A May Update

An Update to Les Miserables - which I am reading for Bookcrossing Readalong about 50-80 pages per week:

This has to be one of the best books I have ever read. I had no idea of the depth and profundity of Hugo’s writing. Among some of the passages I’ve found most memorable:

“The brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are over, men recognize that the human race has been harshly treated but that it has moved forward.“

“A dry eye goes with a dead soul.”

Regarding the human mind: “The is one spectacle greater than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle greater than the sky, That is the interior of the soul.“

Regarding the Catholic Monasteries and Convents of 19th Century France:

The Carmelites: “…go barefoot and wear a willow twig around their throats and never sit down.”

The Bernadine-Benedictines of Martin Verga: “…abstain from meat all year; fast during Lent and many other days, rise out of their first sleep at 1 am to read their breviary and chant matins until 3 am, sleep on straw and in coarse wollen sheets in all seasons, never take baths, never light a fire, scourge themselves every Friday, observe the rule of silence, speak to one another only at recesses, which are very short, and wear a hair shirt for six months, from the 14 Sept, .. until Easter. ..–the rules say all year, but this haircloth chemise, intolerable in the heat of summer, produced fevers and nervous spasms. …when the nuns put on this chemise, they have three or four days of fever ” “Each of them in turn performed what they call the reparation, a prayer for all sins…” “During 12 consecutive hours, from 4 to 4, the sister who performs the reparation stays on her knees on the stone facing the Holy Sacrament, her hands clasped and a rope around her neck. Whe fatigue becomes insupportable, she prostrates herself, her face against the ground and her arms stretched out in a cross.” “They say interchangeably, “to perform this reparation” or “to be at the post.” “The nuns even prefer, out of humility, this latter expression, which involves an idea of torture and abasement.” Among other realities for these nuns: they never brush their teeth, never say my or mine, they utter holy statements as salutations and at different times of the day, almost mechanically, do public confessions on their knees once a week, and receive due penalties. “These nuns are not joyous, rosy, and cheerful, as the daughters of the other orders often are. They are pale and serious. Between 1825 and 1830 three went insane.” “The convent, the old-style convent particularly, …is one of the gloomiest concretions of the Middle Ages. The cloister was the intersecting point of horrors. The Catholic cloister, properly speaking, is filled with the black radiance of death.’” “Do these women think? No. Do they have a will? No. Do they love? No. Do they live? No. Their nerves have turned to bone, their bones to rock. “

Hugo’s comments are real, they are current even in the 21st Century and they show this man to be one of unusual insight. He has a lot to say about the society inhabiting 19th Century France and he goes about saying it in a way that is at once entertaining and educational, it makes you stop and think, and it makes you wonder what is it that we’ve learned in these more than 150 years since this novel was penned. Not much at all.

April knits 003

April knits 003

Originally uploaded by travelenfam

This is my Moroccan Days Arabian Nights shawl, which was very difficult to begin with, but now that I’ve gotten the hang of it, is turning out to be a lot of fun to knit up, although slooooooow. I figure I can get 4 rows done in a half hour, and about 10 rows make an inch! The 2500 beads slow down the movement of the yarn quite a bit, but all in all, it’s a pleasure to see the patterns emerging. I think this one will take the better part of a year to finish.

April knits 014

April knits 014

Originally uploaded by travelenfam

I’m working on this right now, it will be a shawl, made out of Blue Sky Alpaca. That is the bottom half which will have three tassels attached to each of the 3 diamond points. The other half is also worked from the points up and then the two halves are grafted (and I’m not looking forward to that part!). It is VERY soft and the picture doesn’t do it justice. Once it’s been blocked the pattern will pop a bit more — at least that’s what I’m hoping for!

Waiting for Snow

I just finished this childhood memoir, the story of a young Cuban boy, who becomes part of the Peter Pan airlift of 14,000 kids who were sent out of Cuba to Miami to get them the hell out of Fidel Castro’s newly formed dictatorship.

The book is brilliant - right off the bat - at describing the childhood antics of a couple of well-to-do, privileged kids in Batista’s Cuba. His portrayals of growing up, playing with fireworks, bullets, blowing up lizards and having pelting wars with fruit off a tree, are nothing short of endearing. They brought back memories of the idiotic things my brother and I used to do as kids (and lived to retell).

