On Beauty

This book follows the experiences of one family, although other characters intertwine in various ways. Howard, the father, is a White British professor in the American Northeast. Kiki, the mother, is a Southern African-American woman who has invested her life in her husband and children. Jerome, their oldest child, is a college student is notable as the only family member who is religious (Christian). Zora, their daughter, is a college student who struggles notably with her own body image. Levi, their youngest child, is a high schooler who becomes active in a movement supporting equal rights for Haitians.

Overall, the book is about conflict...conflict between various family members, conflict between family members and other people in their surroundings, conflict between liberal and conservative values, conflict between different racial/ethnic/socioeconomic groups, conflict between who characters are, who they want to be, and who they want people to think they are, etc. While the story itself is generally not overly heavy, it does provide a great deal of thought provoking material. I think you might want to read it.

The Red Queen: A Transcultural Tragicomedy

This book has an interesting and unconventional style. The half of the book tells the story of a Korean woman who became a princess and was to become the Red Queen. Her real name is not known. I'll call her the Red Queen for the sake of clarity. She lived a long life and saw her father-in-law, son, and grandson as king; her husband was mentally ill and was murdered by his father (the king). The second half of the story tracks a female professor in England in the 21st century. She mysteriously received a copy of a memoir of the Red Queen and becomes somewhat obsessed with her.

The most unusual characteristics of this book are:

1. The whole story is told in the voice of the Red Queen. She is dead but is tracking the developments of the modern world. She is aware of the internet, reads voraciously, and has a vested interest in continuing to share her story.
2. The author (Margaret Drabble) wrote herself into the second half of the book. She is a character who interacts with the other fictional characters in the book. She is a novelist in the book and is only a minor character.

I thought this book was interesting. The story of the Red Queen was fascinating, but the idea of continuing mentally after death is more intriguing. The Red Queen has all of eternity to read whatever she wants, to research topics that interest her, and to see how she has impacted the world. That idea is quite compelling. It would be very painful to see the world continuing to unfold, while having essentially no impact upon it. However, at the same time, the idea of having eternity to read sounds fabulous,  although I could imagine that at some point eternity would feel exhausting.