Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

 

“There were many moments during the writing of this book when I thought that elephants may be even more evolved than humans—when I studied their grieving habits, and their mothering skills, and their memories. If you take away anything from this novel, I hope it is an awareness of the cognitive and emotional intelligence of these beautiful animals—and the understanding that it is up to us to protect them.”-Jodi Picoult

 Out of the four books I’ve read by Jodi Picoult, Leaving Time is my favorite. If you love a good mystery and are eager to explore the emotional and cognitive intelligence of elephants and understand the unique individuals they are, you will appreciate this novel.

 Leaving Time is the most suspenseful book I’ve read this year. Connecting with the realities of the elephants is a compelling aspect of the book, and I have to admit that the immoral choices of many of the human characters make the read somewhat annoying.

 It is impossible to imagine the ending of the story. There is no way to guess, but I embrace the layer of mysticism it presents. It is hard not to shed a few tears at the end. I think it is a bit odd that the readers are not warned about the fact that this novel has a touch of magical realism.

 Leaving Time is about the timelessness of love between a mother and her child. It makes you reflect on the precious bond that transcends time and space and how that love connects to our present. It made me think of the moments in which I dreamed of a loved one who had passed away. Yet the energy that connects me to that person lives on in thoughts and actions of strength and hope in ways that escape the realm of words.

  There is something I did not like. The perpetrators of the two acts of violence made me uncomfortable because I did not find them credible. Yet I know it can happen in extremely rare cases… The revelation was to me the monster of social misogyny poking its ugly head into the reader’s mind and a product of the author’s unconscious bias... I will not elaborate further on this. (Jodi, will you ever give mothers a break?).

 Alice Metcalf is Jenna's mother. She is an elephant researcher who left behind a journal with several entries about her personal life and her observations of elephants. Jenna wonders why Alice left her behind. Is Alice dead or alive?

  Be prepared to be taken on an adventure into the world of troubled human characters, and learn about the emotional lives of elephants, both in the wild and on a sanctuary. You will learn about empathy, grief, family bonds and so much more. The novel is informative and thought-provoking. Have you ever thought about empathy and what it implies? Here’s an interesting passage from page 134:

“When I was in Pilanesburg, I watched an elephant come across a rhino calf that was stuck in the mud of a watering hole. The rhinos were distressed, and that in turn upset the elephant, which stood around trumpeting and rumbling. Somehow, she managed to convince the rhinos that she had practice doing this, and to just get out of the way and let her take over. Now, in the great ecological sphere of things, it was not beneficial to the elephant to rescue a rhino baby. And yet she went in and lifted the baby with her trunk, even though the rhino mother charged her each time she tried. She risked her own life for the offspring of another species. Likewise, in Botswana, I saw a matriarch come upon a lioness that was stretched out beside an elephant path while her cubs played in the middle of it. Normally, if an elephant sees a lion it will charge—it recognizes the animal as a threat. But this matriarch waited very patiently for the lioness to collect her cubs and move away. True, the cubs were no threat to the elephant, but one day they would be. Right then, however, they were just someone’s babies.”

 Leaving Time is a riveting read with intriguing characters. My favorite human character is Serenity, a “psychic” who befriends Jenna, a thirteen-year-old teenager in her quest to find her mother, who disappeared ten years ago. Then there is Virgil, an alcoholic retired detective who is determined to help Jenna find her mother. The trio captivated me from the beginning… and I liked the elephants.

 The story of these humans is fiction but the ones about the elephants are as real as their plight. There are many forces decimating the population of these compassionate, intelligent beings. Elephants die in the hands of poachers. There is a criminal network responsible for poaching African elephants to benefit from the trade of ivory. The network smuggles ivory from Africa to China. A wealthy middle class in China fuels the demand for ivory products. Corruption in Africa is part of the puzzle that enables the slaughter and trafficking of ivory. Trafficking of ivory is also used to fund terrorism.

  Before the publication of Jodi Picoult’s book forty-one elephants were killed in Zimbabwe because their water hole was poisoned with cyanide. The purpose was to obtain ivory to profit from it, so don’t purchase ivory or anything made of ivory.

  The illegal trafficking of ivory is still happening. This report was published last week by Homeland Security Investigations.

