Review: The Safe Keep by Yael Van Der Wouden

This one really got under my skin.

The Safe Keep is one of those books that creeps up on you. It’s set in the Netherlands not long after WWII, and the whole thing feels steeped in silence and tension. In other words, it’s not fast-paced, but you can feel from the opening that there is a sense of unease in the story that it clearly building toward something. 

The story follows Isabel, who’s living alone in her family's home, a large family home in the country side filled with memories that Isabel can't and doesn't want to escape. She’s somewhat cut off from the world, emotionally and practically. There is almost a faint agoraphobia or at the very least severe anxiety feel to the way that Isabel lives. That is, until Eva turns up - her brother’s fiancee, who comes to stay with Isabel. From the moment the two meet in a restaurant, you can feel the tension between them. Isabel immediately feels that Eva is hiding something. Eva appears confident and curious, but at the same time is a little hard to pin down. The dynamic between the two women is intense from the beginning. They are watchful of each other but there is always a sense of something deeper going on underneath for them both. 

The relationship between Isabel and Eva is full of tension, and part of that tension is sexual. Initially, it’s not labelled, and nothing is spelled out too directly, but increasingly there’s an undeniable undercurrent of desire between them. I liked the way the novel handled this. Their attraction is just there in the characters and the way they move around each other. It’s messy, complicated, and laced with repression which is exactly right for the time period and the emotional tone of the book.

The other thread I found really fascinating was the one about postwar theft and hidden complicity. There’s this idea bubbling under the surface that after the war ended, not everyone came out of it clean. Some people took advantage of others misfortune, knowingly or with wilful ignorance. There’s a growing sense that Isabel’s family may have benefitted from things that were never really theirs. That kind of moral murkiness adds a lot of depth to the story. It’s not just about personal memory or trauma, it’s also about national memory and who gets to tell the story of what happened.

The writing is spare and controlled and full of atmosphere. There’s something unsettling about the way van der Wouden builds the story. I felt like I was waiting for something awful to happen, even when everything was quiet. And when the reveal does come, it sinks in almost with a bit of a sickening feeling. The ending is quietly devastating, but at the same time hopeful and so I was left with a haunted feeling I actually really appreciate in a book.

This will be a challenging read for some people. It’s ambiguous and emotionally chilly at times but if you like a book with complicated female characters and moral grey zones that leaves you slightly off balance, The Safe Keep is absolutely worth your time.

Review(s): Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead and James by Percival Everett

Although I know it is unusual to review two books at once, I read these one after the other and found many common themes between them. I reflected on the narratives and the themes together and so it felt more natural for me to review them together. 

Underground Railroad is a Pulitzer Prize–winning novel which reimagines the historical Underground Railroad as a literal underground train system used by enslaved people to escape bondage in the American South. It follows the plight of Cora, a young woman fleeing a Georgia plantation, as she travels from state to state, encountering different, often horrifying manifestations of racism and oppression. It's essentially a blend of historical fiction and speculative fiction - or historical fiction with speculative elements. It certainly feels far more historical than anything in the way that it describes the brutality of the lives of enslavement that so many people were subjected to.  

James is a reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but this time told from the perspective of Jim, the enslaved man who accompanies Huckleberry on his journey. Similarly to Underground Railroad, James is a piece of historical fiction with speculative element. Everett imagines that enslaved people only speak in the stereotyped dialect when white people are listening. As the story unfolds, it is revealed that this use of language by the enslaved is a strategic performance rather than a reflection of their reality. What I took from this is that Everett was trying to reclaim the voice of the enslaved by challenging the historical depiction of enslaved people as ignorant or unintelligent. It acknowledges that white cultures (whether in the past or present) often see and hear what they expect to see and hear.

These novels have so much in common. From a literary perspective, they are both about centreing the perspective and experiences of black characters who were enslaved and voiceless, and showing them as complex and autonomous people. Of course, they both touch on violence and systemic oppression by white culture, something that continues into the present day in its evolving forms. They both deal with how their characters fight their dehumanisation through whatever acts of resistance that are available to them. 

