Book Awards Challenge III

I finished the challenge Friday but I'm always behind with the posting. I have a pile of 5 books awaiting their turn now.

My List

Possession was my least favorite. Actually, I didn't much care for it. I liked A Lesson Before Dying and The Book of Ruth. Flowers for Algernon was a reread so I new I would like it. The biggest surprise was The Bridge on the Drina. Loved it. I've had it for a year. I wanted to read it because my book club had and I want to read everything they have. If I had of known how much I'd like it I would have read it last year. I'll definitely reread it one day.

Flowers for Algernon

Flowers for Algeron by Daniel Keyes

1960 Hugo Award for best short story
1966 Nebula Award for best novel

Charley is a 32 year old man with an IQ of 68. He has a job and his own place. And he is desperate to learn to read. He's taking a course at a college for the retarded. His teacher is so impressed with his enthusiasm she submits him as a candidate for a experiment. He has brain surgery that increases his IQ tremendously. But once his IQ eclipses that of the scientists trying to cure retardation, he realizes the boost in brain power is only temporary.

This is a wonderful book. It began life as a short story and was so popular, it was rewritten as a novel. It's written as a journal the doctors ask Charley to keep so they can monitor his progress. In the beginning he writes like a 6 year old. But as his IQ goes up, so do his abilities. But then everything begins to regress. It's a sad story. It actually brought tears to my eyes at the end.

Possession

Possession by A. S. Byatt

"Possession" is about a literary mystery. Roland Michell is researching a Victorian poet named Randolph Henry Ash when he discovers old letters that suggests a romance with another poet, Christabel LaMotte. His search leads him to a LaMotte scholar named Maud Bailey. Roland and Maud search through old letters and diaries trying to find the truth.

I found it hard to get into this book. Along with the third person narrative, it's told through diary entries, letters and poems. It's full of references of people I've never heard of and am not sure if they really exist or not. You have to read this book with a dictionary and thesaurus. The only other book I've read like that was "Humbolt's Gift."

The Bridge on the Drina

The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric

The building of the bridge on the Drina River was finished in 1571. It was destroyed at the beginning of World War I. "The Bridge on the Drina" tells the stories of people who live in the towns around the bridge. Turks, Serbs, Muslims, Christians, Jews.....Many different peoples.

There is an area in the center of the bridge where people meet to socialize. They have their coffee, drinks or cigarettes and pass the time. Life is slow. All the people live in a state of cooperation. But as time goes on and centuries pass the world gets smaller. And eventually the affairs of the rest of the world begin seeping into the small villages that surround the vally.

This is an amazing book. It's like a series of short stories all tied to the bridge. I would recommend this book with 4 stars.

The Book of Ruth

The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton

1989 Pen Hemingway Foundation Award

Ruth lives in a rural area in Illinois. They're a poor family. Dad Elmer left when Ruth was a child. He took off to Texas. Mom lost her first husband in WWII. She's been bitter and disappointed since. Brother Matt is a mathematical genius. He doesn't want to belong in the family.

And Ruth is a very submissive person. She was the butt of the jokes in school and has grown up not to expect much. She marries the first guy she can, Reuben. Reuben, or Ruby as he's known, was the son of a military man. Ruby couldn't ever please his father but his mother adored him. He grows up to be a drinker and drugger. He doesn't want to work. So Ruth and Ruby live with her mother after their married.And Ruth gets caught between bitter Mom and slacker Ruby.

I enjoyed this book. But it's very depressing. Hamilton makes occasional hints about bad things to come but it's not told until late in the story. And even then you get the feeling Ruth is on another path she's not equipped to deal with.

Book Awards Reading Challenge III

Book Awards Challenge III

5 Award winners in 5 months.
I'm in.

1961 Nobel Prize in Literature
Ivo Andric The Bridge on the Drina

1993 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction
Ernest J Gaines A Lesson Before Dying

1989 Pen Hemingway Foundation Award
Jane Hamilton The Book of Ruth

1990 Booker Award
A S Byatt Possession: A Romance

1966 Nebula Award
1960 Hugo Award for Short Story
Daniel Keyes Flowers for Algernon

I like the rules of this challenge. Just 5 books from any award program. I just went looking through books I already have. There's so many books on my TBR. I love a reason to knock them off.