Book Review: The Longest Way Home: One Man's Quest for the Courage to Settle Down

For a few months I had a craving to re-read and re-watch The Joy Luck Club. In theory, this should have been an easy craving to indulge. I have the book and I have the film, or at least I thought so. A hunt ensued to find the book, which I finally did at the bottom of a closet, in a box labeled "School Files." The film, however, no such luck. I managed to borrow the movie from the library and viola! Craving indulged.

So what triggered the craving? Andrew McCarthy.

I was not aware until last Fall McCarthy is a travel writer, and quite a successful one. My awareness came from a brief article somewhere discussing his book The Longest Way Home: One Man's Quest for the Courage to Settle Down. I thought, "he's a writer now?" Then I thought, "I have to read this book." (I suspect my first reaction was similar to thousands of others who grew up in the 1980s.)

And what a great read.

The basic selling premise of the book is McCarthy leaves his everyday life in order to find himself and come home again. His quest is to become the man who he believes he needs to be in order to marry his long-time love "D" and settle down with his daughter and son. As he stated in an interview with LA Times, "I have to have me so we can have us." All of this questing takes place under the umbrella of his travel writing engagements, which is the real narrative here.

You know from the start of the book the marriage takes place. Oops - spoiler alert! So there is no question of whether or not he feels he fulfills his quest or at least enough of it to get married. Why read the book then, right? Well, to me the book is more about the geographical travels then the personal journey threaded through them.

McCarthy has used his travel experiences as an engaging backdrop and as a character actor in his story. He walks the route of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, hikes across a glacier in Patagonia, travels the Amazon via boat, explores Baltimore with a close friend, and climbs Kilimanjaro. Because I want to go to each locale his travel experiences popped off the page. Well, except maybe the Amazon as I don't do well with bugs but that's not the point.

At the same time I enjoyed the travel visuals, I empathized with his struggles with being around people all the time on his adventures and wanting desperately to be away from said people. It is a contradiction, to be sure, when traveling if you want to experience a new locale. You must explore where you are but at the same time long for the comfort of solitude will doing it. Not an easy feat for an introvert.

Overall, Longest Way Home is a balanced combination of a memoir and a travel book. It is neither one nor the other, but a palatable combination which made me wish other authors had figured out the formula first before attempting their own memoirs. The book is self-indulgent as a memoir, the author wanting to make it relevant for himself and not just the readers. And this is okay. Many authors fail at understanding, however, without another story-telling 'catch' many readers fall away by the middle of a memoir and lope through to the finish if self-indulgence is all there is (*cough* Rob Lowe *cough*). That is not the case here.

Point of note: There is a randomness to the sequencing of the travels, the lineage  best understood by the author then the reader. This may be distracting or off-putting to some readers. But if you focus on the locales it all comes together tidily.

Sunday Brunch Club: Then We Came to the End

Our March / April 2013 selection was Joshua Ferris' Then We Came to the End.

It was not well received!

Synopsis
With an irresistibly casual writing style, Ferris makes readers a part of his fictional advertising agency from the moment we open the book. Through numerous impromptu conversations, colleagues come alive. We learn that Larry and Amber have had an affair, and that Amber is pregnant. We know that Chris Yop is panicking because he exchanged his office chair without permission, and that Joe Pope is universally despised because he got promoted and now everyone has to listen to him. No one likes Karen Woo because she's always trying to seem smarter than everyone else. And the head boss, Lynn, has cancer, but she doesn't want anyone to know. We understand that the agency is in trouble, and that the unstable Tom Mota is being laid off. We realize that anyone could be next. And we're dying to know what's going to happen.

Club Rating Details:
My rating: ****/5
HR's rating: */5
CC's rating: */5
Average Rating: 2/5

GoodReads Rating Details:



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Saturday Snapshot: Always look on the bright side of life

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted (now) by Melinda at West Metro Mommy. The guidelines are to post a photo that you or a friend or family member have taken and then link it back to Melinda's original post for the week. Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.

