Book Awards Reading Challenge

The Life & Times of Michael K won the Booker Prize in 1983. Written by Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee, it is set in South Africa during a civil war. Michael is a gardener in his earlier thirties who has a harelip. He was institutionalized by his mother when he was a child, but at the beginning of the book when she is old and very ill, she calls for him. She would like him to take her to the village where she grew up. Getting the proper paperwork for the train is practically impossible because of the war, so finally they give up on it and try to go there on their own.

Many things happen to Michael on the trip. He is captured and made to work for awhile, and then released. He finds what he thinks is the farm where his mother was raised and makes himself a home (if you can call it that) there. Struggling to survive and evade the government, in the midst of it all he still wants to be a gardener and plants a small pumpkin patch, which he guards and tends with fervor.

The book is told in three parts. Parts I and III describe the storyline from Michael’s perspective. Part II is told in first person by a doctor who tries to understand Michael when he is brought under his care. This was a thought-provoking book and I enjoyed it, though I could have done without some scenes at the end. I’ll definitely read more by Coetzee.

A quote:

I could live here forever, he thought, or till I die. Nothing would happen, every day would be the same as the day before, there would be nothing to say.

1983, 184 pp.
Rating: 4

http://1morechapter.com/2008/02/16/life-times-of-michael-k/

The 2008 Newbery award winner, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!, is by Laura Amy Schlitz. The book is subtitled Voices from a Medieval Village, and contains points of view from the blacksmith’s daughter, the tanner’s son, the falconer’s son, the glassblower’s daughters, among many others. I didn’t like it at all at first, but by the time I got to the story about a shepherdess singing to a grieving ewe, I was enjoying it. The illustrations by Robert Byrd were excellent.

2007, 81 pp.
Rating: 4

http://1morechapter.com/2008/02/16/good-masters-sweet-ladies/

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison is a quick read, but by no means is it easy or light. With subjects of poverty, inc*st, and racial self-loathing (Morrison’s own description), it is difficult at times to read.

It starts off with a sappy reading of Dick and Jane, and continues on with why not all homes are the same as Dick and Jane’s. Morrison draws each character so well, and 11 year-old Pecola, especially, is a girl I won’t soon forget. My edition had an afterward by the author which gave even more insight into what she was trying to accomplish with this book.

Although The Bluest Eye was very depressing, I can see why Morrison has many fans. I hope to get to Beloved later this year.

1970, 206 pp.
Rating: 4

http://1morechapter.com/2008/02/09/the-bluest-eye/

Bjartur of Summerhouses has one goal: total independence. After being a servant for 18 years, he finally obtains his own land, and while ever seeking the land’s improvements, Bjartur and his extreme self-reliance costs his family dearly. He mistreats his own wife and children, not overtly, but through his unwillingness to accept help of any kind from neighbors. His independence, his dog, and his sheep are of primary and utmost importance. But is it possible to be too independent? What happens to Bjartur when his own children demand independence from him?

Reading a book set in Iceland in January really set the mood for this story. The cold, the coffee, the sheep, and the stubbornness of one man against the world are what I will remember about this book. With themes of materialism, socialism, war, and politics, Independent People by Nobel laureate Halldor Laxness is more than relevant for today.

1934-35 , 482 pp.
Nobel prize-winning author
Rating: 4

http://1morechapter.com/2008/02/02/independent-people/

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon is a very fun, unique book to read- especially if you are interested in mathematics and logic. Christopher is 15, has a form of autism, loves math, and hates the colors yellow and brown. He sees the world through logic and those around him can only reach him through logic. One night he discovers his neighbor’s dog has been murdered and sets out to find the killer. This leads him not only to the perpetrator but also to a personal adventure as well.

I really admire this book. Haddon made Christopher a completely convincing character, and I would love there to be a sequel.

2003, 226 pp.
Rating: 4.5

http://1morechapter.com/2008/01/31/the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time/

I've finished 24 books so far. My goal was 24, but I'll still probably have a few more before June 30. Feel free to post your progress again as it's the end of the quarter. We're 3/4 in to the challenge, have you read at least 9 books? Here are my titles:

1. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Booker 2000)
2. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Booker 1997)
3. The Sea by John Banville (Booker 2005)
4. A Death in the Family by James Agee (Pulitzer 1958)
5. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (Newbery 2007)
6. The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (Newbery 1950)
7. The Known World by Edward P. Jones (Pulitzer, IMPAC, NBCC)
8. The Hours by Michael Cunningham (Pulitzer)
9. The White Stag by Kate Seredy (Newbery 1938)
10. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Pulitzer)
11. Lisey’s Story by Stephen King (Bram Stoker 2007)
12. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Orange 2007)
13. Bud, not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (Newbery)
14. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (Newbery)
15. Buying a Fishing Rod for my Grandfather by Gao Xingjian (Nobel Laureate)
16. The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx (Pulitzer)
17. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (Pulitzer)
18. Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Wreath by Sigrid Undset (Nobel laureate)
19. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky (Prix Renaudot)
20. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon (Costa/Whitbread)
21. Independent People by Halldor Laxness (Nobel)
22 The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Nobel)
23. Life & Times of Michael K by J. M. Coetzee (Booker Prize, Nobel laureate)
24. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Laura Amy Schlitz (Newbery)

I encourage everyone who wishes to publish their midpoint progress to do so. Please use the label 'midpoint progress' when posting.

I completed the following books in the first half of the challenge:

1. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Booker 2000) FINISHED
2. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Booker 1997) FINISHED
3. The Sea by John Banville (Booker 2005) FINISHED
4. A Death in the Family by James Agee (Pulitzer 1958) FINISHED
5. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (Newbery 2007) FINISHED
6. The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (Newbery 1950) FINISHED
7. The Known World by Edward P. Jones (Pulitzer, IMPAC, NBCC) FINISHED
8. The Hours by Michael Cunningham (Pulitzer) FINISHED
9. The White Stag by Kate Seredy (Newbery 1938) FINISHED
10. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Pulitzer) FINISHED
11. Lisey's Story by Stephen King (Bram Stoker 2007) FINISHED
12. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Orange 2007) FINISHED
13. Bud, not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (Newbery) FINISHED
14. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (Newbery) FINISHED
15. Buying a Fishing Rod for my Grandfather by Gao Xingjian (Nobel Laureate) FINISHED
16. The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx (Pulitzer) FINISHED
17. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (Pulitzer) FINISHED
18. Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Wreath by Sigrid Undset (Nobel laureate) FINISHED
19. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky (Prix Renaudot) FINISHED

Buying a Fishing Rod for My Grandfather is a short story collection by Nobel laureate Gao Xingjian. It's a short book, only 125 pages, and I read it to fulfill my books in translation requirement in the Reading across Borders Challenge, my "X" author [yes, I know the Chinese last name, first name deal, but it is filed under 'X' in bookstores], and as a book that meets the requirement for the Book Awards Challenge.

There are only 6 stories in this collection, and they were picked by Gao himself to represent his writing in an English translation. In the translator's notes, she indicated that Gao "warns readers that his fiction does not set out to tell a story. There is no plot, as found in most fiction, and anything of interest to be found in it is inherent in the language itself."

Of the six stories, I found the last two, "Buying a Fishing Rod for My Grandfather" and "In an Instant" to be the most interesting. The first involves memories of childhood and the feeling that you 'can't go home again'. Here is a quote from that story:

Even so, I want to buy him a fishing rod. It's hard to explain, and I'm not going to try. It's simply something that I want to do. For me the fishing rod is my grandfather and my grandfather is the fishing rod.

The last story, "In an Instant," sort of feels like a psychedelic trip. I wasn't sure exactly what was going on in the story, but it sure was fascinating. Here is one of those 'fascinating' paragraphs:

He is sitting at the computer with a cigarette in his mouth. A long sentence appears on the screen. "What" is not to understand "what" is to understand or not is not to understand that even when "what" is understood, it is not understood, for "what" is to understand and "what" is not to understand, "what" is "what" and "is not" is "is not," and so is not to understand not wanting to understand or simply not understanding why "what" needs to be understood or whether "what" can be understood, and also it is not understood whether "what" is really not understood or that it simply hasn't been rendered so that it can be understood or is really understood but that there is a pretense not to understand or a refusal to try to understand or is pretending to want to understand yet deliberately not understanding or actually trying unsuccessfully to understand, then so what if it's not understood and if it's not understood, then why go to all this trouble of wanting to understand it--

Hmm, you tell me!

2004, 125 pp.
Rating: 4

It had been over 20 years since I had read a Stephen King book. I used to love horror and love his books. I really, really did. That changed and I don't like horror at all now. I like scary, suspenseful stories-just not horror. I think I had convinced myself that surely there wouldn't be that much horror because he put so much of his wife/marriage into the story. I guess there probably wasn't as much as in his other books, but it was still too much for me.

Stephen King had said that he wrote this after considering what could happen to his wife if he had died in the car accident that he had. I do think he put quite a bit of himself and her into this story. I liked the beginning of the book very much, but then in the middle there was a little too much of the horror element for me. Lisey's husband Scott flashes back to a horror-full childhood. There were some crazy things that happen to Lisey as well that bothered me because I kept thinking, "How can he think of these things happening to his wife?"

