The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

I was recently at my public library when I saw that they had a DVD version of “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”. As one of the books that I most recently finished, I decided to take it out and see what it was like.

The camera work in it was absolutely stunning. The clarity of the scenes and the lighting was great. I was wondering how they were going to portray Bruno’s innocence and I believe that they did so quite accurately. I was also impressed with some of the symbolism that they added with the use of the camera shots such as Gretel’s dolls all lying naked in a heap in the basement, were utterly profound. The film was so well done in fact, that I was a little traumatized over the whole thing in the end, the actions and scenes being so vivid and horrifying.

If you haven’t read this book please do take a look at it. It may seem like a book for children but it’s definitely complex and full of deeper meaning. It brings into light the controversy and undeniable question that people do deny the holocaust and that terrible events such as these can and do happen everyday in other parts of the world.

Definitely worth your time, here’s a link to the imbd site if you want to get more info on the movie.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0914798/

Happy Reading!

The Memory Keeper's Daughter: Section 7

So we’ve come to the end of our journey with “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter”. The book ends with Caroline Gill finally coming and telling Norah about Phoebe and spilling the secret that David had kept for all those years. At first, Norah reacts with anger and it seems justifiable that she lash out because of the pain that Phoebe’s death caused her. I’m glad however, that she was able to reconcile after a while and finally understand that David wasn’t a terrible person and that she has a place in her heart to forgive him. I was more nervous that Paul wouldn’t be able to forgive him because he was unfair to Paul. At first Paul was almost angrier than Norah, using this new secret to build more hatred against his father. In the end, however, I think that even Paul managed to forgive his father in his own way by realizing that his mistake was terrible but also done with good intentions and that he had suffered for it all those years in ways that Paul could never understand.

At the end I felt a release of emotion and tension that the story had finally come to an end and that there was a favorable outcome for all of the characters. I still wonder how their lives would have been different with Phoebe. I realize that Norah was traumatized by the news of Phoebe’s death and that this single incident drove her to near madness over the years, but I still wonder if she could have kept it together even if she had Phoebe. She seemed so unstable to me, drinking and driving binges, scandalous affairs and slumps of depression, that I’m not sure she would have taken care of Phoebe with the same loving way that Caroline and Al were able to. Paul definitely would have benefitted however. He would have loved a sibling that he could connect with, seeing as he was unable to really connect with either parent.

Since this is the end of our reading, and I haven’t gotten any feedback, I’m not sure what I’ll write about next or how I’ll blog about it. Hopefully I find a book that’s equally as interesting and debatable as this one. All suggestions are appreciated!

For more information you can visit this site for more discussion questions and a chat with the author.

http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/memory_keeper.html

I also found that Lifetime Movies did a film adaption of this novel and it received generally positive reviews, so that might be something to check out as well.

Happy Reading!

The Memory Keeper's Daughter: Section 6

I think that the most obvious shocker of all in this section was David’s death. There’s no point in talking about anything else first seeing as David’s death really changes everything.

The first part of the section looks at Norah and how she has mostly moved on by starting yet another romance with a man named Fredric. Her business is going well and she’s in Paris on vacation. While she’s there she meets Paul to tell him the news of his father’s passing. It’s interesting that Paul points out to his mother that David never reached out to him, that he never tried to have meaningful conversations with him, when, in just the previous section, David was talking about how when Paul came to dinner and he tried to talk about something deep or serious, Paul would grow tired, or have to leave and avoid the conversation. It seems that Paul was avoiding getting close to David just as much as David stayed distant. Norah seemed shocked by the death but she moved on considerably fast considering it took her over 20 years and she still hasn’t gotten over the death of her daughter.

Caroline took the news in a totally different way. Three months after the fact, Caroline found that David had died and that he’d left a large sum of money in an account for Phoebe. While Caroline is having a hard time letting go and allowing Phoebe to move on with her life, this money gives her some security. Now Phoebe will have enough money to live on her own and be taken care of for a while. Also, Al’s accident really brought her fears and reservations to the front line. Now that Al has stopped being a trucker and they have more time to spend together, Caroline realizes that now is time for the to start their lives together and let Phoebe live hers. At least that’s what I hope she’s come to realize.

What was most disappointing about David’s death was that I somehow feel like he got let off the hook. I know that he spent his whole life feeling terribly about his secret and that it changed him and nearly destroyed his family, but he should have come clean. David wasn’t a bad man; he was trapped and afraid and made a poor decision that cost him his family’s happiness. I’m afraid that Paul and Norah are going to find out about Phoebe and they’re going to hate David and be glad that he’d dead and never know his motives like we do. They’ll never know how he struggled and how he hurt and how he felt like he could never come clean. I wanted them to realize that David wasn’t a bad person just because he made a bad choice. I’m just not sure that Paul and Norah are the kind of people that will forgive.

