Book Review: The Anatomy of Peace

The Anatomy of Peace
by The Arbinger Institute
Genre: Self Help, specifically about Peacemaking
Non-Fiction
Adult

The Arbinger Institute is a sort of think tank that applies its research and consulting to the subject of peacemaking. I've been interested in their work for a while and find that the ideas they promote resonate with me. This is a self-help book, but it is presented as a story. The creative writing aspect of it is not its strongest characteristic, but that's okay. It teaches the concepts in the setting of a fictional group of parents who have just dropped off their troubled kids at an intensive outdoor intervention camp. The parents have to have some training with the camp staff so they can prepare to support the kids after their experience in the wilderness. The teaching is clear and the concepts are presented in an organized way, but sometimes the dialog and characterizations are a tiny bit cheesy. They are designed to be representative of a wide cross-section of people, so the concepts can be shown as applying to everyone. I get that, and I learned what the book has to offer, so the choice of style worked.

So, beyond a bit of criticism for the presentation, I really believe what this book teaches. I believe it with all my heart, and I think that if I can internalize it and learn to apply it, it really will help me in all my relationships. There were several moments of deep personal recognition of struggles that I have. Fortunately, these moments were eased by practical, useful pointers to new ways of thinking about my "way of being." Which brings me to another head's up. Just like any set of skills, whether it be skiing, knitting or car mechanics, this one comes with its own vocabulary. Some might dismiss it as psychobabble, as I did at first. What I've found however, as I've thought about and really tried to use the concepts taught is that using the language of the book actually helps me to build the new habits I want to build. The new words help me to sort of short circuit my usual habits.
I found the book most applicable to my family relationships, but really the concept of how to relate to others with a "heart of peace" is something that can be used in all situations. I thought of dealing with teachers at school, the staff at the doctor and dentist offices, and many other times when I've found myself not so peaceful.
If you are interested in a new way of thinking about looking at others, especially people you have struggled with for any reason, this could be a really useful book for you.

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Book Review: The Big Rock Candy Mountain

The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner:
This is a beautifully written novel, large in scope, rich in emotion and ideas, and one I'll remember for a long time. It is the heartbreaking saga of a family during the first third of the 20th century. The narrative does not dwell on history except to place the events of the story in context. So we know that prohibition is going on, WW1 is going on, and the Great Depression is going on, but they serve mostly as the backdrop to the wild and challenging life of Bo Mason and his family. Stegner's writing is spare yet so descriptive of both the expansive settings of Western North America and the complex personalities of the characters that every scene came alive with detail. All five of my senses got involved and I was transfixed until the very end. There are lessons to be learned along the way, and it is not an easy story to read, but in my opinion, well worth the effort.

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Book Review: Beauty by Robin McKinley

This turned out to be a really nice retelling of the very familiar story of Beauty and the Beast. I think that the Disney film was much influenced by some of the imagery in this book. The descriptions are lush and imaginative, but the world of the story is still recognizable. The one thing I liked about this story that was a bit different from other versions I remember is that Beauty herself had to realize her own power and even her own beauty. Her character had more of an arc than merely coming to see the Beast differently. She also had to learn to see herself differently. For that reason, this would be a great book for any young woman or girl to read. It was absolutely wholesome, with no scenes at all that I would be concerned about sharing.

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Book Review: Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors

Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors
Piers Paul Read
Adult, Non-Fiction, Documentary
You might like this book if: You enjoy survival stories, situations where group dynamics and working together are important, or you've heard of this story and are curious about what happened.

In 1972, a plane with 45 Uruguayans went down in the Andes. 16 of those original passengers survived. This is their story. And, yes, it pretty much is as dramatic as that movie-trailer style introduction makes it sound.

It is interesting to read a book like this because so much of the story was known to me, but just like Apollo 13, I really enjoyed it anyway, even knowing the outcome and one of the principal sources of tension. Don't get me wrong, it's a grueling read, but I literally couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. It is a detailed account of what it takes to survive such seemingly impossible conditions: a plane crash in the high mountains,  the difficult weather conditions of late winter/early spring, little food, improper clothing, and no natural resources.

Yet, some did survive, and they did it by dint of faith, determination, incredible creativity and then, of course, being willing to do, as the book cover attests, the unthinkable.  They were careful and thoughtful about their food. They rationed, they worked together, they developed a kind of government that kept people honest and contributing. But they still had too little food to survive, so the grueling decision was made to use the bodies of the dead as food. That story is told in full here, and it is difficult to read and think about, but in this straightforward telling, there is no sensationalizing, so there is nothing that is told for mere shock value. This leaves the reader to ponder the obvious questions of "Would I be able to do that?"and "Should they have just given up and died instead of eating the fallen?"

I also really liked that the author gave nearly as much time to the rescue efforts that were taking place. These parents were relentless in the face of political unrest, developing nations with little resources and skepticism. They would not give up. That was as heroic and meaningful to me as what the boys on the mountain were going through, and the character and faith of the searchers provided some of the best moments of the book for me.

The author met the survivors and he was chosen to write the book, and it appears that he did so with a great deal of personal affection and respect for the survivors. He tells it in true documentary style, as an observer. There is little of editorializing or embellishing and it is left solely up to the reader to form opinions.  I appreciated this approach, because in the end, I was cheering and weeping along with the world of 1973. I was able to focus on the real meaning of the story which to me is the power of faith,  character, friendship and hard work to give regular people the strength to do amazing things. 

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Book Review: Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

Moloka'i
Alan Brennert
Adult Historical Fiction
I listened to the Audible audiobook.
You might like this book if: You like historical fiction, you're interested in Hawaii, you like strong female characters, or sweeping stories that follow a character over a long period of time.

This book involved another of the moments of Synchronicity that often happen to me in connection with books. A few months ago, I happened upon an episode of a public television show called The Generations Project, which I'd never watched before. This is a genealogy show that helps an individual find out more about an ancestor about whom they are missing information. In the episode I accidentally found, a Hawaiian woman is trying to find out about her ancestor who was an inmate in the Kalaupapa settlement on the island of Moloka'i. It was a leper colony and I had never heard of it before.

When we chose books for one of my book groups, this one came up and I didn't really find out any information about it before I started reading. I had no idea what it was about. Well, it turns out that my TV show had prepared me well for the reading of this book and really enriched my experience with it. It is about the Kalaupapa Settlement, and the main character actually has several things in common with the person on the tv show. I loved that while I was reading, I could picture the place in my mind and have this real-life connection to the events of the story.

To summarize, this is an epic tale, following the life of one woman almost in its entirety. Hers is a rich life and I deeply loved her by the end. There are lots of other characters along the way and the story goes in waves of more and less interesting at times, just as life does. The writing is pretty good, though I'm curious to sample it in written, rather than audio, form. The narrator has such an influence on how a book comes across. This narrator has a cultural connection to the story, and that did add authenticity, which I liked, but the voice sometimes does obscure the writing. There were a few parts that the author included that seemed like they were added, while I'm sure they came from historical sources, merely to titillate rather than truly moving the story forward. It all worked out in the end though and even those characters became woven into the story in a way that fit a little better. Overall, I loved it and couldn't wait to pick up my knitting and listen. It is a 17 hour audio book, which means it must be several hundred pages as a book, so it is an undertaking, but it was a great story and I'm really glad I listened.

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