Ms. Hen reviews Klara and the Sun

 

Klara and the Sun

Kazuo Ishiguro

Alfred A. Knopf

2021

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel simply because she read about it online, and she thought it sounded interesting. She has always meant to read a book by this author, but she has not gotten around to it until now. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature, which Ms. Hen admires, even though she still thinks Haruki Murakami should win some time soon, and he should have won already.

This novel is about an AF, or Artificial Friend, named Klara, which is a type of AI that waits in a store for a child to buy her. Klara is intelligent, and curious about the world around her, and she eventually becomes the AF of a girl named Josie. She and her mother come in the store and choose Klara because Josie had been looking at her through the store window. Josie's mother asks Klara to walk like Josie. Josie has a limp, which Klara imitates.

Klara gets her nourishment from the Sun, and she enjoys watching the sunset at Josie's house. Josie lives with her mother and Melania Housekeeper, and her mother works a lot. Klara tries to help Josie and her friend Rick. Rick has not been lifted, or genetically altered. Klara does what she thinks is best for Josie.

Ms. Hen loves the way this novel is written. It is told through the point of view of Klara, and Ms. Hen thinks it's extremely well done. Klara has a unique way of describing the world, which suits her. She says the mother drinks a quick coffee every morning, and she repeats that again and again. She describes people she sees by what they're doing, such as a dog walk woman. Klara sees the world through an AI's eyes. 

This novel is quite unlike any Ms. Hen has read. The style is simple and direct, almost like a children's book. But it does remind her of a few TV series and movies she has seen, such as the Russian show BETTER THAN US, and the film AI. Ms. Hen loves books like these, set in the near future, set in an unidentified place, with events that could happen in our real near future. These kinds of books make a person think about what could happen to us, and where we are going.

Ms. Hen would recommend this novel to anyone who likes dystopian fiction, but with a gentle, sad twist. This novel ended differently than Ms. Hen thought it would. The tone of this novel is melancholy, but the future feels that way to her sometimes, that we're going somewhere unpleasant and boring -the computerized world that we're entering is not as bright and shiny as we had always dreamed it would be.

Ms. Hen reviews The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

 

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

L. Frank Baum

George M. Hill Co

1900

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she is interested in children's literature right now. She read this novel many years ago as a child, but did not have the same book. She bought the book, because she felt compelled to read this, because it is an American fable. Everyone knows the movie, but not many people have read the book. The story is similar, but it goes about it a different way.

A little girl named Dorothy lives in Kansas, which is a gray country. She lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. One day, a tornado comes, and Dorothy tries to hide in the cellar, but she and her dog, Toto get whisked to the sky. They float and float until the house lands with a quiet thud. She discovers that she has landed on The Wicked Witch of the East, and has freed the Munchkins, which are small people. A small woman with them is the Witch of the North, and she explains to Dorothy that the silver shoes are hers now that she killed the witch. Dorothy tells her that she wants to go home, and the witch tells her the Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City can help her get home. She gives Dorothy a kiss on the forehead, which is the mark of good luck that will help her.

Dorothy starts on her journey, and meets the Scarecrow, who is looking for brains, the Tin Woodman, who wishes for a heart, and the Cowardly Lion, who is looking for courage. Dorothy, Toto and the Lion faint in a field of poppies, but the Tin Man and the Scarecrow carry Dorothy and Toto, but the Lion is too heavy. The Scarecrow and the Tin Man enlist the field mice, led by their Queen to assist moving the Lion. The group goes to The Emerald City, and tries to meet the Wizard, but they have to wait.

When they meet the Wizard, he looks different for everyone. For Dorothy, he is a giant head, for the Scarecrow, he is a lovely woman, for the Tin Man, he is a giant beast, and for the Lion, he is a ball of fire. The Wizard tells Dorothy that he wants her to kill the Witch of the West. She says she does not think she can, but the Wizard tells her that he will not grant any of their wishes until the witch is dead. The group travels to the country of the witch, and Dorothy eventually kills her. At the end of the book, the same thing happens as the movie, but the Good Witch of the South, who does not appear in the movie, who they travel to see, tells Dorothy she always had the power to get home with the silver shoes.