In the end though, I think what was most emotional for me was how each book explores freedom as an illusion for those escaping slavery. Both Jim and Cora go on their own unique journeys to freedom, but in the end, this doesn't result in their liberation. They are still encumbered by loss, racism and violence even as they reach 'freedom'. It's sad and emotional, but what I believe is an authentic representation of 'freedom' would really have meant.

Document Z by Andrew Croome

I have never imagined Australia having much of a political underbelly. I know from my own professional experience that there is often more going on underground in society than we imagine, but political espionage and spying isn't something that I immediately associate with Australia. Who could possibly be that interested in a country like ours.

Andrew Croome's Vogel Prize winning (2008) novel, Document Z, certainly gave me some insight into this question. It is centred around the Petrov Affair, an incident in Australian history that took place in 1953, deep into the Cold War era. Vladimir and Evdokia Petrov were Russian diplomats, who came to work at the Russian Embassy in Canberra in 1951 and both of whom were functioning as spies for their motherland, albeit in different capacities. When Stalin passes away in 1953, Vladimir defects from Russia to Australia without his wife's knowledge – leaving her to make an almost impossible decision about what step she should take in response to her husband's actions.

My knowledge of the Petrov Affair was shamefully limited. Non-existent in fact. Although Document Z was a fictionalised account of their story, I learnt a lot about a rather dramatic and important incident in Australia's political history.

I saw Andrew Croome speak about this book at a Sydney Writers Festival event a year of two ago and at the time I greatly admired his enthusiasm for his subject and the lengths that he had gone to research the Petrovs, including listening to secret recordings made of the couple which are still available to be listened to in the National Library (from memory). His enthusiasm was infectious at the time and so I was very much looking forward to reading the book.

Document Z attempts to create detailed portraits of the players in the Petrov Affair. We learn a lot about Vladimir (or 'Volodya' as he is referred to throughout most of the book) and Evdokia and about their relationship. There is Michael Biogulski, a Polish emigrant doctor who spies for both sides of the political fence according to whatever suits him best, and to whom Vladimir eventually shares his intention to defect. We see ASIO's spy network in action through Michael Howley, who assists in the defection.

Whilst I appreciated what Croome was trying to achieve in writing this book, and whilst I feel as though I learnt a lot in a short period of time about a point in Australia's political history I previously knew nothing about, I never really connected with this book.

The plot was rather too slow for my taste. In my view, it was the death of Stalin that really instigated the political events that ultimately lead to Vladimir Petrov seeking political asylum in Australia, and until this event occurs in the book, little else happened. Although Croome spends a long time really trying to get inside the various players in the Petrov Affair, I didn't identify with any of the characters. Their experience was so far from my own that, whilst I could appreciate what life must have been like for them on an intellectual level, my emotions were left unaffected. This, combined with the lack of action until towards the end of the book, meant that although I enjoyed reading the book, it never really drew me in.

Image from Wikipedia

For me, the book didn't have sufficient drama for a political thriller. Croome produced a well written book, but also a book that didn't go out on any limbs. I think that it would have been a better book if Croome had taken more risks somehow or been a bit edgier.

The one aspect of this entire Petrov Affair that I was fascinated by was the experience of Evdokia Petrov. You will see that in the body of this post I have inserted an image of Evdokia Petrov being escorted to a plane by armed Soviet Guards following the defection of her husband. Evdokia Petrov was being forcibly removed from Australia, to return to Russia to face punishment for her husband's actions – an event which sparked anti-Communist demonstrations throughout Australia I believe, and certainly at the airport from which she was leaving. In her final moments in Australia, she was then forcibly removed from the Soviet Guards by ASIO and made the agonising decision to defect alongside her husband.

It is her story that I find the most fascinating element of the entire Petrov Affair, purely on a personal, rather than political, level. What was she thinking? How did she feel? What thoughts were going through her mind? In the image you can see how close to collapse she seems – with her hand on her heart, one shoe missing and an agonised expression on her face. If Document Z had been solely from her perspective I think I may have had a stronger emotional response to the story, but then it would have been a completely different story altogether.

5.5 / 8 Enjoyable and well written. Worth reading if you have the opportunity but there's no need to prioritise it unless you have a particular interest in learning about an important incident in Australian political history.  

