote about punching out Jesse Ventura, which Ventura said never happened and in which he won a $1.8 million defamation lawsuit against Kyle.

Despite that, Kyle’s account is informative in bringing insight into how the troops worked in Iraq, into weapons, rank, tactics, what the landscape and war was like, what factions they faced, what SEALS are like, and what they did. The book also highlights how hard deployments are on military families and returning veterans. It shows the war abroad as well as the war at home, where spouses often raise children on their own and vets can’t get the help they need. Kyle’s wife, Taya, writes passages throughout the book about what she’s experiencing and the relations between her and Kyle.

At one point, it seemed the stress of warfare would break their marriage apart, but the book relates how with great effort they held on. By the end, with his wife’s urging, Kyle leaves the war and eventually begins a security company (Craft Intl) and starts helping veterans return to civilian life. The war changed Kyle; it undoubtedly took a toll and affected him. He seems to grow from it by the book’s end. Tragically Chris Kyle was killed in 2013 while helping a vet at a Texas gun range. Now the murder trial of him is all over the news.

It’s prominent especially because the movie of “American Sniper” has been such an astounding blockbuster. I saw it on Sunday and would never have thought that it would become the top war movie of all time at the box office, nor the top movie of 2014, which it looks like it will be. The movie is effective and moving, rough to watch in parts, and in places powerful, but I wouldn’t pick it as the best war film ever.

It’s drawn controversy no doubt. Those on the right say it’s patriotic, heroic, and highlights the hardships of military families and vets, and also shows the toll the war took on Kyle. While some on the left see the movie as glorifying an unjust war, violence, and a gun culture run amok. Take your pick. I feel it’s more the former than the latter. It’s up for six Academy Awards. I’m still a bit puzzled by the huge success of it when other Iraq war films haven’t fared well.

The film differs from the book quite a bit, notably the movie has the U.S. troops trying to root out a couple of specific Iraqi bad guys, whereas the book describes the clearing out of insurgents in general. Other details differ as well and the script was revised after Kyle was killed. His wife Taya and their marriage troubles figure in both the book and movie. Bradley Cooper who plays Kyle and Sienna Miller who plays Taya excel in their roles. Cooper looks much huskier, and purposely bulked up for the part. I heard about the “fake baby” the filmmakers used in a scene and had to laugh a bit when it came up despite the scene’s seriousness. A rubber baby? C’mon Clint.

The book and movie I’m sure aren’t for everyone. For me I think it’s always informative to know what the country’s military is up to, or what is being asked of our troops, or to reflect on what has been done. I’m curious sometimes to read various perspectives, both military and non-military, about the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, even though they can be a harsh look at human existence. This particular story seems to have its lessons: about sacrifice, about family, and about showing that war is hell and should be the very last resort.

What about you — do you have any interest in seeing the movie or reading the book? And if you have, what did you think?
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Sheryl Sandberg’s nonfiction book “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead” came out last March and has stirred up a lot of talk either favorably or unfavorably about it ever since. Some have also seen her TEDTalk titled “Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders,” which she did in 2010. Currently Sandberg, the chief operating officer at Facebook, has a four-part series with co-writer Adam Grant on women at work running in the New York Times. The series continues with views that are in her book.

I picked up and read “Lean In” because my women’s book group chose to discuss it later this month, though I had been curious to read it since it came out. I don’t normally read business or books about employment, but it raises some interesting issues and I’m sure it’ll be a decent book for discussion as everyone has different work experiences and personal lives and views that will touch on things Sandberg brings up in the book.

Her main concern is the dearth of women in top executive or leadership positions at the workplace and that fewer women are aspiring to senior positions. She is upset that highly qualified and educated women are dropping out of the workforce and argues for getting more women in powerful positions by focusing mostly on what women can do to overcome the internal barriers that hold them back.

Yep, women, she maintains, are often holding themselves back from getting the top jobs. I’m sure many aren’t really pleased to hear this from a privileged, rich woman who had very powerful mentors along the way. As if she’s saying, I did it so what’s wrong with you? But generally I liked her book and thought it made many valid points. I didn’t agree with everything in it, but I did think it added to the discussion of working women, and I’m not one to dismiss it just because it looks inward at what women can do better.

In “Lean In,” Sandberg talks among other things about: increasing self-confidence, getting over stereotypes, reaching for opportunities, taking risks, getting mentoring, negotiating more, not worrying about pleasing everyone, applying for promotions, setting goals, and choosing a spouse that will equally share in household chores and childcare. She wants more women to “lean in” to their careers and more men to “lean in” to their families.