Ms. Hen enjoyed reading this book. She remembered some things that happened in the book that she read many years ago, but some surprised her. She read that this book was written as a morality tale, a new American version of fairy tales that have a moral for children, things to help them understand the world.

Ms. Hen wondered if this book was inspired by ALICE IN WONDERLAND, and she did some research and read that it must have been. The stories are similar, two girls get whisked away to another world, Alice dreams she is in a fantasy land, and Dorothy gets blown away in a tornado, and THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ goes to a strange land, but has more of a plot with characters, while ALICE sort of meanders in her dream world.

Some chickens appear, which made Ms. Hen happy. The group is about to leave The Emerald City, and, "They went to bed quite early and slept soundly until daylight, when they were awakened by the crowing of a green cock that lived in the back yard of the Palace, and the cackling of a hen that had laid a green egg." Everything in The Emerald City is green, including the chickens! But they really aren't because everyone wears green spectacles.

Ms. Hen thinks this book is a wonderful respite from the gloom and doom of the world. It's nostalgia, because everyone has seen the film, but it's a different type of nostalgia, one for something you knew but you didn't know, a world that exists that is out of time, but inside it as well, that moves with time and stays with us wherever we are.

Ms. Hen writes things

 

Ms. Hen drinks from her Quark's Bar mug

Ms. Hen has had some short stories published recently.

You can read them here:

"Stranded" on Wordgathering 

https://wordgathering.com/vol15/issue1/fiction/oconnor/

"You Don't Have a Fan," on The Wilderness House Literary Review

https://www.whlreview.com/no-16.1/fiction/ShannonOConnor.pdf

"Lost Hospital Badge" on Oddball Magazine

https://oddballmagazine.com/fiction-by-shannon-oconnor-3/

Ms. Hen would like to thank the publishers of these small press online journals for supporting her work.

Ms. Hen wishes you all a happy spring!

Ms. Hen around the house

Ms. Hen reviews The Girl Who Drank the Moon

The Girl Who Drank the Moon

Kelly Barnhill

Algonquin Young Readers

2016

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she likes to read books for young people sometimes, and this one is about a good witch, which Ms. Hen was interested in. She craves fantasy more and more because the world is sad right now, and she does not want to dwell in reality. This book is a good antidote to reality.

This novel is about a village called the Protectorate which is located near a bog, and it makes its living off the bog. The town is full of sadness, and everyone knows that a horrible witch lives in the woods nearby. Every year, near the beginning of the year, they have to offer the child born closest to that time to the witch as an offering. The people believe that she sacrifices the baby.

In reality, Xan is a good witch. She takes the babies because she believes they are left there to die. One time, she takes a baby, and instead of offering her up to the starlight for nourishment as she is taking the baby away, she offers her up to the moon, and the baby becomes enmagicked. Xan decides not to take the baby to the free cities like she usually does, but instead, she takes her home with her and raises her, so she can keep track of her magic. She names the girl Luna. Luna lives with Xan, and the Perfectly Tiny Dragon, and the Swamp Monster in the woods. She does not know she has magic in her for a long time. But she discovers it, and she won't look at the world in the same way.

Ms. Hen read the second half of this book very fast. She got into the story, and she could not put it down. And since it is a children't book, it was easy to breeze through. Ms. Hen was scared, but she had a feeling everything would turn out okay in the end. She can usually tell by the tone of the book how the ending will be.

Ms. Hen was enchanted by this novel. It reminded her of a lot of other books she has read, such as the Harry Potter series, and THE WIZARD OF OZ. It's beautifully written, and she couldn't put it down. There's something about books for young people or children that Ms. Hen loves; she thinks it's because children have a different way of looking at the world, and are open to things that adults aren't. Adults do not have the ability or the desire to "play pretend," and Ms. Hen thinks this is too bad. 

