The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.  When I began The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch was alive, but sadly passed away at age 47, the Friday before I finished. This is a wonderful, heart warming story of a tenured computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. As the consummate lecturer, Pausch embarks on a journey, to impart with his family, friends and colleagues, the life lessons he has learned along the way. His wife Jai, although not thrilled with her husband spending his last months at a computer, supports his decision to give to the world, ‘The Last Lecture.”  

Pausch, with Detroit native, Jeffrey Zaslow, has written a story not about dying, but about living, working hard and the rewards of both. He writes not about what he will miss, but what his family will miss without him. He’s witty, warm, and has realized and chronicled his childhood dreams, and more. From becoming a professor, to working with  Walt Disney Imagineering, to designing virtual worlds, he has also shaped some of this country’s brightest minds. But none of this can stop the disease from taking him from his family and friends. 

As Pausch sets out to put pen to paper, he recounts life lessons he has learned, many through he wisdom of his father. Although Pausch senior probably wouldn’t take credit for the guidance, it is apparent throughout the entire book. Clichés were his middle name, but oddly they worked in this family. Lessons were taught, lessons were learned, and at the end of the day everyone was a better person. And though his children are too young to understand all that is happening around them, they will have a touching story to carry them through the tough times ahead. Pausch has left notes and letters to be read to the children when they are old enough to understand. He spent great quality time with his niece and nephew when they were young, and at 19 and 21 respectively, he has asked them to be a part of his family’s life. And wife Jai will accept all the help she can get from them, and others.

As Randy Pausch dedicates his book to the family and friends he leaves behind, I dedicate this book review to two important people in my life – Pat, whose pancreas does not work and Ken, whose life parallels Randy’s in many ways. As Randy Pausch says, “Always tell the truth and stop to smell the crayons!” 

Review by Jill Zeeb, DeWitt Library Staff.  [8/5/2008]

The Wedding Officer The book that I most enjoyed reading this summer was "The Wedding Officer" by Anthony Capella. There are books that have a message, or make you think, or make you wonder, but sometimes we read purely for entertainment. This is it. The novel is set in WWII Naples and focuses on an English captain, James Gould. Although he is young and inexperienced, his assignment is that of the "wedding officer" who is the staff member responsible for questioning the local Italian women that servicemen wish to marry. Basically, his orders are to not let any marriages take place because his military superiors want the soldiers to concentrate on their duties instead of thinking about a special woman.

This is also the story of Livia Pertini, a young widow who has left her family's osteria, or tavern, to find work in Naples. The local Mafia representative, who is a totally repellent individual, has ruthlessly pursued her. She hopes that she can hide with her dead husband's family in Naples. Unfortunately, both jobs and food are very scarce in Naples. Food is so scarce that hunger has forced most of the women Captain James Gould must investigate into prostitution. Livia ultimately finds work cooking at the building where James works. James has been closely following the army's rules and regulations and was appalled when he learned that his predecessor had been collecting bribes and kept no records. Somehow, as his acquaintance with Livia develops, he begins to relax his standards. He learns how Neapolitans live and realizes that they have some very good practices. He learns what delicious, simple food Livia can prepare if he looks the other way when she barters the army-issued cans for fresh products. The wedding officer must face black marketeering, venereal disease, and corruption. Penicillin is the newly developed drug that is the most effective treatment for venereal disease. Since these diseases are so prevalent in wartime, the Mafia manages to steal the penicillin intended for the troops and corrupts many through their control of this drug.

Both James and Livia are reluctant to acknowledge their growing attraction. Combat dangers and the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius place both of them in real danger. Although there is a wonderful love story and glorious descriptions of food, this is not a safe, tidy novel with a predictable ending. Lives are lost and many suffer, but even in wartime, the spicy passions of food and love can be savoured. {08-11-08}

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith is a novel about Stalinist Russia at a time when crime was not supposed to exist. In the perfect communist state, everyone was supposed to have what he or she needed, so no theft or murders would happen. The state provided for all its citizens. Leo Demidov, an officer of the MGB, a State Security force, knew that few citizens fully believed that one pillar of the new society, There is no crime. They acknowledged society was still in transition, not yet perfect. It was supposed that social excesses, such as crime, would disappear as poverty and want decreased. That plateau had not been reached. There were still drunken disputes that became violent and criminal gangs still existed. But, it was Leo's job to enforce the idea of an absence of crime. When one of Leo's subordinates has a son who is killed close to a railroad track, the child's family claims he was murdered. It becomes Leo's task to convince these people that they must remain quiet and accept that what happened was an accident. In the Soviet society, what a citizen must fear is that he or she will be considered an enemy of the state if they hold unacceptable ideas.

Leo has a rival who manages to use his political skills to call Leo's party loyalty into question. Leo had been so proud of his beautiful wife, Raisa, and the comfortable life he has been able to provide for Raisa and also for his parents. Leo had been a war hero with unquestioning party loyalty. As a policeman, he had conformed to the party policy of Trust, but check. His rival, Vasili, is able to cast doubt on Leo's loyalty and the party bosses force Leo to use his brutal investigation skills to determine the party loyalty of his wife. When Leo refuses to renounce his wife, he is exiled from Moscow. The novel portrays the ways citizens live in fear of making a mistake in thought or word that will cause them to be considered enemies of the state. Almost everyone is ready to betray a friend or a neighbor when they live in this suspicious environment. When Leo and his wife are sent to the small, remote town of Voualsk, he discovers that similar murders have occurred along the path of the railroad. In this debut novel, the author evokes a Russia populated with paranoid citizens and provides suspenseful surprises. {08-18-08}

Gardens of Water For someone who was born and raised in southern California, Alan Drew has written a remarkable first novel called "Gardens of Water". He is able to speak with such diverse voices as he details the struggles a Kurdish Muslim and an American family endures when a major earthquake devastates their lives. The novel begins as Sinan Basiogle and his wife, Nilufer, are about to celebrate their son's coming of age. This is a circumcision ceremony that is performed on a pre-adolescent Muslim male. Sinan owns a small grocery store in Istanbul, so their financial resources are somewhat limited, but food for a celebration is abundant. Though the family lives in a small apartment, lavish preparations begin. The family debates whether or not to invite an American family that lives a floor above them. Although the parents do not realize it, their daughter, Irem, has developed a relationship with the American son, Dylan. The party begins, and the descriptions of the food are lavish. The son is brave, and the ceremony is a success. That night a massive earthquake strikes Turkey, collapsing the apartment building. For four days the Muslim son, Ismail, and the American mother are trapped in the rubble. When the debris is cleared, it is apparent that the American woman died while shielding Ismail. This is the beginning of the interdependence of these two families from opposing cultures.

Marcus and his son, Dylan, become involved running a refugee camp and they urge Sinan and his family to move to the camp. The conflicts are inevitable; Irem is spending too much time with Dylan and the Christian proselytizing from the tent city's workers become offensive to devout Muslims. The American family struggles with the loss of their wife and mother and the Muslim family tries to cope with the loss of all stability in their lives. The problems all of these people face is so poignantly described. Your sympathy is with each individual even though they are in conflict. Each family is in great pain. There are insights concerning why the Kurdish Muslims have an intense hatred for Americans. The Kurdish rebels who wanted a country independent from Turkey had been killed by bullets and missiles that Turkey had bought from the United States. Sinan's own father had been shot by Turkish soldiers when he had been an innocent participant in new year's celebrations. Sinan had pulled the American-made bullet out of his father's face when he was preparing him for burial.  [August 26, 2008]