The Double Bind

by Chris Bohjalian

I read this over two months ago, and it disturbed me on so many levels I still can't figure out what to say about it!

I've enjoyed almost all of Bohjalian's books, ever since Oprah promoted "Midwives". This is probably his most serious since that book. It deals with rape and post traumatic stress disorder.

I didn't completely understand the psychological term "double bind" as it was described in the book, so I had to look it up in Wikipedia, which was pretty helpful--the essence of a double-bind is two conflicting demands, neither of which can be ignored, which leave the victim torn both ways in such a way that whichever demand they try to meet, the other demand cannot be met. "I must do it but I can't do it" is a typical description of the double-bind experience.

In this story, Laurel (a social worker to homeless people in a small Vermont town) is caught in a double bind when she attempts to resolve the story of one of her "cases"--a man who, on his death, leaves a cache of beautiful photographs, many of which are of famous people taken throughout the 50s, 60s and 70s. Among the pictures is one of her, from years earlier, right before the traumatic event whose continued suppression is the other demand on her life. Laurel is compelled to solve the mystery of the man's past--the shelter hopes to raise funds with an exhibit of the photographs--but she can't do it without coming face to face with the truth of what happened to her.

This leads to a schizophrenic break--and in fact, double binds are often cited in the case histories of schizophrenic patients.

I was completely ignorant that Laurel had already suffered a break, which I blame on not having read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I continued to believe, right till the very end, that the use of elements of that book meant that this book was a fiction-inside-a-fiction.

I did have suspicions--the pieces of the puzzle Laurel tried to solve were falling too easily into place.

Bohjalian leaves his readers hanging at the end--you don't know that Laurel is able to come back to health, although the one positive aspect is that her family and friends rally around her, and one hopes that their love can set her on the road.

One of the loveliest aspects of the book is the inclusion of photos taken by a real-life homeless person who died in a shelter; Bohjalian credits the discovery of his photos as a major inspiration, but he also hopes that when readers see them they are reminded that homeless people are real--that many of them have lives, have been productive members of society, before their lives spiral out of control.

One Good Turn

by Kate Atkinson

I have generally loved everything Kate Atkinson has written, except for Emotionally Weird, which gave me the familiar but unwelcome sensation of reading something while I was on drugs, under water. (I've felt that way once before, while reading Banana Yoshimoto's Amrita.)

This book features retired detective Jackson Brodie, who while attending the Edinburgh Arts Festival finds himself in the crossroads of a bunch of characters who at face value don't have anything in common: a mystery writer who is much milder and meeker in real life than his profession would suggest; a single-mom detective; a 60ish housewife married to a real-estate tycoon. There are others but these are the most important and most developed.

While horrible things keep happening to some characters, there is also a good deal of comic relief in the book. Kate Atkinson writes the humor in so subtly though that you never feel she's mocking any of the characters; she's simply narrating their real lives, in all their comedy and tragedy.

The good guys are generally rewarded with happy endings (or perhaps the promise of a happy ending in the near future), and the bad guys are given their just ends.

Jackson Brodie appeared in Kate's last book and I got the sense that more of his exploits will be narrated in future.

The one element I wasn't so keen was what seemed to me Kate's use of deus ex machina in the form of a Russian girl. I feel that her role in the book keeps this from being a genuine mystery. But then again I can also see her usefulness in both tying up loose ends and poking fun at the genre of mystery, so maybe KA intended her to play this role after all.

Julie & Julia

by Julie Powell

My friend Ginger recommended this book to me maybe about a year ago. I was intrigued by her recommendation but for some reason never felt compelled to put this on my list of requests from the local library. And then I chanced upon it a few visits back and decided to pack it into the stroller with the other 23 books already in it.

I am so glad I did!

I am certain there are countless of people out there who followed Julie on her year-long quest to make every single recipe from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking v.1 through Julie's blog (which, wonderfully enough, is still up.) But I am so happy she got an offer to publish her culinary adventure in book form. That Julie never made it as an actress (because she is such a lovely writer). That she hated her job as a temp enough, and was ambivalent enough about procreation, to want to do something to distract her and give her life some direction. That she chose to conquer Julia Child's cookbook--that never would have occurred to me!! (And believe me, I know all about wanting a Project to provide me with distraction and direction.)

I am no fan of French cooking, at least not restaurant-style--I haven't eaten in many French places but I do find the emphasis on presentation and theater over-the-top. I like my meals simple and tasty--they don't have to be plated nicely. REading J&J almost made me want to replicate the project myself. Or at least pick up a copy of MtAoFCv1 and try some of the recipes. At least those that don't involve aspic.

I loved this story because

--prior to the project, Julie wasn't much of a cook. And then she managed to educate herself pretty thoroughly about food and cooking--she deboned her own poultry, and cooked things I've never even attempted!! (Though now I am especially tempted to try making the calves' liver she mentions toward the end.)

--she did it all in a crappy New York apartment kitchen, which sounds way worse than any kitchen I've ever worked in. At least I've never had frozen water pipes (KOW) or maggots. I desperately want counter space in my kitchen, but I do pretty well otherwise.

--you get to know Julie and Eric, and the family members and friends who grace the book...so it almost felt to me like I was reading an excellent bit of fiction with well-developed characters!

The one thing about the book I didn't like were the fictional(?) musings on different episodes in Julia Child's life that you find between the chapters. I tried, but found my eyes glazing over every time. I can't explain it!

Bravo, Julie Powell. I am so glad that your culinary success led to literary (and I hope apartment) glory. I look forward to your next adventure!