2023 #6: Mexican Gothic (Moreno-Garcia)

 

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is quite the ride. Noemí Taboada is a wonderful heroine -- smart, sassy, and unbelievably resourceful, able to summon both grit and wiles to navigate the horrific landscape of High Place. She is a rescuer--as well as a victim--so it makes for a complex character whose spunk introduces moments of levity when one least expects. While it is a "gothic" novel, it also dips a toe in magic realism.

Occasionally the rhythm seemed off, so what would normally be a page-turner turns into a "set-it-down and rest-for-a-bit"-er. This was particularly present in the climactic escape scene, wherein a bizarre discussion on the luminescence of mushrooms seemed out of place and pulled the brakes on the up-til-then warp speed of the action. There are other places, however, where Moreno-Garcia's fascination with fungus works well. As she mentions in the book club guide, she calls upon the natural phenomenon of the mycorrhizal network to create a landscape that is both nightmarish and enthralling.

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2023 #5: Standing At the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet (Joan Halifax)

 

Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet by Joan Halifax
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Listening to this book was profoundly meaningful. I've admired Roshi Joan Halifax for her balance of earthy sensibility and intentional spirit-ness (which I use distinctively from spirituality). The book examines five "edge-states": altruism, empathy, integrity, respect, and engagement. In recognition of Thich Nhat Hanh's wise caution: "no mud, no lotus", Halifax unpacks each of these edge-states to dig into when altruism goes awry, when we can suffer empathic distress, recognizing empathy as a precursor to compassion (but not compassion itself), when mouthing off is just sanctimony and not principled moral outrage (integrity), and so much more. It would be enough for her just to speak to her own experiences--as a social justice advocate, a volunteer at maximum security penitentiaries, a hospice caregiver, a medical anthropologist and psychologist, founder of the Upaya Zen Center, and probably half a dozen other things I don't even know about. She brings in amazing stories, but also grounds a lot of what she shares in neuroscience and psychology. Roshi Joan is quick to credit all the various figures from whom she has learned (formally, and informally), and it is worth listening to the acknowledgements at the end of the book, because she says each name with intentionality and it is a very impressive list. She integrates introductions to concepts like Stephen Karpman's Drama Triangle, pathological altruism, the Hungry Ghost (in Buddhism), Darwin's original concept of natural selection unmodified by Spencer, David Halberstam's account of the self-immolation of Thích Quảng Đức in 1963, horizontal hostility/peer-aggression, Clark Strand's concept of meditating inside the life you have -- the list goes on. And even with all of this in there, her gentle but firm narration keeps it all digestible and meaningful.

Far from a feel-good self-help book, this is truly an honest investigation of what it is to be human. She offers some suggestions for practice, but ultimately she uses powerful metaphors (ending with a astounding story about her experiences at a charnel ground), storytelling, historical documentation, and scientific investigation, to help us grapple with our own condition(s). She holds up others: Fannie Lou Hamer, Florynce Kennedy, Laurance Rockefeller, and so many others. She shares their stories as well as her own. Roshi Joan offers a contemplative practice model to help guide us through these moments that challenge us at the edge, but one that is centered in active presence and acknowledgment of systemic injustice and our individual biases. This is not a stick-your-head-in-the-sand approach, but instead one of intentional centeredness to create spaces of mutuality and trust. I'll be returning to this often.

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2023 #4 Serpentine (His Dark Materials 3.6) - Pullman

 

Serpentine by Philip Pullman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this, but it occupies a strange space. I don't think it works as a short story unless you know His Dark Materials. The illustrations by Tom Duxbury made it worth buying it in book form as a collectible. It is a bit of a stepping stone from the last book of His Dark Materials to The Book of Dust, wherein Lyra and Pantalaimon are reunited and trying to forge their new path forward. I wanted this as part of a larger story however, so that tension of not knowing what it was like in the events that transpired in The Amber Spyglass (this is my way of avoiding spoilers), would further character development in a way it could only do in novel form. Still, a charming read, and a lovely little vignette of two favorite characters.

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