The Dutch House - Ann Patchett

One of my book groups chose this; I've read others by this author namely Magicians's Assistant, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, Taft and further back, Bel Canto, State of Wonder and Truth and Beauty.

I've admired her writing however the stories have not been believable for me.  This one was not a favorite.

The narrator is a young man whose mother left his father for a life dedicated to the poor when he was a toddler.  His older sister has been his caretaker and confidant his whole life.  Their father remarries and subsequently dies and their elaborate 19th century home, the Dutch House, passes to his second wife who kicks them out.  We're taken through their post deprived life with flashbacks to tell the story of their childhood.

I became tired of his whining and self-pity and anger and his drifting through life led by others.  Not someone I enjoyed reading about and despite a tidy wrap up, unsatisfying.

Published:   2019      Read: May 2020  Genre: Fiction

Inheritance - Dani Shapiro

Subtitle: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity and Love

I took a long time to getting around to reading this.  I'd put in on hold at the library back in February but couldn't get it until this week.  I devoured it in 24 hours!  The author finds out through a DNA test that her father is not her biological father and embarks on a journey to discover the truth. She was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home and was often told she "didn't look Jewish".  She's a terrific writer, sharing her emotional roller coaster as she discovers her true paternity.  I was also fascinated by the rituals and practices of the Jewish faith.  This one goes to the top of my list for 2020
M440247/A765211

Published: 2019  Read: May 2020 Genre: Memoir

Genome - Matt Ridley

Subtitle: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters

I've been working through my collection of DNA related books while staying home. This book was published several years ago so it is a bit out of date but still a great introduction to each chromosome.  Written after the mapping of the complete human genome, the author explains gene discoveries related to each chromosome and the science story behind each one.  A great read and a revealing, inspiring look at what genetics hold for the future.

Quotes/Notes:

Intro - "...twenty-two pair are in approximate order by size, from largest(1) to smallest (22)...in size the X comes between 7 and 8 ...whereas Y is the smallest."

"Imagine that the genome is a book.

            23 chapters, called chromosomes

            Each chapter contains several thousand stories called genes

            Each story is made up of paragraphs called exons, interrupted by advertisements called introns

            Each paragraph is made up of words, called codons

            Each word is written in letters called bases. "

 Chr 2 - "Apart from the fusion of Chr 2 visible differences between chimp and humans chrs are few and tiny. ...we are to a 98% approximation chimpanzees."

Chr 4 - Huntington's disease - first completely dominant human genetic disease to come to light.  a Long Island group in twelve generations of this pedigree more than a thousand cases of the disease...all descended from two brothers who emigrated from Suffolk in 1630.

Chr 7 - Instinct - the most startling evidence for a language instinct comes from a series of natural experiments in which children imposed grammatical rules upon language that lacked them.  ...pidgin language that became a creole in Hawaii in next generation.

Chr X and Y - Conflict - sex-chr drive - statistics - since females have two X chrs, 3/4's of all sex chrs are Xs.  Therefore, the X chr is 3 times as likely to evolve the ability to take pot shots at the Y.

Chr 8 - Aug 1986 murder in Leicestershire used DNA for the first time in history to exonerate a suspect (Pitchfork case)

Chr 14 - at the end of the chr there occurs a repated stretch of meaningless text the word TTAGGG repeated again and again about two thousand times.  ...known as a telomere.  Its presence enables the DNA copying devices to get started without cutting short any sens-containing text.  

Published: 2013  Read: May 2020  Genre: Science

Peace Like a River - Lief Enger

My long time reading group picked this one for May and I was finally able to get a copy from Half-Priced Books store.  They let me buy it online and brought it to my car outside.

The story is told by the youngest child, a boy, in the family.  His mother is gone and his older brother is accused of murder when defending their nine-year old sister from the town bullies.  Their father is a quiet believer and takes the family to seek his oldest son when he breaks out of jail.  Along the way, miracles are observed: his father walks in the air while pacing on a flatbed; he cures the pock marked face of the school superintendent and repairs the saddle given to his daughter.  It's really a story of family and faith.  I liked the prose and the connection of the siblings.  A gentle read.

Quote:

p 173 - "You know how it is - you grow up with a story all your life, it can transmute into something you neither question nor particularly value.  It's why we have such bad luck learning from mistakes."

Published: 2001  Read: May 2020  Genre: Fiction

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner - Alan Sillitoe

Where did I get this book?  I found it on my shelves but for the life of me can't remember where I picked it up.  It's a group of short stories about young men raging against the establishment.  The author was described as one of the 50's writers who "revived fiction in the U.K.".  

The title short story tells of a young man incarcerated for petty theft in what sounds like a reform school.  He's recruited to train for long distance running so he can compete and win for the school.  Instead, while in the lead near the finish, he sandbags and deliberately loses the race - taking control of his life from his captors.  The other stories have a smiliar theme of rising up against the establishment and particularly the upper class.  

It was an okay read, a bit dated.

Published: 1959  Read: May 2020  Genre: Short Story fiction