A few weeks ago I had the good fortunate to take in a local production of "Spamalot." Although the sound was not perfect, the show was a most excellent good time! Still giggle a little when I think of the bunny. I was not expecting the ending; suffice to say the actors could barely keep it together themselves when they were through a bit of a curve ball.

Saturday Snapshot: Ground Control to Major Tom

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. The guidelines are to post a photo that you or a friend or family member have taken and then link it back to Alyce's original post for the week. Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.

This was an exciting week here, all related to activities I had not participation in other than as a ecstatic observer.

The most exciting was the return of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield after 144 days in space. I along with thousands of others followed his journey via his twitter feed and followed the live feeds of the return overseas. The photos and videos he took were/are spectacular. I am still awed someone in space--in SPACE--was communicating so freely with the world. And a Canadian too!

 

I loved his final transmission, so to speak, which was a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" (which is available on Youtube). Do want to give a shout out to Emm Gryner, who completed the piano arrangement for the cover. I met and interviewed her years ago, so feel a distant connection to the whole thing. Read how she became involved in the cover on her blog.

Not quite equally exciting was Chelsea FC's win over Benfica to win the Europa League Football Championship. Been a roller coaster year for the Blues but a bit of joy at the end for all us fans!! Well, and the players too. :-)

Saturday Snapshot: Support Through Daffodils

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. The guidelines are to post a photo that you or a friend or family member have taken and then link it back to Alyce's original post for the week. Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.

April was daffodil month here, in support of Canadians living with cancer. I wore this daffodil pin in memory of my aunt and in honour of many friends who have battled cancer over the years.

Who would you wear it for?

And because some of you are surprised/dismayed by the weather where I am, April 30 brought forward wind flurries, snow flurries and rain. A cornucopia of weather!

 

And just a bit more to wake up to on April 30.

Sunday Brunch Club: How to Be a Woman

Our January / February 2013 selection was Caitlan Moran's How to Be a Woman.

Synopsis
Though they have the vote and the Pill and haven't been burned as witches since 1727, life isn't exactly a stroll down the catwalk for modern women. They are beset by uncertainties and questions: Why are they supposed to get Brazilians? Why do bras hurt? Why the incessant talk about babies? And do men secretly hate them?

Caitlin Moran interweaves provocative observations on women's lives with laugh-out-loud funny scenes from her own, from the riot of adolescence to her development as a writer, wife, and mother. With rapier wit, Moran slices right to the truth—whether it's about the workplace, strip clubs, love, fat, abortion, popular entertainment, or children—to jump-start a new conversation about feminism. With humor, insight, and verve, How To Be a Woman lays bare the reasons female rights and empowerment are essential issues not only for women today but also for society itself.

Club Rating Details:
My rating: ****/5
HR's rating: ****/5
CC's rating: ***/5
Average Rating: 3.67/5 

GoodReads Rating Details:

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Saturday Snapshot: Winter for Spring

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. The guidelines are to post a photo that you or a friend or family member have taken and then link it back to Alyce's original post for the week. Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.

We had a lovely relapse into winter this month. April Fool's Day brought us this:

 

April 13 brought this:

  

And April 20 brought a little more:

I love the snow but my enthusiasm is starting to wane!

(Oh, and FYI, I've hit Instagram as an experiment. If interested, look for hopechaser11!)

Sunday Brunch Club: Strength in What Remains

Our September/October 2012 selection was Strength in What Remainsby Tracy Kidder.


Synopsis:
Deo arrives in America from Burundi in search of a new life. Having survived a civil war and genocide, plagued by horrific dreams, he lands at JFK airport with two hundred dollars, no English, and no contacts. He ekes out a precarious existence delivering groceries, living in Central Park, and learning English by reading dictionaries in bookstores. Then Deo begins to meet the strangers who will change his life, pointing him eventually in the direction of Columbia University, medical school, and a life devoted to healing. Kidder breaks new ground in telling this unforgettable story as he travels with Deo back over a turbulent life in search of meaning and forgiveness.

