| Author |
Message |
| Shirley |
| Posted
on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - 09:14 am: |
|
The first page grabs the reader with the speaker's matter of fact
sttaement of finding her mother's body. I was hooked, but also
concerned about the depressing pages to come. Yet Holt's entertaining
and lyrical language make this a book of hope, not regrets.
Through Isabel's eyes we see a regular family coping with a devastating
loss. The father and brother withdraw and Isabel must care for them
as well as her younger sister. Her sometimes humorous, sometims poignant
journal like entries show how she works through these issues as well
as how she copes with growing up. She also introduces us to village
life on a tropical island which is at the same time familiar and exotic.
|
| Jenn |
| Posted
on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - 11:19 am: |
|
Keeper of the Night explores the feelings of a family after
their mother’s death. The Island of Guam serves as the setting for
this thought-provoking novel. The characters are well-written with
a dialogue that is sensitive and thoughtful. Holt’s plot moves at
a slower pace to reflect the painful healing process that the small
family experiences.
|
| Roxanne |
| Posted
on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - 01:37 pm: |
|
Agreeing strongly with both Shirley and Jenn's statement.
I also want to expand/comment on Shirley's point on how Guam is
"at the same time familiar and exotic." I think Holt has achieved
something rare here. She presents a fairly "unfamiliar" or
"foreign" culture without ever exoticizing it. It is just
simply a place and a way that these characters exist -- the cock fights
are just a common occurance, and minding a small family shop is what
Isabel is used to doing. The place is so vividly drawn with words
that I can see the landscape clearly in my mind.
And, of course, the poetry of each short entry and the dialog is beautiful
to the eye and ear.
-- Roxanne
|
| Katrina |
| Posted
on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - 06:25 pm: |
|
I enjoyed this book but not overly. I did not find the story that
interesting or the characters that colorful. I did not think it was
up to Holt quality. I guess this is all rather negative which should
be for discussiion 2 - worth reading, but.... could live without.
|
| Rachel |
| Posted
on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - 06:32 pm: |
|
I agree that Holt describes place well. Guam seems at once isolated
(or at least many on it long to see other places, but have not
left the island) and yet connected to the rest of the world. The
girls are scared of angering the spirits, but they also walk down
street singing Eminem. The book is an interesting commentary on globilization.
The brevity of some of the entries works well. I'm thinking of
the poem that Isabel writes about a bleeding boy (Frank).
It's a beautiful, sad, sad poem that her clueless teacher makes
her rewrite. Immediately following is an essay about a surreal visit
to Disneyland with her family that Isabel makes up. I loved that Holt
included the essay, instead of an interior dialogue explaining how
Isabel feels about school and how her family is falling apart. The
essay said it all.
|
| Jane |
| Posted
on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - 08:30 pm: |
|
I thoroughly enjoyed Holt's way of building characters and setting
through a series of vignette-like chapters. Each is a mini-story in
itself and together they gradually create the picture of Isabel's
life. I agree with Rachel's comments on this book's look at
how American culture is interwoven with Guam's.
|
| Ellen |
| Posted
on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - 08:36 pm: |
|
I'm nodding at Roxanne's discussion of Holt's description
of Guam as exotic and yet everyday. The convenience store and shopping
lists would be another example.
The opening of this novel is one of the most gripping I've ever
read!
|
| Roxanne |
| Posted
on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - 10:40 pm: |
|
Dear Members,
I guess we should move on to the concerns. Sorry for not posting this
earlier (it's Chinese New Year Eve and I had guests over.)
Just a reminder: when we talk about books, we are only comparing them
to each other - mentioning the author's earlier work or comparing
this year's work to an earlier work goes into the "BOX."
-- Roxanne
|
| Roxanne |
| Posted
on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - 10:42 pm: |
|
Oh, right, thanks for the thoughtful posts!
|
| Jane |
| Posted
on Thursday, January 22, 2004 - 08:11 pm: |
|
I admired many apects of this book, but it didn't come across
as exceptional to me. Perhaps because there were so many minor characters
and subplots, the overall "texture" of the book was interesting,
but nothing stood out as memorable a week after I finished reading
it. I'm glad Rachel reminded me of the Disneyland essay incident
because I agree that that was masterfully done.
|
| Moira |
| Posted
on Friday, January 23, 2004 - 08:51 pm: |
|
I agree that the descriptions of Guam were wonderful, and in fact,
they were the highlight of the book for me. I felt transported to
each scene, where I was able to observe without feeling like an outsider.
|
| Cherri |
| Posted
on Friday, January 23, 2004 - 10:28 pm: |
|
Sorry, this is the one book of all our selections that I did not get
started reading. I have appreciated reading the comments posted about
this one and will try to look it over more after we finish the workshop.
|
| Roxanne |
| Posted
on Friday, January 23, 2004 - 11:01 pm: |
|
Cherri,
That's too bad... 
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