The Blue Book by A.L. Kennedy

Darkly funny and cleverly crafted, Scottish author A.L. Kennedy's The Blue Book offers sharp and tender insights into human nature. I read passages aloud to anyone who would listen. By the end, my copy fluttered with sticky notes marking favourite parts.

When I was about a third of the way into the book, I read a unfavourable review of it in The Globe and Mail. Kathleen Byrne called it "a mess of fractured narrative" that takes "the patience of Job" to appreciate. Woah! I know that taste is subjective, but this kind of review is what I'd expect on someone's blog, not from a professional reviewer. Anyway, I wouldn't say that I have much patience as a reader. If a book doesn't grab me, I'll pick up something else, but The Blue Book hooked me from the start. It was longlisted for the Orange Prize earlier this year, so I'm not the only one who loved it.

My heart went out to Beth, one of the central protagonists, because in spite of her lively intelligence she has difficulty negotiating social interactions. With conflicted feelings about an upcoming encounter, for example, Beth "decides she should stand and worry that she isn't properly dressed. This will pass the time."

Beth has reason to suspect that Derek will ask her to marry him while they are on holiday on an Atlantic ocean liner. She worries about what that will mean for the future, "how much you will have to do: memorising mutual preferences, habits, frustrations, ticks -- and you'll discuss -- you will have to discuss -- God knows -- futures and kittens, or dogs, or stealing a baby from outside a shop -- you probably won't have the time to make one of your own -- and, if not that, then certainly there will be carpets and curtains to consider and accommodations, gardens, flats, renting, mortgages, life insurance, drawing up your wills -- and what if he dies before you? -- then you'll be upset -- and planning how many you'll have at the wedding breakfast -- although you might want something quick, a quiet affair with the cabby who drove you in as a handy witness -- I mean, why not? -- it could happen -- it genuinely, horrifyingly might -- when, Jesus Christ, you don't want to get married, not you -- marriage, that's an institution -- since when did you want to spend life in an institution? -- this whole thing is unpicking you, reworking you into someone else -- which means he will, in actuality, he'd be marrying someone else and how could you possibly cope with that? -- the jealousy alone would kill you..."

There's another person on the boat who has known Beth for a long time. The two of them used to prey on people's gullibility, supposedly transmitting messages from the dead to their grieving loved ones. Arthur was always better at this game than Beth was.

Arthur's trick is to "love his enquirers into openness, trust. When he actively considers their frailty, it becomes irrelevant if he dislikes them, loathes them -- because love is his only appropriate response. He loves them and they know it and that means they will let him burrow in."

"He can read anyone. He is a burning man and reads by his own light."

"get enough people together and someone is bound to qualify for any competent opening description [...] maybe had a chest condition, bad legs -- or someone they knew had bad legs -- or forget it and slide on, keep talking -- they had blond hair, wanted blond hair, had a friend with blond hair, had hair -- they worked in an office..."

Beth and Arthur have unfinished emotional business and, despite their acute awareness of what makes other people tick, neither of them are good at communicating their own feelings. Actually, it's more a matter of them being hyperaware -- requiring extra tact and precision with each other. As the events of their shared history are unveiled, my fascination with these characters grew. I also found myself thinking about spiritual mediums from a new point of view.

Readalikes: Lighthousekeeping (Jeanette Winterson); There but for the (Ali Smith).

The Assassin's Song by M.G. Vassanji

Karsan Dargawalla did not want to be a god. He spent his boyhood in a village in Gujarat in the 60s and 70s, where he was heir to Pirbaag shrine. He spurned his father's wishes and the expectations of the saint's followers and escaped to America. In M.G. Vassanji's The Assassin's Song, Karsan's story begins in 2002, upon his return to India after decades spent in the U.S. and Canada.

"But now the shrine lies in ruins, a victim of the violence that so gripped our state recently, an orgy of murder and destruction of the kind we euphemistically call 'riots'." "Do we always end up where we really belong? Do I belong here?"

