1arubabookwoman
Hello all! I'm back for my 10th or so year in Club Read. I'm hoping to interact more this year, and to that end I am resolving to visit my own thread once a week or so, rather than once a month. I'm going to try to post regularly to the What Are You Reading? thread too. In 2020, I was quite pleased with myself that for the first time in a number of years I reviewed on my thread every book I read.
I'm Deborah, a retired tax attorney, Mom of 5 kids, and Grandma to 5 grandkids. In 2020, after 35 years in Seattle, we moved to the Tampa Bay area to be closer to our kids, all of whom had left Seattle for the East Coast and environs. One of our sons, and 2 of the grands are in the area, but because of covid, we haven't been able to see much of them since we arrived in Florida in June. For the past couple of years, our lives have also revolved around a lot of medical issues, as my husband had a bone marrow transplant about 1 1/2 years ago which, though successful, results in ongoing issues.
I love to read, and read eclectically, about 2/3 fiction, 1/3 nonfiction. I try to read as much translated fiction as I can. I mainly read literary fiction, but I read a fair amount of crime and scifi.
Ever since I discovered the Libby app a few years ago, most of my reading has been from the library (not to mention that most of my books were in storage for about 2 years), and I noticed that last year in my library reading I was tending to choose "bright and shiney" new books, many of which I found less than satisfactory. So my reading goal this year is to read no more that 2 or so library books a month, to read mostly my own books (now thankfully out of storage, unpacked and on brand new shelves), and to try to concentrate on older works. I generally notably fail at such goals, though, so we shall see how far this goes.
In addition to reading, my other passion is fiber art. I work on something fiber art related probably every day.
I'm Deborah, a retired tax attorney, Mom of 5 kids, and Grandma to 5 grandkids. In 2020, after 35 years in Seattle, we moved to the Tampa Bay area to be closer to our kids, all of whom had left Seattle for the East Coast and environs. One of our sons, and 2 of the grands are in the area, but because of covid, we haven't been able to see much of them since we arrived in Florida in June. For the past couple of years, our lives have also revolved around a lot of medical issues, as my husband had a bone marrow transplant about 1 1/2 years ago which, though successful, results in ongoing issues.
I love to read, and read eclectically, about 2/3 fiction, 1/3 nonfiction. I try to read as much translated fiction as I can. I mainly read literary fiction, but I read a fair amount of crime and scifi.
Ever since I discovered the Libby app a few years ago, most of my reading has been from the library (not to mention that most of my books were in storage for about 2 years), and I noticed that last year in my library reading I was tending to choose "bright and shiney" new books, many of which I found less than satisfactory. So my reading goal this year is to read no more that 2 or so library books a month, to read mostly my own books (now thankfully out of storage, unpacked and on brand new shelves), and to try to concentrate on older works. I generally notably fail at such goals, though, so we shall see how far this goes.
In addition to reading, my other passion is fiber art. I work on something fiber art related probably every day.
2arubabookwoman
First Quarter
JANUARY
1. To Obama by Jeanne Marie Laskas 3 stars
2. The Darling and Other Stories by Anton Chekov 4 1/2 stars
3. Spring by Ali Smith 4 1/2 stars
4. A Dry White Season by Andre Brink 4 stars
5. Old People and the Things That Pass by Louis Couperus 3 1/2 stars
6. The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan 4 stars
7. Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki 3 stars
8. Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout 3 1/2 stars
9. The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector 4 1/2 stars
10. The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson 5 stars
11. Sea of Death by Jorge Amado 3 1/2 stars
12. Fatale by Patrick Manchette 2 stars
13. The Duel and Other Stories by Anton Chekov 4 stars
FEBRUARY
14. Outposts by Simon Winchester
15. And Still the Earth by Ignacio De Loyola Brandao
16. Therese Desqueyroux by Francois Mauriac
17. The Teeth May Smile But the Heart Does Not Forget by Andrew Rice
18. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
19. The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth
20. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
21. Conspiracy in the Streets by Jon Wiener
22. A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr
23. The Tunnels of Cu Chi by Tom Mangold
24. The Lady With the Lapdog and Other Stories by Anton Chekov
25. The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas
MARCH
26. Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody
27. Lineup by Liad Shoham
28. The Survivors by Jane Harper
29. The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada
30. Tragedy of the Street of Flowers by Eca de Queiro
31. The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington
32. Terra Nullius by Claire Coleman
JANUARY
1. To Obama by Jeanne Marie Laskas 3 stars
2. The Darling and Other Stories by Anton Chekov 4 1/2 stars
3. Spring by Ali Smith 4 1/2 stars
4. A Dry White Season by Andre Brink 4 stars
5. Old People and the Things That Pass by Louis Couperus 3 1/2 stars
6. The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan 4 stars
7. Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki 3 stars
8. Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout 3 1/2 stars
9. The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector 4 1/2 stars
10. The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson 5 stars
11. Sea of Death by Jorge Amado 3 1/2 stars
12. Fatale by Patrick Manchette 2 stars
13. The Duel and Other Stories by Anton Chekov 4 stars
FEBRUARY
14. Outposts by Simon Winchester
15. And Still the Earth by Ignacio De Loyola Brandao
16. Therese Desqueyroux by Francois Mauriac
17. The Teeth May Smile But the Heart Does Not Forget by Andrew Rice
18. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
19. The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth
20. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
21. Conspiracy in the Streets by Jon Wiener
22. A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr
23. The Tunnels of Cu Chi by Tom Mangold
24. The Lady With the Lapdog and Other Stories by Anton Chekov
25. The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas
MARCH
26. Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody
27. Lineup by Liad Shoham
28. The Survivors by Jane Harper
29. The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada
30. Tragedy of the Street of Flowers by Eca de Queiro
31. The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington
32. Terra Nullius by Claire Coleman
3arubabookwoman
Second Quarter
APRIL
33. Indelicacy by Amina Cain
34. The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
35. The Wife of Martin Guerre by Janet Lewis
36. Tango For a Torturer by Daniel Chavarria
37. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
39. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
40. Skylark by Dezso Kosztolanyi
41. The Hospital by Brian Alexander
42. After by Bruce Greyson
MAY
43. Bitter Wash Road by Gary Disher
44. Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh
45. Picture This by Molly Bang
46. Life With Picasso by Francoise Gilot
47. Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin
48. Memorial by Bryan Washington
49. Ex Libris by Michiko Kakutani
50. Think Like an Artist by Will Gompertz
51. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
52. Hollow Man by Mark Prior
JUNE
53. Fraud by Anita Brookner
54. Lost in Translation by Ella Frances Sanders
55. Slough House by Mick Herron
56. The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex
57. Telephone by Percival Everett
58. Cost by Roxanna Robinson
59. This House of Grief by Helen Garner
60. Tampa Bay Noir
61. Townie by Andre Dubus III
62. Summerwater by Sarah Moss
63. Stillicide by Cynan Jones
64. To See Every Bird on Earth by Dan Koeppel
65. The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki
APRIL
33. Indelicacy by Amina Cain
34. The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
35. The Wife of Martin Guerre by Janet Lewis
36. Tango For a Torturer by Daniel Chavarria
37. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
39. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
40. Skylark by Dezso Kosztolanyi
41. The Hospital by Brian Alexander
42. After by Bruce Greyson
MAY
43. Bitter Wash Road by Gary Disher
44. Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh
45. Picture This by Molly Bang
46. Life With Picasso by Francoise Gilot
47. Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin
48. Memorial by Bryan Washington
49. Ex Libris by Michiko Kakutani
50. Think Like an Artist by Will Gompertz
51. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
52. Hollow Man by Mark Prior
JUNE
53. Fraud by Anita Brookner
54. Lost in Translation by Ella Frances Sanders
55. Slough House by Mick Herron
56. The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex
57. Telephone by Percival Everett
58. Cost by Roxanna Robinson
59. This House of Grief by Helen Garner
60. Tampa Bay Noir
61. Townie by Andre Dubus III
62. Summerwater by Sarah Moss
63. Stillicide by Cynan Jones
64. To See Every Bird on Earth by Dan Koeppel
65. The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki
4arubabookwoman
Third Quarter
JULY
66. A Song for Dark Times by Ian Rankin
67. Theory of Bastards by Audrey Schulman
68. The Touchstone by Edith Wharton
69. To Live Yu Hua
70. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
71. Festival Days by Jo Ann Beard
72. Thumbprint by Friedrich Glauser
73. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
74. 2034 by Elliot Ackerman
75. Exit by Belinda Bauer
76. The Searcher by Tana French
AUGUST
77. Compulsion by Meyer Levin
78. The Beggar Maid by Alice Munro
79. The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster
80. Bad Day at Blackrock by Kevin Powers
81. My Struggle Volume 5 by Karl Ove Knausgard
82. Victim F by Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn
83. Deep Six by Jack McDevitt
84. The Ax by Donald Westlake
85. I Alone Can Fix It by Carol Leonnig and Phil Rucker
86. Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand
87. What Happens in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand
88. Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand
SEPTEMBER
89. The Passenger by Chang Kusan
90. The Bird's Nest by Shirley Jackson
91. China Room by Sunjeev Sahota
92. The Valley of Decision by Edith Wharton
93. Howard's End by E.M. Forester
94. A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh
95. Death Is a Welcom Guest by Louise Welsh
96. No Dominion by Louise Welsh
97. Nives by Sacha Naspini
98. Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
99. Blood Strand by Chris Oulds
100. Earth by Emile Zola
101. If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura
102. Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller
103. Tokyo Redux by David Peace
104. The Blood of Angels by Johanna Sinisalo
105. Begin Again by Ursula Orange
106. Dark Currents by Daniel Putkowski
107. The Loneliness of the Long Distant Runner by Alan Silitoe
108. A Jew Must Die by Jacques Chessex
JULY
66. A Song for Dark Times by Ian Rankin
67. Theory of Bastards by Audrey Schulman
68. The Touchstone by Edith Wharton
69. To Live Yu Hua
70. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
71. Festival Days by Jo Ann Beard
72. Thumbprint by Friedrich Glauser
73. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
74. 2034 by Elliot Ackerman
75. Exit by Belinda Bauer
76. The Searcher by Tana French
AUGUST
77. Compulsion by Meyer Levin
78. The Beggar Maid by Alice Munro
79. The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster
80. Bad Day at Blackrock by Kevin Powers
81. My Struggle Volume 5 by Karl Ove Knausgard
82. Victim F by Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn
83. Deep Six by Jack McDevitt
84. The Ax by Donald Westlake
85. I Alone Can Fix It by Carol Leonnig and Phil Rucker
86. Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand
87. What Happens in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand
88. Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand
SEPTEMBER
89. The Passenger by Chang Kusan
90. The Bird's Nest by Shirley Jackson
91. China Room by Sunjeev Sahota
92. The Valley of Decision by Edith Wharton
93. Howard's End by E.M. Forester
94. A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh
95. Death Is a Welcom Guest by Louise Welsh
96. No Dominion by Louise Welsh
97. Nives by Sacha Naspini
98. Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
99. Blood Strand by Chris Oulds
100. Earth by Emile Zola
101. If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura
102. Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller
103. Tokyo Redux by David Peace
104. The Blood of Angels by Johanna Sinisalo
105. Begin Again by Ursula Orange
106. Dark Currents by Daniel Putkowski
107. The Loneliness of the Long Distant Runner by Alan Silitoe
108. A Jew Must Die by Jacques Chessex
5arubabookwoman
Fourth Quarter
OCTOBER
109. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
110. Sanctuary by Edith Wharton
111. 1968 by Mark Kurlansky
OCTOBER
109. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
110. Sanctuary by Edith Wharton
111. 1968 by Mark Kurlansky
6arubabookwoman
I have another reading project to start the year, and I've kept it up for more than a week already. A few years ago I read Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose, and in it she described her daily habit of reading one story by Chekov a day. I immediately bought a 13 volume set of Chekov stories, but never got into that project. This year I decided to read one Chekov story a day, and so far, I have succeeded most days (doesn't happen on the days we leave early to go to the hospital or somewhere else--I read the story before getting out of bed in the morning. My intent is to report on the stories I read in my weekly visit here.
I also have a nonfiction reading project. I decided to read A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor, one object a day. And I've kept that up too, so I will report on this book too.
I also have a nonfiction reading project. I decided to read A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor, one object a day. And I've kept that up too, so I will report on this book too.
7arubabookwoman
Reserved for Stats about 2020.
Will have to review, but for now I can report I had only 2 5 star reads, Swann's Way (a reread) and Summer by Ali Smith.
Will have to review, but for now I can report I had only 2 5 star reads, Swann's Way (a reread) and Summer by Ali Smith.
9arubabookwoman
Chekov Reading 1/1-1/9 I'm reading from The Darling and Other Stories by Anton Chekov
1. "The Darling"--Olenka is subsumed by those she loves, through 3 marriages and beyond. "She wanted a love that would absorb her whole being, her whole soul and reason--that would give her ideas and an object in life, and would warm her old blood."
2. "Ariadne"--A man is obsessed by a selfish woman and led astray. "I was in the position of a greedy passionate miser who should suddenly discover that all his gold coins were false."
3. "Polinka"--a clerk and a fashionable woman conduct a lover's spat over a commercial transaction in the department store where the clerk works. "'The black's from 80 kopecks and the coloured from two and a half roubles I shall never come and see you again.' Nikolay Timofeitch adds in an undertone."
4. "Anyuta"--a medical student lives with and takes advantage of young Anyuta. He has a future, she doesn't.
5. "The Two Volodyas"--A woman is married to an older Volodyas and is carrying on an affair with an older Volodya. "She thought that before old age and death there would be a long life before her, and that day by day she would have to put up with being close to a man she did not love...."
6. "The Trousseau"--a mother and daughter spend years sewing a trousseau for the daughter who insists that she will never marry. "I have seen a great many houses in my time, little and big, new and old, built of stone and of wood, but of one house I have kept a very vivid memory. It was, properly speaking rather a cottage than a house--a tiny cottage of one story with three windows, looking extraordinarily like a little old hunchback woman with a cap on."
7. "The Helpmate"--Another story of a man married to an unworthy woman. "His whole face was relaxed in a naive, good-natured smile of a divinity student, and he had the simplicity to believe that that company of beasts of prey into which destiny had chanced to thrust him would give him romance and happiness and all he had dreamed of."
In one of the stories ("Ariadne") one of the characters says, "Whenever Germans or Englishmen get together, they talk about the crops, the price of wool, or their personal affairs. But for some reason or other when we Russians get together we never discuss anything but women and abstract subjects--but especially women."
And that describes my reaction to these week's Chekov stories--most about amoral women taking advantage, a couple of good women being taken advantage of, and some moral ambiguities. But definitely concentrating on women.
1. "The Darling"--Olenka is subsumed by those she loves, through 3 marriages and beyond. "She wanted a love that would absorb her whole being, her whole soul and reason--that would give her ideas and an object in life, and would warm her old blood."
2. "Ariadne"--A man is obsessed by a selfish woman and led astray. "I was in the position of a greedy passionate miser who should suddenly discover that all his gold coins were false."
3. "Polinka"--a clerk and a fashionable woman conduct a lover's spat over a commercial transaction in the department store where the clerk works. "'The black's from 80 kopecks and the coloured from two and a half roubles I shall never come and see you again.' Nikolay Timofeitch adds in an undertone."
4. "Anyuta"--a medical student lives with and takes advantage of young Anyuta. He has a future, she doesn't.
5. "The Two Volodyas"--A woman is married to an older Volodyas and is carrying on an affair with an older Volodya. "She thought that before old age and death there would be a long life before her, and that day by day she would have to put up with being close to a man she did not love...."
6. "The Trousseau"--a mother and daughter spend years sewing a trousseau for the daughter who insists that she will never marry. "I have seen a great many houses in my time, little and big, new and old, built of stone and of wood, but of one house I have kept a very vivid memory. It was, properly speaking rather a cottage than a house--a tiny cottage of one story with three windows, looking extraordinarily like a little old hunchback woman with a cap on."
7. "The Helpmate"--Another story of a man married to an unworthy woman. "His whole face was relaxed in a naive, good-natured smile of a divinity student, and he had the simplicity to believe that that company of beasts of prey into which destiny had chanced to thrust him would give him romance and happiness and all he had dreamed of."
In one of the stories ("Ariadne") one of the characters says, "Whenever Germans or Englishmen get together, they talk about the crops, the price of wool, or their personal affairs. But for some reason or other when we Russians get together we never discuss anything but women and abstract subjects--but especially women."
And that describes my reaction to these week's Chekov stories--most about amoral women taking advantage, a couple of good women being taken advantage of, and some moral ambiguities. But definitely concentrating on women.
10arubabookwoman
100 Objects Reading
1. The Mummy of Horneditef--not the earliest object, but the author uses this to show how the British Museum learns from the objects in its collection, makes inferences about societies and cultures, and, especially how these studies and inferences and our knowledge changes over time.
2. Olduvai Stone Chopping Tool 1.8-2 million years ago. Found among the oldest known humanly-made objects. Demonstrates that human culture began in Africa.
3. Olduvai Hand Axe--1.2-1.4 million years ago. A handaxe is tricky to make, and was cutting edge technology for the time. This was made by people who would have been the beginnings of humans as we conceive them. The ability to make such an object also indicates the beginnings of speech.
4. Swimming Reindeer--11,000 B.C. About 50,000 years ago, humans began making art. This is a masterpiece of Ice Age Art.
5. Clovis Spear Point--11,000 B.C. This was found in Arizona, and shows that by about 13,000 years ago, humans inhabited North America. By about 12,000 years ago, humans had migrated around the world from our origins in Africa, and every habitable part of earth now was settled by humans.
6. Bird-shaped Pestle--6,000-2,000 B.C. This object shows that by this time humans were growing crops. Farming developed simultaneously in several areas around the world. To develop farming, humans had to learn to make the seeds and roots of wild grasses and other wild plants edible.
7. Ain Sakhri Lovers Figure 9,000 B.C. The first representation of humans having sex. Some scholars had thought this might be a fertility object. More recently, some scholars think it might just be an eloquent work of art.
8. Egyptian Clay Model of Cattle 3,000 B.C. Cows and cattle are by now becoming important and being exploited by humans.
I'm finding this book to be easy to read, well-organized, and informative. The pictures of each of the obects covered are excellent, too.
1. The Mummy of Horneditef--not the earliest object, but the author uses this to show how the British Museum learns from the objects in its collection, makes inferences about societies and cultures, and, especially how these studies and inferences and our knowledge changes over time.
2. Olduvai Stone Chopping Tool 1.8-2 million years ago. Found among the oldest known humanly-made objects. Demonstrates that human culture began in Africa.
3. Olduvai Hand Axe--1.2-1.4 million years ago. A handaxe is tricky to make, and was cutting edge technology for the time. This was made by people who would have been the beginnings of humans as we conceive them. The ability to make such an object also indicates the beginnings of speech.
4. Swimming Reindeer--11,000 B.C. About 50,000 years ago, humans began making art. This is a masterpiece of Ice Age Art.
5. Clovis Spear Point--11,000 B.C. This was found in Arizona, and shows that by about 13,000 years ago, humans inhabited North America. By about 12,000 years ago, humans had migrated around the world from our origins in Africa, and every habitable part of earth now was settled by humans.
6. Bird-shaped Pestle--6,000-2,000 B.C. This object shows that by this time humans were growing crops. Farming developed simultaneously in several areas around the world. To develop farming, humans had to learn to make the seeds and roots of wild grasses and other wild plants edible.
7. Ain Sakhri Lovers Figure 9,000 B.C. The first representation of humans having sex. Some scholars had thought this might be a fertility object. More recently, some scholars think it might just be an eloquent work of art.
8. Egyptian Clay Model of Cattle 3,000 B.C. Cows and cattle are by now becoming important and being exploited by humans.
I'm finding this book to be easy to read, well-organized, and informative. The pictures of each of the obects covered are excellent, too.
11arubabookwoman
>8 rocketjk: Hi Jerry. Thanks for visiting my new thread so promptly!
12AnnieMod
>10 arubabookwoman: I listened to the podcast as it was coming out a few years ago - it was very good.
13BLBera
Happy New Year, Deborah! I am so happy to see you here again. I love your reading projects. I had no idea Checkov had written so many stories!
I want to read the Prose book.
I, too, want to read more books from my shelves this year. It's a good goal. We'll see how it goes.
I want to read the Prose book.
I, too, want to read more books from my shelves this year. It's a good goal. We'll see how it goes.
15LolaWalser
Hi, Deborah, had a trip googling the objects in >10 arubabookwoman:. The pestle, the lovers, the reindeer, the tools etc.--makes humanity seem loveable.
16SassyLassy
>10 arubabookwoman: This book sound weirdly intriguing, something that you could get addicted to (to which you could get addicted).
Also like the idea of a Chekov story a day, but know that I would inevitably slide unless the book sat in a spot where I would sit at the same time each day, so as to make it a habit.
Also like the idea of a Chekov story a day, but know that I would inevitably slide unless the book sat in a spot where I would sit at the same time each day, so as to make it a habit.
17markon
>10 arubabookwoman: Love the idea of a Chekov story a day, and the 100 objects at a slow rate.
>12 AnnieMod: There is a podcast? Runs off to look it up.
>12 AnnieMod: There is a podcast? Runs off to look it up.
19gsm235
>18 markon: I have this book on Kindle. I've always been meaning to pick it up, but other books get in the ways. I'd be interested in what stories stand out in this collection.
20AnnieMod
>17 markon: Yup. One episode per object, 13-14 minutes per episode. And its descriptions have links to the images to look at. It was a BBC Radio 4/British Museum joined effort back in 2010 (the book was published to accompany it some time around that time). :) Then it got converted to a podcast (I listend to it when that happened, not the original radio broadcasts). 1 episode per day was a perfect cadence for it. :)
21dchaikin
Nice to see your thread here. I like your projects and your two posts on them above. I think I need more Chekhov myself.
22SandDune
>10 arubabookwoman: Mr SandDune has the 100 objects book and I’ve dipped into it from time to time. It’s an interesting collection of items.
23AlisonY
Happy New Year! Good to hear you've plans for being on LT more in 2021. I look forward to your reviews. Nice Francine Prose project in particular.
24avaland
Interesting projects you've started off with, Deborah. Will stop in from time to time.
In this era of my life, I keep the projects (I like this word better than 'goals') loose.
In this era of my life, I keep the projects (I like this word better than 'goals') loose.
25Nickelini
>10 arubabookwoman:
This sounds interesting. What is the book called?
This sounds interesting. What is the book called?
26sallypursell
Deborah, I just found you. I'm very interested in your projects. I'll stop by to follow you now and then.
28Nickelini
>27 ELiz_M:
Doh! Thanks. I was lost
Doh! Thanks. I was lost
29dianeham
Hi Deborah! I saw you read The Boy in the Field last year. I did too and really liked it. Have you read other books by Margot Livesey? I got another book by her from Santathing.
30arubabookwoman
I’m back in record time (for me), and it’s lovely to find visitors. I have lots of reading to report on, but first, my visitors:
>12 AnnieMod: Hi Annie. Before the Podcast, I think it was a BBC series. This book resulted from the BBC series.
>13 BLBera: The Francine Prose book is wonderful Beth. I gave it 5 stars when I read it several years ago. She came out with a new book last year which I have on my Kindle, but haven’t read yet.
>14 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl!
>15 LolaWalser: Hi Lola. The objects are lovely, aren’t they? And the objects keep coming, with great stories behind them.
>16 SassyLassy: Hi Sassy. I’m continuing to enjoy the 100 Objects (and Chekhov) reading. I’m generally doing this before I get out of bed I the morning, just to make sure it gets done. This has worked so far, except for a few mornings we had to get out early.
>17 markon: and >18 markon: Hi Arlene. I hope you found the podcast. And a weekly Clarice Lispector story sounds like a good project. I’ve never been a short story fan, but I’ve always liked Russian lit, and I’ve heard Chekhov referred to as the “father” of the modern short story.
>19 gsm235: Welcome to my thread Greg.
>20 AnnieMod: I’m not sure but it’s possible the text of the book is identical to the script of the BBC series or podcast. Each object merits 3-5 or so pages of text.
>21 dchaikin: Hi Dan. You undertake such serious, organized, and detailed projects each year, and what I’m doing hardly compares. But maybe a Chekhov, or Russian Lit year is in your future.
>22 SandDune: Hi Rhian. The objects are all from the British Museum’s collection, so maybe there are more appropriate objects in other museums to illustrate the points the author makes about human history, but it all seems good so far.
>23 AlisonY: Hi Alison, and welcome!
>24 avaland: Hi Lois. I agree about loose projects. I’m amazed I’ve kept this up for 2 weeks so far.
>25 Nickelini: and >28 Nickelini: Hi Joyce. I see Liz answered your question. Welcome.
>26 sallypursell: Welcome Sally. I’ll be following your thread too.
>27 ELiz_M: Hi Liz. Thanks for stepping in.
>29 dianeham: Hi Diane. It was a book that calmed my soul and reinforced my faith in humanity when I read it at the end of last year. My LT library tells me I’ve read several other books by Margot Livesey: Criminals in 1997, The Missing World in 2001, and Eva Moves the Furniture in 2002. I remember nothing about these, except a vague recollection of liking them. I also read The Flight of Gemma Hardy, a take on Jane Eyre, which I remember not caring for. And I’ve had Banishing Verona on my shelf since 2006, but haven’t read it yet.
On to my reading.
>12 AnnieMod: Hi Annie. Before the Podcast, I think it was a BBC series. This book resulted from the BBC series.
>13 BLBera: The Francine Prose book is wonderful Beth. I gave it 5 stars when I read it several years ago. She came out with a new book last year which I have on my Kindle, but haven’t read yet.
>14 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl!
>15 LolaWalser: Hi Lola. The objects are lovely, aren’t they? And the objects keep coming, with great stories behind them.
>16 SassyLassy: Hi Sassy. I’m continuing to enjoy the 100 Objects (and Chekhov) reading. I’m generally doing this before I get out of bed I the morning, just to make sure it gets done. This has worked so far, except for a few mornings we had to get out early.
>17 markon: and >18 markon: Hi Arlene. I hope you found the podcast. And a weekly Clarice Lispector story sounds like a good project. I’ve never been a short story fan, but I’ve always liked Russian lit, and I’ve heard Chekhov referred to as the “father” of the modern short story.
>19 gsm235: Welcome to my thread Greg.
>20 AnnieMod: I’m not sure but it’s possible the text of the book is identical to the script of the BBC series or podcast. Each object merits 3-5 or so pages of text.
>21 dchaikin: Hi Dan. You undertake such serious, organized, and detailed projects each year, and what I’m doing hardly compares. But maybe a Chekhov, or Russian Lit year is in your future.
>22 SandDune: Hi Rhian. The objects are all from the British Museum’s collection, so maybe there are more appropriate objects in other museums to illustrate the points the author makes about human history, but it all seems good so far.
>23 AlisonY: Hi Alison, and welcome!
>24 avaland: Hi Lois. I agree about loose projects. I’m amazed I’ve kept this up for 2 weeks so far.
>25 Nickelini: and >28 Nickelini: Hi Joyce. I see Liz answered your question. Welcome.
>26 sallypursell: Welcome Sally. I’ll be following your thread too.
>27 ELiz_M: Hi Liz. Thanks for stepping in.
>29 dianeham: Hi Diane. It was a book that calmed my soul and reinforced my faith in humanity when I read it at the end of last year. My LT library tells me I’ve read several other books by Margot Livesey: Criminals in 1997, The Missing World in 2001, and Eva Moves the Furniture in 2002. I remember nothing about these, except a vague recollection of liking them. I also read The Flight of Gemma Hardy, a take on Jane Eyre, which I remember not caring for. And I’ve had Banishing Verona on my shelf since 2006, but haven’t read it yet.
On to my reading.
31dianeham
>30 arubabookwoman: It's amazing the books I've read that I don't remember. If I didn't keep track of them, I'd be reading the same books over and over.
32arubabookwoman
Chekhov reading:
This week I finished the first volume of the 13 volume Chekhov set. The stories read were:
8. “Talent”—An artist has lazed away the summer without raising his paintbrush. He and his friends spend their time discussing the great works they will soon produce. “To listen to them it would seem they had the future, fame, money, in their hands. And it never occurred to them that time was passing: that every day life was nearing its close, that they had lived at other people’s expense a great deal and nothing yet was accomplished....”
9. “An Artist’s Story”—An artist living in the country falls in love with a young girl on a neighboring estate. I loved this description of the girl: “She spent the whole day reading, poring greedily over her book, and only from the tired dazed look in her eyes and the extreme paleness of her face one could divine how this continual reading exhausted her brain.”
10. “Three Years”—This last piece in volume I, at 130 pages, is actually a novella, and I read it over a few days. Chekhov said that he intended to illustrate Moscow life in this piece. Laptev the son of a wealthy Moscow merchant marries the daughter of a country doctor. He is madly in love with her. She has no feelings for him, but accepts his proposal out of fear that otherwise life will pass her by. We follow their life in Moscow, in all its ups and downs, for the first three years of their marriage. “And what changes in these three years...But one may have to live another thirteen years, another thirty years...what is there in store for us in the future? If we live, we shall see.”
That completes The Darling and Other Stories, Volume 1. I will start Volume 2 tomorrow.
These 3 stories speak to me of Chekhov considering his/our mortality, the brevity of our time on earth, and we should use it wisely, all the while recognizing we are, after all, only human.
This week I finished the first volume of the 13 volume Chekhov set. The stories read were:
8. “Talent”—An artist has lazed away the summer without raising his paintbrush. He and his friends spend their time discussing the great works they will soon produce. “To listen to them it would seem they had the future, fame, money, in their hands. And it never occurred to them that time was passing: that every day life was nearing its close, that they had lived at other people’s expense a great deal and nothing yet was accomplished....”
9. “An Artist’s Story”—An artist living in the country falls in love with a young girl on a neighboring estate. I loved this description of the girl: “She spent the whole day reading, poring greedily over her book, and only from the tired dazed look in her eyes and the extreme paleness of her face one could divine how this continual reading exhausted her brain.”
10. “Three Years”—This last piece in volume I, at 130 pages, is actually a novella, and I read it over a few days. Chekhov said that he intended to illustrate Moscow life in this piece. Laptev the son of a wealthy Moscow merchant marries the daughter of a country doctor. He is madly in love with her. She has no feelings for him, but accepts his proposal out of fear that otherwise life will pass her by. We follow their life in Moscow, in all its ups and downs, for the first three years of their marriage. “And what changes in these three years...But one may have to live another thirteen years, another thirty years...what is there in store for us in the future? If we live, we shall see.”
That completes The Darling and Other Stories, Volume 1. I will start Volume 2 tomorrow.
These 3 stories speak to me of Chekhov considering his/our mortality, the brevity of our time on earth, and we should use it wisely, all the while recognizing we are, after all, only human.
33arubabookwoman
100 Objects Reading
9. Mayan Maize God A.D. 715–As people began to identify plants which would provide them with food, there arose a range of new gods. These new foods included wheat and barley in the Middle East, millet and rice in China, taro in Papua New Guinea, sorghum in Africa, and maize in Central America. This maize god is relatively new, but comes from a long tradition. His mythic story mirrors the annual planting/harvest cycle as well as the human cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
10. Jomon Pot 5000 B.C.—One of the biggest leaps in human history was the making of the first pot. The earliest pottery was made 16,500 years ago in Japan. Pots enabled changes in the human diet—new foods became edible by boiling. Although the earliest pots were made in Japan, pottery seems to have been invented independently in different places at different times around the world.
Part 3–The First Cities and States 4000-2000B.C.
11.King Den’s Sandal Label 2985 B.C.—As city/states arose, the question was how to exert leadership and control over large populations. The answer, illustrated on this object, was simple: brute force.
12. The Standard of Ur 2600-2400–This is the first object I knew about before reading this book, having studied it in art history, and having made a point to visit it when I was at the British Museum a few years ago. Cities began about 5000 years ago in Mesopotamia, the most famous of which was Ur, excavated in the 1920’s by Leonard Wooley. The purpose of this object is unknown; Wooley thought it was a standard carried in battle, others believe it is part of a musical instrument. It is decorated mosaic-like with lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, red marble from India, and shells from the Gulf. This is the first object we’ve seen made out of several different exotic materials traded from distant locations. In order for trade to exist, there would have to have been agricultural surpluses to trade, as well as to support various classes, including craftspeople, who would not have to perform agricultural labor. The scenes depicted on each side are in 3 rows, similar to a comic book. One side shows scenes of economic life, the other side shows scenes of war.
13. Indus Seal 2500-2000 B.C.—This was a civilization lost to human memory until 1906. This civilization flourished in the Indus Valley (in modern day Pakistan and India) between 3000 and 2000 B.C. We still know very little about this civilization, perhaps because there were no burial sites to excavate, and also because we have as yet been unable to decipher the few scraps of writing from this civilization.
14. Jade Axe 4000-2000 B.C.—This was located in England, and was clearly never used. The mystery was how did jade get to England? Investigators found the exact jade deposit in the Italian Alps from which the jade used to fashion this axe came.
That completes the objects for this week
I also have to review the 4 or 5 books I’ve read so far this year, but right now I’ve got to go cook dinner. Will be back later tonight or tomorrow with book reviews of To Obama, Spring, A Dry White Season, and Old People and the Things That Pass.
9. Mayan Maize God A.D. 715–As people began to identify plants which would provide them with food, there arose a range of new gods. These new foods included wheat and barley in the Middle East, millet and rice in China, taro in Papua New Guinea, sorghum in Africa, and maize in Central America. This maize god is relatively new, but comes from a long tradition. His mythic story mirrors the annual planting/harvest cycle as well as the human cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
10. Jomon Pot 5000 B.C.—One of the biggest leaps in human history was the making of the first pot. The earliest pottery was made 16,500 years ago in Japan. Pots enabled changes in the human diet—new foods became edible by boiling. Although the earliest pots were made in Japan, pottery seems to have been invented independently in different places at different times around the world.
Part 3–The First Cities and States 4000-2000B.C.
11.King Den’s Sandal Label 2985 B.C.—As city/states arose, the question was how to exert leadership and control over large populations. The answer, illustrated on this object, was simple: brute force.
12. The Standard of Ur 2600-2400–This is the first object I knew about before reading this book, having studied it in art history, and having made a point to visit it when I was at the British Museum a few years ago. Cities began about 5000 years ago in Mesopotamia, the most famous of which was Ur, excavated in the 1920’s by Leonard Wooley. The purpose of this object is unknown; Wooley thought it was a standard carried in battle, others believe it is part of a musical instrument. It is decorated mosaic-like with lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, red marble from India, and shells from the Gulf. This is the first object we’ve seen made out of several different exotic materials traded from distant locations. In order for trade to exist, there would have to have been agricultural surpluses to trade, as well as to support various classes, including craftspeople, who would not have to perform agricultural labor. The scenes depicted on each side are in 3 rows, similar to a comic book. One side shows scenes of economic life, the other side shows scenes of war.
13. Indus Seal 2500-2000 B.C.—This was a civilization lost to human memory until 1906. This civilization flourished in the Indus Valley (in modern day Pakistan and India) between 3000 and 2000 B.C. We still know very little about this civilization, perhaps because there were no burial sites to excavate, and also because we have as yet been unable to decipher the few scraps of writing from this civilization.
14. Jade Axe 4000-2000 B.C.—This was located in England, and was clearly never used. The mystery was how did jade get to England? Investigators found the exact jade deposit in the Italian Alps from which the jade used to fashion this axe came.
That completes the objects for this week
I also have to review the 4 or 5 books I’ve read so far this year, but right now I’ve got to go cook dinner. Will be back later tonight or tomorrow with book reviews of To Obama, Spring, A Dry White Season, and Old People and the Things That Pass.
34BLBera
>30 arubabookwoman: I have a copy of the Prose, Deborah. I'll pull it and add it to my "read soon" pile.
35arubabookwoman
>31 dianeham: and >34 BLBera: Hi Diane and Beth.
First book of the year I finished was a library book, despite my resolution to read more of my own books. This one was already checked out and I started it before the new year.
1. To Obama by Jeanne Marie Laskas (2018) 399 pp
Through-out his presidency Obama asked for the staff to give him 10 letters a day from constituents to read. He replied personally to some of the letters, and directed staff as to how to reply to others. The ten letters Obama read each day through his entire presidency were chosen by the staff of the Office of Presidential Correspondence, which is charged with reading and responding to the president’s correspondence from America’s citizens.
I wanted to read this to get some of the stink of all my Trump reading out of my system. And it is true that there is such a contrast between the two men, and such nostalgia for a decent man as president, a man who cared enough to every day read, hear, and consider the problems of at least ten of the people he governed, people concerned enough to write the president. But this was not a feel-good book. There were very few feel-good letters, no quirky or humorous letters. Instead, most were letters from people facing serious problems.
These were letters from people who often had nowhere else to turn. And often, Obama could only recognize their pain, empathize, but could not solve the problem.
So while there’s probably a lot more people with serious problems now, and we’ve had a president who doesn’t care for the last 4 years, I didn’t get what I wanted out of this book. Which is not to say I wouldn’t recommend it, if you go in with open eyes.
3 stars
First book of the year I finished was a library book, despite my resolution to read more of my own books. This one was already checked out and I started it before the new year.
1. To Obama by Jeanne Marie Laskas (2018) 399 pp
Through-out his presidency Obama asked for the staff to give him 10 letters a day from constituents to read. He replied personally to some of the letters, and directed staff as to how to reply to others. The ten letters Obama read each day through his entire presidency were chosen by the staff of the Office of Presidential Correspondence, which is charged with reading and responding to the president’s correspondence from America’s citizens.
I wanted to read this to get some of the stink of all my Trump reading out of my system. And it is true that there is such a contrast between the two men, and such nostalgia for a decent man as president, a man who cared enough to every day read, hear, and consider the problems of at least ten of the people he governed, people concerned enough to write the president. But this was not a feel-good book. There were very few feel-good letters, no quirky or humorous letters. Instead, most were letters from people facing serious problems.
These were letters from people who often had nowhere else to turn. And often, Obama could only recognize their pain, empathize, but could not solve the problem.
So while there’s probably a lot more people with serious problems now, and we’ve had a president who doesn’t care for the last 4 years, I didn’t get what I wanted out of this book. Which is not to say I wouldn’t recommend it, if you go in with open eyes.
3 stars
36arubabookwoman
2. The Darling and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov 329 pp
This was Volume 1 of my 13 volume set of Chekhov stories, discussed in >9 arubabookwoman: and >32 arubabookwoman: above.
4 1/2 stars
This was Volume 1 of my 13 volume set of Chekhov stories, discussed in >9 arubabookwoman: and >32 arubabookwoman: above.
4 1/2 stars
37arubabookwoman
This was another library book, unfortunately. But I had to finish the Seasonal Quartet by Ali Smith.
3. Spring by Ali Smith (2018) 314 pp
Richard Lease, a documentary filmmaker is reeling from the death of his longtime collaborator and occasional lover Paddy. He is also struggling to develop for screen a novel imagining an interval of time during which Katherine Mansfield and Rainer Maria Rilke lived in the same small mountain town—did they ever meet? What would they have said to each other? Midway through the book, his life converges with Brit, an aimless guard in an immigrant detention facility and 12 year old Florence, who has a way of speaking truth to power and getting results. As in the other volumes of the quartet, there is little plot, and the narration is nonlinear. But there is a lot going on about contemporary life in Britain, and in this volume much of the focus is on the detention of immigrants and refugees. There’s also a lot of discussion of art, and I once again learned about a contemporary British artist I’d not known of before, Tacita Dean.
That completes my reading of the quartet, out of order, unfortunately. I’m putting all four volumes on my “To Be Reread” list, if I happen to live long enough, to be reread in order. It would be well-worth it.
4 1/2 stars
3. Spring by Ali Smith (2018) 314 pp
Richard Lease, a documentary filmmaker is reeling from the death of his longtime collaborator and occasional lover Paddy. He is also struggling to develop for screen a novel imagining an interval of time during which Katherine Mansfield and Rainer Maria Rilke lived in the same small mountain town—did they ever meet? What would they have said to each other? Midway through the book, his life converges with Brit, an aimless guard in an immigrant detention facility and 12 year old Florence, who has a way of speaking truth to power and getting results. As in the other volumes of the quartet, there is little plot, and the narration is nonlinear. But there is a lot going on about contemporary life in Britain, and in this volume much of the focus is on the detention of immigrants and refugees. There’s also a lot of discussion of art, and I once again learned about a contemporary British artist I’d not known of before, Tacita Dean.
That completes my reading of the quartet, out of order, unfortunately. I’m putting all four volumes on my “To Be Reread” list, if I happen to live long enough, to be reread in order. It would be well-worth it.
4 1/2 stars
38arubabookwoman
This one was Off My Shelf (OMS) and off the 1001 List as well. I am going to keep track of OMS books (and Off My Kindle—see next entry) this year. LT says I have 2163 TBR books, and I fear this is accurate to within maybe 10 or 15 books. These are books I own, but have not read. I want to end the year with fewer than 2163 TBR books.
4. A Dry White Season by Andre Brink (1979) 316 pp
“What can I do but what I have done? I cannot choose not to intervene: that would be a denial and a mockery not only of everything I believe in, but of the hope that compassion may survive among men.”
Ben is a white South African school teacher who believes in the essential fairness of his government, until circumstances and the moral choices he must make upend his life. Gordon, the black janitor at the school where Ben teaches, approaches Ben for help when his teenage son Jonathan disappears during the Soweto riots. Ben agrees to help Gordon, and through witnesses they trace Jonathan to the custody of the Special Branch. Within days, however, Jonathan is dead, and the Special Branch denies ever having had him in custody.
Gordon feels compelled to investigate the circumstances of his son’s death, and Ben agrees to continue to help him. Very shortly, however, Gordon is arrested by the Special Branch, and after a short time in custody, Gordon is also dead, an alleged suicide. Now, Ben carries on the investigation, and other deaths ensue, including, as we learn in the opening pages of this novel, Ben’s own.
This book was written at the height of apartheid, just a few short years after the Soweto uprisings. The horrors of apartheid permeate the book in full force. The complicity and willingness of the vast majority of white people to believe the lies their government was telling (I.e. the Soweto uprisings were caused by Communist infiltrators) from a distance of the more than 40 years since this book was written seem almost unbelievable. Yet so many looked away from the government-sponsored murders, and accepted the arrests, harassment, the spying and beatings and torture and even the deaths of anyone questioning the regime.
While this is an important book (on the 1001 list), and is very well written, it does not totally transcend its time. I found that most of the female characters did not ring true. They are the most willing to accept the status quo and believe the government’s lies. The one female character who has some political awareness and courage, Melanie, seems mostly to be there as a love/sex interest for Ben (and there are a few torrid sex scenes I could have done without). Nevertheless, this is a book I recommend.
Parenthetically, the following quote, written in 1979, is one of the earliest mentions of white privilege I am aware of:
“Whether I like it or not, whether I feel like cursing my own condition or not...I am white. This is the small, final, terrifying truth of my broken world. I am white. And because I’m white I am born into a state of privilege. Even if I fight the system that has reduced us to this I remain white, and favored by the very circumstances I abhor. Even if I’m hated, and ostracized, and persecuted, and in the end destroyed, nothing can make me black.”
4 stars
4. A Dry White Season by Andre Brink (1979) 316 pp
“What can I do but what I have done? I cannot choose not to intervene: that would be a denial and a mockery not only of everything I believe in, but of the hope that compassion may survive among men.”
Ben is a white South African school teacher who believes in the essential fairness of his government, until circumstances and the moral choices he must make upend his life. Gordon, the black janitor at the school where Ben teaches, approaches Ben for help when his teenage son Jonathan disappears during the Soweto riots. Ben agrees to help Gordon, and through witnesses they trace Jonathan to the custody of the Special Branch. Within days, however, Jonathan is dead, and the Special Branch denies ever having had him in custody.
Gordon feels compelled to investigate the circumstances of his son’s death, and Ben agrees to continue to help him. Very shortly, however, Gordon is arrested by the Special Branch, and after a short time in custody, Gordon is also dead, an alleged suicide. Now, Ben carries on the investigation, and other deaths ensue, including, as we learn in the opening pages of this novel, Ben’s own.
This book was written at the height of apartheid, just a few short years after the Soweto uprisings. The horrors of apartheid permeate the book in full force. The complicity and willingness of the vast majority of white people to believe the lies their government was telling (I.e. the Soweto uprisings were caused by Communist infiltrators) from a distance of the more than 40 years since this book was written seem almost unbelievable. Yet so many looked away from the government-sponsored murders, and accepted the arrests, harassment, the spying and beatings and torture and even the deaths of anyone questioning the regime.
While this is an important book (on the 1001 list), and is very well written, it does not totally transcend its time. I found that most of the female characters did not ring true. They are the most willing to accept the status quo and believe the government’s lies. The one female character who has some political awareness and courage, Melanie, seems mostly to be there as a love/sex interest for Ben (and there are a few torrid sex scenes I could have done without). Nevertheless, this is a book I recommend.
Parenthetically, the following quote, written in 1979, is one of the earliest mentions of white privilege I am aware of:
“Whether I like it or not, whether I feel like cursing my own condition or not...I am white. This is the small, final, terrifying truth of my broken world. I am white. And because I’m white I am born into a state of privilege. Even if I fight the system that has reduced us to this I remain white, and favored by the very circumstances I abhor. Even if I’m hated, and ostracized, and persecuted, and in the end destroyed, nothing can make me black.”
4 stars
39arubabookwoman
This one was Off My Kindle (OMK):
5. Old People and the Things That Pass by Louis Couperus (1906) 222 pp
Couperus is an important Dutch author, and this book is a Dutch classic. It features a large Dutch family with elders who had previously lived in the Dutch East Indies. The matriarch, Grandmama, is 97, and is visited daily by a friend from her time in the East Indies, Takma, who is also in his 90’s. Together, they harbor a deep, dark, and violent secret from their time in the Indies 60 years previously.
As the book opens, Takma’s granddaughter Ellie has just agreed to marry Lot, son of Grandmama’s youngest daughter Ottilie, who is on her third marriage, an unhappy one to a man named Steyn. Grandmama’s family is large, and there are close to a dozen other main characters in her children and their spouses (the aunts and uncles), and all the children of the aunts and uncles.
Grandmama and Takma have lived with their secret (“the Thing”) all these years, believing that no one else knows. Over the course of the book, we come to know that this belief is mistaken. Other people know, and as events transpire, more and more people learn the secret. By the end of the book, just about everyone knows, although just about everyone thinks no one else knows.
Couperus cleverly plays with constantly shifting points of view, which he does quite successfully. I enjoyed this book, although I found the writing a bit overwrought at times. Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
5. Old People and the Things That Pass by Louis Couperus (1906) 222 pp
Couperus is an important Dutch author, and this book is a Dutch classic. It features a large Dutch family with elders who had previously lived in the Dutch East Indies. The matriarch, Grandmama, is 97, and is visited daily by a friend from her time in the East Indies, Takma, who is also in his 90’s. Together, they harbor a deep, dark, and violent secret from their time in the Indies 60 years previously.
As the book opens, Takma’s granddaughter Ellie has just agreed to marry Lot, son of Grandmama’s youngest daughter Ottilie, who is on her third marriage, an unhappy one to a man named Steyn. Grandmama’s family is large, and there are close to a dozen other main characters in her children and their spouses (the aunts and uncles), and all the children of the aunts and uncles.
Grandmama and Takma have lived with their secret (“the Thing”) all these years, believing that no one else knows. Over the course of the book, we come to know that this belief is mistaken. Other people know, and as events transpire, more and more people learn the secret. By the end of the book, just about everyone knows, although just about everyone thinks no one else knows.
Couperus cleverly plays with constantly shifting points of view, which he does quite successfully. I enjoyed this book, although I found the writing a bit overwrought at times. Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
40rocketjk
>35 arubabookwoman: To Obama looks like a fascinating book, indeed. Thanks for bringing that to our attention.
41Nickelini
>37 arubabookwoman:
I've only read Autumn and Winter but so far it doesn't seem that reading these in order is very important
I've only read Autumn and Winter but so far it doesn't seem that reading these in order is very important
42rachbxl
>1 arubabookwoman:
'I noticed that last year in my library reading I was tending to choose "bright and shiney" new books, many of which I found less than satisfactory.'
I've noticed this too. Last year was the first year for many, many years that I had a library card from a library in an English-speaking country and I am extremely grateful for it, but I do think that the shiny-newness of the books that catch my attention isn't always a good thing. I haven't gone as far as you in that I haven't given myself a limit of library books, but it's something I know I'm going to be aware of this year.
I love the Chekov project. That kind of thing wouldn't work for me at the moment, but one day, who knows...?
'I noticed that last year in my library reading I was tending to choose "bright and shiney" new books, many of which I found less than satisfactory.'
I've noticed this too. Last year was the first year for many, many years that I had a library card from a library in an English-speaking country and I am extremely grateful for it, but I do think that the shiny-newness of the books that catch my attention isn't always a good thing. I haven't gone as far as you in that I haven't given myself a limit of library books, but it's something I know I'm going to be aware of this year.
I love the Chekov project. That kind of thing wouldn't work for me at the moment, but one day, who knows...?
43AlisonY
Wow - you're off to a great start. Particularly enjoyed your Chekhov review. I think the only volume I've read was called The Steppe and Other Stories, but I enjoyed it. Also was inspired by Francine Prose.
44dchaikin
Your Chekhov project is terrific. 13 volumes of stories, goodness he wrote a lot. I read a collection years ago, and now realizing I’m merely read a sliver.
Enjoyed these reviews. The Brink novel on South Africa, A Dry White Season, caught my attention. I have Smith’s Summer on my bedside table. It’s penciled in my 2021 plan.
Enjoyed these reviews. The Brink novel on South Africa, A Dry White Season, caught my attention. I have Smith’s Summer on my bedside table. It’s penciled in my 2021 plan.
45arubabookwoman
Sorry to be so dilatory in getting back here. I've managed to keep up the Chekov and 100 Objects reading fairly regularly, but due to intervening events I did have to miss a few days. But not enough to consider this project a failure, though, and I am still very enthusiastic about it.
>40 rocketjk: Hi Jerry. To Obama was an interesting behind the scenes look at the White House. I wonder if Biden will revive the 10 letters a day practice.
>41 Nickelini: Hi Joyce. I read Winter first, and Summer second. I had heard the order didn't really matter, and that they were stand-alones. However, when I read Summer, there were recurring characters from Winter, and I think I would have missed a lot if I hadn't read Autumn first. Now that I've read them all (out of order) I think I would have benefited by reading them in order.
>42 rachbxl: Hi Rachel. I have so many books on my shelf that I investigated, considered, and purchased, that sit unread, I just want to avoid spur of the moment library books for a bit.
>43 AlisonY: I recall you read the Francine Prose book last year (I think) Alison. I read it a few years back, and loved it, and had wanted to introduce the Chekhov story-a-day ever since.
>44 dchaikin: Dan, I had previously read a couple of Chekhov story collections and some of his plays, but as you say, a mere sliver. Are you planning to read only Summer, or the entire Quartet. Summer was the one I liked the best, and it could be read as a stand-alone, but there is so much there when you read all four books.
>40 rocketjk: Hi Jerry. To Obama was an interesting behind the scenes look at the White House. I wonder if Biden will revive the 10 letters a day practice.
>41 Nickelini: Hi Joyce. I read Winter first, and Summer second. I had heard the order didn't really matter, and that they were stand-alones. However, when I read Summer, there were recurring characters from Winter, and I think I would have missed a lot if I hadn't read Autumn first. Now that I've read them all (out of order) I think I would have benefited by reading them in order.
>42 rachbxl: Hi Rachel. I have so many books on my shelf that I investigated, considered, and purchased, that sit unread, I just want to avoid spur of the moment library books for a bit.
>43 AlisonY: I recall you read the Francine Prose book last year (I think) Alison. I read it a few years back, and loved it, and had wanted to introduce the Chekhov story-a-day ever since.
>44 dchaikin: Dan, I had previously read a couple of Chekhov story collections and some of his plays, but as you say, a mere sliver. Are you planning to read only Summer, or the entire Quartet. Summer was the one I liked the best, and it could be read as a stand-alone, but there is so much there when you read all four books.
46arubabookwoman
CHEKHOV READING
As noted in >9 arubabookwoman:, >32 arubabookwoman:, and >36 arubabookwoman:, I've completed the first volume of my Chekhov set, and my readings this week are from Volume 2, entitled The Duel and Other Stories
1. "The Duel"--At 172 pp, this is actually a novella, and it took me several days to read it. Laevsky is exiled to a southern city by the sea as a minor government functionary with the woman he seduced and stole from her husband. Now he has tired of her, and is scheming to abandon her. Many people in the town despise Laevsky, in some cases for good reason, and we spend most of the story puzzling over who will duel and why.
2. "Excellent People"--Vladimir, who says his "work is Literature," lives with his sister Vera, who one day questions him about the meaning of non-resistance to evil. Vera puzzles the philosophical implications of her question more and more deeply, while Vladimir buries himself in his mundane "work," which Vera views as reactionary and meaningless.
3. "Mire"--a clever retelling of the legend of Circe. Here Susanna, daughter of a wealthy vodka distillers, ensnares men, captivating them with her charms, making them forget their waiting lovers/spouses/families, and keeping them for herself.
4. "Neighbors"--Pyotr's sister Zina has run off to live with Vassitch, a neighboring land owner. Pyotr's mother is in despair, but Pyotr feels helpless to do anything. "And so the whole of life seemed to him as dark as the water in which the night was reflected, and water weeds grew in a tangle. And it seemed to him that nothing could ever set it right."
There's 3 or 4 more stories in this volume, so I should complete it in the coming week.
As noted in >9 arubabookwoman:, >32 arubabookwoman:, and >36 arubabookwoman:, I've completed the first volume of my Chekhov set, and my readings this week are from Volume 2, entitled The Duel and Other Stories
1. "The Duel"--At 172 pp, this is actually a novella, and it took me several days to read it. Laevsky is exiled to a southern city by the sea as a minor government functionary with the woman he seduced and stole from her husband. Now he has tired of her, and is scheming to abandon her. Many people in the town despise Laevsky, in some cases for good reason, and we spend most of the story puzzling over who will duel and why.
2. "Excellent People"--Vladimir, who says his "work is Literature," lives with his sister Vera, who one day questions him about the meaning of non-resistance to evil. Vera puzzles the philosophical implications of her question more and more deeply, while Vladimir buries himself in his mundane "work," which Vera views as reactionary and meaningless.
3. "Mire"--a clever retelling of the legend of Circe. Here Susanna, daughter of a wealthy vodka distillers, ensnares men, captivating them with her charms, making them forget their waiting lovers/spouses/families, and keeping them for herself.
4. "Neighbors"--Pyotr's sister Zina has run off to live with Vassitch, a neighboring land owner. Pyotr's mother is in despair, but Pyotr feels helpless to do anything. "And so the whole of life seemed to him as dark as the water in which the night was reflected, and water weeds grew in a tangle. And it seemed to him that nothing could ever set it right."
There's 3 or 4 more stories in this volume, so I should complete it in the coming week.
47arubabookwoman
100 OBJECTS READING
15. Early Writing Tablet 3100-3000 BC-Shows the development of writing. The British Museum has more than 130,000 Mesopotamian clay tablets, because, unlike bamboo, paper, and even papyrus, clay lasts. Early writing was "bean counting," though, not literature.
16. Flood Tablet 700-600 BC The story of the great flood goes back far beyond the Bible, and into other societies. What the texts about the great flood do are to describe great forces of nature being controlled by deities.
17. Rhind Mathmatical Papyrus 1550 BC--This is the major source of our understanding of how the ancient Egyptians viewed numbers. This is a set of 84 problems and their solutions, covering everything an Egyptian administrator would have had to know how to calculate. Nothing theoretical here.
18. Minoan Bull Leaper 1700-1450 BC Very little is known about Minoan culture (named after King Minos). This sculpture was made in the bronze age, and because the materials to make bronze had to be imported, we do at least know that the Minoan culture was engaged in rather distant trade.
19. Mold Gold Cape--1900-1600 BC--In 1833, several workmen unearthed this gold cape, then broke it into pieces in order to "share the wealth" so to speak. It took the British Museum 100 years to gather enough fragments to reconstruct this beautiful work. It tells us that at this time, there was wealth and artisanship in Great Britain, at least in the area where this item was found, which was near one of the largest copper mines of the Bronze Age.
20. Statue of Ramesses II 1250 BC-Gazing on this massive sculpture Shelly was inspired to write his perhaps most famous lines: "My name is Ozimandias, King of Kings/Look on my works ye mighty, and despair." Ramesses II ruled for 66 years, and statues like this were how he made the ruled look up to him: He was a "consumate self-publicist" and an unscrupulous one. Kind of like someone who slapped the name "Trump" on a bunch of skyscrapers and golf courses..
15. Early Writing Tablet 3100-3000 BC-Shows the development of writing. The British Museum has more than 130,000 Mesopotamian clay tablets, because, unlike bamboo, paper, and even papyrus, clay lasts. Early writing was "bean counting," though, not literature.
16. Flood Tablet 700-600 BC The story of the great flood goes back far beyond the Bible, and into other societies. What the texts about the great flood do are to describe great forces of nature being controlled by deities.
