The Swan Thieves, by Elizabeth Kostova

Once and a while I have a convergence of events in my life that make a book particularly powerful. Such experiences surround my reading of The Swan Thieves.

First, about the book itself. It is a complex story of love, families, madness, and art. Kostova is what others would probably call a "literary" writer. Her books are enriched with historical, literary, and artistic references. This book, focused on artists, their art, and lives is one I read quite slowly and with great relish. It was a rich reading experience. As a result I will be looking at books of impressionistic art, mythologies of the story of Leda, and reading about the historical period as well. A good book always leads to the reading of others. I am also going to have to reread Lord Jim, a book I read as an undergraduate and The Historian, Kostova's first book and one I enjoyed the first time.

Now, about how my life has conspired to make this book especially powerful to me. In the last few business trips I've taken I've extended my stay by a day or so to do some touring. In each case I have included art museums as part of the tours. Last spring I spent a day at the Morse Museum in Winter Park, Florida exploring Lewis Comfort Tiffany's works and another day at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. I recommend both, but particularly encourage visits to the Dali Museum. I remember photos of Salvidor and Gala Dali in Life magazine as a child. I thought them extremely weird. Visiting the Dali museum gave me an entirely new understanding of his intellectual depth and the complexity of his art work, beyond the surrealistic pieces for which he is so well known.

This fall, prior to beginning this book, I had the opportunity to spend half a day at the National Gallery of Art. I spend much of my time in the Chester Dale collection and with the Dutch and Flemish galleries. Within the Dale collection I spent much of my time viewing the Impressionists within the collection. As a child, my mother had decorated my bedroom with Degas prints. The art books in my personal library lean heavily toward the Impressionists. (But several of those were inherited from my mother.)

Finally, one of the important pieces of my personal history are the years that my parents were guardians of my mother's cousin. He was a gifted musician who was also mentally ill. His diagnosis was never clear, something like schizophrenia or bi-polar disease. I remembered him as a wild and crazily funny "uncle" who entertained my brothers and me as we visited Lake Okoboji in Iowa. As an adult, caring for a man who was unpredictable wasn't so amusing.

Shortly after my return from D.C. I opened The Swan Thieves. It had been on the stack of books I have anchoring the hall tree. (Actually, my to-read collection.) I had purchased it nearly a year ago but hadn't yet had time to pick it up. It was perfect timing. I'm near the end of the book I'm writing (a book for teachers--not fiction). I felt able to pick up something just a little selfish, even though I need to be reading in advance of teaching a YA lit course this spring.

My last few weeks have been lovely, spent with this book. It is one I can recommend to high school students with strong interests in art, artists, psychology, and history. However, it would be an ambitious read for most high school readers. I have already been talking about it with friends and colleagues. They may feel my stories go on too long, but weaving together my trips to the art galleries and the reading of this book is a story I enjoy retelling.

Nobel Genes, by Rune Michaels (2010)

I read this after having read Michaels' first book, Genesis Alpha. That book still haunts me. The ethical dilemmas Michaels presents chilled me and has caused me to think carefully about whether or not I should recommend the book to younger teens. I had my son (21 years old) read it and he agrees that 6th-8th graders might not be mature enough to handle the subject matter.

Nobel Genes is nearly equally challenging, but in a different way. The main character, who is never given a name, is caring for his mentally ill mother. She has told him that he was conceived with a sperm donation from a Nobel Prize winner. He has grown up with a poster about the Nobel Prize framed in his room and searching the pages of a book about the Nobel Prize winners for an image of his father.

We watch as his mother becomes more and more disabled and the care he has to provide increases. I don't want to say more--it would spoil the book.

This is a compelling book probably again best for more mature teens. It is recommended for grades 6-12 with a Lexile of 940, but the topics and issues are emotionally challenging.

Not everyone appreciates Michaels magical realism has put off some reviewers. I think Michaels could have resolved the plot issues without resorting to the use of this technique, but it is a part of her style. I appreciate the genre and do not fault her for using it.