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The Light Between Oceans
By M.L. Stedman
(Scribner, Hardcover, 9781451681734, July 2012, 352pp.)

The Short of It:

An impossible situation set in a beautiful and captivating setting. A story of love and loss. It left me breathless.

The Rest of It:

After four, very long years fighting on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia a different man. After what he’s seen, what he needs is a total break from reality and he finds it in a position as a lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock. For a while it’s just him and the lighthouse and he likes it that way. But after being ashore only a few times and his only contact being the supply boat that comes every six months, he begins to wonder what it would be like to share his life with someone else.

Isabel is a bold, adventurous young woman and after a few chance encounters with Tom, it’s clear to both of them that there is more than just a friendship there. But what concerns Tom is life on the island itself. Will Isabel be able to adapt to the harsh weather? Will she be able to deal with the isolation? But she assures Tom that they will be happy, and they are but after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, Isabel’s view of the island shifts. What was once such a happy place, is now a stark reminder of their loneliness.

When a boat washes ashore with a baby inside of it, it’s clear that the events of that day will forever leave their mark.

This was an amazing read for so many reasons that I have to list them out:

The setting. Stark, yet beautiful. Stedman did an amazing job at putting me right on the island.
Tom and Isabel are so likable that when their choices cause them to go the other way, somehow I was okay with it even though I knew in my heart that such a decision would do them in.
With each chapter, I continued to question what was right and wrong. I don’t think I ever stopped doing that even when I turned the last page. I so wanted to discuss this with a book club because there is just so much to discuss.
The other characters all play significant roles in the decisions that are made and I loved that. Everyone had a purpose and there were times where it truly felt like a community even though it was a community struggling to do the right thing.
Not once did I ever question the possibility of such a thing happening. The isolation of the island made it possible and in that sense, played a critical role.
Once the story gets going I could not put it down. I needed to know about these people and what was going to happen to them.
Tom. God love him. Such a tortured soul. I wanted to scoop that man up and give him a hug.

Honestly, I could go on and on. The Light Between Oceans had me asking myself what I’d do in a similar situation and although putting yourself under a microscope for that kind of scrutiny is uncomfortable, it was also enlightening. How far will a person go to be happy? How does love change that? Apparently, quite a bit.

Loved this one. I wish everyone could stop what they are doing and read it right now. It’s that good.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher via Library Thing.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
By Haruki Murakami
(Vintage, Paperback, 9780679743460, 1993, 416pp.)

The Short of It:

Mesmerizing and magical.

The Rest of It:

Talk about cutting it close! I had planned to finish my last book of the year a few days ago, but as usual, my vision of what I felt could be done, didn’t quite mesh with the reality laid out before me. Funny, because that’s sort of what this book is about. Reality versus what we think reality to be.

Those of you familiar with this blog know that I have a thing for Murakami’s writing. His writing is unlike anything I’ve ever read. Much of what he writes is surreal and strange but a lot of what he writes is just so normal. Normal in that he has a way of making simple things sound marvelous. The simple act of brewing coffee becomes something special in Murakami’s hands. I love that about his writing.

This novel is no exception and might be my favorite of his yet. A data processor finds himself in a strange situation. Hired by an eccentric professor who happens to be secreted away under the subway system in Japan, he realizes quickly that the job he’s been hired to do is anything but standard. The work that he’s been given is important enough for the government, known as The System, to become involved and although the professor’s intentions were good initially, his little experiment has gone very wrong.

In a parallel story, a man finds himself trapped behind a great wall surrounded by beasts which can only be unicorns. As he tries to make sense of this world and the importance of the unicorns themselves, he begins to question his existence and purpose.

Sounds bizarre, right?

As bizarre as these stories are, Murakami manages to pull both stories together, creating what I feel is his most profound work yet. As an end-of-the-year read, I don’t think I coud have picked a better book. Its largeness is felt on every page yet it’s totally readable and not hoity-toity in the way that books like this can sometimes be.

It’s fantasy and literary fiction all wrapped up together and I absolutely loved it. It left me with big thoughts and yet somehow, I feel rejuvenated too.

Even after all my gushing, if you’re still not sure about Murakami, this April I am hosting a read-along for The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I promise it will be fun and easy with very little to do but enjoy the book. After the New Year, I’ll post more about it so look for that post if you are interested. I’ve not read the book yet myself so we’ll be experiencing it together. For now, write down this hashtag #winditup2013!

Source: Purchased
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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