17. Rhind Mathmatical Papyrus 1550 BC--This is the major source of our understanding of how the ancient Egyptians viewed numbers. This is a set of 84 problems and their solutions, covering everything an Egyptian administrator would have had to know how to calculate. Nothing theoretical here.
18. Minoan Bull Leaper 1700-1450 BC Very little is known about Minoan culture (named after King Minos). This sculpture was made in the bronze age, and because the materials to make bronze had to be imported, we do at least know that the Minoan culture was engaged in rather distant trade.
19. Mold Gold Cape--1900-1600 BC--In 1833, several workmen unearthed this gold cape, then broke it into pieces in order to "share the wealth" so to speak. It took the British Museum 100 years to gather enough fragments to reconstruct this beautiful work. It tells us that at this time, there was wealth and artisanship in Great Britain, at least in the area where this item was found, which was near one of the largest copper mines of the Bronze Age.
20. Statue of Ramesses II 1250 BC-Gazing on this massive sculpture Shelly was inspired to write his perhaps most famous lines: "My name is Ozimandias, King of Kings/Look on my works ye mighty, and despair." Ramesses II ruled for 66 years, and statues like this were how he made the ruled look up to him: He was a "consumate self-publicist" and an unscrupulous one. Kind of like someone who slapped the name "Trump" on a bunch of skyscrapers and golf courses..
48arubabookwoman
Now to some books I've finished in the last week/10 days. The following is a library book, but I've wanted to know more about D-Day ever since we visited the Normandy beaches a few years ago. It's hard to believe that this book was written barely 15 years after the end of WW II.
6. The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan (1959) 304 pp
This is the story of D-Day, June 6, 1944, from a few days before (the original invasion date had to be postponed) until just after midnight of the day of the invasion. Told chronologically, and covering all sides, on the allied side, from the supreme commander's headquarters to the enlisted men in the landing boats (so many seasick and vomiting men) to the paratroopers who dropped behind enemy lines during the middle of the night, scattered across the countryside, but with orders to seize control of strategic bridges or disable crucial gun emplacements, all before the assault on the beaches began. There are accounts from the German side as well. Commander of the German forces defending Normandy, Rommel, was on a few days home leave when the invasion began, and many of the other senior commanders in the area were away on training exercises. For many hours after the attack began, the Germans believed the Normandy event was only a diversionary tactic, and that the actual invasion would occur further north. Hitler was allowed to sleep, and was not made aware of the attack until nearly noon. The book also gives us a perspective of the French who had been living under the German occupation for so many years, with accounts from both ordinary French citizens and from members of the Resistance.
The title of the book comes from this quote from Rommel: "The first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive....The fate of Germany depends upon the outcome...for the Allies, as well as for Germany, it will be the longest day."
I learned a lot from the book. For example, I hadn't previously been aware of the extensive use of gliders in landing men and equipment inland from the beaches in the night before the invasion. The book detailed descriptions on how the landings went on each of the 5 beaches, and how far each landing group had progressed by the end of the day. Of course, casualties were heavy. One of the most moving parts for me when I visited the beaches was the cemetery on the bluff above Omaha Beach.
I read this on Kindle. My only complaint about the book is that I wished for detailed maps so I could better understand the logistics. I think there are newer print copies of this book with this added material, and it would be worthwhile seeking those editions out if you want to read this.
Recommended 4 stars
6. The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan (1959) 304 pp
This is the story of D-Day, June 6, 1944, from a few days before (the original invasion date had to be postponed) until just after midnight of the day of the invasion. Told chronologically, and covering all sides, on the allied side, from the supreme commander's headquarters to the enlisted men in the landing boats (so many seasick and vomiting men) to the paratroopers who dropped behind enemy lines during the middle of the night, scattered across the countryside, but with orders to seize control of strategic bridges or disable crucial gun emplacements, all before the assault on the beaches began. There are accounts from the German side as well. Commander of the German forces defending Normandy, Rommel, was on a few days home leave when the invasion began, and many of the other senior commanders in the area were away on training exercises. For many hours after the attack began, the Germans believed the Normandy event was only a diversionary tactic, and that the actual invasion would occur further north. Hitler was allowed to sleep, and was not made aware of the attack until nearly noon. The book also gives us a perspective of the French who had been living under the German occupation for so many years, with accounts from both ordinary French citizens and from members of the Resistance.
The title of the book comes from this quote from Rommel: "The first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive....The fate of Germany depends upon the outcome...for the Allies, as well as for Germany, it will be the longest day."
I learned a lot from the book. For example, I hadn't previously been aware of the extensive use of gliders in landing men and equipment inland from the beaches in the night before the invasion. The book detailed descriptions on how the landings went on each of the 5 beaches, and how far each landing group had progressed by the end of the day. Of course, casualties were heavy. One of the most moving parts for me when I visited the beaches was the cemetery on the bluff above Omaha Beach.
I read this on Kindle. My only complaint about the book is that I wished for detailed maps so I could better understand the logistics. I think there are newer print copies of this book with this added material, and it would be worthwhile seeking those editions out if you want to read this.
Recommended 4 stars
49arubabookwoman
Another Library Book, but a quick one:
7. Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki (2014) 154
I enjoyed reading this novella which won an Akutagawa Prize, but I'm not sure what its point was, or what I was supposed to get out of it.
Taro lives in a soon to be demolished apartment block in which only two other units are occupied. One of the other tenants, Nishi, ignites his interest in a nearby house, which is painted sky blue. Two of the previous occupants of the sky blue house had published a book of photographs of themselves in various rooms of the house, entitling the book "Spring Garden." Nishi and Taro insinuate themselves into the lives of the current occupants of the house, to see and compare the rooms in their current state to the way in which the rooms appeared in the book of photographs. Beyond this nothing much happens, until abruptly, and I thought strangely, about 3/4 through the book, it switches to a first person narrative by Taro's sister who comes to visit him.
Despite this, the language is beautiful. It's a glimpse at life in contemporary Japan for a couple of odd characters, but beyond this I don't see a compelling reason to read it. If this description attracts you, it's not necessarily a waste of time. I just didn't get it.
3 stars
7. Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki (2014) 154
I enjoyed reading this novella which won an Akutagawa Prize, but I'm not sure what its point was, or what I was supposed to get out of it.
Taro lives in a soon to be demolished apartment block in which only two other units are occupied. One of the other tenants, Nishi, ignites his interest in a nearby house, which is painted sky blue. Two of the previous occupants of the sky blue house had published a book of photographs of themselves in various rooms of the house, entitling the book "Spring Garden." Nishi and Taro insinuate themselves into the lives of the current occupants of the house, to see and compare the rooms in their current state to the way in which the rooms appeared in the book of photographs. Beyond this nothing much happens, until abruptly, and I thought strangely, about 3/4 through the book, it switches to a first person narrative by Taro's sister who comes to visit him.
Despite this, the language is beautiful. It's a glimpse at life in contemporary Japan for a couple of odd characters, but beyond this I don't see a compelling reason to read it. If this description attracts you, it's not necessarily a waste of time. I just didn't get it.
3 stars
50arubabookwoman
Off My Kindle
8. Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout (2019) 305
"But it was almost over, after all, her life. It swelled behind her like a sardine fishing net, all sorts of useless seaweed and broken bits of shells and the tiny shining fish...."
I was a fan of Olive Kitteredge, and in this one, we explore Olive's old age, and all the indignities that entails. Similarly to the first Olive, the book is structured as a series of interconnected vignettes/stories, many featuring Olive, but a fair number focusing on other residents of the town of Crosby, Maine where Olive resides. In these stories, Olive sometimes makes a brief, peripheral appearance, and sometimes even in these peripheral stories we learn things that advance our knowledge of Olive. I came down on the side of categorizing Olive Kitteredge as a novel, and I felt it made a cohesive whole. I am much less certain that's the case here, and I sometimes perceived the extraneous stories as interrupting a novel about Olive. Even so, I enjoyed reading them, and would recommend the book. And note, if you've read anything else by Elizabeth Strout characters from some of her other books make appearances here, including Isabelle from Amy and Isabelle and the Burgess siblings from The Burgess Boys.
And at the end, Olive typed: "I do not have a clue who I have been. Truthfully, I do not understand a thing."
3 1/2 stars
8. Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout (2019) 305
"But it was almost over, after all, her life. It swelled behind her like a sardine fishing net, all sorts of useless seaweed and broken bits of shells and the tiny shining fish...."
I was a fan of Olive Kitteredge, and in this one, we explore Olive's old age, and all the indignities that entails. Similarly to the first Olive, the book is structured as a series of interconnected vignettes/stories, many featuring Olive, but a fair number focusing on other residents of the town of Crosby, Maine where Olive resides. In these stories, Olive sometimes makes a brief, peripheral appearance, and sometimes even in these peripheral stories we learn things that advance our knowledge of Olive. I came down on the side of categorizing Olive Kitteredge as a novel, and I felt it made a cohesive whole. I am much less certain that's the case here, and I sometimes perceived the extraneous stories as interrupting a novel about Olive. Even so, I enjoyed reading them, and would recommend the book. And note, if you've read anything else by Elizabeth Strout characters from some of her other books make appearances here, including Isabelle from Amy and Isabelle and the Burgess siblings from The Burgess Boys.
And at the end, Olive typed: "I do not have a clue who I have been. Truthfully, I do not understand a thing."
3 1/2 stars
51arubabookwoman
Off My Shelf
9. The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector (1977) 96 pp
This is the story of Macabea, "one of life's unfortunates," a person who is "incompetent at life." She is described as ugly, sickly, stupid, poor and wretched. But she also lacks the self-awareness to know any of this, and accepts what life hands her. The pleasure of this book is the innovative nature of the narration. Macabea's life is described by Rodrigo, with many digressions and asides about where the story will end up and the nature of telling the story of a life. At the beginning, Rodrigo says, "Will things happen? They will. But what things? I don't know that either." Rodrigo also tells us, "I know everything about Macabea because I once caught a glimpse of this girl with the sallow complexion from the northeast. Her expression revealed everything about her."
I'd long heard of Clarice Lispector, but this is the first book by her that I have read. I will be seeking more of her books to read.
Recommended. 4 1/2 stars
9. The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector (1977) 96 pp
This is the story of Macabea, "one of life's unfortunates," a person who is "incompetent at life." She is described as ugly, sickly, stupid, poor and wretched. But she also lacks the self-awareness to know any of this, and accepts what life hands her. The pleasure of this book is the innovative nature of the narration. Macabea's life is described by Rodrigo, with many digressions and asides about where the story will end up and the nature of telling the story of a life. At the beginning, Rodrigo says, "Will things happen? They will. But what things? I don't know that either." Rodrigo also tells us, "I know everything about Macabea because I once caught a glimpse of this girl with the sallow complexion from the northeast. Her expression revealed everything about her."
I'd long heard of Clarice Lispector, but this is the first book by her that I have read. I will be seeking more of her books to read.
Recommended. 4 1/2 stars
52arubabookwoman
The following is a reread of a book I read several years ago. I had owned it, but gave my edition away in the move, so this is technically a library book. I read it this time for a discussion on the NYRB Book Club on Litsy.
10. The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson
This almost perfect little book is set in an isolated village in the far frozen north, where winter seems eternal and people wake up late because there is no morning. The book focuses on the relationship between Katri, an outcast with yellow eyes, always accompanied by her shaggy dog with yellow eyes, and Anna, reknowned illustrator of children's books, lone resident of "Rabbit House." Katri loves only her younger brother Mats, and sees Anna as the means for obtaining for Mats what Mats wants more than anything in the world, a boat of his own. Over the course of the book, as spring relentlessly approaches, the two women spar, and ultimately they change--themselves and each other. And it remains ambiguous as to who has taken advantage of whom, and we are left wondering who the true deceiver is.
Highly Recommended. 5 stars
10. The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson
This almost perfect little book is set in an isolated village in the far frozen north, where winter seems eternal and people wake up late because there is no morning. The book focuses on the relationship between Katri, an outcast with yellow eyes, always accompanied by her shaggy dog with yellow eyes, and Anna, reknowned illustrator of children's books, lone resident of "Rabbit House." Katri loves only her younger brother Mats, and sees Anna as the means for obtaining for Mats what Mats wants more than anything in the world, a boat of his own. Over the course of the book, as spring relentlessly approaches, the two women spar, and ultimately they change--themselves and each other. And it remains ambiguous as to who has taken advantage of whom, and we are left wondering who the true deceiver is.
Highly Recommended. 5 stars
53arubabookwoman
Another Off my Shelf. This, and the Lispector above, were read for a month long focus on Brazilian literature on Litsy.
11. Sea of Death by Jorge Amado (1936) 273 pp
"There's something on the docks that's even worse than the misery of factories, the misery of plantations; It's the certainty that the end will be death at sea unexpectedly some night, suddenly some night."
This is the story of the people of the dockside of Bahia, and their acceptance that if they live by the sea, they will die by the sea. It focuses on the love story between Guma, brave, heroic, and almost mythical, and the beautiful Livia. Between them, it was love at first sight, but Livia was not "of the sea," and could not accept that at any time the man she loved could be taken by the sea.
I've read several books by Amado and have liked them all. He writes of poor people, but people enthusiastic for life. His characters are real, but also mythic. Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
11. Sea of Death by Jorge Amado (1936) 273 pp
"There's something on the docks that's even worse than the misery of factories, the misery of plantations; It's the certainty that the end will be death at sea unexpectedly some night, suddenly some night."
This is the story of the people of the dockside of Bahia, and their acceptance that if they live by the sea, they will die by the sea. It focuses on the love story between Guma, brave, heroic, and almost mythical, and the beautiful Livia. Between them, it was love at first sight, but Livia was not "of the sea," and could not accept that at any time the man she loved could be taken by the sea.
I've read several books by Amado and have liked them all. He writes of poor people, but people enthusiastic for life. His characters are real, but also mythic. Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
54arubabookwoman
Another library book. I better cut this out!
12. Fatale by Patrick Manchette (1977) 123 pp
Aimee Joubert began her life as a murderess by killing her husband, and since then she has killed half a dozen other men, always for monetary gain for herself. Now she has arrived at the town of Bleville to scope out her next crime, which begins with her insinuating herself into the lives of the town's elite citizens. By the end of the book, there are a lot of newly dead people in Bleville.
This is a NYRB book, and it is described as classic noir, and I fully anticipated liking it a lot. (I like what I've read of Jim Thompson and James Cain.) But I did not. I found it crude, in the sense of rough and unfinished. There was no elegance in the plotting of the crimes, and Aimee projects merely a sense of ennui and nihilism, as if she is merely letting things happen, rather than causing them. I had another book by Manchette out of the library, but I sent it back unread. I doubt this is an author I'll try again.
2 stars
12. Fatale by Patrick Manchette (1977) 123 pp
Aimee Joubert began her life as a murderess by killing her husband, and since then she has killed half a dozen other men, always for monetary gain for herself. Now she has arrived at the town of Bleville to scope out her next crime, which begins with her insinuating herself into the lives of the town's elite citizens. By the end of the book, there are a lot of newly dead people in Bleville.
This is a NYRB book, and it is described as classic noir, and I fully anticipated liking it a lot. (I like what I've read of Jim Thompson and James Cain.) But I did not. I found it crude, in the sense of rough and unfinished. There was no elegance in the plotting of the crimes, and Aimee projects merely a sense of ennui and nihilism, as if she is merely letting things happen, rather than causing them. I had another book by Manchette out of the library, but I sent it back unread. I doubt this is an author I'll try again.
2 stars
55arubabookwoman
That brings me up to date with books completed. I am almost done with the final Brazilian book I chose to read for the Brazilian theme on Litsy, And Still the Earth by Ignacio de Loyola Brandao. I'm also almost through with Outposts by Simon Winchester, a somewhat dated (1984--Hong Kong was still a colony) account of his travels to the remaining "relics" of the British Empire. I'm in the beginning chapters of The Radetzky March and Wolf Hall. I don't know why, but so far this year I have been reading more than one book at a time. In the past, I usually only read one at a time.
Coming up in February, the NYRB Book Club choice is A Month in the Country, and for global reading the country of choice is Vietnam, so I expect to read at least one book by a Vietnamese author.
Coming up in February, the NYRB Book Club choice is A Month in the Country, and for global reading the country of choice is Vietnam, so I expect to read at least one book by a Vietnamese author.
56sallypursell
>46 arubabookwoman: I read some Chekhov stories in the Russian, when I was studying Russian. I was only barely good enough for this to be worth it, and I am too out of practice, now. I enjoyed that, though.
57janemarieprice
>48 arubabookwoman: How history dense is this? I'd love to read more D-day history but the really dense battle heavy stuff I struggle with.
58japaul22
I love A Month in the Country - one of my favorite nyrb books!
59BLBera
Hi Deborah - So have you read about 50% library books so far? The Hour of the Star and The True Deceiver both sound good, as well as the Amado, of course. I want to read more by him.
60AlisonY
>50 arubabookwoman: That actually annoyed me in the first Olive book. I felt like I didn't get to see as much of Olive as I wanted to.
61SassyLassy
>52 arubabookwoman: What a great book, and well worth a reread any day.
>54 arubabookwoman: Interesting about Manchette. I always think I should read him, but maybe not.
>54 arubabookwoman: Interesting about Manchette. I always think I should read him, but maybe not.
62NanaCC
I’m looking forward to reading Olive Again, I think. I had downloaded it a while ago from the library, but my head wasn’t quite into reading it at the time. I’m looking forward to your comments on A Month in the Country. I really enjoyed that one.
63avaland
What an interesting list of reading, Deborah. That's a lot of writing also! Thanks for taking the time to share it all with us.
64dchaikin
So, just read your Jan 31 posts and this is now on my 2021 ideas list:
- Clarice Lispector
- The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson
- Jorge Amado
Also cool about the Brazilian theme on Litsy.
- Clarice Lispector
- The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson
- Jorge Amado
Also cool about the Brazilian theme on Litsy.
65labfs39
Hi Deborah, What a delight it's been to catch up on your thread! Such interesting reading and reviews.
First off, I'm glad that you are settling in to your new life in Florida. Your condo sounds lovely, and I can picture you surrounded by books and fiber art projects listening to the waves and smiling. Ha, I on the other hand am now the proud owner of a snowblower and think it's a great day to take my niece for a walk if the temps hit freezing!
>10 arubabookwoman: Your 100 objects reading has intrigued me, and I've queued the podcast, although I think the illustrated book might work better for me. Thank you for taking the time to share about the objects.
>48 arubabookwoman: Thanks for the reminder about The Longest Day. It's been on my TBR pile for the longest time and deserves to be read. When were you there? I went five years ago.
>50 arubabookwoman: I was not an Olive Kitteridge fan. I wanted to like the book--Pulitzer Prize winner, set in Maine, curmudgeonly characters--but I wrote this in my review: "My lack of enthusiasm stems partly from an inability to be drawn into the lives of quiet desperation that seem to plague everyone over the age of fifty. Is there anyone in Crosby, Maine who has not had a late mid-life crisis? And is there anyone in Crosby who has a normal, emotionally healthy mother?"
>52 arubabookwoman: I loved Tove Jansson's The Summer Book, and after reading your review, I went online and ordered a copy of True Deceiver. A welcome book bullet.
First off, I'm glad that you are settling in to your new life in Florida. Your condo sounds lovely, and I can picture you surrounded by books and fiber art projects listening to the waves and smiling. Ha, I on the other hand am now the proud owner of a snowblower and think it's a great day to take my niece for a walk if the temps hit freezing!
>10 arubabookwoman: Your 100 objects reading has intrigued me, and I've queued the podcast, although I think the illustrated book might work better for me. Thank you for taking the time to share about the objects.
>48 arubabookwoman: Thanks for the reminder about The Longest Day. It's been on my TBR pile for the longest time and deserves to be read. When were you there? I went five years ago.
>50 arubabookwoman: I was not an Olive Kitteridge fan. I wanted to like the book--Pulitzer Prize winner, set in Maine, curmudgeonly characters--but I wrote this in my review: "My lack of enthusiasm stems partly from an inability to be drawn into the lives of quiet desperation that seem to plague everyone over the age of fifty. Is there anyone in Crosby, Maine who has not had a late mid-life crisis? And is there anyone in Crosby who has a normal, emotionally healthy mother?"
>52 arubabookwoman: I loved Tove Jansson's The Summer Book, and after reading your review, I went online and ordered a copy of True Deceiver. A welcome book bullet.
66labfs39
Hope you are doing ok. I did purchase and read True Deceiver. Thank you for such a rewarding recommendation.
67arubabookwoman
Hello Everyone. Sorry to be away so long. Just life. I will try to do better (as I always say).
>56 sallypursell: Hi Sally. I'm amazed that you read Chekov in Russian! The stories are good in English, but I suspect they would be even better in the original Russian.
>57 janemarieprice: Hi Jane. The Longest Day is not very dense at all. It is primarily based on personal interviews and mostly consists of the personal experiences of a variety of those who were there that day. There is some general discussion of strategies, skirmishes, battles, etc., (I would have liked maps), but nothing too technical. Some of it was pretty gory though.
>58 japaul22: Hi Jennifer. We've had our discussion of A Month in the Country. I liked it, but not as much as many people I know did, and definitely not as much as I expected to.
>59 BLBera: Hi Beth. I was a lot heavier than I wanted to be on the library books in January, but in February I read zero library books, (I think), so that was good.
>60 AlisonY: Hi Alison. I thought there was enough of Olive in both books, but I can understand wanting it all to be about Olive.
>61 SassyLassy: Hi Sassy. The True Deceiver is an exquisite book. I know lots of people like Machette, and several of his books have been chosen by NYRB, so don't write him off just on my review of this one book. I may even try one more of his books before writing him off altogether, because in general I like Noir.
>62 NanaCC: Hi Colleen. I hope you get to Olive at some point. In this sequel, the focus is on the perils of aging, as Olive enters into true old age, a subject of personal interest to me nowadays. Re A Month in the Country, as I said above, I liked it, but not as much as I anticipated.
>63 avaland: Thanks for visiting Lois.
>64 dchaikin: Hi Dan. Any one of those authors would be worthy of further study. I was wondering if you had any ideas/plans for after you finish Willa Cather on Litsy. Edith Wharton would be of real interest to me.
>65 labfs39: Hi Lisa. I'm so glad to see you here. Are you missing Seattle as much as I am? I hope your health continues to improve.
So far it's hard to form an opinion about Florida. We continue to self-isolate, and haven't met very many people. My husband loves the weather, but I miss the grey and mist of Seattle.
We were in Normandy in 2016 or 2017 in November. (Can't remember the exact year without checking). I found it extremely moving. The Longest Day is a pretty quick read, and fairly short.
I think I liked Olive mostly because her curmudgeoniness reminded meso much of my grandmother, who didn't tolerate those she considered fools, was opinionated and stubborn, and lots of people found her hard to get along with. But she adored me, her first grandchild.
I'm glad you read The True Deceiver.
Well, I've been continuing my 100 Objects and Chekov readings, but unfortunately not on a daily basis. I am reading them fairly regularly and consistently, so I will call it a success so far. I will report on those next:
>56 sallypursell: Hi Sally. I'm amazed that you read Chekov in Russian! The stories are good in English, but I suspect they would be even better in the original Russian.
>57 janemarieprice: Hi Jane. The Longest Day is not very dense at all. It is primarily based on personal interviews and mostly consists of the personal experiences of a variety of those who were there that day. There is some general discussion of strategies, skirmishes, battles, etc., (I would have liked maps), but nothing too technical. Some of it was pretty gory though.
>58 japaul22: Hi Jennifer. We've had our discussion of A Month in the Country. I liked it, but not as much as many people I know did, and definitely not as much as I expected to.
>59 BLBera: Hi Beth. I was a lot heavier than I wanted to be on the library books in January, but in February I read zero library books, (I think), so that was good.
>60 AlisonY: Hi Alison. I thought there was enough of Olive in both books, but I can understand wanting it all to be about Olive.
>61 SassyLassy: Hi Sassy. The True Deceiver is an exquisite book. I know lots of people like Machette, and several of his books have been chosen by NYRB, so don't write him off just on my review of this one book. I may even try one more of his books before writing him off altogether, because in general I like Noir.
>62 NanaCC: Hi Colleen. I hope you get to Olive at some point. In this sequel, the focus is on the perils of aging, as Olive enters into true old age, a subject of personal interest to me nowadays. Re A Month in the Country, as I said above, I liked it, but not as much as I anticipated.
>63 avaland: Thanks for visiting Lois.
>64 dchaikin: Hi Dan. Any one of those authors would be worthy of further study. I was wondering if you had any ideas/plans for after you finish Willa Cather on Litsy. Edith Wharton would be of real interest to me.
>65 labfs39: Hi Lisa. I'm so glad to see you here. Are you missing Seattle as much as I am? I hope your health continues to improve.
So far it's hard to form an opinion about Florida. We continue to self-isolate, and haven't met very many people. My husband loves the weather, but I miss the grey and mist of Seattle.
We were in Normandy in 2016 or 2017 in November. (Can't remember the exact year without checking). I found it extremely moving. The Longest Day is a pretty quick read, and fairly short.
I think I liked Olive mostly because her curmudgeoniness reminded meso much of my grandmother, who didn't tolerate those she considered fools, was opinionated and stubborn, and lots of people found her hard to get along with. But she adored me, her first grandchild.
I'm glad you read The True Deceiver.
Well, I've been continuing my 100 Objects and Chekov readings, but unfortunately not on a daily basis. I am reading them fairly regularly and consistently, so I will call it a success so far. I will report on those next:
68arubabookwoman
100 OBJECTS READING
21. Lachish Relief 700-692 BC--this carving showing the Assyrian campaign to conquer the Lachish is one of the earliest depictions of refugees. The mass deportation of conquered peoples was a standard Assyrian practice.
22. Sphynx of Taharqo c. 680 BC--King Taharqo ruled the Kingdom of Kush in northern Sudan. This area was mostly ruled by Egypt, but for a brief period of time while Egypt was fragmented, Kush ruled Egypt. The sphynx is an Egyptian symbol, and this is a classic Egyptian sphynx, except in this case it bears the face of a Black African. It reminds us that the border between Egypt and Sudan is a constant fault line.
23. Chinese Zhou Ritual Vessel 1100-1000 BC--The inscription on this vessel states that the bowl was made for a Zhou warrior who helped overthrow the Shang. Since writings on bamboo or wood have long perished, a lot of our knowledge of ancient Chinese history comes from inscriptions such as this on bronze. The Zhou lasted as long as the Roman Empire, and were the longest ruling Chinese dynasty.
24. Paracus Textiles 300-200 BC--Very few ancient textiles have survived. These fragments, embroidered with brilliantly dyed wool from alpacas or llamas, survived by being buried in dry desert conditions. These embroideries are exquisite and intriguing, but we know little about the culture that produced them.
25. Gold Coin of Croesus 550 BC--King Croesus of Turkey developed a new type of object--coinage, which appeared independently in 2 places around the same time, China and the Mediterranean. The need for something of standardized value arose as trade with "strangers" developed. With standardized coinage, there was no need to question the purity of the metal or the weight, as these would be consistent and controlled, so that the value would be known. The coinage developed by Croesus was used far beyond the realm of Lydia, and gave Croesus great financial power.
26. Oxus Chariot Model 500-300 BC--This was found on the edges of the Persian Empire, part of a hoard of gold and silver known as the Oxus Treasure. From this object, a historian can infer the multi-faith, multi-cultural nature of the Persian Empire.
27. Parthenon Sculpture: Centaur and Lapith 440 BC--(One of the Elgin Marbles). Here a centaur is attacking a fallen Lapith, who were legendary Greek people. This was meant to represent the real life struggles between the Greeks and the Persians, as well as the struggles between Athens and other city-states. It was meant to reinforce the Athenian view of the enemy as "other" or "Centaur World."
28. Basse-Yutz Flagons 450 BC--These were found in northeastern France in 1927, and are the earliest and most important examples of Celtic art. At the time, the northern Europeans had no cities, no writing, no coins, but these objects refute the myth of the Greeks that these northerners were barbarians. Each bronze flagon has at least 120 pieces of white coral embedded in it and there are beautiful carvings on the lids and handles.
29 Olmec Stone Mask 900-400 BC--the Olmec are the mother culture of Central America. They mapped the heavens, developed the first writing, and probably the first calendar. This culture was discovered only after World War I, and very little is known about them. Their writings are still largely undeciphered (only fragments exist).
30. Chinese Bronze Bell 500-400 BC--For Confucius, music was a metaphor for a harmonious society. This bell would have been part of a set. A set of bells, along with an orchestra to play them, would have required wealth and status. At the time, bells would also have acted as weights and measures in China.
Part VII--EMPIRE BUILDERS 300 BC -- 10 AD
31. Coin with Head of Alexander 305-281 BC--This was struck about 40 years after the death of Alexander. Many rulers after Alexander tried to claim the right to rule his empire after his death. Putting his likeness on coinage was one of these ploys.
32. Pillar of Ashoka 238 BC--The tradition of the ruler Ashoka leads directly to the ideals of Ghandi: pluralistic, humane, non-violent statecraft. Ashoka had pillars like these erected all over his empire, and they were carved with text proclamations from Ashoka. There were 7 major edicts, and this is a 6th pillar edict in which Ashoka proclaims he will honor all religious sects. When Ashoka converted to Buddhism, he renounced war as a state policy, and adopted benevolence as a solution to the world's problems.
33. Rosetta Stone 196 BC--This is the most popular item in the British Museum. Ptolemy V issued the Rosetta Stone, which proclaims the greatness of Ptolemy in 3 languages. It was originally dug up by soldiers in Napoleon's army, but turned over to the British in1801. Scholars could read the ancient Greek on the proclamation, and were thus able to decipher hieroglyphics, also on the stone.
34.Chines Han Lacquer Cup AD 4--This was probably given by the Han emperor to one of his high military commanders in North Korea, where this was found. Lacquerware is very time-consuming and expensive to produce. This one is also decorated with bronze and gold inlay. Around the base there are 67 Chinese characters inscribed. These list the 6 craftsmen responsible for making the cup, as well as the 7 inspectors whose job was to ensure the top quality of the cup.
That's it to date. 66 fascinating objects to go, before I will know the whole history of the world. (HA).
21. Lachish Relief 700-692 BC--this carving showing the Assyrian campaign to conquer the Lachish is one of the earliest depictions of refugees. The mass deportation of conquered peoples was a standard Assyrian practice.
22. Sphynx of Taharqo c. 680 BC--King Taharqo ruled the Kingdom of Kush in northern Sudan. This area was mostly ruled by Egypt, but for a brief period of time while Egypt was fragmented, Kush ruled Egypt. The sphynx is an Egyptian symbol, and this is a classic Egyptian sphynx, except in this case it bears the face of a Black African. It reminds us that the border between Egypt and Sudan is a constant fault line.
23. Chinese Zhou Ritual Vessel 1100-1000 BC--The inscription on this vessel states that the bowl was made for a Zhou warrior who helped overthrow the Shang. Since writings on bamboo or wood have long perished, a lot of our knowledge of ancient Chinese history comes from inscriptions such as this on bronze. The Zhou lasted as long as the Roman Empire, and were the longest ruling Chinese dynasty.
24. Paracus Textiles 300-200 BC--Very few ancient textiles have survived. These fragments, embroidered with brilliantly dyed wool from alpacas or llamas, survived by being buried in dry desert conditions. These embroideries are exquisite and intriguing, but we know little about the culture that produced them.
25. Gold Coin of Croesus 550 BC--King Croesus of Turkey developed a new type of object--coinage, which appeared independently in 2 places around the same time, China and the Mediterranean. The need for something of standardized value arose as trade with "strangers" developed. With standardized coinage, there was no need to question the purity of the metal or the weight, as these would be consistent and controlled, so that the value would be known. The coinage developed by Croesus was used far beyond the realm of Lydia, and gave Croesus great financial power.
26. Oxus Chariot Model 500-300 BC--This was found on the edges of the Persian Empire, part of a hoard of gold and silver known as the Oxus Treasure. From this object, a historian can infer the multi-faith, multi-cultural nature of the Persian Empire.
27. Parthenon Sculpture: Centaur and Lapith 440 BC--(One of the Elgin Marbles). Here a centaur is attacking a fallen Lapith, who were legendary Greek people. This was meant to represent the real life struggles between the Greeks and the Persians, as well as the struggles between Athens and other city-states. It was meant to reinforce the Athenian view of the enemy as "other" or "Centaur World."
28. Basse-Yutz Flagons 450 BC--These were found in northeastern France in 1927, and are the earliest and most important examples of Celtic art. At the time, the northern Europeans had no cities, no writing, no coins, but these objects refute the myth of the Greeks that these northerners were barbarians. Each bronze flagon has at least 120 pieces of white coral embedded in it and there are beautiful carvings on the lids and handles.
29 Olmec Stone Mask 900-400 BC--the Olmec are the mother culture of Central America. They mapped the heavens, developed the first writing, and probably the first calendar. This culture was discovered only after World War I, and very little is known about them. Their writings are still largely undeciphered (only fragments exist).
30. Chinese Bronze Bell 500-400 BC--For Confucius, music was a metaphor for a harmonious society. This bell would have been part of a set. A set of bells, along with an orchestra to play them, would have required wealth and status. At the time, bells would also have acted as weights and measures in China.
Part VII--EMPIRE BUILDERS 300 BC -- 10 AD
31. Coin with Head of Alexander 305-281 BC--This was struck about 40 years after the death of Alexander. Many rulers after Alexander tried to claim the right to rule his empire after his death. Putting his likeness on coinage was one of these ploys.
32. Pillar of Ashoka 238 BC--The tradition of the ruler Ashoka leads directly to the ideals of Ghandi: pluralistic, humane, non-violent statecraft. Ashoka had pillars like these erected all over his empire, and they were carved with text proclamations from Ashoka. There were 7 major edicts, and this is a 6th pillar edict in which Ashoka proclaims he will honor all religious sects. When Ashoka converted to Buddhism, he renounced war as a state policy, and adopted benevolence as a solution to the world's problems.
33. Rosetta Stone 196 BC--This is the most popular item in the British Museum. Ptolemy V issued the Rosetta Stone, which proclaims the greatness of Ptolemy in 3 languages. It was originally dug up by soldiers in Napoleon's army, but turned over to the British in1801. Scholars could read the ancient Greek on the proclamation, and were thus able to decipher hieroglyphics, also on the stone.
34.Chines Han Lacquer Cup AD 4--This was probably given by the Han emperor to one of his high military commanders in North Korea, where this was found. Lacquerware is very time-consuming and expensive to produce. This one is also decorated with bronze and gold inlay. Around the base there are 67 Chinese characters inscribed. These list the 6 craftsmen responsible for making the cup, as well as the 7 inspectors whose job was to ensure the top quality of the cup.
That's it to date. 66 fascinating objects to go, before I will know the whole history of the world. (HA).
69arubabookwoman
Chekov Readings
"At Home"--a woman returns to her childhood home on the steppe, and finds her life meaningless. "At the same time, the endless plain, all alike, without one living soul, frightened her, and at moments it was clear to her that its peaceful green vastness would swallow up her life and reduce it to nothingness."
"Expensive Lessons"--A man falls in love with the impoverished woman giving him French lessons.
"The Princess"--A princess goes on a retreat to a monastery. She "fancied she brought from the outside world just such comfort as the ray of light or the bird." The monastery's doctor, in a rare moment of honesty, tells her just how awful she is in her treatment and abuse of people, in her self-centered privilege. Can she accept this?
"The Chemist's Wife'--Two officers passing buy the chemist's shop in the middle of the night, remember how attractive the chemist's wife is, and bang of the door. While her husband sleeps, the chemist's wife comes down to serve them.
With these 4 stories, I completed Volume 2, The Duel and Other Stories of my Chekov reading. Together with my comments in >46 arubabookwoman: above, that will be my "review" of book 13 of the year.
13. The Duel and Other Stories by Anton Chekov
"At Home"--a woman returns to her childhood home on the steppe, and finds her life meaningless. "At the same time, the endless plain, all alike, without one living soul, frightened her, and at moments it was clear to her that its peaceful green vastness would swallow up her life and reduce it to nothingness."
"Expensive Lessons"--A man falls in love with the impoverished woman giving him French lessons.
"The Princess"--A princess goes on a retreat to a monastery. She "fancied she brought from the outside world just such comfort as the ray of light or the bird." The monastery's doctor, in a rare moment of honesty, tells her just how awful she is in her treatment and abuse of people, in her self-centered privilege. Can she accept this?
"The Chemist's Wife'--Two officers passing buy the chemist's shop in the middle of the night, remember how attractive the chemist's wife is, and bang of the door. While her husband sleeps, the chemist's wife comes down to serve them.
With these 4 stories, I completed Volume 2, The Duel and Other Stories of my Chekov reading. Together with my comments in >46 arubabookwoman: above, that will be my "review" of book 13 of the year.
13. The Duel and Other Stories by Anton Chekov
70arubabookwoman
Chekov Readings
I am now reading from Volume 3 The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories.
1. "The Lady with the Dog"--A man vacationing at Yalta begins an affair with a mysterious woman who is always accompanied by a white Pomeranian dob. When he returns to Moscow, he finds that he cannot forget her. "It was evident to him that this love of theirs would not soon be over...." He "could not understand why he had a wife and she a husband; it was as though they were a pair of birds of passage, caught and forced to live in different cages."
2. "A Doctor's Visit"--a doctor is called to the country to tend to the daughter of a factory owner. "Whenever he saw a factory far or near, he always thought how quiet and peaceable it was outside, but within there was always sure to be impenetrable ignorance and dull egoism on the side of the owners, wearisome, unhealthy toil on the side of the workpeople, squabbling, vermin, vodka...."
3. "An Upheaval"--A young governess is mortally insulted when her room is searched after a valuable brooch belonging to the mistress goes missing.
4. "Ionitch"--a young doctor falls in love with "Kitten" and asks her to marry him. She rejects him to go study at the conservatory. Several years later, she returns, and wants him back, but he no longer has feelings for her.
5. "The Head of the Family"--a father treats his young son very badly.
6. "The Black Monk"--Kovrin sees the apparition of a monk dressed in black, who tells him that he is one of the "chosen." He begins to see the black monk regularly, and has long conversations with him. Others see him talking to himself. When he is "mad" he is cheerful and happy, and believes himself to be special. When he is cured, and brought back to reality, he finds himself to be a mediocrity and weary of life. What is the best way to live?
7. "Volodya"--A teenage boy is embarrassed by his mother, in "love" with one of his mother's friends, and failing in school. Too much teenage angst ends in tragedy.
That brings me up to date with my Chekov reading. There are just 2 or 3 stories left in this volume (1 novella length that I am halfway through) so I should finish Volume 3 in the next few days.
Now on to some of the books I read in February:
I am now reading from Volume 3 The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories.
1. "The Lady with the Dog"--A man vacationing at Yalta begins an affair with a mysterious woman who is always accompanied by a white Pomeranian dob. When he returns to Moscow, he finds that he cannot forget her. "It was evident to him that this love of theirs would not soon be over...." He "could not understand why he had a wife and she a husband; it was as though they were a pair of birds of passage, caught and forced to live in different cages."
2. "A Doctor's Visit"--a doctor is called to the country to tend to the daughter of a factory owner. "Whenever he saw a factory far or near, he always thought how quiet and peaceable it was outside, but within there was always sure to be impenetrable ignorance and dull egoism on the side of the owners, wearisome, unhealthy toil on the side of the workpeople, squabbling, vermin, vodka...."
3. "An Upheaval"--A young governess is mortally insulted when her room is searched after a valuable brooch belonging to the mistress goes missing.
4. "Ionitch"--a young doctor falls in love with "Kitten" and asks her to marry him. She rejects him to go study at the conservatory. Several years later, she returns, and wants him back, but he no longer has feelings for her.
5. "The Head of the Family"--a father treats his young son very badly.
6. "The Black Monk"--Kovrin sees the apparition of a monk dressed in black, who tells him that he is one of the "chosen." He begins to see the black monk regularly, and has long conversations with him. Others see him talking to himself. When he is "mad" he is cheerful and happy, and believes himself to be special. When he is cured, and brought back to reality, he finds himself to be a mediocrity and weary of life. What is the best way to live?
7. "Volodya"--A teenage boy is embarrassed by his mother, in "love" with one of his mother's friends, and failing in school. Too much teenage angst ends in tragedy.
That brings me up to date with my Chekov reading. There are just 2 or 3 stories left in this volume (1 novella length that I am halfway through) so I should finish Volume 3 in the next few days.
Now on to some of the books I read in February:
71arubabookwoman
14. Outposts by Simon Winchester (1985) 402 pp (From my Kindle)
Subtitle: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire
Simon Winchester decided to visit the remnants of the remaining British Empire, and this is the story of his travels, over several years, to those remote outposts. I will say first that I"ve never quite gotten on with Simon Winchester--something about his smugness and attitude of unconscious privilege rubs me the wrong way, and there's a bit of that here. But I was really interested in the topic of exploring these remote places, and decided to read this.
My biggest problem with the book is that it is way out of date, something I should have realized, but did not, before beginning it. It was written in the mid 1980's, when Hong Kong was still a colony, so I can't help wondering what the status of the other places he visited is today. In addition, I couldn't help wondering, as he described these remote places, how accurate these descriptions would be now, nearly 40 years later, and whether these places would even be recognizable today. For example, at the time of his visit, the Cayman Islands were not the overseas financial center for tax shelters they are today. I personally would not recommend this book, but if what the British Empire looked like 40 years ago is of interest to you, go ahead.
Just for informational purposes, here are the British colonies Winchester visited:
1. British Indian Ocean Territory (Diego Garcia)--He didn't step foot on land here, but spent the night on a boat anchored in the lagoon. All natives were evicted by the British, and the island leased to the Americans for a military base. This has led to court proceedings by the natives who want to return to their homeland. Not sure what the status is today.
2.Tristan da Cunha--This remote island was settled by the British military to prevent Napoleon from excaping from St. Helena. Winchester describes it as the "tiniest and loneliest" of the remaining dependencies.
3. Gibraltar--Basically a British naval base. Under a 1970's emigration act, Gibraltans are one of only 2 former British colonies with full rights to emigrate to Great Britain.
4. Ascension Island--Basically a mid-Atlantic volcano, "Earth in its raw state." It was originally classified as a ship, and was settled, like Tristan, to prevent Napoleon from escaping. At the time of Winchester's visit, it was a relay station for the BBC, a cable center, a stopover for the British military on the way to the Falklands, and full of electronic spies and satellite monitoring stuff.
5. St. Helena--in his view the loveliest major outpost, but now an "imperial slum," its need largely ignored by the British government. Once the site of Napoleon's exile, there is now no on-island work for the inhabitants, who frequently go to Ascension Island for months at a time to work.
6. Hong Kong--skyscrapers, bankers and millionaires.
7. Bermuda--British, but utterly dependent on the US. There's a large US military base, and he views it more as an American colony than British.
8. The British West Indies--consisting of the Turks and Caicos, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Montserrat, and the Cayman Islands.
9. The Falkland Islands--Winchester was there at the beginning of the Falkland War with Argentina.
10. Pitcairn Island--settled by the Bounty mutineers. Two supply ships visit it annually, so a traveler's choice is to stay 10 hours (while the supply ship is in port) or to wait 6 months for the next ship. Winchester did not visit here.
2 1/2 stars
Subtitle: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire
Simon Winchester decided to visit the remnants of the remaining British Empire, and this is the story of his travels, over several years, to those remote outposts. I will say first that I"ve never quite gotten on with Simon Winchester--something about his smugness and attitude of unconscious privilege rubs me the wrong way, and there's a bit of that here. But I was really interested in the topic of exploring these remote places, and decided to read this.
My biggest problem with the book is that it is way out of date, something I should have realized, but did not, before beginning it. It was written in the mid 1980's, when Hong Kong was still a colony, so I can't help wondering what the status of the other places he visited is today. In addition, I couldn't help wondering, as he described these remote places, how accurate these descriptions would be now, nearly 40 years later, and whether these places would even be recognizable today. For example, at the time of his visit, the Cayman Islands were not the overseas financial center for tax shelters they are today. I personally would not recommend this book, but if what the British Empire looked like 40 years ago is of interest to you, go ahead.
Just for informational purposes, here are the British colonies Winchester visited:
1. British Indian Ocean Territory (Diego Garcia)--He didn't step foot on land here, but spent the night on a boat anchored in the lagoon. All natives were evicted by the British, and the island leased to the Americans for a military base. This has led to court proceedings by the natives who want to return to their homeland. Not sure what the status is today.
2.Tristan da Cunha--This remote island was settled by the British military to prevent Napoleon from excaping from St. Helena. Winchester describes it as the "tiniest and loneliest" of the remaining dependencies.
3. Gibraltar--Basically a British naval base. Under a 1970's emigration act, Gibraltans are one of only 2 former British colonies with full rights to emigrate to Great Britain.
4. Ascension Island--Basically a mid-Atlantic volcano, "Earth in its raw state." It was originally classified as a ship, and was settled, like Tristan, to prevent Napoleon from escaping. At the time of Winchester's visit, it was a relay station for the BBC, a cable center, a stopover for the British military on the way to the Falklands, and full of electronic spies and satellite monitoring stuff.
5. St. Helena--in his view the loveliest major outpost, but now an "imperial slum," its need largely ignored by the British government. Once the site of Napoleon's exile, there is now no on-island work for the inhabitants, who frequently go to Ascension Island for months at a time to work.
6. Hong Kong--skyscrapers, bankers and millionaires.
7. Bermuda--British, but utterly dependent on the US. There's a large US military base, and he views it more as an American colony than British.
8. The British West Indies--consisting of the Turks and Caicos, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Montserrat, and the Cayman Islands.
9. The Falkland Islands--Winchester was there at the beginning of the Falkland War with Argentina.
10. Pitcairn Island--settled by the Bounty mutineers. Two supply ships visit it annually, so a traveler's choice is to stay 10 hours (while the supply ship is in port) or to wait 6 months for the next ship. Winchester did not visit here.
2 1/2 stars
72arubabookwoman
The following was read for Brazilian Lit on Litsy. Off my Kindle.
15. And Still the Earth by Ignacio de Loyola Brandao (1982) 374 pp
"We may not be extinct yet but we're pressing the outer limits."
This is a near-future dystopian novel set in a Brazil in which the rain forest has been totally cut down, and what remains is a desert larger than the Sahara. In the city, water is rationed, and there are "heat pockets" in which anyone who accidently wanders is instantaneously blistered and dies. There are so many people that everyone has a circulation pass that limits where they can go, down to the sidewalk on which side of the street. We experience the horrors of this life through Souza, a former professor, now disgraced for asking too many questions. His life becomes more and more desparate, and his experiences more and more surreal and hallucinatory.
This was a fairly early "climate apocalypse" book, and to that extent it is frighteningly real, but also frighteningly prescient. Refugees surround the city in pauper encampments. Many people show defects and mutations caused by the rampant pollution and ongoing ecological disasters that have become commonplace.
At times the book was almost like a catalogue of everything that could go wrong and how incompetent and even wrong-minded governments, controlled by oligarchs and multinationals, can be in dealing with these crises. To that extent, the book occasionally dragged for me. But there is a definite warning here. I was struck by this:
"Scientists. A minimal, marginalized lot these days....As soon as the System realized that the prognosis was bad, and would make them perhaps look bad in turn, voila: they start an intense propaganda campaign in the press, fostering as much sarcasm as possible, with respect to anything scientific."
3 1/2 stars
15. And Still the Earth by Ignacio de Loyola Brandao (1982) 374 pp
"We may not be extinct yet but we're pressing the outer limits."
This is a near-future dystopian novel set in a Brazil in which the rain forest has been totally cut down, and what remains is a desert larger than the Sahara. In the city, water is rationed, and there are "heat pockets" in which anyone who accidently wanders is instantaneously blistered and dies. There are so many people that everyone has a circulation pass that limits where they can go, down to the sidewalk on which side of the street. We experience the horrors of this life through Souza, a former professor, now disgraced for asking too many questions. His life becomes more and more desparate, and his experiences more and more surreal and hallucinatory.
This was a fairly early "climate apocalypse" book, and to that extent it is frighteningly real, but also frighteningly prescient. Refugees surround the city in pauper encampments. Many people show defects and mutations caused by the rampant pollution and ongoing ecological disasters that have become commonplace.
At times the book was almost like a catalogue of everything that could go wrong and how incompetent and even wrong-minded governments, controlled by oligarchs and multinationals, can be in dealing with these crises. To that extent, the book occasionally dragged for me. But there is a definite warning here. I was struck by this:
"Scientists. A minimal, marginalized lot these days....As soon as the System realized that the prognosis was bad, and would make them perhaps look bad in turn, voila: they start an intense propaganda campaign in the press, fostering as much sarcasm as possible, with respect to anything scientific."
3 1/2 stars
73arubabookwoman
16. Therese Desqueyroux by Francois Mauriac (1927) 157 pp
This is one of Mauriac's most famous novels, and is often studied in schools. It is considered an early "feminist" novel, although Mauriac himself was not a feminist.
As the novel opens, Therese, a young unhappily married woman, has just escaped conviction for the attempted poisoning of her husband, primarily because he refused to provide evidence against her. During her long train ride home, she thinks back on the circumstances of her life, as she tries to come up with an explanation for why she did what she did. Her world was stifling, and she found that she had no control over her own life. She can't understand why she chose to marry Bernard, her husband, or why she did what she did. Unlike Emma Bovary, her literary ancestor, Therese did not do what she did because she wanted another man. Rather, what she wanted was the freedom to explore and to control her own life.
Mauriac states that the events he describes in the book were based on a real case in which a young wife in Bordeaux who had been accused of poisoning her husband was aquitted when her husband refused to testify against her. One thing Mauriac has said he was exploring in the book was evil: "We know that evil is an immense fund of capital shared out among all people, and that there is nothing in the criminal heart, no matter how horrible, whose germ is not also to be found in our own hearts."
This is the second book by Mauriac I have read. I much preferred the first book by him that I read, Nest of Vipers, which I liked a lot. I recognize the merit of Therese, but I somehow did not fully connect with it. I do recommend it though.
3 stars
This is one of Mauriac's most famous novels, and is often studied in schools. It is considered an early "feminist" novel, although Mauriac himself was not a feminist.
As the novel opens, Therese, a young unhappily married woman, has just escaped conviction for the attempted poisoning of her husband, primarily because he refused to provide evidence against her. During her long train ride home, she thinks back on the circumstances of her life, as she tries to come up with an explanation for why she did what she did. Her world was stifling, and she found that she had no control over her own life. She can't understand why she chose to marry Bernard, her husband, or why she did what she did. Unlike Emma Bovary, her literary ancestor, Therese did not do what she did because she wanted another man. Rather, what she wanted was the freedom to explore and to control her own life.
Mauriac states that the events he describes in the book were based on a real case in which a young wife in Bordeaux who had been accused of poisoning her husband was aquitted when her husband refused to testify against her. One thing Mauriac has said he was exploring in the book was evil: "We know that evil is an immense fund of capital shared out among all people, and that there is nothing in the criminal heart, no matter how horrible, whose germ is not also to be found in our own hearts."
This is the second book by Mauriac I have read. I much preferred the first book by him that I read, Nest of Vipers, which I liked a lot. I recognize the merit of Therese, but I somehow did not fully connect with it. I do recommend it though.
3 stars
74arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle.
17. The Teeth May Smile But the Heart Does Not Forget by Andrew Rice (2009) 384 pp
Subtitle: Murder and Memory in Uganda
During Idi Amin's brutal reign in Uganda, an estimated 100,000-300,000 were killed. One was Eliphaz Laki, who disappeared in 1972. Years later, his son Duncan Laki, then living in the US, returned to Uganda to try to figure out what happened to his father. Through luck and investigation, he was able to discover the two men who kidnapped and killed his father, and the former General, a top aide to Idi Amin, who ordered his father's death. The new Ugandan government brought the three men to trial for murder, a trial that went on for years, and which raised issues of justice/revenge vs. reconciliation/forgiveness. This book is the story of Eliphaz's murder, Duncan's investigation, and the trial. Interspersed throughout is the history of Uganda, largely one of warring tribal factions over the years, and how that history influenced the actions of dictators like Amin as well as succeeding leaders. That history also affected consideration of how matters like these brutalities should be remedied.
There is a lot of interesting insight in this book, ranging from the damage colonialism left in its wake in Africa to the ins and outs of a typical African dictatorship to the arcane workings of the Ugandan judicial system. Overriding all is the question of whether those who participated in Amin's regime, at high levels or low, should be reintegrated into their societies or should they be punished, even executed?
A lot of reviews describe this as a murder mystery or police procedural, and that's what led me to purchase this book, but I found this to be a very minor aspect of the book. It's much more an examination of what kind of culture led to a dictator like Amin, and how that culture should deal with the remnants of that regime. To that extent, it may go rather more deeply into Ugandan history and these moral complexities than might be bargained for by a casual reader. Still, this is one I recommend.
"Amin...had an intuitive feel for populist politics...{H}e began sending his famous telegrams, the wildly impolitic missives that alternately amused and horrified the world." He "also had a gift for outrageous publicity stunts."
Remind you of anyone?
3 stars
17. The Teeth May Smile But the Heart Does Not Forget by Andrew Rice (2009) 384 pp
Subtitle: Murder and Memory in Uganda
During Idi Amin's brutal reign in Uganda, an estimated 100,000-300,000 were killed. One was Eliphaz Laki, who disappeared in 1972. Years later, his son Duncan Laki, then living in the US, returned to Uganda to try to figure out what happened to his father. Through luck and investigation, he was able to discover the two men who kidnapped and killed his father, and the former General, a top aide to Idi Amin, who ordered his father's death. The new Ugandan government brought the three men to trial for murder, a trial that went on for years, and which raised issues of justice/revenge vs. reconciliation/forgiveness. This book is the story of Eliphaz's murder, Duncan's investigation, and the trial. Interspersed throughout is the history of Uganda, largely one of warring tribal factions over the years, and how that history influenced the actions of dictators like Amin as well as succeeding leaders. That history also affected consideration of how matters like these brutalities should be remedied.
There is a lot of interesting insight in this book, ranging from the damage colonialism left in its wake in Africa to the ins and outs of a typical African dictatorship to the arcane workings of the Ugandan judicial system. Overriding all is the question of whether those who participated in Amin's regime, at high levels or low, should be reintegrated into their societies or should they be punished, even executed?
A lot of reviews describe this as a murder mystery or police procedural, and that's what led me to purchase this book, but I found this to be a very minor aspect of the book. It's much more an examination of what kind of culture led to a dictator like Amin, and how that culture should deal with the remnants of that regime. To that extent, it may go rather more deeply into Ugandan history and these moral complexities than might be bargained for by a casual reader. Still, this is one I recommend.
"Amin...had an intuitive feel for populist politics...{H}e began sending his famous telegrams, the wildly impolitic missives that alternately amused and horrified the world." He "also had a gift for outrageous publicity stunts."
Remind you of anyone?
3 stars
75arubabookwoman
Another off my Kindle. Read for Vietnam Lit on Litsy.
18. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (2016) 301 pp
This novel is narrated in the form of a confession by a captain in the former South Vietnamese Army, an aide to a General in the former secret police. As he tells us in the opening sentence, "I am a spy, a sleeper, a spook, a man of two faces." Or, as her prefers to see it, he is "simply able to see any issue from both sides," i.e. he is a sympathizer, a member of the South Vietnamese army, and a communist spy.
The novel takes us through the final days before the fall of Saigon in 1975, through the life of Vietnamese immigrants/refugees in the US. The General is involved in plots to return to Vietnam via Thailand with an army to overthrow the communist government now ruling the unified country of Vietnam. There is a lot of anger in this book, and unsurprisingly a lot of brutality. It is nevertheless an important read, and I think a necessary read to open our eyes to the Vietnam War as experienced by the Vietnamese, who call it the American War, as well as a heartbreaking exposition of the refugee experience.
My Kindle version of the book included an article by the author as well as an interview with the author, who came to the US as a refugee as a very young child. The author says his family story "is a story of loss and death, for we are here only because the United States fought a war that killed three million of our countrymen (not including over two million others who died in neighboring Laos and Cambodia)." He continues, "I felt that there wasn't a novel that directly confronts the history of the American War in Vietnam from the Vietnamese-American point of view," and that what was missing was "literature with a more critical take on what the US did in Vietnam."
I have read several books about the Vietnam War from the American pov (The Things That They Carried and Matterhorn, both excellent) as well as a couple from the North Vietnamese pov (Novel Without a Name, excellent as well), and I've long been of the view that the war was a huge mistake (I attended many anti-war demonstrations as a college student) This is the first book I've read from the South Vietnamese pov that made me realize that perhaps even the people of South Vietnam did not support this war, and it definitely exposed the immense damage was done to country, the people killed, the families destroyed, the livelihood and villages gone, the people forced into exile, and so much more.
Recommended.
4 stars
18. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (2016) 301 pp
This novel is narrated in the form of a confession by a captain in the former South Vietnamese Army, an aide to a General in the former secret police. As he tells us in the opening sentence, "I am a spy, a sleeper, a spook, a man of two faces." Or, as her prefers to see it, he is "simply able to see any issue from both sides," i.e. he is a sympathizer, a member of the South Vietnamese army, and a communist spy.