I would love to know what you thought of this book if you have read it. Were you able to identify with any of the characters? How much do you rely on the truth of the history contained in books that fictionalise true historial events like this one?

Originally posted 7 June 2011 Page Turners

Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee

JM Coetzee's 1999 Booker Prize winner Disgrace is a simply told story with a powerful message, and worthy of the accolades it has received.

I expected something special from Disgrace, which is an exploration of racial politics in post-apartheid South Africa, but I find that I have a lot less to say about this book than I expected.

David Lurie is a middle aged, divorced bachelor who finds himself unceremoniously out of his university teaching job following an affair with a student. He is a wretched character, someone whom I found difficult to respect. Finding himself in disgrace, he goes to stay with his daughter Lucy on her country farm, where she grows vegetables and cares for abandoned animals.

Here, he finds himself and his daughter victim of atrocities committed against them in a home invasion and they both struggle to deal with the consequences in their different ways.

David cannot come to terms with the events that have had such an impact on their lives, particularly Lucy's. Lucy quietly accepts what has been done to her as the price that she has to pay for staying on the land that he white ancestors once so barbarically took from the original inhabitants of the land. This doesn't mean that she isn't a changed person by what has happened to her, but she is unwilling to move from her home in the wake of the horrible events. David cannot comprehend her attitude, urging her to move away for fear of further attacks.

Disgrace is about misery and reconciliation on a personal as well as a political level. Coetzee creates a depressing picture of a land full of hate and misery attempting to cope with political change and racial politics.

There is a lot more to say about JM Coetzee's Disgrace that I am not able to adequately discuss in this review.

For the first time ever, I am not going to give this book a rating out of 8 according to my usual practice because I feel so ambivalent towards this book, and I really can't explain why.

Is this feeling of ambivalence unique to me? I would love to know what other people think of this well-known book.

Originally posted 17 February 2011 Page Turners

Fugitive Pieces by Ann Michaels

Fugitive Pieces by Ann Michaels is a stunning piece of historical fiction that I both admired and was frustrated by.

It tells the story of people whose lives have been affected by the holocaust in some way. In fact, the book is told in two pieces; the first is narrated by a survivor of the holocaust, and the second by someone whose parents were affected by this historical disaster.

The first and main narrator is Jakob, a Jewish boy from Poland who finds himself hiding in the woods after his family and killed and taken to camps. He is rescued by a liberal minded Greek archaeologist Athos who hides Jakob throughout the war and raises his as his own son. The book follows Jakob as he reaches adulthood and he and Athos move to Canada and start a new life there.

The second narrator is a young man named Ben, who was born in Canada to parents who were themselves fugitives from the war torn Europe. Ben greatly admires Jakob's poetry and having met Jakob once, feels as though Jakob has had a significant impact upon his life.

There are definitely aspects of this book that I greatly admire; the most significant being the writing. The writing is vivid and flowing, it almost feels as though you are reading poetry rather than a novel. This style is perfectly suited to the task of exploring the effect of war on people who find themselves fugitives in some way or another from the disaster that it creates.

Having said that, this novel failed to win me over.

At times a little too much was left to the imagination. I felt as though there was very little story actually taking place. This in a way makes sense because you are primarily watching Jakob's life unfold - but the reality is just watching someone's life unfold in pretty uninteresting. That's why in fiction there is usually a plot to keep the story moving along. The book needed more story, it was just really slow at times.

Whilst I appreciated the idea behind having the two narrators, in the end I found it unsatisfactory and unnecessary. Jakob narrates almost the entirety of the book, and it is not until right at the end that the second narrator takes over. By that time, I had spent so much time reading about Jakob that I wasn't interested in what someone else had to say about him, especially someone seemingly so totally unconnected with him.

Fugitive Pieces won the Guardian Fiction Award in 1997 as well as the Orange Prize in 1997. It is undoubtedly a good book, with beautiful writing and important messages.

However, whilst I greatly admire the idea behind the story and Michaels's poetic writing, the story itself lacked enough content to thoroughly satisfy me.

5 / 8:
Good and worth reading if you have the opportunity, but there is no need to prioritise it.