Some chickens appear in this novel, which made Ms. Hen happy. The madwoman finds the tree house where Luna lived with Xan, and she finds the goats and chickens, "The chickens clucked in their enclosure, pressing their backs to the willow walls, keeping them inside. They gave their wings a desperate flap." The chickens were afraid of the madwoman, but she wasn't the one they should have been afraid of. The Sorrow Eater would come to the tree house soon, and she is the one they should fear.

Ms. Hen doesn't enjoy being around children, but she likes children's books. She doesn't remember liking being a child, either, so it's strange. She likes diving into fantasy worlds and being somewhere completely otherworldly for a little while, and thinking like a child, one with imagination and hope. 

Ms. Hen reviews The Children Act

The Children Act

Ian McEwan

Doubleday

2014

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she found it at a Little Free Library, and she had heard of the author, but she had never read anything by him. Ms. Hen has heard of a lot of writers, but she has not read everything by everyone, but she is interested in reading authors who are well known and respected, because she is interested in reading different types of books.

This novel is about a judge, Fiona, who is almost sixty; at the beginning of the novel, her husband asks her permission to have an affair. She is horrified and disgusted, and she tells his no, absolutely not. She is a high court judge in the family court division, and she presides over custody battles, divorces, and other types of family matters.

A case comes to her about a seventeen-year old boy, Adam, from a Jehovah Witness family who has leukemia, and needs a blood transfusion to survive, but he does not want it, neither do his parents. She has to decide whether or not he should be forced to get the transfusion. She goes to see him in the hospital with a social worker, and is transfixed by his youth and hopefulness. It's a difficult decision for her to make, and she pains over it.

At first, Ms. Hen didn't like this book. She thought the characters were pretentious, and she really didn't care about them. She has no sympathy for a judge and her husband who are upper class, and have problems that normal people can't relate to. She doesn't like to read about a judge's husband who wants to have an affair; it's just something that Ms. Hen takes no interest in.

But the book got better. The narrator, and the character have an excellent insight into understanding human nature, which Ms. Hen thought was fascinating. The way the judge describes people she knows, and the ones she comes in contact with are so well drawn. Ms. Hen is glad that she got through the beginning, and gave the book a chance, to come to its true rewards.

The relationship between the judge and Adam is so real and honest, that Ms. Hen felt sorry for Fiona. She is a complex character, and she is a mature woman, and she has regrets, and she doesn't know how to handle the situation, but she knows who she is, and her place in the world. 

This book moved Ms. Hen in a different way from other books that have moved her. She got into the shoes of someone completely out of her realm, and she saw the world from Fiona's eyes. She still doesn't like reading novels about rich people (at least not from this century), but she has a better appreciation of human nature and its complexity and how utterly messed up people's lives can get, how people suffer, and how they can suffer even more. Ms. Hen recommends this book to anyone who wants to understand humanity.

 

Ms. Hen reviews The Testaments

 

The Testaments

Margaret Atwood

Anchor Books    

2019

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she realized she had never read it when it came out. One of her coworkers asked her if she had read it, and she couldn't remember, so she poured over her blog for the last year and a half to see if she had written a review. She remembers wanting to read it, but the troubles of the world made the book slip off her radar. But she finally bought it, and was not disappointed.

This novel is the sequel to THE HANDMAID'S TALE, which Ms. Hen reviewed in 2017. You can read that here:

http://mshenreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2017/02/ms-hen-reviews-

handmaids-tale.html

This novel does not follow the TV series, which Ms. Hen has not seen. THE TESTAMENTS is about three different women dealing with life in Gilead, Aunt Lydia, Agnes, and Daisy, who later goes back to her original name, Nicole. Nicole lives in Canada, but her parents are involved in working to save Gilead, Agnes is a young woman in Gilead who decides not to get married, and takes the path to become an aunt, and Aunt Lydia is the most powerful aunt, and the story goes into her history as well as her present. 

