Tuesday, March 16, 2010
"One Amazing Thing"
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you might be surprised to see that I am discussing this novel, as it was one of the books listed in my 3/5/10 post titled "On 'Perfectly Fine' Books" as not outstanding enough for me to highly recommend. However, my friend Mary asked that I consider writing about books I had recently read that I had mixed feelings about, explaining what I liked and didn't like about them. It was a good suggestion, so I will occasionally do that, starting today with "One Amazing thing" (Voice, 2010), a novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. I have read several of this author's novels, and generally enjoy them. The story in this one involves a diverse group of nine people trapped in the Indian consulate in an unnamed city (but seemingly San Francisco) by an earthquake. As they wait, hoping to be rescued, they decide that each person will tell a story about "one amazing thing" that has happened to her or him, along the lines of "Canterbury Tales," the book that one of the characters has been reading. The individual stories are compelling, even wrenching. And there are some intriguing and touching interactions among the characters. But the overall story is a bit pat, a bit too schematic, a bit too dependent on the artificial structure of the stitched-together stories. Some of the characters are shadowy and inadequately developed. The book is quite readable and will keep your attention, but finally, despite the gravity of the characters' situation, this novel seems to me rather lightweight and forgettable.
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thanks, Steph! It's fun to hear what you are reading, as well as your take on the books. The plot of this one sounds to me a little like that book "Bel Canto". I don't remember much about it (not even whether I liked it a lot or not) but it involved a bunch of unrelated people all stuck in one place for a period of time...
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you are getting lots of visitors to your blog, from the profile hits...I wish more people would comment! Hello out there!
I have been a great fan of the Commonwealth and Booker Prize Winners--and nominees for some time now.
ReplyDeleteI personally love Rohinton Mistry and particularly, A Fine Balance...
I like Chitra Banerjerjee Divakaruni's books, in sum...but sometimes, I wonder if it is because they were among the first books published here that offered insight into life in India/America.
I must admit that The Warrior Woman, by Maxine Hong Kingston, has stayed with me for many decades...
One of the most haunting novels I have read was by Keri Hume: The Bone People.
I have many more books that I have read, but I will leave it at that...well...except to say that my favorite "contemporary" writers ever are Margaret Atwood and, most fondly ever, Robertson Davies. Of course, I have many others, but both of them have been with me since I left high school (sadly, the latter died, but M.A. is still with me and still writing...as is Doris Lessing).
As a person who as not ever been in a college Lit class or joined a book group or anything, I hope this will do...
Mary, I see what you mean by the similarity to Bel Canto. But that was a much better, more subtle book than this one, in my opinion. Actually Bel Canto is one of my favorite books from the past few years.
ReplyDeleteLusia, Thanks so much for these comments on what you have been reading and what you like. I always find it so interesting to know what people read...I am the one who tries to peek at what people on buses or airplanes or in waiting rooms are reading... It sounds like our tastes overlap a lot. Maxine Hong Kingston, as you probably know, lives in Berkeley, and I have heard her speak a couple of times. I think people forget what a huge breakthrough it was when she started writing. And as a Canadian, I am of course proud of Atwood and of Davies! I actually am writing a post about Canadian authors that I will post in the next few days.