The novel takes us through the final days before the fall of Saigon in 1975, through the life of Vietnamese immigrants/refugees in the US. The General is involved in plots to return to Vietnam via Thailand with an army to overthrow the communist government now ruling the unified country of Vietnam. There is a lot of anger in this book, and unsurprisingly a lot of brutality. It is nevertheless an important read, and I think a necessary read to open our eyes to the Vietnam War as experienced by the Vietnamese, who call it the American War, as well as a heartbreaking exposition of the refugee experience.
My Kindle version of the book included an article by the author as well as an interview with the author, who came to the US as a refugee as a very young child. The author says his family story "is a story of loss and death, for we are here only because the United States fought a war that killed three million of our countrymen (not including over two million others who died in neighboring Laos and Cambodia)." He continues, "I felt that there wasn't a novel that directly confronts the history of the American War in Vietnam from the Vietnamese-American point of view," and that what was missing was "literature with a more critical take on what the US did in Vietnam."
I have read several books about the Vietnam War from the American pov (The Things That They Carried and Matterhorn, both excellent) as well as a couple from the North Vietnamese pov (Novel Without a Name, excellent as well), and I've long been of the view that the war was a huge mistake (I attended many anti-war demonstrations as a college student) This is the first book I've read from the South Vietnamese pov that made me realize that perhaps even the people of South Vietnam did not support this war, and it definitely exposed the immense damage was done to country, the people killed, the families destroyed, the livelihood and villages gone, the people forced into exile, and so much more.
Recommended.
4 stars
76arubabookwoman
Off my Shelf. On 1001 LIst.
19. The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth (1932) 352 pp
"They had been born in peacetime and became officers in peaceful drills and maneuvers. They had no idea that several years later every last one of them, with no exception, would encounter death. Their ears were not sharp enough to catch the whirring gears of the great hidden mills that were already grinding out the Great War."
In this 1001 novel, the decline of the Trotta family parallels the decline of the Hapsburg Empire. Carl Joseph's grandfather, Joseph Trotta, saved the life of the emperor at the Battle of Solferino, and for that deed was awarded a baronacy. His father Franz, son of the hero of Solferino, was a government official, leading a staid and emotionally repressed life under the portrait of the Hero of Solferino. Most of the book focuses on Carl Joseph, who joins the army and dreams of saving the Emperor as did his grandfather. Instead, he ends up on a remote frontier outpost, where women, drink and gambling do him in. Over the years as various crises occur in the Trotta family, the Emperor is able to help them out.
There's some beautiful writing her, and Roth skillfully paints his characters. But he does so from a distance, and the characters are all so emotionally stunted, that I found it difficult to connect with the them and their plight. As a portrait about the loss of tradition and order, about a crumbling empire, it succeeds, but I had a hard time sympathizing with any character. They were all far away in another world.
Nevertheless, I don't regret reading this. I feel "improved" by having read it. I've read one other book by Roth Job, and would read more.
3 1/2 stars
Have to go cook dinner now. I'm about half way through reviewing for February. Will try to return later tonight or tomorrow to finish February.
19. The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth (1932) 352 pp
"They had been born in peacetime and became officers in peaceful drills and maneuvers. They had no idea that several years later every last one of them, with no exception, would encounter death. Their ears were not sharp enough to catch the whirring gears of the great hidden mills that were already grinding out the Great War."
In this 1001 novel, the decline of the Trotta family parallels the decline of the Hapsburg Empire. Carl Joseph's grandfather, Joseph Trotta, saved the life of the emperor at the Battle of Solferino, and for that deed was awarded a baronacy. His father Franz, son of the hero of Solferino, was a government official, leading a staid and emotionally repressed life under the portrait of the Hero of Solferino. Most of the book focuses on Carl Joseph, who joins the army and dreams of saving the Emperor as did his grandfather. Instead, he ends up on a remote frontier outpost, where women, drink and gambling do him in. Over the years as various crises occur in the Trotta family, the Emperor is able to help them out.
There's some beautiful writing her, and Roth skillfully paints his characters. But he does so from a distance, and the characters are all so emotionally stunted, that I found it difficult to connect with the them and their plight. As a portrait about the loss of tradition and order, about a crumbling empire, it succeeds, but I had a hard time sympathizing with any character. They were all far away in another world.
Nevertheless, I don't regret reading this. I feel "improved" by having read it. I've read one other book by Roth Job, and would read more.
3 1/2 stars
Have to go cook dinner now. I'm about half way through reviewing for February. Will try to return later tonight or tomorrow to finish February.
77labfs39
>67 arubabookwoman: I missed Seattle a lot more when I lived on the panhandle. Then I missed both the landscape and the culture. Now I'm in New England and the conifers, rocky coasts, and snowy winter sports feel similar. But I miss the cultural/intellectual life that I was able to enjoy in Seattle. Rural Maine is lacking that way. I also miss the "green" mindset. Whenever I get too reminiscent, I look at the 10-day weather forecast for Woodinville and feel better. I never enjoyed the grey mistiness like you do.
I'm always impressed by the breadth of your reading. Art history/anthropology, Chekhov, Brazilian lit, French feminism, Uganda, Vietnam War, Austro-Hungarian Jewish novelist. And that's just since I last checked in!
>75 arubabookwoman: The Sympathizer has been on my radar for a while. Your review makes me want to move it up the pile.
>76 arubabookwoman: I have not read anything by Joseph Roth, although I own both Job and Leviathan.
I'm always impressed by the breadth of your reading. Art history/anthropology, Chekhov, Brazilian lit, French feminism, Uganda, Vietnam War, Austro-Hungarian Jewish novelist. And that's just since I last checked in!
>75 arubabookwoman: The Sympathizer has been on my radar for a while. Your review makes me want to move it up the pile.
>76 arubabookwoman: I have not read anything by Joseph Roth, although I own both Job and Leviathan.
78BLBera
Great comments, Deborah. I'm always happy to see you've posted. The premise of Outposts sounds great but your point about its being outdated is well taken.
I am adding And Still the Earth to my list; it is a little sad how prescient so many of the dystopias seem.
>73 arubabookwoman:, >74 arubabookwoman:, >76 arubabookwoman: are maybes.
I read The Sympathizer; while I did like the distinct point of view, I had to work to get through it. It could have been the timing. I'll have to look back at my comments.
I hope you continue to be well. Maybe sometime this year, life will get back to some semblance of normalcy.
I am adding And Still the Earth to my list; it is a little sad how prescient so many of the dystopias seem.
>73 arubabookwoman:, >74 arubabookwoman:, >76 arubabookwoman: are maybes.
I read The Sympathizer; while I did like the distinct point of view, I had to work to get through it. It could have been the timing. I'll have to look back at my comments.
I hope you continue to be well. Maybe sometime this year, life will get back to some semblance of normalcy.
79LolaWalser
>73 arubabookwoman:
It is considered an early "feminist" novel, although Mauriac himself was not a feminist.
Haha, no indeed, he would have been horrified by the idea... He thought Beauvoir was the Devil! Awful things he said about her and other women like that...
I suppose the novelty of having a wannabe murderess and adulteress survive the plot (and even escape prison) misleads some, just as happens whenever a male writer writes from the POV of a female main character.
Curiously, Simenon, of all people, wrote a novel that can be seen as an echo of Mauriac's, La vérité sur Bébé Donge. Of course for Mauriac it's a theological issue of "evil in all of us", while "behaviourist" Simenon takes a microscope to the husband's neglect of his wife, an omission of loving that amounts to sadism without any physical violence. The two writers couldn't be more different and yet both lose sight of the woman's character for similar reasons: they can't take women seriously.
>75 arubabookwoman:
Thanks for the mention of Novel without a name.
It is considered an early "feminist" novel, although Mauriac himself was not a feminist.
Haha, no indeed, he would have been horrified by the idea... He thought Beauvoir was the Devil! Awful things he said about her and other women like that...
I suppose the novelty of having a wannabe murderess and adulteress survive the plot (and even escape prison) misleads some, just as happens whenever a male writer writes from the POV of a female main character.
Curiously, Simenon, of all people, wrote a novel that can be seen as an echo of Mauriac's, La vérité sur Bébé Donge. Of course for Mauriac it's a theological issue of "evil in all of us", while "behaviourist" Simenon takes a microscope to the husband's neglect of his wife, an omission of loving that amounts to sadism without any physical violence. The two writers couldn't be more different and yet both lose sight of the woman's character for similar reasons: they can't take women seriously.
>75 arubabookwoman:
Thanks for the mention of Novel without a name.
80sallypursell
>67 arubabookwoman: I don't know that my Russian was good enough to get the whole nuance. I understood, though. I loved studying Russian. The words are like chewing sound; the letters are lovely. And, like English, it is a highly specific language, which I also love. One can stroll, amble, walk with a purpose, or wander, and the verb chosen makes it clear. There's a difference between walking to get somewhere, and walking aimlessly. I took to it easily, it seemed to me. The grammar is more complicated, both declined and inflected, as in some other languages I can think of. I was pleased to read Chekhov, it was a little laborious for me, but worth the effort.
81markon
>74 arubabookwoman: The teeth may smile sounds quite intriguing, probably because of my read of Kintu earlier this year, also set in Uganda.
82raton-liseur
I'm happy I've taken the time to catch up. I love the diversity of your reading and found a lot of titles that piqued my curiosity, some that I have meant to read (eg>76 arubabookwoman:) and others that I did not know but are now on my radar.
Thanks for all those detailed and appetite whetting reviews!
Thanks for all those detailed and appetite whetting reviews!
83dchaikin
Hi. I'm just catching your March 6 posts and I agree with everything Lisa said in 2nd paragraph of >77 labfs39:. Hope your well and Chekhov continues.
>67 arubabookwoman: I don't know what our Litsy group will do after Cather. hmm. Maybe Edith Wharton is a good follow up. I would love to read Wharton. Not sure I own any of her novels.
>67 arubabookwoman: I don't know what our Litsy group will do after Cather. hmm. Maybe Edith Wharton is a good follow up. I would love to read Wharton. Not sure I own any of her novels.
84dianeham
>83 dchaikin: First time I read Age of Innocence was in high school. I’ve read it a few times since. And there’s the Scorsese film too Age of Innocence (film)
85dchaikin
>84 dianeham: oddly, I have a copy of Age of Innocence in my Kindle library. I must have thought about really reading it.
a quick Wikipedia copy and paste (I've heard of three):
Novels
The Valley of Decision, 1902
The House of Mirth, 1905
The Fruit of the Tree, 1907
The Reef, 1912
The Custom of the Country, 1913
Summer, 1917
The Marne, 1918
The Age of Innocence, 1920 (Pulitzer Prize winner)
The Glimpses of the Moon, 1922
A Son at the Front, 1923
The Mother's Recompense, 1925
Twilight Sleep, 1927
The Children, 1928
Hudson River Bracketed, 1929
The Gods Arrive, 1932
The Buccaneers, 1938 (unfinished)
Novellas and novelette
The Touchstone, 1900
Sanctuary, 1903
Madame de Treymes, 1907
Ethan Frome, 1911
Bunner Sisters, 1916
Old New York, 1924 (1. False Dawn; 2. The Old Maid; 3. The Spark; 4. New Year's Day)
Fast and Loose: A Novelette, 1938 (written in 1876–1877)
a quick Wikipedia copy and paste (I've heard of three):
Novels
The Valley of Decision, 1902
The House of Mirth, 1905
The Fruit of the Tree, 1907
The Reef, 1912
The Custom of the Country, 1913
Summer, 1917
The Marne, 1918
The Age of Innocence, 1920 (Pulitzer Prize winner)
The Glimpses of the Moon, 1922
A Son at the Front, 1923
The Mother's Recompense, 1925
Twilight Sleep, 1927
The Children, 1928
Hudson River Bracketed, 1929
The Gods Arrive, 1932
The Buccaneers, 1938 (unfinished)
Novellas and novelette
The Touchstone, 1900
Sanctuary, 1903
Madame de Treymes, 1907
Ethan Frome, 1911
Bunner Sisters, 1916
Old New York, 1924 (1. False Dawn; 2. The Old Maid; 3. The Spark; 4. New Year's Day)
Fast and Loose: A Novelette, 1938 (written in 1876–1877)
86labfs39
>83 dchaikin: I love Edith Wharton. Years ago I had read Age of Innocence and, being from New England, Ethan Frome, of course. More recently I read House of Mirth and became a fan all over again. Promptly read Custom of the Country and Summer. Her writing is delicious. Some of her books are similar in feel, period pieces set in New York society. Alike in the way Jane Austen's books are.
87rocketjk
I first read Edith Wharton in my first semester of grad school, for a literature course called "Highbrows and Lowbrows." The "highbrows" were Wharton and Henry James. The "lowbrows" were Mark Twain and Theodore Dreiser. It was a book a week (including Dreiser's doorstop, An American Tragedy. When I first had a look at the syllabus, my immediate thought was, "Yikes! I'm in grad school!" Well, I had taken seven years away from academia between undergrad and this Masters Degree program, so that syllabus came as reality check!
Anyway, I very much enjoyed the Wharton novels we read, Age of Innocence, House of Mirth and Ethan Frome. The Twain and Dreiser, too. James' novels I mostly hated.
Anyway, I very much enjoyed the Wharton novels we read, Age of Innocence, House of Mirth and Ethan Frome. The Twain and Dreiser, too. James' novels I mostly hated.
88arubabookwoman
I need to get back soon to update my reading. I've been whammied by our getting a new puppy in March. I'm keeping up the reading, since I mostly read at night, but Dulci, our new pup, aka the holy terror, requires a lot of my daytime attention. Our last dog Dante was a pup 19 years ago (he's still with us but lives in NYC with our youngest son), and I don't remember him being this much work. Of course I was a LOT younger then too. But I did want to jump in on all the Wharton love, and hopefully I will find time to update this week.
I read her "biggies"--The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, The custom of the Country, and Summer--by the time I was 30, so at least 40 years ago, and I would love to revisit them. I also read Ethan Frome in 10th grade, and got very little out of it. I reread Ethan Frome and Summer within the last 5-10 years, and loved both. Although she's known mostly for her NY society books, both of these have rural settings and impoverished characters. I was amazed by how well she portrays this milieu, so different from her own. I almost like these better than her society books.
About 15 years ago I read The Children, and was blown away by it. The background of this novel are the rich and famous as they flit from one gathering spot for the wealthy to another, in Europe and America, from one affair to another, to marriage and on to divorce. In the foreground, and the focus of the novel are the children of these people, as they acquire various steps and half's and are shunted off to schools and camps and pretty much ignored by the adults. One of the adults, a young man about to become engaged notices one of the "children," a young teenage girl, and becomes obsessed with her. As I was reading the book, I kept thinking of Nabokov and Lolita, and wondering whether he'd read this particular Wharton. I've also in more recent years (since I've been on LT) read a couple of others, The Bunner Sisters, and Glimpses of the Moon I think.
Wharton is one female author I think was sadly overlooked by the Nobel Prize Committee. I would definitely love to participate in a year/year+ group read of her works, here or on Litsy.
Back to Dulci!
I read her "biggies"--The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, The custom of the Country, and Summer--by the time I was 30, so at least 40 years ago, and I would love to revisit them. I also read Ethan Frome in 10th grade, and got very little out of it. I reread Ethan Frome and Summer within the last 5-10 years, and loved both. Although she's known mostly for her NY society books, both of these have rural settings and impoverished characters. I was amazed by how well she portrays this milieu, so different from her own. I almost like these better than her society books.
About 15 years ago I read The Children, and was blown away by it. The background of this novel are the rich and famous as they flit from one gathering spot for the wealthy to another, in Europe and America, from one affair to another, to marriage and on to divorce. In the foreground, and the focus of the novel are the children of these people, as they acquire various steps and half's and are shunted off to schools and camps and pretty much ignored by the adults. One of the adults, a young man about to become engaged notices one of the "children," a young teenage girl, and becomes obsessed with her. As I was reading the book, I kept thinking of Nabokov and Lolita, and wondering whether he'd read this particular Wharton. I've also in more recent years (since I've been on LT) read a couple of others, The Bunner Sisters, and Glimpses of the Moon I think.
Wharton is one female author I think was sadly overlooked by the Nobel Prize Committee. I would definitely love to participate in a year/year+ group read of her works, here or on Litsy.
Back to Dulci!
89labfs39
>88 arubabookwoman: Hi Deborah! I've missed your presence on LT, but it sounds like it is for a good, puppyish cause. I will definitely look for The Children. I didn't have that one on my radar.
90ELiz_M
>88 arubabookwoman: I was just wondering this morning how you were getting along with the new puppy.
>85 dchaikin: There are quite a few more works than I would have guessed! I've read, and loved, her best known works. I am intrigued by the description of The Glimpses Of The Moon.
>85 dchaikin: There are quite a few more works than I would have guessed! I've read, and loved, her best known works. I am intrigued by the description of The Glimpses Of The Moon.
91NanaCC
Glad to see you here Deborah. I love Edith Wharton. I think Custom of the Country is my favorite of those I’ve read, but they are all so good. Enjoy the puppy! :-)
92dchaikin
>88 arubabookwoman: well, that was inspiring. Thanks and good luck with your pup.
93arubabookwoman
Ok, Dulci is napping. I am still back in February in my reviews. Let's see how far I can get before she starts getting into mischief.
>77 labfs39: and >78 BLBera: Hi Lisa and Beth. Thanks for visiting.
>79 LolaWalser: Interesting comments about Mauriac. I liked the only other book by him I've read, Nest of Vipers, much more than this one. Fpr me, the feminist element that stood out was not so much that she was not convicted, but that there was a recognition that her wish to control her own life was valid. And thanks for the reference to Simenon. I'm not a fan of his Maigret novels, but I do like most of his other works I've read. That one might be difficult to track down in English, but I'll be on the lookout for it.
>80 sallypursell: Hi Sally. You make the Russian language sound very intriguing.
>81 markon: Kintu looks very interesting. There was indeed a lot about Ugandan history in The Teeth May Smile. I've added Kintu to my wishlist.
>82 raton-liseur: Thanks for visiting Raton!
And thanks to all who contributed to the Wharton love-fest. Is there anybody out there who doesn't care for her?
Well, as I said I'm way behind in reviewing--back into February. And it's mostly due to Dulci. I feel like I'm chasing a toddler around 18 hours a day, and I'm way too old for that. We've also had a few medical issues going on, including more bouts of graft v. host disease (old and new). Nothing too serious at this point, but each visit to the Moffitt Center consumes an entire day...of mostly waiting around.
Re covid, we are both vaccinated, but we were warned that they did not know whether the vaccine would be effective for those with compromised immune systems or on immunosuppressive drugs. Yesterday the NYT had a long article concluding that many immunocompromised people ended up developing NO antibodies after receiving the vaccine. We are very disappointed, as we have just begun planning visits with kids and grandkids again. So this will be a topic of conversation for the next doctor visit (later this week). I think we will ask that my husband be tested for antibodies, and hopefully he will have them. If not, the article mentions possible preventative treatment with monoclonal antibodies. The adventure continues.
I have been very sporadic in my Chekov and 100 objects readings, so I won't report on them this visit. (I did finish Vol. 3 of Chekov though). I'm not giving up, however, and will try to get back into the habit.
On to the books:
>77 labfs39: and >78 BLBera: Hi Lisa and Beth. Thanks for visiting.
>79 LolaWalser: Interesting comments about Mauriac. I liked the only other book by him I've read, Nest of Vipers, much more than this one. Fpr me, the feminist element that stood out was not so much that she was not convicted, but that there was a recognition that her wish to control her own life was valid. And thanks for the reference to Simenon. I'm not a fan of his Maigret novels, but I do like most of his other works I've read. That one might be difficult to track down in English, but I'll be on the lookout for it.
>80 sallypursell: Hi Sally. You make the Russian language sound very intriguing.
>81 markon: Kintu looks very interesting. There was indeed a lot about Ugandan history in The Teeth May Smile. I've added Kintu to my wishlist.
>82 raton-liseur: Thanks for visiting Raton!
And thanks to all who contributed to the Wharton love-fest. Is there anybody out there who doesn't care for her?
Well, as I said I'm way behind in reviewing--back into February. And it's mostly due to Dulci. I feel like I'm chasing a toddler around 18 hours a day, and I'm way too old for that. We've also had a few medical issues going on, including more bouts of graft v. host disease (old and new). Nothing too serious at this point, but each visit to the Moffitt Center consumes an entire day...of mostly waiting around.
Re covid, we are both vaccinated, but we were warned that they did not know whether the vaccine would be effective for those with compromised immune systems or on immunosuppressive drugs. Yesterday the NYT had a long article concluding that many immunocompromised people ended up developing NO antibodies after receiving the vaccine. We are very disappointed, as we have just begun planning visits with kids and grandkids again. So this will be a topic of conversation for the next doctor visit (later this week). I think we will ask that my husband be tested for antibodies, and hopefully he will have them. If not, the article mentions possible preventative treatment with monoclonal antibodies. The adventure continues.
I have been very sporadic in my Chekov and 100 objects readings, so I won't report on them this visit. (I did finish Vol. 3 of Chekov though). I'm not giving up, however, and will try to get back into the habit.
On to the books:
94arubabookwoman
Off My Shelf
20. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehesi Coates ( 2015 155 pp
This is a long essay in the form of a letter to his teenage son about what it means to be Black in America. A lot of people on LT read it shortly after it was published in 2015 and loved it. I've only just gotten around to reading it, and I feel so much has happened since it was originally published--so many more deaths at the hands of the police (as I write this closing arguments are ongoing in the Derek Chauvin murder trial), as well as the explosion of the Black Lives Matter Movement--that the book almost feels dated.
While I'm glad I finally got around to reading this, I didn't personally connect with Coates's writing style. I expected clarity of style, but found that Coates writes in a literary/poetic style that to me felt forced and unnatural, and did not particularly illuminate his topic or the points he was trying to make. I frequently found myself having to reread to get his point. I know that this book was not intended to be nonfiction in the sense that of informing an audience of facts, but a letter to his son, and hence bound to be emotional. However, I guess I was looking for nonfiction in the conventional sense when I chose to read this book, and I think his message got a bit bogged down in his prose style.
3 stars
20. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehesi Coates ( 2015 155 pp
This is a long essay in the form of a letter to his teenage son about what it means to be Black in America. A lot of people on LT read it shortly after it was published in 2015 and loved it. I've only just gotten around to reading it, and I feel so much has happened since it was originally published--so many more deaths at the hands of the police (as I write this closing arguments are ongoing in the Derek Chauvin murder trial), as well as the explosion of the Black Lives Matter Movement--that the book almost feels dated.
While I'm glad I finally got around to reading this, I didn't personally connect with Coates's writing style. I expected clarity of style, but found that Coates writes in a literary/poetic style that to me felt forced and unnatural, and did not particularly illuminate his topic or the points he was trying to make. I frequently found myself having to reread to get his point. I know that this book was not intended to be nonfiction in the sense that of informing an audience of facts, but a letter to his son, and hence bound to be emotional. However, I guess I was looking for nonfiction in the conventional sense when I chose to read this book, and I think his message got a bit bogged down in his prose style.
3 stars
95arubabookwoman
Library Book
21. Conspiracy in the Streets by Jon Weiner (2006) 304 pp
This is the book on which the excellent Netflix docu-drama about the Trial of the Chicago 7 is based, and I wanted to read it after watching that film (highly recommended). While the book is informative, it does not provide much more detail or depth than you could glean from watching the movie or living through the events and reading daily news reports (as I did).
The book begins with a brief introduction including thumbnail sketches of the major players, as well as a very brief sketch of the time period--1969--to provide context: the anti-war movement, the Black Panthers, the youth counter-culture, etc. There is a chronology of the 4 days of the Democratic Convention over which the alleged "riots" took place, and a longer, although barebones, chronology of the major events of 1967-75, including the trial, the appeals, the course of the Vietnam War, and Watergate. We also learn what happened to each of the defendants after the trial.
The bulk of the book consists of verbatim excerpts from the transcript of the trial. This is only about 190 pages out of about 22,000 pages of trial transcript. Most of the excerpts are short snippets of some of the more lurid and/or egregious events during the trial. Nevertheless, these excerpts make for very interesting reading, and there's quite a bit that wasn't included in the film. Many celebrities, including Judy Collins, Allen Ginsberg, Arlo Guthrie and Norman Mailer testified.
To be clear, the book is exactly what is is advertised to be: a limited but accurate description of the parties involved, a description of the context in which the trial took place, including the legal issues at stake, and excerpts giving a feel for what went on during the trial. Nothing stellar or exceptional here, but it does the job.
3 stars
21. Conspiracy in the Streets by Jon Weiner (2006) 304 pp
This is the book on which the excellent Netflix docu-drama about the Trial of the Chicago 7 is based, and I wanted to read it after watching that film (highly recommended). While the book is informative, it does not provide much more detail or depth than you could glean from watching the movie or living through the events and reading daily news reports (as I did).
The book begins with a brief introduction including thumbnail sketches of the major players, as well as a very brief sketch of the time period--1969--to provide context: the anti-war movement, the Black Panthers, the youth counter-culture, etc. There is a chronology of the 4 days of the Democratic Convention over which the alleged "riots" took place, and a longer, although barebones, chronology of the major events of 1967-75, including the trial, the appeals, the course of the Vietnam War, and Watergate. We also learn what happened to each of the defendants after the trial.
The bulk of the book consists of verbatim excerpts from the transcript of the trial. This is only about 190 pages out of about 22,000 pages of trial transcript. Most of the excerpts are short snippets of some of the more lurid and/or egregious events during the trial. Nevertheless, these excerpts make for very interesting reading, and there's quite a bit that wasn't included in the film. Many celebrities, including Judy Collins, Allen Ginsberg, Arlo Guthrie and Norman Mailer testified.
To be clear, the book is exactly what is is advertised to be: a limited but accurate description of the parties involved, a description of the context in which the trial took place, including the legal issues at stake, and excerpts giving a feel for what went on during the trial. Nothing stellar or exceptional here, but it does the job.
3 stars
96arubabookwoman
Off My Shelf
22. A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr (1980) 106 pp
This short novella was the Litsy NYRB Book Club book for February.
World War I veteran Tom Birkin arrives in the village of Oxgodby shortly after the war's end. He has been hired to restore (uncover) a recently discovered medieval wall painting in the village church. His wife has left him, and he is suffering from the trauma of the war, although he was not physically wounded. Over the course of a summer, as he takes part in village activities, befriends a fellow veteran, and has a brief, barely there, flirtation with the pastor's wife, he heals.
This was a book I fully expected to love, based on positive reviews and the recommendations of readers I respect. I found it to be competent, but a bit overhyped. The book just didn't particularly shine for me. And I know that the narrator is supposedly looking back from old age into the summer of 1920 when the events depicted took place, but I often did not have the feeling that I was in 1920, viewing things through a 1920 lens. Rather than feeling like real experiences, it felt imagined, and I often just that a modern person is telling me what he thought it was like. Not sure this makes sense. I guess I just mean to say that the book didn't engulf me with its reality.
3 stars.
22. A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr (1980) 106 pp
This short novella was the Litsy NYRB Book Club book for February.
World War I veteran Tom Birkin arrives in the village of Oxgodby shortly after the war's end. He has been hired to restore (uncover) a recently discovered medieval wall painting in the village church. His wife has left him, and he is suffering from the trauma of the war, although he was not physically wounded. Over the course of a summer, as he takes part in village activities, befriends a fellow veteran, and has a brief, barely there, flirtation with the pastor's wife, he heals.
This was a book I fully expected to love, based on positive reviews and the recommendations of readers I respect. I found it to be competent, but a bit overhyped. The book just didn't particularly shine for me. And I know that the narrator is supposedly looking back from old age into the summer of 1920 when the events depicted took place, but I often did not have the feeling that I was in 1920, viewing things through a 1920 lens. Rather than feeling like real experiences, it felt imagined, and I often just that a modern person is telling me what he thought it was like. Not sure this makes sense. I guess I just mean to say that the book didn't engulf me with its reality.
3 stars.
97rocketjk
>95 arubabookwoman: I, too, have what seem like pretty clear memories of those days, although from a relatively young age (I was 13 in 1968). I also enjoyed the HBO movie on the Chicago 7, though while watching it I assumed that liberties were being taken with events, as I always do with biopics and their equivalents. I am interested to know how accurately the movie portrays the relationship between Hayden and Hoffman. I have Hayden's book, Trial, on my history shelf. I will get to that one one of these days!
98arubabookwoman
Off My Kindle
23. The Tunnels of Cu Chi by Tom Mangold (1985) 353 pp
Subtitle: A Harrowing Account of America's "Tunnel Rats" in the Underground Battlefields of Vietnam
"Not only were they confronting an army of moles, but they had to deal with them in mole holes, perhaps the most extraordinary battleground the American soldier would ever encounter."
During the Vietnam War American soldiers would be amazed that the Viet Cong could appear, engage in fire, and then fade away. This was due in large part to the networks of underground tunnels in which they hid, and even lived, sometimes for years at a time. In the Cu Chi area, which is a far suburb of Saigon, the tunnels were part of a complex of tunnels stretching from Saigon to near the Cambodian border. There were hundreds of miles of tunnels, connecting villages, serving as storage for weapons caches as well as providing hiding places for the soldiers. Some of the tunnels contained hospital wards and even operating rooms. There were workshops to build booby traps and other weapons. There were conference rooms and entertainments stages. (One chapter of the book reports on a North Vietnamese troupe of entertainers who lived in the tunnels in the south for years, entertaining the soldiers.)
Many of the tunnels were built during the time of the struggles with the French, and by the time the Americans arrived in 1965 there were more than 200 kms of tunnels. At first, the Americans discovered, and attempted to destroy the tunnels on an ad hoc basis. Soon, however, the need for a better strategy arose, and the "tunnel rats," a all-volunteer group of soldiers, was formed. They were charged with entering the tunnels when they were found, routing out inhabitants of the tunnels, and destroying the tunnels. Much easier said than done.
The tunnels had evolved as a natural response of poorly equipped guerillas facing a technologically superior enemy. The CuChi tunnels were in a free fire zone near a major US base, and were used for infiltrating Saigon. The Tet Offensive was planned and executed from these tunnels.
The book is told from both sides, primarily through interviews and descriptions of those who experienced the tunnels, on both sides of the conflict. There is almost more information from the North Vietnamese point of view than the American, since many of the American tunnel rats were reluctant to discuss their experiences. This was a fascinating read, and it definitely gives one a clear sense of why the United States could never have won the Vietnam War.
3 stars
23. The Tunnels of Cu Chi by Tom Mangold (1985) 353 pp
Subtitle: A Harrowing Account of America's "Tunnel Rats" in the Underground Battlefields of Vietnam
"Not only were they confronting an army of moles, but they had to deal with them in mole holes, perhaps the most extraordinary battleground the American soldier would ever encounter."
During the Vietnam War American soldiers would be amazed that the Viet Cong could appear, engage in fire, and then fade away. This was due in large part to the networks of underground tunnels in which they hid, and even lived, sometimes for years at a time. In the Cu Chi area, which is a far suburb of Saigon, the tunnels were part of a complex of tunnels stretching from Saigon to near the Cambodian border. There were hundreds of miles of tunnels, connecting villages, serving as storage for weapons caches as well as providing hiding places for the soldiers. Some of the tunnels contained hospital wards and even operating rooms. There were workshops to build booby traps and other weapons. There were conference rooms and entertainments stages. (One chapter of the book reports on a North Vietnamese troupe of entertainers who lived in the tunnels in the south for years, entertaining the soldiers.)
Many of the tunnels were built during the time of the struggles with the French, and by the time the Americans arrived in 1965 there were more than 200 kms of tunnels. At first, the Americans discovered, and attempted to destroy the tunnels on an ad hoc basis. Soon, however, the need for a better strategy arose, and the "tunnel rats," a all-volunteer group of soldiers, was formed. They were charged with entering the tunnels when they were found, routing out inhabitants of the tunnels, and destroying the tunnels. Much easier said than done.
The tunnels had evolved as a natural response of poorly equipped guerillas facing a technologically superior enemy. The CuChi tunnels were in a free fire zone near a major US base, and were used for infiltrating Saigon. The Tet Offensive was planned and executed from these tunnels.
The book is told from both sides, primarily through interviews and descriptions of those who experienced the tunnels, on both sides of the conflict. There is almost more information from the North Vietnamese point of view than the American, since many of the American tunnel rats were reluctant to discuss their experiences. This was a fascinating read, and it definitely gives one a clear sense of why the United States could never have won the Vietnam War.
3 stars
99NanaCC
>98 arubabookwoman: Cu Chi was an area that my husband spent quite a bit of time in when he was serving in Vietnam. His description of those tunnels was scary.
100arubabookwoman
>97 rocketjk: Hi Jerry. I don't know about the relationship between Hoffman and Rubin, which I am sure evolved over time and went through phases. I'll look for Haydn's book. On the whole, I think the major facts in the movie, and book, are true, although as I said they chose the most lurid and controversial points of the trial to dramatize. I'm sure there were a lot of very boring trial days.
From the news report at the time, I remember being outraged by many of the judge's rulings. However, at the time, I don't recall any hint that the judge was anything but a very conservative, perhaps reactionary judge. In the movie, there are definite hints that he was senile, and definitely vindictive.
>99 NanaCC: Hi Colleen. Wow! I'm sure the descriptions were indeed very scary! I can't imagine having the job of a tunnel rat: going into a dark confined underground space where people are hiding to throw a bomb at you or shoot you.
From the news report at the time, I remember being outraged by many of the judge's rulings. However, at the time, I don't recall any hint that the judge was anything but a very conservative, perhaps reactionary judge. In the movie, there are definite hints that he was senile, and definitely vindictive.
>99 NanaCC: Hi Colleen. Wow! I'm sure the descriptions were indeed very scary! I can't imagine having the job of a tunnel rat: going into a dark confined underground space where people are hiding to throw a bomb at you or shoot you.
101arubabookwoman
Off My Shelf
24. The Lady with the Lapdog and Other Stories by Anton Chekov
See >70 arubabookwoman: for report on most of the stories in this book. I have a couple of more to report on, which I will do in my next Chekov post, whenever that comes.
24. The Lady with the Lapdog and Other Stories by Anton Chekov
See >70 arubabookwoman: for report on most of the stories in this book. I have a couple of more to report on, which I will do in my next Chekov post, whenever that comes.
102arubabookwoman
Off My Kindle
25. The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas (1957) 226 pp
"Now it is Night.
"What can you do when everyone around you is strong and clever?
"Will never know."
Mentally deficient Mattis lives in a cottage by a lake with his sister Hege who supports them by knitting. She occasionally sends Mattis out in search of work as a farm hand, which he dreads because he knows he is different, and will not perform up to par, no matter how hard he tries. He frequently feels people are laughing at him.
One day Hege suggests, and Mattis agrees, that he work as a ferryman on the lake. He begins to spend his days at "work" in his rowboat on the lake, although there are never any passengers. Until one day there is. Mattis ferries Jorgen, a lumberjack, across the lake, and Jorgen becomes a boarder with Hege and Mattis. Soon Mattis begins to fear he will lose Hege to Jorgen.
This entire beautiful novel is narrated from the pov of Mattis, and Vesaas does a masterful job of channeling the mind of someone who sees the world in an entirely different way than most people. We see all Mattis's thoughts, experience nature through him, as well as sensing scorn from other people. I loved this book. Recommended for all.
4 1/2 stars
25. The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas (1957) 226 pp
"Now it is Night.
"What can you do when everyone around you is strong and clever?
"Will never know."
Mentally deficient Mattis lives in a cottage by a lake with his sister Hege who supports them by knitting. She occasionally sends Mattis out in search of work as a farm hand, which he dreads because he knows he is different, and will not perform up to par, no matter how hard he tries. He frequently feels people are laughing at him.
One day Hege suggests, and Mattis agrees, that he work as a ferryman on the lake. He begins to spend his days at "work" in his rowboat on the lake, although there are never any passengers. Until one day there is. Mattis ferries Jorgen, a lumberjack, across the lake, and Jorgen becomes a boarder with Hege and Mattis. Soon Mattis begins to fear he will lose Hege to Jorgen.
This entire beautiful novel is narrated from the pov of Mattis, and Vesaas does a masterful job of channeling the mind of someone who sees the world in an entirely different way than most people. We see all Mattis's thoughts, experience nature through him, as well as sensing scorn from other people. I loved this book. Recommended for all.
4 1/2 stars
103BLBera
>102 arubabookwoman: this sounds wonderful, Deborah. It definitely goes on my list.
You are doing great at reading from your shelves. I started off well but got distracted by those shiny new library books...
Too bad your other reading has been OK, not stellar.
I appreciated your comments on the Coates book. I've started it a couple of times and never got very far. He certainly doesn't compare to Baldwin, which was my point of reference.
You are doing great at reading from your shelves. I started off well but got distracted by those shiny new library books...
Too bad your other reading has been OK, not stellar.
I appreciated your comments on the Coates book. I've started it a couple of times and never got very far. He certainly doesn't compare to Baldwin, which was my point of reference.
104arubabookwoman
And with that, I am up to March.
Off My Kindle
26. Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody (1968) 434 pp
This is an unforgettable and powerful autobiography of growing up poor and black in rural Mississippi. Anne Moody was born into poverty in rural Wilkinson County Mississippi in 1940. She got her first job at 9 years old. A few weeks before she entered high school, Emmet Till was murdered a few towns down the road. "Before Emmet Till's murder, I had known the fear of hunger, hell, and the Devil. But now there was a new fear known to me--the fear of being killed just because I was black." "But I didn't know what one had to do or not do as a Negro not to be killed."
In high school she learned it was dangerous to even ask what the NAACP was. Nevertheless, after graduation she attended a black college and began participating in civil rights organizing activities. She participated in the first lunch counter sit-ins in Jackson, and she also participated in voter registration efforts. Her family begged her to stop her activities, telling her she was trying to get every Negro in her town murdered. Wilkinson County where she was born and raised was considered too "tough" at the time for organizers to tackle. Members of her family were in fact murdered, and she learned that she herself was on a KKK hit list.
She was at the rally after which Medgar Evers was assassinated. The book ends in 1964, when she is on a bus on the way to DC to attend Congressional hearings and attend a rally with Martin Luther King. The people on the bus are singing "We shall overcome," and Anne ends the book, "I WONDER. I REALLY WONDER." The book was written in 1968, when she was only 28. I finished the book hungering for more information about her life, and I learned a bit from Wikipedia, but unfortunately she did not write another book.
This book brought home to me in a way that was personal and visceral the dangers faced by those working in the civil rights movement in the south in the 1960's, and the atrocities of the Jim Crow era. I knew it was bad, but it was so much worse that I imagined, and I admire these heroes so much. Senator Ted Kennedy called it, "A history of our time seen from the bottom up." Everyone should read this book.
5 stars
A personal note. Anne was born and raised in Wilkinson County Mississippi, where the towns of Woodville and Centreville are located. I have family ties in the area. My grandparents lived across the border from Wilkinson County in Louisiana, West Feliciana Parish. Neither my parents or I have ever lived there, but we visited every few years from Aruba, including during the mid-1960's when all this was going on. I had no idea at the time--I was young, but still.
As it turned out, my husband and I got married by a Justice of the Peace in Woodville Mississippi. We were students in New Orleans, and were going to get married while my parents would be visiting in the US for a few weeks so they could attend our wedding. However, when we went to get the Louisiana marriage license, the state needed my birth certificate, which was in Aruba, and in Dutch, and we couldn't get it in time to coincide with my parents' visit. So we got the marriage license in Mississippi, where you needed nothing, and got married there. It was just a short drive from my grandparents' house.
And in 1961 my aunt married a man from Woodville. Her husband, my uncle, was born, like Anne Moody, in 1940. He graduated from high school in Woodville, like Anne Moody, though they went to so-called "separate but equal" segregated schools. I can't help but wonder if he or his friends were among the white high school boys who taunted the black high school girls. There certainly didn't seem to be any sympathetic white people in those towns at that time. The fact that I know these places made this book all the more horrifying and powerful for me.
Off My Kindle
26. Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody (1968) 434 pp
This is an unforgettable and powerful autobiography of growing up poor and black in rural Mississippi. Anne Moody was born into poverty in rural Wilkinson County Mississippi in 1940. She got her first job at 9 years old. A few weeks before she entered high school, Emmet Till was murdered a few towns down the road. "Before Emmet Till's murder, I had known the fear of hunger, hell, and the Devil. But now there was a new fear known to me--the fear of being killed just because I was black." "But I didn't know what one had to do or not do as a Negro not to be killed."
In high school she learned it was dangerous to even ask what the NAACP was. Nevertheless, after graduation she attended a black college and began participating in civil rights organizing activities. She participated in the first lunch counter sit-ins in Jackson, and she also participated in voter registration efforts. Her family begged her to stop her activities, telling her she was trying to get every Negro in her town murdered. Wilkinson County where she was born and raised was considered too "tough" at the time for organizers to tackle. Members of her family were in fact murdered, and she learned that she herself was on a KKK hit list.
She was at the rally after which Medgar Evers was assassinated. The book ends in 1964, when she is on a bus on the way to DC to attend Congressional hearings and attend a rally with Martin Luther King. The people on the bus are singing "We shall overcome," and Anne ends the book, "I WONDER. I REALLY WONDER." The book was written in 1968, when she was only 28. I finished the book hungering for more information about her life, and I learned a bit from Wikipedia, but unfortunately she did not write another book.
This book brought home to me in a way that was personal and visceral the dangers faced by those working in the civil rights movement in the south in the 1960's, and the atrocities of the Jim Crow era. I knew it was bad, but it was so much worse that I imagined, and I admire these heroes so much. Senator Ted Kennedy called it, "A history of our time seen from the bottom up." Everyone should read this book.
5 stars
A personal note. Anne was born and raised in Wilkinson County Mississippi, where the towns of Woodville and Centreville are located. I have family ties in the area. My grandparents lived across the border from Wilkinson County in Louisiana, West Feliciana Parish. Neither my parents or I have ever lived there, but we visited every few years from Aruba, including during the mid-1960's when all this was going on. I had no idea at the time--I was young, but still.
As it turned out, my husband and I got married by a Justice of the Peace in Woodville Mississippi. We were students in New Orleans, and were going to get married while my parents would be visiting in the US for a few weeks so they could attend our wedding. However, when we went to get the Louisiana marriage license, the state needed my birth certificate, which was in Aruba, and in Dutch, and we couldn't get it in time to coincide with my parents' visit. So we got the marriage license in Mississippi, where you needed nothing, and got married there. It was just a short drive from my grandparents' house.
And in 1961 my aunt married a man from Woodville. Her husband, my uncle, was born, like Anne Moody, in 1940. He graduated from high school in Woodville, like Anne Moody, though they went to so-called "separate but equal" segregated schools. I can't help but wonder if he or his friends were among the white high school boys who taunted the black high school girls. There certainly didn't seem to be any sympathetic white people in those towns at that time. The fact that I know these places made this book all the more horrifying and powerful for me.
105arubabookwoman
>103 BLBera: Hi Beth. If you've never read anything by Vesaas you are in for a treat. I also loved his book The Ice Palace.
Re the Coates book, I had to force myself to keep reading it. I was so disappointed, as many people on LT gave it high ratings. I haven't read Baldwin in years, and I think I've only read his fiction. Is there a particular NF by him you would recommend?
Re the Coates book, I had to force myself to keep reading it. I was so disappointed, as many people on LT gave it high ratings. I haven't read Baldwin in years, and I think I've only read his fiction. Is there a particular NF by him you would recommend?
106arubabookwoman
Library Book
27. Lineup by Liad Shoham (2013) 320 pp
A young woman is raped. A few days later, her father who is sitting in his car outside her apartment "guarding" her, notices a suspicious man lurking between parked cars. Convinced this is the rapist, the father follows the man, learns his address, and surreptitiously takes his photograph. Using the photo, the man convinces his daughter that the man is the rapist. The police arrest the man after the young woman picks him out of a lineup, having been coached by her father.
Of course, the arrested man is not the rapist, but for reasons that become clear over the course of the novel he cannot account for his presence lurking on the street near the victims apartment. Ultimately, however, the rape charge is dropped, since once the police become aware that the daughter's lineup identification was defective, there is no other evidence. But once released, the arrested man will have to contend with some very bad guys who fear he may have revealed to the police the reason he was lurking on that street.
For the first two-thirds this Israeli thriller is a page-turner--a well-plotted police procedural. Then it simply falls apart. It is as if having set up the device of "an innocent man arrested" the author suddenly realizes once the innocent man is off the hook, he's got to come up with someone somewhere to actually be the rapist. So he just pulls one out of the blue. That really didn't make sense.
In addition, the author also seems to suddenly remember he has to resolve the issues surrounding the arrested man's refusal to tell the police why he was lurking on the victim's street, which, SPOILER ALERT, is going to involve an additional crime. Now, this additional crime was a pretty bad one, certainly one deserving of punishment. But the author seems to feel that the man wrongfully arrested for the rape deserves a happy ending. So not only does he get off for the crimes he was engaged in while lurking, his wife, who had divorced him, comes back and they all live happily ever after, and all the other bad guys die excruciating deaths. I found the last third of the book, as the author was attempting to resolve all the issues he created to be bizarrely unbelievable.
Not recommended.
2 stars
27. Lineup by Liad Shoham (2013) 320 pp
A young woman is raped. A few days later, her father who is sitting in his car outside her apartment "guarding" her, notices a suspicious man lurking between parked cars. Convinced this is the rapist, the father follows the man, learns his address, and surreptitiously takes his photograph. Using the photo, the man convinces his daughter that the man is the rapist. The police arrest the man after the young woman picks him out of a lineup, having been coached by her father.
Of course, the arrested man is not the rapist, but for reasons that become clear over the course of the novel he cannot account for his presence lurking on the street near the victims apartment. Ultimately, however, the rape charge is dropped, since once the police become aware that the daughter's lineup identification was defective, there is no other evidence. But once released, the arrested man will have to contend with some very bad guys who fear he may have revealed to the police the reason he was lurking on that street.
For the first two-thirds this Israeli thriller is a page-turner--a well-plotted police procedural. Then it simply falls apart. It is as if having set up the device of "an innocent man arrested" the author suddenly realizes once the innocent man is off the hook, he's got to come up with someone somewhere to actually be the rapist. So he just pulls one out of the blue. That really didn't make sense.
In addition, the author also seems to suddenly remember he has to resolve the issues surrounding the arrested man's refusal to tell the police why he was lurking on the victim's street, which, SPOILER ALERT, is going to involve an additional crime. Now, this additional crime was a pretty bad one, certainly one deserving of punishment. But the author seems to feel that the man wrongfully arrested for the rape deserves a happy ending. So not only does he get off for the crimes he was engaged in while lurking, his wife, who had divorced him, comes back and they all live happily ever after, and all the other bad guys die excruciating deaths. I found the last third of the book, as the author was attempting to resolve all the issues he created to be bizarrely unbelievable.
Not recommended.
2 stars
107arubabookwoman
Library Book
28. The Survivors by Jane Harper (2021) 314 pp
Harper is pretty hit or miss for me. Of the 3 I've read, I really liked 1, liked 1, and disliked 1. A large part of the appeal to me is the outback Australia settings. This book has a different setting, a Tasmanian beach town where the ocean is cool and treacherous, but I really enjoyed the setting here too. Unfortunately, the mystery is substandard, and the solution is facile and unbelievable, so this is not one I recommend.
Kieran, his wife Mia and their infant daughter have returned to Evelyn Bay, their hometown, to help Kieran's parents, who must move due to his father's worsening dementia, pack up. Early on we learn that Kieran's older brother and another man had died in a tragic accident during a severe storm 12 years previously, an accident for which Kieran blames himself and for which some people in town also blame him. During the same storm, Mia's best friend Gabby, then 14, also went missing. Gabby's body was never found, but her backpack washed up on shore and she was presumed drowned.
When Bronte, a waitress (and artist) is found murdered a few days after Kieran and Mia return to town, we can assume that the murder and the mysterious events in the storm 12 years previously are going to be connected in some way.
I originally planned to put in this review why the solution here is so stupid, but I won't. If you want to know, I can write it in a PM. Suffice it to say, the actions and motivations the author relies on as the solution to the mystery are not credible or believable, and as a motive for murder simply underwhelming. For me, this is a fail.
2 stars
28. The Survivors by Jane Harper (2021) 314 pp
Harper is pretty hit or miss for me. Of the 3 I've read, I really liked 1, liked 1, and disliked 1. A large part of the appeal to me is the outback Australia settings. This book has a different setting, a Tasmanian beach town where the ocean is cool and treacherous, but I really enjoyed the setting here too. Unfortunately, the mystery is substandard, and the solution is facile and unbelievable, so this is not one I recommend.
Kieran, his wife Mia and their infant daughter have returned to Evelyn Bay, their hometown, to help Kieran's parents, who must move due to his father's worsening dementia, pack up. Early on we learn that Kieran's older brother and another man had died in a tragic accident during a severe storm 12 years previously, an accident for which Kieran blames himself and for which some people in town also blame him. During the same storm, Mia's best friend Gabby, then 14, also went missing. Gabby's body was never found, but her backpack washed up on shore and she was presumed drowned.
When Bronte, a waitress (and artist) is found murdered a few days after Kieran and Mia return to town, we can assume that the murder and the mysterious events in the storm 12 years previously are going to be connected in some way.
I originally planned to put in this review why the solution here is so stupid, but I won't. If you want to know, I can write it in a PM. Suffice it to say, the actions and motivations the author relies on as the solution to the mystery are not credible or believable, and as a motive for murder simply underwhelming. For me, this is a fail.
2 stars
108japaul22
I looked up Coming of Age in Mississippi and it was very inexpensive for kindle, so I picked it up. Thank you for the review!
I felt the same as you about the Ta-Nehesi Coates book. It was too lyrical for the topic in my mind. I also LOVE Tarjei Vesaas. But, unlike you, I was one that absolutely loved A Month in the Country.
I felt the same as you about the Ta-Nehesi Coates book. It was too lyrical for the topic in my mind. I also LOVE Tarjei Vesaas. But, unlike you, I was one that absolutely loved A Month in the Country.
109arubabookwoman
Library Book
29. The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada (2019) 95 pp
The factory is a sprawling institution in a parklike setting in an unnamed Japanese town at which many of the townspeople work. This novella follows three workers who are hired at the factory at about the same time. Yoshiko is a college graduate, but this is her fifth job, which doesn't bode well for her career path. Instead of a permanent position, she is offered a contract position in "staff support." She will spend her days shredding paper. ("document destruction). Furfue was a post-grad student studying mosses when his faculty advisor practically forces him to take a position at the factory. He is hired to convert the roofs of all the buildings at the factory into "green roofs," something he insists he knows nothing about. He advises his superiors that he only knows how to classify mosses, and doesn't know any practicalities. He is told to take his time and learn. He is the only employee in his department, and spends his days walking around the campus identifying different mosses. He is well-compensated. The final employee we meet is a temporary employee in the document division whose job is to proof read documents. The documents are inane, don't appear to relate to anything (no one knows what the factory makes) but the job must be done.
Although Kafkaesque and absurdist, this is all related in a straightforward manner, at least until the end. I actually quite enjoyed this.
Some quotes:
"Maybe it's not such a bad thing to have a job you can master from the first day."
"From my second day on the job,...I never had to use a single brain cell."
"Who wrote this stuff? For what audience? To what end? Why does it need to be proofread at all? If these are all factory documents, what the hell is the factory? What's it making? I thought I knew before, but once I started working here, I realized I had no idea. What kind of factory is this?"
3 stars
Will have to stop here for the day. Only 3 more books to go before I catch up with March though.
29. The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada (2019) 95 pp
The factory is a sprawling institution in a parklike setting in an unnamed Japanese town at which many of the townspeople work. This novella follows three workers who are hired at the factory at about the same time. Yoshiko is a college graduate, but this is her fifth job, which doesn't bode well for her career path. Instead of a permanent position, she is offered a contract position in "staff support." She will spend her days shredding paper. ("document destruction). Furfue was a post-grad student studying mosses when his faculty advisor practically forces him to take a position at the factory. He is hired to convert the roofs of all the buildings at the factory into "green roofs," something he insists he knows nothing about. He advises his superiors that he only knows how to classify mosses, and doesn't know any practicalities. He is told to take his time and learn. He is the only employee in his department, and spends his days walking around the campus identifying different mosses. He is well-compensated. The final employee we meet is a temporary employee in the document division whose job is to proof read documents. The documents are inane, don't appear to relate to anything (no one knows what the factory makes) but the job must be done.
Although Kafkaesque and absurdist, this is all related in a straightforward manner, at least until the end. I actually quite enjoyed this.
Some quotes:
"Maybe it's not such a bad thing to have a job you can master from the first day."
"From my second day on the job,...I never had to use a single brain cell."
"Who wrote this stuff? For what audience? To what end? Why does it need to be proofread at all? If these are all factory documents, what the hell is the factory? What's it making? I thought I knew before, but once I started working here, I realized I had no idea. What kind of factory is this?"
3 stars
Will have to stop here for the day. Only 3 more books to go before I catch up with March though.
110arubabookwoman
>108 japaul22: Hi Jennifer--I think that's how I acquired Coming of Age in Mississippi--cheap Kindle deal. But I'm very glad I did. And I waited several years, maybe 6 or 7 years before finally reading it. I hope you don't wait that long!
And I'm glad I'm not the only one to have that reaction to Between the World and Me. I was almost afraid to write the review, it seems so universally loved.
And I'm glad I'm not the only one to have that reaction to Between the World and Me. I was almost afraid to write the review, it seems so universally loved.
111LolaWalser
>110 arubabookwoman:
Speaking as someone who was deeply struck and moved by Coates' book... I find "loved" a strange term to apply to a book like that. It's not an exercise in pretty creative writing and it's not a journalistic piece either such as Coates wrote for The Atlantic, generically it is closest to a polemic and a manifesto--it's emotional, impassioned, devastated and devastating. I think whites ought to feel pain reading that book, I think it should hurt us, tear at us, make us profoundly uncomfortable. So, "loving" it or not is IMO beside the point.
It's been years since I read it but, for instance, I feel like a scar one memory of it, an instance when Coates writes of what black bodies are subject to, even such helpless small bodies like that of his five-year-old son--this is not something that's somehow better expressed packaged as reportage, as data, as "racist incident number so-and-so". At the same time, he isn't fictionalising it, he is telling us what happened to him and his son, and he shows his pain and fury as he well should and as whites should feel too.
Baldwin is the more gifted writer but the point is that Coates is speaking now, to us his contemporaries, in our moment, about what is happening right now, in our streets. He's not in a literary or intellectual contest with Baldwin and, frankly, it seems to me that any such focus serves only to abstract the problem and distract white consciences from what he is shouting at us about what we are doing now.
Speaking as someone who was deeply struck and moved by Coates' book... I find "loved" a strange term to apply to a book like that. It's not an exercise in pretty creative writing and it's not a journalistic piece either such as Coates wrote for The Atlantic, generically it is closest to a polemic and a manifesto--it's emotional, impassioned, devastated and devastating. I think whites ought to feel pain reading that book, I think it should hurt us, tear at us, make us profoundly uncomfortable. So, "loving" it or not is IMO beside the point.
It's been years since I read it but, for instance, I feel like a scar one memory of it, an instance when Coates writes of what black bodies are subject to, even such helpless small bodies like that of his five-year-old son--this is not something that's somehow better expressed packaged as reportage, as data, as "racist incident number so-and-so". At the same time, he isn't fictionalising it, he is telling us what happened to him and his son, and he shows his pain and fury as he well should and as whites should feel too.
Baldwin is the more gifted writer but the point is that Coates is speaking now, to us his contemporaries, in our moment, about what is happening right now, in our streets. He's not in a literary or intellectual contest with Baldwin and, frankly, it seems to me that any such focus serves only to abstract the problem and distract white consciences from what he is shouting at us about what we are doing now.
112dchaikin
I think you took down a couple semi-classics. Coming of Age in Mississippi and The Birds sound terrific. Enjoyed these (thanks Dulci)
Eta - i don’t remember this Coates enough but it seems i saw a little of the different perspectives here. I did like how this book was in dialogue with Baldwin, especially The Fire Next Time. And, Deborah, that’s the nonfiction Baldwin to read, if you only read one (but you won’t get a sense of the special fiction writer he was from his essays.)
Eta - i don’t remember this Coates enough but it seems i saw a little of the different perspectives here. I did like how this book was in dialogue with Baldwin, especially The Fire Next Time. And, Deborah, that’s the nonfiction Baldwin to read, if you only read one (but you won’t get a sense of the special fiction writer he was from his essays.)
113BLBera
The Fire Next Time is the collection of Baldwin essays that I have most recently read, Deborah. Did you read We Were Eight Years in Power? I loved that one; I think I was expecting more along those lines in Between the World and Me. What's also interesting about Coates' essay collection is that you can see him improve as a writer over the years. The last essays are so much better than the first ones.
114arubabookwoman
>111 LolaWalser: Hi Lola. You are right-"love" is the wrong word. I meant to say that it is highly rated on LT, most readers had very positive reactions to it, and many, like you, were deeply moved by it.
