George Orwell's Animal Farm is a superb animation of the Russian Revolutioon. The book is amusing and interesting; it includes a comic element as it synonymously demonstrates the evolution from the proletariat revolution to a totalitarian government led by the swine of the society. Orwell successfully simplified the not-so-simple theory of class stratification and Karl Marx's proposed solution of communism. Orwell's method of conveyance is incredibly inventive. He uses satire in the form of a fairy tale to share his indignation for ideological doctrines that would, if allowed, lead to the eventual destruction of a society. Each character in the story is representative of someone who was involved in the Russian Revolution. Old Major is Marx, and inspires the proletariat revolution by motivating the over-worked animals and educating them on the ways of the human beings, who represent the bourgeoisie. Orwell's creativity convinces the reader that the animals on the farm are intellectual beings, revolting against the tyranny of the humans. Animal Farm offers itself as an example of a responsible criticism of Marxism. The story gives us a peek at the Utopian vision, and then offers a long look at what results from using a Marxist approach at achieving it. I strongly reccomend this book, as it is entertaining and educational. Orwell succeeded in creating a fairy tale that evokes both sadness and laughter, while causing us to feel sympathy and even empathy for the working class animals. The book escapes complexity, but its message does not.

If you know zilch about the history of the late, unlamented USSR, skip this book, you're not going to get it. The more you know, the more you're bound to admire one of the 20th century's great satires---maybe its greatest. Capitalism, Communism, Lenin, the October Revolution, the Interventions, Stalin, Trotsky, Beria, the KGB, Hitler and the Fascist invasion---all these and more are in there. Orwell savagely attacks the Communist system as it turned out in fact in the USSR, not as it was originally envisioned. Along the way, the various foibles of human nature and fatal tendencies of ruling classes everywhere are held up to his pitiless examination. I will not give a runthrough of the story, but the idea is that animals, representing the working class, overthrow people, representing capitalists, and establish a workers' state---called Animal Farm. Overall, Orwell leads to the question: haven't we gone beyond our abilities to control technology and scientific knowledge ? Our political skills have not kept pace.

Since Orwell completed his novel in 1945, the last section of the book, about what would happen to the Soviet Union under Communist plutocrats, was necessarily speculation for him (not for us). In some ways, ANIMAL FARM turned out to be uncannily correct, but in others, passé, because we know what happened thanks to our 57 years' hindsight. Orwell did not predict the rise of the satellite states in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, nor did he see that the building of heavy industry would be co-opted by the armaments race, bankrupting Animal Farm and ultimately bringing it down without a war. But the pigs eventually did turn into humans (i.e. workers became capitalists). Because Communism has crumbled, especially in the former USSR, people may feel ANIMAL FARM is no longer relevant. That would be wrong. We can't justly distribute resources or maintain the planet's environment. Think of the billions of impoverished people, massive pollution, the unending ecological destruction and the menace of genetically engineered everything. Now, more than ever, it seems that our world is an Animal Farm. When we protest, it is made perfectly clear to us---all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. The Pigs, Dogs, and Sheep are always with us. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, read this book.

Animal Farm is an easy-to-read book,and on th surface it seems like it's about animals.Pigs and horses and moles fill the story.It definetely looks boring to a person who's older than 13 and who's looking for depth in books.But,as I said before,it just seems boring on the surface , however no reader can deny how deep the book really is.Obviously it's about the Russian Revolution and what happened afterwards,and it's a must to read about Soviet Union in order to understand the book thoroughly. Surely it's possible to see the power fight among the pigs and relate it to real world,but that's not understanding it as a whole.After you read about the Soviet Union,you'll have a different enjoyment figuring out who's who.For example Napoleon the pig is representing Stalin,and Snowball the pig is representing Trotsky.Overall,first read about "the" revolution and what happened afterwards,understand who did what,and then read this fabulous book.You'll definetely have fun and a strange smile will form on your face after you read the last line.

Ann Patchett certainly knows how to write. Her sentences flow along in a highly readable fashion, and she is particularly good at pacing and creating a sense of place.