Quite a bit of what’s in the book might not be totally groundbreaking, you’ve likely heard these kinds of female business or self-help acumens before, but the book’s also well integrated with personal anecdotes and statistical research. I found both the stats and anecdotes revealing — and I thought quite a few of her tips were good and made me reflect on ways I could do things slightly differently at home or at work.

A few things I think that could’ve been cut from the book or that I would avoid would be: crying at work especially in front of your boss, smiling endlessly when asking for promotions, and asking any prospective employees whether they plan to have children. I guess I wouldn’t feel comfortable with these.

But I do share her premise that a world in which more women held power would be a better place, and I think it’s helpful of her to explore why we aren’t there yet. It’s definitely based on an array of complex reasons (both internal and external). I’d also point out there’s many ways to contribute to society and make an impact, and many ways to lead successful and fulfilling lives. Her corporate way is just one of many. I think she’d argue that women must keep going, reaching for goals and opportunities whatever their path might be and despite fears and obstacles. I found her book was good food for thought.

Meanwhile my husband and I saw the movie “Wild” last week, which I think we both liked. Many of those who read Cheryl Strayed’s 2012 memoir won’t be disappointed I think by the film version. It sticks pretty close to the book and enhances it with the beautiful visuals of the landscape and the performances by Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl and Laura Dern as her mother, both of whom have been nominated for Academy Awards for their portrayals.

“Wild” chronicles a young woman’s solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert to Washington State undertaken after the death of her mother and the end of her marriage. On the journey she finds solace and begins to heal.

I’m a sucker for such hiking/journey-types of finding oneself stories, and while I liked but didn’t love the “Wild” book, I was moved by seeing her journey on film. During Cheryl’s trek, there’s various flashbacks to her childhood with her brother and her single mother and also flashbacks of the downward spiral her life took in her late twenties. You feel her anguish and grief and also her healing as she moves forward. It’s a quiet film that captures her strenuous hike and internal struggles. It reminded me a bit of the 2010 film “The Way” with Martin Sheen, which similarly involves a long hike and the grieving process.

What about you have you read “Lean In” or seen the film “Wild” and what did you think? Continue reading →

So the first book I read for 2015 … drumroll please … was “The Enchanted” by Rene Denfeld, which came out in March 2014. It left quite an impression on me and would’ve been my pick for best novel of 2014 if I had read it just a few weeks back. It’s very dark and brutal in some places but beautifully written and very well done.

How to explain it? The novel takes place at an old stone prison where some of the inmates wait on death row. There’s a warden, a priest, and a lady investigator who visits trying to discover buried information about her clients’ pasts to save the soon-to-be executed. One part of the story is about her life and a case she is working on to save a prisoner named York. He doesn’t want to be saved though, but she pursues it, revealing some ugly truths about his past (and her own) while investigating in his hometown.

The other part of the story is about what goes on at the prison as told through the eyes of a reclusive death row inmate. All the awful things you hear about in prison and among inmates manifests themselves in the story in brutal ways. To escape his situation, the inmate disappears in his books and re-imagines the prison as an enchanted place where fantastical creatures rome. He’s fearful, living in his cell with covers over his head, but he’s able to sense what others cannot.

“The Enchanted” is an unusual and unsparing story about life on death row. It’s not too political (there’s characters in it on both sides), it’s not sentimental (definitely not Disney), it’s not forcing something down your throat, but rather by the end it gets to something of what it is to be human — both the violent and the good. You sense the humanity of those involved.

I can’t say I really realized what this book would entail when I picked it up. It’s quite harsh, so be forewarned. It’s not a light, feel-good book. It’s about the exact opposite of my last read “The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry,” which I found too sentimental. This one is not anything like that. Normally I would not pick up a novel about a death row prison, but I’m very glad I did. Despite its darkness, I was taken by the beauty of the book — the author’s descriptions — and how well it is done — exploring such themes of the human condition. It pretty much blew me away.

Speaking of humanity, I did see the film “Unbroken” the other night, and while I did think the film was good in various respects, I’m sorry to say it didn’t fully capture the essence of Laura Hillenbrand’s book about Louis Zamperini’s incredible life story. Notably it misses quite a bit of the context of the history in her book, and what life was like for servicemen in the Pacific theater during WWII. It also misses Louis’s formative post-war years completely by just putting a postscript at the end of the film.

