Theme of the Week
Fiction
Reader: Kitty Simmons
Author: Upton Sinclair
Title: Oil
There will be a lot of OIL and not much blood at all!
Summary: I had planned to use this as my "movie book" when I heard that There Will Be Blood was based on this book. Having read The Jungle in college, I expected a high level of passion and social consciousness from this classic "muckraker" and wasn't disappointed. The book is entertaining, informative, and very thought-provoking. Which is a lot more than I can say for the movie, which was such a Huge departure from the book that I decided it shouldn't even be included in the "movie book" category, so I'm submitting it for my fiction read: historical fiction.
The book is largely written from the point of view of the oil man's son, Bunny and opens as they are driving across the state to negotiate leasing mineral rights from some landowners. This first chapter entitled "The Ride" sets the stage for the rest of the book as the reader is carried along with Bunny into a maelstrom of forces that emerged and clashed in the early twentieth century. The conflict between the oil man and the preacher that figures so prominently in the movie doesn't happen in the book. Instead, the major tension in the book is between the developing labor union movement and the capitalist bosses. Paul, the preacher's communist brother, is the tragic figure who dies in the book at the hands of mob thugs. I almost could hear Pete Seeger singing in the background as the idealistic union organizers mix it up with the barons of power.
The author's viewpoint is forcefully presented and clearly summed up in the book's last sentence describing unfettered capitalism as "an evil Power which roams the earth, crippling the bodies of men and women, and luring the nations to destruction by visions of unearned wealth, and the opportunity to enslave and exploit labor." However, since the story unfolds mostly through the son as he grows up loving his father, enjoying the benefits that come his way, yet also sympathizing with the workers and their struggle, the complexity of the competing philosophies is artfully revealed. There are no easy answers. I think this would make a great text for a business ethics class, and it provides a compelling experience for learning about the history of this period. It left me wanting to read more about the Teapot Dome scandal, and there aren't many novels that will do that for you!
Kitty J. Simmons, Library Director
Reader: Cindy Parkhurst
Author: Geraldine Brooks
Title: People of the Book
LSU
Rating: 4
Summary: People of the Book was written by Geraldine Brooks, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for her 2005 novel, March. This book is a fictional account of the story of the survival of the Sarajevo Haggadah, a richly illuminated book created in medieval Spain by Jews. A remarkable book because it was created during a time when illuminating religious manuscripts with beautiful, gilt illustrations was seen as a violation of the Exodus prohibition against making graven images. That copies of these magnificent books survive is a testament to the tenacity and commitment of librarians and curators to the importance of preserving words.
This book is part history and part fiction. I enjoyed reading it because it took me on a journey through time following my favorite character, a book, through centuries from medieval Spain to Italy to modern day Sarajevo. If you love books and history this book should be on your reading list!