Told from the standpoint of a fortyish woman named Sabine who'd lived almost forever in the golden sun of Los Angeles, it's a story of enduring love. At age 19, while working as a waitress at a place called The Magic Hat during her college years, Sabine was summoned to the stage by a young magician named Parsifal to assist him in a magic trick. She was smitten at once, and a relationship between Sabine and Parsifal began that continued until Parsifal's death immediately before the opening sentence of the book. As the book unfolds, we learn pieces of Parsifal's nature (like Cher, he had but the one name), their long-term relationship, and Parsifal's family.

Parsifal did magic, with Sabine as his assistant, part-time (his day job was buying and selling Oriental rugs; hers was making architectural models). Then, a good twenty years after they met and about six months before he died, Parsifal and Sabine married (she took the name Mrs. Sabine Parsifal).

Theirs was no ordinary relationship and no ordinary marriage. For Parsifal, you see, was a homosexual. For a brief time early on, Sabine was frustrated by the incompleteness of their relationship, but because she loved him so much, she quickly came to accept the portion of affection he could give her. She had lovers here and there, none serious enough to capture her heart, but Parsifal had lovers who did capture his heart, most notably, and lastly, a Vietnamese named Phan who died of AIDS.

After Parsifal died of a sudden aneurism before AIDS got him, Sabine learned from his lawyer that everything he had told her about his background was a lie. His family name wasn't Petrie, he wasn't from Connecticut, and his family hadn't perished in a car crash. His name originally was Guy Fetters, he was from a small town in Nebraska, and he had a mother (Dot) and two sisters (Kitty, married with two sons, and Bertie) still living.

Sabine soon traveled to Nebraska in order to get in touch with the part of Parsifal's life that had been hidden from her. There she became involved in the lives of the rest of the family, discovered family secrets, and found contentment in an unlikely place.

As well as the book is written, the story has oddities that show a lapse on the part of Patchett and her editor. These range from the simple -- Sabine's poking among Parsifal's business papers and coming across employee 1040's [come on, 1040's are tax returns which he had no business seeing] when Patchett meant W-2's ' to the major -- the lawyer's telling Sabine that there was a 'letter in the will' whose provisions came as a shock to him, setting up as it did trusts for the previously unknown mother and sisters that reduced Sabine's inheritance [there's no such thing as a 'letter in the will,' and there's nothing in a will of which the lawyer would be unaware. After all, lawyers are the ones who draw up wills, in carefully crafted language to assure the client's wishes will be met. A letter 'to be opened upon my death' (?) has no real legal effect, and stands on weaker legs still if it contradicts the provisions in a will]. There are other problems as well, some worse than others, but all sadly tending to erode the credibility of the story.

These nit-picky criticisms aside, the story has a certain charm. There's a pervading sense of gentleness as seen in Sabine's acceptance of Parsifal and their relationship (not to mention his relationships with other men), in the Fetters family's ready acceptance of Sabine, and particularly in Dot's devotion to her children.

It is too bad, then, that the premise doesn't make sense. Are we to believe that a healthy woman never felt love fixated on a homosexual man ebbing away over such a span of years, when she pursued love affairs, and when she watched this man she loved become enamored of other men, leaving her the outsider? Are we to believe that a life of her own never called to her? Are we to believe that her parents supported this? And whatever was the point of their marriage?

Even more perplexing are Parsifal's / Guy Fetters' relations with his family. The abusive father has been done to boredom. But his mother Dot, the character most fully realized, was a steadfast, loving woman, and as a boy Guy was quite close to Kitty, the older of his sisters. Once the father was out of the way, it didn't seem logical that he would erase from his life, entirely and forever, these two people who cared deeply for him, and for whom he cared deeply (certainly his sister).

I wish, too, that Patchett had given us more complex characters, but they are all (check one) perfect or bad.

The same is true of Patchett's contrast between Los Angeles and Nebraska. I don't have a stake in either place, but I know L.A. isn't 'the promised land' and Nebraska isn't 'a dead state.'

Overall, I came away feeling I'd been pointed by my book club at a well-written, but ultimately superficial story by an author with promise as yet unfulfilled. Patchett knows how to put ideas down on paper -- what she needs now is to learn what to put down.

