Fuzzy Patter's Reads in 2017

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Fuzzy Patter's Reads in 2017

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1fuzzy_patters
Jan 2, 2017, 9:56 am

Last year was a so-so reading year for me. My reading plans always seem to crash and burn during the first-semester of a new school year before rising from the ashes like a Phoenix during winter break. This year was no exception. I challenged myself last year to read for at least twenty minutes per day every day, and I was successful at this until the new school year started. Then the stress of a new school year caused me to drift away from my New Year's resolution. I am going to try it again this year in the hope of reading more books then ever before in 2017.

2dchaikin
Jan 2, 2017, 10:09 am

My wife started teaching again this fall, middle school art. The stress is out if this world. I understand your challenge to a degree. Hope the next semester goes well for you and wish you a great 2017!

3fuzzy_patters
Jan 2, 2017, 10:11 am

I hope that you have a great 2017, too!

4arubabookwoman
Jan 2, 2017, 7:00 pm

Wishing you good luck in reading more in 2017! I will be following your thread, and will try to comment once in a while.

5fuzzy_patters
Jan 3, 2017, 7:31 pm

Thank you! I hope that you have a great reading year.

6fuzzy_patters
Jan 11, 2017, 11:21 pm



Water Tossing Boulders: How a Family of Chinese Immigrants Led the First Fight to Desegregate Schools in the Jim Crow South by Adrienne Berard

I liked parts of the this book, and one of the things that I enjoyed was the subject matter. The book is about a Chinese family who challenged Mississippi segregation laws in the 1920s. The story of segregation is usually told as it related to African-Americans. It was interesting to learn how it affected this Chinese family and how they responded to it.

One issue that I had with it was with the way that it was written. The author chose to write the book more in they style of a novel rather than as a history. She did not include in-text citations or much explanation of her research beyond the short introduction at the beginning of the book. One thing that I kept finding myself wondering was about whether some of her information was from oral accounts of the events and what the stories were of the people who were sharing them with her. It would have been nice to have been able to connect with the living relatives of people connected to this family's situation. While there are end notes included, I would have liked more research information within the text.

The other major issue that I had was that I think that the end of the book should have been the beginning. The end of the book gives purpose and meaning to the book by explaining how this case and others like it helped lead to the end of school segregation. This would have been a great idea to open the book with because it would have given me as a reader more reason to care about the story of these people. Then she could have ended by talking about the successes and failures of integration and posed the question of how far we have come.

Looking back on the experience of reading this book, I do believe that it was worth reading, and I am grateful that Berard did the research. My issues are more with the execution of writing the book, but I am still glad that I read it. It added to my knowledge about the Jim Crow south and caused me to consider inequities that occur today.

7fuzzy_patters
Modifié : Jan 18, 2017, 11:56 am



Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck

Tortilla Flat is loosely drawn from the Arthurian Legend and features Danny as King Arthur and a group of his paisano friends as his court. As with the medieval legends, Danny and his friends are at times gallant, ornery, lazy, quirky, moody, foolish, and brilliant in their simple way. The characters are all lovable and comic even when they are doing horrible things that they shouldn't be loved for.

Likewise, the book itself was lovable and a joy to read even when there are parts that should have been uncomfortable. Steinbeck has a wonderful ability to take the grotesque sides of us and make them lovable. In this case, he took the poverty of people living on the outskirts of Monterey, California and all of the poor decisions and bad things that they might do in their circumstance and made them both heroic and comical. This is the brilliance of Steinbeck, and this is a very good book.

8stretch
Jan 18, 2017, 12:13 pm

>6 fuzzy_patters: I heard about Water Tossing Boulders on a podcast that meant to look into. Sounds interesting but I think for that type of book in-text notes are a must and would frustrate me too.

9fuzzy_patters
Jan 18, 2017, 12:14 pm

10edwinbcn
Jan 25, 2017, 11:32 pm

Enticing review of Tortilla Flat. I have some Steinbecks left unfinished after the theme read a couple of years ago, and it is tempting to follow your reading...

11fuzzy_patters
Jan 28, 2017, 2:23 am

Thank you, Edwin!