I agree whites "ought" to feel pain and devastation and be uncomfortable on reading about the black experience in America. I agree on moral grounds, but I also have personal reasons for expecting to connect to this book. One of my daughters is married to a Filipino, and their children, my grandchildren, are dark-complexioned. I have no doubt that in a few years, when they are teenagers, if they were to be pulled over for failure to put on their turn signal, or whatever, to a white policeman they would look the same and be treated the same as Ta-Nehisi's son.
My lukewarm reaction to the book had nothing to do with the black experience, or my failure to recognize the author's obvious love for his son.
It may have been a matter of having the wrong expectations about it, since I did expect something more in the nature of narrative nonfiction. But my main issue was that his prose didn't work for me. I don't think I'm a particularly unsophisticated reader, but I found myself constantly having to reread sentences or whole paragraphs to understand what he was trying to say.
About the same time I read Coates's book, I also read Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody, her autobiography about growing up poor and black in the south and her work in the early civil rights movement in Mississippi. Although she is describing experiences several decades prior to those in the Coates book, her book gave me a real gut punch, moved me to tears, devastated me and blew me away in a way that Coates's book did not.
But we all have different life experiences and are all different readers, so we can't all have the same reaction to every book. I definitely respect you and the other readers who were so moved by the book, but it was not a book that had that effect on me. I know I am an outlier in this.
I agree whites "ought" to feel pain and devastation and be uncomfortable on reading about the black experience in America. I agree on moral grounds, but I also have personal reasons for expecting to connect to this book. One of my daughters is married to a Filipino, and their children, my grandchildren, are dark-complexioned. I have no doubt that in a few years, when they are teenagers, if they were to be pulled over for failure to put on their turn signal, or whatever, to a white policeman they would look the same and be treated the same as Ta-Nehisi's son.
My lukewarm reaction to the book had nothing to do with the black experience, or my failure to recognize the author's obvious love for his son.
It may have been a matter of having the wrong expectations about it, since I did expect something more in the nature of narrative nonfiction. But my main issue was that his prose didn't work for me. I don't think I'm a particularly unsophisticated reader, but I found myself constantly having to reread sentences or whole paragraphs to understand what he was trying to say.
About the same time I read Coates's book, I also read Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody, her autobiography about growing up poor and black in the south and her work in the early civil rights movement in Mississippi. Although she is describing experiences several decades prior to those in the Coates book, her book gave me a real gut punch, moved me to tears, devastated me and blew me away in a way that Coates's book did not.
But we all have different life experiences and are all different readers, so we can't all have the same reaction to every book. I definitely respect you and the other readers who were so moved by the book, but it was not a book that had that effect on me. I know I am an outlier in this.
115arubabookwoman
>112 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan. I will look for The Fire Next Time.
>113 BLBera: Thanks Beth. See my response to Dan above, and I will also look for We Were Eight Years In Power.
>113 BLBera: Thanks Beth. See my response to Dan above, and I will also look for We Were Eight Years In Power.
116BLBera
>114 arubabookwoman: I really appreciate your thoughtful response, Deborah. The last two essays, especially, in We Were Eight Years in Power are great.
Coates actually is forcing the comparison to Baldwin because his Between the World and Me is a response to Baldwin's The Fire Next Time. And, of course, when an author does that, he runs the risk of being found lacking.
Coates actually is forcing the comparison to Baldwin because his Between the World and Me is a response to Baldwin's The Fire Next Time. And, of course, when an author does that, he runs the risk of being found lacking.
117LolaWalser
>114 arubabookwoman:
No problem, mainly I wanted to note the whys and wherefores of opposite experience (that is, one such, my own).
>116 BLBera:
Yes, Coates has mentioned often enough his debt to Baldwin and as I said above, I happen to find Coates lacking in comparison--generally speaking. But--and this is a somewhat subtle point that I'm afraid may get distorted if it appears insisted on*--certainly not in a degree that would warrant foregrounding that lack (supposed and subjective, in any case) when it comes to topics of such burning urgency as the ongoing racist injustices.
(*If I'm trying to explain it, which may come across as "insisting", it's not because I think someone is necessarily out to deliberately obscure and trivialise Coates' message.)
Baldwin's essays are superb and ought to be read and re-read, certainly. But the special import of Coates' book is that it comes from and in this, our moment. It means that we are STILL living in a society as racist as Baldwin's, and it's THIS that in reading Coates' book we must acknowledge, it's this we must face.
So, Baldwin's a better writer?--not something that's difficult to agree on. But what Baldwin can't tell me is that Coates' friend was killed for "driving while Black" by a cop barely a decade or so ago, or that Coates' five year old got shoved in his presence like a piece of furniture by some random white bitch recently enough for the memory to sting white hot at the time of publication. Not to mention all the accrued complexities in thinking about racism intersectionally, and the historic weight of the decades that are now between us and Baldwin's death (to say nothing of the Civil Rights era). My point is that, while Baldwin absolutely ought to be read, he can't be read INSTEAD of Coates. Which is what unqualified comparisons of the two seem to entail, logically.
I think that's twice I said the same things, so I hope I've been at least clearer. Sorry for taking so much space, Deborah. :)
No problem, mainly I wanted to note the whys and wherefores of opposite experience (that is, one such, my own).
>116 BLBera:
Yes, Coates has mentioned often enough his debt to Baldwin and as I said above, I happen to find Coates lacking in comparison--generally speaking. But--and this is a somewhat subtle point that I'm afraid may get distorted if it appears insisted on*--certainly not in a degree that would warrant foregrounding that lack (supposed and subjective, in any case) when it comes to topics of such burning urgency as the ongoing racist injustices.
(*If I'm trying to explain it, which may come across as "insisting", it's not because I think someone is necessarily out to deliberately obscure and trivialise Coates' message.)
Baldwin's essays are superb and ought to be read and re-read, certainly. But the special import of Coates' book is that it comes from and in this, our moment. It means that we are STILL living in a society as racist as Baldwin's, and it's THIS that in reading Coates' book we must acknowledge, it's this we must face.
So, Baldwin's a better writer?--not something that's difficult to agree on. But what Baldwin can't tell me is that Coates' friend was killed for "driving while Black" by a cop barely a decade or so ago, or that Coates' five year old got shoved in his presence like a piece of furniture by some random white bitch recently enough for the memory to sting white hot at the time of publication. Not to mention all the accrued complexities in thinking about racism intersectionally, and the historic weight of the decades that are now between us and Baldwin's death (to say nothing of the Civil Rights era). My point is that, while Baldwin absolutely ought to be read, he can't be read INSTEAD of Coates. Which is what unqualified comparisons of the two seem to entail, logically.
I think that's twice I said the same things, so I hope I've been at least clearer. Sorry for taking so much space, Deborah. :)
118avaland
Wow, Deborah I had a lot of catching up to do on your reading.
I didn't read any further in the Jane Harper books after the first one, which I liked well enough. Perhaps, I felt I had too many other fish to fry.
I didn't read any further in the Jane Harper books after the first one, which I liked well enough. Perhaps, I felt I had too many other fish to fry.
119markon
>102 arubabookwoman: Putting The birds by Vesaas on my wish list. It sounds as if I might like this author, not just this title.
>104 arubabookwoman: Glad you liked Anne Moody's Coming of age in Mississippi. I think it depicts the horrors of racism in the south AND the difficulties of fighting it in a visceral way. Your take is interesting because of your personal connection to the place as well.
As to the discussion of Coming of age and Between the world and me, thanks to both you and Lola for articulating/clarifying your points of view.
As an aside, I was astonished after reading the Moody's book several years ago (thanks to the controversy over The help) to discover that the urban library system in Georgia where I work had only one copy, and that one in awful shape. I was able to persuade my manager to get a new copy, and it is now available for purchase and at our library in electronic & audiobook as well as paper. (Not sure it was available in those formats when I read it.)
>104 arubabookwoman: Glad you liked Anne Moody's Coming of age in Mississippi. I think it depicts the horrors of racism in the south AND the difficulties of fighting it in a visceral way. Your take is interesting because of your personal connection to the place as well.
As to the discussion of Coming of age and Between the world and me, thanks to both you and Lola for articulating/clarifying your points of view.
As an aside, I was astonished after reading the Moody's book several years ago (thanks to the controversy over The help) to discover that the urban library system in Georgia where I work had only one copy, and that one in awful shape. I was able to persuade my manager to get a new copy, and it is now available for purchase and at our library in electronic & audiobook as well as paper. (Not sure it was available in those formats when I read it.)
120arubabookwoman
I've been gone ages. Life gets in the way of LT, but since it doesn't seem things are going to miraculously clear up, I might as well try to visit more regularly and plow on. I've read lots, so don't know how I'll do trying to catch up. I do the reviews mostly for me, because I find I remember books I've read so much better when I right something about them, and I occasionally enjoy looking back at what I wrote about a particular book years later.
Thank you all for visiting. >119 markon: The reason I bought Coming of Age in Mississippi in the first place was that I saw it described as an "antidote" to The Help, which I found fluffy and unrealistic. Since I read The Help when it was first published, you can see it took me years to get to.
Most of what's going on in my life relates to my husband's health. Although the transplant cured the cancer, 2 years post-transplant I think we are just going to have to accept that there will be continual ongoing health issues. Thankfully most are not life-threatening (just time-consuming). Dulci (the puppy) is still a lot of work. She is the fifth dog we have had in our married life (all raised from pups), and of all, the most demanding. She wants someone to be playing with her all her waking hours. I just wanted a lap dog. Oh well. She is settling down a bit.
The latest going on in our life is that after the bldg collapse in Surfside, our condo association decided to have a structural engineer inspect our building. We are an 11 story beachfront condo building built in the 1980's. In mid-July, the structural engineer found 6 of the building columns in severe distress, and deemed it an emergency, although evacuation was not required. The building has now been shored up, and repair work will begin soon. The association does not yet know the cost, but there will be a hefty special assessment to the condo owners to cover these costs. The issue of deferred maintenance in condos all over Florida is one that is now coming to the forefront. Condo owners all over, including, as we have found in our own building, have refused to do or put off necessary maintenance for years, and it's now time to pay the piper. We have had our eyes opened about condo living. One of the reasons we bought a condo was because we didn't want to have to maintain a house. In a condo, you have to drag 80 other owners along with you screaming and kicking to do necessary maintenance. Anyway, my husband is an architect, and the board here was floundering, and they have come to rely on his expertise and advice in these matters, so I think our condo is getting on the right track. However, once all these matters are resolved, I'm not sure how long we'll continue with condo living. Florida itself is getting to be a bit much. DeSantis is doing everything he can to extend the pandemic--he just mandated that schools can't require masks, and any school that does can lose its state funding. I don't think we'll head back to Seattle, but at some point we may move further north along the east coast.
Enough babbling. Let me discuss books. I'm going back to books read in March. I want to comment on all the books I've read (may take longer than today), so for some books I may only say a sentence or two.
Thank you all for visiting. >119 markon: The reason I bought Coming of Age in Mississippi in the first place was that I saw it described as an "antidote" to The Help, which I found fluffy and unrealistic. Since I read The Help when it was first published, you can see it took me years to get to.
Most of what's going on in my life relates to my husband's health. Although the transplant cured the cancer, 2 years post-transplant I think we are just going to have to accept that there will be continual ongoing health issues. Thankfully most are not life-threatening (just time-consuming). Dulci (the puppy) is still a lot of work. She is the fifth dog we have had in our married life (all raised from pups), and of all, the most demanding. She wants someone to be playing with her all her waking hours. I just wanted a lap dog. Oh well. She is settling down a bit.
The latest going on in our life is that after the bldg collapse in Surfside, our condo association decided to have a structural engineer inspect our building. We are an 11 story beachfront condo building built in the 1980's. In mid-July, the structural engineer found 6 of the building columns in severe distress, and deemed it an emergency, although evacuation was not required. The building has now been shored up, and repair work will begin soon. The association does not yet know the cost, but there will be a hefty special assessment to the condo owners to cover these costs. The issue of deferred maintenance in condos all over Florida is one that is now coming to the forefront. Condo owners all over, including, as we have found in our own building, have refused to do or put off necessary maintenance for years, and it's now time to pay the piper. We have had our eyes opened about condo living. One of the reasons we bought a condo was because we didn't want to have to maintain a house. In a condo, you have to drag 80 other owners along with you screaming and kicking to do necessary maintenance. Anyway, my husband is an architect, and the board here was floundering, and they have come to rely on his expertise and advice in these matters, so I think our condo is getting on the right track. However, once all these matters are resolved, I'm not sure how long we'll continue with condo living. Florida itself is getting to be a bit much. DeSantis is doing everything he can to extend the pandemic--he just mandated that schools can't require masks, and any school that does can lose its state funding. I don't think we'll head back to Seattle, but at some point we may move further north along the east coast.
Enough babbling. Let me discuss books. I'm going back to books read in March. I want to comment on all the books I've read (may take longer than today), so for some books I may only say a sentence or two.
121arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle.
30. Tragedy of the Street of Flowers by Eca De Queiro 346 pp
I've loved the two other books by de Queiro I've read, The Maias and The Crime of Father Amaro, but this one not so much. It was discovered in manuscript form after the author's death, and was not published until 1980. Perhaps there was a reason it was unpublished in his lifetime.
The focus of the book is 19th century Portuguese society, and in particular relations between men and women. Genoveva, a beautiful courtesan, shows up in Lisbon, and becomes the focus of attention of many men. She becomes the mistress of one, and is deeply loved by another, the somewhat innocent Vitor. There are hints about Genoveva's mysterious background as she manipulates the various men swarming about her. Most of the men are pretty horrible. For example, here's Vitor's good friend, a painter, describing his wife, "She's the ideal woman for an artist. She's stupid and passive. She eats, obeys, takes her clothes off. She's just a body that takes orders. She doesn't bother me or interrupt me, doesn't speak to me, she's just there. When I need a female I call her."
I didn't find much depth or insight in this book, although some of de Queiro's descriptions were razor sharp. I liked this one, stating that a particular society man "had the imbecilic opinions of a mannequin, but he expressed them with majestic certainty."
Please read The Maias if you want to experience de Queiro.
2 1/2 stars
30. Tragedy of the Street of Flowers by Eca De Queiro 346 pp
I've loved the two other books by de Queiro I've read, The Maias and The Crime of Father Amaro, but this one not so much. It was discovered in manuscript form after the author's death, and was not published until 1980. Perhaps there was a reason it was unpublished in his lifetime.
The focus of the book is 19th century Portuguese society, and in particular relations between men and women. Genoveva, a beautiful courtesan, shows up in Lisbon, and becomes the focus of attention of many men. She becomes the mistress of one, and is deeply loved by another, the somewhat innocent Vitor. There are hints about Genoveva's mysterious background as she manipulates the various men swarming about her. Most of the men are pretty horrible. For example, here's Vitor's good friend, a painter, describing his wife, "She's the ideal woman for an artist. She's stupid and passive. She eats, obeys, takes her clothes off. She's just a body that takes orders. She doesn't bother me or interrupt me, doesn't speak to me, she's just there. When I need a female I call her."
I didn't find much depth or insight in this book, although some of de Queiro's descriptions were razor sharp. I liked this one, stating that a particular society man "had the imbecilic opinions of a mannequin, but he expressed them with majestic certainty."
Please read The Maias if you want to experience de Queiro.
2 1/2 stars
122arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle.
I read this for the NYRB Book Club on Litsy.
31. The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington (1974) 183 pp
Beginning as a simple tale of some of the indignities of aging, this soon veered off into the surreal and magical, but in a way that I thoroughly enjoyed. 92 year old Marion lives with her son, her son's wife, and the wife's son. She is deaf and eccentric, and they barely tolerate her. Soon after the book opens, they place her in a home for elderly women where Marion becomes involved with assorted other eccentrics. Each lives in a separate building, one shaped like a birthday cake, one like a mushroom, and so on. Things become more and more bizarre.
The book was very funny. Carrington writes very well, and is a wonderful prose stylist. This is definitely a unique book, and one I will long remember.
Here are some snippets of "Marionisms" I enjoyed:
"Sleeping and waking are not quite as distinctive as they used to be, I often mix them up."
"People under seventy and over seven are very unreliable, if they are not cats."
"I do not wish anyone to think my mind wanders far, it wanders, but never farther than I want."
"I am never lonely....Or rather I do not suffer from loneliness. I suffer much from the idea that my loneliness might be taken away from me by a lot of mercilessly well-meaning people."
and finally,
"At times I had thought of writing poetry myself, but getting words to rhyme with each other is difficult, like trying to drive a herd of turkeys and kangaroos down a crowded thoroughfare and keep them together without looking into shop windows. There are so many words and they all mean something."
4 stars
I read this for the NYRB Book Club on Litsy.
31. The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington (1974) 183 pp
Beginning as a simple tale of some of the indignities of aging, this soon veered off into the surreal and magical, but in a way that I thoroughly enjoyed. 92 year old Marion lives with her son, her son's wife, and the wife's son. She is deaf and eccentric, and they barely tolerate her. Soon after the book opens, they place her in a home for elderly women where Marion becomes involved with assorted other eccentrics. Each lives in a separate building, one shaped like a birthday cake, one like a mushroom, and so on. Things become more and more bizarre.
The book was very funny. Carrington writes very well, and is a wonderful prose stylist. This is definitely a unique book, and one I will long remember.
Here are some snippets of "Marionisms" I enjoyed:
"Sleeping and waking are not quite as distinctive as they used to be, I often mix them up."
"People under seventy and over seven are very unreliable, if they are not cats."
"I do not wish anyone to think my mind wanders far, it wanders, but never farther than I want."
"I am never lonely....Or rather I do not suffer from loneliness. I suffer much from the idea that my loneliness might be taken away from me by a lot of mercilessly well-meaning people."
and finally,
"At times I had thought of writing poetry myself, but getting words to rhyme with each other is difficult, like trying to drive a herd of turkeys and kangaroos down a crowded thoroughfare and keep them together without looking into shop windows. There are so many words and they all mean something."
4 stars
123arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle.
32 Terra Nullius by Clare Coleman (2018) 320 pp
When we first begin reading this book, we may think we are reading a tale of early 20th century Australia where natives are subdued and controlled by "settlers." Their children are taken from them and brought to orphanages to be trained as servants for the settlers, with tragic consequences.
But no, this is science fiction, not historical fiction, and it is science fiction being used to comment on European colonization of other parts of the world in centuries past. Its twist is what brought so much hype to this book, and I was really looking forward to reading it. Although the premise was clever, when all is said and done, the execution is not special. In fact, at times, it devolves into simply a "chase" novel, with an evil settler/tracker chasing an escaped native servant and constantly being outwitted (or maybe the author was trying to evoke the Ned Kelly legend.) Episodes of near-capture and narrow escape became repetitive and went on much too long.
I don't NOT recommend the book, but I do think it is overhyped.
2 1/2 stars
32 Terra Nullius by Clare Coleman (2018) 320 pp
When we first begin reading this book, we may think we are reading a tale of early 20th century Australia where natives are subdued and controlled by "settlers." Their children are taken from them and brought to orphanages to be trained as servants for the settlers, with tragic consequences.
But no, this is science fiction, not historical fiction, and it is science fiction being used to comment on European colonization of other parts of the world in centuries past. Its twist is what brought so much hype to this book, and I was really looking forward to reading it. Although the premise was clever, when all is said and done, the execution is not special. In fact, at times, it devolves into simply a "chase" novel, with an evil settler/tracker chasing an escaped native servant and constantly being outwitted (or maybe the author was trying to evoke the Ned Kelly legend.) Episodes of near-capture and narrow escape became repetitive and went on much too long.
I don't NOT recommend the book, but I do think it is overhyped.
2 1/2 stars
124arubabookwoman
That completes my reading through March, and I now begin April:
Library Book
33. Indelicacy by Amina Cain (2020) 178 pp
Described by Amazon as a "feminist fable," this is the tale of Vittoria, a cleaning woman at a museum who wants to write about art, her reactions and thoughts on art. She marries a rich man, and has everything she wants, including time to explore and write about art, yet she is still unhappy.
This was not the book for me. There is no sense of place (and I'm coming to realize a sense of place in a novel is a very important element for me). There's a lake, she walks everywhere, there are museums and theaters, but it's not a city. I thought maybe it was set in Europe or South America, but the author is American. Nothing happens that makes any difference to anyone. We know Vittoria is dissatisfied with the marriage, but we have no sense of her character, how or why she married this rich man, what their relationship was, or is. She leaves the marriage to "find herself," but in the end the whole novel seemed pointless to me.
Not recommended.
2 stars
Library Book
33. Indelicacy by Amina Cain (2020) 178 pp
Described by Amazon as a "feminist fable," this is the tale of Vittoria, a cleaning woman at a museum who wants to write about art, her reactions and thoughts on art. She marries a rich man, and has everything she wants, including time to explore and write about art, yet she is still unhappy.
This was not the book for me. There is no sense of place (and I'm coming to realize a sense of place in a novel is a very important element for me). There's a lake, she walks everywhere, there are museums and theaters, but it's not a city. I thought maybe it was set in Europe or South America, but the author is American. Nothing happens that makes any difference to anyone. We know Vittoria is dissatisfied with the marriage, but we have no sense of her character, how or why she married this rich man, what their relationship was, or is. She leaves the marriage to "find herself," but in the end the whole novel seemed pointless to me.
Not recommended.
2 stars
125arubabookwoman
Library Book
34. The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima (1956) 194 pp
I thought I had read this book before, but I don't think so. I will definitely be seeking out more to read by him.
This is the story of first love in a small Japanese fishing village. It was not at all what I expected--there are characters the reader cares deeply about, and in the end, the good guys win. And along the way, we learn about the lives of the fishermen and pearl divers in this small village.
Shinji, a young fisherman on Uta-Jima Island falls in love at first sight with Hatsue shortly after she returns home to her father, the wealthiest man on the island. Rumor has it her father is looking for a suitable husband for Hatsue, and whoever is chosen will inherit his businesses. Shinji recognizes that because of his poverty his chances of winning Hatsue are slim. The only thing in his favor is that Hatsue seems to love him in return.
Highly recommended
4 stars
34. The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima (1956) 194 pp
I thought I had read this book before, but I don't think so. I will definitely be seeking out more to read by him.
This is the story of first love in a small Japanese fishing village. It was not at all what I expected--there are characters the reader cares deeply about, and in the end, the good guys win. And along the way, we learn about the lives of the fishermen and pearl divers in this small village.
Shinji, a young fisherman on Uta-Jima Island falls in love at first sight with Hatsue shortly after she returns home to her father, the wealthiest man on the island. Rumor has it her father is looking for a suitable husband for Hatsue, and whoever is chosen will inherit his businesses. Shinji recognizes that because of his poverty his chances of winning Hatsue are slim. The only thing in his favor is that Hatsue seems to love him in return.
Highly recommended
4 stars
126ELiz_M
>124 arubabookwoman: Thank you for that. I keep picking this up -- the cover intrigues me -- and now I know to leave it at the bookstore.
127arubabookwoman
>126 ELiz_M: Hi LIz. I'm glad I got it at the library. One Amazon reviewer pointed out that if you want a novel about a woman finding her true identity, there are many much better books out there.
128arubabookwoman
Library Book
35. The Wife of Martin Guerre by Janet Lewis (1941) 137 pp
I've wanted to read this book since I saw the movie decades ago, so I immediately checked it out when it showed up on my library feed.
Based on an 1874 legal history, this short novel describes the events leading to a legal dispute in 1539. Martin Guerre is married to Bertrand, and after an argument with his father, with whom he owns and manages a prosperous farm, he takes off for a break. Bertrand expects him to be gone a few months at the most. Instead, he is gone eight years. When he returns, everyone accepts him as Martin Guerre, but after a while Bertrand begins to suspect otherwise--he is too "nice" to be Martin. Bertrand begins legal proceedings to have him declared an imposter.
The focus of the book was on Bertrand's state of mind. It did a good job of putting the reader into a 16th century mindset, and the characters were well-developed. Although it might seem fantastical that a woman might not recognize her husband, the story was plausible and well-told.
Recommended.
3 stars
35. The Wife of Martin Guerre by Janet Lewis (1941) 137 pp
I've wanted to read this book since I saw the movie decades ago, so I immediately checked it out when it showed up on my library feed.
Based on an 1874 legal history, this short novel describes the events leading to a legal dispute in 1539. Martin Guerre is married to Bertrand, and after an argument with his father, with whom he owns and manages a prosperous farm, he takes off for a break. Bertrand expects him to be gone a few months at the most. Instead, he is gone eight years. When he returns, everyone accepts him as Martin Guerre, but after a while Bertrand begins to suspect otherwise--he is too "nice" to be Martin. Bertrand begins legal proceedings to have him declared an imposter.
The focus of the book was on Bertrand's state of mind. It did a good job of putting the reader into a 16th century mindset, and the characters were well-developed. Although it might seem fantastical that a woman might not recognize her husband, the story was plausible and well-told.
Recommended.
3 stars
129Nickelini
>120 arubabookwoman: I found your "babbling" to be very interesting! Babble away. And good luck with ALL of that!
130lisapeet
Great books! I'm sorry life has been piling on, though I'll admit to being envious of the puppy.
131arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
36. Tango For A Torturerby Daniel Chavarria (2007) 341 pp
When Aldo, a wealthy former Argentinian now living in Italy is visiting a friend in Cuba, he recognizes the man who had tortured him and caused the death of his fiance. Aldo begins an elaborat scheme of revenge, unbeknownst to the torturer, utilizing the aid of his newest love, Bini, a happy-go-lucky prostitute.
This book is cleverly plotted, and kept me, as the reader, constantly guessing as to where it was all going. It's a fast moving thriller, but also a fascinating look at life in (near) contemporary Havana. I really liked this book, and highly recommend it if it sounds like your thing.
3 1/2 stars
An interesting sidenote about the author: he was a former Uruguayan revolutionary who hijacked a plane to take him to Cuba in 1959 where he lived for the remainder of his life.
36. Tango For A Torturerby Daniel Chavarria (2007) 341 pp
When Aldo, a wealthy former Argentinian now living in Italy is visiting a friend in Cuba, he recognizes the man who had tortured him and caused the death of his fiance. Aldo begins an elaborat scheme of revenge, unbeknownst to the torturer, utilizing the aid of his newest love, Bini, a happy-go-lucky prostitute.
This book is cleverly plotted, and kept me, as the reader, constantly guessing as to where it was all going. It's a fast moving thriller, but also a fascinating look at life in (near) contemporary Havana. I really liked this book, and highly recommend it if it sounds like your thing.
3 1/2 stars
An interesting sidenote about the author: he was a former Uruguayan revolutionary who hijacked a plane to take him to Cuba in 1959 where he lived for the remainder of his life.
132arubabookwoman
>129 Nickelini: & >130 lisapeet: Thank you both!
Librrary Book
37. Fun Home Alison Bechdel (2007) 232 pp
I don't often read graphic novels/memoirs, but for years I've heard about how good this is. In fact, I thought I had already read it, because in my mind, I had somehow confused Alison Bechdel and Roz Chast, and somehow thought Can We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, which I have read, was this book. I now know better.
I loved this graphic memoir about growing up with a father who is a closeted homosexual and a mother who is deeply unhappy, as well a coming to terms with her own sexuality. The drawings are wonderfully expressive, though simple, and convey so much. The text is exquisite, true, and abounds with literary references for us bibliophiles. The book deserves all the hype. If you are one of the few who hasn't experienced this yet, READ It.
5 stars
Librrary Book
37. Fun Home Alison Bechdel (2007) 232 pp
I don't often read graphic novels/memoirs, but for years I've heard about how good this is. In fact, I thought I had already read it, because in my mind, I had somehow confused Alison Bechdel and Roz Chast, and somehow thought Can We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, which I have read, was this book. I now know better.
I loved this graphic memoir about growing up with a father who is a closeted homosexual and a mother who is deeply unhappy, as well a coming to terms with her own sexuality. The drawings are wonderfully expressive, though simple, and convey so much. The text is exquisite, true, and abounds with literary references for us bibliophiles. The book deserves all the hype. If you are one of the few who hasn't experienced this yet, READ It.
5 stars
133NanaCC
I’m glad to see you back, Deborah. Life does have a way of getting in the way sometimes. I moved into a condo a little over a year ago. It is brand new construction, so I’m hoping things stay in good shape for a while. So many of the people have dogs, and I’ve thought about it, but when I see them walking them in the snow or pouring rain, I think I can just admire theirs.
134arubabookwoman
>133 NanaCC: Hi Colleen. We have always had a dog, but had to give up our dog when the transplant process began. Our youngest son took the dog (it had originally been "his" dog). The dog was 17 at the time. He just died earlier this year at age 19 (we had previously decided he would remain with our soon, even though we were cleared to have a dog again). I'm not sure if I'm finding this puppy particularly difficult because I'm in my 70's now and just didn't remember how hard a puppy is to train, or because she's a particularly willful dog. I suspect it's mostly the latter, but we are adjusting, and love her dearly.
Library Book
Slowly working my way through Maggie O'Farrell's back catalogue, though I wasn't particularly a fan of Hamnet'
38. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell (2013) 288 pp
"We are all, Esme decides, just vessels through which identities pass: we are but features, gestures, habits, then we hand them on. Nothing is our own. We begin in the world as anagrams of our antecedents."
Iris is stunned to learn that she has a great-aunt who has been institutionalized for more than 60 years. The institution is closing its doors, and is seeking a relative to accept responsibility for the great-aunt (Esme).
Esme was a normal, vivacious, and only slightly rebellious and individualistic, but even that was too much for her parents who committed her to the institution at age 16. Even Esme's beloved older sister Kitty was complicit.
The book is highly readable. There's an interesting backstory about Esme's and Kitty's childhood in India under the Raj, their return to Scotland after a family tragedy, the attempts to marry the girls off, and the circumstances that kept Esme locked up. Nothing earth-shattering in the book, but a decent read.
3 stars
Library Book
Slowly working my way through Maggie O'Farrell's back catalogue, though I wasn't particularly a fan of Hamnet'
38. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell (2013) 288 pp
"We are all, Esme decides, just vessels through which identities pass: we are but features, gestures, habits, then we hand them on. Nothing is our own. We begin in the world as anagrams of our antecedents."
Iris is stunned to learn that she has a great-aunt who has been institutionalized for more than 60 years. The institution is closing its doors, and is seeking a relative to accept responsibility for the great-aunt (Esme).
Esme was a normal, vivacious, and only slightly rebellious and individualistic, but even that was too much for her parents who committed her to the institution at age 16. Even Esme's beloved older sister Kitty was complicit.
The book is highly readable. There's an interesting backstory about Esme's and Kitty's childhood in India under the Raj, their return to Scotland after a family tragedy, the attempts to marry the girls off, and the circumstances that kept Esme locked up. Nothing earth-shattering in the book, but a decent read.
3 stars
135arubabookwoman
Library Book
39. The Hospital: Life Death and Dollars in a Small American Town by Brian Alexander (2021) 310 pp
Journalist Brian Alexander was given unprecedented access to the inner workings of a small town Ohio hospital. He had multiple interviews with staff, including the CEO over an extended period of time, ending after the first summer of covid. Stories of multiple patients are also covered. The book focuses on the crisis in healthcare--Obama Care has helped a lot, but has by no means ended the crisis. But Alexander also uses the hospital as a lens to focus on some of the larger problems in our society, primarily poverty, the loss of good jobs, and income inequality, which, not surprisingly have a huge impact on many ongoing health issues. One phrase in particular stood out to me: "new capitalism is killing people." Studies have shown that the decline in the health and longevity of Americans has been abetted by deliberate government policies: "People in states that passed labor, wage, environmental and health laws that were often opposed by ALEC (funded by the Koch Brothers et al) and business interests lived longer than people in states who adopted ALEC-like policies."
But this is not a dry polemical. It is a fascinating look into the ongoing crises in health care, with lots of stories about interesting and dedicated people.
Highly recommended.
4 stars
39. The Hospital: Life Death and Dollars in a Small American Town by Brian Alexander (2021) 310 pp
Journalist Brian Alexander was given unprecedented access to the inner workings of a small town Ohio hospital. He had multiple interviews with staff, including the CEO over an extended period of time, ending after the first summer of covid. Stories of multiple patients are also covered. The book focuses on the crisis in healthcare--Obama Care has helped a lot, but has by no means ended the crisis. But Alexander also uses the hospital as a lens to focus on some of the larger problems in our society, primarily poverty, the loss of good jobs, and income inequality, which, not surprisingly have a huge impact on many ongoing health issues. One phrase in particular stood out to me: "new capitalism is killing people." Studies have shown that the decline in the health and longevity of Americans has been abetted by deliberate government policies: "People in states that passed labor, wage, environmental and health laws that were often opposed by ALEC (funded by the Koch Brothers et al) and business interests lived longer than people in states who adopted ALEC-like policies."
But this is not a dry polemical. It is a fascinating look into the ongoing crises in health care, with lots of stories about interesting and dedicated people.
Highly recommended.
4 stars
136arubabookwoman
Library Book
40. After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal About Life and Beyond by Bruce Greyson
The author is a psychiatrist who began studying near death experiences (NDEs) almost by accident after a patient's unexplained experience. He is a serious scientist and has tried to use the scientific method for all his research. He created a "scale" for NDEs in order to try to study these experiences in a more standardized way. He has published articles in JAMA and other scholarly publications. The research he describes in this book is fascinating.
What was most interesting for me was the research differentiating the "mind" from the "brain." The association between the mind and the brain is a scientific fact, but the interpretation that the brain creates the mind is not. In fact, such a connection between the brain and the mind breaks down in extraordinary circumstances such as NDEs. There are many hypotheses to be explored regarding the brain/mind connection, including that the brain is a device for the mind to act more effectively on the physical body.
There are lots of questions remaining. The author ends by stating that, "If you take only one thing from this book, I want you to appreciate the transformative power of these experiences to change peoples' lives."
Recommended if the subject interests you.
3 stars
40. After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal About Life and Beyond by Bruce Greyson
The author is a psychiatrist who began studying near death experiences (NDEs) almost by accident after a patient's unexplained experience. He is a serious scientist and has tried to use the scientific method for all his research. He created a "scale" for NDEs in order to try to study these experiences in a more standardized way. He has published articles in JAMA and other scholarly publications. The research he describes in this book is fascinating.
What was most interesting for me was the research differentiating the "mind" from the "brain." The association between the mind and the brain is a scientific fact, but the interpretation that the brain creates the mind is not. In fact, such a connection between the brain and the mind breaks down in extraordinary circumstances such as NDEs. There are many hypotheses to be explored regarding the brain/mind connection, including that the brain is a device for the mind to act more effectively on the physical body.
There are lots of questions remaining. The author ends by stating that, "If you take only one thing from this book, I want you to appreciate the transformative power of these experiences to change peoples' lives."
Recommended if the subject interests you.
3 stars
137arubabookwoman
Another book for the Litsy NYRB Club
Off my Shelf
41. Skylark by Dezso Kosztolanyi (1923) 222 pp
Mother and Father live in a small provincial Hungarian town, and have devoted their lives to their daughter Skylark. Hope springs eternal that a husband will be found for Skylark, but there is no getting around that fact that she is plain, perhaps ugly is not too harsh a description.
Toward the end of one summer at the turn of the century, Skylark goes away to visit relatives for a week. During Skylark's week away, Mother and Father start enjoying life again, living it up, eating in restaurants, going to the theater. Will the changes they make prevail after Skylark returns?
This is a delightful book, but also a bittersweet book, funny and sad at the same time. We had a great discussion on Litsy. I have 2 more books by Kosztolanyi on my shelf, and hope to get to them soon.
Highly recommended.
4 stars
That concludes my April reading, so now I will start with the May books.
Off my Shelf
41. Skylark by Dezso Kosztolanyi (1923) 222 pp
Mother and Father live in a small provincial Hungarian town, and have devoted their lives to their daughter Skylark. Hope springs eternal that a husband will be found for Skylark, but there is no getting around that fact that she is plain, perhaps ugly is not too harsh a description.
Toward the end of one summer at the turn of the century, Skylark goes away to visit relatives for a week. During Skylark's week away, Mother and Father start enjoying life again, living it up, eating in restaurants, going to the theater. Will the changes they make prevail after Skylark returns?
This is a delightful book, but also a bittersweet book, funny and sad at the same time. We had a great discussion on Litsy. I have 2 more books by Kosztolanyi on my shelf, and hope to get to them soon.
Highly recommended.
4 stars
That concludes my April reading, so now I will start with the May books.
138arubabookwoman
Library Book
42. Bitter Wash Road by Gary Disher (2013) 321 pp
This is the first of the Paul Hirchhausen, small town outback police constable, trilogy, but the one I read last, not realizing it was a series. Paul has been demoted from detective in a large city to constable in the small outback town of Tiverton, where he faces a myriad of crimes, small and large. As in the other books in the series, Disher leisurely introduces us to the town and its inhabitants using some of Hirchhausen's more mundane duties and the small crimes he has to investigate. The main case is that involving a troubled teenage girl whose body is found by the side of the road. Is this a case of an accidental hit and run, or has there been a deliberate murder.
In this book we meet several characters who recur in the later books and who become important in Hirchausen's life. This was a fine start to the series, but I liked the later two in the series better. I'm not sure if any further entries are planned, but if they appear, I will be first in line to read them.
Recommended.
3 stars
42. Bitter Wash Road by Gary Disher (2013) 321 pp
This is the first of the Paul Hirchhausen, small town outback police constable, trilogy, but the one I read last, not realizing it was a series. Paul has been demoted from detective in a large city to constable in the small outback town of Tiverton, where he faces a myriad of crimes, small and large. As in the other books in the series, Disher leisurely introduces us to the town and its inhabitants using some of Hirchhausen's more mundane duties and the small crimes he has to investigate. The main case is that involving a troubled teenage girl whose body is found by the side of the road. Is this a case of an accidental hit and run, or has there been a deliberate murder.
In this book we meet several characters who recur in the later books and who become important in Hirchausen's life. This was a fine start to the series, but I liked the later two in the series better. I'm not sure if any further entries are planned, but if they appear, I will be first in line to read them.
Recommended.
3 stars
139arubabookwoman
Library Book
Another graphic memoir
43. Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh (2020) 528 pp
So after liking Fun House so much I decided to try another graphic memoir (or perhaps "graphic essays" describes this book more accurately). The illustrations here are a lot less realistic than Bechdel's--Allie Brosh portrays herself as a rabbit-like creature with a stick-up pony tail (looking like a single rabbit ear) and goggley, frog-like eyes, no nose and a Kermit-like mouth. And there's lots more text than in Bechdel's work, usually not contained within the comic-like frames.
I was totally drawn into this, and read it quickly. There is a lot about loneliness and human relationships. There's some funny, and totally accurate pieces about our relationships with dogs, and many acute observations about our fears and just how we live today. The book is supposedly comic, and I laughed out loud many times, but it's poignant and sad as well. There was a totally on-point piece about Allie having a minor disagreement with her husband in the grocery store, that escalated and escalated (over basically nothing), and ending with her shouting the ultimate insult to her husband: "You can never again buy bananas!" For some reason that really hit my funnybone.
Her author description worried me a bit: "Allie Brosh lives as a recluse in her bedroom in Bend, Oregon. In recent years, she has become almost entirely nocturnal."
Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
Another graphic memoir
43. Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh (2020) 528 pp
So after liking Fun House so much I decided to try another graphic memoir (or perhaps "graphic essays" describes this book more accurately). The illustrations here are a lot less realistic than Bechdel's--Allie Brosh portrays herself as a rabbit-like creature with a stick-up pony tail (looking like a single rabbit ear) and goggley, frog-like eyes, no nose and a Kermit-like mouth. And there's lots more text than in Bechdel's work, usually not contained within the comic-like frames.
I was totally drawn into this, and read it quickly. There is a lot about loneliness and human relationships. There's some funny, and totally accurate pieces about our relationships with dogs, and many acute observations about our fears and just how we live today. The book is supposedly comic, and I laughed out loud many times, but it's poignant and sad as well. There was a totally on-point piece about Allie having a minor disagreement with her husband in the grocery store, that escalated and escalated (over basically nothing), and ending with her shouting the ultimate insult to her husband: "You can never again buy bananas!" For some reason that really hit my funnybone.
Her author description worried me a bit: "Allie Brosh lives as a recluse in her bedroom in Bend, Oregon. In recent years, she has become almost entirely nocturnal."
Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
140arubabookwoman
Library Book
44. Picture This by Molly Bang (1991) 151 pp
Subtitle: How Pictures Work
This short treatise by famed children's book author/illustrator Molly Bang was a fascinating explanation, detailed but not didactic, of how and why the simple illustrations she devises work--how simple shapes and a limited color palette can produce powerful images, as well as how the illustrations enhance the story line and evoke reactions in readers.
Praised by the likes of David MacAulay, and used for students at the Rhode Island School of Design, this is an excellent book for anyone interested in art and illustration, and I highly recommend it.
4 stars
44. Picture This by Molly Bang (1991) 151 pp
Subtitle: How Pictures Work
This short treatise by famed children's book author/illustrator Molly Bang was a fascinating explanation, detailed but not didactic, of how and why the simple illustrations she devises work--how simple shapes and a limited color palette can produce powerful images, as well as how the illustrations enhance the story line and evoke reactions in readers.
Praised by the likes of David MacAulay, and used for students at the Rhode Island School of Design, this is an excellent book for anyone interested in art and illustration, and I highly recommend it.
4 stars
141arubabookwoman
Library Book
45. Life With Picasso by Francoise Gilot (1964) 487 pp
I think I've said more than once on LT that I can't stand celebrity memoirs, but I think I will have to make an exception for this memoir by Picasso's second wife (or was she his third? can't remember). I liked it a lot, because she focuses on the art. There is a lot of insight and information on Picasso's art, as well as his bombastic personality. It was during their marriage that Picasso began experimenting with ceramics, and I had not previously been aware of Picasso's ceramics.
Gilot was an art student herself when she became involved in Picasso's circles immediately prior to WW II, and in later life became a serious artist in her own right. There's not a lot of "celebrity" gossip, though of course there is lots of information about other artists of the time. I particularly enjoyed learning about Matisse, and how different his personality style was from Picasso's. The two enjoyed a friendly rivalry.
Recommended for those interested in art.
4 stars
45. Life With Picasso by Francoise Gilot (1964) 487 pp
I think I've said more than once on LT that I can't stand celebrity memoirs, but I think I will have to make an exception for this memoir by Picasso's second wife (or was she his third? can't remember). I liked it a lot, because she focuses on the art. There is a lot of insight and information on Picasso's art, as well as his bombastic personality. It was during their marriage that Picasso began experimenting with ceramics, and I had not previously been aware of Picasso's ceramics.
Gilot was an art student herself when she became involved in Picasso's circles immediately prior to WW II, and in later life became a serious artist in her own right. There's not a lot of "celebrity" gossip, though of course there is lots of information about other artists of the time. I particularly enjoyed learning about Matisse, and how different his personality style was from Picasso's. The two enjoyed a friendly rivalry.
Recommended for those interested in art.
4 stars
142arubabookwoman
Library Book
46. The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin (2021) 224 pp
If you've read Willy Vlautin you know he writes of society's downtrodden, those living on the underbelly, usually working hard scraping together a living, but unable to make ends meet, unable to catch a break, but decent, kind human beings. The characters in this, his latest novel fit that mold. Lynette lives with her mother and her older brother who is mentally disabled in a rundown house in Portland. Their landlord has decided to sell, and has offered to sell to them at an unbelievably low price since the house is in such poor shape. Lynette can just afford it if her mother chips in, and her mother has promised to jointly purchase the house with her. Then at the last minute, her mother reneges and Lynette spends the next 2 nights and days desparately attempting to pull together the funds to salvage the deal.
While this is a typical Vlautin set up, I found that as a whole the book did not achieve the standards of the previous books I have read by this author. The characters did not come to life. Instead of dialogue among the characters, the characters make speeches delineating the ills of society that Vlautin is attempting to expose. This makes for a very weak, and frequently boring novel.
While I cared for Lynette, and there's a strong story here, this is just not Vlautin's best work. He's trying too hard to make a point, rather than tell a story.
2 stars
Well I'm up to book 77 in my reading to date, so that means I have 31 more books to cover to catch up. But this is about all I can do for today.
46. The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin (2021) 224 pp
If you've read Willy Vlautin you know he writes of society's downtrodden, those living on the underbelly, usually working hard scraping together a living, but unable to make ends meet, unable to catch a break, but decent, kind human beings. The characters in this, his latest novel fit that mold. Lynette lives with her mother and her older brother who is mentally disabled in a rundown house in Portland. Their landlord has decided to sell, and has offered to sell to them at an unbelievably low price since the house is in such poor shape. Lynette can just afford it if her mother chips in, and her mother has promised to jointly purchase the house with her. Then at the last minute, her mother reneges and Lynette spends the next 2 nights and days desparately attempting to pull together the funds to salvage the deal.
While this is a typical Vlautin set up, I found that as a whole the book did not achieve the standards of the previous books I have read by this author. The characters did not come to life. Instead of dialogue among the characters, the characters make speeches delineating the ills of society that Vlautin is attempting to expose. This makes for a very weak, and frequently boring novel.
While I cared for Lynette, and there's a strong story here, this is just not Vlautin's best work. He's trying too hard to make a point, rather than tell a story.
2 stars
Well I'm up to book 77 in my reading to date, so that means I have 31 more books to cover to catch up. But this is about all I can do for today.
143BLBera
Hi Deborah - I'm glad you are well and in a condo that hasn't collapsed. With all the Florida news lately, I've been thinking about you. The governor is an idiot. I think post-transplant life must be a challenge.
Great comments - I've added a few to my WL. I'm reading Bechdel's latest right now, The Secret to Superhuman Strength, which is also very good. If you liked Fun Home, you will probably also like Are You My Mother.
Great comments - I've added a few to my WL. I'm reading Bechdel's latest right now, The Secret to Superhuman Strength, which is also very good. If you liked Fun Home, you will probably also like Are You My Mother.
145SassyLassy
Good to see you back. I admire your catching up. Sometimes it seems we get so far behind that a catchup becomes impossible, which naturally leads to getting further behind.
>121 arubabookwoman: Interesting about this Eca de Quieros. I read The Crime of Father Amaro and thought his females somewhat flat, but really liked his social commentary.
Have you read The Sin of Abbé Mouret?
>122 arubabookwoman: Sounds like a lot of fun - something else to add to my ever growing NYRB tbr pile!
>131 arubabookwoman: I need a diversion - will look for this.
Looking forward to more of your reading.
>121 arubabookwoman: Interesting about this Eca de Quieros. I read The Crime of Father Amaro and thought his females somewhat flat, but really liked his social commentary.
Have you read The Sin of Abbé Mouret?
>122 arubabookwoman: Sounds like a lot of fun - something else to add to my ever growing NYRB tbr pile!
>131 arubabookwoman: I need a diversion - will look for this.
Looking forward to more of your reading.
146rocketjk
Greetings! Congratulations on the deft catch-up. You've been reading lots of interesting books. Sorry to read about all of life's complications for you. I can understand wanting to get out of Florida. All the best.
147arubabookwoman
Well, I had intended to resume my catchup fairly quickly, but then we ended up having to go to the Moffitt Center 4 times last week. It's about an hour away, and there's a lot of hurry up and wait time there, so these excursions frequently turn into all day events. We've also been involved with the hiring and negotiating contracts with the structural engineer and the contractor for the column repair work. My husband is an architect, and he's been involved all along, but he happened to mention to the Board President that I was an attorney (no longer practicing), and I got dragged in. Very time consuming, but resolved for now. The building is now shored up, with 900+ shoring posts, so I'm assuming it's safe for now. The repair work and rebuilding columns will begin as soon as the permit is approved, hopefully within a couple of weeks. It will take somewhere between 8-12 weeks to complete. There will be other work in addition to these columns, however. This is just the "emergency" work. The structural engineer was hired to inspect the conditon of the entire building and all its systems. His report will be provided to the board in about 2 weeks. The Board will then determine what work to prioritize and when to do it. I suspect that my husband will be involved in finding contractors etc. to do the additional work, but it keeps him busy. I was dreading him having nothing to do in retirement, though he is still doing work for his Seattle firm on a limited basis.
In covid news, school started for our 2 grandsons here in Florida last Wednesday. Their school district did not have a mask mandate, though our grandsons wore masks. On Monday, the 4th day of school our 8 year old grandson was sent home because he was exposed to covid. He himself then tested positive for covid. Thankfully, so far he has no symptoms, but the whole family is quarentining. We read in the paper that as of Monday 8000+ students in the school district had covid or were in covid quarentine. On Tuesday, the school board had an emergency meeting, and instituted a mask mandate. (A little late I'd say). There were a few other school districts in Florida that had put in a mask mandate from the beginning, and DeSantis has already begun steps to financially punish them. It may already be in the courts, so we shall see how it goes.
>143 BLBera: >144 BLBera: Thanks Beth. I will look for Are You My Mother (I always think of the children's book with the same title when I see that title). I had started The Secret to Superhuman Strength, but it didn't draw me in and I sent it back to the library. Guess I don't want to even read about exercise, much less do it.
>145 SassyLassy: I liked The Crime of Father Amaro a lot too, but my favorite was The Maias. Have you read that one? I did read The Sin of Father Mouret. I found it to be the most atypical of the Zola's I've read--dreamy and surreal with pages and pages of description of the paradisical garden.
>146 rocketjk: Thanks Jerry. Florida is getting to be a bit much. See my covid remarks above. DeSantis gets worse by the day. After the move from Washington to Florida, I never wanted to move again, but another move is becoming a more probable option by the day.
Now to continue the catchup:
In covid news, school started for our 2 grandsons here in Florida last Wednesday. Their school district did not have a mask mandate, though our grandsons wore masks. On Monday, the 4th day of school our 8 year old grandson was sent home because he was exposed to covid. He himself then tested positive for covid. Thankfully, so far he has no symptoms, but the whole family is quarentining. We read in the paper that as of Monday 8000+ students in the school district had covid or were in covid quarentine. On Tuesday, the school board had an emergency meeting, and instituted a mask mandate. (A little late I'd say). There were a few other school districts in Florida that had put in a mask mandate from the beginning, and DeSantis has already begun steps to financially punish them. It may already be in the courts, so we shall see how it goes.
>143 BLBera: >144 BLBera: Thanks Beth. I will look for Are You My Mother (I always think of the children's book with the same title when I see that title). I had started The Secret to Superhuman Strength, but it didn't draw me in and I sent it back to the library. Guess I don't want to even read about exercise, much less do it.
>145 SassyLassy: I liked The Crime of Father Amaro a lot too, but my favorite was The Maias. Have you read that one? I did read The Sin of Father Mouret. I found it to be the most atypical of the Zola's I've read--dreamy and surreal with pages and pages of description of the paradisical garden.
>146 rocketjk: Thanks Jerry. Florida is getting to be a bit much. See my covid remarks above. DeSantis gets worse by the day. After the move from Washington to Florida, I never wanted to move again, but another move is becoming a more probable option by the day.
Now to continue the catchup:
148arubabookwoman
Library Book
47. Memorial by Bryan Washington (2020) 318 pp
This book had a good premise: a young gay couple, Mike, a Japanese-American, and Ben, Black, are in a steady but shakey relationship, living together, but not sure whether to remain a couple. Then Mike's Japanese mother arrives for an extended visit on the same day Mike is living for Japan to take care of his estranged father who is ill. Ben is left to deal with Mitsuko, Mike's mother.
The novel is told in basically two parts, one from Ben's point of view in Houston as he questions his relationship with Mike and potentially starts new relationships, all the while in uneasy "roommateship" with Mitsuko. The second part involves Mike in Japan, attempting to come to terms with his father, trying to decide whether to move to Japan to take over his father's restaurant, and also potentially starting new relationships.
I can tell the book is very well-written, and it has won lots of awards. But I don't know if so-called gay "Rom-Com" is for me. First, there is lots of explicitly described gay sex. I'm not a prude, but this was so unnecessary. The book is also not at all romantic, nor is it a comedy. Instead, I view it as the story of a failed relationship. The parts I liked best were those involving the relationships of Mike and Ben with their fathers. In both cases, the relationships were strained, there were long periods of estrangement, but they were working toward reconciliation. Ben's clash of cultures with Mitsuko was also interesting.
2 1/2 stars
47. Memorial by Bryan Washington (2020) 318 pp
This book had a good premise: a young gay couple, Mike, a Japanese-American, and Ben, Black, are in a steady but shakey relationship, living together, but not sure whether to remain a couple. Then Mike's Japanese mother arrives for an extended visit on the same day Mike is living for Japan to take care of his estranged father who is ill. Ben is left to deal with Mitsuko, Mike's mother.
The novel is told in basically two parts, one from Ben's point of view in Houston as he questions his relationship with Mike and potentially starts new relationships, all the while in uneasy "roommateship" with Mitsuko. The second part involves Mike in Japan, attempting to come to terms with his father, trying to decide whether to move to Japan to take over his father's restaurant, and also potentially starting new relationships.
I can tell the book is very well-written, and it has won lots of awards. But I don't know if so-called gay "Rom-Com" is for me. First, there is lots of explicitly described gay sex. I'm not a prude, but this was so unnecessary. The book is also not at all romantic, nor is it a comedy. Instead, I view it as the story of a failed relationship. The parts I liked best were those involving the relationships of Mike and Ben with their fathers. In both cases, the relationships were strained, there were long periods of estrangement, but they were working toward reconciliation. Ben's clash of cultures with Mitsuko was also interesting.
2 1/2 stars
149arubabookwoman
Library Book
48. Ex Libris: Books to Read and Reread by Michiko Kakutani
I don't have much to say about this. I read these kinds of books looking for new books/authors to explore. I didn't note anything entirely new to me, but I jotted down a few books/authors I'm familiar with/have read that she made sound really interesting so that I may attempt to seek them out to actually read (or in some cases reread).
One interesting thing she noted was that regarding The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood decided that she would include nothing in the novel "that had not already happened." It might be interesting to do a reread of the book through that lens. I had read it when it was first published (in the 80's??) and viewed it as science fiction. When reread it in the early 2000's (George W. Bush era), it seemed much more real. In the present day, Kakutani states, "When many of us read THT back in the 80's the events Atwood described as taking place in Gilead felt like the sort of alarming developments that could only happen in the distant past or in distant parts of the globe. By 2019, however, American news reports were filled with real-life images of children being torn from their parents' arms, a president using racist language to sow fear and hatred, and reports of climate change threatening life as we know it on the planet accelerating."
3 stars
48. Ex Libris: Books to Read and Reread by Michiko Kakutani
I don't have much to say about this. I read these kinds of books looking for new books/authors to explore. I didn't note anything entirely new to me, but I jotted down a few books/authors I'm familiar with/have read that she made sound really interesting so that I may attempt to seek them out to actually read (or in some cases reread).
One interesting thing she noted was that regarding The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood decided that she would include nothing in the novel "that had not already happened." It might be interesting to do a reread of the book through that lens. I had read it when it was first published (in the 80's??) and viewed it as science fiction. When reread it in the early 2000's (George W. Bush era), it seemed much more real. In the present day, Kakutani states, "When many of us read THT back in the 80's the events Atwood described as taking place in Gilead felt like the sort of alarming developments that could only happen in the distant past or in distant parts of the globe. By 2019, however, American news reports were filled with real-life images of children being torn from their parents' arms, a president using racist language to sow fear and hatred, and reports of climate change threatening life as we know it on the planet accelerating."
3 stars
150arubabookwoman
Library Book
49. Think Like An Artist by Will Gompertz
Subtitle: How to Live a Happier, Smarter, More Creative Life.
No review here, I will just list the characteristics he says you need to make you think like an artist:
1. Artists are Enterprising.
2. Artists Don't Fail (Lots of trial and error) "Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple...and pretty soon you have a dozen." Steinbeck
3. Artists are seriously curious.
4. Artists steal. "Copying requires some skill, but zero imagination. No creativity is required, which is why machines are so good at it. Stealing is an altogether different matter. To steal is to possess. And taking possession of something is a much bigger undertaking. The item becomes your responsibility: its future is in your hands."
5. Artists are skeptics.
6. Artists think big picture and fine detail. They have an eye and an ear for both the major and the minor. "There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept." Ansel Adams.
7. Artists have a point of view. This is what you say, not the way you say it, which is style.
8. Artists are brave.
9. Artists pause for thought.
10. All schools should be art schools.
49. Think Like An Artist by Will Gompertz
Subtitle: How to Live a Happier, Smarter, More Creative Life.
No review here, I will just list the characteristics he says you need to make you think like an artist:
1. Artists are Enterprising.
2. Artists Don't Fail (Lots of trial and error) "Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple...and pretty soon you have a dozen." Steinbeck
3. Artists are seriously curious.
4. Artists steal. "Copying requires some skill, but zero imagination. No creativity is required, which is why machines are so good at it. Stealing is an altogether different matter. To steal is to possess. And taking possession of something is a much bigger undertaking. The item becomes your responsibility: its future is in your hands."
5. Artists are skeptics.
6. Artists think big picture and fine detail. They have an eye and an ear for both the major and the minor. "There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept." Ansel Adams.