I would be greatly interested to know if anyone else has read this book and felt as unsatisfied as I did, despite being able to acknowledge how wonderfully it is written?

Originally posted 19 January 2011 Page Turners

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon is an original, character driven book that was riveting, honest and above all, moving.

Haddon's narrator is 15-year-old, Christopher Boone, a young man with Asperger's Disorder (an autism spectrum disorder), who lives with his single father following the death of his mother some years before (or is this true?). When Christopher discovers the murdered body of the dog, Wellington, from across the street, he decides to investigate the murder. He tries to emulate the system employed by Sherlock Holmes, and upon his teacher Siobhan’s suggestion, he keep a written journal of his investigation.

Haddon used Christopher’s journey to explore the reality of living with an autism spectrum disorder. Christopher’s perception of the world is very different to that of a person without this condition. He perceives the world very literally – this means that he sometimes has difficulty understanding the world around him. He is not able to tell lies, for example, and is unable to understand metaphors.

"And when I try and make a picture of the phrase in my head it just confuses me because imagining an apple in someone’s eye doesn’t have anything to do with liking someone a lot and it makes you forget what the person was talking about."

His literal perception of the world affects his behaviour. He is unable to process complex emotion, and as result he doesn’t like new people or being touched.

"I rolled back onto the lawn and pressed my forehead to the ground again and made the noise that Father calls groaning. I make this noise when there is too much information coming into my head from the outside world."

Christopher processes the world around him by developing order and systems in order to assist him to function. Colours are associated with particular feelings; for example, anything brown is bad and four red cars in a row on the way to school means that he will have a good day. He likes lists because they suggest order, and he enjoys mathematical problems because, his teacher suggests, they always have logical answers. This is Christopher’s biggest problem – he cannot perceive the world as a logical place because he cannot be anything other than literal.

As he investigates Wellington’s death, Christopher makes a significant discovery about his own family that leads him away from that puzzle and onto a bigger journey of self-discovery.

On a more personal note, I really appreciated the honest way in which Haddon dealt with the character's autism. Christopher was not portrayed as an ordinary boy struggling with additional challenges. Similarly, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time also provided insight into the struggles of the families of people with family members on the spectrum. Their difficulties and challenges were sensitively dealt with to reinforce the idea that assisting people with such problems is not an easy task, but it is one that you do your best at out of love.

By employing a unique writing style Haddon avoids stereotypes and sentimentality and provides the reader with an original and honest insight into life on the autism spectrum. This in turn compels the reader to contemplate our own perceptions of the social and physical world in which we exist. This book is compassionate, it is real, and it is moving.

Summary

What kind of read is this?
It is an easy read, but with a unique writing style, unique content and a unique character.

Do I recommend this book?
Yes, to everyone. I wish I had read it sooner than I did.

Do I recommend that you buy this book?
I do recommend that you buy it if you are someone that likes to own books that they read and enjoy. Having said that, it is such a unique book that it isn't one that I would imagine you would re-read very frequently for fear of removing some of its impact. So, the library is also a good option.

Star Rating

7 / 8 

Brilliant, couldn't put it down. Everyone should read it.

Originally posted 16 November 2010 Page Turners

Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre; a Man Booker winner

Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre is dark, it's gritty, it's modern and yet... it wasn't for me.

The book is described as "A 21st-century comedy in the presence of death". It is supposed to be a comedy, a satire of modern American life and at times it was deliciously wicked in that sense.

The book is written from the perspective of the protagonist, Vernon Little, who is accused of taking part in a school shooting with his Mexican friend Jesus Navarro. He finds himself caught in the legal system, desperately seeking to have his own story heard.

Vernon Little is a strong character; he sees all the injustices of the world through a teenager's eyes, watching all the ridiculousness of the world conspire against him but unable to do anything about it. Instead, he is forced to escape to Mexico where he finds that he is ultimately unable to avoid the traps that life has set for him.

This book takes aim at many aspects of contemporary society, consumerism, materialism, opportunism, modern media hype, the legal system, the health system. It paints the picture of a world where people are willing to put themselves above all else, at great risk to others. It is these aspects of society that Pierre plays upon, showing us the worst side of ourselves by making fun of contemporary society and human relationships.

