İncir Kuşları (Midi Boy) - Sinan Akyüz itibaren Alfa Yayıncılık içinde LIT biçim

Cyrus Leung cyrusleung — As I read Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees, I, like the protagonist, found myself on a journey through a world that I didn't quite understand. Many of my questions remain unanswered, but, when I look back on the journey something very substantial resonates with me. Though much may be lost inches below the surface, some things--some great things--like The Bean Trees--survive. Throughout the novel, I often struggled to understand character (and author) motivation. Much of what developed the novel's very premise made no sense to me. The novel begins following a motivated girl who is determined to get a position at a hospital lab, even though her family's low income and her poor worm dissection technique are working against her. She works hard to support her single mother and learn what she can. And then the girl buys a beat-up car with one plan in mind: drive as far as the old thing would take her. Perhaps because I'm so career-oriented or such a planner or maybe because I misunderstood the protagonist's relationship with her mother or couldn't possibly imagine the hardships she faced growing up poor in a small town, but I couldn't imagine how the same girl who tried so hard to help her mother could leave her with only the bare essentials of a plan. (Although it wasn't quite the same girl. Because once she passed through Taylorville, Marietta became Taylor Greer.) I had similar difficulties understanding why Taylor's first (and seemingly only) response to having a young child thrust upon her was to then take care of the child, despite all of her earlier stated desires to be untethered. Once I accepting these two choices, however, Taylor came to life, reborn as a mature young woman who would fight for her way of life. Kingsolver's treatment of male characters also left me with questions. For the most part, men are absent from the novel, sometimes violent, sometimes culpable, often deserters. The two men who play somewhat major roles--Taylor's teacher, Mr. Hughes Walter, and the illegal immigrant slash political refugee Estevan--are idealized and elusive. Not the traditional masculine heroes--a rodeo cowboy is in fact one of the males in the deserter category--these men are clean cut and intelligent. The protagonist develops crushes on each, so that whenever one is in the scene, it seems as if there is backlight creating a radiant halo around his figure. However, these rare exalted male figures seem to exist only as temporary surrogate fathers and leave Taylor with nothing but a sweet memory and hope that one day the ethereal characters might be real. It is almost a reversal of the Victorian angel in the house. The men are ideals, but cannot be held. Though a few aspects left me unsettled, for a short and quick read, The Bean Trees sends a powerful and lasting message. Taylor begins the story as an individual, strong and independent. At the end of the story, she has journeyed, grown, and learned, and is even more powerful, with the independent initiative and strong will that makes her unique. But, in spite of her independence and agency--which she retains--Taylor does not succeed in her journey on her own. Kingsolver presents a cast of resilient and laudable characters who are all a bit scarred, whether from trauma during infancy, poverty, political upheaval, or abandonment issues, yet the characters still find unparelleled strength in themselves and in their community with others. In a world where the traditional familial structure has failed, Kingsolver's characters join together to create their own family, forging bonds much stronger than the blood Taylor spent hours inspecting in a laboratory. Family--real family, not blood-based kinship--is a source of insurmountable strength for Kinsolver's characters. In a novel where the protagonist is actively trying to write her own destiny, choose her own name, and travel as far on life's road as she can handle, the entire cast of characters join together to tell a story that could only be told through the active cultivation of both their solidarity and their individuality. With her diverse cast of characters, Kingsolver weaves a tale of survival, hope, and friendship. Woven together, the characters' threads create a beautiful novel, and the vibrancy of each color (Edna is red) is only magnified by those around it.

Guillermo Villanueva grita — This book is amazing. The detailed accounts of the genocide of the Chinese people in Shanghai and Peking (present day Beijing) by the Japanese is truly heartbreaking. The author, Iris Chang, wrote about a topic that is seldomly talked about or mentioned in schools. I believe this is a subject that should be brought to peoples attention.

Shelly Tsai xiaoyuncai — I read this book, even adjusted my A to Z challenge list for it, out of desperation as my usually sweet 4 1/2 year old had recently expanded his arsenal of weapons of misbehavior. It has given me a lot of good advice and things to consider. I've learned that my behavior will in large part determine my children's behavior.

Trần Khánh gemini_o0o48b2 — I wasn't too sure when I started reading this book if I would enjoy it or not, but I ended up loving the crazy misfit witch Tammy Jo and her crazy antics that always seem to get her into trouble. I cannot wait for more books by this author.