Anyway, it was a good book for the R.I.P Challenge, but I don't think I'll be reading another King book for awhile. If you know of one that is very tame, I might try it. Otherwise, there's just too much horror in King for this wimpy woman.

2006, 509 pp.

Rating: 3.5

A beautifully told story of a savage civil war, Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun definitely deserved the 2007 Orange Prize.

They sat on wooden planks and the weak morning sun streamed into the roofless class as she unfurled Odenigbo's cloth flag and told them what the symbols meant. Red was the blood of the siblings massacred in the North, black was for mourning them, green was for the prosperity Biafra would have, and finally, the half of a yellow sun stood for the glorious future.

I resisted reading this book because I really just don't like war stories at all. I wanted to give it a chance, though, because so many bloggers had said they appreciated it. They were right; it's a very special book. Based on the conflict in Nigeria in the late 1960's, it not only depicts the horrors of war, it also hauntingly and lovingly depicts the lives of the participants. Apparently many of the characters were based on real people in Adichie's family history, and this authenticity very much shines through.There were some content issues for me in the book, but I'm very glad I read this story. I look forward to reading Purple Hibiscus and other books of hers to come. If you decide to read the book (and I highly encourage it), afterwards you might want to go to her website http://www.halfofayellowsun.com where you can find a lot more information about the true story.

2006, 541 pp.
2007 Orange Prize
Rating: 4.5

The Blind Assassin
by Margaret Atwood

2000, 521 pp.

Booker Prize

Rating: 3.5

I was disappointed in this book. I expected great things after loving The Handmaid's Tale earlier in the year. I was especially disappointed as it was over 500 pages; it could have easily lost about 100 pages of detail. I guess that's my main gripe about it. It just seemed too detailed for me. Also I correctly predicted almost all that happened. Long, too detailed, and too predictable. But still, Atwood does know how to turn a phrase, and that is why it still gets a 3.5 star rating.

A Death in the Family by James Agee

1957, 310 pp.

1958 Pulitzer

Rating: 4.5

Jay Follett, a dutiful husband and father, travels to his parents' home because his father is dying. On his way back to his wife and children, he is killed in a car accident. The reaction to this tragedy by his family is told with heartbreaking prose. I was especially moved by the thoughts, feelings, and actions of his son, Rufus. This novel was largely autobiographical for Agee as his father died in a car accident when he was six years old. Sadly, Agee himself died of a heart attack at the age of 45, leaving behind young children of his own.

This novel profoundly touched me as my own father died of heart complications at the age of 44. The death of someone so young affects a family very deeply for many years. It is a tragedy I hope few people have to experience.

The Known World by Edward P. Jones has not only won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, but also the NBCC Award and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

Jones really knows how to write his characters. Each one was very clearly defined. I won't give away too much of the story here but will write a brief overview.

Henry and Caldonia Townsend are slave owners who are black themselves. Henry's father had freed himself and his wife, and then later Henry. While Henry was still a slave under William Robbins, he became somewhat of a favorite, and was later instructed by Robbins on how to be a proper slave owner. Henry builds up quite a plantation but then dies unexpectedly. How Caldonia, along with her overseer Moses, runs the plantation afterward forms the rest of the novel.

Several issues are presented in the book. Whites' attitudes towards blacks, both slave and free; the function of "the law;" men's attitudes towards women (and vice versa); and the question of how and why blacks could own slaves themselves.

This is a very well-written book, and I struggled on whether to rate it a 4 or 4.5. There is some content in the book that downgrades it slightly for me. Consider it a very high 4.

2003, 388 pp.

Pulitzer Prize, NBCC Award, IMPAC Award

Rating: 4

This is another Newbery winner that I listened to with my son on our road trip. We enjoyed this one even more than Bud, not Buddy.

Banished from his mouse community for fraternizing with humans (to borrow C.S. Lewis's phrase), Despereaux is sent to the dungeon where it is assumed he will be eaten by the rats. Of course, he isn't eaten by the rats, but while he's in prison he learns of a rat's plans to harm one of his beloved human friends, Princess Pea. His quest to save the Princess Pea forms the rest of the story, which I won't spoil for you!

This is a very charming fantasy tale that kept us truly entertained on our trip. It might be a little scary for those under 8 or so, though. I also recommend DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, which I read and enjoyed earlier this year.

2003, 272 pp.

Newbery Award

Rating: 4.5

I listened to this Newbery winner by Christopher Paul Curtis with my son on the road trip to our new home. We both enjoyed it very much.

