Sunday night was supposed to be evening church or movies on TV. It was supposed to be baking cookies or talking to Scott on the phone. It was even supposed to be calculus homework. It was definitely not supposed to be hiding in the jungle, sitting in the dirt, eight of us crowded into a hollow formed by buttress roots jutting from a giant tree trunk.
I think we all wanted to leave the fire burning as the gloom gathered under the trees, but no one protested when Mani and Kyle scattered it, carefully smothering all flames. It still didn't make any sense to me. I couldn't work out why anyone would have followed us. But I couldn't make any sense of what had happened in the village either. (p. 127)
From the first page to the last, My Hands Came Away Red by Lisa McKay had me entranced in a story about a team of teens that are hiking through the jungles of Indonesia after the village they were staying in is attacked by a neighboring village. Narrated by one of the teens, the story explores the strengths, weaknesses and faith of these teens as they fight for their lives.
Cori is unsure of what she wants to do with her future when it comes to school and love. She decides to join a summer mission team that will live ten weeks on one of the Spice Islands of Indonesia. The team will help the Christian community there build a church as well as entertain their children with puppet shows that will spread the Word. However there is much unrest between the Muslim villages and the Christian villages in the area, and violence soon finds their village, forcing the teens to escape into the jungle. Led by Mani, the pastor's son, and caring for his young sister Tina, both of whom are orphaned during the violent attack, the teens find themselves in a situation that they could never have imagined. They experience painful events that leave a permanent impression on their young lives and their faith. And the group develops a very special bond that will remain even after their ordeal has ended.
Publishers Weekly (July 2007) claims: "In this fast-paced, thought-provoking debut novel, McKay ... explores injustice, religious reconciliation, suffering and faith ... one of Christian fiction's best novels of the year." (back cover)
I definitely agree with this review! Each character has a distinct role in the group's survival, and the events that the teens experience during their ordeal help mold the direction of the story. Very descriptive and very heart wrenching, I have to say that My Hands Came Away Red is one of the best books that I have read this summer. I loved the book and highly recommend it to others.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
The Apprentice
The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen by Jacques Pepin is a memoir about the well known chef who was brought up in the kitchens of France. Pepin's story is a bit slow moving and my busy schedule has not allowed me to progress very far into the book. I do hope to pick it up again at another time, as it did keep my interest through the pages that I was able to read.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Fieldwork
Martiya invited Karen for coffee, and the two women talked. It was an irony, Martiya said: eighty years after Bronislaw Malinowski told all the anthropologists to get off the veranda of the mission house and go and live with the natives, the only people in all the world who seemed to share Martiya's obsessive interest and fascination with the Dyalo were a family of missionaries huddled in Chiang Mai, waiting for the world to end.
"Uh-huh," said Karen, who years later would feel extremely guilty about her response. (p. 281)
Fieldwork: A Novel by Mischa Berlinski is a story written in much the same way that the book is entitled, as a reporter's fieldwork after he becomes interested in the mystery surrounding a woman who was imprisoned in Thailand. The reporter is Mischa Berlinski himself. His stories on one level weave a tale about an anthropologist by the name of Martiya who was studying the Dyalo people in Thailand, was arrested for murder, and then later committed suicide in prison. On another level, his story is the culmination of two years research after spending time with people and letters from Martiya's past and trying to figure out her story. The reporter spends time conducting his own fieldwork to learn more about anthropology, missionaries, and the Dyalo culture; all this to understand why Martiya murdered another person.
The book is divided into five parts and an epilogue, each telling one facet of the story. Rich in detail, the reader will soon get lost in the jungles of Thailand and forget that this is a fictional work. However, the author states: This novel began not as fiction but as a history of the conversion of the Lisu people of northern Thailand to Christianity. Then one afternoon, I woke up from a long nap with a plot in my head, and my history became a novel. At that moment, I abandoned any intention I had to tell a true story. The Dyalo do not exist, except in these pages. None of this stuff happened to anyone. (p. 351)
I found Fieldwork very interesting and I especially liked the style in which it was written. I also appreciated the author's notes at the end of the book regarding his sources as well as the interview I found on his website about the background of the story. Although this book may not be of interest to everyone, I very much enjoyed it and recommend it to others who like a detailed book that takes a look at the balance between science and missionaries in third world regions of the world.
"Uh-huh," said Karen, who years later would feel extremely guilty about her response. (p. 281)
Fieldwork: A Novel by Mischa Berlinski is a story written in much the same way that the book is entitled, as a reporter's fieldwork after he becomes interested in the mystery surrounding a woman who was imprisoned in Thailand. The reporter is Mischa Berlinski himself. His stories on one level weave a tale about an anthropologist by the name of Martiya who was studying the Dyalo people in Thailand, was arrested for murder, and then later committed suicide in prison. On another level, his story is the culmination of two years research after spending time with people and letters from Martiya's past and trying to figure out her story. The reporter spends time conducting his own fieldwork to learn more about anthropology, missionaries, and the Dyalo culture; all this to understand why Martiya murdered another person.
The book is divided into five parts and an epilogue, each telling one facet of the story. Rich in detail, the reader will soon get lost in the jungles of Thailand and forget that this is a fictional work. However, the author states: This novel began not as fiction but as a history of the conversion of the Lisu people of northern Thailand to Christianity. Then one afternoon, I woke up from a long nap with a plot in my head, and my history became a novel. At that moment, I abandoned any intention I had to tell a true story. The Dyalo do not exist, except in these pages. None of this stuff happened to anyone. (p. 351)
I found Fieldwork very interesting and I especially liked the style in which it was written. I also appreciated the author's notes at the end of the book regarding his sources as well as the interview I found on his website about the background of the story. Although this book may not be of interest to everyone, I very much enjoyed it and recommend it to others who like a detailed book that takes a look at the balance between science and missionaries in third world regions of the world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)