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Summary: ...
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I finished the book very quickly and enjoyed every minute of it. The writing is seamless and thoroughly enjoyable. I will definitely look out for more by Brandeis.The one problem I have with this is that Brandeis, from what I can tell, is a white woman. However, she is writing about a half Korean/half African American woman. So much of the book involves Korean culture and that makes me feel uncomfortable for reasons I can't quite articulate, however respectful she was of the culture. I would also recommend readers interested in learning more about the Korean prostitutes who worked for American GIs to read 'Fox Girl' by Nora Okja Keller. That book is far more graffic and disturbing, but goes further than 'Dead Birds' in showing the lives these women endured.
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Summary: Delicate "Dead Birds"
Review: Gayle Brandeis's debut novel, winner of the Bellwether Prize for Fiction, is a mistily vivid story that unfolds like a flower. Drawing on the complicated mother-daughter relationships, it's a haunting and delicately-drawn story. Ava Sing Lo, the child of a Korean immigrant and an African-American GI, has been accidently killing her mother's birds since she was small. After graduating from college, Ava is directionless, aimless, lonely and not feeling at home anywhere. In an effort to make up for her accidental bird-killings, she volunteers to help save sick birds on the Salton Sea. While there, she is reminded and haunted of her mother's past. Many years before, Hye-yang (thought to be unlucky) left her native village, then the new home she had made for herself. Tricked into a hell of abuse, murder and prostitution at a segregated American army camp, Hye-yang (now called Helen) escapes and is married by a white GI -- only to be dumped when her baby is born with dark skin. The thought of her mother's past haunts Helen as she stumbles across a corpse on the beach, falls in love for the first time, and starts to really get to know her mother. Reading "Book of Dead Birds," you can almost smell the birds and salt of the Salton Sea. Brandeis has a special talent for putting her readers into the places she writes of, even if they've never been there. And she knows how to tug at the heartstrings without straining them. Brandeis's writing has an understated lyricism, a sort of poetry without self-consciousness. Her social commentary is all the stronger because it doesn't beat you over the head, and the tragedies all the more terrible because they aren't milked. Ava's sections are more introspective and far-reaching, while Helen's are starker. Sprinkled between chapters are bits of Helen's "Book of Dead Birds," saddening and humorous at once. Ava is a startlingly vivid character, whose life is not so much sad as it is empty. It's fantastic to see her gradually coming into the happiness she deserves. Helen is quiet, repressed, keeping her past hidden and only letting her sorrow show for the birds. Supporting characters, like the unfortunate little girl Jeniece and the fiery prostitute Sun are equally well-done. As pretty and deceptively simple-looking as a bird, this book is a haunting, ultimately heartwarming look at mothers and daughters. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Subject may not be pretty, but the book is beautiful.
Review: I believe the characters illustrated in this lyrical novel will stay with me for some time. It's a beautiful, well-written story. Gayle Brandeis has a true gift. Her main characters are quiet and introspective, and yet we hear their voices very clearly. We see everything they see, feel everything they feel, and smell everything they smell. The plot is built around a series of dead birds--birds inadvertently killed by the main character, a young woman of mixed heritage (Korean and African American) named Ava Sing Lo. Information about each bird--its life and cause of death--are recorded in her mother's scrap book, The Book of Dead Birds. As Ava attempts to break the spell of the dying birds and her shame and sorrow of being a disappointment to her mother we come face to face with her fragility, pain, and insecurity. We, and all those within the story, root for her to soar. Brandeis weaves together two stories--the daughter, Ava, and the mother, Hye-yang (Helen). She takes us from San Diego to the Saltan Sea and back to Korea in the 1960s, where through Ava's retelling of her mother's song, we learn of Hye-yang's slide into prostitution, Ava's conception and their ultimate flight path to freedom. I highly, highly recommend this book. It's one of the best I've read so far this year. Respectfully submitted by the author of "I'm Living Your Dream Life," McKenna Publishing.
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Summary: Korean mother-in-law
Review: I really did enjoy this book very much. A friend of mine gave it to me because she knows my husband's mother is Korean. She did not in anyway have the same life as Ava's mother but they do share many characteristics. The morning after soup. The windbreaker at all times. Her harshness even though you know that the love is underneath it all. There were moments when I knew how the mother was going to react or even what she was going to say, not because this book is predictable but because I have a Korean mother-in-law.