In Gilead, women are not allowed to learn to read and their only purpose is to marry and have children. Aunts take care of teaching the young women, as well as being powerful members of the community; they do not marry. The purpose of Handmaids is to bear children for the men, and the Wives get married and take care of their households. Marthas are women who are servants. If a man has a lot of money, he has more Marthas.

Aunt Lydia wants to bring down Gilead, because she has suffered too long. At first Ms. Hen couldn't figure out if this novel took place before or after THE HANDMAID'S TALE, but toward the end, she figured out it takes place afterwards.

When Ms. Hen first started reading this, she was not sure who was speaking at first. The changing first person POVs from the different characters confused her. After a while, she got into the book, and she knew who was speaking when they were speaking. For her, that was the most difficult part of the book.

Other than the POVs, she loved this book. It's exactly what she likes to read. This is an important novel about how the world could turn out to be, if we are not careful. Hopefully, we will never go down this path as a society.

Ms. Hen found a few chickens and hens, and the characters are always eating eggs, which Ms. Hen found symbolic. Aunt Lydia muses on the aunts taking care of themselves, "If you are familiar with school playgrounds of the rougher sort, or with henyards, or indeed with any situation in which the rewards are small but the competition is fierce you will understand the forces at work." She thinks later, "If it's a henyard, I thought, I intend to be the alpha hen." She wanted to be in charge and she was. Ms. Hen admires her.

Ms. Hen recommends this book to anyone who wants to get angry, and also to anyone who desires to know what the world could be like if we let evil men take control. She recommends reading THE HANDMAID'S TALE first, in order to understand the plight of the handmaids. Books like this show us how we shouldn't become, which Ms. Hen thinks is important.

Ms. Hen reviews The Persistence of Memory and Other Stories

 The Persistence of Memory and Other Stories

Jan Maher

Dog Hollow Press

2020

Ms. Hen decided to read this book because she heard the author do a reading from it at an event she attending (on Zoom), the annual book party given by the National Writers Union Boston chapter, of which Ms. Hen is a member. She often goes to literary events, and sometimes when she is inspired enough by an author's reading, she buys the book. Ms. Hen was not disappointed this time.

This collection is full of stories that contain a whimsical air, but are true to life. The first story in the collection, "A Real Prince," is a fairy tale, and not like the others in the book. Yanka is a servant in a place like a castle, but she is mute. She stokes the fire, and helps the people prepare for the soldiers that are coming, and when they come, they are taken care of, and Yanka has a conversation with one that moves her. Ms. Hen enjoyed this story because of the possibilities that it possessed; it doesn't have an ending, but only another beginning.

A lot of these stories are about elderly people, which Ms. Hen thinks is different, because she doesn't read a lot of stories about characters like these. The last story in the book, the title story, is about a woman about to turn one hundred whose son decides to take her license away, but she decides to borrow her granddaughter's bike and goes on an adventure. The story is about memory, and her remembering her father teaching her how to ride a bike.

These stories, in the hands of a more morbid author, could go to darker places . There is a light and optimism to these brief slices of life, and after reading each story, Ms. Hen felt better about the world around her. Everything can seem dark and dreary at times, but she thinks that these stories show how life can be hopeful even when it seems like there's no hope.

Ms. Hen could feel echoes of Raymond Carver in these stories, but she doesn't remember him writing about elderly people. And Grace Paley shines through also, with her wisdom and wit.

A lot of the time, when Ms. Hen reads a book, the essence of the last book she read carries through to the next. That didn't happen this time, and Ms. Hen thought this collection was the perfect spring breeze to remedy her last book. Not that she didn't enjoy her last book, but it was heavy. The March air has taken hold, and THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY is the perfect quick read to help get Ms. Hen ready for longer days, birdsong in the morning, and hope that everything will be okay again soon.