Lauren: We didn't plan this in any way, but for some reason we went Dave Eggers crazy and are both reading books that he either edited (me) or wrote (Aneya). I've always been a big reader, but this year (possibly because of unemployment) I've read so many books, articles, short stories, you name it. I loved The Black Book, an amazing story about a man looking for his wife who left him in Istanbul, very dark, and Angle of Repose was another highlight of this year -- a really well-written story paralleling the "angle of repose" of a marriage in the 1880s to one set today. Really beautiful.
The Best American Nonrequired Reading of 2006 was in one of The Boxes we received from my parents, and I was super skeptical. For some reason, I often have a really hard time with short stories; except for a very small number of authors I usually can't read short story compilations, which I wanted to change and this may be the book that changed that. There are so many really powerful, one chapter stories in here including the Iraqi constitution! I was amazed to see how progressive it is, stipulating that women hold 1/5 of the legislative offices, and provides healthcare and primary education to all Iraqis! Incredible! And the beginning is very poetically written, which also surprised me; I don't really associate constitutions with florid language.
Aneya: I, too, have read many a book since the year began. Part of it is because I'm unemployed, part of it being we have no TV, so our only entertainment is the internet (which, I'll admit, takes up much of my day) and reading books.
One of the first books I asked for was Suite Francaise, by Irene Nemirovsky. This was such a beautiful book, depicting France during WW2. Usually I don't like "war" novels, but this one really wasn't about the war at all- it was about the people of France. The first part deals with the mass exodus out of Paris after the first bombing takes place. Nemirovsky effortlessly switches narrative, from a narcissistic writer to a innocent, and idiot fourteen year old boy. From an uppity mother to a poor, working class couple. She takes all these characters and makes them real, relatable, and so honest, there's no sugarcoating anything here. It's unsentimental, but not in a bad way. It's real, and it feels so tangible.
The second part deals with a small, Nazi occupied town in rural France. The townspeople suddenly have to live amongst the enemy, and they realize that the caricatures they created about Nazi soldiers may not be completely accurate. The delicate dance between hating the enemy and relating to another human being is told with subtlety and compassion. In any case, it's an extraordinary book, one of the best I've read this year. Buy it!
As far as What is the What is concerned, I haven't actually finished it yet, so I don't want to write too much. Suffice to say, it's Dave Eggers, which means the writing is beautiful and poignant, and the story is an important one (Zeitoun, anyone?) It actually reminds me of Zeitoun in a way, because he's writing someone else's incredible life story. This one is about Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese immigrant, and his struggles, becoming one of the "Lost Boys" at age 7, fleeing his homeland, walking for months and living in refugee camps for over 10 years of his life. I know all this sounds super heavy (and it is) but Eggers brings humor and joy to a story that could be a complete downer. It's also a story of redemption and second chances, and I'm hoping it has a happy ending. Because this guy deserves it.
-- Aneya & Lauren
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