Where I think it just fell short (and I’m sure it wasn’t his objective in writing the memoir) was in the background information of the Cuban crisis, what actually happened to his father, to the country, more details on his years as a young kid, alone with an aloof brother, here in the States. What he does write about it is poignant, sad, terrifying and depcts an overwhelmingly waste of human life and dignity.

What touched my heart was the fact that Carlos was airlifted out of Cuba at age 11. His parents wanted to ensure that he would not have to see the atrocities that they could see when peering into their crystal balls of experience. They knew what was coming and didn’t wanted their two boys subjected to it, and so they committed the supreme sacrifice of sending their kids to an unknown place to be cared for by unknown strangers. They figured they’d join the boys in a few months. The months turned into 3 years for the mother; and never for the father. His mother spent 3 years of hell waiting in lines and being turned away. When the mother finally reached the boys, they were taller than her, and had been on their own for so long that they no longer needed her. That ferklumped me. How she must have suffered, only a mother who has suffered this sort of loss would understand. And the author does not mention what sort of relationship he wound up having with her in later life.

He talks about dying that day. I can relate to that, perhaps a little too closely. When I lost my dad at age 12, I too died. A part of the soul just shrivels up and the sky is never as blue, Christmas never as magical, and a raining day takes on a different meaning. So I did get that part, fully understood him and was able to empathize with him.

He talks about waiting in line for hours after Castro had taken over, waiting for oil or eggs or meat, only to find that 4 people ahead of you, whatever you were waiting for had run out. I do remember those days. Allende, Chile, 1971. I waited for cigarrettes, toilet paper (which we eventually learned to live without), toothpaste, — things most Americans take for granted, were things to be secured or bought on the black market. Factories, slaughterhouses and farms were taken over and run into the ground. A relative’s farm was overtaken, the family put under house arrest, and their prize $100,000 reproduction bull, roasted and eaten at the ensuing party.

So yeah, I get it.

ON THE NEEDLES

I’ve just finished a couple of projects, have a couple on the needles and am waiting for the gorgeous Moroccan Days/Arabian nights shawl to arrive.

Here’s a bit of what’s been going on with my knitting:

I LOVE this scarf. Made with Araucania Aysen, one skein, in a basket weave stitch. One of my favorite things made so far, except for:

I took the inspiration for this sweater from one of the Simply Shetland books, actually two of the books. The dimensions come from the Olana Sweater, but the middle bit comes from a men’s sweater in another book. LOVE it! It fits well, the color is gorgeous and I wore it like crazy in San Francisco. Made with Araucania Nature Wool.

Latest Socks:

These were knit in Schaeffer Anne sock yarn (I probably butchered that name) and Twin Rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. The pattern works well with my big, fat feet and bit fat calves. I have them on as I write. Scrumptious!

Infidel

I seem to be on a kick to try to understand a culture, a way of being and a religion which are totally foreign to me, and by reading books, among others,  like The Yacoubian Building, The Trouble with Islam, Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Bookseller of Kabul, and now Infidel — I am beginning to form an idea, though none too complimentary, of what Islam and being a Muslim is all about.

Infidel is the autobiography of Ayaan, a young woman, born in Somalia to a traditional  Muslim family. She describes her childhood in detail, including the day her grandmother took advantage of the fact that her parents were gone, to circumcise her, her brother and older sister. The girls were sewn shut to maintain their purity and the family honor until such a day as she was married.  The bewilderment, the pain and suffering, the feeling of total and complete domination and in the end helplessness, is extremely well explained.

Ayaan’s family moves to Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, and Ayaan is exposed to another culture, to racism and religious fanaticism on the part of the Saudis. By age 14, she had lived in Somalia, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia - and each experience lit a flick of doubt in the back of her mind.  Different schools, teachers and girls opened up a fissure in what she knew to be true - that there is but one prophet, and all unbelievers are infidels.

In Ethiopia, Ayaan realized that the girls in her school were Kiristaan, a common word used as an insult and which meant, impure - aside from Christian.  In Kenya,  Ayaan came in contact with gaalos - more infidels.  It was there that Ayaan learned to speak English and had access to a library.  Her view of the world expanded.

