Days

Wednesday February 22nd

Thursday 23rd

Monday 28th February

Photo of the Day

Book Review: Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

Literature | Book Review

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult, a prolific writer in her own right, brings her readers’ attention to a number of vital and difficult questions in her latest novel Lone Wolf in which we are forced to question our morals. A father’s life falls into the hands of his two children as he lays in a coma; his daughter Cara believes defiantly in the fighting spirit, the spirit of the wolf. His estranged son, Edward who has difficulty accepting his father’s choice of living and running with wolves over his family, decides he should be allowed to die and have his organs donated. We are forced to ask these questions; who has the right to die? And can that decision be made for another person?

Luke Baxter’s fascination with wolves stem from the myth that surrounds them and misrepresentations about them, his sense of ‘not belonging’ forces him to make a choice between these beautiful creatures and his family, he chooses the prior. In the wild, he sheds his human skin with abandon and joins his wolf family, and in doing so, he attempts to leave behind all that makes him human, yet it is one particular human emotion that forces him to realise he must return home, and to the shock of the reader, it is not his need to be with his own family. When he returns to his family, and life amongst the human variety, it is undoubtedly clear that something has been left behind and the Luke Baxter before us is a mere shadow, but can a person’s shadow exist if there was never really a person there before you?

There is a strong Barbara Kingsolver essence to this novel, it’s particularly akin to Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer, just like Kingsolver, Picoult approaches her novel in a very deliberate manner, it begins with a question and moral dilemma which must be resolved, however, Picoult doesn’t do this until she’s run you through the ringer or made you hop, skip and jump on hot coals. One becomes mind tremblingly engrossed as words on the page seem to lift off and morph into something animalistic, something almost shamanistic as we become one with the wolf.  We become members of the pack and by the end of the novel we are able to distinguish one wolf call from another, and discover that a human's cry is not so dissimilar to that of a wolf's. At each and every turn, dizzying parallels are drawn up between man and wolf. The wolf is portrayed as a mesmerising creature; there is the pack, or the family which relies heavily upon each member, every single one has a designated role, especially when it comes to sharing a meal. Being told that family meals are of great importance takes on a whole new meaning.

This is in no doubt a most absorbing read, not only does it function in a way that the reader becomes a participant,  it is also a conscientiously educational one. Be prepared to part with this book at supper, social occasions and wash time, unless you become and utter hermit and read this in one fell swoop.

 Lone Woolf by Jodi Picoult published by Hodder & Houghton

published in Avrupa Gazete

A new camera, back to work & photo of the day

I'm loving my new camera from Mr C, an early birthday present! Taking a picture a day, so far that is, has been very satisfying, especially when I've been too ill to write and be creative! The camera has offered a sense of immediate gratification. Finally, today, I'm feeling well enough to sit up at the desk and will hopefully get some writing done! Will write more when I have the chance; in the meanwhile, it's all about; dog sitting (for a week) writing, eating plain food as my stomach is still struggling (gastritis virus) and seeing the beauty in life.

 peek-a-boo

Photo of the Day

Photo of the day: Sunday Morning

Photo of the Day: kneading dough

Photo of the day

I was far too ill yesterday to take a photo, but today I managed to get some fresh air in Dulwich park.

photo of the day

They're not just towels, they are towels from my aunt who was forever smiling and had the purest heart I know. Yesterday she passed away and so today I share with you a little memory. She gave these to Mr C & I before we got married and with a smile, in Turkish- for she couldn't speak a word of English, she said, "now you will always remember me when you wash your face."

 

Love you Auntie Ulviye

photo of the day

Photo of the Day

I have been utterly inspired by Maria Alexandra Vettese her photography is breathtaking, discovering snippets of magic in life, especially parts of it that we may take for granted. Life is difficult, tough and depressing at times....many times, but if we give ourselves and life itself a chance, then you never know what magic you'll let in. Having discovered A Year of Mornings: 3191 Miles Apart  by Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes and oh my, there is an Evening one. I must get my hands on these! I feel a little inspired to take a photo a day too, maybe not mornings, but something, just once a day; so here is the first one.  (I've also joined The365Project)




Tea & Daffodils & Writing

Current read #3 The Distant Shore : The Stone Trilogy Book 1 by Mariam Kobras

#AMWRITING post

I was so excited when Johanna Harness (@johannahaness) asked me to write a post for the #amwriting community, if you missed it, you can read it here! I hope you enjoy.

Book Review: Then Again: a Memoir by Diane Keaton

Literature |Ladi-da-lala

Then Again: a Memoir by Diane Keaton

 
Does this picture not just make you smile? It certainly does for me, as it is Keaton’s role as Annie in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall which made me truly fall in love with the actress. It was the adventurous, fun, ditsy easy going Annie in fantastic clothing, rapidly chewing gum that made me follow her around in the movies. Keaton herself is a rather private person, many aspects of Annie are drawn straight from her life but she is not Annie Hall; she is well known for her quirky roles’ but very little else.

We learn that she dated Warren Beatty, Woody Allen and Al Pacino, we also know that that she didn’t marry and gave up on the concept altogether, leaving her childless until her fifties when she decided to adopt two babies. If you are thinking about picking up this book to learn the deepest secrets’ of Diane Keaton that you would be fantastically disappointed as this is not a space simply for the unveiling of an autobiography but it is also the biography of her mother; Dorothy Deanne Keaton Hall who’s mind did what she’d always feared, it began to fail as Alzheimer’s took over..

 Dorothy Hall’s presence in this book, to whom it is a homage to, acts as a bridge in order to assess her own life by studying her mother’s and  in doing so; she looks at herself as a woman, a sibling and a daughter as a form of exorcism. She wishes to shed any guilt she may have felt in not paying attention to her mother outside of her maternal role and almost be forgiven for not noticing her as a photographer, artist and even a writer. Keaton uses the novel form as a platform to finally share with the world her mother and essentially give her, her fifteen minutes of fame. Keaton writes, “If only we could re edit our lives and make a couple of different choices, right, mom?... Now I’m alone, juggling with a memoir that’s also your memoir. Would you have approved of my choices? Am I misrepresenting you? I’ll never know.”

It is Keaston’s own neurosis, be it on body image, beauty or IQ, which creates a chasm between herself and the reader. Although this autobiography reads at times like a confessional in a psychiatric office and a “thinking everything out” space, it can sometime not feel enough, if that is indeed the case, then what is it that the reader is after? Her soul? Well yes actually, it’s exactly what one desires from this very art form. Nonetheless, the longer you allow Keaton’s book to work its magic after reading it, you begin to really see Keaton’s world through her mother’s. There are some wonderful soul revealing and poetic moments, especially upon the arrival of her own children when the cycle of life continues with evermore questions and the realisation that her mother’s presence will live on, especially now that it is on the page.

Then Again: a Memoir by Diane Keaton published by Fourth Estate

Published in Avrupa gazette

Current Read #2 Lone Wolf By Jodi Picoult

Published by Hodder & Stoughton