THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING: Alaa Al Aswany

This book was recommended in a review, as one of the best written books about the Middle East, as well as the most popular. I have to admit I did find it very readable, and it presented an interesting view of the Middle Easterner, perhaps more accurately the Egyptian, though it did not match my view of Muslims from having lived in Istanbul. In this book, the men, even the women, seem obsessed with sex, which I found unrealistic, though I don't really know their culture very well. The novel follows a number of characters, from the aging fop who ends up marrying a widow, to a young student and his childhood girl friend. He eventually gets discouraged from pursuing a a career because of police corruption and nepotism, ends up being recruited by Islamcists, and dies in a failed terrorist attack. She ends up discovering her power over men, uses her sexuality to get a job, eventually marrying the fop, Zeki Bey, who, truth be told, just loves women, enjoys their beauty and treats them well. The other major characters are a rich land owner, unhappy with his wife, who takes up with a needy widow, sets her up with an apartment, but sets clear rules, no children. She becomes pregnant, and in the most violent scene, he sends his lackeys, who beat her, leading to an abortion, and the end of their relationship. The power of the wealthy is clear throughout the novel, and the weakness of the poor. The Yacoubian building brings them all together, as either they live on the roof, the poor student and his girlfriend, or have offices in the building Zeki Bey and the merchants. It paints an unattractive picture of Egyptian politics, corruption, ill gotten wealth, as well as the hypocrisy of the religious fanatics. The redeeming qualities of the book lie in the character of most Egyptians, with only a few exceptions. Most of the characters are interesting and well drawn, and like anywhere else, mostly want love and comfort. Some of willing to kill for it, steal, or use any means available to get what they want. But most are willing to leave it to kismet allowing the drift of circumstance to determine their future. Only the strong seem to realize they can shape their future, and use whatever means available to shape it. The women for the most part are aware of their lack of freedom, and to survive, must use all of their skills to assure a future. The novel is modern in that it tracks four or five different characters, in fairly short, readable chapters. It seems less developed and dense then Palace Walk, NAGUIB MAHFOUZ'S great novel. But, I would recommend it to anyone who wants a fun read, set in the Middle East, with a caveat not to take it as a full representative of the Egyptian. Like anywhere, there are millions of types.

The End of a Frozen Lake

It's been in the fifties the last couple of days, and we've watched the lake slowly turn from white, to gray,, from frozen, to slush, to the beginnings of the end of winter. It's sad, as we have thoroughly enjoyed cross country sking the past week, especially since it's been sunny and in the 30's during the day, down into the low teens at night, keeping the lake frozen, the days mild, though we don't really care about it warming up, since we enjoy weather in the teens the most, as long as there is little wind. We tried to go out twice a day, with ipods, and we would ski to the end of Tom's Point and back, taking about an hour, depending on how the conditions were, whether fast or slow. The feeling of being almost alone(except for fishermen) is enriching, as we imbibe the natural world of snow, wind, warmth, the frozen lake, surrounded by trees. I don't think we really knew how to enjoy winter until this year; in Hudson, like most of my colleagues, the winter was something to endure, as we trudged from school, to dining hall, to home, with occasional forays on the bus for games. Rarely if ever did we look at the outdoors as something to embrace, to be 'irrationally happy' with...it was something to endure, and I guess if you have to drive to work each day, that's the way you have to look at winter, plus few have time to really enjoy oneself outside, as we are constantly doing, keeping up with our neighbors and colleagues. Perhaps that's what I have learned the best about a year off, that leisure and freedom allows you to enjoy what you other wise just tolerated. How to keep this sense of freedom and still work is the rub, I suppose. To an extent, we did it the last few years, as we came out to the lake as often as possible, and tried to take advantage of the weekends. Cassells have discovered the beauty of getting away from work, isolating oneself in a environment of outdoor enjoyment, and taking advantages of it. It certainly makes one look differently at winter, at snow and cold, and bemoan it's passing. In fact, the clocks spring ahead this Saturday, alas, making evenings longer but giving us more time to enjoy the light. I wonder if we will be able to find, in spring, the same kind of enjoyment we found this winter. Again, the key is to be outside, to pay attention to the natural world, in this case, birds, burgeoning spring green and flowers, the changing and budding tress, the way the lake changes. If we hike, we will have to enjoy mucking around in wetlands, muddy paths, and see something in those that's enjoyable, even pleasing to the eye. And we will be able to get the kayaks out, enjoy the lake in the spring, even fish more often. The downside or up is we will be on the road for most of April, perhaps part of May, visiting the kids, Ed, and perhaps the Eptings in California. I am excited about driving across the US again, as I love to look at the landscape, to see new towns, to enjoy the going. I hope we can get off of the main highways some, and enjoy the old roads like Route 66, Route 20, other roads that connect the East with the West.

