East of Eden

While I enjoyed this book, I found it diffficult to follow at times, with Steinbeck's dialogue not flowing in a natural way. Cathy is an evil woman though, and having a villain like her makes the novel very engrossing. Of course many a literary scholar would disagree that Cathy is a villain in the calssic mustache twirling kin of way, bu tbelieve me she is evil.

Steinbeck says that this book is based on stories from the area he grew-up in, and indeed there are some Steinbecks in the book, but other things I have read about this book say that it is a retelling of the Adam and Eve (in the book this is Adam and Cathy) and then Cain and Abel (Cal and Aron), so who knows how much is based in fact, and how much is from his imagination.

Good book, and yes I got this one from Oprah too. But the next one I did not.

The Good Earth

I first fell in love with this story when I saw the movie when I was much, much younger. I indentified so strongly with Olan. (I don't know what that says about me.) When Oprah picked this for her book club, I thought, I must read it. (I am not a big book club follower - I read either too quickly or two slowly)

And I am very glad I did. The story of Wang Lung has some very moralistic overtones, if you leave the land, bad things happen, but the true heroine of the piece is Olan. It is her struggles and matter of fact practicality about life that allow Wang Lung to succeed. It is only after Olan has gone, that he realizes exactly what she was, yet even then, he can not bring himself to love her.

It's a truly brilliant book and everyone should read it.

Coronation Street: The Complete Saga

So first off, let me admit this, I am a huge fan of this long running British Soap Opera.

This book preports to be a novelization of the entire run of the series. It does cover the major plot points, focusing on the very popular and log running characters such as Ken Barlow, Emily Nugent/Bishop, Bet Lynch, Elsie Tanner, Len Fairclough, Rita Littlewood/Fairclough/Sullivan and Gail Potter/Tilsley/Plat/Hillman. Unfortunately they leave out the entire McDonald Clan, not to mention the entire fabulous Battersby clan, who are turned into bit players except for Leanne's involvement with Nicky Platt. This means that one of the best stories of the last few years, the Dennis/Eileen/Janice triangle, is missing. And Mavis is only in the story as a spear carrier. There is no mention of Derek or Arthur the gnome. There are also some factual errors in the book, such as Des Barnes dying of a heart attack, when he, in fact, was murdered.

Overall though, the book is a satisfying read and helps fill in some missing pieces for the new fans, as well as give the long time fan a bit of nostalia.

Whore - by Nelly Arcand

I heard about this book on the CBC Radio program "C'Est La Vie".

The book caused quite a controversy in Quebec when it was originally published in French as "Putain" (that would be the French word for Whore). And after reading it, I can see why.

Don't read this book if you are looking for cheap dime store thrills, or bad Harlequin sex scenes. Arcan has chose to write this book in a stream of consciousness style. It is not a plot driven novel, but more of a collection of thoughts about the main character, Cynthia's life as a whore.

It is an interesting work though, with Cynthia's reflection on why her clients visit her (they are all fathers who want to have sex with their daughters, but since they can't, they hire her), why she is a whore, what lead her here, why whores will always exist, and why Cynthia can't have a normal relationship. There are also some facinating looks at her patrons, Michael the Dog who wants to be dominated, and Mathieu, whose youth cause Cynthia to question her value in a youth based profession. There is also Michael the Jew, who is remarkable in that he stands out in a crowd that Cynthia admits is faceless and nameless, there are so many.

One of the things I find missing from this book is taking of personal responsibilityby the main character. Her entry into prositution is put on the shoulders of her parents. Her mother has apparently spent much of her life in bed, slowing spreading out. Her father, a very religious and dour man, never the less has sought comfort in the arms of other women, both paid and not. He apparently taunted his wife with this, and his wife openly discussed this with Cynthia. It is their fault, Cynthia contends, that she now is paid to have sex with men. No where is the concept of free will or personal choice adressed. Cynthia never really admits that although she may have come from a horrible background, that she made the choice to enter into this life. She does admit that she finds it hard to leave as she is addicted to the material lifestyle her career has brought her.

It is a very interesting book though. I recommend it to anyone interested in the real world of prostitution over the Julia Roberts sugar coated view. It is also wonderful for me, and English Canadian, to have access to modern, relevant literature from the other solitude.