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Summary: Great book by a wonderful author
Review: I wasnt quite sure what to expect because of the title. A book about dead birds..huh? But you know what? I enjoyed this. A lot. I learned about the Salton Sea and the bird situation. Ava Sing Lo is impacted by her mothers past and Gayle Brandeis draws you into the world of a Korean prostitute trying for a better life before Ava was born. The writer of this book is so talented. Her writing voice is lyrical and sometimes almost poetic. I love the way she uses all five senses to really pull you into the book. I also recommend her other book, Fruitflesh. I look forward to more books that Ms. Brandeis may write.
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Summary: Great book by a wonderful author
Review: I wasnt quite sure what to expect because of the title. A book about dead birds..huh? But you know what? I enjoyed this. A lot. I learned about the Salton Sea and the bird situation. Ava Sing Lo is impacted by her mothers past and Gayle Brandeis draws you into the world of a Korean prostitute trying for a better life before Ava was born. The writer of this book is so talented. Her writing voice is lyrical and sometimes almost poetic. I love the way she uses all five senses to really pull you into the book. I also recommend her other book, Fruitflesh. I look forward to more books that Ms. Brandeis may write.
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Summary: Poignant
Review: The biracial daughter of a Korean woman who was forced into prostitution on a segregated Army base tries to repair her fragile relationship with her mother, and find her own sense of self. A very moving story told in alternating chapters between past and present. I look forward to more from this new author.
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Summary: Prose that Soars
Review: The Book of Dead Birds is a story within a story, layered with dead birds, historical tragedy, and the hope for future flight no matter how deeply a bird has been wounded. Following the life of heroine Ava Sing Lo, in first-person present tense, this novel explores themes of race, exploitation, pollution, and indigenous cultural survival. The book includes excerpts from Ava's mother's journal, which is actually an encyclopedia of dead birds, revealing a voice that holds the burdens of witness, grief, anger and defeat, in single-page entries, here and there throughout the book. Lyrical & redemptive storytelling.
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Summary: Beautiful, mesmerizing read!
Review: The Book of Dead Birds sucked me in and didn't let me go until I'd devoured it from cover to cover. This novel is like a rare gem in a treasure chest - unique, beautiful, mesmerizing. Gayle Brandeis is a definite new talented author. Ava Sing Lo has had freak accidents involving the death of birds since she was a little girl. In order to find peace with herself and hoping to win her mother's approval, she moves from San Diego to Salton Sea to help alleviate the epidemic of dead birds in that area. What transpires is a lyrical, slow-paced tale of a young woman's journey to self-discovery. She, too, needs to alleviate herself. Her Korean mother's painful past has haunted her throughout the years. The unraveling of her mother's struggles is both disarming and poignant. There's a great deal of symbolism throughout the novel. As mentioned earlier, The Book of Dead Birds enthralled me from beginning to end. It is a literary force to be reckoned with. Gayle Brandeis is a wonderful new voice that shall be heard for years to come. The book jacket states that this novel won the Barbara Kingsolver's Bellwether Prize for addressing various social problems. The aforementioned prize is well deserved. I highly recommend this brilliant and beautiful novel...
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Summary: Ecological tragedy, family secrets and a wonderful story
Review: This first novel is more than just a good story. It's about a recent ecological tragedy at the Salton Sea in southern California where more than 14,000 endangered brown pelicans died. The heroine of the book, 25-year old Ava, volunteers to help out and while there goes through her kind of maturation. She's half black, half Korean, and has been brought up by her rather quirky Korean single mother who was once a prostitute in Korea catering to black soldiers. Her mother has always kept birds, and Ava has always had the misfortune to accidentally kill them. Her mother keeps the bird feathers in a large scrapbook and documents all of Ava's bird-killing misdeeds. It is only when Ava takes the step to drive the few hours to Salton Sea, that she finally gets to understand her mother, her background, and the fascinating and sorrow-filled world of the dying birds. It's all captured well, in well-crafted words, and there's even a bit of Korean folklore. Ava is a sympathetic character who was easy to identify with. And, as the mother's story gradually unfolded, I was filled with horror as well as a new kind of understanding for the world of young women who are lured into the nightmare world of servicing men. I was heartened to see Ava finally emerge from the shadow world of her history and find meaning in her life as well as love. Mostly, though, I was glad to see her working side by side with her mother to help rescue birds. In just 245 pages, the author has managed to do a lot. No wonder this book has won the 2003 Bellwether prize for fiction has been lauded by such notables as Toni Morrison and Barbara Kingsolver. I found the book wonderful. And definitely recommend it. I'm also looking forward to whatever Ms. Brandeis writes next. She is clearly at the beginning of a long a distinguished career.
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