Thea Hartman

It’s simple. Life is complex.

Revisado: 03-23-25

I found this book more enjoyable than I first thought during the opening chapters. It seemed quite dark. The spooky mood continues throughout. This could be described as a ghost story, but it became less murky in later chapters as the main character gained inner clarity and perspective. The book is, as they say, psychological. But it is really a love story. It explores love at times by its lacking. And that’s where love is found.

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Interwoven Points of View

Revisado: 01-08-25

This story was both a well crafted mystery and a moving, psychologically insightful story about family secrets and familial relationships, complete with both perfect and flawed family love.

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Fun but Serious

Revisado: 12-17-24

I found this book fun to listen to. The tone was light but serious subjects were addressed, ranging from suicide to picking a marriage partner, friendship to self reliance and authenticity. The story was engaging and the narration was nearly flawless. What’s not to like? It’s a quality piece of chick lit.

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Primordial Vision

Revisado: 12-10-24

The undersea descriptions, vast, seemingly alien, and profoundly beautiful, affected me most in this scientific, poetic, fanciful and interpersonally complex novel. Of course the message that we must save this precious planet and that time is running out is strong and true. Many cautionary tales have been written to make this point in the past half century. Who knows how best to make this point to hit home, to change the trajectory of history, but this one stands a chance.

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Past history and present chaos

Revisado: 10-31-24

I have always loved Louise Ehrdrich and she has transcended herself in this contemporary saga. As in many of her books, many of these characters are of Native American ancestry, along with various European ancestors. As it happens, this was the third book in a row I’d heard with similar characters. In these books, none of the main characters had grown up within their Native cultures. This made them people like me. This one took place in North Dakota, where my mother’s people came from. I learned a lot about myself by listening to these stories. I was lucky they came to me.

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Wildness and Wisdom

Revisado: 09-14-24

Being a septuagenarian and former (long ago) flower child myself, I couldn’t resist the title of this book. In between I had served as an older adult specialist with county mental health, so I can vibe with Lydia as well. Is that how they say it? Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this little story.

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The Soul of Women

Revisado: 09-05-24

The first book I read by Toibin was Nora Webster. I was taken by the depth of his understanding of women, and he has never disappointed me in this. In fact, his main characters are almost always women. It’s not surprising that he chose to write about a woman seen as holy by many people all over the world. This version of Mary would probably argue with this view of herself. In fact, Toibin uses her to express a critical view of organized orthodox Christianity. As I read it, the criticism is not of the core values of the Christian tradition but in the motivation of those who organized and promoted the church, who were, as Mary points out, a group of men. This is not an anti Christian point of view. It is feminist spirituality.

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Tug of Love

Revisado: 06-29-24

From the first page I read of Colm Toibin, he has been one of my favorite authors. This book was beautifully written and wonderfully narrated, of course. As soon as Nancy was introduced, I knew there would be a competition between the two strong willed Irish women over Jim. I anticipated disaster throughout the middle of the book, which gave the narrative a certain tension that serves any mystery novel a run for the money. I anticipated disaster for everyone involved, and that was what happened. Toibin writes women very well, one of the first things I noticed about his writing. None of these people are blameless and all are very relatable. Just beautifully drawn characters and a wonderful sense of place. And a reading that does it all justice.

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The Other Side of the Story

Revisado: 05-22-24

I always loved Huckleberry Finn, and was excited to hear the other side of the story, Jim’s version. It wasn’t even the same story, which in itself tells us about the vast distances between one human being’s experience and that of another. It brought to mind a new thought for me: We tend to look for similarities when we form connections, but what if, instead of being daunted by that vast chasm that lies between us, we came to honor and respect it? How would that change, perhaps deepen, or heal human relationships?

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No 100%Villains and no Heroes

Revisado: 02-04-24

This tale presents a vivid snapshot of early 20th century Americana. It is a full picture, usually not included in nostalgic images of Main Street and featuring the back streets. This image makes it clear that the real history of this country is written in the margins.
The word “snapshot” is less than accurate, though. This is more of a photo montage. There is no one main character in my reading of this book, a lack that left me dissatisfied; but that, by the end of the book, seemed necessary to the book’s message. The one through character is the handyman, Nate. However, he appears as a supporting character in each sub-story. I came to see this device as essential to the message: There are no real good people and bad people among ordinary Americans. There are groups that are scapegoated, the last to arrive, those who look the most different, act the most different, or think the most differently.

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