 The slaughter and abduction of elephants lead to trauma, disruption of complex relationships and aggressive elephant behavior in the wild. Elephants are captured for elephant-back safaris, zoos and circuses, where they endure brutal, cruel treatment and endless suffering. In circuses elephants are forced to perform tricks through deprivation of food, water and rest, and by physical restraint, pain and fear. Max Brandett, a former circus worker reveals the details of the horrifying treatment of animals in circuses, so I encourage you to read his report. The elephants are even chained in cages. You can read it from the link I offer. I will not share the information here because it is traumatizing to even write about it. 

 It is disgusting to learn how cruel humans are to these amazing animals. Please, avoid supporting circuses and do everything you can to help stop this cruelty from taking place by educating others on the issue. Avoid paying for elephant-back safaris and make sure that zoos provide the right conditions for elephants and that they don’t capture any more elephants from the wild. In captivity elephants live a life of misery.

 Last but not least, climate change is affecting the survival of elephants in multiple ways. For example, climate change causes prolonged droughts in the African savanna. Also, older elephants are more prone to die as a result of extreme high temperatures, and the loss of the older elephants has a serious impact on the survival of the herds. Supporting regulations that address climate change is also necessary for human survival… and how can anybody oppose regulations that protect the quality of water and air? Let’s make it clear and concise: the regulations that help curb climate change also protect the quality of air and water, so what is not to like about that?

 Climate change also leads to water and food shortage, and the situation worsens the conflicts between humans and elephants and creates tensions that make humanity more prone to start wars and new conflicts. Peaceful coexistence requires a kind of holistic approach to the crisis. 

 There are various organizations working to give assistance to elephants. The elephant sanctuary in Tennessee, which inspired some of Jodi Picoult’s writing, has been helping rescued elephants by providing them with individualized care, the companionship of a herd, and a setting that supports their health and wellbeing. The organization also supports elephants by educating the public. You can also visit the Global Sanctuary for Elephants website. This organization helps to establish elephant sanctuaries worldwide:

 www.globalelephants.org

 

You can learn more about elephants in the wild and the dangers they face by visiting the following sites:

www.elephantvoices.org

https://www.ifaw.org/journal/what-is-ivory

www.tusk.org

www.savethelephants.org

 Here's more information about the link between terrorism and the exploitation of wildlife:

https://editorials.voa.gov/a/stopping-terrorists-from-trafficking-in-natural-resources/6803286.html

I wrote about The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony a while ago. If you haven’t read it yet, feel free to check my post.

The photos of elephants are from unsplash.com: the second photo is by Mylon Ollila; the first photo is by Mathew Spiteri .

Knife by Salman Rushdie

 

“We would not be who we are today without the calamities of our yesterdays.”-Salman Rushdie

 On the night of August 10, 2022, Salman Rushdie dreamed that a gladiator at a Roman amphitheater attacked him in front of an audience. Two days later, at the amphitheater of the Chautauqua Institution in New York state, he was on the verge of giving a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm when a terrorist ran down the aisle toward him and stabbed him multiple times with a knife.

 I will refrain from using the terrorist’s real name here, and I will refer to him as the “c-c” man. The letters “c-c” stand for the words “coward-criminal,” or “criminal-coward,” in the order in which you prefer to think about him. Let this sink in for a moment: the hateful c-c was a twenty-four-year-old radical Islamist who attacked an unarmed seventy-five-year-old man.

 Salman Rushdie has won several literary awards and is the author of over twenty books. The reason for c-c’s action was that c-c had read a couple of pages of one of Rushdie’s books and decided that he did not like him. 

 The twenty-four hours that followed the attack on August 12, 2022, were hours of uncertainty. Due to his critical condition Salman’s loved ones did not know if he would survive. He was on a ventilator, suffering the consequences of multiple injuries. I followed the details of his medical care with great interest, but the miracle of his survival is not only related to the work of health care professionals. It is true that doctors, nurses and physical therapists worked in tandem to make  his recovery possible. However, the healing process involved his devotion to life; the assiduous engagement of his loving wife; the affection of his friends and family members; the empathy and support of his colleagues; and the solidarity of strangers from all over the world.

 His recovery included several procedures and rehabilitation sessions along with the patience and steady work of Salman himself.

  In this era of noisy apologists for terrorism, it is important to read Salman Rushdie’s memoir Knife. In these strange times in which so many people appear to be okay with regimes that treat women as second-class citizens, in which so many people inform themselves by using tik-tok and other forms of social media while being absorbed in video games, it is necessary to promote books that can open new perspectives of understanding the present.

