The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett

The Voyage of the Narwhal was written in 1988 and is a wonderful book. The story and characters are vivid, with the fictions threaded into historical events of the mid 1800s, especially the worlds of natural science and exploratory expeditions.

The Narwhal is a ship commanded by Zechariah Voorhees, a young, ambitious, charismatic young man. The ship sails north in 1855 to look for evidence of Franklin. They go along west coast of Greenland into Baffin Bay, into the waters around Baffin Island, and then north into Smith Bay where they become ice-bound for a winter. There is a crew of 15 and the novel is also the story of several of these men as they sail into the cold north: Dr. Boerhaave, the ship's surgeon; Ned Kynd, a young Irish immigrant who becomes a last minute replacement for a delinquent cook; and Erasmus Wells, a naturalist and friend of Zeke.

Lavinia, the sister of Erasmus and the betrothed of Zeke remains at home of course, living for the day when The Narwhal will return and she and Zeke can marry. Her companion and friend is Alexandra, who learns engraving as she works on illustrations for the scientific books that the men of discovery write when they return home. She does this with no recognition, as she is only a woman, yet she yearns to somehow escape the restricted life she sees as her future.

Troubles befall The Narwhal. Zeke becomes desperate as winter approaches. So far, there has been very little sign of Franklin and Zeke makes decisions based on his hopes of personal aggrandizement at the expense of his ship and crew. They spend a winter barely surviving, stuck in the ice and dark and bitter cold. They have a couple of fortuitous encounters with the Esquimaux who help them but who really wish to be left alone. Zeke does not understand this. He becomes more reckless and prepares one last overland trip as another August approaches and temperatures begin to fall again.

This is a grand adventure story, filled with observations of the natural world. There are beautifully written, elegant passages like this:

"A most remarkable event yesterday. The Esquimaux call it saugssat or so it sounds to my ear. A high tide two days ago, combined with a strong wind, opened a large lead in the cove. Into it poured hundreds of narwhals in search of breathing space and food. When the end of the lead froze over again the animals were trapped. It was horrible to see them thrashing around in the ever smaller hole, pushing each other underwater as they struggled for air, pulled tighter and tighter until their tusks projected above the surface like a forest of clashing spears."

Of the novels I've read this past year, two of them were notably superior to the others: The first was The Elegance of the Hedgehog. The second was this book, The Voyage of the Narwhal, both books illustrating again how fiction has the power to seduce, soothe, instruct and inspire, even in our techno-frenzied world.

The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty

Maggie left this novel here after she had read it, so I picked it up one day and found it one more well-written story of coming of age in America today.

It is the story of Evelyn (told in her voice), her mother Tina, her grandmother Eileen and Evelyn's schoolmates. Tina had a baby (Evelyn) out of wedlock and so is labeled a whore by her father and is estranged from him. Tina's mother is a good lady and after a fashion supports Tina and Evelyn but also is loyal to her husband and is also very much an evangelical, so Tina keeps her at a remove when Eileen pushes religion as a solution. That is one dynamic in this story.

Evelyn grows up in this novel, from a young elementary school age kid to a young woman who graduates from high-school. She watches her Mother make choices that keep them in poverty. But Evelyn is smart; she does well in school and several teachers help her. However, she is not a popular girl, mostly because she and her Mother live in poverty. They are eventually rescued somewhat when Tina reluctantly accepts welfare after she loses her job and has no money to fix her car. They live in a small Kansas town in an apartment complex. And then her mother gets pregnant. Along the way, Evelyn does make few friends and, while the cliches of high-school happen, they are cliches because these things DO happen, and the author is wonderful with dialogue and description and captures the yearning Evelyn feels, but also the turmoil and confusion she experiences as she matures.

Evelyn's story is realistic and rich with the poignancy of the lives of ordinary people trying to get by.

Paging through the book, I could find so many passages to illustrate why I liked this novel. Here is one just chosen randomly: "She's got a job now, working the desk of a motel in town. I see her walking to it in the evenings, coming home in the morning. She puts the flat of her hand over her eyes like a visor, and looks right into the rising sun. "

This is a vignette of their neighbor Mrs. Rowley whose husband up and left one day saying that if he stayed one more day with Mrs. Rowley he would start drinking again. Mrs. Rowley has a little dog she carries around. The dog's name is Jackie O.