7. Artists have a point of view. This is what you say, not the way you say it, which is style.
8. Artists are brave.
9. Artists pause for thought.
10. All schools should be art schools.
151arubabookwoman
Library Book
50. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh (2013) 369 pp
Since I enjoyed her Solutions and Other Problems, see >139 arubabookwoman: I took this earlier book by Brosh out of the library. A lot of the reviewers on Amazon were disappointed with Solutions and Other Problems and liked this one more. I liked Solutions and Other Problems much more than this one.
If you follow her blog (I don't) be aware that a lot of the pieces in this book had already appeared on her blog.
50. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh (2013) 369 pp
Since I enjoyed her Solutions and Other Problems, see >139 arubabookwoman: I took this earlier book by Brosh out of the library. A lot of the reviewers on Amazon were disappointed with Solutions and Other Problems and liked this one more. I liked Solutions and Other Problems much more than this one.
If you follow her blog (I don't) be aware that a lot of the pieces in this book had already appeared on her blog.
152arubabookwoman
Library Book
51. Hollow Man by Mark Pryor (2015) 274 pp
(couldn't find correct touchstone)
Dom is a DA in Austin He is excellent at his job. He is also a psychopath (or as he prefers to describe himself, a sociopath). He does his best to hide his condition--trying to fit in with others, who he calls "empaths." Of course, there was that incident when he was a teenager when he killed someone in a hunting "accident." But mostly he has taught himself to fit in, that is until one day circumstances lead him to fall in with a group planning to commit the perfect crime.
I (mostly) enjoyed this book, but I have one big problem with it. It is narrated in the first person by Dom, which could have been fine, and I found his voice authentic. But as the plot evolves, there are events that are presented as mysterious (and unexplained to Dom our narrator), but as the novel advances we come to learn that Dom really knew about these things all along, perhaps even did these things. I like novels with unreliable narrators, but this goes beyond that. Dom is telling the story, and it doesn't make sense and isn't realistic for him to describe events he knows all about as if he is just discovering them for the first time.
2 1/2 stars.
That completes my reading through May. On to June!
51. Hollow Man by Mark Pryor (2015) 274 pp
(couldn't find correct touchstone)
Dom is a DA in Austin He is excellent at his job. He is also a psychopath (or as he prefers to describe himself, a sociopath). He does his best to hide his condition--trying to fit in with others, who he calls "empaths." Of course, there was that incident when he was a teenager when he killed someone in a hunting "accident." But mostly he has taught himself to fit in, that is until one day circumstances lead him to fall in with a group planning to commit the perfect crime.
I (mostly) enjoyed this book, but I have one big problem with it. It is narrated in the first person by Dom, which could have been fine, and I found his voice authentic. But as the plot evolves, there are events that are presented as mysterious (and unexplained to Dom our narrator), but as the novel advances we come to learn that Dom really knew about these things all along, perhaps even did these things. I like novels with unreliable narrators, but this goes beyond that. Dom is telling the story, and it doesn't make sense and isn't realistic for him to describe events he knows all about as if he is just discovering them for the first time.
2 1/2 stars.
That completes my reading through May. On to June!
153arubabookwoman
Library Book
52. Fraud by Anita Brookner (1992) 268 pp
"I had become what people wanted me to be....I decided not to be that person anymore....I rather think I have stopped being one, a fraud I mean. Fraud was what was perpetrated on me by the expectations of others. They fashioned me in their own image, according to their needs. Fraud, in that sense, is alarmingly prevalent."
Anna has devoted her life to caring for her invalid mother. Her social circle is small--her mother's few friends, and her mother's doctor, who her mother fantasizes that Anna will one day marry. Several months after Anna's mother's death, the doctor (married to someone else, a fact Anna hid from her mother) realizes that no one has seen or heard from Anna for weeks, even months. The police are brought in, though there is no evidence of foul play.
The book opens with Anna's disappearance, and most of the book is the long flashback describing Anna's life with her mother. This is not a crime novel, but an exquisite character study of a woman who has lived her entire life subjugating her needs to the wants of others.
Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
52. Fraud by Anita Brookner (1992) 268 pp
"I had become what people wanted me to be....I decided not to be that person anymore....I rather think I have stopped being one, a fraud I mean. Fraud was what was perpetrated on me by the expectations of others. They fashioned me in their own image, according to their needs. Fraud, in that sense, is alarmingly prevalent."
Anna has devoted her life to caring for her invalid mother. Her social circle is small--her mother's few friends, and her mother's doctor, who her mother fantasizes that Anna will one day marry. Several months after Anna's mother's death, the doctor (married to someone else, a fact Anna hid from her mother) realizes that no one has seen or heard from Anna for weeks, even months. The police are brought in, though there is no evidence of foul play.
The book opens with Anna's disappearance, and most of the book is the long flashback describing Anna's life with her mother. This is not a crime novel, but an exquisite character study of a woman who has lived her entire life subjugating her needs to the wants of others.
Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
154arubabookwoman
Library Book
53. Lost in Translation by Ella Frances Sanders (2014) 112 pp
This subtitle of this book describes it as an "illustrated compendium of untranslatable words from around the world." I won't review it, just list a few of my favorites:
Mangata--the road-like reflection of the moon on water. Swedish
Pisan Zapra--the time needed to eat a banana. Malay
Glaswen--a blue smile, aka a sarcastic smile. Welsh
Komorebi-sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees. Japanese
Kummerspeck--"grief-bacon"; the excess weight from emotional overeating. German
Boketto-gazing vacantly in the distance without really thinking of anything specific. Japanese
Trepverter-a witty comeback you think of only when it's too late. Yiddish
Feuillemort-the color of a faded dying leaf. French
Warmduscher-someone who will only take a warm, not hot, not cold, shower; i.e. a wimp. Geman
Murr-Ma-searching for something in water with only your feet. Wagiman (Australia)
Drachenfutter--the gift a husband gives his wife when trying to make up for bad behaviour. German.
Kabelsalat--the mess of tangled cables we all seem to accumlate. German
And one we can all relate to:
Tsundoku-leaving a book unread after buying it. Japanese
3 stars
53. Lost in Translation by Ella Frances Sanders (2014) 112 pp
This subtitle of this book describes it as an "illustrated compendium of untranslatable words from around the world." I won't review it, just list a few of my favorites:
Mangata--the road-like reflection of the moon on water. Swedish
Pisan Zapra--the time needed to eat a banana. Malay
Glaswen--a blue smile, aka a sarcastic smile. Welsh
Komorebi-sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees. Japanese
Kummerspeck--"grief-bacon"; the excess weight from emotional overeating. German
Boketto-gazing vacantly in the distance without really thinking of anything specific. Japanese
Trepverter-a witty comeback you think of only when it's too late. Yiddish
Feuillemort-the color of a faded dying leaf. French
Warmduscher-someone who will only take a warm, not hot, not cold, shower; i.e. a wimp. Geman
Murr-Ma-searching for something in water with only your feet. Wagiman (Australia)
Drachenfutter--the gift a husband gives his wife when trying to make up for bad behaviour. German.
Kabelsalat--the mess of tangled cables we all seem to accumlate. German
And one we can all relate to:
Tsundoku-leaving a book unread after buying it. Japanese
3 stars
155AlisonY
>153 arubabookwoman: I've not read this particular Brookner. I have a weird relationship with her as a reader - her books can be quite depressing, but yet there's something that draws me back to her often times as an author. I think it's just that she's a fine writer.
156arubabookwoman
Library Book
54. Slough House by Mick Herron (2021) 247 pp
"When they went on about sixty being the new forty, they forgot to add that that made thirty-something the new twelve."
The latest installment of the Slow Horses series, which I love. Many of our favorite characters are back, and this one focuses on the privatization of secret ops and the manipulation of the news media. As per usual, witticisms abound. Unlike some of the others in the series, this one ends with a cliffhanger, so we know there will be another entry to the series, and must wait patiently.
3 1/2 stars
54. Slough House by Mick Herron (2021) 247 pp
"When they went on about sixty being the new forty, they forgot to add that that made thirty-something the new twelve."
The latest installment of the Slow Horses series, which I love. Many of our favorite characters are back, and this one focuses on the privatization of secret ops and the manipulation of the news media. As per usual, witticisms abound. Unlike some of the others in the series, this one ends with a cliffhanger, so we know there will be another entry to the series, and must wait patiently.
3 1/2 stars
157arubabookwoman
>155 AlisonY: Alison--I find a peculiar sameness to many of Brookner's books/characters--the unmarried, middle-aged women. I read several of her books many years ago, probably the 1990's, early 2000's, then stopped reading her. I only picked this up because I recently read a favorable review somewhere, probably here on LT. It was good, but not earth-shattering, and it didn't make me feel the need to delve into any of her remaining unread books, at least at this point.
158rocketjk
>149 arubabookwoman: Thanks for this review. I have The Handmaid's Tale on my "longish shortlist." (I'll be reading it within the next year or so, I guess, finally, for the first time.) Having this perspective in mind while I read will add depth to the experience, I think.
>153 arubabookwoman: I read Fraud many years ago, long enough ago that I had little remembrance of its subject matter, though I have a clear memory of enjoying enough to lend it out to a couple of friends. Your review puts me in mind of perhaps rereading it sometime.
>153 arubabookwoman: I read Fraud many years ago, long enough ago that I had little remembrance of its subject matter, though I have a clear memory of enjoying enough to lend it out to a couple of friends. Your review puts me in mind of perhaps rereading it sometime.
159arubabookwoman
Library Book
55. The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex (2021) 352 pp
Around 1900, three lighthouse keepers at the Flannan Isles Lighthouse in the Outer Hebrides mysteriously vanished without a trace. Relief crews found the door closed, the clock stopped, and the men's weather gear hanging on their hooks. The mystery as to what happened to the men remains unsolved today.
In this recent novel, the story of the disappearance of the three lighthouse keepers has been transported to the 1970's and to a lighthouse off the coast of Cornwall. In chapters alternating between the 1970's and the 1990's, focusing alternately on the three men at the lighthouse and on their families as a new investigation seeks to solve the mystery of what happened to the men.
While I found the solution arrived at to be less than stellar, and while I also didn't particularly care for the family conflicts and stories of their afterlives, I really enjoyed the parts of the novel that focused on the life and duties of the lighthouse keepers. I've always been fascinated by lighthouses (I grew up within sight of the the lighthouse at Colorado Point on Aruba--unfortunately no longer there), and often daydreamed of living that solitary life on a remote island. (Wouldn't want the danger, though). The book is also masterful in its poetic descriptions of the sea, its power and majesty.
3 stars
55. The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex (2021) 352 pp
Around 1900, three lighthouse keepers at the Flannan Isles Lighthouse in the Outer Hebrides mysteriously vanished without a trace. Relief crews found the door closed, the clock stopped, and the men's weather gear hanging on their hooks. The mystery as to what happened to the men remains unsolved today.
In this recent novel, the story of the disappearance of the three lighthouse keepers has been transported to the 1970's and to a lighthouse off the coast of Cornwall. In chapters alternating between the 1970's and the 1990's, focusing alternately on the three men at the lighthouse and on their families as a new investigation seeks to solve the mystery of what happened to the men.
While I found the solution arrived at to be less than stellar, and while I also didn't particularly care for the family conflicts and stories of their afterlives, I really enjoyed the parts of the novel that focused on the life and duties of the lighthouse keepers. I've always been fascinated by lighthouses (I grew up within sight of the the lighthouse at Colorado Point on Aruba--unfortunately no longer there), and often daydreamed of living that solitary life on a remote island. (Wouldn't want the danger, though). The book is also masterful in its poetic descriptions of the sea, its power and majesty.
3 stars
160arubabookwoman
>158 rocketjk: I'll be interested to see what you think of The Handmaid's Tale when you read it Jerry. I think it will hold up well. I was extremely disappointed by the sequel, The Testaments, when I read it shortly after it was published. I found it to be a sort of YA post-apocalyptic adventure story.
161arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle:
56. Telephone by Percival Everett (2020) 233 pp
"Some people are just no good at being happy. And by some people, I mean me."
Zach Wells, a geology professor, finds his life crumbling when his beloved daughter begins suffering from a mysterious illness. One day,as he puts on a shirt newly ordered from eBay, he finds stashed in a pocket a note seeking help. Thus begins his quest to find the note's author, and to see what he can do to help.
This book thoroughly engaged me. What Zach finds on his quest brings us right into today's headlines about human-trafficking, but in addition the book is a masterful exploration of grief and how we handle grief.
After finishing the book, I read on Amazon that there are 3 versions of the book, though I'm not sure how they differ, and I'm not sure which version I read. I won't be seeking other versions of this book to read, but I will be seeking other books by Percival Everett to read.
4 stars
56. Telephone by Percival Everett (2020) 233 pp
"Some people are just no good at being happy. And by some people, I mean me."
Zach Wells, a geology professor, finds his life crumbling when his beloved daughter begins suffering from a mysterious illness. One day,as he puts on a shirt newly ordered from eBay, he finds stashed in a pocket a note seeking help. Thus begins his quest to find the note's author, and to see what he can do to help.
This book thoroughly engaged me. What Zach finds on his quest brings us right into today's headlines about human-trafficking, but in addition the book is a masterful exploration of grief and how we handle grief.
After finishing the book, I read on Amazon that there are 3 versions of the book, though I'm not sure how they differ, and I'm not sure which version I read. I won't be seeking other versions of this book to read, but I will be seeking other books by Percival Everett to read.
4 stars
162arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
1001 List
57. Cost by Roxanna Robinson (2008) 444 pp
"Her parents were drifting away, locked in a losing struggle with their bodies, their minds. The tide was going out."
Julia, a divorced art professor, is spending the summer at her Maine house when it becomes apparent that her younger son Jack has descended into the hell of heroin addiction. The novel follows Julia and her family's journey as they attempt to rescue Jack. The story, told from alternating points of view of the various family members, including Julia's parents, her father a cold and controlling retired neurosurgeon, her mother in the beginnings of Alzheimers, her ex-husband, Jack's older brother, and Jack himself, is a devastating one. It is not easy to read, and people more knowledgeable than me state that it paints an accurate description of the dirty side of an addict's life and what it is like to go through withdrawal an rehab, and of course how rarely rehab is successful. The focus is not entirely on the addict, however, but how addiction affects, and sometimes destroys, the entire family.
This is an excellent book. "Enjoyable" is not the word, but it is a book definitely well-worth reading. My only complaint is that Julia at times seemed too naive, too willing to accept Jack's lies and deceptions, and she took entirely too long to accept the reality of Jack's addiction. But, I suppose that's what a mother's love would do.
4 stars
1001 List
57. Cost by Roxanna Robinson (2008) 444 pp
"Her parents were drifting away, locked in a losing struggle with their bodies, their minds. The tide was going out."
Julia, a divorced art professor, is spending the summer at her Maine house when it becomes apparent that her younger son Jack has descended into the hell of heroin addiction. The novel follows Julia and her family's journey as they attempt to rescue Jack. The story, told from alternating points of view of the various family members, including Julia's parents, her father a cold and controlling retired neurosurgeon, her mother in the beginnings of Alzheimers, her ex-husband, Jack's older brother, and Jack himself, is a devastating one. It is not easy to read, and people more knowledgeable than me state that it paints an accurate description of the dirty side of an addict's life and what it is like to go through withdrawal an rehab, and of course how rarely rehab is successful. The focus is not entirely on the addict, however, but how addiction affects, and sometimes destroys, the entire family.
This is an excellent book. "Enjoyable" is not the word, but it is a book definitely well-worth reading. My only complaint is that Julia at times seemed too naive, too willing to accept Jack's lies and deceptions, and she took entirely too long to accept the reality of Jack's addiction. But, I suppose that's what a mother's love would do.
4 stars
163arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
58. This House of Grief by Helen Garner (2014) 248 pp
Subtitle: The Story of a Murder Trial
This is an Australian work of True Crime that some have compared to In Cold Blood, though I would not go that far. Robert and Cindy married young and quickly had 3 children. They separated, at Cindy's insistence, when the youngest was not yet two. Cindy was ready to move on, and had a new boyfriend. Robert was not ready to let Cindy go.
On Father's Day 2005, Robert spent the day with the three children, ages 10,7,and 2, doing the usual things, lunch at a fast food place, a stop in a store to buy a Father's Day present. In the early evening, as Robert is driving the kids home to Cindy, his car plunges off the road into a dam. Robert escapes from the car, but the three children drown. After an investigation, Robert is charged with the murder of the three children, the allegation being that Robert drove the car off the road deliberately to punish Cindy. Overall, the question presented was whether this was a suicided attempt, an attempt to punish Cindy, or a tragic accident.
Helen Garner, a novelist and a journalist, attended the trial(s), interviewed some of those involved, and ponders these questions, as she tries to come to grips with what happened. Can there ever be any explanation of whether or why a father, who seemed to truly love his children, would murder them?
3 stars
I am about half way through June's books now, but will have to stop, probably for the day.
58. This House of Grief by Helen Garner (2014) 248 pp
Subtitle: The Story of a Murder Trial
This is an Australian work of True Crime that some have compared to In Cold Blood, though I would not go that far. Robert and Cindy married young and quickly had 3 children. They separated, at Cindy's insistence, when the youngest was not yet two. Cindy was ready to move on, and had a new boyfriend. Robert was not ready to let Cindy go.
On Father's Day 2005, Robert spent the day with the three children, ages 10,7,and 2, doing the usual things, lunch at a fast food place, a stop in a store to buy a Father's Day present. In the early evening, as Robert is driving the kids home to Cindy, his car plunges off the road into a dam. Robert escapes from the car, but the three children drown. After an investigation, Robert is charged with the murder of the three children, the allegation being that Robert drove the car off the road deliberately to punish Cindy. Overall, the question presented was whether this was a suicided attempt, an attempt to punish Cindy, or a tragic accident.
Helen Garner, a novelist and a journalist, attended the trial(s), interviewed some of those involved, and ponders these questions, as she tries to come to grips with what happened. Can there ever be any explanation of whether or why a father, who seemed to truly love his children, would murder them?
3 stars
I am about half way through June's books now, but will have to stop, probably for the day.
164kidzdoc
Great reviews as always, Deborah. Several of the books you read sound interesting, but I'll only plan to read Telephone for now.
Of the novels by Percival Everett I've read I particularly liked I Am Not Sidney Poitier (4½ stars) and Erasure (4 stars).
Of the novels by Percival Everett I've read I particularly liked I Am Not Sidney Poitier (4½ stars) and Erasure (4 stars).
165rocketjk
>160 arubabookwoman: Thanks! I'm planning on reading both, though it will be a bit before I get to them, and will of course report fully to one and all! :)
166SassyLassy
>147 arubabookwoman: I haven't read The Maias yet although it is on the TBR.
>153 arubabookwoman: >157 arubabookwoman: I feel somewhat the same about Brookner. I often reach the end of one of her books wondering why I read it, then realize over time it made an impression. However, when I moved four years ago, I left some of her books behind, having decided I didn't need to read anymore of them due to that sameness. Fraud looks like it might change my mind back again.
>154 arubabookwoman: Fun.
>153 arubabookwoman: >157 arubabookwoman: I feel somewhat the same about Brookner. I often reach the end of one of her books wondering why I read it, then realize over time it made an impression. However, when I moved four years ago, I left some of her books behind, having decided I didn't need to read anymore of them due to that sameness. Fraud looks like it might change my mind back again.
>154 arubabookwoman: Fun.
167RidgewayGirl
>161 arubabookwoman: The different versions was a hot topic of discussion among the followers of the Tournament of Books in which it competed. One woman made a spreadsheet where she mapped the differences between the texts. The differences are subtle, just word choices making the narrator more or less empathetic, with changes to some events -- the final scene with his daughter, for example, changed as did the outcome with the women.
I read an interview with Everett in which he discussed how even when we read the same book, we pull different things from it and experience it differently, so how would it be if a book club unknowingly read different versions of the same book? Anyway, you can tell most easily which edition you have on the isbn code on the back cover -- there will be an a, b, or c indicating the version.
I have tremendously enjoyed every book by Everett that I've read, but my favorites, so far, are Assumption (kind of like Longmire until it very much isn't) and So Much Blue.
I read an interview with Everett in which he discussed how even when we read the same book, we pull different things from it and experience it differently, so how would it be if a book club unknowingly read different versions of the same book? Anyway, you can tell most easily which edition you have on the isbn code on the back cover -- there will be an a, b, or c indicating the version.
I have tremendously enjoyed every book by Everett that I've read, but my favorites, so far, are Assumption (kind of like Longmire until it very much isn't) and So Much Blue.
168BLBera
Interesting comments about The Handmaid's Tale. I recently reread it, and I think it does hold up. Curiously, one of my colleagues at the college was a Peace Corps volunteer in Romania, and according to Jason, Atwood based her novel on some of Ceaușescu's policies.
I've never read anything by Everett, but it does sound like an interesting premise.
I hope your grandson is OK.
I've never read anything by Everett, but it does sound like an interesting premise.
I hope your grandson is OK.
169NanaCC
How is your grandson doing, Deborah? That is a scary situation for sure. I don’t understand how there are so many people who are ignoring the evidence that vaccines and masks are what everyone needs to do.
170labfs39
Goodness, Deborah, so much to catch up on. I feel like I am too late to the party to add much, but here are a few comments:
Books I added to my wish list:
The Children by Wharton
The Birds by Vesaas
The Hearing Trumpet by Carrington
The Sound of Waves by Mishima (I have two of his other novels, unread, but this one sounds less grim)
Fun Home by Bechdel
(I have 34 books on my wish list or that I have read that were recommended by you. The only person who surpasses that is rebeccanyc. Thank you for the years of good reading suggestions!)
>134 arubabookwoman: I think I liked The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox more than you. I remember reading it all in one go late into the evening. Despite that, I haven′t read anything else by O′Farrell, although I have I am, I am, I am and After You′d Gone on my wish list.
>137 arubabookwoman: Skylark was wonderful. I wish I had written a review of it. I haven′t read anything else by Kosztolanyi; I′ll look forward to your reviews of his other works when you get there.
>141 arubabookwoman: I′m not sure what constitutes a celebrity memoir for you, but did you read the new-ish Van Gogh biography, Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh? I found it highly readable and the author′s investigation into and conclusions about his death very interesting.
>154 arubabookwoman: ooh… Lost in Translation sounds fun. I′ll look for a copy
>156 arubabookwoman: "When they went on about sixty being the new forty, they forgot to add that that made thirty-something the new twelve."
Lol. I want to read the book just for this line.
I hope you are doing well. The news out of Florida is frightening at times.
Books I added to my wish list:
The Children by Wharton
The Birds by Vesaas
The Hearing Trumpet by Carrington
The Sound of Waves by Mishima (I have two of his other novels, unread, but this one sounds less grim)
Fun Home by Bechdel
(I have 34 books on my wish list or that I have read that were recommended by you. The only person who surpasses that is rebeccanyc. Thank you for the years of good reading suggestions!)
>134 arubabookwoman: I think I liked The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox more than you. I remember reading it all in one go late into the evening. Despite that, I haven′t read anything else by O′Farrell, although I have I am, I am, I am and After You′d Gone on my wish list.
>137 arubabookwoman: Skylark was wonderful. I wish I had written a review of it. I haven′t read anything else by Kosztolanyi; I′ll look forward to your reviews of his other works when you get there.
>141 arubabookwoman: I′m not sure what constitutes a celebrity memoir for you, but did you read the new-ish Van Gogh biography, Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh? I found it highly readable and the author′s investigation into and conclusions about his death very interesting.
>154 arubabookwoman: ooh… Lost in Translation sounds fun. I′ll look for a copy
>156 arubabookwoman: "When they went on about sixty being the new forty, they forgot to add that that made thirty-something the new twelve."
Lol. I want to read the book just for this line.
I hope you are doing well. The news out of Florida is frightening at times.
171arubabookwoman
Thanks to all the visitors. I am still reading pretty fast (for me), so I seem to be falling further and further behind on reviews (Finished review 58 above; finished reading book 110). I better get cracking if I want to catch up by the end of the year!
Off my Kindle
59. Tampa Bay Noir ed. Colette Bancroft)
In the past I've been lukewarm to short stories, and I especially think that crime short stories can be particularly unsatisfying. I like lots of twists and turns and red herrings, and you can't do much of that in a short story. But I picked this up, part of the "geographic" noir series featuring crime stories set in a number of places around the country/world, as a way to possibly familiarize myself with my new home. And to a certain extent, this book did that, placing each story in a particular Tampa Bay area location (including my new home of Indian Rocks Beach). So, for example, I learned where Tampa General Hospital is (Davis Island, which I had previously heard of, but didn't know where it was). And there's a place called "Rattlesnake" where there used to be a rattlesnake processing plant. There are a number of tidbits like that in this book.
There are some good stories here, and a few duds. But most of all, I think it was a mistake to use this book as a way to get to know Tampa. Now I just think the are is full of con artists, sleazeballs, murderers, and assorted evil-doers.
3 stars
Off my Kindle
59. Tampa Bay Noir ed. Colette Bancroft)
In the past I've been lukewarm to short stories, and I especially think that crime short stories can be particularly unsatisfying. I like lots of twists and turns and red herrings, and you can't do much of that in a short story. But I picked this up, part of the "geographic" noir series featuring crime stories set in a number of places around the country/world, as a way to possibly familiarize myself with my new home. And to a certain extent, this book did that, placing each story in a particular Tampa Bay area location (including my new home of Indian Rocks Beach). So, for example, I learned where Tampa General Hospital is (Davis Island, which I had previously heard of, but didn't know where it was). And there's a place called "Rattlesnake" where there used to be a rattlesnake processing plant. There are a number of tidbits like that in this book.
There are some good stories here, and a few duds. But most of all, I think it was a mistake to use this book as a way to get to know Tampa. Now I just think the are is full of con artists, sleazeballs, murderers, and assorted evil-doers.
3 stars
172arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
60. Townie by Andre Dubus III (2011) 401 pp
The author of this memoir (hereinafter Andre) is the son of writer Andre Dubus (hereinafter the father). When he was 10, Andre's father left his mother to raise him and his brother and sisters basically on her own. His father was a published and well-regarded author, as well as a writing professor at a small prestigious liberal arts college. He remained largely absent from the children's lives during their growing up years, and provided little financial support to their mother or them.
Andre, his sibs, and his mother lived on the proverbial wrong side of the tracks in the college town where his father worked and taught (on the "good" side of the tracks). They were poor, often hungry. His education was sporadic (schools on that side of town being poor, and his mother was frequently absent, working low-paying jobs to provide bare minimums), drugs were rampant, petty crime was prevalent. Violence became a way of life for Andre as he grew up. The first part of the memoir covers his growing up years in these difficult circumstances.
Later he comes to realize the damage the violence and lack of education were doing to him, he began to turn his life around. He discovered writing, and that he had a talent for it. (I have read two of his novels, House of Sand and Fog and The Garden of Last Days, both excellent).
This memoir is highly praised, and is described as highlighting the differences in the lives of the privileged college students and staff and those in the town not associated with the college and not doing so well. I found that rather than focusing so much on poverty, the book instead focused on the violence in Andre's life, perpetrated by him and by those around him. The violence was a choice Andre deliberately made, and which he ultimately had to overcome to get his life on track. Descriptions of violence are pervasive and vivid. I can't say I enjoyed that aspect of the book. Nevertheless, a moving memoir.
3 stars
60. Townie by Andre Dubus III (2011) 401 pp
The author of this memoir (hereinafter Andre) is the son of writer Andre Dubus (hereinafter the father). When he was 10, Andre's father left his mother to raise him and his brother and sisters basically on her own. His father was a published and well-regarded author, as well as a writing professor at a small prestigious liberal arts college. He remained largely absent from the children's lives during their growing up years, and provided little financial support to their mother or them.
Andre, his sibs, and his mother lived on the proverbial wrong side of the tracks in the college town where his father worked and taught (on the "good" side of the tracks). They were poor, often hungry. His education was sporadic (schools on that side of town being poor, and his mother was frequently absent, working low-paying jobs to provide bare minimums), drugs were rampant, petty crime was prevalent. Violence became a way of life for Andre as he grew up. The first part of the memoir covers his growing up years in these difficult circumstances.
Later he comes to realize the damage the violence and lack of education were doing to him, he began to turn his life around. He discovered writing, and that he had a talent for it. (I have read two of his novels, House of Sand and Fog and The Garden of Last Days, both excellent).
This memoir is highly praised, and is described as highlighting the differences in the lives of the privileged college students and staff and those in the town not associated with the college and not doing so well. I found that rather than focusing so much on poverty, the book instead focused on the violence in Andre's life, perpetrated by him and by those around him. The violence was a choice Andre deliberately made, and which he ultimately had to overcome to get his life on track. Descriptions of violence are pervasive and vivid. I can't say I enjoyed that aspect of the book. Nevertheless, a moving memoir.
3 stars
173arubabookwoman
Library Book
61. Summerwater by Sarah Moss (2021) 190 pp
The setting for this short novel is a group of summer cabins around a loch in remote Scotland. In a series of vignettes we are introduces to the various inhabitants of the cabins, their lives and concerns of the moment, beginning in the predawn hours with Justine, a young wife and mother going for her sacrosanct run--the only time she gets to herself. The novel proceeds episodically throughout the day, the cold Scottish rain ever present, as in each section we meet a new set of characters. There are several families with young children, a family with teenagers, an elderly couple, a young engaged couple, as well as a group of "foreigners" (Romanians) that several of the other vacationers feel are too loud. The novel ends with the events culminating in the Romanian cabin after midnight.
At first this seems a quiet book, in which nothing much is happening. But with each episode, a sense of dread and forboding is being built. Although some reviews have described the book as being a "parade of inner lives" or "family life," in my view it is actually a psychological thriller.
Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
61. Summerwater by Sarah Moss (2021) 190 pp
The setting for this short novel is a group of summer cabins around a loch in remote Scotland. In a series of vignettes we are introduces to the various inhabitants of the cabins, their lives and concerns of the moment, beginning in the predawn hours with Justine, a young wife and mother going for her sacrosanct run--the only time she gets to herself. The novel proceeds episodically throughout the day, the cold Scottish rain ever present, as in each section we meet a new set of characters. There are several families with young children, a family with teenagers, an elderly couple, a young engaged couple, as well as a group of "foreigners" (Romanians) that several of the other vacationers feel are too loud. The novel ends with the events culminating in the Romanian cabin after midnight.
At first this seems a quiet book, in which nothing much is happening. But with each episode, a sense of dread and forboding is being built. Although some reviews have described the book as being a "parade of inner lives" or "family life," in my view it is actually a psychological thriller.
Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
174arubabookwoman
Library Book
62. Stillicide by Cynan Jones (2020) 182 pp
"People have always got on with it. Dystopia is as ridiculous a concept as Utopia."
This is a near-future post-apocalyptic/dystopian novel that, unlike many works of this genre, is quiet and lyrical. Climate change has caused water shortages, and water has become a valuable commodity. In a series of apparently unrelated vignettes we meet various characters, in various settings, each in more or less dire circumstances. The novel opens as a mercenary guard on the track carrying the "water train" to the city is sent to investigate a possible intruder along the tracks, with orders to shoot to kill if necessary. In other vignettes we meet a stray dog, two boys who adopt it, a nurse on a cancer ward, a reporter, an elderly couple who harvest limpets for food, the seashore now encroaching their home.
I liked this book a lot, and I think even those who are not fans of the dystopian/post-apocalyptic genre would find a lot to like here. The writing is beautiful, and part of the genius of the book is how it is put together with these unrelated parts that in the end, the author is able to pull together. A review on Amazon described it as "minimalist" and a "sparse apocalyptic slice of life," and these descriptions are apt. But it is very well-done.
And I learned a new word: "Stillicide--1. A continual dripping of water; 2. A right or duty relating to the collection of water from or onto adjacent land."
Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
62. Stillicide by Cynan Jones (2020) 182 pp
"People have always got on with it. Dystopia is as ridiculous a concept as Utopia."
This is a near-future post-apocalyptic/dystopian novel that, unlike many works of this genre, is quiet and lyrical. Climate change has caused water shortages, and water has become a valuable commodity. In a series of apparently unrelated vignettes we meet various characters, in various settings, each in more or less dire circumstances. The novel opens as a mercenary guard on the track carrying the "water train" to the city is sent to investigate a possible intruder along the tracks, with orders to shoot to kill if necessary. In other vignettes we meet a stray dog, two boys who adopt it, a nurse on a cancer ward, a reporter, an elderly couple who harvest limpets for food, the seashore now encroaching their home.
I liked this book a lot, and I think even those who are not fans of the dystopian/post-apocalyptic genre would find a lot to like here. The writing is beautiful, and part of the genius of the book is how it is put together with these unrelated parts that in the end, the author is able to pull together. A review on Amazon described it as "minimalist" and a "sparse apocalyptic slice of life," and these descriptions are apt. But it is very well-done.
And I learned a new word: "Stillicide--1. A continual dripping of water; 2. A right or duty relating to the collection of water from or onto adjacent land."
Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
175arubabookwoman
Library Book
63. To See Every Bird on Earth by Dan Koeppel (2006) 261 pp
Subtitle: A Father, a Son and a Lifelong Obsession
Dan Koeppel's father's obsession with birds began at age 12. He wanted to be an ornithologist, but because of pressure from his parents, went to medical school and became a doctor. He married, had two kids, and divorced. After the divorce, he arranged his life to accommodate the bird-watching habit he had never given up. He worked as an ER doctor, allowing him to accumulate funds, and then take off on long birdwatching trips to exotic locations around the world. He belonged to that elite group of birdwatchers known as "big listers." It is estimated that there are around 9,600 distinct species of bird in the world (only about 900 in the US and Canada), and to see more than 7000 is a huge accomplishment.
This book brings us right into the world of these big listers--the lengths they go to and the money they spend to "see every bird." But it is also a son's memoir of coming to terms with his estranged father, as in later life he joined his father on several bird watching trips and struggled to understand his father's obsession.
Recommended
3 1/2 stars
63. To See Every Bird on Earth by Dan Koeppel (2006) 261 pp
Subtitle: A Father, a Son and a Lifelong Obsession
Dan Koeppel's father's obsession with birds began at age 12. He wanted to be an ornithologist, but because of pressure from his parents, went to medical school and became a doctor. He married, had two kids, and divorced. After the divorce, he arranged his life to accommodate the bird-watching habit he had never given up. He worked as an ER doctor, allowing him to accumulate funds, and then take off on long birdwatching trips to exotic locations around the world. He belonged to that elite group of birdwatchers known as "big listers." It is estimated that there are around 9,600 distinct species of bird in the world (only about 900 in the US and Canada), and to see more than 7000 is a huge accomplishment.
This book brings us right into the world of these big listers--the lengths they go to and the money they spend to "see every bird." But it is also a son's memoir of coming to terms with his estranged father, as in later life he joined his father on several bird watching trips and struggled to understand his father's obsession.
Recommended
3 1/2 stars
176arubabookwoman
Off my Shelf
A reread for the Litsy Postal Book Club (20th Century Classics)
64. The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki (1948) 544 pp
Years ago my mother-in-law gave me this book and said it helped her get an understanding of Japanese culture (in addition to being an exquisite novel). I read it in the early 1980's, and loved this lovely family saga of a pre-WW II Japanese family in decline.
The focus is on the four Makioka sisters. Tsuruko is the oldest. Her husband has adopted the family name, and they are considered the head of the family and in charge of all important family decisions. Most of the novel concerns the second sister, Sachiko, who is also married. The two younger sisters, Yukiko and Taeko, live with Sachiko and her husband. The plot, such as it is, concerns the family's efforts to find a husband for Yukiko. Taeko already has a young man, but as the younger, she cannot marry until Yukiko marries. Sachiko is in charge of finding a husband for Yukiko, subject to approval by Tsuruko, of course. And what a lot of effort goes into finding a husband--matchmakers, investigations, meetings, and more meetings, all until some flaw is found, and the process starts all over again. We follow the family over several years, as one prospect after another is considered and rejected. There are lots of lovely family occasions, and life is serene and calm, but subtly in the background there are hints of a horrendous war fast approaching, in fact already ongoing in Manchuria.
Before rereading the book, I remembered little about it (other than the broad general plot), but I did remember one family excursion to go see fireflies. I remember being charmed by that. There are also annual excursions to view the cherry blossoms, visits to traditional Japanese theater, tea ceremonies and so on. Much is devoted to the mundane events of day to day living, so that at times it seems that not much is happening, but in the end a whole world is created and lived.
My 21st century persona occasionally became impatient about some of the minor dithering of these characters as they tried to make decisions--for example, there are pages devoted to whether Yukiko should meet a new potential suitor when she has a "spot" near her eye (which the doctor says will go away after she marries). But I still found it a book to become immersed in.
Recommended
4 stars
A reread for the Litsy Postal Book Club (20th Century Classics)
64. The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki (1948) 544 pp
Years ago my mother-in-law gave me this book and said it helped her get an understanding of Japanese culture (in addition to being an exquisite novel). I read it in the early 1980's, and loved this lovely family saga of a pre-WW II Japanese family in decline.
The focus is on the four Makioka sisters. Tsuruko is the oldest. Her husband has adopted the family name, and they are considered the head of the family and in charge of all important family decisions. Most of the novel concerns the second sister, Sachiko, who is also married. The two younger sisters, Yukiko and Taeko, live with Sachiko and her husband. The plot, such as it is, concerns the family's efforts to find a husband for Yukiko. Taeko already has a young man, but as the younger, she cannot marry until Yukiko marries. Sachiko is in charge of finding a husband for Yukiko, subject to approval by Tsuruko, of course. And what a lot of effort goes into finding a husband--matchmakers, investigations, meetings, and more meetings, all until some flaw is found, and the process starts all over again. We follow the family over several years, as one prospect after another is considered and rejected. There are lots of lovely family occasions, and life is serene and calm, but subtly in the background there are hints of a horrendous war fast approaching, in fact already ongoing in Manchuria.
Before rereading the book, I remembered little about it (other than the broad general plot), but I did remember one family excursion to go see fireflies. I remember being charmed by that. There are also annual excursions to view the cherry blossoms, visits to traditional Japanese theater, tea ceremonies and so on. Much is devoted to the mundane events of day to day living, so that at times it seems that not much is happening, but in the end a whole world is created and lived.
My 21st century persona occasionally became impatient about some of the minor dithering of these characters as they tried to make decisions--for example, there are pages devoted to whether Yukiko should meet a new potential suitor when she has a "spot" near her eye (which the doctor says will go away after she marries). But I still found it a book to become immersed in.
Recommended
4 stars
177arubabookwoman
That completes my reading through June. Now on to July.
Library Book
65. A Song for the Dark Times by Ian Rankin (2020) 337 pp
I haven't read all the Inspector Rebus novels, but probably have read more than half of them. This is the most recent entry in the series.
Rebus has retired. His COPD has gotten serious, and he has had to move to a flat on the ground floor. His sidekick, Siobhan, still in the department, helps him move. He's at odds when he receives a call from his daughter Samantha from her home in northern Scotland--her partner has gone missing. Rebus heads north while Siobhan remains in Edinburg investigating the murder of a wealthy Saudi playboy/student. Could the two cases be connected?
As usual for Rankin, a competent page-turner of a police procedural.
3 stars
Library Book
65. A Song for the Dark Times by Ian Rankin (2020) 337 pp
I haven't read all the Inspector Rebus novels, but probably have read more than half of them. This is the most recent entry in the series.
Rebus has retired. His COPD has gotten serious, and he has had to move to a flat on the ground floor. His sidekick, Siobhan, still in the department, helps him move. He's at odds when he receives a call from his daughter Samantha from her home in northern Scotland--her partner has gone missing. Rebus heads north while Siobhan remains in Edinburg investigating the murder of a wealthy Saudi playboy/student. Could the two cases be connected?
As usual for Rankin, a competent page-turner of a police procedural.
3 stars
178arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
66. Theory of Bastards by Audrey Schulman (2018) 314 pp
Francine "Frankie" Burk, an evolutionary psychologist, has taken a research position at a midwestern institute to study bonobos vis a vis her hypothesis of a "Theory of Bastards," her theory about the benefits of having a lover's baby, rather than your husband's. She is studying the sex habits of the bonobos, attempting to discover whether the females make different choices of sexual partners during their fertile periods than during their non-fertile periods.
I really liked the first part of this book describing Frankie's efforts to gain the bonobos' trust, as well as her observations of their behaviors. In fact, there is a lot of information about factual scientific research regarding bonobos which is very interesting. But then, about half-way through the book, it morphs into a climate change apocalyptic novel. A huge dust storm comes up which destroys all technology. The institute is cut off from the rest of the world (whatever remains of it) and Frankie and her research partner must figure out how to feed the bonobos, and how to survive in a catastrophically changed world. I wasn't expecting this, although perhaps I should have been since the novel won a couple of science fiction literary awards.
3 stars
66. Theory of Bastards by Audrey Schulman (2018) 314 pp
Francine "Frankie" Burk, an evolutionary psychologist, has taken a research position at a midwestern institute to study bonobos vis a vis her hypothesis of a "Theory of Bastards," her theory about the benefits of having a lover's baby, rather than your husband's. She is studying the sex habits of the bonobos, attempting to discover whether the females make different choices of sexual partners during their fertile periods than during their non-fertile periods.
I really liked the first part of this book describing Frankie's efforts to gain the bonobos' trust, as well as her observations of their behaviors. In fact, there is a lot of information about factual scientific research regarding bonobos which is very interesting. But then, about half-way through the book, it morphs into a climate change apocalyptic novel. A huge dust storm comes up which destroys all technology. The institute is cut off from the rest of the world (whatever remains of it) and Frankie and her research partner must figure out how to feed the bonobos, and how to survive in a catastrophically changed world. I wasn't expecting this, although perhaps I should have been since the novel won a couple of science fiction literary awards.
3 stars
179arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
For the ongoing Wharton read on LItsy
67. The Touchstone by Edith Wharton (1900) 64 pp
"Genius is of small use to a woman who does not know how to do her hair."
This short novella is Wharton's first published full-length work. I read it for a Litsy Buddy read of all of Wharton's works which is now ongoing (we discuss our 3rd Wharton read tomorrow).
Stephen Glennard is ready to get married, but is unable to do so until he is more financially secure. Many years before he had a close friendship with a woman who became a famous, but reclusive writer who has recently died. She apparently left no letters or private papers, but as it turns out, Stephen has a treasure trove letters she wrote him during their friendship. He investigates, and surreptitiously hiding himself as the recipient or source of the letters, has them published, raising enough cash to marry. Even his wife does not know how he came into the funds enabling them to marry. Once the letters are published, creating a sensation, the guilt sets in for Stephen. This was a very modern morality tale.
Recommended.
3 stars
For the ongoing Wharton read on LItsy
67. The Touchstone by Edith Wharton (1900) 64 pp
"Genius is of small use to a woman who does not know how to do her hair."
This short novella is Wharton's first published full-length work. I read it for a Litsy Buddy read of all of Wharton's works which is now ongoing (we discuss our 3rd Wharton read tomorrow).
Stephen Glennard is ready to get married, but is unable to do so until he is more financially secure. Many years before he had a close friendship with a woman who became a famous, but reclusive writer who has recently died. She apparently left no letters or private papers, but as it turns out, Stephen has a treasure trove letters she wrote him during their friendship. He investigates, and surreptitiously hiding himself as the recipient or source of the letters, has them published, raising enough cash to marry. Even his wife does not know how he came into the funds enabling them to marry. Once the letters are published, creating a sensation, the guilt sets in for Stephen. This was a very modern morality tale.
Recommended.
3 stars
180arubabookwoman
Off my shelf
68. To Live by Yu Hua (1993) 246 pp
Fugui was the spoiled son of a wealthy landowner--until he lost most of his property through gambling debts. This novel follows his decline (or perhaps his rise) from selfish landlord to kind and satisfied peasant.
This book of "Chinese history through the life of one man" has also been called a Chinese Book of Job, as one calamity after another afflicts Fugui and is family. I picked it up years ago after seeing the very good movie of the same name based on the novel. While I'm glad I read the book, I didn't find that it added much to the movie.
3 stars
68. To Live by Yu Hua (1993) 246 pp
Fugui was the spoiled son of a wealthy landowner--until he lost most of his property through gambling debts. This novel follows his decline (or perhaps his rise) from selfish landlord to kind and satisfied peasant.
This book of "Chinese history through the life of one man" has also been called a Chinese Book of Job, as one calamity after another afflicts Fugui and is family. I picked it up years ago after seeing the very good movie of the same name based on the novel. While I'm glad I read the book, I didn't find that it added much to the movie.
3 stars
181arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
69. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (2020) 227 pp
There is a small cafe in Tokyo where, it is said, you can travel in time. This book, follows 4 people who choose to make the trip: Fumiko, who wants to relive (and perhaps avoid) the time her boyfriend broke up with her; Hirai, who wants to be nicer to her sister after her death; Kohtake, who wants to revisit her husband before his dementia sets in; and Kei, who wants to see her daughter grown up.
The rules for time travel in this cafe are simple, the primary one being that the time traveler cannot change the present. Also, the time traveler can only meet someone who has also been in the cafe. And the time traveler can only stay in the past as long as it takes for their cup of coffee to get cold.
This was a charming story. Obviously, the time travelers could not change the present--Kohtake's husband still has dementia--but each returns from their time travel a changed, for the better, person.
Recommended.
3 stars
Have to stop for the day now. I'll try to continue tomorrow--I'm halfway through July--but I always say that.
69. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (2020) 227 pp
There is a small cafe in Tokyo where, it is said, you can travel in time. This book, follows 4 people who choose to make the trip: Fumiko, who wants to relive (and perhaps avoid) the time her boyfriend broke up with her; Hirai, who wants to be nicer to her sister after her death; Kohtake, who wants to revisit her husband before his dementia sets in; and Kei, who wants to see her daughter grown up.
The rules for time travel in this cafe are simple, the primary one being that the time traveler cannot change the present. Also, the time traveler can only meet someone who has also been in the cafe. And the time traveler can only stay in the past as long as it takes for their cup of coffee to get cold.
This was a charming story. Obviously, the time travelers could not change the present--Kohtake's husband still has dementia--but each returns from their time travel a changed, for the better, person.
Recommended.
3 stars
Have to stop for the day now. I'll try to continue tomorrow--I'm halfway through July--but I always say that.
183kidzdoc
Nice set of reviews, Deborah. I agree with you that Summerwater is best described as a psychological thriller. I'm eager to read her new novel, The Fell, after it is published in the UK next month.
184BLBera
Great comments as usual, Deborah. Stillicide catches my attention. I'm amazed that you remember so much about them; if I don't write something right away, I would never remember much about them months later.
I hope you and yours are staying well.
I hope you and yours are staying well.
185arubabookwoman
Well guess what--I'm back for the second day in a row, and I think I have time to do a few reviews before I have to go do dinner.
>182 labfs39: Hi Lisa--I especially recommend The Makioka Sisters.
>183 kidzdoc: Hi Daryl. I read a book several years ago by Sarah Moss that I really didn't like and thought was a pretty bad book, so I was hesitant to read another. I'm glad I read this one though, and I'll probably pick up another book by her at some point.
>184 BLBera: Hi Beth. I think you'll like Stillicide. The only reason I'm able to remember anything about the books I read is because I do keep a hardcopy written book journal about all the books I read with contemporaneous notes, so I am able to construct reviews from those notes. Unfortunately, for September I read a LOT of books (probably more than I've ever read in one month before) and I wasn't very good about making written notes. So there will probably be a lot of reviews that say something like, "I don't remember much about this book, but I think I liked it..., or maybe I didn't like it, who knows?"
Next book was from the library:
70. Festival Days by Jo Ann Beard (2021) 273 pp
Many years ago I read Jo Ann Beard's collection of essays, The Boys of My Youth (I still remember, because I related to these life experiences, her descriptions of Sunday evenings watching Bonanza with Lorne Greene, and also her description of her doll named Hal). So when I saw this new collection, I checked it out of the library. The first two essays in the collection are excellent, but make devastating reading. The first relates to the decision she had to make to put down her beloved dog. The second essay also related to the death of a dear pet, in this case a cat, and it involved a dire situation relating to having to jump from a burning building with your cat in your arms. After reading these two essays, I was almost afraid to go on. But I did.
There were some other good essays in the collection (and apparently at least one fictional piece), but there were also several duds that I really didn't connect with. The other essay that really stuck with me was a long piece about a woman named Cheri as she contemplates and seeks out Dr. Kevorkian's assistance when she decides to stop fighting a terminal disease.
This was a spotty, but decent read. I probably wouldn't have remembered the author's name for 15 or 20 years if this had been the first book of hers I read, rather than The Boys of My Youth.
3 stars
>182 labfs39: Hi Lisa--I especially recommend The Makioka Sisters.
>183 kidzdoc: Hi Daryl. I read a book several years ago by Sarah Moss that I really didn't like and thought was a pretty bad book, so I was hesitant to read another. I'm glad I read this one though, and I'll probably pick up another book by her at some point.
>184 BLBera: Hi Beth. I think you'll like Stillicide. The only reason I'm able to remember anything about the books I read is because I do keep a hardcopy written book journal about all the books I read with contemporaneous notes, so I am able to construct reviews from those notes. Unfortunately, for September I read a LOT of books (probably more than I've ever read in one month before) and I wasn't very good about making written notes. So there will probably be a lot of reviews that say something like, "I don't remember much about this book, but I think I liked it..., or maybe I didn't like it, who knows?"
Next book was from the library:
70. Festival Days by Jo Ann Beard (2021) 273 pp
Many years ago I read Jo Ann Beard's collection of essays, The Boys of My Youth (I still remember, because I related to these life experiences, her descriptions of Sunday evenings watching Bonanza with Lorne Greene, and also her description of her doll named Hal). So when I saw this new collection, I checked it out of the library. The first two essays in the collection are excellent, but make devastating reading. The first relates to the decision she had to make to put down her beloved dog. The second essay also related to the death of a dear pet, in this case a cat, and it involved a dire situation relating to having to jump from a burning building with your cat in your arms. After reading these two essays, I was almost afraid to go on. But I did.
There were some other good essays in the collection (and apparently at least one fictional piece), but there were also several duds that I really didn't connect with. The other essay that really stuck with me was a long piece about a woman named Cheri as she contemplates and seeks out Dr. Kevorkian's assistance when she decides to stop fighting a terminal disease.
This was a spotty, but decent read. I probably wouldn't have remembered the author's name for 15 or 20 years if this had been the first book of hers I read, rather than The Boys of My Youth.
3 stars
186arubabookwoman
Off my Shelf
71. Thumbprint by Friedrich Glauser (1936) 2003
This vintage Swiss crime novel is the first in a series. I'm not a particular fan of vintage crime, and although this is a decent entry, I didn't like it enough to continue the series. In this one, a traveling salesman has been murdered in a small Swiss village. The author can write well. I liked his description of one of the characters as looking, "like a pig with scarlet fever."
The author is an interesting character himself. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was institutionalized much of his life. He was also a morphine and opium addict, and died in his early 40's.
2 1/2 stars
71. Thumbprint by Friedrich Glauser (1936) 2003
This vintage Swiss crime novel is the first in a series. I'm not a particular fan of vintage crime, and although this is a decent entry, I didn't like it enough to continue the series. In this one, a traveling salesman has been murdered in a small Swiss village. The author can write well. I liked his description of one of the characters as looking, "like a pig with scarlet fever."
The author is an interesting character himself. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was institutionalized much of his life. He was also a morphine and opium addict, and died in his early 40's.
2 1/2 stars
187labfs39
>185 arubabookwoman: for September I read a LOT of books (probably more than I've ever read in one month before)
So what's your secret? Did you put aside fiber projects? Art study? Sedate the dog? :-)
So what's your secret? Did you put aside fiber projects? Art study? Sedate the dog? :-)
188arubabookwoman
Library Book
72. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (2021) 321 pp
Ishiguro has been hit or miss for me, although Remains of the Day is an all time favorite memorable book of mine, so I usually like to give his books a chance, unless it sounds like something I really wouldn't like. (Thinking of The Buried Giant.) I enjoyed this one, set in the near future and narrated by Klara, an artificial friend (AF), or robot.
When the novel opens Klara and other AFs are in the AF store, each hoping to be chosen to be a friend to a special child. (For some reason AFs are for kids in their teens rather than younger children). Klara hopes to be given a place in the front of the store, perhaps even in the window, so as to be more likely to be noticed and chosen. And of course, AFs take their nourishment from the sun, and there is more sun in the front of the store. The sun is a kind of mythical God figure to the AFs.
Finally, Klara is chosen by Josie and brought home with Josie to be her friend. We observe life with Josie and her family and friends through Klara's eyes, and we realize that all is not well. In the near future world Ishiguro has created many children are "uplifted" (genetically altered) to amplify their intelligence, and in Josie's case, it has created significant health issues as a side effect. I never found it sufficiently clear why parents would choose to uplift their child when there were known life-threatening possible side-effects. In any event, Klara wants to do what she can to help Josie, perhaps even involving the sun.
Beyond being an interesting look at a possible future world, the novel explores through the observations of Klara what it means to be human. As with many other reviewers, I loved Klara's narrative voice.
Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
72. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (2021) 321 pp
Ishiguro has been hit or miss for me, although Remains of the Day is an all time favorite memorable book of mine, so I usually like to give his books a chance, unless it sounds like something I really wouldn't like. (Thinking of The Buried Giant.) I enjoyed this one, set in the near future and narrated by Klara, an artificial friend (AF), or robot.
When the novel opens Klara and other AFs are in the AF store, each hoping to be chosen to be a friend to a special child. (For some reason AFs are for kids in their teens rather than younger children). Klara hopes to be given a place in the front of the store, perhaps even in the window, so as to be more likely to be noticed and chosen. And of course, AFs take their nourishment from the sun, and there is more sun in the front of the store. The sun is a kind of mythical God figure to the AFs.
Finally, Klara is chosen by Josie and brought home with Josie to be her friend. We observe life with Josie and her family and friends through Klara's eyes, and we realize that all is not well. In the near future world Ishiguro has created many children are "uplifted" (genetically altered) to amplify their intelligence, and in Josie's case, it has created significant health issues as a side effect. I never found it sufficiently clear why parents would choose to uplift their child when there were known life-threatening possible side-effects. In any event, Klara wants to do what she can to help Josie, perhaps even involving the sun.
Beyond being an interesting look at a possible future world, the novel explores through the observations of Klara what it means to be human. As with many other reviewers, I loved Klara's narrative voice.
Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
189arubabookwoman
>187 labfs39: lol Lisa! I think it was actually because I read a lot of ridiculous fluff! There may have been some good stuff in there, we'll see when I get to those reviews. But I think I read 20+ books in September.
Library Book
73. 2034 by Elliot Ackerman and James Stavridis (2021) 319 pp
When I was a teenager, my guilty reading pleasure was books about nuclear war and its aftermath. 50 years later, every once in a while, I see a library book (fiction) about nuclear war, and I feel compelled to check it out. I need to stop doing that.
The authors of this one are military officers (current or past), so the book is written from a military standpoint, with stereotypical characters and very little regard for what happens afterwards. It's about a "tactical" nuclear war, which is apparently not as bad as a "strategic" nuclear war. I should probably not have chosen to read a book written by someone who thinks a tactical war, if it's just "tactical," might be winnable. Anyway, a couple of months down the road after reading this I can't remember much about it, other than that I didn't like it. So, not recommended.
1 1/2 stars
I will note that on Amazon some reviewers who know more about military things than me said this is a good "cautionary tale," although why anyone would need a cautionary tale against nuclear war is beyond me. On the other hand, another reviewer said the book consisted of "a series of tit for tat actions that are...strategically moronic...{and} morally repugnant."
Library Book
73. 2034 by Elliot Ackerman and James Stavridis (2021) 319 pp
When I was a teenager, my guilty reading pleasure was books about nuclear war and its aftermath. 50 years later, every once in a while, I see a library book (fiction) about nuclear war, and I feel compelled to check it out. I need to stop doing that.
The authors of this one are military officers (current or past), so the book is written from a military standpoint, with stereotypical characters and very little regard for what happens afterwards. It's about a "tactical" nuclear war, which is apparently not as bad as a "strategic" nuclear war. I should probably not have chosen to read a book written by someone who thinks a tactical war, if it's just "tactical," might be winnable. Anyway, a couple of months down the road after reading this I can't remember much about it, other than that I didn't like it. So, not recommended.
1 1/2 stars
I will note that on Amazon some reviewers who know more about military things than me said this is a good "cautionary tale," although why anyone would need a cautionary tale against nuclear war is beyond me. On the other hand, another reviewer said the book consisted of "a series of tit for tat actions that are...strategically moronic...{and} morally repugnant."
190arubabookwoman
Library book
74. Exit by Belinda Bauer (2021) 283 pp
I've enjoyed almost all of the books by Belinda Bauer that I've read--I've read 4 or 5. I'd describe them as psychological thrillers/crime novels, and that's how I'd describe this one.
Felix an elderly retired gentleman in a country village belongs to a group called the Exiteers. Members of this group assist terminally ill people who have chosen suicide to end their lives. By the rules of the organization (and the law), they cannot provide affirmative assistance in the execution of the act, and they can only be there to offer moral support and comfort to the person committing suicide.
As the novel opens, Felix is accompanied by a new member of the Exiteers to the home of a terminally ill man who wishes to die. Unfortunately, the new recruit, perhaps because of inexperience, accidentally does something that might be considered affirmative assistance, and then to Felix's horror, they learn that the man who dies was not the person who requested the help of the Exiteers. Suddenly, Felix finds himself wanted by the police in a murder investigation.