An extraordinary writer, Tracy Kidder once again shows us what it means to be fully human by telling a story about the heroism inherent in ordinary people, a story about a life based on hope.

Club Rating Details:
My rating: ****/5
HR's rating: ****/5
CC's rating: ***/5
Average Rating: 3.67/5

GoodReads Rating Details:


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Saturday Snapshot: Happy Birthday!

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. The guidelines are to post a photo that you or a friend or family member have taken and then link it back to Alyce's original post for the week. Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.

We are celebrating the 100th birthday of our city library this year. A great announcement was made two weeks ago that all new and renewals would be free for the whole year! Such a great marketing move to bring people into the fold. Happy 100th Birthday!

Sunday Brunch Club: A Little Stranger

Our August/September selection was A Little Stranger by Kate Pullinger.


Synopsis:
Fran has been happily married to Nick for twelve years, until a “little stranger” arrives in the form of a baby, and their lives are irrevocably changed. Louis has good health and a sweet nature, but Fran feels stifled with her old life merely a memory. So, one day, she simply walks away.




Club Rating Details:
My rating: **/5
HR's rating: ***/5
CC's rating: ***/5
Average Rating: 2.67/5

GoodReads Rating Details:


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Saturday Snapshot: Spring Flurries

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. The guidelines are to post a photo that you or a friend or family member have taken and then link it back to Alyce's original post for the week. Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.


This past Thursday we had a lovely gift to celebrate the beginning of spring - 30 cms of snow via all day flurries! It was quite pretty to watch the flurries, and was grateful I didn't have to go out at all. Lots of traffic accidents around the province that day.

I took this around 7:30am:

And this one around 1pm (see how large the snow flakes are?):

Accumulation on the balcony:

Adaptation: Game of Thrones

Dragons! Dragons!

I really enjoyed season one of Game of Thrones; I looked forward to watching a new episode every Sunday night. The second season, well, came and went and I don't believe I watched more than maybe 30 minutes...tops. I blame the lack of Sean Bean for my disinterest.

This trailer has my interest returning, as it looks like Jon Snow is going to get more involved. Maybe?? I'd probably know if I read the books but that is just not going to happen. Guess I'll just have to tune and find out on March 31!

Sunday Brunch Club: Geek Love

Our selection for June/July 2012 was Geek Love by Katherine Dunn.


Synopsis:
This is the story of the Binewskis, a carny family whose mater- and paterfamilias set out–with the help of amphetamine, arsenic, and radioisotopes–to breed their own exhibit of human oddities. There’s Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniac ambition worthy of Genghis Khan . . . Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins . . . albino hunchback Oly, and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family’s most precious–and dangerous–asset.

As the Binewskis take their act across the backwaters of the U.S., inspiring fanatical devotion and murderous revulsion; as its members conduct their own Machiavellian version of sibling rivalry, Geek Love throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene. Family values will never be the same.

Club Rating Details:
My rating: ****/5
HR's rating: *****/5
CC's rating: ****/5
Average Rating: 4.33/5

GoodReads Rating Details:


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Saturday Snapshot: Sweet Rolls

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. The guidelines are to post a photo that you or a friend or family member have taken and then link it back to Alyce's original post for the week. Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.

Back to baking again here, and trying out a new recipe and spelt flour. I had not baked with yeast for at least 12 years; it's always made me a bit afraid. Well, that and nothing beats my mom's homebread bread so why bother?!

But I wanted to continue trying out different tastes (hence the spelt) and recipes so I decided to try raspberry sweet rolls. Here is the final batch prepping for the oven. I ran out of parchment paper so foil had to substitute to line the pan, but this actually worked out better in the end.

 

The rolls turned out pretty good for a first time try, though the bake time provided with the recipe was too long as the raspberry juice at the bottom of the pan got a bit scorched. I revised the timing and all worked out well.

I am going to try this recipe again with blueberries and apples later on. Think they would work well with the nuttiness of the spelt flour.

Out of the oven and ready to go into my belly!

