Books Deena Read Recently

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett...enthralling story, everyone needs to read this.  It will touch your heart and engage your mind.  Hard to believe our society was here just 60 years ago.


The Given Day, by Dennis LeHane....tense, dramatic, thought-provoking. Perspectives on the coming decade involving the NAACP, labor unions, Boston Police Department, and Babe Ruth.  There is much irony in this book.


Crossing Over, by John Edward.  Most interesting.  Sure wish I could afford to attend one of his events or readings.

Land of Painted Caves

32 days until Jean Auel's next book is released!

Earth's Children Series  The Land of Painted Caves.

Bridge To Forgiveness

A am reading another amazing book: The Bridge To Forgiveness, by Karyn D. Kedar.

On the second page it says, "The first twenty years, you grow up.  The second twenty years, you heal from growing up...By the time you're forty, get over it.  We are human, and many mistakes were made in your growing up.  Take the next twenty years to heal, and then move on.  By the, you are what you are and you aren't what you are not."

I have actually spent the first forty years growing up and making mistakes.  At an age when I should be accepting myself and moving on, I am trying to heal from the first 59 years.

I remember learning that if you do not learn the lessons of the first Saturn Return, your second Saturn Return will be worse.  I didn't, and it was.

I need this book.  The only person I am having trouble forgiving is myself.

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Currently reading Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.

Lisbeth reminds me of Maris. 

I will let you know how it goes.

The Lacuna

Currently reading The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver, one of my favorite authors.  She takes images from nature and uses them as metaphors for conundrums within her characters that they need to explore.

A lacuna is a (...)

Yes, that!  a mysterious space.  An underwater cave through which you are pulled by tides.

Or the part of the story which is left out, which is of course the most important part.

Frida Kahlo and Leo Trotsky are characters in this book, which is partly set in Mexico in the 30s and 40s.

Quo Vadis

Philip's friend Roey gave him a copy of Quo Vadis by Sienkewicz and urged him to read it.

I decided to read it myself.

What a powerful and moving book.  Quo Vadis is a masterpiece.  It was published in 1896 and Sienkiewicz was awarded a Nobel prize for literature in 1905.


The novel parallels the experiences of Petronius and Peter, whose names are similar but otherwise are very different in their origins and station.  Peter was a Jewish fisherman and follower of  Jesus,  Petronius was a noble Roman who arbitrated the artistic sensibilities of the Roman people.  


These two found themselves in Rome at the same time, when Nero was at the height of his madness and looking for a scapegoat to blame for the burning of Rome.  The link between them is Marcus Vinicius, nephew of Petronius and spiritual student of Peter.  Petronius and Vinicius work for Nero, who is totally insane.  Rome is dying as an empire, but about to be born as a spiritual center for Christianity.  In a sense, Rome itself is a magnificent and complex character in this novel.


I loved this book.  I wish everyone would read it.  

The character of Petronius is amazingly articulate.  I found myself re-reading certain passages that were extremely well-written, full of wit and subtly sarcastic commentary.  


Petronius and Peter accept their deaths around the same time.  They both choose the circumstances of their deaths, and it is one of the few things they have control over in these days of madness.  But you have to read the book to learn the important details!


The 2 best passages in the book take place right before their deaths.  Petronius is surrounded by his loved ones, and reads aloud a letter to Nero in which he expresses what he really thinks of him.  Peter meanwhile is escaping from the persecutions in Rome, and along the road encounters  the spirit of Jesus, whom he loves so much and has missed so terribly.  He says in amazement "Quo vadis, Domine?" (where are you going, Lord?) and Jesus replies he is going to Rome...and if Peter does not go with him, Jesus will have to die again.


This is a beautiful and compelling work.  I believe a lot of the feeling comes from Sienkiewicz having experienced the agony of the partitions of Poland.  He was familiar with selfish and insane rulers whose god was their own self, and who lived only for their own ego, and to exploit the people who are so devoted to their land and their nation.   Sienkiewicz understood about the spiritual despair that comes from the threat to a beloved nation which may survive as s spiritual power when it can no longer survive as a temporal power.