 Rushdie’s book can also be a helpful resource for anybody who has been through something tragic. Sharing his harrowing experience and his personal journey of recovery and healing is an important aspect of the book. Cultivating resilience within the solid foundation of love and meaningful work was part of the process of recovery. The fortress of his attitude encouraged both his body and mind to move forward against all odds.  Along with the grief, there is personal growth, and in this journey of pain, uncertainty and horror, we learn, once again, that love trumps hate.  Unfortunately, Salman Rushdie lost his right eye, but he did not lose the enthusiasm to move forward and to continue writing his masterpieces. His latest novel is called Victory City and I have already requested it from my local library.

   Salman Rushdie was born in India, but he is also a British citizen and an American citizen. His insights and reflections clearly show that he does not succumb to the clumsy patterns of “groupthink,” and he dares to examine facts with honesty; his knowledge and experience are important gifts for every generation.

  I cherish the literary references in Knife, for they emerge from intelligent associations that are the product of his creative mindset and knowledge. His musings and insights reflect deep introspection and make for an intellectually stimulating read, but Knife was also a kind of emotional rollercoaster for me. Tears of frustration, sadness, anger and even joy took me by surprise as I connected with the intimacy of his experiences.

 There is also a memorable love story on the pages of Knife. I appreciate how Salman values and admires his wife’s multiple talents. Her name is Rachel Eliza Griffiths and they have been together for seven years. I will be exploring her writing as well. The couple had always safeguarded their privacy and I loved to read about their relationship. I agree with his words when he says, “There is a kind of deep happiness that prefers privacy, that flourishes out of the public eye, that does not require the validation of being known about: a happiness that is for the happy people alone, that is, just by itself, enough. I was sick of having my private life dissected and judged by strangers, tired of the malice of wagging tongues.” He elaborates this idea further in a way that resonates in this era of social media, “Something strange has happened to the idea of privacy in our surreal time. Instead of being cherished, it appears to have become, for many people in the West, especially young people, a valueless quality—actually undesirable. If a thing is not made public, it doesn’t really exist. Your dog, your wedding, your beach, your dinner…” With Eliza, Salma Rushdie rejected this approach and chose privacy… “Eliza and I decided to be private people. We showed that even in this attention-addicted time, it was still possible for two people to lead, pretty openly, a happily private life. Then, cutting that life apart, came the knife.”

  His reflections on art are simple, yet profound. “Art is not a luxury. It stands at the essence of our humanity, and it asks for no special protection except the right to exist. Art accepts argument, criticism, even rejection...

“Without art our ability to think, to see freshly, and to renew our world would wither and die.”

 Can art survive authoritarian regimes and extremist ideologies? Salman attempts to provide some sparks of hope when he shares these examples, “The poet Ovid was exiled by Augustus Caesar, but the poetry of Ovid has outlasted the Roman Empire. The poet Mandelstam’s life was ruined by Joseph Stalin, but his poetry has outlasted the Soviet Union. The poet Federico Garcia Lorca was murdered by the thugs of General Franco, but his art has outlasted the fascism of the Falange.”

 

Feel free to check these supplementary links:

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/salman-rushdie-palestine-israel-hamas-b2548290.html

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iranian-dissidents-abductions-assassination-attemts-60-minutes-transcript/

 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/salman-rushdie-speaks-stabbing-claimed-life-taking-power/story?id=109234123

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/gaza-plagued-poverty-hamas-no-shortage-cash-come-rcna121099 

 https://www.jns.org/its-time-to-be-honest-about-radical-islam/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/france-paris-boys-charged-in-alleged-antisemitic-gang-rape-of-12-year-old-girl/

Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone by Phaedra Patrick

 

 Benedict Stone wanted his wife to come back home. Estelle moved out for a while, and Benedict did not know if she would return home. When somebody knocked on his door one night, he thought it was Estelle. He was wrong. The person at his doorstep was Gemma, his sixteen-year-old niece, whom he had never met in-person. Gemma had traveled from America to England to visit him for the first time… and she was determined to stay with him.

 Benedict owned a Jewelry store he had inherited from his parents who died unexpectedly in Sri Lanka after a tsunami struck the region, when they were on vacation. After the tragedy, Benedict took the responsibility of raising his younger brother, Charlie. Charlie was Gemma’s father, but he and Benedict had not been in touch with each other for eighteen years. The reason for their estrangement is not revealed until later in the book, so I was intrigued to understand the source of the conflict between the two siblings.

