The First Phone Call from Heaven by Mitch Albom

The First Phone Call From Heaven is about people living in a small town, Coldwater, who receive calls from loved ones who have passed away.

Having recently lost my father, I wondered how I would react if my father called me from Heaven. Would I have blind faith that it was indeed him? Or would I be skeptical and demand irrefutable proof that people in Heaven can in fact make phone calls?

Being able to talk to my father, just one more time, would mean everything to me.
So, quite likely, like many of the townspeople of Coldwater, I would want to believe and I would defy logic to keep believing that my father can talk to me from heaven.

This is the first book I have read by Mitch Albom and I did enjoy it. I liked the clever way he included the history behind the invention of the telephone with anecdotes and facts about Alexander Bell, his wife (the irony of her condition in relation to his work) and the trials he had bringing his invention to market.

The only negative comment I have about this book is that it sometimes seems to lose its way. Perhaps there were too many characters with stories that needed to be told and not enough pages.

While Heaven was calling the town of Coldwater, human nature remained true to form and the usual suspects are all well portrayed within the story:
The greedy: those who use others fortune or misfortune as an opportunity to cash in financially, make lots of money and get famous
The cynics: those who rubbish everything that is good in life
The sheep: blindly following the crowd because everyone is doing it

The book deals brilliantly with the issue of forgiveness, primarily forgiving oneself. Thankfully it does not lecture or sermonise but rather it allows the reader to explore the possibility of mercy and compassion, especially for themselves. I like that.

The story draws you in, not because it’s plausible but rather because it accurately mirrors how everyone one of us would behave given a similar situation. A phone call from heaven answers the question, ‘What happens when we die?’… and knowing that there is only goodness and love waiting for us should make everyone a better person, more tolerant, more compassionate. Yet the characters (probably like most of us) remain stuck on the anger, distrust, greed, and pettiness that make up our daily lives.

Despite all this, and regardless of how cynical we may or may not be, we all want to believe that miracles can and do happen. It’s just seems that we have a huge problem with recognising them when they do happen.

 

My rating for The First Phone Call From Heaven  - 4 Flutes

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini is a brilliant storyteller and in the “And the Mountains Echoed”, he does not disappoint.  The book which spans several generations and 3 continents, follows Pari’s journey through a life that is defined by a decision her father took when she was a very young child. The book’s theme is about choices and the far reaching consequences they have on the future as well as the propensity they have to influence the generations to come. 

On the first page, the first sentence reads, ”So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one” and the stage for Pari's story is set.   As Pari and her brother, Abdullah travel with their father from a small village in Afghanistan and across the desert to Kabul, they are oblivious to the underlying forces that will shape their destiny and ultimately seal their fate. 

However, towards the middle (about half way through the book), it all gets very confusing. As new characters are introduced, it is unclear who they are and what their connection, if any, is to the main characters and to the story. There are also a couple of shock factors thrown in that don’t quite work with the story line and could have just as easily been left out.

In the latter part of the book, the clarity is back and the story sprints towards an awesome ending as the main characters, Pari and Abdullah, take centre stage once again…58 years later.

I was particularly impressed with Hosseini’s compassion and caring when writing about Abdullah’s mental illness. It is a condition that many of us with aging parents and /or grandparents are familiar with; I recognised and related to the anguish and sorrow felt by Abdullah’s daughter, also called Pari, as she came to terms and dealt with her father’s condition. 

I loved “The Kite Runner” and while “And The Mountains Echoed” is not as captivating, it is still a very good book. 

My rating for And The Mountains Echoed  - 4

Monkey – Hero of Our Time

In keeping with the run up to the "fun side" of the holiday season, this week’s book review is the Monkey book. 

Seeing that it’s a light (very light), sometimes funny (although not always the laugh aloud kind of funny) but definitely a cute read, I thought it would be fun to review it.

Monkey – Hero of Our Time chronicles, in words and pictures, Monkey’s life and career from his birth (this part was understandably vague), his early years as Wool Boy (bless him), right up to the present. 

At no point are you in danger of losing the plot, since the book makes it easy for you to skim through it, rather quickly, read what grabs you and move on.

Don’t like reading?  Lucky for you, the book doubles as a picture book. There are many, many cute, silly pictures (and some a bit weird) of Monkey, detailing every stage of his life, career and his role as adviser (who knew?) to celebrities like Katie Price, J.K. Rowling and Bono.   

In recent years, Monkey has successfully played the role of Monkey (PG Tips commercials) slurping and ah-hing his way into Britain's heart; so I guess publishing the Monkey book was the logical next step....

and yes, I do have my very own Monkey doll... 

The Silent Wife by A.S.M. Harrison

The Silent Wife is about a man, a woman,
the other (much) younger woman and revenge. 


What Jodi did is probably every woman’s fantasy of getting even, especially when they have been dumped after investing 20 years in a relationship. 

The alternating "Him" and "Her" chapters is great as both sides get to say their piece, in their own voice.

I did have a hard time relating to the Jodi character who comes across as cold and calculating, and who uses cooking , cleaning and being (exaggeratedly) understanding as her weapons of manipulation and control, but perhaps that was the author’s intention. 

Todd on the other hand, is a very likable character despite the fact that he is a serial cheater, who sees nothing wrong in moving in with his best friend’s (very young) daughter and worse, expects everyone including Jodi to accept his decision without question. Yet, there is something naive and vulnerable about him that prevents you from dismissing him despite being the rat (I did want to use a much harsher word that begins with “a” and ends with “e”) he is.

The book goes through cycles, so that sometimes you find yourself racing through the pages to see what happens next, and at others it is simply monotonous.

The ending was a disappointment and a tiny bit predictable - there was quite a bit of momentum building up in the last 20 pages and then it went flat. Actually I wasn’t even aware that I had reached the end. 

My rating for The Silent Wife  - 3 Champagne Flutes

Hush by Eishes Chayil

Although this book was published in September 2010, I only read it very recently. Incidentally, this is the point of Chatter On Books, it’s all about books, and what matters is that they are read not when they were published. Hush is definitely one of the top 5 books I read in 2013. 

 

The story takes place in the closed Hasidic community of Borough Park, New York and is told from the viewpoint of Gittel and the catalytic decade 1999 – 2010 that defined her life.

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

Unfortunately, The Husband’s Secret is one of those books that make it to the top 10 and therefore it’s automatically assumed that it’s an excellent read... when it’s not. 

It took me a long time to finish this book; reading a chapter or two then putting it down and going back a day or so later. Not a good sign !

The premise of the book is clever -a wife accidentally finds a letter from her husband that is to be opened only upon his death - but the story meanders and rambles on and on. Since the husband is still alive, the wife vacillates on whether to read the letter and she does this over a ridiculous number of pages. ‘Enough already’, the lengthy build up is unnecessary - it is a given that she will read the letter. You just find yourself wishing it was sooner, rather than later.

The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez

The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul had previously been published under the title A Cup of Friendship. The Little Coffee Shop was the first book I read by Deborah Rodriguez. It claims that it is fiction, and probably so, as some of the stories seem a bit unrealistic. But then truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.  

The book is set in modern day Kabul, in a coffee shop run by an American woman called Sunny, who is dating some kind of secret agent (the handsome kind named Jack) who keeps mysteriously disappearing on dangerous missions. Sunny spends her time rescuing Afghan women who are in perilous situations, driving her broken down Mercedes through the local markets and organising Christmas, complete with tree, lights, gifts and American style Christmas dinner at her coffee shop.