"The Magician's Assistant" by Anne Patchett is a wonderful character study which is ultimately a coming of age story of a middle-aged woman who must now find a life without the person who had truly defined it. The novel opens as Sabine, the title character, unexpectedly faces the death of the love of her life and husband-in-name-only, Parsifal the Magician. As time goes by, Sabine (and the reader) slowly uncover Parsifal's hidden past. Not unlike a magician herself, Patchett skillfully weaves the journey of a handful of characters as they create a new reality of the Parsifal they thought they knew.

As the cover says, this novel is very much about the feelings of love and loss of both parties. The strangers pull together (reluctantly and awkwardly at first) and soon find comfort in sharing their stories and own lives. Sabine is able to piece together a fuller picture of the man she spent much of her life with, while Parsifal's family learn about the son and brother they spent much of their life without. Patchett makes you care about each character (even the deceased magician). Much to her credit, the author makes you wonder how they are doing "today."

Once in a while, I find myself so mesmerized by a book that I buy it in bulk to give to friends. Ann Patchett¹s The Magician¹s Assistant is one such read, an enchanting story that left me spellbound. It is a tale about appearance verses reality, a tale full of surprises crafted by Patchett¹s own sleight of hand. As the story begins, Parsifal the magician is dead. Sabine, his wife of five months, is in shock. She knew he would die but not from the aneurysm which occurred a few hours earlier. Sabine has loved Parsifal for 22 years, from the moment she laid down her waitress¹s tray and volunteered to assist with his magic act. Now, Parsifal¹s life has come to an abrupt halt, and we read and grieve with Sabine over her tremendous loss.Nine days after Parsifal¹s death, Sabine¹s phone rings. It is their lawyer. Parsifal, she is told, has left part of his estate to his mother and two sisters. Mother and two sisters? Parsifal told Sabine that he had no family, that there had been an accident years ago, and all were dead. Sabine, never given any details, had created her own version of the car crash that killed his entire family. ³Sabine made them out of bits of Parsifal¹s personality, characteristics of his face. She made their skin from the pale color of his skin. She put them together in her spare time, and when she had it exactly right, she arranged them in the car and sent them speeding towards their death.² With the lawyer¹s call, Sabine realizes her total belief in Parsifal has been an illusion, like the magic she helped him perform. Mother and sister arrive in California to meet Sabine, their only link to Parsifal¹s past. Shortly after their visit, Sabine sees that she now has ³eighteen untouched years... early, forgotten volumes of her favorite work. A childhood that could be mined month by month. Parsifal would not get older, but what about younger?²Sabine travels from sunny California to Alliance, Nebraska, birthplace of Parsifal born Guy Fetters. Alliance, where Sabine sees flat land and snow and ³streets lined in rows of tiny, identical ranch houses.² It is quite a contrast to Los Angeles with ³the scent of flowers and citrus that as recently as May had settled on her clothes and in her hair like a fine dust,² Sabine wonders as she drives through Alliance if it¹s the snow that makes every house look the same or ³was there something else under that white blanket?² Indeed there is and as the past unfolds, so do the lives of the Fetter family. By the time Sabine returns to California, the healing has begun, a healing that comes from her new founded knowledge of the man she loved, a man she thought she knew. There is another character in the novel by the name of Phan, a Vietnamese refuge who is dead, but plays a critical role in the relationship between Sabine and Parsifal. Sabine has a number of dreams about Phan, and it is through these dreams that she comes to accept death. Phan acts as her spiritual guide and Patchett¹s descriptions of this journey are wonderful. Her writing is so believable that I forgot I was reading about dreams. I wanted Sabine¹s illusions to be real.The Magician¹s Assistant can be read on many levels. Sabine and Parsival, the names themselves suggest a relationship between the ancient myths of the courageous Sabine women who stopped their fathers and husbands from killing each other, and Parsifal, who causes the Holy Grail to assume its consecrational powers. But this is a book review and not a dissertation. I know you¹ll enjoy The Magician¹s Assistant. As the author explains, magic is less about surprise than it is control. ³You lead them in one direction and then come up from behind their backs. They watch you, at every turn they will be suspicious, but you give them decoys. People long to be amazed, even as they fight it. Once you amaze them, you own them.² Patchett¹s performance certainly amazed me. Like I said at the start, I now own a lot of copies of this book

Well, I simply can't finish is, and I'm 3/4 of the way through. I bought it because of the good reviews on Amazon (Patchett's relatives?) and I have yet to care about any of the characters or the thin plot. Feels like walking on a sticky floor. Yuck.

