Karen Goodger

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Redrock State Park, Sedona, AZ, April 2011

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Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I gave this novella only two stars primarily due to all the family bickering. I do not find that fun to read. Franny is having a religious crisis, and her older brother Zooey helps her through it, but initially in a cruel way.

One thing I did like about the story, was Zooey's ability to see beauty in everyday things, like a dog running up to its owner. According to Zooey, Christ is in everything and not just religious dogma.

Rabbit, Run by John Updike
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Rabbit, Run, by John Updike, paints a realistic view of gender roles and relations of 1960. The protagonist, Rabbit Angstrom, is an unsympathetic character with a complete disregard for the feelings of others. I found it intriguing to see the thought processes of such an unsavory character. Rabbit, Run is the first of a four part series. Themes covered in the book include, religion, marriage, and sex. While I liked Rabbit, Run, I have no desire to read the other Rabbit books, or any more John Updike for that matter. Updike's lack of punctuation, and run-on sentences, while intentional, were not to my liking.

South of Broad by Pat Conroy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

South of Broad is a truly unbelievable story, which I greatly enjoyed anyway. The main character, Leo King, is almost a saint, even as a teenager. He is incredibly enlightened, and has an amazing sense of humor. The story covers Leo and his circle of friends, from high school years through adulthood, and Leo is the person who holds them all together.

The story is extremely detailed, down to covering the plays in a football game. While I generally enjoy detail, this was too much for me. At times, I wanted to author to get on with it.

The descriptions of Charleston make me want to visit.

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Very cleverly written book showing how we are all interconnected. The device used is the tight rope walker who walked between the twin towers of the New York trade center in the early 70's. The event was seen by many different walks of life, each with their own story, but also connected.