The Patience Stone

Never in my life have I read a book like The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi (translated into English by Polly McLean. The story takes place during a week in Afghanistan. A woman is in her quarters with her husband who is in a coma and has a bullet in his brain.  He is part of the Taliban. She has sent her two daughters to her aunt's house in a safer part of the city. Every night there are gun shots and tanks traveling by. The woman takes care of her husband. She puts eye drops in his eyes so they don't dry out. She mixes a concoction of sugar, salt, and water and feeds her husband through a tube going down his nose. She washes his body and keeps him clean. She goes out only just before curfew to see her daughters. During this week she is finally able to talk freely to her husband. He cannot respond to her thoughts. Her husband, when he was around, mistreated her. During their ten years of marriage they have only been together for three. He was away at war for the other seven years. This is a short but extremely powerful book.

 

 

Happy 4th of July

I remember the 4th of July in 1976. I was living in Saint Cloud, going to school, and working at the Saint Cloud Manor home. The home was located just a short walk through the woods to the prison. This prison had high thick walls and is the largest wall after the great wall of China. One of my patients in this home was 104 years old. As I took care of her I asked if she remembered the Centennial in 1876. She nodded that she did remember it but she was unable to say much more about it. She was a nice lady and I was happy to work with her. Later that night the fireworks were set off. One lady with a German accent cried out from  her bed saying, "The bombs! The bombs!" I tried to comfort her. I tried to explain fireworks but she wasn't having any of it. She was so scared. The 4th of July isn't to everyone's taste.

 

  

Patient, Female

A few years ago I read a book by Julie Schumacher called Dear Committee Members. I thought the book was creative and hilarious while poking fun at college academics. This time I read Patient, Female. This book was good too. I like that it was published by Milkweed Press. The author is employed at the University of Minnesota in the creative writing department. She lives in Saint Paul. This book was a series of short stories about women. Some of the women were having good times and others were having bad times. The thirteen stories were very entertaining.

 

 

Wait For Me

 Amy Jo Burns is the author of Wait For Me, a fictional novel about the music scene in Nashville, Tennessee. The main character is Elle Harlow. Elle grew up in Appalachia. Her family was poor. Her brother died young because they could not afford a doctor. Her father went off to serve in Vietnam and Elle kept life together for herself and her mother. She was mentored by Merry, a silent local woman who healed other people with herbs. Elle was gifted a mandolin by Merry. Elle wrote songs from the area. She went to Nashville she gets an audition with a music producer. Arlo Watson is the music producer. He is the type of guy who is after money more than helping people or recognizing true talent. Elle spends a year or two in Nashville before disappearing for a decade. Arlo thinks he can decide what is in the future for Elle. Elle proves him wrong. The author modeled Arlo and his agency after the RCA studio in Nashville. The book contains many of the lyrics and chords. I enjoyed reading about Elle. The author has a writing style where conversations don't go the way they normally do in real life. One character might say something or ask a question and the response from the other person is usually proclaiming something significant about the personality of the first speaker. Once in awhile this would be okay but it was so used so frequently it got annoying. 

 

 

Silver Sparrow

 The first sentence in the historical fiction book called The Silver Sparrow reads as follows, "My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist." The author is Tayari Jones and the story is set in middle class Atlanta, Georgia in the 1980's. The story is told at first by his daughter, Dana. Dana knows her father is a bigamist. She knows about his legal family. The second half of the story is told by Chaurise. Chaurise doesn't know about Dana. The father goes to great lengths to keep his second family a secret. If Chaurise and Dana want to participate in a summer science camp, Dana must drop out and Chaurise gets to go. If both daughters want to work at a local amusement park and in totally different sections of the park, Dana must withdraw her application. Why Dana's mother agreed to this situation is never explained and I can't imagine why someone would go along with James' bigamy. Of course there is a dramatic scene when the truth finally comes out. In my opinion, the bigamist doesn't suffer as much as he should have.

 

 

Benediction

 Kent Haruf is the author of the fiction book called Benediction. This is the third book he has written about the town in Colorado called Holt. I know I have read one of his other books about Holt but it was so long ago I can't remember anything about it. In this story the owner of the hardware store in town is dying from cancer. His wife and daughter are taking care of him with the help of a hospice nurse. The dying man is no longer on speaking terms with his son, Frank. Frank left town when he graduated from high school and has never returned. A friendly grandmother lives next door to the dying man. She is raising her granddaughter after her mother died. People in this town help each other with meals and friendly chats. This is a lovely story about families and friends.

 

 

The Patriots

 The Patriots is a l o n g book written by Sana Krasikov. This historical fiction novel is a tale about a mother and a son. Florence grew up in New York City. She attends Brooklyn College during the great depression. Capitalism doesn't seem to be working and, to Florence, socialism seems like a better idea. She lands a plum assignment in Moscow translating American press stories into Russian. Later we learn about her son, Julian, and her grandson, Lenny. Lenny is named after Florence's husband who was killed in prison. Ironically Lenny is now living in Moscow and has no plans to return to New York. The story is bleak and long. Florence is idealistic to the end. Because of his upbringing Julian is not idealistic. He was brought up in an orphanage during the seven years his mother was imprisoned after the death of his father. Still, I am glad I spend 9.5 hours reading this book.