Evergreen is one of those novels that span several decades as seen through the eyes of generations of a family. Such books always contain themes of continuity and change, personality and situation, and how every person's combination of inner self and social world sets her on a trajectory that overlaps and intersects with the trajectories of others, and produces a vast alone-ness in each individual life.
The other major theme in this book is: what is love, and what is its relationship to personality experience, to loss, to truth, to religion, to money and to family? The central impact that causes the ripples forming that theme in Evergreen is the two very different loves of Anna, the main character. Paul is the man with whom she feels an instant bond, and Joseph is the man who adores her. Both men remain in different ways in her life, and so she is doomed never to be whole. But in this early-to-mid-20th-century world of Jewish immigrants fighting to make their own place in New York, of wars and the Holocaust in Europe, turmoil and tragedy everywhere, is anyone really whole? Anna's are not the only hard choices that must be made.
Though it was published in 1978, this novel did not feel the slightest bit dated to me, but warm-blooded and real.
Showing posts with label entrepreneurs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label entrepreneurs. Show all posts
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Zeitoun / Dave Eggers / 337 p.
What to say about Zeitoun, other than, "Read it, the sooner, the better?"
This book was an incredibly good read. The first part introduces you to Abdulrahman Zeitoun and his wife Kathy and their children. They're an all-American family. He was born in Syria, she in Baton Rouge, an American convert to Islam before she met her husband. They and their children live in New Orleans where they run a frenetic and thriving family business. They have lots of relatives in Louisiana and across the world, with whom they are in various degrees and qualities of relationship. As Hurricane Katrina approaches New Orleans, they talk about whether to stay or go.
After the hurricane hits, the levees break, and all the systems in which the Zeitoun family lives are tested: the family system, the communication system, the media networks, the physical systems of the city infrastructure, the bureaucratic, police and judicial infastructure, and in essence, everyone's ability to talk, to listen and to trust. I will say nothing else about what happens, but if you are like me, you will feel a wide range of emotions as events unfold, and you will learn some things that will shake your faith in humanity, and other things that will strengthen your belief in the human spirit.
This book was an incredibly good read. The first part introduces you to Abdulrahman Zeitoun and his wife Kathy and their children. They're an all-American family. He was born in Syria, she in Baton Rouge, an American convert to Islam before she met her husband. They and their children live in New Orleans where they run a frenetic and thriving family business. They have lots of relatives in Louisiana and across the world, with whom they are in various degrees and qualities of relationship. As Hurricane Katrina approaches New Orleans, they talk about whether to stay or go.
After the hurricane hits, the levees break, and all the systems in which the Zeitoun family lives are tested: the family system, the communication system, the media networks, the physical systems of the city infrastructure, the bureaucratic, police and judicial infastructure, and in essence, everyone's ability to talk, to listen and to trust. I will say nothing else about what happens, but if you are like me, you will feel a wide range of emotions as events unfold, and you will learn some things that will shake your faith in humanity, and other things that will strengthen your belief in the human spirit.
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