12fuzzy_patters
Jan 28, 2017, 2:26 am



The Red Pony by John Steinbeck

The Red Pony is a story that is more about a boy, Jody, than it is about a pony. The boy lives on a farm with his mother, father, and a farmhand. The boy is trying to grow up following the model of the relationships that the adults in his life have set for him. He is trying to become an adult, and as he does so, his relationship with his father is changing.

The changing relationships that Jody encounters are a central theme of the book. In the beginning his relationship with his father, Carl, is cold but his father clearly loves him. This relationship will grow and change over the course of the book. The farmhand, Billy Buck, is more father-like to Jody than his actual father, but Billy struggles to be honest with Jody if honesty could hurt him. His mother seems to be the one who best knows how to handle Jody emotionally, but she can also be coldly distant towards him at times. Each of these relationships changes and grows during the book as Jody grows and matures.

Although there are clear central themes to the book such as Jody's growing relationships and maturity, the plot is more enigmatic. The plot consists of four episodes that aren't tied together very much. In the first Jody gets a red pony from his father. In the second a Mexican man visits the ranch and wants to stay there because he was born there. In the third Jody helps look after a mare who is pregnant with a colt, and in the fourth the family is visited by Jody's grandfather. It is unclear how these stories are related other than that they reveal more about characters and theme.

Overall, I really liked this book. It left me pondering how everything was connected and why Steinbeck highlighted certain aspects of the characters and setting more than others. Additionally, these characters were interesting and had me wondering why Steinbeck created them. It was a thought provoking book that was an enjoyable read.

13auntmarge64
Jan 28, 2017, 10:10 am

>7 fuzzy_patters: I'm embarrassed to admit I may never have read any Steinbeck, but Tortilla Flat sounds like it would be a good introduction.

14fuzzy_patters
Jan 28, 2017, 11:56 am

It was really good, but I think that East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath are much better. If you're looking for something short, I would go with Of Mice and Men.

15fuzzy_patters
Modifié : Fév 5, 2017, 3:53 pm



The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck ()

The Moon Is Down takes place in an unnamed town in an unnamed country that has been capture by an unnamed enemy that is at war with England and Russia. Since the book was first published in 1942, it is clear that the enemy is Nazi Germany. The enemy also has several stereotypes portrayed that would have been associated at that time with Nazi Germany, such as being "a timely people." Furthermore, the head of the enemy occupation in the town, Colonel Lanser, refers many times to his experience fighting in World War I.

The message behind this story seems to be quite clear. Even if the Nazis are able to conquer you, you can never truly be conquered. They will be the ones facing an enemy as their soldiers will be forced to live among an enemy who will quietly go about their lives with secret hatred for them, and the Nazis will have to look over their shoulders at all times for the secret acts of rebellion that will both threaten their control and their lives. This feeling of not belonging continuously weighs on the German both emotionally and physically as the Northern European snow continuously buries them in a blanket of white. The Nazi soldiers become sympathetic and human and you begin to see everyone as the loser in a battle that has been forced on them by the Nazi leaders in Berlin.

I loved this story. It was fantastic. Steinbeck got into the heads and lives of ordinary people in the way that he does best, and there were many themes to consider as I progressed through the book. It was very well done.

16fuzzy_patters
Modifié : Fév 5, 2017, 4:01 pm



The Pearl by John Steinbeck ()

The Pearl is about a man, Kino, who finds a large pearl that he hopes will sell for enough money that it will change the life of his poor family. Meanwhile, he lives in an impoverished region of Mexico where the pearl dealers have colluded to rip off the native population by giving them low-ball offers for pearls.

I love Steinbeck, but I thought that this one was a little flat for me. In trying to write about a people that I'm not sure that he truly understood, I thought that Steinbeck sucked the humanity out of these characters. They were a white man's interpretation of what a native must be rather than a group of people who changed, grew, and felt emotions that all people feel. Additionally, there was something odd about the cadence of the writing that felt forced to me. The whole thing just felt a little off. It was good for most, but it was disappointing for a Steinbeck novel.

17fuzzy_patters
Fév 5, 2017, 4:08 pm

After my Steinbeck kick, I am starting The Complete Stories by Franz Kafka. Since it is a collection of short (sometimes very short) works, I will post periodic updates of my reading.