At the same time, her father was more or less out of the family life, and her mother’s world was frustrated and violent.  She frequently hog-tied Ayaan as a way of beating her into submission , so much so that at one point Ayaan wound up in surgery with an open head wound.  She had to fight to remain in school, to learn and better herself - but her life was less than unique - it was par for the course in her world. When she was promised in marriage to a clan member that she did not know, did not want, she defied everything she was brought up to believe in, and escaped first to Germany and then, she sought refugee status in Holland. It was there that her world crumbled. The infidels she was brought up to believe were evil, chaotic and sex-crazed — were not. Holland should be in squallor, the Dutch mean-spirited, lying, horrid, filthy people, as the Quran dictated - but they were to the contrary; helpful, decent, clean, honest and trustworthy. What was wrong with everything she had ever been told? The religion that was a part of her very being was proving to be wrong, her questions without legitimate answers.

After many years bettering herself and learning the Western world and the culture, and attending University, Ayaan begins to speak her mind about Islam, about the subjugation of women, the corruption of the Islamic countries, and she speaks out about things that most westeners, in deference to racial equality, don’t talk about.  She speaks about the reality of immigration of Muslims into Europe and their integration (or non-integration) into western society.  She writes that the Dutch must stop the funding of Quran based schools as they “reject the values of universal human rights. All humans are not equal in a Muslim school. … they neglect subjects that conflict with Islamic teachings, such as evolution and sexuality… They instill subservience in girls and fail to socialize chidren to the wider community.”  This opens a  national can of worms in Holland as her life is threatened and someone she collaborates with is killed in the streets of Amsterdam.

What an eye-opener! This book is so very controversial, the theories Ayaan outlines are so different from everything we usually read or hear about, but they are so close to what we often intuitively think, that the book made for a fascinating read.

“For the Quran says, When your wives have purified themselves, ye may approach them in any manner, time or place.” Ayaan talks about a woman who is forced to submit to husband sexually.

“As to those women on whose part you fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them, scourge them and banish them to beds apart.” talking about a woman beaten by her husband once a week.

Ayaan says: “The Quran is an act of man, not of God.  We should be free to interpret it; we should be permitted to apply it to the modern era in a different way, instead of performing painful contortions to try to recreate the circumstances of a horrible distant past. My intention was to liberate Muslim minds so that Muslim women — and Muslim men too — might be freer.  Men, too, are forced to obey inhuman laws.”

I will have to return to the book and copy down some of the many profound passages about the Quran and the treatment of women, about the fact that they are kept in isolation and fear and are not allowed to blossom as people, but are kept as children under the direction and tutelage of men and Allah.

Three winners

My current read is: Infidel and it is truly an eye opener. This book is the story of a young Somali girl, born to a politically active, educated father and a strict Muslim mother. Her childhood spanned 4 countries as the family fled chaotic Somalia and turned to Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya. As Ayaan moved, her view into the world outside her own, expanded creating a crack in the beliefs embedded in her through her mother, grandmother, teachers and family.

My Olana sweater is just about 3/4 finished and it has knit up beautifully - with one small (hopefully) problem. I’m using Araucania Nature and even though the yarn is from the same dye lot - there is a very obvious difference on the back of the sweater - from a very muted variegation, to a bit stronger variegation. I’ll have to keep my back to the wall Other than that, the sweater is coming along and should be finished in a week. One sleeve to go.

And finally - here’s a first: I’ve never seen these two this close without blood being shed!

The Yacoubian Building

Every so often a book crosses my path that leaves me thinking far after I’ve gone on to read some other, less memorable books. This is one of those.

It starts out a bit slow, a bit confusing, giving us details to the many residents who live and work in this old, once elegant building in Cairo, Egypt. There are offices, shops, elegant apartments and, on the roof, some iron storage bins-converted to apartments for the needy. We meet the cast of characters separately and learn how they arrived at the building, what their passions and aspirations are, as well as what haunts them. The book deals with many of the gritty aspects of life and death, of corruption, sex, greed, a police state, Islam, fundamentalism, gijad, of juggling duty to parents, country and God, of poverty and the power of wealth — all in one building!

 

It seems to me that the author felt that under whatever dictatorship had gained power, the country had gone to hell in a hand basket of decadence, power, authoritarianism, corruption and lack of modesty, religion and Islam in general. Each one of the characters of the Yacobian Building seem to represent a different segment of this society struggling to make his or her way through life and make the changes that they can, in whatever way they can. The author clearly defines the powerful, dominating and controlling segments of the society and juxtaposes it to the powerless with a result that is heart wrenching. So we have the impoverished, the gay man, the young lady who has to accept blatant sexual harassment to feed her family, and a host of others who deal with their situations in their own ways, some with happy outcomes, and others not. At some level I’m sure that there is quite a bit of symbolism in the novel, but I’m sure a lot of it escapes me for lack of a larger understanding of the current political situation in Egypt.