The novel is full of twists and turns, and made for compelling reading. Another excellent book from Bauer.
Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
74. Exit by Belinda Bauer (2021) 283 pp
I've enjoyed almost all of the books by Belinda Bauer that I've read--I've read 4 or 5. I'd describe them as psychological thrillers/crime novels, and that's how I'd describe this one.
Felix an elderly retired gentleman in a country village belongs to a group called the Exiteers. Members of this group assist terminally ill people who have chosen suicide to end their lives. By the rules of the organization (and the law), they cannot provide affirmative assistance in the execution of the act, and they can only be there to offer moral support and comfort to the person committing suicide.
As the novel opens, Felix is accompanied by a new member of the Exiteers to the home of a terminally ill man who wishes to die. Unfortunately, the new recruit, perhaps because of inexperience, accidentally does something that might be considered affirmative assistance, and then to Felix's horror, they learn that the man who dies was not the person who requested the help of the Exiteers. Suddenly, Felix finds himself wanted by the police in a murder investigation.
The novel is full of twists and turns, and made for compelling reading. Another excellent book from Bauer.
Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
191arubabookwoman
Library Book
75. The Searcher by Tana French (2021)
I read Tana French's first book, In the Woods, and liked it, but not well enough to follow through with the ensuing books in the series. (And as I recall, there was a major problem with a plot point that really bothered me, although I no longer remember the details.) I think this one is a stand-alone, and it was ok, but again, not good enough to make me rush out to read more books by Tana French.
Cal, a retired Chicago cop, has moved to a small Irish village where he is restoring a derelict cottage while he lives in it. When he catches a young teen spying on him, he learns that the teen's brother disappeared several months before, and the teen would like Cal to help find the brother. Cal reluctantly agrees, and then starts uncovering the secrets of this bucolic village, which was not so innocent as he had a first thought.
2 1/2 stars
With that I have to stop for the day, and go cook dinner. But I have arrived at August for reviews. I might even be able to do a few more tomorrow.
75. The Searcher by Tana French (2021)
I read Tana French's first book, In the Woods, and liked it, but not well enough to follow through with the ensuing books in the series. (And as I recall, there was a major problem with a plot point that really bothered me, although I no longer remember the details.) I think this one is a stand-alone, and it was ok, but again, not good enough to make me rush out to read more books by Tana French.
Cal, a retired Chicago cop, has moved to a small Irish village where he is restoring a derelict cottage while he lives in it. When he catches a young teen spying on him, he learns that the teen's brother disappeared several months before, and the teen would like Cal to help find the brother. Cal reluctantly agrees, and then starts uncovering the secrets of this bucolic village, which was not so innocent as he had a first thought.
2 1/2 stars
With that I have to stop for the day, and go cook dinner. But I have arrived at August for reviews. I might even be able to do a few more tomorrow.
192BLBera
I also keep reading journals, Deborah. Otherwise I wouldn't remember books I read five years ago. I loved Klara and the Sun as well; Ishiguro created such a unique voice -- and he persisted with it throughout the novel. I keep meaning to give Bauer a try.
Great comments. I always enjoy seeing your takes.
Great comments. I always enjoy seeing your takes.
193avaland
I seemed to have completely missed your threadhs for the last few mont, Deborah. Glad you are back and posting. You have read, as usual, some interesting books :-)
194arubabookwoman
>192 BLBera: Hi Beth.
>193 avaland: I'm still posting sporadically Lois, but reading lots and lots. I really want to get back to the Needlearts group too.
I have a little time to post a few reviews today. Nothing new to report in my life, though. I've been reading tons, don't know why, but in September and October so far I've been reading (or at least finishing) quite a few more books than I usually do. In reviewing, I am back with the books I read in August, so catching up, but still behind.
Off my Kindle:
76. Compulsion by Meyer Levin (1956) 482 pp
"This was a crime for its own sake. It was a crime in a vacuum, a crime in a perfectly frozen nothingness where the atmosphere of motive was totally absent."
This is a fictionalized account of the Leopold and Loeb kidnapping and murder case from the 1920's. The author was a cub reporter for a Chicago newspaper at the time and covered the case. He was also a fraternity brother and slight acquaintance of one of the perpetrators, and so had an interest in and some inside knowledge of the case. This book was written in the 1950's and is considered a worthy predecessor of In Cold Blood and other "nonfiction novels."
The point of view in the novel alternates between the Leopold and Loeb characters (in the book Judd and Artie) and that of Sid, the reporter persona. We follow Leopold and Loeb's obsessive friendship, their planning of what they consider to be the perfect crime (due to their self-perceived super-intelligence), and then the execution of the crime. Then the media frenzy began, and all the clues they left behind despite their superior intelligence, soon led to their capture. The novel continues with a detailed description of their trial and their ultimate conviction.
At the time of the trial, Freudian theory was just beginning to gain popular acceptance, and a great number of psychiatric theories were expounded at the trial to try to explain the crime. The book went on at great length about some of the theories, and I sometimes tired of them. (I note that when the book was written in the1950's Freudian analysis was perhaps approaching the height of its popularity.)
Although perhaps slightly dated, the book is well-written, and a complete picture of this so-called "crime of the century." Recommended.
3 stars
>193 avaland: I'm still posting sporadically Lois, but reading lots and lots. I really want to get back to the Needlearts group too.
I have a little time to post a few reviews today. Nothing new to report in my life, though. I've been reading tons, don't know why, but in September and October so far I've been reading (or at least finishing) quite a few more books than I usually do. In reviewing, I am back with the books I read in August, so catching up, but still behind.
Off my Kindle:
76. Compulsion by Meyer Levin (1956) 482 pp
"This was a crime for its own sake. It was a crime in a vacuum, a crime in a perfectly frozen nothingness where the atmosphere of motive was totally absent."
This is a fictionalized account of the Leopold and Loeb kidnapping and murder case from the 1920's. The author was a cub reporter for a Chicago newspaper at the time and covered the case. He was also a fraternity brother and slight acquaintance of one of the perpetrators, and so had an interest in and some inside knowledge of the case. This book was written in the 1950's and is considered a worthy predecessor of In Cold Blood and other "nonfiction novels."
The point of view in the novel alternates between the Leopold and Loeb characters (in the book Judd and Artie) and that of Sid, the reporter persona. We follow Leopold and Loeb's obsessive friendship, their planning of what they consider to be the perfect crime (due to their self-perceived super-intelligence), and then the execution of the crime. Then the media frenzy began, and all the clues they left behind despite their superior intelligence, soon led to their capture. The novel continues with a detailed description of their trial and their ultimate conviction.
At the time of the trial, Freudian theory was just beginning to gain popular acceptance, and a great number of psychiatric theories were expounded at the trial to try to explain the crime. The book went on at great length about some of the theories, and I sometimes tired of them. (I note that when the book was written in the1950's Freudian analysis was perhaps approaching the height of its popularity.)
Although perhaps slightly dated, the book is well-written, and a complete picture of this so-called "crime of the century." Recommended.
3 stars
195arubabookwoman
Off my shelf:
77 The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster (2009) 333 pp
After his wife and two children die in a plane crash, Vermont professor Dave Zimmer passes several months in a daze of grief. Then one day, something he sees on TV makes him laugh for the first time since the tragedy. He had caught a glimpse of an excerpt from a silent film starring the actor Hector Mann, who he later learned had vanished at the height of his career and was never heard from again. Zimmer becomes fascinated, perhaps obsessed, with Hector Mann, and begins a quest to view and study all of Mann's existing films. Ultimately, Zimmer writes a book on Mann's films, but the mystery of Mann's disappearance remained unsolved.
Then, shortly after his book on Hector Mann is published, Zimmer received a letter purportedly from Mann's wife saying Hector would like to meet with him. Zimmer initially discounts this as a hoax, but developments proceed to show him otherwise.
This like most of the books by Auster I've read was eminently readable, and I'm always amazed at the inventiveness and creativity of his plots and the absolute reality of his characters. This was a most satisfying read, and I will continue to read the several Auster books I have remaining unread on my shelf, as well as any new ones I come across. Recommended.
4 stars
77 The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster (2009) 333 pp
After his wife and two children die in a plane crash, Vermont professor Dave Zimmer passes several months in a daze of grief. Then one day, something he sees on TV makes him laugh for the first time since the tragedy. He had caught a glimpse of an excerpt from a silent film starring the actor Hector Mann, who he later learned had vanished at the height of his career and was never heard from again. Zimmer becomes fascinated, perhaps obsessed, with Hector Mann, and begins a quest to view and study all of Mann's existing films. Ultimately, Zimmer writes a book on Mann's films, but the mystery of Mann's disappearance remained unsolved.
Then, shortly after his book on Hector Mann is published, Zimmer received a letter purportedly from Mann's wife saying Hector would like to meet with him. Zimmer initially discounts this as a hoax, but developments proceed to show him otherwise.
This like most of the books by Auster I've read was eminently readable, and I'm always amazed at the inventiveness and creativity of his plots and the absolute reality of his characters. This was a most satisfying read, and I will continue to read the several Auster books I have remaining unread on my shelf, as well as any new ones I come across. Recommended.
4 stars
196arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle:
78. The Beggar Maid by Alice Munro 227 pp
I think I've read one other book by Alice Munro, but after she won the Nobel Prize several years ago I've wanted to read more, although she primarily (exclusively?) writes short stories, not my favorite, as I've said often enough.
This book consists of what are referred to as the Flo and Rose stories, and I believe they are stories that have for the most part previously appeared elsewhere. These interwoven stories tell us of the lives of Flo and Rose (step-mother and step-daughter) over 40 years, and read together feel like a novel in short stories. The stories are presented roughly chronologically (as measured by the lives of Flo and Rose), beginning when Rose is just a young child, and ending with Flo in the throes of dementia. The early stories take place in the small Ontario town where Rose grew up in poverty. Later, Rose goes out into the wide world to make her way while Flo remains behind. Yet the ties that bind them stay strong in ways good and bad. This is a wonderful collection, and although the stories were written at various times over the years, there is an inherent consistency and unity in them.
Highly recommended.
4 stars
78. The Beggar Maid by Alice Munro 227 pp
I think I've read one other book by Alice Munro, but after she won the Nobel Prize several years ago I've wanted to read more, although she primarily (exclusively?) writes short stories, not my favorite, as I've said often enough.
This book consists of what are referred to as the Flo and Rose stories, and I believe they are stories that have for the most part previously appeared elsewhere. These interwoven stories tell us of the lives of Flo and Rose (step-mother and step-daughter) over 40 years, and read together feel like a novel in short stories. The stories are presented roughly chronologically (as measured by the lives of Flo and Rose), beginning when Rose is just a young child, and ending with Flo in the throes of dementia. The early stories take place in the small Ontario town where Rose grew up in poverty. Later, Rose goes out into the wide world to make her way while Flo remains behind. Yet the ties that bind them stay strong in ways good and bad. This is a wonderful collection, and although the stories were written at various times over the years, there is an inherent consistency and unity in them.
Highly recommended.
4 stars
197arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
79. Bad Day in Blackrock by Kevin Power (2010) 240 pp
There is a street fight after the pubs close one night in Dublin, and when it ends a young man is dead. The victim and the three young men charged with manslaughter in the death are all products of the elite schooling system in Dublin and the school rugby leagues.
I didn't really connect with this one. Although there's lots of violence, drinking and drugs, it all felt very juvenile and YA. It was apparently based on a true incident, but it's not one I'd recommend you rush out to read.
2 stars
79. Bad Day in Blackrock by Kevin Power (2010) 240 pp
There is a street fight after the pubs close one night in Dublin, and when it ends a young man is dead. The victim and the three young men charged with manslaughter in the death are all products of the elite schooling system in Dublin and the school rugby leagues.
I didn't really connect with this one. Although there's lots of violence, drinking and drugs, it all felt very juvenile and YA. It was apparently based on a true incident, but it's not one I'd recommend you rush out to read.
2 stars
198arubabookwoman
Off my shelf.
I read the first 4 volumes of Knausgaard's My Struggle one after the other. Then I saved volume 5 to read after volume 6 came out. I bought volume 6 on its publication date 2-3 years ago, but have only just read volume 5. Need to read 6 soon.
80. My Struggle Book 5 by Karl Ove Knausgaard (2016) 657 PP
This volume focuses on Knausgaard's student years and his years trying to become established as a writer. We read of his time at university, his various love affairs, meeting and marrying his first wife, all in the midst of mammoth drinking bouts and occasional violent outbreaks. As a detailed exposition of a young man acting out, it frequently did not interest me, I will admit, although as in the other volumes the writing is excellent. It took me ages to read, and I frequently set it aside for long periods of time (which I don't often do with books I read), so it may have suffered due to period neglect. It ends where volume one started, with the death of his father. I'll be interested to see what he tackles in volume 6.
3 stars
I read the first 4 volumes of Knausgaard's My Struggle one after the other. Then I saved volume 5 to read after volume 6 came out. I bought volume 6 on its publication date 2-3 years ago, but have only just read volume 5. Need to read 6 soon.
80. My Struggle Book 5 by Karl Ove Knausgaard (2016) 657 PP
This volume focuses on Knausgaard's student years and his years trying to become established as a writer. We read of his time at university, his various love affairs, meeting and marrying his first wife, all in the midst of mammoth drinking bouts and occasional violent outbreaks. As a detailed exposition of a young man acting out, it frequently did not interest me, I will admit, although as in the other volumes the writing is excellent. It took me ages to read, and I frequently set it aside for long periods of time (which I don't often do with books I read), so it may have suffered due to period neglect. It ends where volume one started, with the death of his father. I'll be interested to see what he tackles in volume 6.
3 stars
199arubabookwoman
Library Book
81. Victim F by Denise Huskins (2021) 399 pp
Subtitle: From Crime Victims to Suspects to Survivors
Denise and Aaron, both physical therapists, were awakened in the middle of the night by armed intruder(s) who threatened them, drugged them, and ultimately kidnapped Denise. They warned Aaron not to call the police, and said Denise would be released after ransom was paid. They left Aaron drugged and tied up. When he was cogent enough to break free, he agonized over whether to call the police. Ultimately Aaron called his brother who was an FBI agent, who counseled him to call the police, which Aaron did.
From the beginning, the police thought Aaron had murdered Denise and was trying to cover up his crime. They did very little actual investigation, and left many clues uncovered. When Denise was released several days later, the police immediately began treating the whole episode as a hoax perpetrated by Denise and Aaron. The incident was picked up by the media, who began referring to it as the "Gone Girl" case. Instead of being treated as victims of a heinous crime, Denise and Aaron were treated as criminals.
This true crime account details the kidnapping and the ultimate solving of the crime, as well as Denise and Aaron's recovery from the dual traumatic experiences of the crime itself and then their treatment by the police as criminals. The book is narrated in alternating sections by Denise and Aaron, each detailing their separate experiences and perceptions. While this was at times effective, I sometimes wished for a more reportorial, journalistic, "just the facts Ma'am" account--there was a lot of "mushy" stuff here I didn't care for. Overall, though this was an eye-opening account of law enforcement gone rogue.
3 stars
81. Victim F by Denise Huskins (2021) 399 pp
Subtitle: From Crime Victims to Suspects to Survivors
Denise and Aaron, both physical therapists, were awakened in the middle of the night by armed intruder(s) who threatened them, drugged them, and ultimately kidnapped Denise. They warned Aaron not to call the police, and said Denise would be released after ransom was paid. They left Aaron drugged and tied up. When he was cogent enough to break free, he agonized over whether to call the police. Ultimately Aaron called his brother who was an FBI agent, who counseled him to call the police, which Aaron did.
From the beginning, the police thought Aaron had murdered Denise and was trying to cover up his crime. They did very little actual investigation, and left many clues uncovered. When Denise was released several days later, the police immediately began treating the whole episode as a hoax perpetrated by Denise and Aaron. The incident was picked up by the media, who began referring to it as the "Gone Girl" case. Instead of being treated as victims of a heinous crime, Denise and Aaron were treated as criminals.
This true crime account details the kidnapping and the ultimate solving of the crime, as well as Denise and Aaron's recovery from the dual traumatic experiences of the crime itself and then their treatment by the police as criminals. The book is narrated in alternating sections by Denise and Aaron, each detailing their separate experiences and perceptions. While this was at times effective, I sometimes wished for a more reportorial, journalistic, "just the facts Ma'am" account--there was a lot of "mushy" stuff here I didn't care for. Overall, though this was an eye-opening account of law enforcement gone rogue.
3 stars
200arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle.
This is the second in a series. I didn't read the first, but I don't think you need to.
82. Deep Six by Jack McDevitt (2001) 532 pp
In this science fiction space story, it's the 23rd century, and scientists are gathering near the planet Maleiva III. A wandering gas giant is about to collide with Maleiva III, and the scientists want to observe this event close up. It was known that Maleiva III supported life (plant and animal), but previous expeditions had not seen evidence of advanced intelligence or civilization. However, shortly before the collision, remnants of an intelligent civilization were found, and a small group of scientists, led by pilot Patricia Hutchins are sent to the surface to quickly explore and to save what they can of this previously unknown civilization before the collision. Of course, there are all kinds of complications and unexpected disasters as they explore the planet.
I found this to be an imaginative depiction of an alien culture, as well as an exciting adventure story. Good escapist reading.
3 stars
This is the second in a series. I didn't read the first, but I don't think you need to.
82. Deep Six by Jack McDevitt (2001) 532 pp
In this science fiction space story, it's the 23rd century, and scientists are gathering near the planet Maleiva III. A wandering gas giant is about to collide with Maleiva III, and the scientists want to observe this event close up. It was known that Maleiva III supported life (plant and animal), but previous expeditions had not seen evidence of advanced intelligence or civilization. However, shortly before the collision, remnants of an intelligent civilization were found, and a small group of scientists, led by pilot Patricia Hutchins are sent to the surface to quickly explore and to save what they can of this previously unknown civilization before the collision. Of course, there are all kinds of complications and unexpected disasters as they explore the planet.
I found this to be an imaginative depiction of an alien culture, as well as an exciting adventure story. Good escapist reading.
3 stars
201arubabookwoman
off my Kindle:
83. The Ax by Donald Westlake 355 pp
Burke Devore used to be a middle manager at a paper company, describing his job as being "above the working stiffs, but capable of communication with them, so the bosses won't have to deal with people who play country music on their car radios." But he was "downsized," and has been looking for a new job for two years, growing increasingly frustrate. It's hard when you're middle-aged, and there are so many other workers competing for the same managerial jobs in the paper industry. Ultimately, he devises a scheme to make his resume stand out: eliminate the competition. He cleverly manages to discover the identities of his competitors and sets out to eliminate them, one by one.
This was a clever and diverting crime novel. It is the first book I've read by Westlake, but won't be the last. He reminded me a bit of Patricia Highsmith. And, it was not just a crime novel, but and underhanded critique of our society and corporate greed.
3 stars
83. The Ax by Donald Westlake 355 pp
Burke Devore used to be a middle manager at a paper company, describing his job as being "above the working stiffs, but capable of communication with them, so the bosses won't have to deal with people who play country music on their car radios." But he was "downsized," and has been looking for a new job for two years, growing increasingly frustrate. It's hard when you're middle-aged, and there are so many other workers competing for the same managerial jobs in the paper industry. Ultimately, he devises a scheme to make his resume stand out: eliminate the competition. He cleverly manages to discover the identities of his competitors and sets out to eliminate them, one by one.
This was a clever and diverting crime novel. It is the first book I've read by Westlake, but won't be the last. He reminded me a bit of Patricia Highsmith. And, it was not just a crime novel, but and underhanded critique of our society and corporate greed.
3 stars
202arubabookwoman
Library Book.
I know I said I wasn't going to read any more Trump books, but this one was getting a lot of positive coverage, so I had to.
84. I Alone Can Fix It by Carol Leonnig andPhil Rucker (2021)
"He displayed his ignorance, his rash temper, his pettiness and pique, his malice and cruelty, his utter absence of empathy, his narcissism, his transgressive personality, his disloyalty, his sense of victimhood, his addiction to television, his suspicion and silencing of experts and his deception and lies."
I never intended to read another Trump book after he was not reelected. But I read Leonnig and Rucker's earlier book A Very Stable Genius, and this one was all over the media, so I took the bait. It covers Trump's consequential final year, with the focus on his handling of the pandemic, his reelection efforts, and then his efforts to overturn the election results, including the January 6 insurrection, his second impeachment, and finally Biden's inauguration.
I live in fear that Trump will run again in 2024 and win, so every day I anxiously await his criminal indictment in one or more of the current ongoing investigations into his actions. I'm fearful that his being in jail (or fighting to stay out of jail) may be the only thing to prevent him running again (although that may also result in further and more disastrous insurrections). This book is informative, and did nothing to relieve my anxieties.
3 stars
I know I said I wasn't going to read any more Trump books, but this one was getting a lot of positive coverage, so I had to.
84. I Alone Can Fix It by Carol Leonnig andPhil Rucker (2021)
"He displayed his ignorance, his rash temper, his pettiness and pique, his malice and cruelty, his utter absence of empathy, his narcissism, his transgressive personality, his disloyalty, his sense of victimhood, his addiction to television, his suspicion and silencing of experts and his deception and lies."
I never intended to read another Trump book after he was not reelected. But I read Leonnig and Rucker's earlier book A Very Stable Genius, and this one was all over the media, so I took the bait. It covers Trump's consequential final year, with the focus on his handling of the pandemic, his reelection efforts, and then his efforts to overturn the election results, including the January 6 insurrection, his second impeachment, and finally Biden's inauguration.
I live in fear that Trump will run again in 2024 and win, so every day I anxiously await his criminal indictment in one or more of the current ongoing investigations into his actions. I'm fearful that his being in jail (or fighting to stay out of jail) may be the only thing to prevent him running again (although that may also result in further and more disastrous insurrections). This book is informative, and did nothing to relieve my anxieties.
3 stars
203arubabookwoman
Library Books:
85. Winter in Paradise (2018) 338 pp
86. What Happens in Paradise (2019) 337 pp
87. Troubles in Paradise (2020) 355 pp
all by Elin Hilderbrand
I read these three books one after the other in a matter of a few days. In the first, Irene's husband dies in a helicopter crash in the British Virgin Islands. She learns that he has had a whole secret life while she stayed home in Iowa, including a fabulous beachfront mansion and a beautiful young mistress. And when she and her sons, Baker and Cash, arrive on St. Johns to claim his body (and occupy the beachfront mansion), they discover he may also have been involved in some dark criminal dealings.
This is best-seller, chick-lit stuff, and not in a good way. It's poorly written and stereotypical. I hate when books are continually "name-dropping" consumer goods, restaurants, etc, and in these books the name dropping is constant (I learned about a special brand of men's shirt, and a special brand of Christmas ornament, for example). The book also serves as a "fire hose of tourist information" (according to an Amazon review) about St. Johns, with info about beaches, fishing charters, restaurants and bars, etc. But I read the three books compulsively because I wanted to know the solution to the mystery (which involves Caribbean money-laundering). There is ultimately a solution of sorts, but the technical details of the crime and the FBI investigation are entirely glossed over and exist mostly as a background to the romantic shenanigans of Irene and her sons with various island inhabitants. The true purpose of the books is to make you want to give up the rat race and move to a tropical paradise to become a fishing charter guide, just like our characters here, even if the FBI does ultimately confiscate that fabulous beachfront mansion. I'm giving these 1 star books 1 1/2 stars, because ultimately I kept reading and because they really did make me want to move to a tropical island.
And with that, I'm through August, and ready to start September. But that will have to wait until next time.
85. Winter in Paradise (2018) 338 pp
86. What Happens in Paradise (2019) 337 pp
87. Troubles in Paradise (2020) 355 pp
all by Elin Hilderbrand
I read these three books one after the other in a matter of a few days. In the first, Irene's husband dies in a helicopter crash in the British Virgin Islands. She learns that he has had a whole secret life while she stayed home in Iowa, including a fabulous beachfront mansion and a beautiful young mistress. And when she and her sons, Baker and Cash, arrive on St. Johns to claim his body (and occupy the beachfront mansion), they discover he may also have been involved in some dark criminal dealings.
This is best-seller, chick-lit stuff, and not in a good way. It's poorly written and stereotypical. I hate when books are continually "name-dropping" consumer goods, restaurants, etc, and in these books the name dropping is constant (I learned about a special brand of men's shirt, and a special brand of Christmas ornament, for example). The book also serves as a "fire hose of tourist information" (according to an Amazon review) about St. Johns, with info about beaches, fishing charters, restaurants and bars, etc. But I read the three books compulsively because I wanted to know the solution to the mystery (which involves Caribbean money-laundering). There is ultimately a solution of sorts, but the technical details of the crime and the FBI investigation are entirely glossed over and exist mostly as a background to the romantic shenanigans of Irene and her sons with various island inhabitants. The true purpose of the books is to make you want to give up the rat race and move to a tropical paradise to become a fishing charter guide, just like our characters here, even if the FBI does ultimately confiscate that fabulous beachfront mansion. I'm giving these 1 star books 1 1/2 stars, because ultimately I kept reading and because they really did make me want to move to a tropical island.
And with that, I'm through August, and ready to start September. But that will have to wait until next time.
204labfs39
Wow, you are churning them out, Deborah. Your review of Compulsion sent me down rabbit holes on Wikipedia. Seems Leopold was not happy with Levin's version of events. I have only read Travels in the Scriptorium by Auster; it was very inventive. As an aside, have you read The Investigation by Philippe Claudel? In my review, I likened The Investigation to a book written by Auster with help from Gogol. If you like Auster, you might like it. True crime not being a genre I read (or follow in the news), I was astonished by your review of Victim F and scurried back down the rabbit hole.
Hope you are doing well
Hope you are doing well
205baswood
Noting The Book of Illusions I have never been disappointed by Paul Auster
206markon
Wow! Great to see all these reviews Deborah. Sorry to hear about the condo woes and continuing trips to the doctors, although I suspect that at some point we will all be in that boat.
I've added a few to my list
>122 arubabookwoman: The hearing trumpet moves up my Mt. TBR with your review and the comments from the main character.
>124 arubabookwoman: I loved Indelicacy for the writing, and because the character wanted what she wanted and didn't feel guilty when she got it. I agree that not much happened, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
>125 arubabookwoman: The sound of waves sounds lovely, and isn't one my library owns.
>135 arubabookwoman: The hospital: life, death and dollars in a small American town sounds intriguing.
>137 arubabookwoman: Skylark is already on my list, I think thanks to labfs39
>138 arubabookwoman: My library owns three by Garry Disher, so I'll check them out.
>191 arubabookwoman: Tana French: I've read all but one of her novels, and agree that The searcher is weak. Although I enjoyed the characters and learning about the town. If you ever want to give her a 3rd chance, I think Faithful place and The secret place are her best, and recommend reading Faithful place first.
The beggar maid: this is the first Alice Munro I ever read, and it didn't make a positive impression on me initially as it was one my mother brought home from the library. But I somehow picked it up again a few years later and loved it, and went on to devour every collection she published through my 30s. Because of that association and the fact it reads like a novel, it remains my favorite Munro.
>200 arubabookwoman: I like Jack McDevitt's books and haven't read Deep six, so this goes on my list.
Thank you for these comments, I've enjoyed reading them. Hope your grandson and the rest of his family remain healthy.
I've added a few to my list
>122 arubabookwoman: The hearing trumpet moves up my Mt. TBR with your review and the comments from the main character.
>124 arubabookwoman: I loved Indelicacy for the writing, and because the character wanted what she wanted and didn't feel guilty when she got it. I agree that not much happened, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
>125 arubabookwoman: The sound of waves sounds lovely, and isn't one my library owns.
>135 arubabookwoman: The hospital: life, death and dollars in a small American town sounds intriguing.
>137 arubabookwoman: Skylark is already on my list, I think thanks to labfs39
>138 arubabookwoman: My library owns three by Garry Disher, so I'll check them out.
>191 arubabookwoman: Tana French: I've read all but one of her novels, and agree that The searcher is weak. Although I enjoyed the characters and learning about the town. If you ever want to give her a 3rd chance, I think Faithful place and The secret place are her best, and recommend reading Faithful place first.
The beggar maid: this is the first Alice Munro I ever read, and it didn't make a positive impression on me initially as it was one my mother brought home from the library. But I somehow picked it up again a few years later and loved it, and went on to devour every collection she published through my 30s. Because of that association and the fact it reads like a novel, it remains my favorite Munro.
>200 arubabookwoman: I like Jack McDevitt's books and haven't read Deep six, so this goes on my list.
Thank you for these comments, I've enjoyed reading them. Hope your grandson and the rest of his family remain healthy.
207AlisonY
Have enjoyed catching up. The Alice Munro book of short stories sounds great (even more so because they inter-connect: I prefer that to general short story collections).
Looks like I enjoyed the Knausgaard book 5 a lot more than you did. I agree that he was particularly unpleasant and annoying in this book (also in book 4) - that annoying age where you think you know everything. But, I did very appreciate that he did enable me to feel like I was inside the head of a young lad in his late teens / early 20s, even if it wasn't necessarily a place that I want to know about. I also liked his honesty in not trying to look back at his young self through rose tinted glasses - he sees himself for exactly what he was (precocious and annoying).
Looks like I enjoyed the Knausgaard book 5 a lot more than you did. I agree that he was particularly unpleasant and annoying in this book (also in book 4) - that annoying age where you think you know everything. But, I did very appreciate that he did enable me to feel like I was inside the head of a young lad in his late teens / early 20s, even if it wasn't necessarily a place that I want to know about. I also liked his honesty in not trying to look back at his young self through rose tinted glasses - he sees himself for exactly what he was (precocious and annoying).
208rocketjk
>195 arubabookwoman: Just adding my shared admiration for Book of Illusions. All the best.
209arubabookwoman
Well as the end of the year approaches, I am still about 50 reviews behind, even though I am up to September. So my current plan is to do 10 reviews a day, over the next 5 days. Ha! Like that will happen, though I will try.
I've been absent because of life (again). I traveled leaving my husband alone for the first time since his transplant, since it was the first time he was apparently medically stable enough to be left. This meant that I hadn't seen my mother for 3 years. She's in her 90's, has COPD, and in recent months has been showing some cognitive decline. (Until a few months ago, she's been sharp as a tack). My sister who lives near her believed that it was time for her to go to assisted living. So I visited a week in Texas, and she is now signed up for an assisted living place which looks quite nice. My sisters (the 2 who live near her) will be moving her soon, as they wanted her to stay in her house through Thanksgiving.
I came home to find my husband with some serious complications from his cataract surgery which took place 10/28. They first told us that he had mucous filaments in his eye, and were treating that, when the pain got extremely bad they said he had shingles in his eye and started treating that. The pain got worse/didn't subside, they said he had a severe corneal abrasion, which may have been caused by a virus (no longer shingles though). On Monday, they put a bandage lens in his eye made of placental material to speed growth. Right now his eye is feeling a lot better, but we don't know if he can see because the eye is taped shut. We go to the doctor again on Tuesday for him to remove the bandage lens, and we will see how things are going then. Just another case of one thing after another.
>204 labfs39: Hi Lisa. I haven't read Claudel's The Investigation, but I've read Brodeck's Report and By A Slow River by him, both of which I liked, especially Brodeck's Report.
>205 baswood: I agree with you about Auster Bas. I read and liked somewhere around 5-6 books of his, and still have several more on my shelf waiting to be read.
>206 markon: Thanks for your comments Ardene. If you're looking for a new crime series, you can't go wrong with Gary Disher in my opinion.
>207 AlisonY: Hi Alison-I wasn't meaning to say that the Knausgaard vol. 5 was bad. I just didn't like it (and for that matter also vol. 4) as much as the others. Both volumes 4 and 5 are focusing on his later teens and early adulthood, and there's lots of macho acting act, which is not a subject I'm usually interested in. So they just didn't appeal to me, although I can recognize their value and place in the overall series. Still haven't gotten to vol. 6--maybe December????
>208 rocketjk: Thanks Jerry. Glad you liked it too.
Now onto a few book comments/reviews. I'm now starting with my September reads.
I've been absent because of life (again). I traveled leaving my husband alone for the first time since his transplant, since it was the first time he was apparently medically stable enough to be left. This meant that I hadn't seen my mother for 3 years. She's in her 90's, has COPD, and in recent months has been showing some cognitive decline. (Until a few months ago, she's been sharp as a tack). My sister who lives near her believed that it was time for her to go to assisted living. So I visited a week in Texas, and she is now signed up for an assisted living place which looks quite nice. My sisters (the 2 who live near her) will be moving her soon, as they wanted her to stay in her house through Thanksgiving.
I came home to find my husband with some serious complications from his cataract surgery which took place 10/28. They first told us that he had mucous filaments in his eye, and were treating that, when the pain got extremely bad they said he had shingles in his eye and started treating that. The pain got worse/didn't subside, they said he had a severe corneal abrasion, which may have been caused by a virus (no longer shingles though). On Monday, they put a bandage lens in his eye made of placental material to speed growth. Right now his eye is feeling a lot better, but we don't know if he can see because the eye is taped shut. We go to the doctor again on Tuesday for him to remove the bandage lens, and we will see how things are going then. Just another case of one thing after another.
>204 labfs39: Hi Lisa. I haven't read Claudel's The Investigation, but I've read Brodeck's Report and By A Slow River by him, both of which I liked, especially Brodeck's Report.
>205 baswood: I agree with you about Auster Bas. I read and liked somewhere around 5-6 books of his, and still have several more on my shelf waiting to be read.
>206 markon: Thanks for your comments Ardene. If you're looking for a new crime series, you can't go wrong with Gary Disher in my opinion.
>207 AlisonY: Hi Alison-I wasn't meaning to say that the Knausgaard vol. 5 was bad. I just didn't like it (and for that matter also vol. 4) as much as the others. Both volumes 4 and 5 are focusing on his later teens and early adulthood, and there's lots of macho acting act, which is not a subject I'm usually interested in. So they just didn't appeal to me, although I can recognize their value and place in the overall series. Still haven't gotten to vol. 6--maybe December????
>208 rocketjk: Thanks Jerry. Glad you liked it too.
Now onto a few book comments/reviews. I'm now starting with my September reads.
210arubabookwoman
From the library:
88. The Passenger by Chaney Kwak (2021) 134 pp
Subtitle: How a Travel Writer Learned to Love Cruises and Other Lies from a Sinking Ship
The author is a travel writer and in March, 2019 was on an Arctic Cruise on the Viking Sky when the ship lost power in a violent storm. Many of the passengers were evacuated from the ship, but the author was among those who had to be left on the disabled ship as it was battered by 50 foot waves for many hours, drifting toward the treacherous rocks on the northern Norwegian coast. Over the course of more than a day, he contemplates ending an unsatisfactory relationship with his partner of 20 years.
The subject description of this book made it sound like it could have been an exciting, thrilling adventure story, a learning experience or something life changing, but it wasn't. The author turned it into a mundane, boring book, with lots of whiney parts.
Not recommended.
1 1/2 stars.
88. The Passenger by Chaney Kwak (2021) 134 pp
Subtitle: How a Travel Writer Learned to Love Cruises and Other Lies from a Sinking Ship
The author is a travel writer and in March, 2019 was on an Arctic Cruise on the Viking Sky when the ship lost power in a violent storm. Many of the passengers were evacuated from the ship, but the author was among those who had to be left on the disabled ship as it was battered by 50 foot waves for many hours, drifting toward the treacherous rocks on the northern Norwegian coast. Over the course of more than a day, he contemplates ending an unsatisfactory relationship with his partner of 20 years.
The subject description of this book made it sound like it could have been an exciting, thrilling adventure story, a learning experience or something life changing, but it wasn't. The author turned it into a mundane, boring book, with lots of whiney parts.
Not recommended.
1 1/2 stars.
211arubabookwoman
Sorry--double post. LT is acting up.
212arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
89. The Bird's Nest by Shirley Jackson (1954) 274 pp
This is Shirley Jackson's "multiple personality" book. Elizabeth lives with her aunt Morgen, and works at a clerical job at the museum. When she starts having severe headaches and multiple blackouts, her aunt sends her to Dr. Wright. Through the course of her therapy with Dr. Wright, we meet, in addition to Elizabeth, Beth, Betsy and Bess. Each of the distinct personalities is incomplete and broken, but Elizabeth is somehow enduring since she is the one who remains behind to carry on and clean up the messes left by the others.
I found this to be rather dated and very much of its time. I didn't enjoy it as much as I've like other books I've read by Shirley Jackson, but by all means go for it if the subject interests you.
(I remember devouring the multiple personality book Sybil 35 or 40 years ago. I was never compelled to pick this one up, and had to force myself to finish it.)
2 stars
89. The Bird's Nest by Shirley Jackson (1954) 274 pp
This is Shirley Jackson's "multiple personality" book. Elizabeth lives with her aunt Morgen, and works at a clerical job at the museum. When she starts having severe headaches and multiple blackouts, her aunt sends her to Dr. Wright. Through the course of her therapy with Dr. Wright, we meet, in addition to Elizabeth, Beth, Betsy and Bess. Each of the distinct personalities is incomplete and broken, but Elizabeth is somehow enduring since she is the one who remains behind to carry on and clean up the messes left by the others.
I found this to be rather dated and very much of its time. I didn't enjoy it as much as I've like other books I've read by Shirley Jackson, but by all means go for it if the subject interests you.
(I remember devouring the multiple personality book Sybil 35 or 40 years ago. I was never compelled to pick this one up, and had to force myself to finish it.)
2 stars
213labfs39
>209 arubabookwoman: Oh no, you are being battered from all sides. I'm glad you were able to find a nice assisted living residence for your mother, although it's unfortunate she had to leave her home. My thoughts are with you and Gil as you face yet another health trial.
>210 arubabookwoman: With a story like that, you would have thought that Kwak could have written a better book.
>212 arubabookwoman: My daughter has done research on DID and occasionally shares what she's learning. It's interesting and treated very differently than it was back in the day. There are even some young people vlogging about their experiences.
>210 arubabookwoman: With a story like that, you would have thought that Kwak could have written a better book.
>212 arubabookwoman: My daughter has done research on DID and occasionally shares what she's learning. It's interesting and treated very differently than it was back in the day. There are even some young people vlogging about their experiences.
214arubabookwoman
>213 labfs39: Hi Lisa, and thanks.
Right now, I'm having difficulty posting on LT now, don't now if it's my computer, my internet/wifi, or LT but everytime I click "post" nothing happens. I have one review floating somewhere in the ether right now, which I will have to retype. I was able to post the 2 reviews above only after leaving the internet, then coming back. If I disappear altogether today, it's because of these frustrations, not because I don't want to do the reviews now, not to mention have the time to do the reviews now.
Right now, I'm having difficulty posting on LT now, don't now if it's my computer, my internet/wifi, or LT but everytime I click "post" nothing happens. I have one review floating somewhere in the ether right now, which I will have to retype. I was able to post the 2 reviews above only after leaving the internet, then coming back. If I disappear altogether today, it's because of these frustrations, not because I don't want to do the reviews now, not to mention have the time to do the reviews now.
215arubabookwoman
From the library:
90. China Room by Sunjeev Sahota (2021) 250 pp
This novel consists of 2 alternating storylines, one set in 1920's India and one in contemporaneous times. In 1929, 15 year old Mehar has been married into a family with a domineering mother-in-law, Mai, 3 sons/brothers, and 2 sister brides. None of the 3 brides know which son she is married to, as each sees her husband only on alternating nights in a darkened room. During the day, Mehar and her fellow brides perform their domestic duties and speculate on which son belongs to which bride.
In the contemporary story, Mehar's great grandson has come to India from England to spend the summer with his uncle (and to kick his heroin addiction). He lives at the abandoned farmhouse where the events in Mehar's story took place.
The stories were apparently inspired by true events in the author's family.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, and it is competently written. However, it was not one that called to me, and not one I loved in the way I loved the first book by this author that I read, The Year of the Runaways. If you are only going to read one book by the author, I highly recommend that you go for The Year of the Runaways.
2 1/2 stars
90. China Room by Sunjeev Sahota (2021) 250 pp
This novel consists of 2 alternating storylines, one set in 1920's India and one in contemporaneous times. In 1929, 15 year old Mehar has been married into a family with a domineering mother-in-law, Mai, 3 sons/brothers, and 2 sister brides. None of the 3 brides know which son she is married to, as each sees her husband only on alternating nights in a darkened room. During the day, Mehar and her fellow brides perform their domestic duties and speculate on which son belongs to which bride.
In the contemporary story, Mehar's great grandson has come to India from England to spend the summer with his uncle (and to kick his heroin addiction). He lives at the abandoned farmhouse where the events in Mehar's story took place.
The stories were apparently inspired by true events in the author's family.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, and it is competently written. However, it was not one that called to me, and not one I loved in the way I loved the first book by this author that I read, The Year of the Runaways. If you are only going to read one book by the author, I highly recommend that you go for The Year of the Runaways.
2 1/2 stars
216arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle:
(Read for Litsy Wharton Buddy Read--a year(s) long read of all of Wharton's fiction in the order published.
91. Valley of Decision by Edith Wharton (1902) 353 pp
This is Wharton's first novel length work, and a foray into historical fiction. It was not something I would have expected from Wharton given my knowledge of her other works.
The novel is set in late 18th century Italy, and is an account of the life of Odo Valsecca, a fictional character. Although he was a distant relative of the reigning Duke of Pianura and in the line of succession, Odo was raised in poverty on a farm. However, at the age of 12, he was called to court, and ultimately years later succeeds to the Dukeship.
This is a rather philosophical work, and there is a lot of discussion about the divisions between church and state, the granting of rights to peasants and other issues of the time. Because of his upbringing, Odo always felt a sympathy with the common people, and we can see hints of the social commentary Wharton is known for. For example, here is her description of the school to which Odo was sent after being brought to court. It was, "in touch with the fine gentleman's world of intrigue, cards and dueling: the world in which ladies were subjugated, fortunes lost, adversaries run through and tradesmen ruined with that imperturbable grace which distinguished the man of quality from the plebeian." I also found it surprisingly relevant to current times, as after Odo ascended to the Dukeship he found that even a ruler who wants to do the right thing can have difficulties in dealing with all the quarreling factions to get anything done. And in addition to these serious themes, it is also an engaging work about a young man's struggles in coming of age.
Overall, I enjoyed this, but it's not one I'd recommend dropping everything to read. There is a lot of historical detail that went over my head, and it is a rather slow read. However, it is unlike any other Wharton I've read, and even though it's her first novel, there is a lot of lovely writing here. For example, when Odo first comes to court after being raised on a peasant farm, he feels, "like a stranger at a masked ball where all the masks are acquainted with each other's disguises and concealed to the visitor."
Overall, Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
(Read for Litsy Wharton Buddy Read--a year(s) long read of all of Wharton's fiction in the order published.
91. Valley of Decision by Edith Wharton (1902) 353 pp
This is Wharton's first novel length work, and a foray into historical fiction. It was not something I would have expected from Wharton given my knowledge of her other works.
The novel is set in late 18th century Italy, and is an account of the life of Odo Valsecca, a fictional character. Although he was a distant relative of the reigning Duke of Pianura and in the line of succession, Odo was raised in poverty on a farm. However, at the age of 12, he was called to court, and ultimately years later succeeds to the Dukeship.
This is a rather philosophical work, and there is a lot of discussion about the divisions between church and state, the granting of rights to peasants and other issues of the time. Because of his upbringing, Odo always felt a sympathy with the common people, and we can see hints of the social commentary Wharton is known for. For example, here is her description of the school to which Odo was sent after being brought to court. It was, "in touch with the fine gentleman's world of intrigue, cards and dueling: the world in which ladies were subjugated, fortunes lost, adversaries run through and tradesmen ruined with that imperturbable grace which distinguished the man of quality from the plebeian." I also found it surprisingly relevant to current times, as after Odo ascended to the Dukeship he found that even a ruler who wants to do the right thing can have difficulties in dealing with all the quarreling factions to get anything done. And in addition to these serious themes, it is also an engaging work about a young man's struggles in coming of age.
Overall, I enjoyed this, but it's not one I'd recommend dropping everything to read. There is a lot of historical detail that went over my head, and it is a rather slow read. However, it is unlike any other Wharton I've read, and even though it's her first novel, there is a lot of lovely writing here. For example, when Odo first comes to court after being raised on a peasant farm, he feels, "like a stranger at a masked ball where all the masks are acquainted with each other's disguises and concealed to the visitor."
Overall, Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
217arubabookwoman
Read for Litsy 20th Century Classics Postal Book Club
92. Howard's End by E.M. Forster (1910)
This is the story of a family home, and of three families whose lives become entwined through chance encounters. The Schlegel sisters, Margaret (Meg) and Helen are intellectuals and fledgling suffragettes. They live with their younger brother Tibby, a university student, and are comfortably well off. On one of their European tours, the Schlegels meet the Wilcox family, who reside at Howard's End. The Wilcoxes represent the "Establishment," the "old order," the "sun never sets on the British Empire" order, and their house, the eponymous Howard's End, plays a prominent role in the novel. The third family is represented by Leonard Blast and his awful wife. Leonard is a working-class bloke with aspirations who becomes involved with the Schlegels after Helen "steals" his umbrella when exiting a concert at which they sat next to each other.
I loved this book, and Meg has become one of my all-time favorite characters. It was charming, elegant and delightful, and I need to go back into E.M. Forster's work to read what I haven't read and reread what I have.
5 stars
I had been wanting to read this one for years ever since I saw the movie which starred Emma Thompson as Meg. If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it as well.
92. Howard's End by E.M. Forster (1910)
This is the story of a family home, and of three families whose lives become entwined through chance encounters. The Schlegel sisters, Margaret (Meg) and Helen are intellectuals and fledgling suffragettes. They live with their younger brother Tibby, a university student, and are comfortably well off. On one of their European tours, the Schlegels meet the Wilcox family, who reside at Howard's End. The Wilcoxes represent the "Establishment," the "old order," the "sun never sets on the British Empire" order, and their house, the eponymous Howard's End, plays a prominent role in the novel. The third family is represented by Leonard Blast and his awful wife. Leonard is a working-class bloke with aspirations who becomes involved with the Schlegels after Helen "steals" his umbrella when exiting a concert at which they sat next to each other.
I loved this book, and Meg has become one of my all-time favorite characters. It was charming, elegant and delightful, and I need to go back into E.M. Forster's work to read what I haven't read and reread what I have.
5 stars
I had been wanting to read this one for years ever since I saw the movie which starred Emma Thompson as Meg. If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it as well.
218arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle: "The Plague Times Trilogy"
93. A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh (2014) 369 pp
The pandemic called "the Sweats" hits London. Most people die shortly after becoming symptomatic. Stevie Flint, a TV presenter becomes very ill, but manages to survive while all around her people are dying and society is disintegrating. The plot holding all this together is that Stevie believes that her boyfriend was murdered (rather than dying from the Sweats), and she wants to find out who did it. So while set during an apocalyptic breakdown of society, this is actually a crime/thriller novel.
94. Death is a Welcome Guest by Louise Welsh (2015)384 pp
In the second volume of the trilogy, our POV character is Magnus McFall, a Scottish comedian trying to make the big time in London. Through a comedy of errors, he has been arrested, and is in jail when the Sweats hit London. Many in the jail, both prisoners and keepers, die, but for some reason Magnus and his cellmate Jeb seem immune and survive. Together, they escape the jail and try to make their way north through a devastated countryside populated with marauding gangs of survivors terrorizing and killing other survivors. Once again, the plot involves a murder.
95. No Dominion by Louise Welsh(2017) 444 pp
The final volume of the trilogy is set several years later in a small community on one of the Scottish Orkney Islands. The island is where Magnus McFall's family was from, and it is where he is now living with a "son"--a plague orphan he adopted after the boy's real parents died. Stevie Flint is also living in the community, and has been elected leader of the small band of survivors. They and a small group of other survivors are eking out a living of subsistence farming and fishing, getting along fine until one day some outsiders arrive. Ultimately, the outsiders entice several of the island's teenagers, including Magnus's son, to return to the mainland where they are told that things are much better--with electricity, movies, good food etc. Magnus and Stevie take off after them, and along the way we see what 7 years of anarchy, chaos, death and destruction have done. And to top it all off, new rounds of the Sweats are back, and it may affect even those who survived the first round.
This may not have been the best choice of reading materials during our own "plague times," but I read these three compulsively, one after the other. Louise Welsh is primarily a psychological thriller writer, and I've enjoyed a few of her books in the past. These just had that extra little pandemic element tossed in, and the pandemic in these books was so bad that we can feel a little bit fortunate, as bad as covid is.
3 stars
93. A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh (2014) 369 pp
The pandemic called "the Sweats" hits London. Most people die shortly after becoming symptomatic. Stevie Flint, a TV presenter becomes very ill, but manages to survive while all around her people are dying and society is disintegrating. The plot holding all this together is that Stevie believes that her boyfriend was murdered (rather than dying from the Sweats), and she wants to find out who did it. So while set during an apocalyptic breakdown of society, this is actually a crime/thriller novel.
94. Death is a Welcome Guest by Louise Welsh (2015)384 pp
In the second volume of the trilogy, our POV character is Magnus McFall, a Scottish comedian trying to make the big time in London. Through a comedy of errors, he has been arrested, and is in jail when the Sweats hit London. Many in the jail, both prisoners and keepers, die, but for some reason Magnus and his cellmate Jeb seem immune and survive. Together, they escape the jail and try to make their way north through a devastated countryside populated with marauding gangs of survivors terrorizing and killing other survivors. Once again, the plot involves a murder.
95. No Dominion by Louise Welsh(2017) 444 pp
The final volume of the trilogy is set several years later in a small community on one of the Scottish Orkney Islands. The island is where Magnus McFall's family was from, and it is where he is now living with a "son"--a plague orphan he adopted after the boy's real parents died. Stevie Flint is also living in the community, and has been elected leader of the small band of survivors. They and a small group of other survivors are eking out a living of subsistence farming and fishing, getting along fine until one day some outsiders arrive. Ultimately, the outsiders entice several of the island's teenagers, including Magnus's son, to return to the mainland where they are told that things are much better--with electricity, movies, good food etc. Magnus and Stevie take off after them, and along the way we see what 7 years of anarchy, chaos, death and destruction have done. And to top it all off, new rounds of the Sweats are back, and it may affect even those who survived the first round.
This may not have been the best choice of reading materials during our own "plague times," but I read these three compulsively, one after the other. Louise Welsh is primarily a psychological thriller writer, and I've enjoyed a few of her books in the past. These just had that extra little pandemic element tossed in, and the pandemic in these books was so bad that we can feel a little bit fortunate, as bad as covid is.
3 stars
219arubabookwoman
Library Book
96. Nives by Sacha Naspini (2021) 92 pp
Nives' husband of many years has just died suddenly of a stroke. At first, Nives seems strangely unaffected by his death--she doesn't even cry. But when she finds herself unable to sleep, she brings her favorite chicken inside to live with her as a companion.
I had seen this book described as the story of a newly widowed woman adjusting after the death of her long-time husband, but I don't think that is the book's true focus. Things take off when shortly after bringing the chicken inside, Nives becomes concerned that the chicken might be having a seizure of some sort and calls the town veterinarian. The remainder of the book (in fact the bulk of the book) is basically a long conversation between Nives and the vet (Loviano Bottai). As the conversation proceeds, we learn all the secrets and scandals of this small Italian town that have occurred over the past 50 years.
There is some good writing here, and I'm not sorry I read the book, but it wasn't one that touched me in the way I was anticipating.
3 stars
96. Nives by Sacha Naspini (2021) 92 pp
Nives' husband of many years has just died suddenly of a stroke. At first, Nives seems strangely unaffected by his death--she doesn't even cry. But when she finds herself unable to sleep, she brings her favorite chicken inside to live with her as a companion.
I had seen this book described as the story of a newly widowed woman adjusting after the death of her long-time husband, but I don't think that is the book's true focus. Things take off when shortly after bringing the chicken inside, Nives becomes concerned that the chicken might be having a seizure of some sort and calls the town veterinarian. The remainder of the book (in fact the bulk of the book) is basically a long conversation between Nives and the vet (Loviano Bottai). As the conversation proceeds, we learn all the secrets and scandals of this small Italian town that have occurred over the past 50 years.
There is some good writing here, and I'm not sorry I read the book, but it wasn't one that touched me in the way I was anticipating.
3 stars
220arubabookwoman
Library Book
97. Mudbound by Hillary Jordan (2006) 353 pp
At the time it was published, there was a lot of hype about this book, and for that reason I avoided it. I'm sorry I did. In this case, the hype was deserved.
The novel takes on two themes still pertinent today:PTSD suffered by soldiers returning from war (in this case WW II), and race relations, which although this novel is set in 1946 don't seem to have progressed as much as we would have hoped.
Laura and her husband Henry have begun to farm on the Mississippi delta in 1946. They have several sharecroppers, including a black family. Henry's father, a virulent racist and member of the KKK lives with them. Shortly afterwards, Henry's younger brother, a war veteran, comes to stay with them. The oldest son of the black sharecroppers, Ronsel, also returns from the war, and he and Jamie strike up a friendship based on their mutual experiences. This doesn't sit well with Henry's father Pappy, or with some of the other townfolk, and we are headed for a tragedy.
The novel is told in alternating chapters by the various characters, including (primarily) Laura, Henry, Jamie, Ronsel, and Ronsel's parents Florence and Hap. The characters are beautifully and realistically depicted, and the story is devastating. Highly recommended.
4 stars
97. Mudbound by Hillary Jordan (2006) 353 pp
At the time it was published, there was a lot of hype about this book, and for that reason I avoided it. I'm sorry I did. In this case, the hype was deserved.
The novel takes on two themes still pertinent today:PTSD suffered by soldiers returning from war (in this case WW II), and race relations, which although this novel is set in 1946 don't seem to have progressed as much as we would have hoped.
Laura and her husband Henry have begun to farm on the Mississippi delta in 1946. They have several sharecroppers, including a black family. Henry's father, a virulent racist and member of the KKK lives with them. Shortly afterwards, Henry's younger brother, a war veteran, comes to stay with them. The oldest son of the black sharecroppers, Ronsel, also returns from the war, and he and Jamie strike up a friendship based on their mutual experiences. This doesn't sit well with Henry's father Pappy, or with some of the other townfolk, and we are headed for a tragedy.
The novel is told in alternating chapters by the various characters, including (primarily) Laura, Henry, Jamie, Ronsel, and Ronsel's parents Florence and Hap. The characters are beautifully and realistically depicted, and the story is devastating. Highly recommended.
4 stars
221arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
98. Blood Strand by Chris Ould (2016) 321 pp
This is the first in a crime series set on the Faroe Islands. The detective is a British policeman who had left the Faroe Islands as a small child with his mother when she left his father. Now, his father, with whom he has had no relationship over all these years, has been found shot, and the British policeman, Jan, returns to the islands and is soon helping the Faroese police solve the mystery.
I did enjoy learning about the geography, history and culture of the Faroes, but I'm not sure I will continue on with the series. This entry did leave an open-ended question in that Jan had wanted to find out why his mother left his father, and the answer to that question is not disclosed by this book.
As far as I can tell, the author is not Faroese (he is a British TV writer) so I'm also not sure how authentic the Faroese elements are.
2 1/2 stars
98. Blood Strand by Chris Ould (2016) 321 pp
This is the first in a crime series set on the Faroe Islands. The detective is a British policeman who had left the Faroe Islands as a small child with his mother when she left his father. Now, his father, with whom he has had no relationship over all these years, has been found shot, and the British policeman, Jan, returns to the islands and is soon helping the Faroese police solve the mystery.
I did enjoy learning about the geography, history and culture of the Faroes, but I'm not sure I will continue on with the series. This entry did leave an open-ended question in that Jan had wanted to find out why his mother left his father, and the answer to that question is not disclosed by this book.
As far as I can tell, the author is not Faroese (he is a British TV writer) so I'm also not sure how authentic the Faroese elements are.
2 1/2 stars
222arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
99. Earth by Emile Zola (1888) 464 pp
This continues my 10 year+ saga of reading the Rougon MacQuart series. This is #15 of 20 in the order I am reading them (order of publication). This is also one I had read previously, many years ago (30 or 40 years) at a time when I read several of the more famous novels in the series (in no particular order Germinal, Nana, L'Assimmoir, and Earth), but I found I remembered nothing of the story.
In this one Zola takes on the
peasants/farmers. The rights of farmers to receive fair compensation for their crops were in constant conflict with the rights of the toiling masses (workers) to eat (buy food). Put simply if the farmers are paid more for the crops, food will become too expensive for workers to buy on the measley wages they are paid by the wealthy business owners and rulers.
And this one is "earthy" in a way I don't recall having been so in my face when I read it before (or even compared to the ones I've read more recently). Maybe I've only read the translations that were "toned down," rather than more modern translations. In any case, the book abounds with double entendres, and there's lots of imagery of bulls and studs, not to mention the male peasant/farmers constantly grabbing the women and pulling them for a roll in the hay, even when the women protest.
The story focuses on Jean Macquart who has just returned from the Battle of Soferino (so prominent in The Radetzky March), and has hired on as a laborer with the largest and wealthiest famer in the area. The other main characters are members of the Fouan family, who start bickering when the father divides his land among his three children. And the point Zola seems to be making is that for the peasant, land is everything. The characters are brutal and greedy, and will stop at nothing to retain their plots of land. We meet some truly awful characters in this one.
