Awareness Raising on Court Rules Relating to Domestic Violence in Vanuatu

#884
Title: Awareness Raising on Court Rules Relating to Domestic Violence in Vanuatu
Author: Shirley Randell
Publisher: Blackstone
Year: 2003
72 pages

A grant report on programs intended to increase ni-Vanuatu awareness of changes in legal definitions of and remedies for domestic violence. Interesting for this reason, but also as an example of outcome reporting (including quotes from participants in Bislama with English translation). Includes recommendations based on participant feedback.

If you need a book from Vanuatu for a challenge, this one is available as a PDF at http://www.sria.com.vu/docs/dvpcocolour.pdf

Morality for Beautiful Girls (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #3)

#883
Title: Morality for Beautiful Girls (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #3)
Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Publisher: Anchor
Year: 2002
227 pages

Light fun, but it didn't hold together as well as Tears of the Giraffe. Smith has trouble keeping his characters consistent and showing their changes over time. Like a weekly sitcom, they seem to revert. I don't buy Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's depression, for example--it appears to exist solely to be a plot complication.

The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet

#882
Title: The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet
Author: Reif Larsen
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 2009
375 pages

While I enjoyed this very much, I thought it ended with a whimper when even the same action could have been a bang. I'd recommend it anyway as an ambitious and entertaining piece that falls just short of its promise.

Wan Sapraes Blong Mama

#881
Title: Wan Sapraes Blong Mama
Author: Aukusitino Tualasea
Illustrator: Josefa Uluinaceva
Translator: Viran Moah
Publisher: University of the South Pacific, Institute of Education
Year: 1989
1996 pages

An early reader in Bislama, a creole spoken on Vanuatu. It's not too hard to understand if you immerse yourself for awhile (and remember that save is derived from French or Portuguese and means "know"). It's not clear from the scant traces of this book online, but my best guess is that the English A Surprise for Mum was the first and that O se meaalofa mo Tina (in Samoan), Wanfala Sapraies Fo Mami (in a different pidgin or creole), and this volume are translations.

Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

#880
Title: Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea
Author: Chelsea Handler
Publisher: HarperEntertainment
Year: 2007
264 pages

I've never heard Chelsea Handler, and I imagine that timing would play an important role in the delivery of these (I presume) monologues. Handler is at best entertaining, but over-relies on obscenity and scatology for her humor. This is too bad because it's clear that she's smart and observant, which would be sufficient on its own and arguably more enjoyable.

A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is Today

#879
Title: A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is Today
Author: Kate Bornstein
Publisher: Beacon Press
Year: 2012
280 pages

An enjoyable though at times heartbreaking memoir, recounting Borenstein's intertwined journeys in gender, religion, and self-knowledge. It's interesting to speculate about the course of her life if she hadn't been booted out of Scientology, where she seemed pretty happy and productive.

The latter section where she addresses her daughter directly didn't work as well for me. It may still be too close to Bornstein's heart to receive the same slightly distanced, slightly ironic treatment that gave the rest of the book its compelling tone.

In the Shadow of the Banyan

#878
Title: In the Shadow of the Banyan
Author: Vaddey Ratner
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Year: 2012
336 pages

Received as a giveaway from Goodreads First Reads. I don't think I've read a novel set in Cambodia yet, though I've read plenty of non-fiction, memoirs, travel books, and bird guides.

***

After reading: Ratner chose to fictionalize her lived experience rather than writing a straight memoir. While I imagine I'd appreciate her memoir as well, her decision means that she was able to change events for greater narrative coherence, symbolic resonance, and lyricism. In the Shadow of the Banyan is both more clearly structured and more literary than any of the memoirs I've read of the Khmer Rouge time. While the rawness and veracity of the memoirs holds the readers' attention, Ratner comes at the same content as fiction, which opens other possibilities to engage and hold the reader's attention. A strong effort, and I look forward to her future work.