Short Reads for Long Days

Three short books to check out at the library

Aug 25, 2022

I knew I was ready for shorter books when I kept bringing home long books from the library and reading only the first few pages.

Imagine my delight the other day to discover a library display table set up just for me. The sign on top said, “Short Reads”!

I brought home a dozen. Of course, I read the shortest first, Parade by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from the Japanese, 96 pages. It’s very small, 4 by 6 inches. It’s a quiet tale about friendship, trust and a child’s experience with a mythical presence called a tengu. I can’t explain it but I liked it.

*The Inheritance* by Louisa May Alcott; *Parade* by Hiromi Kawakami, *Cromartie V. the God Shiva by* Rumer Godden; *A Cure for Dreams* by Kaye Gibbons

The sign on the table says that Short Reads are no more than 250 pages long. The longest short read in my library bag that day was Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, 246 pages. I read it years ago and loved it. I would have re-read it this week if it were shorter. Here is an excerpt.

Gertrudis stroked her hair tenderly, but was careful to watch the fritter dessert that was on the flame. It would be a pity if she couldn’t eat it. When it was almost starting to burn, she detached herself from Tita and said sweetly:
‘Just let me take this off the burner and then you can go right back to crying, okay?’

I love the chapter headings and, as I recall, the kindness of the characters..

I had also once read Lying Awake (181 pages) by Mark Salzman and still puzzle over the ending because it seemed so meaningful.

In the novel, Sister John of the Cross is known among the nuns for her wonderful visions. When a doctor offers to rid her of her headaches by … I won’t tell you more, except that in the end she makes a decision. The reader really wants to know if she made the right decision, but the author seems to leave it open. I wonder what you might make of it, should you read the book.

On page 138, Sister John wonders,

But what is my dream? Is it really to know God, or is it to know personal happiness?

And later, on page 181,

Sister John [said,] ‘I don’t feel I know anything about God’s will, Mother.’
‘Yet you’re still here, trying to do His will anyway. That’s the kind of understanding I meant. The doing kind, not the knowing kind.’
Neither of them spoke for a while. Sparrows drawn by the commotion in the garden called down from the trees. They seemed to have the best kind of understanding of all; they answered yes to everything.

The woodcut-like illustrations are in black and white, like the nuns’ clothing!

The last book I’d like to share with you is very enjoyable with its decorative descriptions and colorful characters. The Matisse Stories by A. S. Byatt has 134 pages. Matisse paintings on the jacket and drawings inside refer to the three stories in the book.

“Medusa’s Ankles” takes place in a hair salon where the hairdresser doesn’t seem to notice the Matisse poster, “Rosy Nude”, that his client admires.

When the salon is redecorated in fashionable but dull tones, the client reacts to the changes with … I won’t say a breakdown, rather it’s a break through to her real feelings. It leads in a sudden, surprising way to what she’s wanted all along.