The book begins with two "Introductory Parables" titled "Before the Law" and "An Imperial Message." In the former there is a man who goes to a gate to see The Law (capitalized in the story), and a gate keeper will not let him through. In the second, a dying emperor has left a message to you, a commoner, but the herald that that is supposed to deliver the message to you cannot get through the throngs of people in the way of reaching you. The Trial is the only previous Kafka work that I have read, and I thought that these two very short works were similar in the futility that layers of bureaucracy create in leaders and their subjects working together. He shows the remoteness of leaders through these absurd situations that are impossible to overcome.

18valkyrdeath
Fév 5, 2017, 5:51 pm

Some good Steinbeck reviews there! I love Steinbeck but haven't read any for some time now, and Tortilla Flat and The Moon is Down are two I haven't got to yet. I might try and get back to him this year. I've been meaning to read Kafka for a long time too so I'll be interested to follow your comments on those stories.

19edwinbcn
Fév 7, 2017, 2:01 am

Love your reviews of the Steinbeck short novels.

20tonikat
Fév 7, 2017, 6:21 am

You'e enthused me to try Steinbeck some more and your Kafka trip sounds exciting, another I want to make.

21Simone2
Fév 7, 2017, 7:39 am

>15 fuzzy_patters: Love your review of The Moon is Down. Sounds quite timeless...
You rated it five stars. Did you think it even better than East of Eden and Of Mice and Men, my favourite Steinbecks?

22baswood
Fév 8, 2017, 6:01 pm

I hope you enjoy those Franz Kafka short stories; I read them a long time ago and found a few of them quite magical.

23fuzzy_patters
Fév 9, 2017, 8:43 pm

It was different from Of Mice and Men, so it is hard to compare the two. I'm not sure that anything is better than East of Eden. East of Eden is perfect.

24fuzzy_patters
Fév 9, 2017, 8:55 pm

I finished two more stories in the Kafka collection, and they were...interesting. The introduction, which was by John Updike, suggesting skipping the first two. He describes the first story, "Description of a Struggle," as being "repellant" and "adolescent." The second story "Wedding Preparations in the Country" has pages missing in several sections of the story. This is a big problem with a collection of works such as this where the author never intended for them to be published. They are unfinished, and there are parts missing.

"Description of a Struggle"- It's trippy for lack of a better word. There is a guy at a party who leaves with another who is excited to tell him about a girl. The two men are acquaintances who only recently met. They wander through the streets and talk. Pretty soon the protagonist is convinced that the other guy is going to murder him, but then he ends up mounting the other guy like a horse and riding him. Later on, he is alone and goes to a river and sees a Buddha type figure being swept away, but the Buddha figure is still able to tell him a story about meeting another guy who was prostrate in a church and the conversation that those two characters had. The whole story was weird, and I feel like there may have been parts missing.

"Wedding Preparations in the Country"- This one definitely had parts missing because the book said as much. It is very frustrating to read "two pages missing," then a paragraph, and then "two pages missing." This made the story nearly impossible to follow, but it did have one really great quotation about books that I am leaving below.

"...the reader is not at all impeded in those thoughts and he passes through the midst of the book with them, as once the Jews passed through the Red Sea..."

25fuzzy_patters
Fév 12, 2017, 6:01 pm

The next book in the Kafka collection, titled "The Judgment," was much better. A young merchant lives with his widowed father and writes a letter to a friend who lives in St Petersburg. The friend isn't doing well there, and the merchant has to decide whether to share the good news that he has become engaged with the friend. This is followed by a pivotal meeting with his father and a surprising ending. I liked this one a lot.

26fuzzy_patters
Modifié : Avr 19, 2017, 12:19 am

I finally finished the Kafka. I apologize for not keeping up with my reviews as I progressed through the book.



The Complete Stories of Franz Kafka by Franz Kafka
I was very excited to read this collection because I loved The Trial when I read it. Unfortunately, I found the quality of writing in this collection to be very inconsistent. Kafka did not want most of these published, and it is clear why. Some of the stories are overly discursive and painful to read. Others are so short and to the point that the point became banal. Yet, I cannot exactly say that I didn't enjoy the collection, either.