Objectively, I was able to greatly admire the DBC Pierre's writing - the use of Vernon's first-person narrative voice was colloquial to say the least and I found the shock value that this added to the story was effective. I do think though, that at times the narrative voice wasn't true to a teenage boy. Despite the often-crude language and colloquial tone, it was sometimes just a little too thoughtful and insightful to be the voice of someone of that age. I can't quite imagine a teenage boy, even one in Vernon's position, being able to analyse the world around him in quite the way that Vernon does.

I have to admit that although objectively I could see where the author was going with the satire and the comedy, it fell short for me. I didn't find it funny or humorous. In fact, I found it dark and depressing.

More than that, I found that it didn't grab my attention in the way that I would have liked. I enjoyed the flaws of the characters, and I enjoyed Pierre's piercing writing, but the story didn't move me enough to excite any great feeling. Some parts of the book I found myself skimming through, just flipping the pages until something caught my attention. When I stopped and delved back in to the book properly, despite having ostensibly missed some of the story, I was still able to pick it up again wherever I landed. The story just seemed to move along at a slower pace than I would have liked, with little happening to move the story along.

I did find myself becoming very emotional toward the end, which is a sign of a good book - but at the same time the book came to an end so suddenly with such a major twist that I felt a little bit cheated. I didn't have that emotional release - that chance to sigh and get used to the end of the story. I wanted to feel better, but I was left with a lingering sense of malcontent in relation to the lead up to the end.

Perhaps all these things are what DBC Pierre intended me to feel at the end of Vernon God Little and perhaps not. Either way, although I admire the book objectively - it isn't a book that sat well with me at all.

Summary

What kind of read is this?
Great writing and challenging content.

Do I recommend this book?
I want to recommend it because I know it is a well written and meaningful book, but I just can't. I just didn't appreciate it on an emotional level, and that is what counts for me.

Do I recommend that you buy this book?
No.

Star Rating

5 / 8

Worth reading if you have the opportunity, but there's no need to prioritise it.

 Have you read Vernon God Little? I would be interested to know if people did find that they were drawn into the story and what it was that grabbed you and pulled you in. I feel as though I am missing out on something, but I am not sure what.

Originally posted 9 November 2010 Page Turners

The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck; winner of the Pulitzer Prize 1932

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck is a poignant tale about a farmer's connection to the land that sustains him. This story is a reminder of how important it is to be true to ourselves and how, despite our differences, we are all share common experiences and values.

SOME SPOILERS CONTAINED IN THE FOLLOWING REVIEW

"It was Wang Lung's marriage day."

The Good Earth is the story of Wang Lung, a man who begins life as a poor farmer in pre-evolutionary China. The story begins with his marriage to O-Lan, a woman of whom he is proud to call wife. Both appear fulfilled in their marriage, and work hard together as they work their land, raise their sons and survive the poverty that hits them during the big drought. Through their hard work and some luck, prosperity returns to the Wang family and although Wang Lung can consider his achievements with pride, ultimately it is in his land that he finds his final solace.

The beauty of The Good Earth, which was published in 1931, is that it provided the Western World with an insight into a culture that people did not understand and did not make any real attempt to understand. US involvement in China was increasing in the early 20th Century, and so the glimpse of Chinese life that Buck was able to provide to Westerners had the potential to have a great influence over their views and attitudes towards the Chinese people.

Through the myriad of authentically depicted characters we learn about what it meant to be Chinese during this period of time. Integrity, reputation and hard work were valued above all else and filial piety seemed to be the cornerstone of most human relationships. Females were considered slaves whose role to produce sons and care for her family. This is not to say that women were not valued for the role that they played in the lives of men. Wang Lung certainly appreciated and respected his wife, but he only considered her in the light of the role she played within his family. This passage particularly struck me as demonstrating Wang Lung's interest in his wife, but also his conventional approach to the roles of the sexes:

"Sometimes, working over the clods in the field, he would fall to pondering about her. What had she seen in those hundred courts? What had been her life, that life she never shared with him? He could make nothing of it. And then he was shamed of his own curiosity and of his interest in her. She was, after all, only a woman".

