Atonement by Ian McEwan

I wanted to read this book before I watch the movie. It is the story of a British family's disintegration as told by several members of the family as well as  childhood friend of theirs. There is the usual class stuff, which annoys me. Can Brits write about anything else?  But the telling of the tale from the 11 year old Briony who misjudges the relationship of Robbie with her sister Cecilia and her cousin Lola is well done. The young budding author and playwright, is convinced that Robbie has committed several crimes attacking both Cecilia and Lola. She has misunderstood the situation and Robbie is sent to prison for a crime he did not commit.  Cecilia cuts herself off from her family. I was less enamoured with the telling of Robbie's point of view when he is a soldier in France retreating from the collapse of the country during WW II after his prison sentence.  His painful retreat to meet up with Cecilia once again was a long tale and  a bit out of place.  The author relished talking about war equipment and gory wounds and frightened French peasants.  It seemed a little too easy for Briony in the end to have gained atonement through her work as a nurse in the war and telling her parents and the legal authorities that she had lied.  She continues to live a long life, but her Cecilia and Robbie die untimely deaths before the war is over.

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

Per Petterson, a Norwegian author, writes of a man in his 60s who returns to live in a remote cabin in Northern Norway, near the Swedish border, where he relives the drama of his 15th summer. His reflections on that summer are interwoven with a sparse daily life of walking his dog, meeting up with the brother of a friend of his from that fateful summer, chopping a tree, watching the snow fall and encountering a brief visit from his daughter.  This book shows the wounds of a man that were scabbed over for years, but are now rubbed raw again. 

During his summer visit when he was a teenager, he experiences a variety of different events which are difficult for him to piece together-- his friend's violent behavior, his father's love of another woman and the logging of his father's property. Ultimately his father abandons his family as his friend also abandons his family.  As his father says good bye for the last time (although he does not realize it) his father says...."But that's life. That's what you learn when things happen. Especially at your age.  You just have to take it in and remember to think afterwards and never grow bitter. Do you understand?"

This book was beautifully written.  You could feel the emotional struggle of this man trying to piece his life together from that summer long ago. I liked the ironies such as his father's insistence on logging the trees and sending them down the river against his best friend's advice that the timing was not good. The father's intent was to provide some income for his family which he was about to abandon. When the boy and his mother go to collect the money, they can only spend it in Sweden as that is where the bank is. The money is not very much because the timber was sold at a poor time and then the mother cannot take the money out of Sweden, but is required to spend it there. And so she does on a suit for the boy.

Collapse by Jared Diamond

Apparently I am on an environmental jag subconsciously this fall. I picked up Collapse to learn about why the societies of the Maya, Anasazi, Easter Island, and Greenland had collapsed as well as some of the challenges today in Rwanda, Haiti, Montana, China and Papau New Guinea. Jared Diamond is a geography prof at UCLA and a globe trotter.  

Why have societies collapsed? According to Diamond: "The reason is simple: maximum population, wealth, resource consumption and waste production mean maximum environmental impact." p 509  "Our world society is on a non sustainable course." Diamond goes through a list of problems ranging from deforestation, soil erosion, and reduction of biodiversity all thanks to us.  It is pretty depressing really. I had not realized what bad shape Australia is in with its poor soils and many follies such as the introduction of rabbits, foxes and sheep onto its already non productive lands. Is there some hope? 

Occasionally, he mentions some good things Chevron being environmentally sensitive in its oil exploration and the ability of a centralized government such as China to enforce major policies such as one child. But over all the book depressed me. Okay I know I need to ride the bus more, eat locally and stop jetting around on airplanes.  This book is long and parts can be skimmed, but still worth a read if you need a sober dose of reality.