I liked the early parts of “Unbroken” best of Louie running, and the flying scenes of the WWII bomber plane. The scenes on the raft were also vivid and Jack O’Connell does quite a reputable job as Louis Zamperini. But the brutal scenes once Louie gets captured and sent to the Japanese POW camp take a toll. As my nephew said: the film felt like a long series of really bad stuff occurring to one person. And for me: who wants to watch a movie of two hours of torture? Without more historical context of the collective war experience, and Louie’s redemption later in life, the film misses out on being a lot more. I think Hillenbrand would stress that Louis Zamperini was just one among hundreds of thousands of Allied servicemen who sacrificed and was a hero during WWII. Through her book, we get to learn a little bit more about their service in the Pacific theater.

What about you — have you read (or plan to read) “The Enchanted” or have you seen (or plan to see) the film “Unbroken” — and what did you think? Continue reading →

I haven’t posted lately as I have been busy with all things related to Christmas, but my husband and I had a lovely week at the beach in California visiting my folks. Now we are back to the snow in Canada, wondering how the vacation went by so quickly. It’s the last day of the year, so I want to wish everybody a very Happy New Year! I’m sure like many of you I’ll be setting new reading goals in 2015, such as mixing in more nonfiction and maybe classics and upping the number of books that I hope to read. I also want to review a book from each month that’s just come out, thereby staying more current and topical. Meanwhile I have a few mini-reviews of books and a movie I saw on break.

The first is Lisa Genova’s 2007 debut novel “Still Alice,” which I wanted to read as it is coming out as a movie with Julianne Moore and Alec Baldwin on Jan. 16. Much buzz has been talked about of Moore’s performance and whether it’ll be award-winning, so I was game for the book. Granted, it’s a bit of an odd choice at Christmas break, reading a story about a successful female professor at Harvard who gets diagnosed at 50 with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. It’s quite sad sort of like all the plane crash news of AirAsia on TV this past week. How much can one take that’s depressing?

Yet “Still Alice” doesn’t bog down in overly sentimental, emotional gush. It tracks Alice’s diagnosis and what happens to her professional and family life as a happily married working woman with three grown children. As the disease progresses, the bonds of the family are tested, as well as Alice’s own identity of who she is if not the brilliant professor she once was. The novel’s a compelling quick read and is informative about the disease and its genetic link and testing. I flew through it, wanting to hear more of Alice even though her prognosis isn’t good. Also having the book told from Alice’s point of view, as she struggles through, definitely makes it more unique from other Alzheimer’s stories I’ve read, which are often told from the caretakers point of view. It adds more value and understanding to her situation too.

I liked “Still Alice” though there were a couple times that strained my believability, particularly the part where Alice shows up to teach the next semester without having told the university what’s happening despite the disease’s evident progression. She’s in denial all right, but she should have just told them and taken a leave instead of having to be confronted by the department head. Still it’s a moving book about a terrible disease that’s touched so many people’s lives. I’ll be curious to see the movie.

I also liked Gabrielle Zevin’s “The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry,” which has been quite popular this year. It’s a novel about a grumpy bookstore owner and widower on an island in New England whose life becomes transformed after a two-year-old baby is left abandoned at his store. Most of it takes place at the bookstore and captures a bit of the magic of books and bookselling so I was eager to read it having worked during my younger years in indie bookstores.

The novel starts strong and I immediately thought I was going to love it. There’s both humor and heart to it, and the first encounter between A.J. and the book sales rep Amelia is a funny exchange. The story also has a bit of intrigue when A.J.’s rare book of Poe’s poetry is stolen and the child is left at the store. The island clientele also makes for fun characters and a good book community.

“The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry” seems to have all the right ingredients but then somewhere along the way it becomes too sentimental and I couldn’t shake it for the rest of the book. Just seems a bit sweetened. So I liked it but didn’t end up loving it. Drat. I also thought it would delve more into books than it actually does. Oh the stories I could tell about the bookstores I ended up at.

Last but not least, “The Imitation Game” is a movie I would highly recommend. The history behind the breaking of Germany’s Enigma Code during WWII is fascinating, and it stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, the real life mathematician who helped solve the code. What more do you want? It’s a race against time during the war, and not only do the code-breakers have to crack the code against a machine considered unbreakable, but once they do then they can’t let the Germans suspect they solved it. The film’s great and also involves the sad fate of what happened to Alan Turing after the war (no spoilers here). So far the film’s my favorite going into award season, but I still have plenty of others to see, so stay tuned.

What about you – have you read or seen any of these or do you plan to? And what did you think?
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