Nevertheless, I would say this remains one of the must-reads of the series.
5 stars
99. Earth by Emile Zola (1888) 464 pp
This continues my 10 year+ saga of reading the Rougon MacQuart series. This is #15 of 20 in the order I am reading them (order of publication). This is also one I had read previously, many years ago (30 or 40 years) at a time when I read several of the more famous novels in the series (in no particular order Germinal, Nana, L'Assimmoir, and Earth), but I found I remembered nothing of the story.
In this one Zola takes on the
peasants/farmers. The rights of farmers to receive fair compensation for their crops were in constant conflict with the rights of the toiling masses (workers) to eat (buy food). Put simply if the farmers are paid more for the crops, food will become too expensive for workers to buy on the measley wages they are paid by the wealthy business owners and rulers.
And this one is "earthy" in a way I don't recall having been so in my face when I read it before (or even compared to the ones I've read more recently). Maybe I've only read the translations that were "toned down," rather than more modern translations. In any case, the book abounds with double entendres, and there's lots of imagery of bulls and studs, not to mention the male peasant/farmers constantly grabbing the women and pulling them for a roll in the hay, even when the women protest.
The story focuses on Jean Macquart who has just returned from the Battle of Soferino (so prominent in The Radetzky March), and has hired on as a laborer with the largest and wealthiest famer in the area. The other main characters are members of the Fouan family, who start bickering when the father divides his land among his three children. And the point Zola seems to be making is that for the peasant, land is everything. The characters are brutal and greedy, and will stop at nothing to retain their plots of land. We meet some truly awful characters in this one.
Nevertheless, I would say this remains one of the must-reads of the series.
5 stars
223arubabookwoman
Library Book
100. If Cats Disappeared From the World by Genki Kawamura (2019) 169 pp
I mostly skimmed this slight Faustian novella. A young man learns he has only a short time to live. Still in shock, he is approached by the devil and offered one additional day of life in return for choosing one thing to "disappear" from the world. As he makes his choices, we are treated to vignettes of what life would be like if there were no phones, or no movies, for example. And then he must decide whether to live one additional day he is willing to disappear cats from theworld.
There were brief spurts of interesting and slightly inspired thoughts and insights, but for the most part I think this is a skippable book, although perhaps I'm not the target audience. I found it had a very YA feel to it, and it was rather simplistic and shallow.
2 stars.
Well I think I did 11 or 12 today, and now I have to stop. I'm still in September, when I read a large number of books for some reason. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow.
100. If Cats Disappeared From the World by Genki Kawamura (2019) 169 pp
I mostly skimmed this slight Faustian novella. A young man learns he has only a short time to live. Still in shock, he is approached by the devil and offered one additional day of life in return for choosing one thing to "disappear" from the world. As he makes his choices, we are treated to vignettes of what life would be like if there were no phones, or no movies, for example. And then he must decide whether to live one additional day he is willing to disappear cats from theworld.
There were brief spurts of interesting and slightly inspired thoughts and insights, but for the most part I think this is a skippable book, although perhaps I'm not the target audience. I found it had a very YA feel to it, and it was rather simplistic and shallow.
2 stars.
Well I think I did 11 or 12 today, and now I have to stop. I'm still in September, when I read a large number of books for some reason. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow.
224baswood
>217 arubabookwoman: 92 Howards End is one of my favourite books and as you say in >222 arubabookwoman: Zola's Earth must be read in the original version, brutal is an understatement.
225BLBera
I'm glad you got to see your mother, Deborah. I hope your husband's vision improves. You have been inundated.
You got me with the Welsh trilogy; the first has been waiting for me on my desk for a few months. The Zola and Mudbound also sound great.
Great comments.
You got me with the Welsh trilogy; the first has been waiting for me on my desk for a few months. The Zola and Mudbound also sound great.
Great comments.
226arubabookwoman
>224 baswood: and >225 BLBera: Hi Bas and Beth--Thanks for visiting.
As you can see, I'm here 2 days in a row. Let's see how far I get in reviews today. Hopefully I will at least finish September.
101. Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller (2021) 315 pp
This was a lovely family story. Fifty-something twins Jeanie and Julius live with their mother in a cottage on the grounds of an estate. They eke out a living with Julius doing odd jobs in the neighborhood (he becomes ill riding in motor vehicles, and can only work within biking distance). Jeanie and her mother grow veggies and other goodies to sell at an upscale market/deli. Jeanie and Julius have always been told that the owner of the estate has granted their family the use of the cottage and garden "rent-free" for life due to the mysterious and tragic death of their father while working for the landowner when they were children.
When their mother dies suddently, Jeanie and Julius learn that she may have been hiding things from them, many things. They can't afford a funeral, the electricity is turned off, and they learn that they are many months behind on the rent for the cottage. They don't even have enough money to buy food. Then things start to go from bad to worse.
I loved this book. Jeanie and Julius are unusual people, and I've rarely encountered characters in books like them Yet they are so real and brilliantly imagined. It's hard to read everything they go through and not despair, but they keep at it, and in the end you love them. Highly recommended.
4 stars
As you can see, I'm here 2 days in a row. Let's see how far I get in reviews today. Hopefully I will at least finish September.
101. Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller (2021) 315 pp
This was a lovely family story. Fifty-something twins Jeanie and Julius live with their mother in a cottage on the grounds of an estate. They eke out a living with Julius doing odd jobs in the neighborhood (he becomes ill riding in motor vehicles, and can only work within biking distance). Jeanie and her mother grow veggies and other goodies to sell at an upscale market/deli. Jeanie and Julius have always been told that the owner of the estate has granted their family the use of the cottage and garden "rent-free" for life due to the mysterious and tragic death of their father while working for the landowner when they were children.
When their mother dies suddently, Jeanie and Julius learn that she may have been hiding things from them, many things. They can't afford a funeral, the electricity is turned off, and they learn that they are many months behind on the rent for the cottage. They don't even have enough money to buy food. Then things start to go from bad to worse.
I loved this book. Jeanie and Julius are unusual people, and I've rarely encountered characters in books like them Yet they are so real and brilliantly imagined. It's hard to read everything they go through and not despair, but they keep at it, and in the end you love them. Highly recommended.
4 stars
227arubabookwoman
From the LIbrary
102. Tokyo Redux by David Peace (2021) 444 pp
This is the third and presumably final entry in David Peace's Tokyo Trilogy in which he explores life in occupied Japan shortly after the end of World War II. In each, he does so in the context of a true sensational crime of one sort or another that occurred at that time. The trilogy is fictional, but each is based on a true crime.
In Tokyo Redux the crime involves the death of the President of Japan's Railroads, Sadanoki Shimoyama. In July, 1949, shortly before an announced railroad strike, he was run over by a train. The mystery, unsolved to this day is whether Shimoyama committed suicide, or whether he was already dead and laid on the tracks for the train to run him over (murdered).
Part I of the book is set in 1949, and sets forth the known facts of the death. The investigation was headed by an American working for the occupation, Harry Sweeney. Sweeney has issues of his own (don't all good detectives?)
Part II is set in 1964, the year in which the summer Olympics were held in Japan. Former policeman, current private detective Murota Hidecki is hired to find a crime writer, Kuroda, who was allegedly writing a book which would explain the Simoyama mystery. This part of the novel quickly became surreal and hallucinatory (which I don't like), and I frequently wasn't sure what was going on. I will admit to doing a lot of skimming in this part.
Part III is set in 1988, the year of the death of the emperor, and the focus is on an elderly American living in Japan who may have been involved with the CIA's predecessor in occupied post-war Japan. He may hold the key to what actually happened to Shimoyama.
Despite my problems with Part II, overall I liked this book. I also had some issues with the other two volumes in the trilogy, but generally liked and admired them. David Peace always writes interesting innovative books, so even though I don't always like what he's written, I'm always impressed. I read everything written by him, as soon as it is published (except his boos about English football).
If you've never read David Peace I recommend at least giving him a try. If the Tokyo Trilogy doesn't sound appealing, try his Red Riding Quartet, which starts with Nineteen-Seventy-Fpur, and is loosely based on the Yorkshire Ripper killings.
3 1/2 stars
102. Tokyo Redux by David Peace (2021) 444 pp
This is the third and presumably final entry in David Peace's Tokyo Trilogy in which he explores life in occupied Japan shortly after the end of World War II. In each, he does so in the context of a true sensational crime of one sort or another that occurred at that time. The trilogy is fictional, but each is based on a true crime.
In Tokyo Redux the crime involves the death of the President of Japan's Railroads, Sadanoki Shimoyama. In July, 1949, shortly before an announced railroad strike, he was run over by a train. The mystery, unsolved to this day is whether Shimoyama committed suicide, or whether he was already dead and laid on the tracks for the train to run him over (murdered).
Part I of the book is set in 1949, and sets forth the known facts of the death. The investigation was headed by an American working for the occupation, Harry Sweeney. Sweeney has issues of his own (don't all good detectives?)
Part II is set in 1964, the year in which the summer Olympics were held in Japan. Former policeman, current private detective Murota Hidecki is hired to find a crime writer, Kuroda, who was allegedly writing a book which would explain the Simoyama mystery. This part of the novel quickly became surreal and hallucinatory (which I don't like), and I frequently wasn't sure what was going on. I will admit to doing a lot of skimming in this part.
Part III is set in 1988, the year of the death of the emperor, and the focus is on an elderly American living in Japan who may have been involved with the CIA's predecessor in occupied post-war Japan. He may hold the key to what actually happened to Shimoyama.
Despite my problems with Part II, overall I liked this book. I also had some issues with the other two volumes in the trilogy, but generally liked and admired them. David Peace always writes interesting innovative books, so even though I don't always like what he's written, I'm always impressed. I read everything written by him, as soon as it is published (except his boos about English football).
If you've never read David Peace I recommend at least giving him a try. If the Tokyo Trilogy doesn't sound appealing, try his Red Riding Quartet, which starts with Nineteen-Seventy-Fpur, and is loosely based on the Yorkshire Ripper killings.
3 1/2 stars
228arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
103. The Blood of Angels by Johanna Sinisalo (2011) 244 pp
"The little bee--such an insignificant creature. You've suffered through environmental degradation, climate change, genetically manipulated plants, mobile phone masts, air pollution, the carelessness of humans, and slave labor and parisitic infestation through neglect.
Now you're leaving."
I've liked the other two novels by Finnish author Sinisalo I've read (Troll and Birdbrain), but this one became a bit of a polemic rather than a novel, and I cared less for it. It's set in the near future. Several areas of the world have experienced the mass disappearance of bees. As a result, crops have failed, and there is rampant famine and starvation.
The main character is Orvo, a Finnish beekeeper (and undertaker), who is devastated to find the queen bee of one of his hives dead and the hive deserted. At the same time, we follow the story of Orvo's son Eero who is an environmental and animal rights activist. Large chunks of the novel are narrated as "excerpts" from Eero's blog on these issues.
The book heads into magical realism when after a tragedy occurs, Orvo, with the dead queen bee in his pocket finds a doorway into another world, the world to which he surmises all the bees have gone (after being so mistreated in this world).
While the book raises some interesting issues, I found that it never really developed fully as a novel. Instead, I felt I was mostly reading arguments for ecological and environmental sanity.
2 stars
103. The Blood of Angels by Johanna Sinisalo (2011) 244 pp
"The little bee--such an insignificant creature. You've suffered through environmental degradation, climate change, genetically manipulated plants, mobile phone masts, air pollution, the carelessness of humans, and slave labor and parisitic infestation through neglect.
Now you're leaving."
I've liked the other two novels by Finnish author Sinisalo I've read (Troll and Birdbrain), but this one became a bit of a polemic rather than a novel, and I cared less for it. It's set in the near future. Several areas of the world have experienced the mass disappearance of bees. As a result, crops have failed, and there is rampant famine and starvation.
The main character is Orvo, a Finnish beekeeper (and undertaker), who is devastated to find the queen bee of one of his hives dead and the hive deserted. At the same time, we follow the story of Orvo's son Eero who is an environmental and animal rights activist. Large chunks of the novel are narrated as "excerpts" from Eero's blog on these issues.
The book heads into magical realism when after a tragedy occurs, Orvo, with the dead queen bee in his pocket finds a doorway into another world, the world to which he surmises all the bees have gone (after being so mistreated in this world).
While the book raises some interesting issues, I found that it never really developed fully as a novel. Instead, I felt I was mostly reading arguments for ecological and environmental sanity.
2 stars
229arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
104. Begin Again by Ursula Orange (1936) 395 pp
This is a novel about 4 young women embarking on life in 1930's England. Jane and Florence are Oxford graduates (unusual for the time), and of course, despite their education and intelligence are only able to find work as clericals and typists. They share a flat in London, and Florence is working on a novel based on her school experiences. Jane is engaged to a fellow Oxford graduate, but not entirely sure they are compatible.
The two other young women are friends of Jane and Florence who did not go to university and who each live at home in the country with their parents. Leslie is dying to move to London on her on and go to art school. She has invited Jane and Florence to a weekend party to help convince her mother of how wonderful it would be to live on her own in London. Sylvia, the other friend, has adopted all the modern ideas about free love and the independence of women, but she and her boyfriend, who are getting serious, mostly just talk about these matters, rather than acting. When she sees her younger sister acting on some of these new ideas, Sylvia begins to rethink her position.
At first I thought the book was a bit dated, but it really grew on me. In the end I enjoyed it as a witty diversion and a visit back to a simpler more innocent time. It was a charming read.
3 1/2 stars
104. Begin Again by Ursula Orange (1936) 395 pp
This is a novel about 4 young women embarking on life in 1930's England. Jane and Florence are Oxford graduates (unusual for the time), and of course, despite their education and intelligence are only able to find work as clericals and typists. They share a flat in London, and Florence is working on a novel based on her school experiences. Jane is engaged to a fellow Oxford graduate, but not entirely sure they are compatible.
The two other young women are friends of Jane and Florence who did not go to university and who each live at home in the country with their parents. Leslie is dying to move to London on her on and go to art school. She has invited Jane and Florence to a weekend party to help convince her mother of how wonderful it would be to live on her own in London. Sylvia, the other friend, has adopted all the modern ideas about free love and the independence of women, but she and her boyfriend, who are getting serious, mostly just talk about these matters, rather than acting. When she sees her younger sister acting on some of these new ideas, Sylvia begins to rethink her position.
At first I thought the book was a bit dated, but it really grew on me. In the end I enjoyed it as a witty diversion and a visit back to a simpler more innocent time. It was a charming read.
3 1/2 stars
230arubabookwoman
Off my kindle
I admit it. I bought this because it is set in Aruba.
105. Dark Currents by Daniel Putkowski (2012) 336
This crime novel is based on a true event that happened in Aruba a number of years ago. (Not Natalee Holloway), when a man and woman went snorkling at Baby Beach (which when I lived there we called the Baby Lagoon), and only the man came back. I know that at the time the man was suspected of foul play (the couple, though travelling together had not known each other long, and there was life insurance involved), but I don't know if charges were ever brought or what the final conclusions were.
In this book, the man and the woman have come to Aruba on vacation, after they had been dating only a short while. We know that the man had in the past been abusive toward women. We also know that he has taken out a large life insurance policy on the woman's life. So we kind of know what to expect when they head out snorkling.
But the woman has some tricks of her own up her sleeve. We know from the first page that she is heading home from Aruba wealthier than when she arrived. As the novel progresses, we watch this couple as they engage in a game of cat and mouse with each other.
This was a decently plotted and written crime novel, but of course I especially enjoyed the setting--the snorkling event took place in the town I was born and grew up in, the beach (Baby Beach/Baby Lagoon) is the beach where I learned to swim. (Its name derived from the fact that it was shallow all the way out to the reef, so that even a baby could "swim" there and not drown (always be able to touch the bottom)). There were lots of other places I recognized and could visualize. But I don't think you have to be from Aruba to enjoy this book.
3 stars
I admit it. I bought this because it is set in Aruba.
105. Dark Currents by Daniel Putkowski (2012) 336
This crime novel is based on a true event that happened in Aruba a number of years ago. (Not Natalee Holloway), when a man and woman went snorkling at Baby Beach (which when I lived there we called the Baby Lagoon), and only the man came back. I know that at the time the man was suspected of foul play (the couple, though travelling together had not known each other long, and there was life insurance involved), but I don't know if charges were ever brought or what the final conclusions were.
In this book, the man and the woman have come to Aruba on vacation, after they had been dating only a short while. We know that the man had in the past been abusive toward women. We also know that he has taken out a large life insurance policy on the woman's life. So we kind of know what to expect when they head out snorkling.
But the woman has some tricks of her own up her sleeve. We know from the first page that she is heading home from Aruba wealthier than when she arrived. As the novel progresses, we watch this couple as they engage in a game of cat and mouse with each other.
This was a decently plotted and written crime novel, but of course I especially enjoyed the setting--the snorkling event took place in the town I was born and grew up in, the beach (Baby Beach/Baby Lagoon) is the beach where I learned to swim. (Its name derived from the fact that it was shallow all the way out to the reef, so that even a baby could "swim" there and not drown (always be able to touch the bottom)). There were lots of other places I recognized and could visualize. But I don't think you have to be from Aruba to enjoy this book.
3 stars
231arubabookwoman
Wow! I finished September--On to October:
ETA Note I actually left out some Sept. books which I've added below at >233 arubabookwoman: - >236 arubabookwoman:. That's whys these numbers are off.
Off my Kindle
109. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (1932) 256 pp
When Flora is orphaned she finds herself in straitened circumstances and forced to write to distant relatives seeking a new home. She receives a reply from the Starkadders of Cold Comfort Farm, offering her a place to stay, and she heads off to the country to meet these previously unknown relatives. She arrives to find an extremely odd assortment of eccentrics and yokels, and immediately sets out to reform them all, from Amos the fire and brimstone preacher to Elfine, the pixie-like youngest daughter who pines for the son of the neighboring landowner. Before Flora's arrival, all the denizens of the farm had been ruled over by the iron hand of Great Aunt Ada Doom, who never descended from her room and who is crazy as a loon, but Flora soon sets things right.
I know that this is a well-loved book, and there are an abundance of favorable reviews and descriptions of rolling around on the floor with uncontrollable laughter. Unfortunately, this brand of British humor is one that I frequently just don't get on with. I was mostly lukewarm while reading this book, and never felt the slightest urge to laugh out loud. I also did not fall in love with Flora. I guess this book just wasn't my thing. Maybe it will be yours.
2 stars
ETA Note I actually left out some Sept. books which I've added below at >233 arubabookwoman: - >236 arubabookwoman:. That's whys these numbers are off.
Off my Kindle
109. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (1932) 256 pp
When Flora is orphaned she finds herself in straitened circumstances and forced to write to distant relatives seeking a new home. She receives a reply from the Starkadders of Cold Comfort Farm, offering her a place to stay, and she heads off to the country to meet these previously unknown relatives. She arrives to find an extremely odd assortment of eccentrics and yokels, and immediately sets out to reform them all, from Amos the fire and brimstone preacher to Elfine, the pixie-like youngest daughter who pines for the son of the neighboring landowner. Before Flora's arrival, all the denizens of the farm had been ruled over by the iron hand of Great Aunt Ada Doom, who never descended from her room and who is crazy as a loon, but Flora soon sets things right.
I know that this is a well-loved book, and there are an abundance of favorable reviews and descriptions of rolling around on the floor with uncontrollable laughter. Unfortunately, this brand of British humor is one that I frequently just don't get on with. I was mostly lukewarm while reading this book, and never felt the slightest urge to laugh out loud. I also did not fall in love with Flora. I guess this book just wasn't my thing. Maybe it will be yours.
2 stars
232arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle.
Continuing the Wharton read on Litsy
ETA-another out of order October read--a few September reads appear below. That's why the numbers are off.
110. Sanctuary by Edith Wharton (1902) 183 pp
Kate marries a man she knows to be morally deficient in order to protect whatever unborn children he may have from his moral lapses. Fast forward and Kate is now widowed and living with the son she had with this man. The son Dick is an architect, and through various circumstances the moral choices Kate feared her husband's children might one day face are now imminent.
This theme of moral choices and what makes a person "good" reminded me of the first Litsy Wharton read, The Touchstone (see >179 arubabookwoman:), only this time the issue is explored from the woman's point of view. Then it turned into a sort of nature v. nurture kind of thing. Wharton writes beautifully, and there are hints of the intricacies of her later novels in this short work. I'm glad to have read this.
3 stars
Continuing the Wharton read on Litsy
ETA-another out of order October read--a few September reads appear below. That's why the numbers are off.
110. Sanctuary by Edith Wharton (1902) 183 pp
Kate marries a man she knows to be morally deficient in order to protect whatever unborn children he may have from his moral lapses. Fast forward and Kate is now widowed and living with the son she had with this man. The son Dick is an architect, and through various circumstances the moral choices Kate feared her husband's children might one day face are now imminent.
This theme of moral choices and what makes a person "good" reminded me of the first Litsy Wharton read, The Touchstone (see >179 arubabookwoman:), only this time the issue is explored from the woman's point of view. Then it turned into a sort of nature v. nurture kind of thing. Wharton writes beautifully, and there are hints of the intricacies of her later novels in this short work. I'm glad to have read this.
3 stars
233arubabookwoman
Oops! I just noticed I left out a few September books, so I will add them here, and then go back and renumber the 2 reviews immediately above.
Off my Shelf
106. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe 194 pp
I picked this up because I so liked the movie adapted from the title story in this collection, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. The narrator of this story is an inmate at a Borstal (juvenile detention facility). When it was discovered that he was a talented runner he was given leave by the Chief Warden to exit the facility each morning in the freezing predawn hours to train. The Chief Warden is hopeful his Borstal will win the annual sports day competition with this runner. Most of the story consists of the narrator's thoughts while running--what led to his incarceration, is he to blame or is it society's fault? And of course, because of who the author is (one of the group of writers known as the Angry Young Men) and the time at which this was written, the focus is on class inequalities. Had I read this story before seeing the movie, I'm not sure I could have imagined making a movie of this story, which consists mostly of interior monologue. But both the story and the movie are excellent.
There is also a selection of other stories, most of which consider the same themes, and most of which are also very good. Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
As a little bit of back story, first I just noticed that I read this book immediately after reading the story set in Aruba Dark Currents at >230 arubabookwoman:, so that's a coincidence, since I saw the movie adapted from this book just after we left Aruba. When we left Aruba in 1966 for the US we stayed in a hotel while arranging for a house. I was in a room with some of my sisters, my parents were in another room, and for the first time in my life, we had TV, and I also did not have my parents telling me to go to sleep at night (I was always a nightowl). So each night I stayed up through the wee hours watching TV. There was one station that played a late night movie over and over for a week, and while we were there the movie was The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, which I watched over and over and over that week. I'm sure I watched it 5 or 6 times that week. I also developed the hugest crush on Tom Courtney, the star of the movie. So that's why when I saw this book in a used book store several years ago, I had to pick it up, even though I only just recently got around to reading it.
Off my Shelf
106. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe 194 pp
I picked this up because I so liked the movie adapted from the title story in this collection, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. The narrator of this story is an inmate at a Borstal (juvenile detention facility). When it was discovered that he was a talented runner he was given leave by the Chief Warden to exit the facility each morning in the freezing predawn hours to train. The Chief Warden is hopeful his Borstal will win the annual sports day competition with this runner. Most of the story consists of the narrator's thoughts while running--what led to his incarceration, is he to blame or is it society's fault? And of course, because of who the author is (one of the group of writers known as the Angry Young Men) and the time at which this was written, the focus is on class inequalities. Had I read this story before seeing the movie, I'm not sure I could have imagined making a movie of this story, which consists mostly of interior monologue. But both the story and the movie are excellent.
There is also a selection of other stories, most of which consider the same themes, and most of which are also very good. Recommended.
3 1/2 stars
As a little bit of back story, first I just noticed that I read this book immediately after reading the story set in Aruba Dark Currents at >230 arubabookwoman:, so that's a coincidence, since I saw the movie adapted from this book just after we left Aruba. When we left Aruba in 1966 for the US we stayed in a hotel while arranging for a house. I was in a room with some of my sisters, my parents were in another room, and for the first time in my life, we had TV, and I also did not have my parents telling me to go to sleep at night (I was always a nightowl). So each night I stayed up through the wee hours watching TV. There was one station that played a late night movie over and over for a week, and while we were there the movie was The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, which I watched over and over and over that week. I'm sure I watched it 5 or 6 times that week. I also developed the hugest crush on Tom Courtney, the star of the movie. So that's why when I saw this book in a used book store several years ago, I had to pick it up, even though I only just recently got around to reading it.
234BLBera
Great to see you back today, Deborah. I also loved Unsettled Ground. Congrats on reaching and passing 100! And so many of them from your shelves. Kudos. I didn't do so well this year.
235arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
107. A Jew Must Die by Jacques Chessex (2009) 122 pp
"In spring, when this story begins, all around is lovely, with an almost supernatural intensity that contrasts with the heinous events in the town....But evil is astir. A powerful poison is seeping in."
This is a fictionalized account of a horrific crime that took place in 1942 during World War II in a small village in neutral Switzerland. Although Switzerland was neutral, there were a lot of Nazis and Nazi sympathizers in the population. A group of these Nazis in a small farming community lured a Jewish cattle merchant to an empty stable and brutally murdered him, dismembered him, and dumped him in a lake. The local Nazi cell members believed they would be soundly rewarded by the Nazis in Germany for doing this deed.
The author was a child in the village at the time this crime occurred, and in fact went to school with the children of some of the perpetrators.
I found this to be written in an unemotional, nonsensational manner of telling that almost did not seem to fit with the horror of the events described. But perhaps that was the intent. At the time it was published, the book generated some controversy in Switzerland about what exactly Switzerland's role in World War II was.
3 stars
107. A Jew Must Die by Jacques Chessex (2009) 122 pp
"In spring, when this story begins, all around is lovely, with an almost supernatural intensity that contrasts with the heinous events in the town....But evil is astir. A powerful poison is seeping in."
This is a fictionalized account of a horrific crime that took place in 1942 during World War II in a small village in neutral Switzerland. Although Switzerland was neutral, there were a lot of Nazis and Nazi sympathizers in the population. A group of these Nazis in a small farming community lured a Jewish cattle merchant to an empty stable and brutally murdered him, dismembered him, and dumped him in a lake. The local Nazi cell members believed they would be soundly rewarded by the Nazis in Germany for doing this deed.
The author was a child in the village at the time this crime occurred, and in fact went to school with the children of some of the perpetrators.
I found this to be written in an unemotional, nonsensational manner of telling that almost did not seem to fit with the horror of the events described. But perhaps that was the intent. At the time it was published, the book generated some controversy in Switzerland about what exactly Switzerland's role in World War II was.
3 stars
236arubabookwoman
Library Book
108. The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz (2021)
Jacob Bonner has published one well-received novel, but now several years later is having trouble following through with another book. To get by, he is teaching creative writing. Evan Parker, one of his students, tells Jacob that he doesn't really need to learn writing skills because he has the perfect plot for a book, a plot which can't help but make the book a bestseller. Ultimately he discloses this perfect plot to Jacob, and Jacob tends to agree with him.
Fast forward a couple of years, and Jacob's career has gone even further downhill, when a chance encounter reminds him of Evan Parker and his perfect plot. As far as Jacob is aware, Evan has not published a book. A quick google search soon tells him why: Evan died shortly after attending the creative writing course at which he revealed the plot.
Jacob decides to write a novel using the perfect plot. It's not plagiarism, he decides, because he's creating his own characters, setting, and details, merely using the bare bones of the plot. The book is published, and it's a wildly successful bestseller. The book tour goes on for years, media rights are sold and Jacob becomes fabulously wealthy. And then: a note, "You are a thief."
The rest of the novel is a psychological thriller as Jacob tries to determine who knew the plot was Evan Parker's and what they want from him. The story of Jacob's investigation alternates with excerpts from the novel Jacob wrote, so that as the investigation proceeds, we learn what this perfect plot actually is.
This was a diverting read, well written, and there were no false notes to draw me out of the story. Recommended.
3 stars
So NOW I've finished with September, and I will dip back into October reviews (having changed the numbers on the October reviews above).
But not today-have to stop now. Hopefully back tomorrow with review #111.
108. The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz (2021)
Jacob Bonner has published one well-received novel, but now several years later is having trouble following through with another book. To get by, he is teaching creative writing. Evan Parker, one of his students, tells Jacob that he doesn't really need to learn writing skills because he has the perfect plot for a book, a plot which can't help but make the book a bestseller. Ultimately he discloses this perfect plot to Jacob, and Jacob tends to agree with him.
Fast forward a couple of years, and Jacob's career has gone even further downhill, when a chance encounter reminds him of Evan Parker and his perfect plot. As far as Jacob is aware, Evan has not published a book. A quick google search soon tells him why: Evan died shortly after attending the creative writing course at which he revealed the plot.
Jacob decides to write a novel using the perfect plot. It's not plagiarism, he decides, because he's creating his own characters, setting, and details, merely using the bare bones of the plot. The book is published, and it's a wildly successful bestseller. The book tour goes on for years, media rights are sold and Jacob becomes fabulously wealthy. And then: a note, "You are a thief."
The rest of the novel is a psychological thriller as Jacob tries to determine who knew the plot was Evan Parker's and what they want from him. The story of Jacob's investigation alternates with excerpts from the novel Jacob wrote, so that as the investigation proceeds, we learn what this perfect plot actually is.
This was a diverting read, well written, and there were no false notes to draw me out of the story. Recommended.
3 stars
So NOW I've finished with September, and I will dip back into October reviews (having changed the numbers on the October reviews above).
But not today-have to stop now. Hopefully back tomorrow with review #111.
237AlisonY
Enjoying catching up on your reviews. Also loved Howard's End.
238SassyLassy
From Howard's End to Earth - quite a journey! It's always good to catch up with your reading. Even though you may feel behind in posting, at least you are getting to it.
I found Earth to be one of the strongest books in the Rougon -Maquart series. I read them in Zola's suggested reading order, which puts it at 18, following a crescendo of some of the harshest books in the series. I don't know if the reading order affects the reader's perspective on the series, but I suspect it does. I see the next one for you would be The Dream, which is quite a change, and understandably if you are the author you would need to wind down a bit. The recommended order puts La Débâcle next, which I think follows more naturally.
Taking note of several of your books here.
I found Earth to be one of the strongest books in the Rougon -Maquart series. I read them in Zola's suggested reading order, which puts it at 18, following a crescendo of some of the harshest books in the series. I don't know if the reading order affects the reader's perspective on the series, but I suspect it does. I see the next one for you would be The Dream, which is quite a change, and understandably if you are the author you would need to wind down a bit. The recommended order puts La Débâcle next, which I think follows more naturally.
Taking note of several of your books here.
239avaland
Wow, I had a lot to catch up on.
Glad you liked the McDevitt; I read quite a lot of his work at one time, including this one. Haven't read much SF of late. And Cold Comfort Farm is always a treat (as is the movie).
So much good reading. Thanks for taking the time to write the reviews for us all!
(we should lure you over the the "Questions" thread to tell us what steers your reading in the directions it goes! Inquiring minds want to know!)
Glad you liked the McDevitt; I read quite a lot of his work at one time, including this one. Haven't read much SF of late. And Cold Comfort Farm is always a treat (as is the movie).
So much good reading. Thanks for taking the time to write the reviews for us all!
(we should lure you over the the "Questions" thread to tell us what steers your reading in the directions it goes! Inquiring minds want to know!)
240arubabookwoman
Back to try to do a few more reviews. Other things intervened so I didn't get back as soon as I wanted.
>237 AlisonY: Hi Alison--good to see you.
>238 SassyLassy: I think Germinal was the first Zola I read, and Earth was second (or vice versa), more than 30 years ago, and I loved both. I read several other Zola's, before starting on my more recent Zola journey of reading them in order. So far I think Germinal is my favorite. The Dream is next in my order of reading, and it's here on the table by my side. I don't think I will be starting it this year though.
>239 avaland: Hi Lois. I read several McDevitt's a number of years ago and liked them too, so I had been anticipating this one would be good. I always have hard time choosing what to read next, because I generally want to read everything, right now. For library books, what I read generally depends on what holds come in. I generally put a hold on a book when I hear about a book I'm interested in (on LT or other review). I usually have the full number allowed by my library of 25 holds. For reading the books I own, I have tried various systems to read. For example a few years ago I tried reading from my TBR by "years of my life," choosing books off my shelf that were published in each year of my life starting with the year I was born, 1950. I think I cleared books published in 1950, 1951, and 1952, but that petered out after a couple of years. Then I tried choosing random letters and reading off my Kindle titles that started with that letter. That also kind of petered out. So there isn't really a system in place to chose.
Well on to some reviews:
Off my Kindle:
111. 1968 by Mark Kurlansky
Subtitle: The Year That Rocked the World
1968 was a very important year for me. It was the year that I graduated from high school and started college. There were also a number of important historical events that I have vivid memories of. I remember the two horrific assassinations of Martin Luther King in April and Robert Kennedy in June. After high school graduation, I left London and stayed on my grandparent's farm prior to starting college in New Orleans, and I remember watching the Democratic National Convention in Chicago as the police brutally beat protestors and bystanders alike, as the protestors chanted, "The whole world is watching, the whole world is watching...." And of course, the event pervading everything else was the Vietnam war, and efforts to bring it to an end. This book begins by stating, "There has never been a year like 1968, and it is unlikely that there will ever be one again....There occurred a spontaneous combustion of rebellious spirits around the world."
But these US events are not all that are covered by the book. It includes details about events and movements around the world, presented in roughly chronological order. There was the Prague Spring, as several of the Warsaw Bloc countries tried to distance themselves from harsh Soviet oversight, often as the result of somewhat spontaneous student uprisings. There were student protests all over the US, including the takeover of Columbia, the student protests in Paris and all over Europe that paralyzed cities and brought about huge changes. In Africa, civil war raged in Biafra. In Vietnam, the year began with the Tet Offensive, and in the small hamlet named My Lai, a massacre took place. Che Guevarra became a martyr. O.J. Simpson played in the Rose Bowl. Miniskirts caused the British government to lose tax revenues. (Children's clothing was exempt from taxes, and miniskirts, ranging between 13-20 inches in length fell into the definition of children's clothes.) The Beatles were into transcendental meditation. Hijackings to Cuba became common events. The Chinese were in the middle of the Cultural Revolution. Cesar Chavez led the grape boycott. And every night Walter Cronkite told us the news, especially the news from Vietnam. And when Walter Cronkite told us that Vietnam was lost, LBJ despaired. And so much more.
The book ends, "The year 1968 was a terrible year and yet one for which many people feel nostalgia. Despite the thousands dead in Vietnam, the million starved in Biafra, the crushing of idealism in Poland and Czechoslovakia, the massacre in Mexico, the clubbings and brutalization of dissenters all over the world, the murder of two Americans who most offered the world hope. To many it was a year of great possibilities and is missed."
I really enjoyed this revisit of one of the many historical years of the 20th century.
4 stars
>237 AlisonY: Hi Alison--good to see you.
>238 SassyLassy: I think Germinal was the first Zola I read, and Earth was second (or vice versa), more than 30 years ago, and I loved both. I read several other Zola's, before starting on my more recent Zola journey of reading them in order. So far I think Germinal is my favorite. The Dream is next in my order of reading, and it's here on the table by my side. I don't think I will be starting it this year though.
>239 avaland: Hi Lois. I read several McDevitt's a number of years ago and liked them too, so I had been anticipating this one would be good. I always have hard time choosing what to read next, because I generally want to read everything, right now. For library books, what I read generally depends on what holds come in. I generally put a hold on a book when I hear about a book I'm interested in (on LT or other review). I usually have the full number allowed by my library of 25 holds. For reading the books I own, I have tried various systems to read. For example a few years ago I tried reading from my TBR by "years of my life," choosing books off my shelf that were published in each year of my life starting with the year I was born, 1950. I think I cleared books published in 1950, 1951, and 1952, but that petered out after a couple of years. Then I tried choosing random letters and reading off my Kindle titles that started with that letter. That also kind of petered out. So there isn't really a system in place to chose.
Well on to some reviews:
Off my Kindle:
111. 1968 by Mark Kurlansky
Subtitle: The Year That Rocked the World
1968 was a very important year for me. It was the year that I graduated from high school and started college. There were also a number of important historical events that I have vivid memories of. I remember the two horrific assassinations of Martin Luther King in April and Robert Kennedy in June. After high school graduation, I left London and stayed on my grandparent's farm prior to starting college in New Orleans, and I remember watching the Democratic National Convention in Chicago as the police brutally beat protestors and bystanders alike, as the protestors chanted, "The whole world is watching, the whole world is watching...." And of course, the event pervading everything else was the Vietnam war, and efforts to bring it to an end. This book begins by stating, "There has never been a year like 1968, and it is unlikely that there will ever be one again....There occurred a spontaneous combustion of rebellious spirits around the world."
But these US events are not all that are covered by the book. It includes details about events and movements around the world, presented in roughly chronological order. There was the Prague Spring, as several of the Warsaw Bloc countries tried to distance themselves from harsh Soviet oversight, often as the result of somewhat spontaneous student uprisings. There were student protests all over the US, including the takeover of Columbia, the student protests in Paris and all over Europe that paralyzed cities and brought about huge changes. In Africa, civil war raged in Biafra. In Vietnam, the year began with the Tet Offensive, and in the small hamlet named My Lai, a massacre took place. Che Guevarra became a martyr. O.J. Simpson played in the Rose Bowl. Miniskirts caused the British government to lose tax revenues. (Children's clothing was exempt from taxes, and miniskirts, ranging between 13-20 inches in length fell into the definition of children's clothes.) The Beatles were into transcendental meditation. Hijackings to Cuba became common events. The Chinese were in the middle of the Cultural Revolution. Cesar Chavez led the grape boycott. And every night Walter Cronkite told us the news, especially the news from Vietnam. And when Walter Cronkite told us that Vietnam was lost, LBJ despaired. And so much more.
The book ends, "The year 1968 was a terrible year and yet one for which many people feel nostalgia. Despite the thousands dead in Vietnam, the million starved in Biafra, the crushing of idealism in Poland and Czechoslovakia, the massacre in Mexico, the clubbings and brutalization of dissenters all over the world, the murder of two Americans who most offered the world hope. To many it was a year of great possibilities and is missed."
I really enjoyed this revisit of one of the many historical years of the 20th century.
4 stars
241arubabookwoman
Library Book
112. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016)
"Her people, the Asantes, were the broth, and his father's people, the Fantes, were the ground nuts, and the many other nations that began at the edge of the Atlantic and moved up through the bushland into the North made up the meat and pepper and vegetables. This pot was already full to the brim before the white men came and added fire. Now it was all the Gold Coast people could do to keep from boiling over again and again and again."
This is a family saga taking place over 300 or so years, beginning with two half-sisters, Effia and Essi in the Gold Coast. Effia marries a British "slaver"--and her line continues in Africa. Essi is captured and brought to America as a slave. We meet a descendant of each of the sisters in each succeeding generation through the years to the present. Along the way, through Effia's descendants we learn a bit of the history and cultures of the various tribes in that region of Africa, and through Essi's descendants we viscerally feel the experiences of slavery, emancipation, Jim Crow, and up to the present day.
I loved this book, and find it hard to believe that it is a first novel written by such a young woman. I put off reading it for a long time, as I often do for books that seem overhyped, and I'm sorry I did. In the case the hype is entirely deserved. There is so much here, all of it beautifully written, and easy to read.
3 1/2 stars
112. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016)
"Her people, the Asantes, were the broth, and his father's people, the Fantes, were the ground nuts, and the many other nations that began at the edge of the Atlantic and moved up through the bushland into the North made up the meat and pepper and vegetables. This pot was already full to the brim before the white men came and added fire. Now it was all the Gold Coast people could do to keep from boiling over again and again and again."
This is a family saga taking place over 300 or so years, beginning with two half-sisters, Effia and Essi in the Gold Coast. Effia marries a British "slaver"--and her line continues in Africa. Essi is captured and brought to America as a slave. We meet a descendant of each of the sisters in each succeeding generation through the years to the present. Along the way, through Effia's descendants we learn a bit of the history and cultures of the various tribes in that region of Africa, and through Essi's descendants we viscerally feel the experiences of slavery, emancipation, Jim Crow, and up to the present day.
I loved this book, and find it hard to believe that it is a first novel written by such a young woman. I put off reading it for a long time, as I often do for books that seem overhyped, and I'm sorry I did. In the case the hype is entirely deserved. There is so much here, all of it beautifully written, and easy to read.
3 1/2 stars
242arubabookwoman
Library Book
113. Civilizations by Laurent Binet (2021) 254 pp
Laurent Binet writes books that play around with history. In HHhH, which I mostly liked with some reservations, he fictionalized the story of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich during World War II. In this book, his latest offering, he is not retelling an actual historical event. Instead, he has created an alternate history. Unlike many science fictional alternate histories I have read, there is a real emphasis on the history part here--he really gets down in the weeds with all the 16th/17 century rulers affected by his "alternate" account of history.
As prelude to the actual story, Binet proposes an alternate scenario in which a Viking woman, Freydis migrated much further south into the New World, settling into South America and assimilating with the indigenous people there. Later, when Christopher Columbus arrives, he is captured, incarcerated, and never returns to Europe. All of this is a set up for the main body of the book, which concerns the conquest of Europe by the Incas.
The conquest begins when the Inca ruler Atahualpa, at war with his brother and having heard of the kingdoms across the sea, flees in a fleet of ships with assorted soldiers, princesses, parrots, and his pet jaguar. Ultimately the ships arrive in a Portugal recently ravaged by a massive earthquake, and suffering under the Inquisition of the Catholic Church, suppressing the Jews, the Moors, and other unbelievers. Atahualpa reads the newest bestseller by a guy named Machiavelli, and he's off--his deeds documented by the likes of Michaelangelo and Titian.
It's all great fun for a while, although of course serious points about colonization and empires are raised. But after a while, I found it grew tedious. As I said Binet really gets into the weeds with reference to all the rulers of minor Duchys etc. Unfortunately, the library pulled this one back from me when I still had about 50 pages left to read, but I wasn't interested enough to put another hold on it in order to finish. From what I could tell from the Amazon reviews, there were no great revelations towards the end.
3 stars
113. Civilizations by Laurent Binet (2021) 254 pp
Laurent Binet writes books that play around with history. In HHhH, which I mostly liked with some reservations, he fictionalized the story of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich during World War II. In this book, his latest offering, he is not retelling an actual historical event. Instead, he has created an alternate history. Unlike many science fictional alternate histories I have read, there is a real emphasis on the history part here--he really gets down in the weeds with all the 16th/17 century rulers affected by his "alternate" account of history.
As prelude to the actual story, Binet proposes an alternate scenario in which a Viking woman, Freydis migrated much further south into the New World, settling into South America and assimilating with the indigenous people there. Later, when Christopher Columbus arrives, he is captured, incarcerated, and never returns to Europe. All of this is a set up for the main body of the book, which concerns the conquest of Europe by the Incas.
The conquest begins when the Inca ruler Atahualpa, at war with his brother and having heard of the kingdoms across the sea, flees in a fleet of ships with assorted soldiers, princesses, parrots, and his pet jaguar. Ultimately the ships arrive in a Portugal recently ravaged by a massive earthquake, and suffering under the Inquisition of the Catholic Church, suppressing the Jews, the Moors, and other unbelievers. Atahualpa reads the newest bestseller by a guy named Machiavelli, and he's off--his deeds documented by the likes of Michaelangelo and Titian.
It's all great fun for a while, although of course serious points about colonization and empires are raised. But after a while, I found it grew tedious. As I said Binet really gets into the weeds with reference to all the rulers of minor Duchys etc. Unfortunately, the library pulled this one back from me when I still had about 50 pages left to read, but I wasn't interested enough to put another hold on it in order to finish. From what I could tell from the Amazon reviews, there were no great revelations towards the end.
3 stars
243arubabookwoman
Library Book
114. Lean Fall Stand by Jon McGregor (2021) 288 pp
This started out as an exciting Antarctic adventure tale. Two young geophysical surveyors, Mike and Thomas, and their technical guide, a veteran Antarctic worker named Doc, have gone on a picture-taking excursion one free sunny afternoon. They are separated by mere yards when a sudden storm blasts in out of nowhere. They can't see or hear each other and become separated. A catastrophic event occurs, and we are not entirely certain about what has happened to them.
I expected the whole book to be about these Antarctic events, but after the stunning opening section it's as if we are in a different book. During the storm, Doc suffered a stroke, and the rest of the book is about his recovery from the stroke, particularly the resultant aphasia. It's also about his relationship with his wife Anna, who has pursued her own career and life while he has spent much of each year in Antarctica. Now, Anna must become Doc's fulltime caregiver. And through it all, there is the nagging doubt about what actually happened on that sunny afternoon, and whether Doc was at fault for any of the catastrophic events.
Despite this not being the book I was expecting, it was an enjoyable and worthy read.
3 stars
114. Lean Fall Stand by Jon McGregor (2021) 288 pp
This started out as an exciting Antarctic adventure tale. Two young geophysical surveyors, Mike and Thomas, and their technical guide, a veteran Antarctic worker named Doc, have gone on a picture-taking excursion one free sunny afternoon. They are separated by mere yards when a sudden storm blasts in out of nowhere. They can't see or hear each other and become separated. A catastrophic event occurs, and we are not entirely certain about what has happened to them.
I expected the whole book to be about these Antarctic events, but after the stunning opening section it's as if we are in a different book. During the storm, Doc suffered a stroke, and the rest of the book is about his recovery from the stroke, particularly the resultant aphasia. It's also about his relationship with his wife Anna, who has pursued her own career and life while he has spent much of each year in Antarctica. Now, Anna must become Doc's fulltime caregiver. And through it all, there is the nagging doubt about what actually happened on that sunny afternoon, and whether Doc was at fault for any of the catastrophic events.
Despite this not being the book I was expecting, it was an enjoyable and worthy read.
3 stars
244arubabookwoman
Library Book
115. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (2021) 482 pp
I think if you liked The Martian, you will like this book. Like The Martian, this one makes for compelling reading; there is a lot of science, but it is told in a way that makes you appreciate the wonder of it all. And there is a plot that just keeps twisting and turning and moving you along.
The premise is that an alien microbe swarm is eating the sun at a rate that within 30 years the Earth will be in a new Ice Age. The same microbe swarm (of "astrophages") is eating the star in another solar system, but at a rate that keeps the star's system in equilibrium. The emergency Project Hail Mary is conceived to send scientists on a suicide mission to the other solar system to find out how to control the alien microbe. Through an admittedly unbelievable series of events junior high school science teacher Ryland Grace becomes the world's leading expert on this alien microbe. As the book opens, he is waking up in a space ship, not knowing how he got there, where he's going, or what he's supposed to do.
As I said, this book has much the same feel as The Martian, but it's an entirely new book (at least plotwise, the main character may feel familiar to readers of The Martian). A quick, engrossing read.
3 stars
115. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (2021) 482 pp
I think if you liked The Martian, you will like this book. Like The Martian, this one makes for compelling reading; there is a lot of science, but it is told in a way that makes you appreciate the wonder of it all. And there is a plot that just keeps twisting and turning and moving you along.
The premise is that an alien microbe swarm is eating the sun at a rate that within 30 years the Earth will be in a new Ice Age. The same microbe swarm (of "astrophages") is eating the star in another solar system, but at a rate that keeps the star's system in equilibrium. The emergency Project Hail Mary is conceived to send scientists on a suicide mission to the other solar system to find out how to control the alien microbe. Through an admittedly unbelievable series of events junior high school science teacher Ryland Grace becomes the world's leading expert on this alien microbe. As the book opens, he is waking up in a space ship, not knowing how he got there, where he's going, or what he's supposed to do.
As I said, this book has much the same feel as The Martian, but it's an entirely new book (at least plotwise, the main character may feel familiar to readers of The Martian). A quick, engrossing read.
3 stars
245arubabookwoman
Library Book
116. Leaving the Saints by Martha Beck (2005) 352 pp
Subtitle: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith
I first heard of this book around the time it was published. I wanted to read it to learn more about Mormonism, so when it (finally) turned up at my library, I checked it out. I thought the emphasis would be on Mormonism, and why and how the author left. To a certain extent it was, and I did learn a bit about the more arcane practices of the church, but I think the book was primarily about the sexual abuse the author suffered at the hands of her father starting when she was about 5 years old. Her father was a prominent leader (and apologist) for the church, and the author's accusations have been violently condemned by the church and most members of her family. That said, I tend to believe her about the sexual abuse allegations, although there are several other factors that have led me to question certain aspects of this book.
First, there's a lot of "new agey" "woo-woo" stuff in the book. She's had and she describes lots of magical-seeming epiphanies she has experienced over the years, seeing the light, hearing voices etc. These things didn't convince me of much, and in fact raised suspicions. I was really impatient with this aspect of the book.
Also, although the book seems mostly truthful, looking into it further, there seems to be a lot she withheld. For example, around the time the book was published she and her husband divorced, yet in the book he is presented as her soulmate for life, fully supportive of her. He has in fact published a review of the book discounting some of the events described (although he himself left the Mormon church before she did). In the book, there is no hint of conflict. There must have been some on-going conflict with her husband during the time period covered by this book since a divorce immediately ensued, yet there is nothing in the book to indicate a marriage in trouble.
I also didn't particularly like her style of writing. She writes of serious matters frequently with a humor embued with sarcasm that I sometimes found a bit coy and grating. I believe that she has gone on to become a "life coach" (somehow "endorsed" by Oprah), and maybe that's a tone that appears in her other writings. An example, "My mother kept grinding away at the one occupation recommended for Mormon females: breeding well in captivity."
All in all, I'm not sorry I read this, but I'm wondering if there is a better book out there on the topic.
2 1/2 stars
116. Leaving the Saints by Martha Beck (2005) 352 pp
Subtitle: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith
I first heard of this book around the time it was published. I wanted to read it to learn more about Mormonism, so when it (finally) turned up at my library, I checked it out. I thought the emphasis would be on Mormonism, and why and how the author left. To a certain extent it was, and I did learn a bit about the more arcane practices of the church, but I think the book was primarily about the sexual abuse the author suffered at the hands of her father starting when she was about 5 years old. Her father was a prominent leader (and apologist) for the church, and the author's accusations have been violently condemned by the church and most members of her family. That said, I tend to believe her about the sexual abuse allegations, although there are several other factors that have led me to question certain aspects of this book.
First, there's a lot of "new agey" "woo-woo" stuff in the book. She's had and she describes lots of magical-seeming epiphanies she has experienced over the years, seeing the light, hearing voices etc. These things didn't convince me of much, and in fact raised suspicions. I was really impatient with this aspect of the book.
Also, although the book seems mostly truthful, looking into it further, there seems to be a lot she withheld. For example, around the time the book was published she and her husband divorced, yet in the book he is presented as her soulmate for life, fully supportive of her. He has in fact published a review of the book discounting some of the events described (although he himself left the Mormon church before she did). In the book, there is no hint of conflict. There must have been some on-going conflict with her husband during the time period covered by this book since a divorce immediately ensued, yet there is nothing in the book to indicate a marriage in trouble.
I also didn't particularly like her style of writing. She writes of serious matters frequently with a humor embued with sarcasm that I sometimes found a bit coy and grating. I believe that she has gone on to become a "life coach" (somehow "endorsed" by Oprah), and maybe that's a tone that appears in her other writings. An example, "My mother kept grinding away at the one occupation recommended for Mormon females: breeding well in captivity."
All in all, I'm not sorry I read this, but I'm wondering if there is a better book out there on the topic.
2 1/2 stars
246arubabookwoman
Library Book
There will be spoilers in this review of a crime book that I consider an illogical mess.
117. Heaven's Keep by William Kent Krueger (2009) 337pp
In terms of illogic, this is one of the worst crime novels I've read in a while. Here's the premise for the murder: An Indian tribal leader and her husband, also a tribal leader, disagree on how better the lives of those on the reservation. The wife wants to build a huge casino near the entrance to Yellowstone to make money; the husband wants to open tribal lands to oil and gas drilling. When the wife can't convince her husband of the wisdom of her way she decides to murder him, with the assistance of her lover and some Mafioso-types who will be investing in the casino. The problem for me is how they went about with the murder. The husband was elderly and frail, so it would seem that it would have been possible to do away with him and make it look like a natural death (suffocate him with a pillow) or an accident (car wreck). Other murders occur in this book that are disguised in this manner. But instead, here's what they do:
The husband will be attending a conference of tribal leaders, and will be traveling in a chartered plane along with the leaders of 5 or 6 other tribes. So first the murderers find a remote area of the mountains and dig a pit large enough to hide a small airplane. Then they murder the pilot/owner of the small chartered plane (and dump his body in Lake Superior so nobody even knows he has been murdered). Then the night before the flight to the conference, the wife's lover impersonates the charter pilot, goes to a bar, pretends to get drunk, brags about what a great pilot he is, and staggers off in the wee hours. The next morning, the plane disappears shortly after takeoff, and it is presumed to have crashed in the mountains, although the wreckage was not found. In fact the lover/pilot landed the plane, taxied into the pit, all 6 or so passengers were shot, and then the plane was buried. All done for getting rid of one of the passengers.
Another unbelievable part was the relationship of the main character investigating the plane crash, Cork, whose wife was on the plane with the man assisting him in the investigation. Cork had been involved in a bitter property dispute with a millionaire land developer. However, when the plane went missing, the millionaire and Cork become the best of friends, and the millionaire finances Cork's trips to investigate, and sticks with him through thick and thin, even when the bullets start flying.
And to top it all off, at the end it turns out that there was a witness to the whole plot. A teenage boy witnessed the bulldozers digging the pit to hide the plane. He saw the plane taxi in, heard the shots. After the killers left, he dug up the plane and removed one of the passengers who was still alive. And for months afterwards, as the search for the plane went on and on he told no one.
I'm sorry, this one was just too much for me. It's number 9 of a series, and reviews of some of the earlier ones in the series were quite favorable. But I can't recommend this one.
1 1/2 stars
There will be spoilers in this review of a crime book that I consider an illogical mess.
117. Heaven's Keep by William Kent Krueger (2009) 337pp
In terms of illogic, this is one of the worst crime novels I've read in a while. Here's the premise for the murder: An Indian tribal leader and her husband, also a tribal leader, disagree on how better the lives of those on the reservation. The wife wants to build a huge casino near the entrance to Yellowstone to make money; the husband wants to open tribal lands to oil and gas drilling. When the wife can't convince her husband of the wisdom of her way she decides to murder him, with the assistance of her lover and some Mafioso-types who will be investing in the casino. The problem for me is how they went about with the murder. The husband was elderly and frail, so it would seem that it would have been possible to do away with him and make it look like a natural death (suffocate him with a pillow) or an accident (car wreck). Other murders occur in this book that are disguised in this manner. But instead, here's what they do:
The husband will be attending a conference of tribal leaders, and will be traveling in a chartered plane along with the leaders of 5 or 6 other tribes. So first the murderers find a remote area of the mountains and dig a pit large enough to hide a small airplane. Then they murder the pilot/owner of the small chartered plane (and dump his body in Lake Superior so nobody even knows he has been murdered). Then the night before the flight to the conference, the wife's lover impersonates the charter pilot, goes to a bar, pretends to get drunk, brags about what a great pilot he is, and staggers off in the wee hours. The next morning, the plane disappears shortly after takeoff, and it is presumed to have crashed in the mountains, although the wreckage was not found. In fact the lover/pilot landed the plane, taxied into the pit, all 6 or so passengers were shot, and then the plane was buried. All done for getting rid of one of the passengers.
Another unbelievable part was the relationship of the main character investigating the plane crash, Cork, whose wife was on the plane with the man assisting him in the investigation. Cork had been involved in a bitter property dispute with a millionaire land developer. However, when the plane went missing, the millionaire and Cork become the best of friends, and the millionaire finances Cork's trips to investigate, and sticks with him through thick and thin, even when the bullets start flying.
And to top it all off, at the end it turns out that there was a witness to the whole plot. A teenage boy witnessed the bulldozers digging the pit to hide the plane. He saw the plane taxi in, heard the shots. After the killers left, he dug up the plane and removed one of the passengers who was still alive. And for months afterwards, as the search for the plane went on and on he told no one.
I'm sorry, this one was just too much for me. It's number 9 of a series, and reviews of some of the earlier ones in the series were quite favorable. But I can't recommend this one.
1 1/2 stars
247arubabookwoman
Library Book
I seem to have gotten on a theme of plane crashes
118. The Disappearing Act by Florence De Changy (2021) 419 pp
Subtitle: The Impossible Case of MA 370
We all probably remember the months/years long saga of the missing Malaysian Airways plane that disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Searches were made first along its proposed route north. Later, when it was learned that, after its transponders were turned off, it made a sharp turn to the west, searches were made in the Indian Ocean and nearer to Australia. Some possible wreckage washed up months later on the island of Reunion, and late some wreckage was found in the opposite direction near Thailand. Neither the crash site nor any definitive wreckage has been found. The families of those lost in the tragedy have been left in limbo, and there are conspiracy theories and groups around the world who have opinions, some grounded in fact, some mere fantasy, as to what actually happened to the plane.