"Bel Canto" is a beautifully written story of unlikely love and secret desires. Do not be put off by the barebones plot--a group of people at a party taken hostage by South American terrorists. And do not think you are in for a routine "put a bunch of strangers in a room and then learn their life stories" sort of saga. Patchett gathers together a group that spans nationalities, professions and class and reveals the hidden depths, sometimes in a few short pages, through their interactions with each other.
Take the Russian minister of commerce--portrayed as something of a buffoon who has fallen in love with Roxane, the opera singer. He screws up his courage to declare himself--which must be done through Gen, the translator. What he says to her is completely unexpected--a wonderful story of his childhood and an art book. He declares himself a man who appreciates beauty and therefore worthy to love her, and asks nothing in return. Meanwhile we see into the heart of Gen the translator, as he awkwardly acts as intermediary he realizes he has never told anyone that he loves them, not a woman, not family, not his mother--he feels as if his life has been to act as a conduit for the thoughts and feelings of others, that he has never experienced a real life of his own. Then there is the relationship of Mr. Hosokawa and Roxane, who do not share a common language. Is it possible to love a person to whom you cannot speak?
I loved the transformation of the characters that occurs--the Vice President of the country dreams of adopting one of the young terrorists and becoming a gardener, another terrorist uncovers his great gift as a singer, a buttoned up Japanese businessman becomes Roxane's accompianist, the young priest becomes a gifted and courageous spiritual counselor. The Generals become human too, worrying about their young soldiers as a close relative might worry about a child, and regretting recruiting them for this operation that has gone terribly wrong.

Like the hostages themselves, we get lulled by the harmony and unreality of life within the compound, yet as time passes Patchett delicately conveys a sense of impending doom through the Swiss Red Cross mediator, who himself longs to become a hostage after seeing the community that has been created within the walls of the Vice President's house. Patchett tells us at the beginning of the story what the end will be, and yet creates an aura of suspense as we realize that dreams of the future will never be fulfilled.
There is a surprise ending here that I wasn't sure rang true, but the book stands without it--a wonderful novel!

Bel Canto

In this day and age I must admit to being a little leery of reading a book based on a terrorist act. After hearing from a number of book club friends what a wonderfully written book this was I decided to give it a try. This is one reader that is glad she did!

The ultimate act of terrorism gone wrong sets the scene for what is soon to become a comedy of errors. Set out to kidnap the President of a small South American country these hapless kidnappers end up with a roomful of high society patrons who have come to hear the renowned Opera star, Roxanne Coss, sing at a birthday party. The President has stayed home to watch his favorite Soap opera. No one could possibly predict how the lives of each and every person becomes entwined throughout their months of captivity.

Ann Patchett gives all of her characters a life of their own. Many times I found myself rooting for the bad guys and then smiling over some small act of kindness one of them exhibits to their captures. This is ultimately a love story. A story filled with beauty and passion, humor and heart break. Bravo!

But babies just stay the same." So says Sister Evangeline, a nun who has worked for most of her life at St. Elizabeth's, a Catholic home for unwed mothers.

Sister Evangeline usually doesn't get to see the babies - the mothers are taken to Owensboro and they are then given up to adoption. But one day, one mother who comes to St. Elizabeth's breaks all the rules. This woman is Rose, a married woman who drove from California to birth her baby and then give her up, because she knew she couldn't be the mother it needed. But when the time comes, she chooses to follow another path, and keeps her child and stays on at the home.

Patchett's books is divided into three chronological stories of Rose's life at St. Elizabeth's - told by Rose, her second husband Son, and her daughter Cecilia. Throughout the book, the language is lyrical, helping to set the scenes where the plot is carried out. In the end, perhaps none of the characters are truly sympathetic. But they are all memorable, and ultimately we perhaps come to realize that no one with a story to tell is completely sympathetic. Overall, I found this book to be a lovely read.