Despite being included with some less enjoyable works, many of the stories in this collection are brilliant. They place the reader in a world where life is absurd and we are all subject to happenstance. They are at times terrifying and always thought provoking. These stories are Kafka at his best. For those who pick up this book, while reading the whole thing is certainly worthwhile, I would suggest reading the following if you do not have time to read the whole thing.

"Before the Law"
"The Imperial Message"
"The Metamorphosis"
"The Penal Colony"
"A Country Doctor"
"A Hunger Artist"
"Jackals and Arabs"
"A Little Fable"

27dchaikin
Avr 16, 2017, 10:00 am

Enjoyed all your posts on Kafka quite a bit. Impressive accomplishment, and glad you were rewarded. I haven't read him, except one story as a teenager (Metamorphosis)

28fuzzy_patters
Modifié : Mai 7, 2017, 7:52 pm

I have a difficult time reviewing poetry, but I tried. It wasn't great, but I feel bad criticizing others' poems. I'm not sure why novels are different.

The After Party by Jana Prikryl (2.5 stars)

The earlier poems in this collection are really good. I particularly liked "Ontario Gothic, "Argus, or Fear of Flying," and "To Tell of Bodies Changed" among others. The second half of the book reads almost like a disjointed stream of consciousness, and it didn't work as well for me.

29fuzzy_patters
Mai 7, 2017, 7:56 pm

Out of Our Minds: Turning the Tide of Anti-Intellectualism in American Schools by Craig B. Howley et al (2 stars)

This was a frustrating read for me. I read it because I, as a teacher, want to know how to reach more of my students. I didn't get that from this book. Instead, I got a lot that I agreed with in the first part of this books. For example, we are too focussed on credentialism in the USA rather than focussing on real learning. Unfortunately, then the book became overly didactic as the writers tried to force their perception of what schooling should be, and then it took a turn towards the crazy as they proposed a completely different framework of our educational system without any explanation of how this would be palatable nor much of any discussion of the tradeoffs that would be inherent in their system. There is potential here for somebody else to take the ideas and research posed in this book and to do something great with it, but these authors haven't done it.

30fuzzy_patters
Mai 29, 2017, 12:26 pm

"

A Fugitive in Walden's Wood by Norman Lock (5 stars)

This is a great book. Lock portrays a fictional account of a freed-slave fugitive in Walden's Woods by writing as a transcendentalist while the protagonist encounters transcendentalists. It would be very easy for this to become heavy-handed or for the real-life characters (Thoreau, Emerson, Garrison, Alcott, and Hawthorne) to become caricatures, but this doesn't happen, which is quite the accomplishment.

Perhaps a greater accomplishment is the beauty of his writing. I found myself reading this one slowly because nearly every adverb was carefully chosen to reveal character of some truth about the human condition. The same could be said of the descriptions of nature. For example, he describes a brown brook being drunk from "nonchalantly" at the same time as Thoreau is having a seemingly nonchalant discussion with Samuel, the freed slave, despite that Thoreau rarely does anything nonchalantly. He is drinking, to feed his mind, from Samuel's metaphorical brook.

I loved this book because of that level of detail, which kept me reading and kept me thinking. It is beautifully written. It is quite an accomplishment.

31fuzzy_patters
Modifié : Juil 17, 2017, 9:21 pm

"

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper (2.5 stars)

The Last of the Mohicans opens with the journey of British Colonel Munro’s two daughters, Alice and Cora, from Fort Edward to Fort Henry amid the backdrop of the French and Indian War. For their protection they are escorted by Major Heyward Duncan and a Huron Indian (native American) named Magua. On their journey they are joined by David Gamut, a Psalmist; Hawkeye, a white scout who travels with Indians; and Hawkeyes’ companions Chingachgook and his son Uncas, both of whom are members of the once great Mohican tribe. Their trip soon goes horribly wrong, and they will be left to undergo an epic journey that lasts for the rest of the novel.

