The Book of Words by Jenny Erpenbeck

The Book of Words by Jenny Erpenbeck is a very short book that bears reading twice. A second reading reveals many subtle clues missed during the first. The story takes place in an unnamed South American country where a young girl is raised by loving parents in a well-to-do household. She is surrounded by servants and given the many advantages of a privileged life. An observant and thoughtful girl, she often ponders the meaning of words and events she cannot fully comprehend. Her parents exert great effort to shelter her but they cannot hide from her the dangers of living in a totalitarian country. Shops she frequents close and people she knows disappear. Although she hears reports of and even witnesses acts of outright violence, for the most part, she accepts her parents’ explanations of these events as vacations, illnesses and lovers’ quarrels. Eventually, the violence grows too pervasive to ignore. She and her family must face the truth about their country and its government. Author Jenny Erpenbeck was born and raised in East Germany and, while it was not a South American country, it was a true totalitarian state. Therefore, she knows whereof she writes. 

American Cornball: A Laffopedic Guide to the Formerly Funny by Christopher Miller

 

Not the foolish joke book or bathroom reader suggested by the title, American Cornball: A Laffopedic Guide to the Formerly Funny  is rather a thoughtful and detailed study of the history of humor in America. Using jokes, cartoons, postcards, movies, and radio and television shows, this book gives the reader a clear picture of the ordinary American’s sense of humor and how it has changed. The boarding houses and leftover hash that were a staple of humor during financial hard times are now non-existent, nor are there many vacuum cleaner salesmen or icemen still knocking on doors. Broad changes in the American way of life can be seen through the decades of jokes and cartoons in this book: the husband who washes dishes is no longer a laughingstock, although his frilly apron might be; men still ogle women but it is no longer their ankles that catch the eye; the Irish, who once bore the brunt of American ethnic humor, are now upstanding and successful citizens. Other nationalities have replaced them as butts of jokes. Hillbilly jokes still abound but now they are red-neck jokes. The author digs into the minutiae of humor: which middle initials are considered funny; why is the husband’s mother-in-law is funnier than the wife’s; is the trombone or tuba the funnier musical instrument? Some things never change, such as the speed with which anvils fall off a cliff or the incomprehensibility of modern art. Many formerly funny jokes would now be considered cruel and offensive. This book clearly explains why, in their own time, they were widely appreciated. And, after you read Christopher Miller’s examination of a psychologist’s five-page study on why children find the “moron throws a clock out the window” joke funny, you’ll realize (if you hadn’t before) that some jokes are best left unexamined.

Check out a copy of American Cornball: A Laffopedic Guide to the Formerly Funny @ the library!

Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan

The first in this historical fiction trilogy by Kate Kerrigan follows young Ellie Hogan as she comes of age, goes to boarding school, and marries her first love. Set in the 1920s, Ellis Island tells the tale of a young couple, so in love, trying to live their lives amid war torn Ireland as the Irish battle the British for Hole Rule (or the right to rule Ireland by the Irish). When Ellie's husband is injured in battle, and times get exceptionally tough, Ellie receives a letter from a friend in New York offering her a job as a lady's maid for a wealthy woman.

Promising to send money back to Ireland to pay for her husband's medical care, Ellie takes the job, setting sail for New York. After seeing the beckoning Statue of Liberty and making it through Ellis Island, Ellie realized just how different New York is. Having never been this far away from home before, Ellie starts to miss home, her "normal" life, and her husband, John.

Once she's finally settled into life in New York, this book follows the story of what it was like to be a young woman in the 1920s. Filled with 1920s fashion and cultural references, read along as Ellie encounters all of the new, exciting, and often overwhelming things that are changing in her life. While she starts to assimilate in New York, she can't help but feel like a piece of who she is was left behind in Ireland.

Kate Kerrigan writes this book in a way that makes you feel as if you're living in lush, green Ireland and traveling aboard the crowded RMS Celtic with Ellie. When she finally makes it to New York you can't help but relate to the awe-inspiring sight of  Statue of Liberty and the great hall of Ellis Island (especially if you've been there to see such an amazing, humbling historical sight). Be sure to read Ellis Island and the other books in this trilogy.

Check out Ellis Island @ the library today!

Nora Webster by Colm Toibin

Nora Webster by Colm Toibin is an unusual novel of development. The protagonist is not a young woman who changes by venturing into the wider world but rather grows emotionally while remaining in her small Irish community. In the late 1960s, Nora Webster, a woman in her forties, is widowed when her husband dies of heart disease. She is the mother of four children; two adult daughters and two adolescent sons. Her reaction to her husband’s death is to withdraw from society, annoyed by the seemingly endless condolences offered by friends and neighbors. The book is a slow-moving but beautifully written description of a domestic life. The defining event of the book, a husband’s death, occurs before the story begins. The rest of the book is comprised of small events and decisions that contribute to the changes in Nora’s life.  She reluctantly accepts a job someone has arranged for her and grows in that position. She joins a music society, takes singing lessons and redecorates her home. She stands apart from her sisters and in-laws and confidently cultivates her own tastes and opinions. Toibin has based Nora on his own mother and describes her difficulties with great understanding. If you are looking for a book with action, or even a defined plot, this is not the book for you. Nora Webster is a study in the quiet courage required to live an ordinary life.

Check out Nora Webster @ the library today!