The Patron of Saints is a book chosen for our monthly book club meeting. I had never heard of the author before so knew not what to expect. The story is written with much feeling. I loved the style of the book. Breaking the story up into three sections, Rose, Son and Cecilia, gave the reader an insight into each character. I loved the story - it brought out many emotions while reading it. I was angry at Rose, sad that she was the way she was - loved the character of Son - he was such a good man - and sad for the daughter who could not feel the love of her mother. I also kept thinking of the husband Rose left behind and the fact that he would never know his child and the mother Rose loved so deeply but betrayed so completely because she left her. As a mother myself I couldn't help but feel the pain that Rose brought to everyone in her life. This is a really good read. I look forward to reading the other books this author has written. I know this will definitely be a great book to discuss at our book club meeting. I highly recommend it!

Ann Patchett's ability to inhabit her characters' minds is stunning...In The Patron Saint of Liars, she is (in order) the wife, the husband, and the child, each of the book's three sections building upon the others, moving the story along chronologically while adding layers to each of the three main characters. All of this technical bravura, however, appears to exist solely to allow Ms. Patchett to tell us her stories. And, The Patron Saint of Liars is a wonderful, intricate story, of Rose, who refuses to believe that she is worthy of happiness and keeps running to evade the truth, Son, the man who accepts her and her child with open-hearted love, and Cecilia, the daughter she is afraid to love. Among the host of supporting characters, each fully sketched and colorful, Sister Evangeline stands out most clearly, an elderly nun who has little cooking ability and unusual powers of prophecy even though she sometimes appears unaware of what is happening before her eyes. As the book draws to a close, Patchett allows the reader to feel a bit smug in understanding what is happening to Sister Evangeline, even though the good Sister seems unaware of it herself. Throughout the book, Patchett gives the reader full warning what will happen eventually, but it makes no difference...

this novel is written in the voice of a black male blues musician. who speaks completely differently than any black male blues muscians I've ever met. its like reading a bad translation of a french novel or something. First of all, musicians don't refer to blues as 'blues music', or to what a guitarist plays as 'guitar music'. Similarly, black men in 1995 are not so afraid of being seen with a white woman that they sweat and panic. Perhpas if this book had been set in the 50's, she might have had something more than a trite and quaint race novel. then again, she might not have.

This is an entertaining, albeit lightweight book. It's like an R-rated after school special where black bar manager John Nickel gets involved in the lives of two white teenagers from rural Tennessee. The older of the two kids, Fay, develops a crush on John while working at the bar and the younger, Carl, uses the bar to deal drugs. Ultimately there is a clash between John and Carl that winds up in a botched robbery attempt.

The good thing about this book is that it's told in the first-person and narrator John is interesting enough to listen to. I can't attest to the validity of his "voice", though I'm never a big fan of using a lot of dialects because it can make things harder for people to read.

There are a couple things about this book that I didn't like. First, the book starts to cut between John's story and bits and pieces of Fay and Carl's father, Levon Taft. This happens almost randomly and at one point the "Taft" section is a single sentence. It took me by surprise when this first happened, as I didn't see a whole lot of reason for it. It does add a little understanding about Fay and Carl and ultimately John learns from Taft's demise.

The book ends too quickly, without any issues really being wrapped up. I suppose the book is pretty good because I did want to see how things played out for John and the Tafts. It's almost never good in my mind to leave readers wondering what happened. It leaves us without a sense of closure.

"Taft" is a short read, but a good one. If you're looking for some light reading, I say go ahead and check it out.

Ann Patchett is an intelligent and gifted writer with a knack for making characters come to life. I've read all four of her novels and enjoyed each one, but this is my favorite. She establishes John Nickel from the first page as a credible and appealing narrator. If you met this guy in real life, you'd want to buy him a drink and listen to him talk. He makes mistakes but not excuses. There is a generosity of spirit in the narrator and the novel both that makes the book ultimately uplifting. Tragedy and betrayal occur, but healing and connection can follow. A lovely book.