I know that many people would find this offensive, but it was the reality of the cultural life of people in China at these times. O-Lan lived this role as much as Wang Lung expected her to.

The essential role that filial piety played in family life was also apparent in many other aspects of their existence. Wang Lung supported his father until his death, as well as his uncle and his family. Despite the complexities and difficulties of the latter, it was a necessity in order to maintain his reputation as a respectful man.

The reality is that sons were valued more than daughters, as daughters were only raised in order to serve another man and his family. Wang Lung and O-Lan certainly subscribed to this view. Wang Lung gave serious consideration to selling one of his daughters whilst they were in a time of great need. O-Lan killed her newborn daughter whilst in the depths of poverty. Whilst this may seem unimaginable to you or I today, her willingness to do so demonstrated the desperation of the times in which they were living, as well as the value that was placed on a daughter's life as opposed to a son's. I have no doubt that as a harsh fact, if that child had been born a son it would not have suffered the same fate.

Through the Wang family's tribulations, we are also exposed to the politics and economic reality of China at this time in history. Through all the droughts, floods and the subsequent human suffering, the Government plays no role at all in the lives of the peasants. Self-sufficiency was essential and the end to which all the peasants and farmers worked. Farmers lived off their land, but also utilised the marketplaces to buy and sell goods and produce as required.

Self-sufficiency could not be possible if it weren't for the land, and bonds to the land and ancestral roots is another important theme of The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck.

"The earth lay rich and dark and fell apart lightly under the points of their hoes. Sometimes they turned up a bit of brick, a splinter of wood. It was nothing. Some time, in some age, bodies of men and women had been buried there, houses had stood there, had fallen, and gone back into the earth. So would also their house, some time, return into the earth, their bodies also. Each had his turn at this earth. They worked on, moving together - together - producing the fruit of this earth - speechless in their movement together."

It is through such wonderful imagery that Buck really displays how the land from which one which ones comes becomes a part of your sole; a force that compels you to return to honour your ancestors and the land that provided them and you with life.

It was Buck's depiction of the role that land and nature played in the lives and traditions of the Chinese people that I think really holds important lessons for us still. It was never to so clear to me that nature, like life, is truly cyclic in nature. You see the rise and fall of the river; the drought turns to abundance only to turn to flood and then abundance again. Nature has its own guiding force, acknowledged by the people through their Confucianism, and it is that force which must be respected for the life and death that it brings.

Part of the effectiveness of The Good Earth is the way in which Buck has written the story. Buck unfolds this third person narrative using sparse and simple language. The story seems to flow along naturally, which reflects the natural flows and ebbs of nature and human life that are so poignantly portrayed within the pages.

In the end, the traditions, values and land that have sustained Wang Lung throughout his life, begin to change at the hands of his sons which is in and of itself part of the cycle of human existence. In the end though, it is the land that has sustained him life that he returns to, to be sustained in death.

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck is moving story full of hope, hard work and heartbreak, and has many universal messages that will still resonate with readers today. I loved it.

This book is clearly deserving of the Pulitzer Prize it won in 1932, just as Pearl S. Buck is deserving of the Nobel Prize Prize in Literature 1938.

Summary

What kind of read is this?
It is content rich, and very moving and emotional. It is not a difficult read because the flow of the writing carries you along with the story, but it can at times be emotionally challenging.

Do I recommend this book?
Absolutely. This is a book that will hold meaning for all readers, including those in generations to come.

Do you recommend that I buy this book?
I do recommend that you buy this book. It is one that I feel you will find new detail and meaning in each re-reading.

Star Rating

7 / 8

Brilliant. Beautifully told and one I couldn't put down. I recommend that you buy it.

Have you read The Good Earth? I would love to hear what you thought, please leave a link to your review if you have. I have heard so many people say that they felt for O-Lan and disliked Wang Lung for his treatment of her - were you able to suspend your contemporary western values and see their relationship within its cultural and historical context? I admired both for the way in which they really lived their traditions with integrity. 

Originally posted 2 November 2010 Page Turners