When we meet Bud Caldwell, he is living in an orphanage in Flint, Michigan. Soon, though, we find him "on the lam" and in search of his father whom he has never met. He always carries his few belongings in a suitcase, and in the suitcase are clues his dead mother left behind about his father. Set during the Great Depression, this book is excellent for its historical value for children. Recommended.

1999, 245 pp.

Newbery

Rating: 4

The Higher Power of Lucky
by Susan Patron

2006, 134 pp.

Newbery Medal

Rating: 4/5




This book created a little controversy when it won the Newbery Medal because it contains the word 'scrotum' in relation to a snake bite on a dog. I'm almost conservative as they come, and I don't see what the big deal is. I really liked this book and found it to be very charming.

Lucky is a girl whose mother has died and who lives with a Frenchwoman. They live in the desert of California in a very small (population: 43) community. Also in her life besides her French guardian Brigitte are Miles, a cute little boy whose favorite book is Are You My Mother?, and Lincoln, a boy her age who is obsessed with knot tying.

These relationships and the longings of this little girl form the heart of the book. I really cared about these characters and found myself rooting for all of them.

The Door in the Wall
by Marguerite de Angeli

(1949, 121 pp.)

Newbery Medal

Rating: 4 out of 5




My favorite passage sums up this book nicely:

"Fret not, my son. None of us is perfect. It is better to have crooked legs than a crooked spirit. We can only do the best we can with what we have. That, after all, is the measure of success: what we do with what we have."

Robin is a boy whose father expects him to be a knight. When his father goes off to war, Robin is left alone and falls ill. His legs are slightly crippled afterward. Some monks come to his aid and he learns to "do the best with what he has." Recommended.

The Sea
by John Banville

2005, 195 pp.

2005 Booker Prize

Rating: 2 out of 5



This was not my cup of tea. I don't need an exciting plot to enjoy a book. I don't mind older men looking back on their lives. In a similar vein, I loved Marilynne Robinson's Gilead but hated Roth's Everyman. This was closer to Everyman.

Max is a widower that is overly sensitive to smells who is grieving (I guess?) over his wife. He calls her the "c" word and admits he really didn't know her because he preferred not to know her.

Not one character in the book was likable. I guess I was lucky this was short.

Award winners I read in the first half of 2007 (not counted for the challenge):
Angle of Repose **** (Pulitzer)
Atonement ***1/2 (NBCC)
To Kill a Mockingbird ***** (Pulitzer)
The Echo Maker **** (NBA)
The Road ****1/2 (Pulitzer)
Everyman * (PEN/Faulkner)
The Giver ****1/2 (Newbery)
March ***1/2 (Pulitzer)
The Inheritance of Loss ***1/2 (Booker/NBCC)
The Handmaid's Tale ****1/2 (Governor General)
The Stone Diaries ****1/2 (Pulitzer/NBCC/Governor General)
Amos Fortune, Free Man **** (Newbery)
The Color Purple **** (Pulitzer)
A Wrinkle in Time **** (Newbery)
Number the Stars **** (Newbery)
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell ****1/2 (World Fantasy/Hugo)
The Bone People **** (Booker)
Wild Swans ****1/2 (British Book of the Year)

Award-winners read before 2007:
Gilead by Marilynn Robinson ***** (Pulitzer/NBCC)
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway ****1/2 (Pulitzer)
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck ****1/2 (Pulitzer)
Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney ***** (Whitbread)
The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook ****1/2 (Edgar)
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman (Newbery) *****
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson (Newbery) ****
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (Newbery) ****1/2
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare(Newbery) *****
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell (Newbery) ****1/2
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (Newbery) ****1/2
...And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold (Newbery) ****1/2
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink (Newbery) ****1/2

Hello, and welcome to this challenge. My main blog is 1morechapter.com. I also own the BookAwards yahoo reading group.

I only have a partial list so far, but the titles were easy to come up with because of The Newbery Challenge and the reading group listed above.

I'll probably have at least the first 12 titles below finished before the end of 2007. I'd like to complete 18-24 books for the challenge. My list so far:

1. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Booker 2000)
2. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Booker 1997) FINISHED
3. The Sea by John Banville (Booker 2005)
4. A Death in the Family by James Agee (Pulitzer 1958)
5. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (Newbery 2007)
6. The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (Newbery 1950)
7. The Known World by Edward P. Jones (Pulitzer, IMPAC, NBCC)
8. The Hours by Michael Cunningham (Pulitzer)
9. The White Stag by Kate Seredy (Newbery 1938)
10. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Pulitzer 2003) FINISHED
11. Lisey's Story by Stephen King (Bram Stoker 2007)
12. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Orange 2007)
13. Bud, not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (Newbery)
14. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (Newbery)
15. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (Pulitzer)
16. The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx (Pulitzer)