Red Dog, Red Dog by Patrick Lane ***1/2

A novel about a dysfunctional family is not necessarily a happy tale. This one is not either. “Red Dog, Red Dog” basically focuses on the experiences and relationship of two brothers, Eddie and Tom. Although the story itself takes place over a short period of time the author weaves a family history into the narrative with the effective use of retrospective dialogue and family anecdotes. The disfuntionality of the Eddie and Tom’s family is traced historically through their grandparents and parents both families of which are extremely troubled. This is manifested in the behaviour and attitude of Tom and Eddie. Tom the quiet, introspective, withdrawn son while Eddie is a formerly incarcerated, drug-using, older sibling. The novel reinforces the notion that a combination of children’s environment has a significant impact on their eventual outcome but also suggests that genes do have memories and the some behaviours and attitudes are perpetuated through the family heritage itself.

The book begins with an interesting perspective of a sister who died shortly after birth and provides afterlife perspective to the current situation. For some reason the author abandons these occasional perspectives halfway through the book and one wonders why it was included in the first place.

The story takes place in the Canadian Okanagan Valley near Penticton, which provides an interesting perspective on poverty life in this area. The book is compelling and original.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink ****

There are two primary themes in this book, both of which are relevant and thought provoking. In one sense it is an exposure of the problem of literacy and the psychological impact it has on individuals who cannot read or write. The extent of their humiliation leads to multiple decisions that may be personally detrimental but they would rather risk that than experience the humiliation of admitting that they are illiterate.

The second theme deals with the Post WW II generation of German youth. The embarrassment and humiliation and even mortification with which they have to deal as a result of the atrocities committed by their parents, relatives and other German’s who participated in the War. Their confusion as to how to deal with their own emotional confusion is exemplified in the primary character, Michael Berg. The first part of the book sets the stage for the real drama that follows in Part Two. At the youthful age of 15 he has an affair with a woman who is more than twice his age. Even at that age he recognized the complex relationship among thinking, reaching a decision and behaviour.

“I don’t mean to say that thinking and reaching decisions have no influence on behaviour. But behaviour does not merely enact whatever has already been thought through and decided. It has its own sources and is my behaviour, quite independently, just as my thoughts are my thoughts, and my decisions my decisions.”
This insight occurs early in the book but does not help him to deal with the degradation that he feels while attending a trial of former Nazi prison guards being tried as war criminals (one of whom is the woman with which he had his youthful affair) and his inability to understand why the previous generation behaved with such impunity to the grief and suffering that they imposed on other human beings.

The translation from the original German is by Carol Brown Janeway. I do not know enough about the German language to know if this is a typical translation. The language is simple with little embellishment or metaphoric references. It is precise and definitely not extravagant. It is easy to read but one could not suggest it is colourful. The story captivates the reader, not the elegance of language.

The Camel Club by David Baldacci PF ***1/2

This is the first book that introduces the Camel Club and since its release we can anticipate other books to follow in the same genre. Four older individuals who live in Washington D.C. have banded together to form the Camel Club, a club dedicated to expose the truth. It is particularly concerned with political issues. Each of the characters is unique characteristics, attributes and special talents, abilities, and certain mysteries relating to their past. The leading character, Oliver Stone, poses as a homeless individual although he actually does live in a cottage in a cemetery and has a job as caretaker of the park. He presides over the club and is a leading figure throughout the book.

The plot itself is a fascinating and riveting exposure of a terrorist plot to kidnap the president of the United States and hold him for ransom. Although the reader makes all types of assumptions as he/she reads through the manuscript, the plot takes so many twists and turns that most of the assumptions turn out to be inaccurate. That is the basis for the fascination of the book.

What is particularly effective in the book is Baldacci’s bold exposure of some primary weaknesses in U.S. Foreign policy without apology or excuse making. He also has a particular talent for dispelling many stereotypical misconceptions of the Islam community by including an ongoing dialogue between a rich American wife and her housekeeper and babysitter, who is of Muslim descent, and who is actually one of the terrorists included in the plot.

It is captivating reading with lots of mystery and notable amount of action.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (Non-Fiction)

Composed by Randy Pausch a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, this anecdotal autobiography reveals his preparation for a presentation at a Last Lecture Series sponsored by the university. The last Lecture series requires some personal meditation on what individuals have learned and what is most important to them as a result of their life-long experiences. This invitation to Randy is particularly valuable as he is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

I found the first section of the book both interesting and enjoyable as it traces his thought process and intellectual struggles in determining what to present in his final, one-hour lecture.

The second section of the book “Enabling the Dreams of Others” had less appeal for me as it focused on Dr. Pausch giving advice to the readers as a result of his experience. The weakness of this approach is that his advice is, in general, so circumstantial. It worked for him, with his character, personality, intellectual abilities, skills, attributes and life conditions. Advice of this nature is not necessarily transferable to others whose lives take place in a totally different context.