In the year 1260, a wandering sufi mystic was also searching for a home. Nur Fazal asked the king of Gujarat for his permission to stay in the city. "Your kingdom is known far and wide outside Hindustan as a haven of tolerance where differences in belief are not persecuted. There is but one Truth, one Universal Soul, of which we all are manifestations and whose mystery can be approached in diverse ways."

This introspective novel switches back and forth in time, with a focus on Karsan and his family relationships. I listened to the Recorded Books audio [14.25 hours] narrated by Firdous Bamji (who also has performed Daniyal Mueenuddin's work).

Vassanji read from The Magic of Saida at the Vancouver's Writers Fest and now I've added his newest book to my massive TBR pile.

Companion reads: The part set in medieval times draws on the Mahabharata and reminded me of The Palace of Illusions (Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni). One of the first Sufi texts that Karsan encountered as a boy was The Conference of Birds (which has been beautifully adapted by Peter Sis.)

The Cure for Everything! by Timothy Caulfield

University of Alberta professor Tim Caulfield untangles the Twisted Messages About Health, Fitness, and Happiness in The Cure for Everything! Physical fitness, diet and remedies -- both alternative and conventional -- are the three main topics, all explored via the evidence of scientific studies.

The good news is that exercise is good for you. Which is also bad news, since many of us don't get enough exercise. The "benefits of regular physical activity for health, longevity, and well-being easily surpass the effectiveness of any drugs or other medical treatment."

The benefits do not include weight-loss, however, which is considered one of the biggest myths associated with physical activity. Todd Miller, professor in the Department of Exercise Science at George Washington University, states "People don't understand that it's very difficult to exercise enough to lose weight. If that's why you're doing it, you're going to fail. In part, it's because you're fighting creeping obesity. Everyone puts on weight as they age. If you're keeping your weight constant, you're winning the battle." Working out to stay the same is depressing... unless you remember the other benefits (see previous paragraph).

Another pervasive myth is "spot reduction." "You cannot lose fat in a particular region of the body by working that part of the body. You cannot 'tone.' You cannot lose stomach fat by doing sit-ups." Hunh!  That was a revelation for me, brainwashed by the cover copy on all the fitness magazines I see in the library and at the grocery checkout. I've been doing 20 minutes of core strength exercises every morning for several years and wondered why they had no effect on my round tummy. My reasons for embarking on this particular activity had to do with physical health: being tired of feeling old and creaky and prone to back injury. And the results have been rewarding, which is why I continue. But I was puzzled about my unchanged stomach fat and now I know the answer. I felt stupid not to have realized this sooner.

I also learned is that strength training is more important than aerobics exercise. "Women and the elderly are the ones that benefit most from resistance training, not young healthy men." I've added more push-ups to my morning routine since reading Caulfield's book.

The section on diet didn't hold any surprises for me. Caulfield's advice is basically the same as Michael Pollan's. In another chapter, alternative healthcare and conventional pharmaceuticals are both found lacking. Both are affected by the powers of money and wishful thinking to distort scientific fact.

"The results of [Caulfield's] research point to a disheartening conclusion, which is, basically, that nothing works. Despite the immense diet, fitness, and remedy industries, very little actually does what it promises to do." What steps can we take to achieve maximum health? "First, exercise often and with intensity (intervals work best) and include some resistance training. Second, eat small portion sizes, no junk food, and make sure 50 percent of what goes in your mouth is a real fruit or vegetable. Third, try your best to maintain a healthy weight (yes, this is insanely tough -- but we should, at least, try). Fourth, do not smoke, and drink only moderate amounts of alcohol."

In the end, these are Caulfield's tips for untangling the twisted messages: "be skeptical, be scientific, be self-aware, be patient, and look for the best, most independent information."

Tim Caulfield's LitFest appearance in Edmonton was sold out. Catch him on YouTube here.

Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter

Novella Carpenter created a farm in an abandoned lot in a ghetto in Oakland, California. She didn't stop at growing vegetables and fruit. Novella also raised poultry for eggs and meat, as well as rabbits and pigs. I listened to the Tantor audio of Farm City [10 hours], read by Karen White. Novella describes her surprising education as a farmer in this charming memoir.

From killing an opossum with a shovel and feeling an urge to place its head on a spike to warn other predators to stay away from her birds, to scolding a teenage would-be mugger about the dangers of carrying a gun, there isn't a dull moment in Novella's life. When she experimented with a 100-yard diet for a month, vowing to eat only what she either grew herself or foraged, Novella resorted to consuming home decor -- the ornamental indian corn she had grown a few years earlier.

Today at an excellent Edmonton Litfest event, Food Matters, I listened to Kevin Kossowan talk about supporting his family with food grown in his small urban garden, supplemented by hunting and fishing. Check out Kevin's blog, complete with videos. The other authors at the event were Jennifer Cockrall-King and Dee Hobsbawn-Smith. I was delighted to have received complimentary tickets to the event AND a signed copy of Jennifer's book (Food and the City) because I won a review contest earlier this year. I also own a copy of Dee's excellent guide to small Alberta food producers, Foodshed, and must get around to reviewing it soon.

Readalikes for Farm City: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (Barbara Kingsolver); Trauma Farm (Brian Brett); The Omnivore's Dilemma (Michael Pollan); and Food and the City (Jennifer Cockrall-King).

Batwoman: Hydrology by JH Williams III and WH Blackman

Kate Kane is many things: "estranged daughter, grieving sister, proud lesbian, brave soldier, determined hero. She is Batwoman." In the first volume of the DC Comics New 52 series, Hydrology, Batwoman is battling on several fronts.

On the emotional side:

• Her father wants to reconcile their differences and Kate isn't ready for that. (It's important to read Batwoman: Elegy first to understand the backstory in Hydrology.)
• Her cousin Bette -- aka Flamebird -- is trying to convince her that she will be a good sidekick.
• Her romantic involvement is with a member of the police force, which increases the danger should her vigilante identity be revealed.

On the crime-fighting side:

• Two different organizations are attempting to learn Batwoman's civilian identity.
• Children are disappearing from Gotham City.

The artwork is mostly by J.H. Williams III and features his striking layouts. One of the many effective pages shows La Llorona, the weeping woman, morphing through four grisly incarnations and facing a twinned Batwoman plus reflection. Layers of mythology. In other places, a series of graphite-type drawings are juxtaposed within full-colour action pages. I wasn't happy with this effect when it was used to contrast a sex scene between Kate and Maggie happening at the same time as a violent encounter between Flamebird and some baddies. It made me feel queasy, actually.

I loved the La Llarona element, however. Who knew dripping water could hold such menace? Readers with a fear of water might find this story especially scary.

Williams III is also the author, along with co-writer W. Haden Blackman. The story isn't quite as substantial as that in Greg Rucka's Elegy, but Hydrology certainly held my interest. I look forward to future issues.

Five Bells by Gail Jones

Five lives loosely intersect over the course of a single day at Circular Quay in Sydney in Five Bells by Australian author Gail Jones. Memories rise gently to the surface as the narrative switches between the different protagonists. Jones has an introspective style that I found piercingly beautiful:

"It was a quiet, folded moment, entirely her own."

"Images lined up for her memory, for the future, for wild or idle surmise, this little collection that made up the blunder of the moment, and of James's pure fear, and of her own shameless sense of triumph."

Whether this previous line brings John Keats, Dorothy Porter or some other poet to mind, it's an example of the nuances that Jones adds through literary references. There are also many references to art.

(On Aboriginal art in a museum): "Pattern was thought, and spirit, and land, and time. Here were no portraits or conventional depictions of objects, but something aquiver, energetic, like human activity seen from the sky."

(On Rene Magritte, witnessing his mother's body after she had drowned, and how small details might be the salvation from ideas that are too large): "The space a drowning might make, the milky-green water closing over a face, was a tremendous, vile and unassimilable thing."