JIM THE BOY: Tony Earley

This is the prequel to The Blue Star, and follows ten year old Jim Glass for a year, as he experiences the usual pains of growing up, this time in a small town called Aliceville in North Carolina. Like The Blue Star, there is a bit of conflict between the townies and mountain boys, though Jim's best friend ends up being a mountain boy named Penn Carson. We see electricity come to the town, as the uncles get Jim up early to see the sky lit for the first time, on Christmas Eve. We see Jim's initial jealous toward Penn, though he overcomes his initial insecurity, though occasionally it rears it's ugly head, especially when he and Penn play ball, trying to impress the immortal Ty Cobb, who supposedly is sitting on a stalled train. Jim refuses to let Penn use his mitt, and dramatically, Penn collapses, a beginning stage of polio. Jim must sit in his house for months, for fear of his having polio, and the book ends, with his visiting Penn for the first time, with a crippled leg. The boys don't know how to speak with each other, each is emotionally upset, and when Penn falls asleep, because of the anxiety and their harsh words, Jim leaves his ball glove and baseball in Penn's sleeping arms. The book ends with his visit to his grandfather, a convict, a man hated by his Mom, for his personality. Jim is allowed to glimpse him, for the first time, through a screen door, as he lies dying in his mountain cabin. The uncles has taken him up to see both Penn and his grandfather, a major stage in his development. The book ends with his being overwhelmed by the immensity of life, as he sits up on the mountain top, looking down at what had been his world, Aliceville, until he came up the mountain, to face a friend who almost died, a grandfather who is dying, and the realization that his world will change, has changed, forever. A lovely book, true to the feelings of a young boy growing up.

THE BLUE STAR-- Tony Early

Jim Glass is a high school senior, ready to experience life, just as WWII is ready to begin. The book ends with his enlistment,after Pearl Harbor, so we don't know what happens after this. Interestingly, it opens with a letter from Jim's girlfriends' Mom to his Uncle Zeno, explaining why she won't marry him because he refuses to enlist in WWI, and thus embarrasses her with his lack of patriotism. Jim lives with his widow mother, his three uncles, who seem to be the wealthy farmers in the town of Aliceville. Jim has been going with Norma, the smartest and best looking girl in town, but he cannot seem to get anywhere with her, as she always draws the line. He ends up falling madly in love with Chrissie Steppe, a new girl in town, from the wrong side of the mountain, whose Mom was engaged to Uncle Zeno, thus the parallels between the generations. Chrissie, of course, won't give Jim the time of day, mostly because she's embarrassed by the fact that she's supposed to be Bucky Buckhorn's girlfriend, and the fact her family is beholden to Bucky's father for a shack to live in. Chrissie's father, an Native American, is despised by Jim's uncles, for his thriftless ways, his confidence, and his arrogance. Clearly, racism enters into this, always covert, though we feel it when Jim is confronted with the fact that Chrissie is half native American. The novel moves toward the conclusion, to Jim's decision to enlist, unlike his Uncle Zeno, and the major event is the death of Bucky, in an accident, and all the emotions it elicits from Chrissie(relief but also guilt), and Jim (some happiness and guilt for feeling it), and the terrible rage of the father, who seems to be the most arrogant in the story. We also learn that Chrissie's father has been killed during a robbery, thus she is faced with all these deaths at once. It brings Jim and her together, however, and though she never en tiredly commits herself to Jim, it's clear she will wait for him to return from the war. The novel depicts the angst of growing up, of young love, of violence, mostly emotional, by both Bucky and his father towards the poor, especially a women. Jim, the hero, comes across as a grown up Opie, making mistakes but he has the right instincts. The most touching scene is when Jim's Uncle Zeno takes him off and tells him about his love for Chrissie's mom, the reasons why he didn't enlist, and how she then turned to the more rebellious and dangerous native American, called Indian Joe. The novel is written brilliantly, plumbing the depths of Jim's feelings and love for his family, the mountains of North Carolina, and Chrissie. Norma, Jim's former girl friend, though initially seen as a 'goody goody' ends up being the most mature person in the story, caring for Jim despite his love for Chrissie and ends up being a good friend, something he would have found impossible early in the text.