In the end, the book focuses on a handful of residents and deals with them in a politically incorrect, real-life, real-world way. I can’t say that I could agree with many of the statements the author made in the book, most especially about homosexuals, but the book opened a window a crack and allowed me to spy on a world that I know very little about.

Too many projects, not enough time

Current read: The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany. This book was recommended to me by a fellow bookcrosser and it is turning out to be a great read. It’s basically a look into the lives of the residents of the Yacoubian building in Cairo, Egypt. It was an international bestseller in the Middle East and Europe a couple of years ago, and widely ignored here in the States. Other reads currently hanging out on nightstands and coffee tables: the last 2 Acts of Hamlet, which I’m bound and determined to finish - I read the first 3 Acts for bookclub, because the women had the lofty idea of reading this in two parts and I had the insane idea of moderating. Well, of course I got to club and only one other person had read the 3 Acts - so it was tabled for next month (and I won’t be there). Oh well. I still want to finish it. The other one I’m reading is Les Miserables - for bookcrossing readalong. It’s a wonderful, readable book and if I can quit knitting for a couple of hours, I can get myself up to date!

I currently have 4 projects on the needles. My favorite is a lovely scarf made out of Araucania Aysen wool/mohair mix, handpainted yarn. I’m using the cross stitch pattern which is a lot of fun to work on, but a bit of a slow go. The yarn is very soft and just gorgeous once knit up. I bought enough for a scarf and maybe a hat or gloves.

Also working on a sweater out of the Simply Shetland book, but it’s a hybrid of two patterns. Also using Araucania yarn, this time Nature Wool in a blue/gray colorway.

Last and definitely least, my socks:. Noro Kureyon sock yarn. So far, I’m not impressed with the yarn. It’s still on the needles and doesn’t seem to have any memory. It gets hair thin and then almost worsted weight almost in the same row, and it tangles. Not my favorite and I don’t think I’d ever buy it (this came to me through sock club) on my own. I’m going to finish one sock, wash it and see if it really does soften before making sock number 2. You can clearly see a bump and almost a hole in the heel of this sock, and that’s just the difference in yarn weight within the skein. I don’t know if I’ll even finish sock number 1.

New Year, New Challenge

I’m starting off 2008 by participating in the Set It Yourself bookcrossing challenge:12 weeks to complete, 6 TBRs, 2 bookclub books, 3 books from other bookcrossing, and to keep up the the Les Miserables readalong.

Just finished: Alexander McCall’s The Kalahari Typing School for Men, a very pleasant, very easy way to start the year:

Currently reading: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, translation by Fahnestock and MacAffee

From Fantine, Book One:

About the death penalty: “Death belongs to God alone. By what right do men touch that unknown thing?”

On fear: ” Prejudices are the real robbers; vices the real murderers. The great dangers are within us. Why worry about what threatens our heads or our purses? Let us think instead of what threatens our souls.”

On revolution: “..the brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are over, men recognize that the human race has been harshly treated but that it has moved forward.”

On tyranny: “Man has one tyrrant: Ignorance.”

On success: “Success is a hideous thing. Its false similarity to merit deceives men. Success — pretender to talent.”

On the needles: My So-Called Scarf in Misti Alpaca, dark brown for Alex

Just finished:

Made in a day with handpainted yarn sent to me by my secret santa buddy from Ravelry: rainwomanknits. Turned out very pretty. The pattern is Rollin’ Beret by Wooly Wormhead - Thanks!

A HUNK IN THE HOOD: (actually finished Dec 30)