  Benedict had a special interest in gemstones. In his attic he kept a journal his father had crafted in which he described the history of each gemstone and the meanings assigned to them. The discovery of this journal mesmerized Gemma. Her enthusiasm and interest in gemstones awakened in him a talent for crafting more creative designs. Her presence brought new ideas, triggered changes in his lifestyle and sparked the excitement of  new beginnings.

  Benedict was also determined to inspire his wife to return home. I was about to type the words “win her back,” because those were the words that Phaedra Patrick used repetitively when she expressed that Gemma encouraged him to “win her back.” Gemma used those words, and then I was about to type them here. Thankfully, I stopped myself on time. When we think about “a man winning a woman back,” we are implying that a woman is some kind of trophy that needs to be obtained. The situation can be considered the analogy to some sort of competition in which the man works to attain something. Yet a woman is not an object. It is a human being with feelings, emotions, aspirations, flaws, strengths and talents—just like a man. Therefore, I think it is appropriate and fair to express it differently. Words matter. Let’s say that Benedict strongly desired to inspire Estelle to return home. Women are considered the “muses” of men. Can men also inspire women? Yes, it can work both ways. Don’t we want a fair and egalitarian society? Thankfully, the plot aligns well with the idea.

 There is a lot to like and a lot to dislike about Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone.

 I like how Phaedra Patrick digs into the nature of the characters intertwining bits of backstory into the situations of their present. Infertility had caused a lot of stress in the couple. For this reason, Estelle decided to move out for a while to find out if she wanted to stay with Benedict the rest of her life. Phaedra Patrick exposes the heartbreak of not being able to conceive and how it stoked tension and stress in the relationship. After so many years of trying without success Benedict discussed the possibility of adopting a baby. Estelle blatantly opposed the idea. In their discussion I found something I dislike about the story. Estelle treated the process of adoption with contempt. I understand that she did not like adoption as an option and that everybody has a right to make their choices. However, her statements about adoption are disrespectful to those who choose this path. I believe that Phaedra Patrick could have presented another viewpoint to counteract Estelle’s irrational, inappropriate comments about adoption. She never did this.

  Another aspect I did not like about the novel is that there are situations I did not find credible. How did a sixteen-year- old teenager have the money to purchase a plane ticket from England to America? How did she manage to do everything without her father’s knowledge and consent? As far as I know, she did not have a job or a source of income.

 What did I like about the novel? The main characters are well developed. The story takes place in a small English village. I like the pace of the story and how the author connects the present with the past without boring the readers. Moreover, the author blends into the story the significance and history of gemstones, projecting on the reader’s mind a display of colors and shapes that delight the senses and kindle the imagination. I appreciate the quirkiness in connecting them to the themes of the novel. Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone can be considered a light read you may take with you when you are on vacation.

 According to the Encyclopedia Britannica “gemstones have attracted humanity since ancient times and have long been used for jewelry."

It is entertaining and fun to learn about the history and symbolism of the gemstones. For example, lapis lazuli legends are among the oldest in the world. According to the Gem Society the myth of Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of love, and her descent and return from the underworld may date from as early as 4,000 BCE. Inanna entered the underworld wearing a lapis lazuli necklace. Many ancient civilizations valued lapis lazuli, and the stone has religious significance.

  Green aventurine is a type of translucent quartz found in India, China and the state of Vermont in America. The origin of the word is Italian and it means “by chance.” This gemstone is associated with good fortune and abundance.

  Ancient Egyptians worked amethyst into amulets as a form of prayer and protection against harm. St Valentine (third century, Rome) wore an amethyst stone carved with Cupid’s likeness. In Medieval times chaste love was highly valued as true love. Amethyst symbolizes this vision of love because the stone has the power to calm passions and enhance mental clarity.

  

 The themes of Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone offer fountains of hope and optimism. The  novel inspires readers to do the best they can with what they have in life. It is about making choices that help us thrive in the direction we choose, accepting the life we have with inspiration and creativity. It is about being truthful and open to the challenges life throws at us. It is also about the magic and force that exist within the family bonds we cherish and cultivate with patience and wisdom, and the work we can do to make those bonds stronger over time. It is about the importance of choosing and cultivating thoughts and attitudes that support one’s goals and life purpose.

 It is about being unstoppable.

Here's an insightful article on the need to eradicate the stigma around adoption:

https://www.adoptionchoicesofnevada.org/why-is-adoption-still-considered-taboo/