Summer Reading Review: Part 1

One of my favorite things about summer break is the opportunity for pleasure reading. It's not that I don't read during the school year, but--call me less than dedicated to my profession-- I somewhat prefer novels to student essays. Here is a brief summary and commentary on my summer reading:

First, Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. I found this one in my sister's library and took it home because (1) it had a colorful, cool-looking cover, (2) it claimed to be the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and (3) it sounded like something that my husband might be interested in. Subtitled The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man who would Cure the World, Mountains beyond Mountains is the biography of a physician who has made an extraordinary impact in the field of public health. The book begins by introducing us to Farmer's work at a rural clinic established in Haiti, but the author follows Farmer to (among other places) Peru and Russia as he works to improve treatment of TB. Kidder does an excellent job weaving together the details of Farmer's life within the larger context of public health concerns.

The next book of the summer was Imperial Legions by Andrew Seddon. I had actually read this one previously, but I picked it up again to take with me on my hiking trip in Great Britain. The story is set in first-century Britain and revolves around the lives of a young Roman tribune and the Celtic woman with whom he falls in love. Among other colorful characters, which play roles in the story are the Apostle Paul and a Druid named Lovernios. Many of the places, characters, and events are historically accurate, and as I walked across the countryside of northern Great Britain, I enjoyed picturing the way that it might have looked, the people that might have walked this terrain, two thousand years earlier. Even the second time around, the book was a page-turner.

After finishing Imperial Legions, I swapped books with my mom and began reading The Listener by Taylor Caldwell. Apparently, Caldwell is best known for her book Dear and Glorious Physician. The Listener is the story of all those who visit the John Godfrey Memorial Building in order to see "the man who listens." They are the underprivileged, the corrupt, the betrayed, the anointed, the unhonored... No one knows exactly who "the man who listens" is exactly; he sits behind a curtain. Some think he is a psychologist, some a doctor, some a counselor, but at the end of the visit, individuals can press a small button if they wish to see the listener. No one leaves quite the same. Caldwell's characters are real and also, in a sense, universal, grounded in the basic human experience. Very thought-provoking, but not a book to read for plot.