2007 in Review

A Few Bookcrossing Stats

Books Read: 80

The Breakdown:Fiction: 60; Non-fiction: 20; TBRs: 35; Rings and Rays: 23

RABCKS sent out: 29

RABCKS received: 10

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Books Read in 2007
1. The Audacity of Hope, Barak Obama (non-fiction)
2. Running with Scissors, Augusten Burroughs(allegedly non-fiction)BC
3. The Log of the Skipper’s Wife by James Balano (non-fiction)TBR-1
4. Loving Women, Pete Hamill (fiction)ray it forward
5. The Caliph’s House, a Year in Casablanca by Tahir Shah (non-fiction)
6. Siberian Huskies, by Ken Kern (non-fiction)
7. Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris (non-fiction)TBR-2
8. The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver (fiction) book swap
9. Bush at War, Bob Woodward (audio, non-fiction)
10. Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck (fiction)TBR-3
11. The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble (fiction)book ring
12. Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald (fiction)
13. Richard III, by William Shakespeare (readalong - play)TBR-4
14. The Pursuit of Happyness, By Chris Gardner (memoir)BC
15. The Pickup, by Nadine Gordimer (Nobel Prize winner - fiction)TBR-5
16. When the Emperor was Divine, Julie Otsuka (fiction)book ring
17. Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran (fiction)book ring
18. Seductive Poison by Deborah Layton (memoir) BC
The Potato Factory by Bryce Courtenay - (fiction) unfinished TBR-6
19. The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant - (fiction) TBR -7
20. Total Money Makeover by David Ramsey non-fiction
21. Comedy of Error by William Shakespeare, readalong -TBR 8
22. Cronica de una Muerte Anunciada, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez TBR-9
23. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Dai Sijie fiction/bookring
24. Tha Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri fiction/bookring
25. Gypsy Marsala by Preethi Nair fiction/bookring
26. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence fiction/ BC
27. Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck memoir bookring
28. Inherit the Wind, J. Lawrence and R. Lee (play)
29. Bel Canto by Anne Prachett tbr#10 (fiction)
30. Titus Andronicus by W. Shakespeare, (play) readalong TBR 11
31. Cinnamon City By Miranda Innes (non-fiction), TBR 12
32. The Wooden Sea by Jonathan Carroll (fiction) bookring
33. Inside the Kingdom, My Life in Saudi Arabia by Carmen Bin Ladin
(memoir) for book club
34. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (fiction) bookring
35. seven types of ambiguity by elliot perlman (fiction) tbr 13
36. Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult (fiction)for book ring
37. Ojo de Buey by Jose Marzo, (short stories) tbr 14
38. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham (fiction) tbr 15
39. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (fiction) book club
40. The Red Moon by Kuwana Haulsey (fiction) tbr 16
41. Knitting Under the Influence by Claire LaZebnik fiction (loaned)
42. The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith audio
(fiction)
43. The Confessor by Daniel Silve (fiction) audio
44. Lifeguard by James Patterson (fiction) audio
45. The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific
by J. Maarten Troost (tbr17)
46. The Life and Times of Michael K, by J.M.Coetzee (fiction) bookring
47. Leeway Cottage by Beth Gutcheon tbr 18 (fiction)
48. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (fiction) bookclub
49. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini(fiction) tbr 19 loan
50. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (fiction) tbr 20
51. The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith by Irshad Manji (non fiction) TBR 21
52. Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver (fiction) 22
53. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (fiction) tbr 23
54. Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult (fiction) bookclub
55. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins (non-fiction) bookring
56. The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare (play) readalong tbr24
57. The Pact by Jodi Picoult (fiction) bookring
58. Marley and Me by John Grogan (memoir) bookring
59. El Tunel by Ernesto Sabato (fiction) bookring
60. Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund (fiction) bookclub tbr25
61. Othello by William Shakespeare for readalong (play) tbr 26
62. A Heart of Stone by Renate Dorrestein (fiction) bookring
63. Jesus for the Non-Religious by John Shelby Spong (nonfiction) tbr 27
64. Alentejo Blue by Monica Ali (fiction) tbr 28
65. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (fiction) bookring
66. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugidines (fiction) book club tbr 29
67. The Shadow of the Wind (fiction) bookring
68. The Constant Princess (fiction) bookring
69. Sarah’s Quilt (fiction) bookring
70. Atonement (fiction) tbr 30
71. Chasing the Devil’s Tail by David Fulmer (fiction) bookclub
72. Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos (fiction) bookclub
73. Glasgow and Clyde Valley by Callum Dalziel Cochrane
74. Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap (short stories) bookring
75. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (fiction) tbr 31
76. In the Country of Men by Hirsham Matar (fiction) bookring
77. Sunrise on Kusatsu Harbor by Dan Maloney (fiction) tbr32
78. Three to get Ready by Janet Evanovich (fiction) tbr 33
79. Afrodita by Isabel Allende (non fiction) tbr 34
80. Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare (play) tbr 35
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