sonia_reppe's reviews
1293 reviews

I think I was expecting too much from this book, since all of the reviews are raves and I LOVED her first book of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies. I liked this collection except for the story about a couple who goes to a wedding, called Choice of Accomodations, which has the worst sex scene ever. You might defend this scene by saying Lahiri was trying to make it realistic with the husband enjoying his wife's breasts, "flattened and drained after nursing two children, tasting the film of persperation that had gathered," but wouldn't it be more realistic if he were repulsed by her body now and had to come to terms it, or something? And do we need to see the word "decay" in a sex scene? Also I'm tired of reading about Indian parents who are ashamed if their kid doesn't get into an ivy league school. I know Lahiri is just being honest about the kind of people she knows, but it just makes me roll my eyes.

Click here to read my review on Bookpleasures.
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitepublisher/articles/172/1/Review-Ladys-Hands-Lions-HeartA-Midwifes-Saga/Page1.html

The book is subtitled A Midwife's Saga. Saga means a narrative of heroic deeds, which is a perfect description for this book.

I can see why this book is banned from some schools as there are potentially offensive parts in here like racial slurs and child abuse (upsetting but not too graphic). I was drawn into this story about a lonely unloved girl who helps an escaped german soldier. I couldn't give this book more stars because all the characters are so clearly presented as either "good" or "bad." But the author succeeded in making me sympathize with Patty (main girl). This book brings up a lot to talk about.

1.5 stars. The bulk of this novel takes place in 1972. SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE TOLD Betsy Carter that WALT DISNEY DIED in 1966. He wouldn't have been alive to comment on Weeki Wachi! It was a fast read, so I kept going, but I didn't care for the rudimentary prose. Not just the prose, but the plot and the characters also were under-developed. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters. Maybe because the point of view kept jumping between so many of them. The good things are that it's clean, (G-rated) and has a happy ending. But some things in the plot are so unbelievable. At one point there is a severe storm, which threatens to become a hurricaine, so people are told to evacuate their homes. Yet when the weather channel people get to the location by the ocean, there is a "little boy playing in the surf"! During a hurricaine? And while the dad is close by? So, he gets swept out and then saved, but we aren't told how he happened to be out "playing" in the first place. So Ok, but the book brings the boy and father back to the news channel for an interview the next day, and we still aren't told why they were out there in the first place! Because we needed a dramatic rescue, that's why.

Well, I already thought Catholics were wack before I started this book. But this is no place to list all the things about the catholic church that I, as a protestant, disagree with. This isn't what the book is about either, although she does take some issure with the church later on. Beryl, the author gives us an example of self-destructive fanaticism and how it steered her life. As a teen she absorbed extreme and archaic views from Catholic school and books about saints, and wanted to "suffer" for God. The bible talks about suffering if someone is persecuting you because of your faith. To defend your belief in God is the only reason to endure suffering. How could this girl think that starving and freezing herself was pleasing God? Pathological obsessive compulsion caused her to be so anorexic that she ruined her thyroid and almost died. Luckily, her fanaticism hurt only her herself and no-one else. It was interesting to see that even the vatican was doing away with those dangerously skewed midieval views. During Beryl's years at the monastery (one of the strict orders), the vatican passed changes that did away with the last of the extreme practices; they now allowed the nuns to leave the premises and talk at meal times. Thankfully Beryl started looking at life for answers instead of at dead saints and changed her outlook.
The writing was pretty solid; it was good, but nothing in the book surprized me.