Pursuit of Honor by Vince Flynn

Muslim al Qaeda terrorists strike in Washington, DC, killing nearly 200 people including. Of course, Mitch Rapp, the hero of many of Vince Flynn's novels, gets involved. Some of the terrorists are killed on the scene but three of them escape to, of all places, Iowa. So apprehending them is part of this story. At the same time, Rapp recognizes and deals with the burn-out of one of his black-op colleagues. Much of the action takes place in and around Washington. Again, Flynn makes the case that playing by the rules is just not effective against the really bad guys, but he also creates a tension in making one of the terrorists a more complex personality than the stereotype of a raving religious extremist.

I confess, I like the action and characters in Vince Flynn's books. I also admit they all run together in my mind after a month or so.

Push by Sapphire

This is the book from which the movie Precious was made. I thought it was amazing. It is the story of a ghetto child, pregnant by her father (twice) and her disaster of a mother. It is set in Harlem and, in a way, illustrates the "power of one" yet again. I found it compelling, incredibly honest and provocative. This is a book that I hope many will read and remember. Walking along with Precious for a time cannot help but elicit more understanding and compassion for someone most of us would quite easily (if we are honest) label and dismiss.

Philosophy Made Simple by Robert Hellenga

A long time ago, Maggie recommended a book titled The Fall of a Sparrow by Robert Hellenga. While I remember almost nothing specifically about that book (and Maggie also did not remember it, although I am quite sure it was she who told me about it), I do remember I liked it (which is not uncommon for me, unfortunately, to know I liked a book or movie but not be able to articulate why exactly, mostly because I can't remember the details). The author teaches at Knox College and since Emily just started as a freshman there, I picked up this book somewhere...garage sale? library sale? and finally read it.

It was about Rudy, whose wife has been dead for a year, and whose three daughters are grown. They had all lived in a lovely home in Chicago, but Rudy rather impulsively decides to sell that home, move to Texas and buy an avocado grove. This is his story...as a relatively new widower, as a man at a cross-roads in life, as someone who is not ready for a retirement home. There is a bit of philosophy here and there as Rudy makes his way through a book of the same name, but mostly it is about his settling into a completely different life.

The book had a certain charm and I would read more by this author. I found the writing delightful and descriptive as he weaves the threads of Rudy's life into a cohesive story, even if it is somewhat fantastical. One of his daughters gets married to an East Indian and the wedding is in Texas. Rudy cooks a lot and muses about his life so far and has adventures of his own as the groom's relatives and Rudy's new Texan acquaintances all mill about in this story.

Robert Hellenga also wrote a book titled Blues Lessons that I will seek out and read, and his wife's name is Virginia. There are so many times I see the name Virginia and always think of my darling Virginia.....street names, bird names, plant names, various characters both real and fictionalized.

Cold Chinese Mushrooms with Bean Thread Noodles

There is a Asian market near the corner of Ottawa Beach road and River Avenue that has a nice variety of food products not available in the mainstream markets. Like live blue crabs and all sorts of vegetables not familiar to me. So I bought a product labeled "Dried Black Fungus," the bean thread noodles and sesame oil. I was apprehensive, since I haven't been impressed with many of the recipes lately and, after reconstituting the fungus, it looked like pale rubber. I cut that up into smaller pieces, added sesame oil, rice vinegar, lemon juice, soy sauce, maple syrup, scallions and sesame seeds, along with the bean thread noodles.

I brought it to Eunice and Tom's, since my family often will try anything and are not picky eaters (well, some of them aren't). The bean threads noodles were just soaked for 15 minutes after I had cut them into smaller pieces with a scissors. They are dry, thin and silvery-translucent and come in small bundles tied with string, about 8 bundles per package. I had to look on the Internet how to prepare them, as the packaging was in Chinese, and the recipe said to boil them but not for how long.

The fungus-noodles are served on a bed of greens. They tasted light and fresh although a bit bland, but, of course, to most Americans, they would. Eunice liked it. I took some of the leftovers home and ate it for lunch the following day, and it definitely was much tastier after marinating overnight. In fact, I thought it was delicious, and even the few salad greens stayed crisp enough. Again, it is a very clean and fresh-tasting salad.

This recipe confirms why I wanted to do this cooking-my-way-through a cookbook: I learned about black fungus (mushrooms) and bean thread noodles and how to prepare them, and discovered a new salad that I would and will prepare again. The sesame oil is imperative and flavors everything, so it stands to reason that a several-hour marinade intensifies the flavor. Sesame seeds are used as a garnish. I will also use more minced scallions next time.

Balsamic Strawberries

Berries, sugar and balsamic vinegar. Not exactly "exquisite" or "transcendent," only mildly interesting.