The first aspect of this novel that will strike the modern reader is the amount of racial stereotyping that is present. The Indians are presented as always having a larger sense of the sights and sounds of the world around them than their white companions are capable of possessing, and the white people have a better understanding of human relationships, more empathy, and more civilized refinement than the Native Americans. There is even stereotyping present among the individual groups within the races as the French are untrustworthy and the Hurons are portrayed as duplicitous. However, if the modern reader is able to keep in mind that Cooper was writing with the cultural knowledge and understanding of his time period, I feel that there is still a lot to be taken and enjoyed from this novel.

One thing that I liked about the novel was the theme of characters revealing their hidden strengths. There are several times during their ordeals that they encounter that the sisters, portrayed as dainty, civilized women early in the novel, are able to show strength, cunning, and valor. Another example of this is the aforementioned David Gamut. Gamut is a very weak character throughout most of the novel and is more interesting in singing Psalms than in carrying out the traits that would make him successful in the environment that he is travelling in; yet, when given the opportunity, he shows himself to be cunning and brave when necessary. This depth of character and character development made this novel more enjoyable for me.
Within this development of these characters, Cooper reveals a strong central theme of brotherhood that can develop among companions. Scout, Uncas, and Chingachgook make for a strong mixed-race family unit at the outset of the novel, and they work as a team to be successful at many times in the novel. However, as the novel progresses, we begin to see them grow closer and work more closely with Haywood, Gamut, Munro, and the two sisters until the final climax when it becomes apparent how much the dynamic of brotherhood between characters has changed over the course of the novel. For me, that was the most brilliant part of this novel, and it made me glad that I had read it.

However, while I am glad that I read it, I still cannot say that it was particularly brilliant or great. The writing was clunky at times, the racial stereotypes were there, and there wasn’t much that made me really think deeply about the human condition. Overall, I thought that it was a flawed novel with some positive aspects that helped to redeem it. I recommend it provided that the reader’s expectations aren’t too high.

32fuzzy_patters
Sep 5, 2017, 3:55 pm

The Port Wine Stain by Norman Lock (3 stars)

I liked this book, but I didn't like it quite as much as other books by Lock. It's written in the style of Edgar Allen Poe and the protagonist is a doctor who is living in the 1880s and telling about times that he spent with Poe when Poe was still alive. It is an entertaining send-up of Poe, but it isn't as thought provoking as some of Lock's other works.

33fuzzy_patters
Déc 22, 2017, 9:24 pm

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (3.5 stars)

This is a difficult book to review for me. It took me a long time to really get into it, but I couldn't put it down over the last half of the book. There is a lot that happens in the book over the course of many generations in a small fictional town in Colombia. Early in the novel, there is a lot of magical realism and gypsies. Then the novel really starts getting weird before getting much less weird when foreign banana companies show up. Eventually, the banana companies leave, and you are left with a book about the competition between traditionalism and cultural modernity. There is far too much to unpack in a short review, and I don't want my review to drag on like the first part of the book did. My suggestion to readers is to keep plugging ahead, and you will probably like the book in the end.

34dchaikin
Déc 23, 2017, 10:42 am

Interesting. I'm going to try to read through Marquez's fiction next year, with this book being the main purpose.

And, very delayed, enjoyed your review on The Last of the Mohicans.

35chlorine
Déc 24, 2017, 3:34 am

I enjoyed reading your reviews!
>33 fuzzy_patters: I'm one of those who gave up on One Hundred Years of Solitude. I don't know if I would have liked it if I had trudged on, but at some point it just became too hard to follow for me. I especially hated that all (or almost all?) male characters are called either Emiliano or Jose Aurelio (if I remember correctly).
I'm glad you liked it better than I did.

>34 dchaikin: Dan, if you plan on reading Garcia Marquez, I highly recommend Love in the time of cholera.

36fuzzy_patters
Déc 27, 2017, 10:36 am

>35 chlorine:: It was really hard to follow. I completely understand.

37fuzzy_patters
Déc 27, 2017, 10:37 am

Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever by Kevin Cook (5 stars)

I am a sucker for baseball books, so this one was right up my alley. I loved it! Cook tells so much more than the story of the 1947 World Series. He tells the story of some of the men who played a part in it complete with their back-stories, the effects on their lives later, and the effects on their families. Cook takes all of these stories and seamlessly weaves them together into a narrative that would be interesting even if you aren't a baseball fan. It's a great book.