I’m excited for the last section! We’ll get to see what finally happens to Phoebe and Paul. I predict that they’ll somehow meet, especially now that David’s gone and Paul and Norah will most likely riffle through his things and find some connection. Hopefully they won’t hold it against his memory forever.

Happy Reading!

The Memory Keeper's Daughter: Section 5

Well I can definitely say that I did not expect anything that happened in this section. This was the first time since the very beginning that Caroline and David’s lives have collided and what a collision it was. Caroline walks off on him with the realization that she can’t always wait around for what’s good for David Henry, and David is left reeling and goes through a nostalgic three days. When he returns to his parents’ house he meets a young pregnant girl who he is obsessed with protecting and providing for, as if that somehow helps him to cope with his need to provide for his own family and Phoebe. Norah immediately rejects the idea of having the girl in the house and, ironically, seems to be jealous of her like she is somehow David’s girlfriend with whom he has been with.

The whole event of bringing Rosemary home, stirs up more unspoken words and feelings that eventually Paul end up bearing the brunt of. In a fit of confusion and anger, Paul runs away, only to be caught a day later stealing something. As Bree, Norah and David confront Paul in the jail Paul speaks the unspeakable words, lashing out to anyone who he can hurt, “My sister doesn’t know how good she’s got it”. This causes Norah to physically lash out and strike him and David to walk away. Even though Paul knew that his dead sister was somehow always at the heart of their family problems, he never realized how deep the actual pain and sadness ran.

Later in a church, Norah reflects that it’s been almost 20 years and she still hasn’t gotten over Phoebe. It seems to me that while the death of a child is a terrible blow, it doesn’t have the effect on most people that it’s had on Norah. I’ve known people to lose children or to have stillborns and they are deeply affected but they never shut down socially or become workaholics or have affairs. Norah’s grief goes beyond the normal mourning period and it takes control of her whole life. While David hasn’t been much help, she herself was never able to move on and she has never done right by Paul in that sense. At the same time, David also hasn’t done right by Paul. To his credit he did try when he was younger, but his efforts were often too intense or not serious enough. When David gave Phoebe to Caroline, he wanted to protect himself and he wanted to give Paul the life that he never had. Instead, he ends up causing a grief that can’t be overcome and he and Norah spend their lives depriving Paul of any normal life that he deserves.

And yet through all of this, David never mentions Phoebe and it makes me wonder if Paul will ever get to meet her and how his life would have been different if he had grown up with her. Maybe his mother would have been there more often, or maybe she would have been worse, unable to cope with a daughter like Phoebe. Maybe David would have completely shut down, or perhaps he would have loved and cared for his twins like he cared for June and he would have taken their joys and the suffering of Phoebe’s condition together.

Section 6 is the next to last and it takes place 6 years later. Paul and Phoebe are going to be 25 and adults with their own lives. Paul should be graduated from college and Caroline will have had to decide what to do with Phoebe and her future with Al. Until then…

Happy Reading!

Orwell meets Atlas

While I’m currently writing about “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter”, I’m also doing my own personal reading on the side. One of the books in my pile right now is “Atlas Shrugged”. If you’ve never seen or heard of this book let me give you a brief description. My copy is an old copy from the library, probably purchased around the time the book came out making it circa 1957. It’s hardly been taken out since, though some consider it a classic, and it’s 1200 pages long. It’s a monster to read and I’m taking is slowly. The layout of the book seems to fluctuate between monologues and conversations about deep topics, concerning government and money, to the action and movement of the characters in the book. I was reading a conversation between two businessmen and they began talking about the role of government in society and the weaker of the two men said this astonishing quote,

“The only power any government has is to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t any criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for me to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kinds of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on the guilt”.

This quote just reminded me of the powerful social commentary that a book can offer and how poignant the points can be to modern day life. I just recently finished reading “1984” and “Animal Farm” and I can’t help but wonder if George Orwell wished he could have said it in exactly the same words. Just something to think about as we take in the value of whatever book we’re reading.

If you ever get a chance, take a look at “Atlas Shrugged” in the bookstore or library. It’s a literary giant but so far, it seems t o be worth reading, not only for its social commentary but also for its great depth of characters, plot and literary value. See you tomorrow for the post,

Happy Reading!

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter: Section 4

This section seemed to be the turning point in this novel. The previous sections touched upon the tensions, the unspoken words and the secrets that the characters were harboring. This section opened a can of worms for both Caroline and David.

