I have been on a fictional tare recently to keep up with the lovely ladies in my CV book group. The titles they did not read were The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin and The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. The only book I would recommend would be The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, the book they did read.
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The Rosie Project was a cute, non-conventional love story. How love can change us? Or just a cute work of fiction set in Australia. There really isn't much meat to talk about, but if you are headed to the beach for spring break, pick it up! The lead character, Don, is a high functioning autistic man. He is a professor at university teaching genetics and decides to help Rosie find her biological dad and falls in love with her.
There is a follow up book called The Rosie Effect.
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I'm not crazy about The Storied Life of AJ Fikry. It came up as a reco when I purchased The Rosie Project. Should have known? But at least I got it from the library. Again, this book is the story of AJ Fikry's twisty-turney life. There is a love story, but it ends suddenly.
The best part of this book is the relationship with his daughter. The wonderful way Zevin has AJ raise his daughter on the island book store. Therein lies the magic.
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The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat Pray Love fame was a real plot mess. Why? Ms. Gilbert is a terrific writer. The writing is excellent, absorbing; but the plot is weird. Say no more. And then the book ends! Everyone dies and the book just ends (one would believe as Alma does.) I get what she is trying to do, but it is unsatisfying.
There is a discussion in Chapter 15 on the title's meaning, the signature of all things and how god has left his mark on the world. You can see God hand in the world and people must come to see and realize this. After Chapter 15 there is a continued discussion, in Chapter 31, of self-sacrifice and altruism. Alma uses the example of her sister Prudence who gave up her true love, George and Prudence's devotion to the abolitionist cause. Alma recognizes this after her father expires and leaves the estate to her sister. Alma also realizes her father truly loved her as he left everything to her. One of this one is worth two of the other (referring to Prudence.) But we really don't get to the explanation of why Alma/Gilbert introduces altruism & self-sacrifice into the evolutionary mix. Furthermore, Gilbert continues to state, via the characters evolution cannot take into account human consciousness.
It is in the discussion of the signature of all things that this book distinguishes itself. The addition of the self-sacrifice and human altruism to the equation make the conversation more interesting, with the further complication of human consciousness. Gilbert, by way of Alma, also states the purpose of life is the attainment of knowledge. Alma figures this out before expiring. One also hopes Alma got all her questions answered in that last moment and is happily communing with her also departed husband.
Sadly, I do not think the average reader is going to pick up on this line of inquiry in this book as it more going to the heart of historical romance set in Philadelphia and Tahiti. It is too bad as Ms. Gilbert could have taken this line of inquiry onto something bigger in the book notes.
The reason I hooked on to this discussion topic is a conversation I had with a friend on the knowledge and/or quantification of God. Humans used their consciousness to know there was a higher power in the universe and then with the invention of science tried to become closer to him. But there is no way to quantify God.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Rosie Project was a cute, non-conventional love story. How love can change us? Or just a cute work of fiction set in Australia. There really isn't much meat to talk about, but if you are headed to the beach for spring break, pick it up! The lead character, Don, is a high functioning autistic man. He is a professor at university teaching genetics and decides to help Rosie find her biological dad and falls in love with her.
There is a follow up book called The Rosie Effect.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm not crazy about The Storied Life of AJ Fikry. It came up as a reco when I purchased The Rosie Project. Should have known? But at least I got it from the library. Again, this book is the story of AJ Fikry's twisty-turney life. There is a love story, but it ends suddenly.
The best part of this book is the relationship with his daughter. The wonderful way Zevin has AJ raise his daughter on the island book store. Therein lies the magic.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat Pray Love fame was a real plot mess. Why? Ms. Gilbert is a terrific writer. The writing is excellent, absorbing; but the plot is weird. Say no more. And then the book ends! Everyone dies and the book just ends (one would believe as Alma does.) I get what she is trying to do, but it is unsatisfying.
There is a discussion in Chapter 15 on the title's meaning, the signature of all things and how god has left his mark on the world. You can see God hand in the world and people must come to see and realize this. After Chapter 15 there is a continued discussion, in Chapter 31, of self-sacrifice and altruism. Alma uses the example of her sister Prudence who gave up her true love, George and Prudence's devotion to the abolitionist cause. Alma recognizes this after her father expires and leaves the estate to her sister. Alma also realizes her father truly loved her as he left everything to her. One of this one is worth two of the other (referring to Prudence.) But we really don't get to the explanation of why Alma/Gilbert introduces altruism & self-sacrifice into the evolutionary mix. Furthermore, Gilbert continues to state, via the characters evolution cannot take into account human consciousness.
It is in the discussion of the signature of all things that this book distinguishes itself. The addition of the self-sacrifice and human altruism to the equation make the conversation more interesting, with the further complication of human consciousness. Gilbert, by way of Alma, also states the purpose of life is the attainment of knowledge. Alma figures this out before expiring. One also hopes Alma got all her questions answered in that last moment and is happily communing with her also departed husband.
Sadly, I do not think the average reader is going to pick up on this line of inquiry in this book as it more going to the heart of historical romance set in Philadelphia and Tahiti. It is too bad as Ms. Gilbert could have taken this line of inquiry onto something bigger in the book notes.
The reason I hooked on to this discussion topic is a conversation I had with a friend on the knowledge and/or quantification of God. Humans used their consciousness to know there was a higher power in the universe and then with the invention of science tried to become closer to him. But there is no way to quantify God.