 

Sunday Brunch Club: The Dovekeepers

Our May/June 2012 selection was The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman. This book inspired a very lively and rich discussion, which is still referenced now and again in other book discussions.

Synopsis:
Blends mythology, magic, archaeology and women. Traces four women, their path to the Masada massacre. In 70 CE, nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on a mountain in the Judean desert, Masada. According to the ancient historian Josephus, two women and five children survived.

Four bold, resourceful, and sensuous women come to Masada by a different path. Yael’s mother died in childbirth, and her father never forgave her for that death. Revka, a village baker’s wife, watched the horrifically brutal murder of her daughter by Roman soldiers; she brings to Masada her twin grandsons, rendered mute by their own witness. Aziza is a warrior’s daughter, raised as a boy, a fearless rider and expert marksman, who finds passion with another soldier. Shirah is wise in the ways of ancient magic and medicine, a woman with uncanny insight and power. The four lives intersect in the desperate days of the siege, as the Romans draw near. All are dovekeepers, and all are also keeping secrets — about who they are, where they come from, who fathered them, and whom they love.

Club Rating Details:
My rating: ****/5
HR's rating: **/5
CC's rating: ****/5
Average Rating: 3.33/5

GoodReads Rating Details:


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Saturday Snapshot: Inspiration Wall

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. The guidelines are to post a photo that you or a friend or family member have taken and then link it back to Alyce's original post for the week. Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.

New phone finally! Which means, of course, a random photo to test out the camera. This is the 'inspiration' wall opposite my desk in the den. I purchased these a couple years ago on Etsy from NayArts.

Book Mark: Charles Taylor Prize Awarded

The Charles Taylor Prize for excellence in Canadian literary non-fiction was awarded today to ....

Andrew Preston for Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy

From George Washington to George W. Bush, from the Puritans to the present, from the colonial wars to the Cold War, religion has been one of America’s most powerful sources of ideas about the wider world. When, just days after 9/11, George W. Bush described America as “a prayerful nation, a nation that prays to an almighty God for protection and for peace,” or when Barack Obama spoke of balancing the “just war and the imperatives of a just peace” in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, they were echoing four hundred years of religious rhetoric. Preston traces this echo back to its source.

Read an excerpt from the book.

Congratulations to the winner and all the nominees!

Sunday Brunch Club: Coppermine

It was about this time last year that this particular club was resurrected in a parking lot after an awesome brunch. Hence, its christening as the "Sunday Brunch Club." We started out with the three original core members from years ago and have expanded to include two additional book loving members. It has been wonderful having this club up and running again, and hanging out with great people every couple of months to talk books!

Our first selection back in March/April 2012: Coppermine by Keith Ross Leckie.


Synopsis
The story begins when two missionaries disappear in the remote Arctic region known as the Coppermine. North West Mounted Police officer Jack Creed and Angituk, a young Copper Inuit interpreter, are sent on a year-long odyssey to investigate the fate of the lost priests. On the shores of the Arctic Ocean near the mouth of the Coppermine River, they discover their dismembered remains. Two Inuit hunters are tracked and apprehended, and the four begin an arduous journey to Edmonton, to bring the accused to justice.

Instructing the jury to "think like an Eskimo," the defence counsel sets out to prove the Inuit acted in self-defence. They hear how the hunters believed the priests were possessed by demons about to kill them, and how, acting on this belief, they killed the men and ate their livers. The jury finds them not guilty. The hunters become celebrities, a parade is held for them, they visit a movie theatre and an amusement park, and become guests of honour at socialite dinners. They are given new suits, fine cigars, and champagne. But Rome is outraged that the murderers of its martyred priests will go free. As secrets of Jack Creed's past in the trenches of Europe are revealed, Jack tries to save his two friends, and himself.