On a vacation to Aruba, Norah cheats on David and David and Paul both found out. This act of lust was the first impulsive action taken by Norah this whole novel. While it was a poor choice that puts their family situation under further strain, it also sets in motion an irreversible effect on her family that must be dealt with. The results of her actions are seen immediately with David snapping all the time and Paul taking more risks to get a rush that he needs to connect with something. While Norah’s act seems unforgivable all David can do is blame himself. He believes that the simple act of giving away his daughter all those years ago has caused this divide in his family that can never be healed and as punishment he must bear his wife’s antics. In my opinion, David is in fact guilty of giving his daughter away and of lying to his wife. His actions did set into motion a divide in their family that could never be completely healed even if he were to tell the truth. However, I’m not sure that Norah would have remained loyal to him if Phoebe were still with them. I’m not convinced that Norah is a stable enough person that she would have been able to handle having a child like Phoebe and not falling apart like she has. Now that Norah has taken an action that has set into place a new divide in the family it seems that the results will likely be the worse for Paul. Will he be able to cope with the distance and the pain in his family without causing more pain to himself? Will David ever be able to confront Norah about her cheating or his lying about Phoebe?

On the other hand, Caroline is facing her own problems, as Phoebe gets older. Al gets the ball rolling when he tells Caroline that they need to make a plan for the future. They need to determine what’s going to happen to Phoebe when she gets too old for school. Is she going to live with them for the rest of her life? Will she go to an institution or be able to find work? In order for Caroline to move forward in her relationship to Al she’s going to need to have a little freedom and be ale to pick up on move once in a while. However, if she’s to stay loyal to Phoebe, she’s going to need to act in her best interest, which may mean taking care of her for a while longer.

With these new actions that have taken place, the story is going to take a definite turn. Section 5 is likely to bring answers to some of these questions and I’m anxious to see what happens especially since it takes place 5 years later when the twins are 18. This will be a crucial moment in their lives as Paul will be making a choice about college or his future and Caroline will be deciding what’s best for Phoebe and for her relationship with Al.

Happy Reading!

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter: Section 3

The first thing that I noticed in this section was the profound difference in the lives of Caroline and Al and David and Norah. Though Caroline’s life with Phoebe is hard and full of challenges and discrimination, she finds joy in all that Phoebe does. She also finds joy in her budding romance with Al as he too learns to accept Phoebe and Caroline and the life that they’ve chosen. Conversely, Norah is leading a half-life. She’s torn between leading the role that she’s always lead, as homemaker and peaceful wife, to a career mom who has a job and hobbies. However, instead of talking to David and sorting out her feelings, she covers them up and only exhibits them in small fits of rage and occasional drinking and driving binges. Though I see that some of her agony has sprung from the loss of her daughter, I can’t help but wonder if she would have been stable enough or mature enough to handle a daughter like Phoebe. Part of me thinks that these wild mood swings and pent up emotions aren’t just because of the loss of her daughter and that perhaps the stress of having to care for another child at the same time as Paul would have driven her farther over the edge. Of course, I still can’t justify David acting the way that he did.

Speaking of David, I’d like to take a look at his character. Despite his closed emotions, he is capable of random acts that seem to defy Norah’s perception of him. He has small intimate moments with Paul which show his love in a way that I’m not sure Norah even understands. Also, when they’re at the party and he brings her wrist to his lips and kisses her bee sting, he connects in a physical and emotional way that shows that he still does love and care about her. Though she seems touched by the moment I’m not sure that she ever reciprocates similar moments of his affection. Even though they have grown more distant over the years and Norah talks about how absorbed with work he is, I’m not sure that she is innocent in their marital problems.

While I read this novel I have to constantly remind myself that it’s taking place in the 1960’s and 1970’s. When I read the section where Caroline is fighting to get Phoebe into school I almost forgot that it hasn’t been that long since special education became a mandated things for public schools. It’s interesting to look at some of the arguments that the Board of Education proposes, “To be equitable, we would have to accept them all, a flood of retarded individuals that would overwhelm the system…” To think that it was only 40 years ago that we were fighting against the prejudice of students with special needs and racial equality. It makes me wonder if Norah had Phoebe would she have had the same battle or would she have been just as passive as she is now. I’m not sure that she would have taken a stand, or perhaps having a child like Phoebe would have stirred something in her that we wouldn’t ever see.

The next section takes place 7 years later when the twins are 13, so I’m anxious to see what kind of changes will have occurred within their families and within the world.

Happy Reading!

