As you know, I’m not a fan of short stories. I’m hooked and then — it’s over? There are exceptions to this rule (Lauren Groff’s Florida, Alice Adam’s The Stories of Alice Adams, John Cheever’s The Stories of John Cheever, and just about anything by Mary Gaitskill.)
And now I’ve come upon Claire Keegan’s Antartica (published 1999), recommended by a writer friend. I’m sure I’ll never forget its title story, about a married mother who slips away for a weekend in the city during the Christmas shopping season with the intention of sleeping with another man. It goes well, until it doesn’t…
A pastor at my sister’s cathedral church recommended God’s Hotel: A Doctor, a 
Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine, by Victoria Sweet. This book is the story of Laguna Honda, the last alms hospital in our nation, in San Francisco. It’s not a traditional hospital, it’s not a nursing home, it’s not a treatment center. It’s a place where poor people are cared for as long as necessary. (When it faced closing because of costs, San Franciscans voted to keep it open, via a bond offering.) 
Sweet, a physician, joined Laguna Honda because she wanted to work part time 
while she pursued study of Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century nun who practiced “pre-modern”medicine. We learn about Hildegard, about Dr. Sweet, about fellow doctors, administrators, patients and their families. This is an important and engrossing read about care — for others and one’s self. I loved it.
Why is a book a classic? Why do we read classics? Because they’re amazing. Valmiki’s Ramayana, translated by Arshia Sattar, is a Sanskrit text whose message of righteous living is a tenet of Hindu and Buddhist life.
For a westerner like me, the Ramayana is a rollicking read full of adventure, warfare, betrayal, shape-shifting, kidnapping, jealousy, forgiveness and yes, righteous behavior.
Rama is banished by his father, the king, who has come under the sway of a wife who wants to install her son as heir. Rama obeys his father; brother Lakshmana insists on going with Rama, as does Rama’s beloved wife, Sita. Along the way, Sita is kidnapped by Ravanna, a demon king. The war to win back Sita is astonishing, with loyal monkeys, golden arrows, a bridged ocean.
Once returned, Rama’s mind is poisoned against Sita; how could she have remained virtuous? Rama’s treatment of Sita, even after she has borne him sons, is maddening, and heartbreaking.
Happy spring.
