Arya’s Comments (group member since Sep 30, 2012)

Arya’s comments from the ELEVEN READER'S CLUB group.

What compelled me to read the book Barney's Version by Morcdecai Rochler, is contradictions. Uniqueness and cliché in one book, written by an author known to be daring enough, to tell uncomfortable truths. The book is unique, because it has autobiographical elements in fiction, especially first-person fiction. It is an extra surprise when Mordecai Rochler writes a book like this unusual for his style. It’s cliché as, it’s the plot of a an old man in the verge of death looking back at his life and reflecting.
The protagonist, Barney, like Richler (died after 4 years) himself, is nearing the end of his life. His health is failing; he has a love of Montecristo cigars and Macallan Scotch, and internally struggles with what it means to be a post-Holocaust Jew. Barney, the titular protagonist, is trying to prove his innocence, both of the crimes of murdering his friend Boogie and of the more social charge of being a scoundrel and a sycophant. But you suspect this will ever happen as, throughout the book he seems so uncharitable and granting yet humorous and satirical.
I love reading novels with a witty language and extra comments between the texts. This book follows this format. For genres, my favorite is when humor, philosophy and crime are mixed together. This book coincidently has exactly this. From history class, Holocausts have been an interest of mine. The Diary of Anne Frank.
was my favorite autobiography and novel, read until now. The book Barney’s Version seems to fit my reading style and have been able to entertain me until now. The author weaves a million different stories (life events) into this one book, which can be confusing, but ultimately the stories are the book, and they are Barney Panofsky. Troubled. Amusing and Questionable.
I am confident that this would become one of my most memorable and entertaining books of all :)

The book Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam is what I am currently reading.What aroused me to read the book was the way it was written and the topic.
The summary of the book notified that each chapter is a short story that connects together as it goes. The story is not chronological as each chapter is from different characters point-of-view. I was surprised to see a Giller Prize winner with such characteristic.
Another rationale was the topic. I am a fan of the TV show “House”. I love to read and watch about problem solving and mystery mixed with drama and this book seemed to fit in that category perfectly. I am also planning to go into the medical field,therefore after knowing, the author, Vincent Lam was a professional physician, this book would hopefully give me some idea of what the path to one of the highly regarded profession is like.
The author also piqued my interest because the book has all kinds of impressive blurbs on the back cover. Which includes praise from Margaret Atwood and Sherman Alexie. I already started reading the book, i am looking forward to the rest :)