Club Rating Details:
My Rating: **/5
HR's Rating: **/5
CC's Rating: ****/5
Average Rating: 2.67/5

GoodReads Rating Details:


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Book Mark: Amazon.ca First Novel Finalists

The finalists for the 2012 Amazon.ca First Novel award were announced this week. This award  "recognizes the outstanding achievement of a Canadian first-time novelist. Since 1976, the First Novel Award has launched the careers of some of Canada's most beloved novelists, including Michael Ondaatje, Joan Barfoot, Joy Kogawa, W.P. Kinsella, Nino Ricci, Rohinton Mistry, Anne Michaels, André Alexis, Michael Redhill, Mary Lawson, Colin McAdam, Joseph Boyden, Joan Thomas, and David Bezmozgis."

Not a bad list of authors!

Winner to be announced April 24, 2013.


Y by Marjorie Celona
This is the story of Shannon, a newborn baby dumped at the doors of the YMCA, swaddled in a dirty grey sweatshirt with nothing but a Swiss Army knife. She is found moments later by a man who catches a mere glimpse of her troubled mother as she disappears from view. All three lives are forever changed by the single decision.

Bounced between foster homes, Shannon endures neglect and abuse but then finds stability and love in the home of Miranda, a kind single mother who refuses to let anything ever go to waste. But as Shannon grows, so do the questions inside her. Where is she from? Who is her true family? Why would they abandon her on the day she was born?

The answers lie in the heartbreaking tale of Yula, Shannon's mother, a girl herself and one with a desperate fate. Yula spends her days caring for her bitter widowed father and her spirited toddler Eugene until the day she meets Harrison, a man who will protect her but also a man with a dark past and stories yet to be revealed. Soon they are expecting a daughter but as Yula goes into labour, she and Harrison are caught in a tragic series of events that will destroy their family and test their limits of compassion and sacrifice.


People Park by Pasha Malla
It's the Silver Jubilee of People Park, an urban experiment conceived by a radical mayor and zealously policed by the testosterone-powered New Fraternal League of Men. To celebrate, the insular island city has engaged the illustrationist Raven, who promises to deliver the most astonishing spectacle its residents have ever seen. As the entire island comes together for the event, we meet an unforgettable cross-section of its inhabitants, from activists to nihilists, art stars to athletes, families to inveterate loners. Soon, however, what has promised to be a triumph of civic harmony begins to reveal its shadow side. And when Raven's illustration exceeds even the most extreme of expectations, the island is plunged into a series of unnatural disasters that force people to confront what they are really made of.


Malarky by Anakana Schofield
Our Woman will not be sunk by what life’s about to serve her. She's caught her son doing unmentionable things out by the barn. She's been accosted by Red the Twit, who claims to have done things with Our Woman’s husband that could frankly have gone without mentioning. And now her son’s gone and joined the army, and Our Woman has found a young fella to do unmentionable things with herself, just so she might understand it all. This is the story of an Irish mother forced to look grief in the eye, and of a wife come face-to-face with the mad agony of longing.



Ru by Kim Thúy
Ru. In Vietnamese it means lullaby; in French it is a small stream, but also signifies a flow--of tears, blood, money. In vignettes of exquisite clarity, sharp observation and sly wit, we are carried along on an unforgettable journey from a palatial residence in Saigon to a crowded and muddy Malaysian refugee camp, and onward to a new life in Quebec. There, the young girl feels the embrace of a new community, and revels in the chance to be part of the American Dream. As an adult, the waters become rough again: now a mother of two sons, she must learn to shape her love around the younger boy's autism.


The Rest Is Silence by Scott Fotheringham
In the backwoods of Nova Scotia, a man has decided to slowly simplify his life and withdraw his presence from the world. He builds a cabin, plants a garden. He befriends the few people he can reach within biking distance. He strikes up a relationship with a beautiful Huron-Wendat woman afflicted with wanderlust and who may be as damaged an individual as himself. In fits and starts, he begins to recount a story to his new friends, a tale of youthful passions, of idealism and rebellion, of love and of science. There is a reason for the man?s self-enforced exile, one that has implications far beyond the confines of the forest. As news reports trickle in of a brewing environmental catastrophe on a global scale, the unsettling nature of his confession becomes clear. And the world will never be the same again.