"A woman standing still in a main street on a Saturday afternoon could carry all this: death, time, recollected acts of love-making -- all together, simultaneous, ringing in her head."

"The world did not acknowledge private misfortune." But readers can, and that acknowledgement is a precious thing. Five Bells explores themes of memory, grief and forgiveness within the "breathing of the world."

Readalike: Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf).

Notes on the Vancouver Writers Fest 2012

With a new and shorter name, the Vancouver Writers Fest celebrated its 25th birthday this year. It was just as wonderful to be there as it had been in previous years, when it was called the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival. Artistic Director Hal Wake assured me, when I asked him about the name change, that everything else is the same.

100 authors, six days, and over 75 events. How to choose? I ended up going to 13 events and every one of them was great, so it's hard to even narrow down the highlights for this post.

At the Grand Openings, authors from 8 different countries read excerpts about:

An abbess who kept a ball of yeast alive by stowing it beneath her sweaty breasts on the hot journey from Syria so that the new convent in Italy would have bread... (Simonetta Agnello Hornby; The Nun)
A Dominican immigrant in Jersey who asks her daughter for help, to knead her large breast and feel for the lump there... (Junot Diaz; The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao)
An elderly Chinese immigrant who wakes in Sydney, Australia, with the thought of Dr. Zhivago's dark head upon her breasts... (Gail Jones; Five Bells)
A grieving French immigrant hears the strange Australian birds outside and is driven almost to madness with longing to hear the voice of her dead son... (Marie Darrieussecq; Tom is Dead)
A boy mixed up with terrorist operatives in Mogadishu hears seabirds but cannot understand their language... (Nuruddin Farah; Crossbones)
A 50-year-old man searching for information about his birth mother is jolted by the tart observances of an 11-year-old girl... (Kyo Maclear; Stray Love)
A boy's birth, thrown out of his acrobat mother to the applause of elephants and seals... (Rawi Hage; Carnival)
Being born with cerebral palsy and the size of a mango, weighing 900 grams, the start of life's long striptease... (Ekiwah Adler-Belendez; he read his poetry from a looseleaf binder, but this piece is possibly included in Love on Wheels)

Best panel is actually a tie between two outstanding discussions: Women in Literature (about the critical response to women's writing) and Beyond Survival (about the place of Canadian literature in this country and abroad).

Most entertaining presentation: Chip Kidd (with his slideshow images from Batman: Death by Design). Douglas Coupland as host hardly needed to get a word in edgewise.

Most dazzling conversation: Cory Doctorow and William Gibson. There was some confusion in the line as we waited to get in; was this a William Gibson event? Or was it about Cory Doctorow? It was very much both. Their topics covered a lot of ground, including gun culture in the USA, 3D printing of working guns, and the positive impact of internet access on low-income families.

Best spoken word: Word! (with Lemn Sissay, Ivan Coyote and C.R. Avery, hosted by Brendan McLeod)

Best poetry event: The Initiation Trilogy, a dramatic performance of the works of three poets. If you're in Vancouver, you can still catch this; the run continues to October 28.

Most laughter: Humour with a Bite. I normally borrow books from the library, but these women were so funny that I got out my wallet after the event so that I wouldn't have to wait to get more from them.

New-to-me authors I'm most excited to have heard about directly as a result of the festival: Gail Jones, Anne Fleming, Miranda Hill and Linda Svendsen.

Vancouver is a beautiful city at any time of the year. The festival is held on Granville Island, a location that's always a treat, with its bustling market, artisan shops, and the seabirds and boats all around. I was hosted by my dear friend Kathy, who enjoys talking about literature as much as I do. In her apartment, I dreamed nightly against a wall of books. Tomorrow I'm back to the real world, back to work. Where there are also plenty of books...

Just a few of Kathy's books. Why ever did I bring my own?

Apples are in season at the
Granville Island market.
Honey Crisps, Pippins,
Ambrosia and lots more.