JULY BOOK A DAY – JULY 27

JULY 27.

27) For National Parents Day- The best worst parents in fiction

Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris

This is a dark and intricately plotted tale of a poisonously dysfunctional family. Reading this book felt a bit like being stuck in asylum.

“Once there was a widow with three sons, and their names were Black, Brown and Blue. Black was the eldest; moody and aggressive. Brown was the middle child, timid and dull. But Blue was his mother’s favorite. And he was a murderer.”

The mother of the story is a proud widow who has to raise three sons on her own. Her expectations from her sons lead to tragedy on so many levels. Every son has a different color of cloths he is supposed to wear.

 

As raising children goes some of the parenting solutions mother in the story employs are shudder worthy. There is food poisoning – intentional or not is debatable, some other punishments involving food, corporal punishment with cables, stress on presenting the children as special to other people for the purpose of rising above suburban mediocrity, ever present guilt trips,…

The story is written from the perspective of one of the sons. The story is crazy and it will have you running in circles to figure out what’s real and what’s not.

JULY BOOK A DAY – JULY 26

JULY 26.

26) The novel you wish you’d written

So Many Books by Gabriel Zaid

Ok, so it’s not a novel, as in work of fiction, but actually literary criticism on book industry from the turn of the century. The reason I wish I had written it is connected to the fact that I have a masters degree in Information sciences and this books represents for me the enthusiasm of someone who considers the book industry area which one is interested professionally and passionately.

While reading this book I remembered how much I enjoyed going to college and learning. I do miss it. This book is about dreamers and professionals. It is one of the ultimate reading materials for anyone who dare call himself book lover.

Here are some quotes from the book that show how timeless the ideas from this book truly are.

 

“What does it matter how cultivated and up-to-date we are, or how many thousands of books we’ve read? What matters is how we feel, how we see, what we do after reading; whether the street and the clouds and the existence of others mean anything to us; whether reading makes us, physically, more alive.”
― Gabriel Zaid, So Many Books