Monthly Archives: September 2012

The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

A yellow bird

With a yellow bill

Was perched upon

My windowsill

  I lured him in

With a piece of bread                              

And then I smashed

His fucking head…

 

The opening of the book starts with this Traditional U.S. Army Marching Cadence which  says it all: it foreshadows the tone of the story — beautiful prose, but the  content of war stinks and can’t be disguised by pretty words. This book has haunted me. The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers is fiction but the author’s life history indicates that he writes from experience. Kevin Powers did two tours of duty in Iraq. He captures the rhythm, the chaos, the intensity, the exhaustion and boredom in war. The story is about 21 year old Private John Bartle and Private Daniel Murphy, 18 years old, who are in the same battalion. Prior to shipping out to Iraq, the mother of Murphy extracts a promise from Bartle that he will bring Murphy home alive, and take care of him on the front. The promise which is overheard by his commanding officer is immediately addressed by the officer. “Don’t ever make that kind of promise”. The “Sarge” then punches him in the face. The stage is now set and we anxiously wait to see how Bartle breaks his promise and what happens to Murphy.

One of the main characters is Sargent Sterling, a hardened veteran of war, and he serves to warn his men about the terrain of war — the skills you need to abide by in order to survive. There is a point in the book when Bartle recognizes that Murphy is “not himself”. Sterling shares with Bartle that when your head is back home (and you are not then focused on surviving the war) you end up going home dead. The Sargent warns that you have to be a deviant or have an edge to survive — a quality Bartle has, but Murphy does not. Murphy is too sensitive to the exercises of war and becomes a broken man.

One of the things I learned from this book is the role of marching cadences, how they rally troops, reflect the times and provide music. It is fascinating to read some of the marching tunes because they  reflect the membership of war. It is also fascinating to read the words written by this talented author-as said in his opening line: “The war tried to kill us that spring”. The story “lures” the reader  in and “smashes” your head with the sad reality of war.

Where did you go Bernadette by Maria Semple

I really enjoyed this book, Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple.  It is an engaging, clever story told by nasty e-mails, police, psychiatrist and school reports, narration from different characters, including the daughter, mother, father, neighbor and school parents.  Bee is short for Balakrishna, and the precocious teenager who as a middle school student has succeeded in getting straight A’s on her report card. Prior to her grades, Bee had extracted a promise from her parents that if she gets A’s she could have her wish granted-a trip with her parents to Antarctica. The day before the cruise to Antarctica, Bee’s mother disappears.

There is one small problem: Bee’s mother, Bernadette. The mother has complex issues about leaving on this trip including agoraphobia and  the inability to do the basics in daily activities, like tolerating other adults. Bernadette, the mother, requires and employs a virtual assistant from India who she pays 75 cents an hour to do grocery lists, order clothes, conduct her life. But the virtual assistant can’t run interference for Bernadette and the continual conflict she has with people. Bernadette loathes Seattle and all the quirks of Seattle people. In fact, I don’t believe Bernadette has agoraphobia as much as she just dislikes and is intolerant of  most people. She is a multilayered character who is funny, witty, an obsessive savant who won the MacArthur Award for architecture and creativity.  With her acidic tongue, the author/Bernadette makes fun of  the politically correct private school and Seattle at large. There are lots of laughs as we get to know these characters.

A bit contrived but entertaining, from the first page-the wise 14 year old and the flawed parents tell their side of the story as Bee tries to find her missing mother and begins to do the detective work. The author is a veteran screen writer for previous series: Arrested Development and Mad about You. The author  moved to Seattle from southern California and initially had to adjust to the lifestyle of the Northwest. The author likes Seattle now. That’s my 2 cents.