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter: Section 2

A year has passed for the characters and a lot has changed for Caroline and Phoebe. I was glad that Caroline moved and even though her life is hard and her savings are nearly spent, she’s been able to create a new life for herself and Phoebe. I was surprised to see that Al resurfaced but now that he has I’m sure that something is going to happen between them.

As for David and Norah, I believe that Norah is still seriously depressed. While she is at least able to talk about her daughter and her feelings, she’s not capable of moving on in a healthy way. As for David, he certainly hasn’t coped well. He hides all of his feelings and emotions in his work and in his anger. By not showing any emotion or opening up to Norah he is slowly killing any relationship that they had. I’m not sure whether David truly understands his own reasons for giving away Phoebe but I think that his reasons may have changed in the past year. At first he gave her away to save his family grief, but now it almost seems like he was doing it to prevent his own grief or perhaps because of his jealous and angry feelings about his long dead sister. Either way, I don’t think he’s going to come clean to Norah, though she may find out if she ever gets her hands on one of those letters from Caroline.

At the end of the section, Norah mentions that she wants to have another child. David says that having another child won’t fix what’s wrong between them, but really he is nervous that they may have another child with Down syndrome. I wonder, if they did have another child and it did have DS, how David would react. Would he be able to give another child away and lie about it dying? How would Norah react if she found out that her child had DS? With her current depressed state it seems to me that she can barely give Paul all of the care he needs without being constantly depressed and guilty about Phoebe.

Another point I noticed from this section was that Norah mentions that the camera she got for David is called a “memory keeper”. I wonder what kind of symbolism that’s going to provide for the rest of the story. Does it mean that Phoebe is the daughter of a memory, someone only known to her real family by pictures? Does it mean that Norah and David are memory keepers because they have the camera and use it to document their lives without her? I’m not sure yet but I think that the meaning will become more clear as the story progresses.

There are lots of things to think about as I continue to the next section; hopefully I get some input eventually!

Happy Reading!

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter: Section 1

So I just finished reading section 1. Wow. I had read the back cover but wasn’t entirely certain what the book was about. Just this first section brings to light several controversial factors that are very telling about our society today. Down Syndrome is a relatively common condition that occurs in our society, I know a boy growing up that had it. While these individuals tend to have lower capabilities they are by no means unable to perform day-to-day tasks and they often bring great joy to those who know them. As a doctor, I felt that David should have understood the limitations yet also the joys of having twins even though one had Down syndrome.

What was most shocking to me, however, was the number of opportunities both Caroline and David had to make things right. When David first brought Caroline the baby and told her to send it to the home, why does she agree? because she has no choice? Clearly not. Perhaps she still harbors strong feelings for him, but that’s no reason to cover up a child like that. When he comes to her apartment why doesn’t she do something then? She never calls the authorities nor does she attempt to make him reconsider his actions. I have to take into account that this is taking place in the 1960’s but I can’t get the thought from my mind, how often does something similar happen today?

I’m anxious to begin reading section 2 to see what Caroline does and how David and Norah cope with their loss. I think that Caroline is going to find that there is just as much joy in raising a child with Down syndrome as there is with raising a normal child.

Happy Reading!

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter: Kim Edwards

This 401-page novel was written in 2005 and was on the New York Times Bestseller list for the summer of 2006. A television adaption of the film was also made. I’ve seen the book several times but just recently picked it up and am hoping to get some feedback. Since the book is naturally split into sections I’m going to read each section and then post on it. There are 7 sections so I’ll post 3 times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday and will have read a section by each date. For anyone who wants to follow exactly the sections are as follows:

Section 1. 1964: pg 1-69, posting Monday August 16, 2010

Section 2. 1965: pg 73-122, posting Wednesday August 18, 2010

Section 3. 1970: pg 125-169, posting Friday August 20, 2010

Section 4. 1977: pg 173-237, posting Monday August 23, 2010

Section 5. 1982: pg 241-306, posting Wednesday August 25, 2010

Section 6. 1988: pg 309-358, posting Friday August 27, 2010

Section 7. 1989: pg 361-401, posting Monday August 30, 2010

I’ve heard that this is an excellent book and I’m hoping to get some good discussions going or at least have some interesting thoughts put out there.

Happy Reading!

Introduction

As an avid reader I'm often looking for people to share my ideas with after I read a book. In creating this blog, I'm hoping that others who have read or who are inspired to read the same books as I, will be able to comment and discuss ideas and themes through this site. As I read parts of the book I'm going to post my comments, feelings or ideas and hope that others will be able to feed off of these or add their own commentary.

Happy Reading!