The Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd
3/5 stars
The Secret Life is a super popular book and movie, but this was my first exposure. I've been reading some pretty long books recently, so this was a refreshing, quick read. It was heart-warming and dealt a lot with loss and trauma in childhood. It was really beautiful to a child find a place that she is truly at home, and of course that is seen as pretty unusual since she's a little white girl and is staying with a rather eccentric group of black women. So yes, it's beautiful. The depiction of a syncretistic faith drawn from Marian exhaltation in Catholicism and some flat out animistic practicies is probably realistic, but I sure hope readers aren't being influenced by it!
The Opposite of Love
by Julie Buxbaum
3/5 stars
Total chick book. :) Buxbaum's work received RAVE reviews from several bloggers I follow, so I ordered it to see what everyone was so excited about. It IS a good book, and I think it would be a really good book if I had grown up in America. The main character reminded me of the girls I worked with in Chicago - good but somewhat broken family, driven professionally but feeling empty inside, searching for romance, alternately hitting up parties with friends and hibernating in her apartment. The novel totally dug into the heart of a young professional - the longing for love, for family, for meaning.... so I see why everyone raved about it. For me, though, it made me feel like I'm from an alternate universe. Even though I have worked in that world, my heart is in the jungle and the mountains, in third-world countries, or working with my refugees. I struggle to relate to the world of young professionals in America, so even though the book was GOOD, it was a little hard for me to relate to.
Posts
Curious... what kept The Secret Life of Bees from being 5/5? I would probably agree with your review anyway... I'd give it a 3.5/5.
ReplyDeleteI have a soft spot for Sue Monk Kidd. Her stories are only mildly interesting, but the prose is just so GORGEOUS.
I just didn't think it was a great book. A good book, but not great. I've been reading some GREAT books, like A Fine Balance and Wiesel's Night were the two I read right before A Secret Life, and it paled in comparison even though it was enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteYeah I can see that. Agreed. I read it after I hadn't read for MONTHS, after college.
ReplyDeleteI can identify with the above comments. It does matter what you read before a new book. Every book seems dumb and shallow right after I've finished a Trollope novel.
ReplyDelete