The author is an investigative journalist based in Hong Kong who followed the story from the beginning, and she presents all the details of the investigation here. We learn in depth about all the clues and theories (and I admit they are all a little blurry in my mind now), and how they are either disproved or appear valid. Ultimately she comes up with her own theory as to what happened, but again, it's just a theory, and at this point nobody really knows for sure.
3 stars
I seem to have gotten on a theme of plane crashes
118. The Disappearing Act by Florence De Changy (2021) 419 pp
Subtitle: The Impossible Case of MA 370
We all probably remember the months/years long saga of the missing Malaysian Airways plane that disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Searches were made first along its proposed route north. Later, when it was learned that, after its transponders were turned off, it made a sharp turn to the west, searches were made in the Indian Ocean and nearer to Australia. Some possible wreckage washed up months later on the island of Reunion, and late some wreckage was found in the opposite direction near Thailand. Neither the crash site nor any definitive wreckage has been found. The families of those lost in the tragedy have been left in limbo, and there are conspiracy theories and groups around the world who have opinions, some grounded in fact, some mere fantasy, as to what actually happened to the plane.
The author is an investigative journalist based in Hong Kong who followed the story from the beginning, and she presents all the details of the investigation here. We learn in depth about all the clues and theories (and I admit they are all a little blurry in my mind now), and how they are either disproved or appear valid. Ultimately she comes up with her own theory as to what happened, but again, it's just a theory, and at this point nobody really knows for sure.
3 stars
248arubabookwoman
Library Book
119. The Double Mother by Michel Bussi (2015) 480 pp
I had never heard of Michel Bussi when I checked this book out of the library, but he is apparently a well-regarded French crime novelist, and I am extremely pleased to have come across him. I will be reading more of him.
4 year old Malone attends nursery school in a small Normandy village. He seems happy and well-adjusted, except he keeps saying that his mother is not his real mother. This becomes enough of an issue that the school psychologist is called in. Malone meets with the psychologist and draws vivid pictures of his prior life: a castle with four turrets, a pirate ship, rockets, and a forest full of ogres. Malone also has a stuffed animal that he says talks to him at night and tells him stories. All fanciful, of course, but somehow the psychologist believes that Malone is telling some version of the truth. He informally reports the matter to the police, and before we know it we are off on a fast-paced thriller.
This was one of the most original crime novels I've read in eons. Malone was a delight, and I loved how the author was able to tie the castle, the pirate ship, the rockets, the ogre and all the fairy tales into a real life solution.
3 1/2 stars.
Have to stop for now. 6 more books to finish for October, then I'm on to November (12 books), then I'm up to date to December. (I've finished 2 books so far in December, School for Love by Olivia Manning for the Litsy NYRB Book Club and Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, which I didn't .like as much as Homecoming)
119. The Double Mother by Michel Bussi (2015) 480 pp
I had never heard of Michel Bussi when I checked this book out of the library, but he is apparently a well-regarded French crime novelist, and I am extremely pleased to have come across him. I will be reading more of him.
4 year old Malone attends nursery school in a small Normandy village. He seems happy and well-adjusted, except he keeps saying that his mother is not his real mother. This becomes enough of an issue that the school psychologist is called in. Malone meets with the psychologist and draws vivid pictures of his prior life: a castle with four turrets, a pirate ship, rockets, and a forest full of ogres. Malone also has a stuffed animal that he says talks to him at night and tells him stories. All fanciful, of course, but somehow the psychologist believes that Malone is telling some version of the truth. He informally reports the matter to the police, and before we know it we are off on a fast-paced thriller.
This was one of the most original crime novels I've read in eons. Malone was a delight, and I loved how the author was able to tie the castle, the pirate ship, the rockets, the ogre and all the fairy tales into a real life solution.
3 1/2 stars.
Have to stop for now. 6 more books to finish for October, then I'm on to November (12 books), then I'm up to date to December. (I've finished 2 books so far in December, School for Love by Olivia Manning for the Litsy NYRB Book Club and Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, which I didn't .like as much as Homecoming)
249labfs39
Wow, so many interesting books here.
>216 arubabookwoman: >232 arubabookwoman: I am following the reviews of Wharton books with interest. I've enjoyed the four I've read and will keep an eye out for several of the ones you and Dan have liked.
>217 arubabookwoman: With such a glowing review, I must get to Howard's End. I have never read anything by Forster, not even A Passage to India, which has been on my shelves for ages.
>222 arubabookwoman: I have also admired you, rebeccanyc, and others for your dedication to the Zola novels. I've only read Germinal (loved it) and Nana. Do you think Earth would stand well on its one, or does it need the previous novel for it to be appreciated?
>223 arubabookwoman: I'm currently reading The Memory Police, so the thought of only cats disappearing from the world doesn't seem all that drastic. Perspective, lol
>226 arubabookwoman: I have been seeing Unsettled Ground reviews all around LT, and I am reminded of a book, whose title I can not think of, and it's driving me nuts. It's about a brother and sister who want to move into the house of an older lady in their village. The sister starts to work for her, while the brother, who is a little slow at some things, designs a beautiful boat. Do you know the book?
>233 arubabookwoman: You've sold me on The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. Nice anecdote too, thanks for sharing.
>241 arubabookwoman: I too read Homegoing last month and enjoyed it very much. >248 arubabookwoman: Too bad her subsequent novel wasn't as good.
>242 arubabookwoman: Have you read anything else by Binet? I've only read HHhH, which I liked a lot.
>244 arubabookwoman: I really liked The Martian, Artemis less so. The idea of waking up on a spaceship headed our on a suicide mission is intriguing. Another hung-out-to-dry scientist like our friend, The Martian.
>248 arubabookwoman: And one last book bullet with The Double Mother.
>216 arubabookwoman: >232 arubabookwoman: I am following the reviews of Wharton books with interest. I've enjoyed the four I've read and will keep an eye out for several of the ones you and Dan have liked.
>217 arubabookwoman: With such a glowing review, I must get to Howard's End. I have never read anything by Forster, not even A Passage to India, which has been on my shelves for ages.
>222 arubabookwoman: I have also admired you, rebeccanyc, and others for your dedication to the Zola novels. I've only read Germinal (loved it) and Nana. Do you think Earth would stand well on its one, or does it need the previous novel for it to be appreciated?
>223 arubabookwoman: I'm currently reading The Memory Police, so the thought of only cats disappearing from the world doesn't seem all that drastic. Perspective, lol
>226 arubabookwoman: I have been seeing Unsettled Ground reviews all around LT, and I am reminded of a book, whose title I can not think of, and it's driving me nuts. It's about a brother and sister who want to move into the house of an older lady in their village. The sister starts to work for her, while the brother, who is a little slow at some things, designs a beautiful boat. Do you know the book?
>233 arubabookwoman: You've sold me on The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. Nice anecdote too, thanks for sharing.
>241 arubabookwoman: I too read Homegoing last month and enjoyed it very much. >248 arubabookwoman: Too bad her subsequent novel wasn't as good.
>242 arubabookwoman: Have you read anything else by Binet? I've only read HHhH, which I liked a lot.
>244 arubabookwoman: I really liked The Martian, Artemis less so. The idea of waking up on a spaceship headed our on a suicide mission is intriguing. Another hung-out-to-dry scientist like our friend, The Martian.
>248 arubabookwoman: And one last book bullet with The Double Mother.
250AnnieMod
>216 arubabookwoman: Wharton is the December author in the Monthly Author Read if you want to join the conversation: https://www.librarything.com/topic/336762 :)
251ELiz_M
>249 labfs39: Is the book you are trying to remember True Deceiver?
252labfs39
>251 ELiz_M: Yes, thank you! It was driving me crazy, on the tip of my tongue.
253BLBera
As always, great comments, Deborah. I agree Heaven's Keep is not a good entry in the series. The other books are better.
I've had Civilizations on my WL...maybe I'll wait on that one. The premise sounds interesting.
1968 is the one that really catches my attention.
I also loved Homegoing, but I thought her second novel was even better.
I've had Civilizations on my WL...maybe I'll wait on that one. The premise sounds interesting.
1968 is the one that really catches my attention.
I also loved Homegoing, but I thought her second novel was even better.
255arubabookwoman
Hello all.
>249 labfs39: Hi Lisa. I love Forster, and think I liked A Passage to India even more than Howards End--but both are 5 star reads. (Hmmm touchstones don't seem to be working).
I think Zola's Earth, like all the other books in the series I've read can stand on its own.
As LizM told you, the book you are remembering is The True Deceiver, which we read earlier this year in the Litsy NYRB book club. Although it sounds similar in plot to Unsettled Ground, the two are very different. I didn't even make the connection.
I also read Binet's HHhH, which I mostly liked, but had some issues with (i.e. too much authorial intrusion.
>250 AnnieMod: Thanks for letting me know Annie. We did finish House of Mirth, which I loved, but our next Wharton isn't until January.
>251 ELiz_M: Thanks for chiming in Liz.
>253 BLBera: Hi Beth. 1968 was really a trip down memory lane.
>254 avaland: Hi Lois. Thanks for stopping by.
I have a few hours before heading off to take husband to eye doctor, so I will try to add a few reviews. Last week it was determined that the shingles infection was back in his eye. The eye doctor put another placental bandage lens in his eye (2nd one) to help promote healing. The doctor will take it out this afternoon, and we will see if it has done any good. My husband's eye has been pretty much taped shut since October, and he has been unable to see out of it. Last week the doctor said that because of his immunocompromised condition, it could take months to heal this. We are still hopeful. At least it is no longer as painful as it was initially.
ON to reviews:
>249 labfs39: Hi Lisa. I love Forster, and think I liked A Passage to India even more than Howards End--but both are 5 star reads. (Hmmm touchstones don't seem to be working).
I think Zola's Earth, like all the other books in the series I've read can stand on its own.
As LizM told you, the book you are remembering is The True Deceiver, which we read earlier this year in the Litsy NYRB book club. Although it sounds similar in plot to Unsettled Ground, the two are very different. I didn't even make the connection.
I also read Binet's HHhH, which I mostly liked, but had some issues with (i.e. too much authorial intrusion.
>250 AnnieMod: Thanks for letting me know Annie. We did finish House of Mirth, which I loved, but our next Wharton isn't until January.
>251 ELiz_M: Thanks for chiming in Liz.
>253 BLBera: Hi Beth. 1968 was really a trip down memory lane.
>254 avaland: Hi Lois. Thanks for stopping by.
I have a few hours before heading off to take husband to eye doctor, so I will try to add a few reviews. Last week it was determined that the shingles infection was back in his eye. The eye doctor put another placental bandage lens in his eye (2nd one) to help promote healing. The doctor will take it out this afternoon, and we will see if it has done any good. My husband's eye has been pretty much taped shut since October, and he has been unable to see out of it. Last week the doctor said that because of his immunocompromised condition, it could take months to heal this. We are still hopeful. At least it is no longer as painful as it was initially.
ON to reviews:
256arubabookwoman
Read for 20th Century Classics Postal Book Club
120. Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko (1977) 270 pp
I had difficulty engaging with this book, had a hard time reading it (took forever!), but after finishing it, I found myself frequently thinking about it. It is definitely a book that would reward rereading.
Tayo, a mixed race Laguna Pueblo Indian has returned to the reservation a damaged soul after World War II. He has been traumatized by his experiences as a POW of the Japanese, where he witnessed the harrowing death of his best friend/"brother" Rocky, with whom he was raised. Even before the war, he has spent his entire life feeling like an outcast--not fully Indian on the reservation, and not fully "white" in the wider world. He is clearly suffering from PTSD and survivor's guilt. Stays in the VA hospital do not seem to be helping, and Tayo begins seeking help in traditional Native American practices.
The book is difficult. The chronology is jagged jumping from Tayo's childhood to his war experiences to his return to the reservation, seemingly without rhyme or reason, and I frequently had to reread passages to figure out what time period we were in (and sometimes to figure out what character was paramount at that time). And interspersed throughout the narrative are long poetic and prose passages delineating Native American myths. But in the end, it all went together, and as I said it will reward rereading.
And the dual themes of PTSD and racism are absolutely contemporary for a book published more than 40 years ago. Unfortunately, these themes still resonant strongly today, with tragically little progress having been made.
I haven't read a lot of Native American literature, and this has been described as one of the greatest Native American novels. I can't disagree.
Recommended.
4 stars
120. Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko (1977) 270 pp
I had difficulty engaging with this book, had a hard time reading it (took forever!), but after finishing it, I found myself frequently thinking about it. It is definitely a book that would reward rereading.
Tayo, a mixed race Laguna Pueblo Indian has returned to the reservation a damaged soul after World War II. He has been traumatized by his experiences as a POW of the Japanese, where he witnessed the harrowing death of his best friend/"brother" Rocky, with whom he was raised. Even before the war, he has spent his entire life feeling like an outcast--not fully Indian on the reservation, and not fully "white" in the wider world. He is clearly suffering from PTSD and survivor's guilt. Stays in the VA hospital do not seem to be helping, and Tayo begins seeking help in traditional Native American practices.
The book is difficult. The chronology is jagged jumping from Tayo's childhood to his war experiences to his return to the reservation, seemingly without rhyme or reason, and I frequently had to reread passages to figure out what time period we were in (and sometimes to figure out what character was paramount at that time). And interspersed throughout the narrative are long poetic and prose passages delineating Native American myths. But in the end, it all went together, and as I said it will reward rereading.
And the dual themes of PTSD and racism are absolutely contemporary for a book published more than 40 years ago. Unfortunately, these themes still resonant strongly today, with tragically little progress having been made.
I haven't read a lot of Native American literature, and this has been described as one of the greatest Native American novels. I can't disagree.
Recommended.
4 stars
257arubabookwoman
Library Book
121. Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin (2020) 333 pp
Eighteen-year-old Allison goes missing while on a Caribbean vacation with her parents and seven-year-old sister Claire. A few days later her body is discovered. Two young men who were seen leaving a bar with Allison, who were also waiters at the resort where her family was staying, are suspected of murder and detained. However, there are shortly afterwards released, since they have air-tight alibis (they were in jail for drunk driving when the murder occurred). The murder is never solved.
Fast forward nearly 20 years. Claire (now named Emily, don't ask why), living in New York City, becomes obsessed with her sister's murder, and decides to try to untangle the mystery of what really happened.
This is a debut novel, and it shows. There is very little tension, and the plot is plodding and repetitive. We get the details of every boring day the family spent at the resort before Allison went missing on about the 8th or 9th day. In her "investigation" Claire doesn't return to the island. Instead, she decides to try to learn what kind of person Allison really was. There are pages of snippets from Allison's diary, full of teenage angst, starting from the time she was 15. There are interviews with her high school teacher about what a great student she was, interviews with her college roommate about what a great friend she was.
Then, serendipitously, Claire discovers that one of the young men initially suspected in Allisons death, now in his 40's, is living in NYC. She begins spying on him, following him surreptitiously, even striking up a conversation with him. This seemed to go on forever, but actually only went on for a few months. And in the end, the mystery is never solved; Claire just comes up with a few best guesses.
So basically, this is a book that goes on and on and on and on....and ends up nowhere. Sorry I wasted my time, but at least it was only a library book.
1 1/2 stars
121. Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin (2020) 333 pp
Eighteen-year-old Allison goes missing while on a Caribbean vacation with her parents and seven-year-old sister Claire. A few days later her body is discovered. Two young men who were seen leaving a bar with Allison, who were also waiters at the resort where her family was staying, are suspected of murder and detained. However, there are shortly afterwards released, since they have air-tight alibis (they were in jail for drunk driving when the murder occurred). The murder is never solved.
Fast forward nearly 20 years. Claire (now named Emily, don't ask why), living in New York City, becomes obsessed with her sister's murder, and decides to try to untangle the mystery of what really happened.
This is a debut novel, and it shows. There is very little tension, and the plot is plodding and repetitive. We get the details of every boring day the family spent at the resort before Allison went missing on about the 8th or 9th day. In her "investigation" Claire doesn't return to the island. Instead, she decides to try to learn what kind of person Allison really was. There are pages of snippets from Allison's diary, full of teenage angst, starting from the time she was 15. There are interviews with her high school teacher about what a great student she was, interviews with her college roommate about what a great friend she was.
Then, serendipitously, Claire discovers that one of the young men initially suspected in Allisons death, now in his 40's, is living in NYC. She begins spying on him, following him surreptitiously, even striking up a conversation with him. This seemed to go on forever, but actually only went on for a few months. And in the end, the mystery is never solved; Claire just comes up with a few best guesses.
So basically, this is a book that goes on and on and on and on....and ends up nowhere. Sorry I wasted my time, but at least it was only a library book.
1 1/2 stars
258arubabookwoman
Audible
(I have a substantial backlog of Audible books. I want to listen more while stitching. Unfortunately, I find interruptions while listening to a book much more difficult to deal with than interruptions while reading--and I get a lot of interruptions--i.e. Dulci and husband. I guess I just need to deal with it)
122. Lightning Men by Thomas Mullen (2017) 384 pp
This is the second book in Thomas Mullen's trilogy of detective novels about the first black policemen on the Atlanta police force. As such, it is an interesting look at a particular time and place, and this aspect of the book is as important as the crime story. Although the black police officers are seen as progress, they can only patrol the black neighborhood of Atlanta, and their powers are very limited: they can't wear their uniforms on the way to work, they can't arrest white people, etc. etc.
In this entry, the crimes include the violence that ensues when a black family buys a house in a previously white area. In addition, there is the mysterious murder of a KKK member by another KKK member, the investigation of which is complicated because at the time many of the white members of the Atlanta police force were also KKK members. And there is also a drug ring which is catering to black clients.
A good read. I will go on to the third in the series, which I have on my Kindle.
3 stars
(I have a substantial backlog of Audible books. I want to listen more while stitching. Unfortunately, I find interruptions while listening to a book much more difficult to deal with than interruptions while reading--and I get a lot of interruptions--i.e. Dulci and husband. I guess I just need to deal with it)
122. Lightning Men by Thomas Mullen (2017) 384 pp
This is the second book in Thomas Mullen's trilogy of detective novels about the first black policemen on the Atlanta police force. As such, it is an interesting look at a particular time and place, and this aspect of the book is as important as the crime story. Although the black police officers are seen as progress, they can only patrol the black neighborhood of Atlanta, and their powers are very limited: they can't wear their uniforms on the way to work, they can't arrest white people, etc. etc.
In this entry, the crimes include the violence that ensues when a black family buys a house in a previously white area. In addition, there is the mysterious murder of a KKK member by another KKK member, the investigation of which is complicated because at the time many of the white members of the Atlanta police force were also KKK members. And there is also a drug ring which is catering to black clients.
A good read. I will go on to the third in the series, which I have on my Kindle.
3 stars
259arubabookwoman
Off my shelf. A reread for Litsy NYRB Book Club
123. The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns (1959) 152 pp
The eponymous vet's daughter is Alice, who lives with her mother and father, the veterinarian. The vet is a brutal and sadistic bully to his wife and daughter (and to his patients). Alice and her mother spend their days in fear of the vet. As with many of Comyns's novels, the story seems at first to be well-grounded in reality, with a touch of quirkiness, but soon there is a heavy dose of a lurking and sinister menace. After Alice's mother dies (and Alice has been the victim of an attempted rape), she has what we think is a dream-like, hallucinatory levitation experience. Her naivetee and lack of real world experience lead her to believe that everyone has such experiences, and we are soon questioning reality.
This was a strange book, and I guess you could call it a typical Comyns work, but I've liked the other books I've read by her better.
3 stars
123. The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns (1959) 152 pp
The eponymous vet's daughter is Alice, who lives with her mother and father, the veterinarian. The vet is a brutal and sadistic bully to his wife and daughter (and to his patients). Alice and her mother spend their days in fear of the vet. As with many of Comyns's novels, the story seems at first to be well-grounded in reality, with a touch of quirkiness, but soon there is a heavy dose of a lurking and sinister menace. After Alice's mother dies (and Alice has been the victim of an attempted rape), she has what we think is a dream-like, hallucinatory levitation experience. Her naivetee and lack of real world experience lead her to believe that everyone has such experiences, and we are soon questioning reality.
This was a strange book, and I guess you could call it a typical Comyns work, but I've liked the other books I've read by her better.
3 stars
260arubabookwoman
Audible
124. Kill Shot by Jason Deare (2021) 272 pp
Subtitle: A Shadow Industry, A Deadly Disease
This is a book that will give us all something else to worry about--compounding pharmacies, which I had never heard of before reading this book, which is billed as a medical thriller/true crime book.
New England Compounding Center (NECC) was a compounding pharmacy. Technically, a compounding pharmacy is a pharmacy that is supposed to make ("compound") one drug for one patient based on one specific prescription from one doctor. However NECC used aggressive sales techniques to market to hospitals and clinics, and basically turned itself into a drug "manufacturer," which are subject to much more stringent regulations. Compounding pharmacies are basically subject to no federal regulation, and are left to the province of overworked/understaffed state pharmacy boards. In this case NECC was manufacturing and selling huge supplies of a number of drugs to hospitals and clinics all over the country, basically unregulated. Somehow, patient prescriptions would be manufactured afterwards, many to fictitious patients like Micky Mouse. (To be fair, NECC is not the only compounding pharmacy that has turned itself into a drug manufacturer).
One of the drugs NECC manufactured was a steroidal pain killer that is injected into the spine primarily for people with back pain. Thousands of patients at hundreds of clinics and hospitals across the US were injected with this drug from NECC. Unfortunately, because of unqualified staff, unsanitary lab conditions, including surfaces contaminated with mold, and corporate greed, many patients received injections of the drug that were contaminated with a fungus which causes fungal meningitis. Nearly a thousand patients developed fungal menigitis, and more than 100 died. Of the survivors, many suffer significant and permanent disabling health consequences. (If you are interested read the review that first appears on the Amazon page for this book which was written by one of the survivors).
Because the victims were geographically scattered, and because fungal meningitis is rarely seen, it took a while to diagnose what the problem with these patients was. Once it was determined that they were suffering from fungal meningitis (which often led to strokes or brain aneurysms), it took a while to discover what was causing the outbreak, which stretched across the country. The book describes a real medical mystery as doctors and public health officials across the country scurried to find the culprit. The book also covers the ensuing criminal trials of the owners of the pharmacy. While it is heartening that they were ultimately convicted, it is disheartening that both previous and subsequent attempts to enact legislation to regulate compounding pharmacies and bring them under the purview of the FDA have failed---the compounding pharmacy industry has an extremely stong and effective lobbying force. Thank you US Senate, another example of your corruption.
The book provides a series of questions to ask your doctor if you are ever prescribed something from a compounding pharmacy. Surprisingly, within a few days of my finishing this book, the eye doctor prescribed an eye solution for my husband from a compounding pharmacy, and I was able to put those questions to practical use.
Recommended.
4 stars
124. Kill Shot by Jason Deare (2021) 272 pp
Subtitle: A Shadow Industry, A Deadly Disease
This is a book that will give us all something else to worry about--compounding pharmacies, which I had never heard of before reading this book, which is billed as a medical thriller/true crime book.
New England Compounding Center (NECC) was a compounding pharmacy. Technically, a compounding pharmacy is a pharmacy that is supposed to make ("compound") one drug for one patient based on one specific prescription from one doctor. However NECC used aggressive sales techniques to market to hospitals and clinics, and basically turned itself into a drug "manufacturer," which are subject to much more stringent regulations. Compounding pharmacies are basically subject to no federal regulation, and are left to the province of overworked/understaffed state pharmacy boards. In this case NECC was manufacturing and selling huge supplies of a number of drugs to hospitals and clinics all over the country, basically unregulated. Somehow, patient prescriptions would be manufactured afterwards, many to fictitious patients like Micky Mouse. (To be fair, NECC is not the only compounding pharmacy that has turned itself into a drug manufacturer).
One of the drugs NECC manufactured was a steroidal pain killer that is injected into the spine primarily for people with back pain. Thousands of patients at hundreds of clinics and hospitals across the US were injected with this drug from NECC. Unfortunately, because of unqualified staff, unsanitary lab conditions, including surfaces contaminated with mold, and corporate greed, many patients received injections of the drug that were contaminated with a fungus which causes fungal meningitis. Nearly a thousand patients developed fungal menigitis, and more than 100 died. Of the survivors, many suffer significant and permanent disabling health consequences. (If you are interested read the review that first appears on the Amazon page for this book which was written by one of the survivors).
Because the victims were geographically scattered, and because fungal meningitis is rarely seen, it took a while to diagnose what the problem with these patients was. Once it was determined that they were suffering from fungal meningitis (which often led to strokes or brain aneurysms), it took a while to discover what was causing the outbreak, which stretched across the country. The book describes a real medical mystery as doctors and public health officials across the country scurried to find the culprit. The book also covers the ensuing criminal trials of the owners of the pharmacy. While it is heartening that they were ultimately convicted, it is disheartening that both previous and subsequent attempts to enact legislation to regulate compounding pharmacies and bring them under the purview of the FDA have failed---the compounding pharmacy industry has an extremely stong and effective lobbying force. Thank you US Senate, another example of your corruption.
The book provides a series of questions to ask your doctor if you are ever prescribed something from a compounding pharmacy. Surprisingly, within a few days of my finishing this book, the eye doctor prescribed an eye solution for my husband from a compounding pharmacy, and I was able to put those questions to practical use.
Recommended.
4 stars
261arubabookwoman
Library Book
125. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara (2020) 356 pp
Ten-year-old Jai lives with his parents and sister Didi-Runu in the "basti" (slum neighborhood). His mother is a maid in the nearby luxury high rises ("hi fis") and he is friends with Pari, an extremely bright girl, and Faiza, a Muslim boy in a primarily Hindu neighborhood. One of Jai's favorite pastimes is watching detective shows on TV, and after one of their schoolmates from the basti goes missing, Jai and his friends decide to put their detecting skills to work. What starts out as a light and slightly humorous adventure story soon turns dark, however, as other basti children also start disappearing. The police refuse to take the disappearances seriously, especially since no one in the basti can afford the requisite bribe.
The book is entirely told from the pov of Jai, and although he lives in dire poverty, he is an innocent who is still somehow able to maintain a sense of hope and joy, and the ability to take pleasure in the little things in life. The book very much reminded me of Behind the Beautiful Forevers, which I read earlier this year. Although it is fictional, it is apparently based on a series of true events.
Recommended
3 stars
And Wow--that brings me to November.
125. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara (2020) 356 pp
Ten-year-old Jai lives with his parents and sister Didi-Runu in the "basti" (slum neighborhood). His mother is a maid in the nearby luxury high rises ("hi fis") and he is friends with Pari, an extremely bright girl, and Faiza, a Muslim boy in a primarily Hindu neighborhood. One of Jai's favorite pastimes is watching detective shows on TV, and after one of their schoolmates from the basti goes missing, Jai and his friends decide to put their detecting skills to work. What starts out as a light and slightly humorous adventure story soon turns dark, however, as other basti children also start disappearing. The police refuse to take the disappearances seriously, especially since no one in the basti can afford the requisite bribe.
The book is entirely told from the pov of Jai, and although he lives in dire poverty, he is an innocent who is still somehow able to maintain a sense of hope and joy, and the ability to take pleasure in the little things in life. The book very much reminded me of Behind the Beautiful Forevers, which I read earlier this year. Although it is fictional, it is apparently based on a series of true events.
Recommended
3 stars
And Wow--that brings me to November.
262arubabookwoman
Library Book
126. The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafah (2020) 292 pp
Afaf Rahman, daughter of Palestinian immigrants to the US, is the principal of a Muslim school for girls outside of Chicago. As the novel opens, a gunman has entered the school and started shooting students and teachers. Yet, the focus on the book is not on the school shooting itself. Much of the book tells the story of Afaf's life, growing up with her parents and younger brother in a non-religious environment in a somewhat dysfunctional family. Gradually, Afaf comes to religion to find peace and acceptance and she chooses to begin wearing the hajib. To a large extent, the book exposes the prejudice and hatred to which people who look or seem "different" like Afaf are exposed in this country, as they are ridiculed, endangered, attacked, and ultimately, in Afaf's case staring down the barrel of a gun aimed by an anti-immigran/anti-Muslim fanatic.
Recommended.
3 stars
126. The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafah (2020) 292 pp
Afaf Rahman, daughter of Palestinian immigrants to the US, is the principal of a Muslim school for girls outside of Chicago. As the novel opens, a gunman has entered the school and started shooting students and teachers. Yet, the focus on the book is not on the school shooting itself. Much of the book tells the story of Afaf's life, growing up with her parents and younger brother in a non-religious environment in a somewhat dysfunctional family. Gradually, Afaf comes to religion to find peace and acceptance and she chooses to begin wearing the hajib. To a large extent, the book exposes the prejudice and hatred to which people who look or seem "different" like Afaf are exposed in this country, as they are ridiculed, endangered, attacked, and ultimately, in Afaf's case staring down the barrel of a gun aimed by an anti-immigran/anti-Muslim fanatic.
Recommended.
3 stars
263arubabookwoman
From the library
127. Midnight in Washington by Adam Schiff (2021) 484 pp
Subtitle: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could
This interesting political memoir by Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee gives us some information about Schiff's family history and early life, but the focus is on his Congressional career, and in particular the time of Trump. The House Intel Committee's investigation into Trump's Russian connections early in his presidency is detailed, and it is interesting for how it delineates how quickly bipartisanship on the committee disintegrated. Shortly after the investigation began, the ranking Republican member on the committee Devin Nunes went off the rails and basically became an advocate for Trump rather than an investigator. The abdication by Republican Congress people of their constitutional responsibilities and duties in favor of Trump cultism is for Schiff the tragedy of our time.
The bulk of the book deals with the first Trump impeachment for which Schiff was the lead investigator as well as the lead prosecutor. As a recovering attorney, I found this portion of the book to be fascinating, as it deals with all the ins and outs and aspects to be considered for the myriad of decisions regarding strategy and tactics for the Senate trial. How disappointing that the Republican Senators failed to take their responsibilities seriously, to the extent that they refused to allow even the hearing of any evidence or testimony.
One of the biggest mistakes Schiff believes that he has made as the chair of the intel committee was his decision to hold a public hearing with testimony from Robert Mueller. He thought that Mueller's testimony would clarify that the failure of the report to find a criminal conspiracy with Russia did not mean "no collusion," and that the failure to recommend prosecution for obstruction did not mean exoneration. Schiff hoped to correct the false narrative initiated and controlled by AG William Barr as he delayed the release of the report to the public for weeks while misrepresenting its conclusions and content. While Schiff does not come out and say it, Mueller's cognitive decline was on full display during his testimony. Schiff believes that this so emboldened Trump, that it was the very next day that Trump made his "perfect" phone call extorting the Ukrainian president.
Perhaps because he was not as involved in the second impeachment, the book does not cover this in as great of detail, although we are presented with some Schiff's experiences during the Big Lie, the January 6 insurrection and other events of the final days of the Trump presidency.
An important book to read.
3 1/2 stars
Have to take husband to eye doctor now. May be able to add more tonight, or maybe tomorrow.
127. Midnight in Washington by Adam Schiff (2021) 484 pp
Subtitle: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could
This interesting political memoir by Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee gives us some information about Schiff's family history and early life, but the focus is on his Congressional career, and in particular the time of Trump. The House Intel Committee's investigation into Trump's Russian connections early in his presidency is detailed, and it is interesting for how it delineates how quickly bipartisanship on the committee disintegrated. Shortly after the investigation began, the ranking Republican member on the committee Devin Nunes went off the rails and basically became an advocate for Trump rather than an investigator. The abdication by Republican Congress people of their constitutional responsibilities and duties in favor of Trump cultism is for Schiff the tragedy of our time.
The bulk of the book deals with the first Trump impeachment for which Schiff was the lead investigator as well as the lead prosecutor. As a recovering attorney, I found this portion of the book to be fascinating, as it deals with all the ins and outs and aspects to be considered for the myriad of decisions regarding strategy and tactics for the Senate trial. How disappointing that the Republican Senators failed to take their responsibilities seriously, to the extent that they refused to allow even the hearing of any evidence or testimony.
One of the biggest mistakes Schiff believes that he has made as the chair of the intel committee was his decision to hold a public hearing with testimony from Robert Mueller. He thought that Mueller's testimony would clarify that the failure of the report to find a criminal conspiracy with Russia did not mean "no collusion," and that the failure to recommend prosecution for obstruction did not mean exoneration. Schiff hoped to correct the false narrative initiated and controlled by AG William Barr as he delayed the release of the report to the public for weeks while misrepresenting its conclusions and content. While Schiff does not come out and say it, Mueller's cognitive decline was on full display during his testimony. Schiff believes that this so emboldened Trump, that it was the very next day that Trump made his "perfect" phone call extorting the Ukrainian president.
Perhaps because he was not as involved in the second impeachment, the book does not cover this in as great of detail, although we are presented with some Schiff's experiences during the Big Lie, the January 6 insurrection and other events of the final days of the Trump presidency.
An important book to read.
3 1/2 stars
Have to take husband to eye doctor now. May be able to add more tonight, or maybe tomorrow.
264arubabookwoman
erroneous post
265BLBera
Good luck with the eye doctor!
I keep meaning to reread Ceremony. Maybe this is the nudge I need.
I will add the Schiff book to my WL.
I loved Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line and thought about it often after I read it.
I keep meaning to reread Ceremony. Maybe this is the nudge I need.
I will add the Schiff book to my WL.
I loved Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line and thought about it often after I read it.
266labfs39
Such wonderfully varied reading. So many titles for my wish list. How do you find such varied books? What are your sources for ideas, and how do you procure them? Curious minds...
267markon
>258 arubabookwoman: I'd forgotten Mullen had that series on the go. Another one for Mt. TBR.
Best wishes for a good outcome at the eye doctors.
Best wishes for a good outcome at the eye doctors.
268Trifolia
I hope you and your husband are doing well.
>240 arubabookwoman: I had to smile when I read your comments about 1968. It reminded me of a concise monograph about the 1960s I wrote for history class in my senior year of high school. I liked doing that, so in a way I have good memories of 1968 too.
>241 arubabookwoman: Noted.
>248 arubabookwoman: I have Black Water Lilies by Michel Bussi in my own library and your review has made me curious to finally read it.
>261 arubabookwoman: Noted.
You read so diversely and several books you mention are now on my wish list. Thank you for sharing.
>240 arubabookwoman: I had to smile when I read your comments about 1968. It reminded me of a concise monograph about the 1960s I wrote for history class in my senior year of high school. I liked doing that, so in a way I have good memories of 1968 too.
>241 arubabookwoman: Noted.
>248 arubabookwoman: I have Black Water Lilies by Michel Bussi in my own library and your review has made me curious to finally read it.
>261 arubabookwoman: Noted.
You read so diversely and several books you mention are now on my wish list. Thank you for sharing.
269arubabookwoman
Thank you all for the visits and good wishes re the eye doctor. The eye seems a bit better--no more pain, but vision is still bad. I have wanted to be back on LT finishing 2021 reviews, but we've had my son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and daughter visiting for Christmas, and I've been doing lots of cooking and entertaining. In the weeks before Christmas, I was scrambling to finish 2 needlepoint Christmas stockings I've been working on all year for the 2 grandkids here in Florida. They came out beautifully if I do say so myself. Their dad, my son, had requested, or stated how nice it would be if I made his kids a stocking like the one I made him when he was a child 35+ years ago (which he still has and hangs every year). After he made this request 3 Christmases in a row, last year I felt I had to say yes and I got to work. Now I will have to make stockings for the other three grandkids, and I am debating whether to take a year off from making stockings, or get right to work stitching in January.
I have my notes on the rest of the books read in 2021 in my book journal, and I will enter reviews for all my 2021 books on this thread, even if a few end up being entered after the end of the year. I will start my 2022 thread after I finish here.
So here goes to the final books of 2021:
I have my notes on the rest of the books read in 2021 in my book journal, and I will enter reviews for all my 2021 books on this thread, even if a few end up being entered after the end of the year. I will start my 2022 thread after I finish here.
So here goes to the final books of 2021:
270arubabookwoman
Library Book
128. Wildland by Evan Osnos (2021) 404 pp
Subtitle: The Making of America's Fury
The author of this interesting book is a writer for New Yorker magazine who lived overseas from 2001 to 2013. When he returned to the US, he found the country to be very different from the one he left, and wanted to know why. He chose three places he was intimately connected with, Greenwich, Connecticut, where he grew up, Clarksburg, West Virginia, where he began his journalism career, and Chicago, Illinois, where his family is from. Over the next several years, he visited these places many times and interviewed and got to know many people there. This book is the result of his reporting.
In Clarksburg, he found members of the white working class and poor. There, he investigated what was gained and what was lost, "when some of America's wealthiest people tapped the natural resources beneath the homes of some of America's poorest people."
In Chicago, he focused primarily on the black urban poor, "to understand the compounded effects of American segregation."
And in Greenwich, he found representatives of America's wealthiest--the top .001%, including many hedge fund managers. He sought "to learn how a gospel of economic liberty had altered beliefs among leaders of America's capitalism, and made anything possible, for the right price."
The book covers a lot of the defining events of the last 20 years or so through these lenses, and it goes a long way towards showing how the current deep divisions in our society developed and how deeply entrenched these divisions now are. He concludes that the time between 2001 and 1-6-2021, "was a period in which Americans lost their vision for the common good, the capacity to see the union as larger than the sum of its parts."
The conclusion he draws is not good: "If America's history is a story of constant rebalancing--between greed and generosity, industry and nature, identity and assimilation--then the country had spun so far out of balance that it had lost its center of gravity."
There is a lot to think about in this book. It reminded me of The Unwinding by George Packer, still a worthwhile read, although several years old.
Recommended.
4 stars
128. Wildland by Evan Osnos (2021) 404 pp
Subtitle: The Making of America's Fury
The author of this interesting book is a writer for New Yorker magazine who lived overseas from 2001 to 2013. When he returned to the US, he found the country to be very different from the one he left, and wanted to know why. He chose three places he was intimately connected with, Greenwich, Connecticut, where he grew up, Clarksburg, West Virginia, where he began his journalism career, and Chicago, Illinois, where his family is from. Over the next several years, he visited these places many times and interviewed and got to know many people there. This book is the result of his reporting.
In Clarksburg, he found members of the white working class and poor. There, he investigated what was gained and what was lost, "when some of America's wealthiest people tapped the natural resources beneath the homes of some of America's poorest people."
In Chicago, he focused primarily on the black urban poor, "to understand the compounded effects of American segregation."
And in Greenwich, he found representatives of America's wealthiest--the top .001%, including many hedge fund managers. He sought "to learn how a gospel of economic liberty had altered beliefs among leaders of America's capitalism, and made anything possible, for the right price."
The book covers a lot of the defining events of the last 20 years or so through these lenses, and it goes a long way towards showing how the current deep divisions in our society developed and how deeply entrenched these divisions now are. He concludes that the time between 2001 and 1-6-2021, "was a period in which Americans lost their vision for the common good, the capacity to see the union as larger than the sum of its parts."
The conclusion he draws is not good: "If America's history is a story of constant rebalancing--between greed and generosity, industry and nature, identity and assimilation--then the country had spun so far out of balance that it had lost its center of gravity."
There is a lot to think about in this book. It reminded me of The Unwinding by George Packer, still a worthwhile read, although several years old.
Recommended.
4 stars
271arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
129. Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins (2020) 353 pp
This is a psychological thriller involving an unreliable narrator, Dee, who is nanny to the child of an Oxford Master. When the novel opens, the nanny is being questioned by the police after the child, 8 year old Felicity, has gone missing. The story goes back to tell of Dee's prior life, her engagement to care for Felicity, and the troubled history of Felicity, who has been mute since the death of her mother several years before.
This was a competent mystery. I especially enjoyed a lot of the background bits about the goings on and traditions of the university at Oxford. There's a real sense of place, and also some information about some of Oxford's perhaps lesser-known attractions.
3 stars
129. Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins (2020) 353 pp
This is a psychological thriller involving an unreliable narrator, Dee, who is nanny to the child of an Oxford Master. When the novel opens, the nanny is being questioned by the police after the child, 8 year old Felicity, has gone missing. The story goes back to tell of Dee's prior life, her engagement to care for Felicity, and the troubled history of Felicity, who has been mute since the death of her mother several years before.
This was a competent mystery. I especially enjoyed a lot of the background bits about the goings on and traditions of the university at Oxford. There's a real sense of place, and also some information about some of Oxford's perhaps lesser-known attractions.
3 stars
272arubabookwoman
Library Book
130. Girl A by Abigail Dean (2021) 352 pp
This book is described as a psychological thriller, but I think it's more a psychological exploration of the effects of child abuse. In any event, like Magpie Lane it is a book involving neglected/abused children and an unreliable narrator.
Girl A is Lex, now a successful 30-something lawyer. When she was 15, she excaped from her parents' house of horrors where she and her numerous younger siblings were chained to their beds 24/7, and given little to eat (some died of starvation). After their rescue, adoptive parents were found for all of the children, and over the course of the novel, we learn how each has fared over the years.
When the novel opens, their mother has just died (in prison), and Lex must collect the children's "inheritance," which includes the house where they were imprisoned. She and her closest sister want to donate the house to the city for use as a community center. Lex must contact each of the siblings to get their permission to do this. Sounds very straight forward, but there are a few twists and turns along the way.
I didn't like this one as much as Magpie Lane, but it is competently written, and a brief diversion.
3 stars
130. Girl A by Abigail Dean (2021) 352 pp
This book is described as a psychological thriller, but I think it's more a psychological exploration of the effects of child abuse. In any event, like Magpie Lane it is a book involving neglected/abused children and an unreliable narrator.
Girl A is Lex, now a successful 30-something lawyer. When she was 15, she excaped from her parents' house of horrors where she and her numerous younger siblings were chained to their beds 24/7, and given little to eat (some died of starvation). After their rescue, adoptive parents were found for all of the children, and over the course of the novel, we learn how each has fared over the years.
When the novel opens, their mother has just died (in prison), and Lex must collect the children's "inheritance," which includes the house where they were imprisoned. She and her closest sister want to donate the house to the city for use as a community center. Lex must contact each of the siblings to get their permission to do this. Sounds very straight forward, but there are a few twists and turns along the way.
I didn't like this one as much as Magpie Lane, but it is competently written, and a brief diversion.
3 stars
273arubabookwoman
Library Book
131. Bewilderment by Richard Powers (2021) 287 pp
Richard Powers is one of my favorite authors, and I always read his new books shortly after they are published. I liked this one very much.
Theo Byrne is a college professor searching for extraterrestrial life. He is also a single father raising a special son, Robin, after the death of his beloved wife several years previously. When Rpbin begins acting out at school (after being bullied), the school tries to push Theo toward medicating Robin (and to a possible diagnosis on the autism spectrum). Instead, Theo takes Robin to an experimental biofeedback-like program designed to help control emotions. Over the following months Robin grows emotionally and intellectually.
In broad sense, the book is a sort of homage to Flowers for Algernon, and has similar themes to that earlier book. But it is also a beautiful story about a father's relationship with his son. It is all told against the backdrop of a slightly near-future, almost-dystopian, anti-science America, a society faced with climate change, mass extinction, and environmental disaster. But don't think this is too science-fictiony for you if you are not a scifi fan: it's mostly just about the love between a father and son, although it is also heart-breaking and bleak, and offers no easy answers.
Recommended.
4 stars
131. Bewilderment by Richard Powers (2021) 287 pp
Richard Powers is one of my favorite authors, and I always read his new books shortly after they are published. I liked this one very much.
Theo Byrne is a college professor searching for extraterrestrial life. He is also a single father raising a special son, Robin, after the death of his beloved wife several years previously. When Rpbin begins acting out at school (after being bullied), the school tries to push Theo toward medicating Robin (and to a possible diagnosis on the autism spectrum). Instead, Theo takes Robin to an experimental biofeedback-like program designed to help control emotions. Over the following months Robin grows emotionally and intellectually.
In broad sense, the book is a sort of homage to Flowers for Algernon, and has similar themes to that earlier book. But it is also a beautiful story about a father's relationship with his son. It is all told against the backdrop of a slightly near-future, almost-dystopian, anti-science America, a society faced with climate change, mass extinction, and environmental disaster. But don't think this is too science-fictiony for you if you are not a scifi fan: it's mostly just about the love between a father and son, although it is also heart-breaking and bleak, and offers no easy answers.
Recommended.
4 stars
274arubabookwoman
Library Book
132. After the Crash by Michel Bussi (2016) 377 pp
After being so impressed by The Double Mother, I searched my library for more books by new-to-me author Michel Bussi and found this. I enjoyed this one as well.
In December 1980, a jetliner on its way from Turkey to Paris crashes into the side of a snowy mountain. Miraculously, an infant girl is the sole survivor. But there is a problem: there were two infant girls on the flight, and two sets of grandparents step forward to claim the baby. One set is wealthy and cultured; the other grandparents are poor and make their living selling snacks from a food van in resort towns. This was in the days before DNA testing could establish relationships, so a judge ultimately awards custody of the child (either Emilie or Lyse-Rose). Although both sets accept the judge's ruling, one set hires a private investigator to see if he can determine whether the baby is Emilie or Lyse-Rose. The investigation goes on 18 years, and on the girl's 18th birthday, he presents his report.
Once again, I found this mystery to be fresh and original. I liked The Double Mother better, but this one is certainly a worthwhile read. My library has only one more book by Michel Bussi for me to get to.
3 1/2 stars
132. After the Crash by Michel Bussi (2016) 377 pp
After being so impressed by The Double Mother, I searched my library for more books by new-to-me author Michel Bussi and found this. I enjoyed this one as well.
In December 1980, a jetliner on its way from Turkey to Paris crashes into the side of a snowy mountain. Miraculously, an infant girl is the sole survivor. But there is a problem: there were two infant girls on the flight, and two sets of grandparents step forward to claim the baby. One set is wealthy and cultured; the other grandparents are poor and make their living selling snacks from a food van in resort towns. This was in the days before DNA testing could establish relationships, so a judge ultimately awards custody of the child (either Emilie or Lyse-Rose). Although both sets accept the judge's ruling, one set hires a private investigator to see if he can determine whether the baby is Emilie or Lyse-Rose. The investigation goes on 18 years, and on the girl's 18th birthday, he presents his report.
Once again, I found this mystery to be fresh and original. I liked The Double Mother better, but this one is certainly a worthwhile read. My library has only one more book by Michel Bussi for me to get to.
3 1/2 stars
275arubabookwoman
Library Book
133. The Tunnel by A.B. Yehoshua (2020) 337 pp
Zvi Luria, a retired road engineer, lives in Tel Aviv with his wife Dina, a pediatrician. Zvi has recently been diagnosed with dementia--forgetting people's names and the code to his car. His wife and doctor think the progress of the disease would be slowed if became more involved with life, which results in Zvi becoming the unpaid assistant to a young road engineer (who is also the son of one of Zvi's former colleagues). The young engineer has been tasked with designing a road through a crater in the Neghev desert for military use. For reasons they want to keep from the authorities, Zvi and the young engineer want to build a tunnel through a hill for the road rather than destroying the hill, which would be a cheaper option.
Although there is a lot about road building in this book (and also a lot about the plight of the Palestinians in Israel), I read the book more as a portrait of a long, good marriage, as well as a story about the perils of aging. Zvi and Dina must come to terms with and live as best they can with Zvi's condition. The book is narrated from Zvi's point of view (and the confusions and mishaps he suffers as a result of the dementia are brilliantly portrayed). The portrait of Dina (through Zvi's eyes) is also beautifully conveyed. This was a lovely little book.
4 stars
133. The Tunnel by A.B. Yehoshua (2020) 337 pp
Zvi Luria, a retired road engineer, lives in Tel Aviv with his wife Dina, a pediatrician. Zvi has recently been diagnosed with dementia--forgetting people's names and the code to his car. His wife and doctor think the progress of the disease would be slowed if became more involved with life, which results in Zvi becoming the unpaid assistant to a young road engineer (who is also the son of one of Zvi's former colleagues). The young engineer has been tasked with designing a road through a crater in the Neghev desert for military use. For reasons they want to keep from the authorities, Zvi and the young engineer want to build a tunnel through a hill for the road rather than destroying the hill, which would be a cheaper option.
Although there is a lot about road building in this book (and also a lot about the plight of the Palestinians in Israel), I read the book more as a portrait of a long, good marriage, as well as a story about the perils of aging. Zvi and Dina must come to terms with and live as best they can with Zvi's condition. The book is narrated from Zvi's point of view (and the confusions and mishaps he suffers as a result of the dementia are brilliantly portrayed). The portrait of Dina (through Zvi's eyes) is also beautifully conveyed. This was a lovely little book.
4 stars
276arubabookwoman
Library Book
134. The Liar's Dictionary by Eley Williams (2021) 269pp
This is a charming book full of special words and wordplay about an attempt to update and digitize a dictionary. Swansby's multivolume Encyclopaedic Dictionary was originally compiled in the late 19th century, but has been dormant since it was abandoned in the 1930's. Now David Swansby, a descendant of the original compiler, has hired Mallory to assist with the update. The chapters alternate between the present, as narrated by Mallory, and the 1890's, told from the point of view of Peter Winceworth who is working on the letter "S" for the dictionary.
In the present, Mallory is tasked with searching out "montweazels," which are imaginary words inserted into dictionaries. This is done for copyright protection reasons, and there are usually only one or two monweazels inserted in a dictionary. Here, however, David Swansby has discovered there are many, many more such false entries in the Swansby Dictionary. There is also a subplot involving bomb threats.
In Peter Winceworth's time, we learn that he is a Walter Mitty-sort--overlooked, ignored, and sometimes ridiculed by his colleagues, though he is actually very smart. He takes his revenge by inserting the false entries:
"He sketched these idle thoughts on borrowed notepaper whenever the mood took him: sometimes inspired by interactions with his colleagues in the Scivenery--biefoldian (n.), an annoying fellow; titpalcat (n.), a welcome distraction. Sometimes he just improvised little fictions in the style of an encyclopaedic entry. To this end he made up some fourteenth century dignitaries from Constantinople and a small religious sect living in the volcanic Japanese Alps. More often than not, however, these false entries allowed him to plug a lexical gap, create a word for a sensation or a reality where no other word in current circulation seemed to fit the bill."
I didn't look up every strange word I came across in this book, but of those I did some were real and some appeared to be made up. All of the wordplay, not the plot, is the point of this book, and I imagine the author had great fun making up a lot of these words, and discovering the unusual words that are real.
Recommended
3 1/2 stars
Some real words:
widdershins--in a direction contrary to the sun's course (i.e. counterclockwise)
clowders--groups of cats
Some fake words:
skipsty--the act of taking steps two at a time
prognostisumption--belief as made by glimpsing aspects of something at a distance
mammonsomniate--to dream that money might make anything possible
Imagine my surprise last night when I started a new book (Portobello by Ruth Rendell), and came across this sentence in the opening few pages: "Sometimes he walked clockwise...sometimes widdershins, in a loop up to Campden hill....."
134. The Liar's Dictionary by Eley Williams (2021) 269pp
This is a charming book full of special words and wordplay about an attempt to update and digitize a dictionary. Swansby's multivolume Encyclopaedic Dictionary was originally compiled in the late 19th century, but has been dormant since it was abandoned in the 1930's. Now David Swansby, a descendant of the original compiler, has hired Mallory to assist with the update. The chapters alternate between the present, as narrated by Mallory, and the 1890's, told from the point of view of Peter Winceworth who is working on the letter "S" for the dictionary.
In the present, Mallory is tasked with searching out "montweazels," which are imaginary words inserted into dictionaries. This is done for copyright protection reasons, and there are usually only one or two monweazels inserted in a dictionary. Here, however, David Swansby has discovered there are many, many more such false entries in the Swansby Dictionary. There is also a subplot involving bomb threats.
In Peter Winceworth's time, we learn that he is a Walter Mitty-sort--overlooked, ignored, and sometimes ridiculed by his colleagues, though he is actually very smart. He takes his revenge by inserting the false entries:
"He sketched these idle thoughts on borrowed notepaper whenever the mood took him: sometimes inspired by interactions with his colleagues in the Scivenery--biefoldian (n.), an annoying fellow; titpalcat (n.), a welcome distraction. Sometimes he just improvised little fictions in the style of an encyclopaedic entry. To this end he made up some fourteenth century dignitaries from Constantinople and a small religious sect living in the volcanic Japanese Alps. More often than not, however, these false entries allowed him to plug a lexical gap, create a word for a sensation or a reality where no other word in current circulation seemed to fit the bill."
I didn't look up every strange word I came across in this book, but of those I did some were real and some appeared to be made up. All of the wordplay, not the plot, is the point of this book, and I imagine the author had great fun making up a lot of these words, and discovering the unusual words that are real.
Recommended
3 1/2 stars
Some real words:
widdershins--in a direction contrary to the sun's course (i.e. counterclockwise)
clowders--groups of cats
Some fake words:
skipsty--the act of taking steps two at a time
prognostisumption--belief as made by glimpsing aspects of something at a distance
mammonsomniate--to dream that money might make anything possible
Imagine my surprise last night when I started a new book (Portobello by Ruth Rendell), and came across this sentence in the opening few pages: "Sometimes he walked clockwise...sometimes widdershins, in a loop up to Campden hill....."
277arubabookwoman
Off my shelf
Litsy Postal Book Club-20th Century Classics
135. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
This is my fourth reading of this classic masterpiece. I first read it in a freshman English class in college, and without the guidance of the professor I am not sure I could have gotten through. I love Faulkner, but his style of writing takes getting used to in the best of circumstances. The opening section is narrated from the point of view of Benjy, the "idiot" as in Shakespeare's "tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury..." (I'm sure I've gotten that quote wrong). We are told that Benjy has the mind of a 3 year old, and the "present" of Benjy's section is April 7, 1928, the day of Benjy's 33rd birthday. But the chronology is all over the place, changing rapidly, page to page, paragraph to paragraph, sometimes within the same sentence. And everything is described through Benjy's consciousness, and so we perceive things as he perceives them, and are puzzled by much. No wonder so many are put off by this opening section.
The second section goes back to 1910, and in between flashbacks we accompany Quentin on his last day. This section is easier to comprehend than Benjy's, although Faulkner's style is in full bloom here. The next section is mostly through the point of view of older brother Jason, a rather nasty fellow, and the present is the day before Benjy's birthday. The last section has an omniscient narrator, and is the day after Benjy's birthday.
I love Faulkner, but am not competent to "review" him. I can only say that I think everybody should read this book, and although I can no longer pretend to be merely middle-aged, having entered my 70's, I fully anticipate this will be one I may reread yet another time.
5 stars
Litsy Postal Book Club-20th Century Classics
135. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
This is my fourth reading of this classic masterpiece. I first read it in a freshman English class in college, and without the guidance of the professor I am not sure I could have gotten through. I love Faulkner, but his style of writing takes getting used to in the best of circumstances. The opening section is narrated from the point of view of Benjy, the "idiot" as in Shakespeare's "tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury..." (I'm sure I've gotten that quote wrong). We are told that Benjy has the mind of a 3 year old, and the "present" of Benjy's section is April 7, 1928, the day of Benjy's 33rd birthday. But the chronology is all over the place, changing rapidly, page to page, paragraph to paragraph, sometimes within the same sentence. And everything is described through Benjy's consciousness, and so we perceive things as he perceives them, and are puzzled by much. No wonder so many are put off by this opening section.
The second section goes back to 1910, and in between flashbacks we accompany Quentin on his last day. This section is easier to comprehend than Benjy's, although Faulkner's style is in full bloom here. The next section is mostly through the point of view of older brother Jason, a rather nasty fellow, and the present is the day before Benjy's birthday. The last section has an omniscient narrator, and is the day after Benjy's birthday.
I love Faulkner, but am not competent to "review" him. I can only say that I think everybody should read this book, and although I can no longer pretend to be merely middle-aged, having entered my 70's, I fully anticipate this will be one I may reread yet another time.
5 stars
278arubabookwoman
Off my Kindle
Wharton buddy read on Litsy
136. House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (1905) 368 pp
"She was so evidently the victim of the civilization which had produced her, that the links of her bracelet seemed like manacles chaining her to her fate."
Lily Barton lives among the rich of New York City, the creme de la creme, yet she is not rich herself. She comes from a good family, has some rich relatives, yet she must rely on the good will of her friends, as well as her beautiful face, her charm, her wit, her ability to always do and say the "right" thing. Her mission in life is to find a rich man to marry, and her ability to do so is unquestioned. Yet she has somehow arrived at the age of 29 and is still unmarried. It seems that at the last minute before sealing the deal something always causes Lily to question whether marriage to a rich man is what she really wants. Then through a series of misteps Lily finds herself on the wrong side of society's arbiters, an outcast.
I first read this as a teenager, and remember loving it, but had no actual memory of the story. Wharton writes beautifully--I've always thought she was deserving of the Nobel in literature. Wharton was a member of the class that destroyed Lily, and she presents them to us warts and all.
This is one of her earliest books, and it is the book that established her literary reputation, as well as being one of the three or four most read/most famous of her works. Some of the themes of her earlier works are fully developed here. It is an exquisite book and it deserves a place in the literary canon. This is one of the rare books I think everyone should read.
Highly recommended
5 stars
Wharton buddy read on Litsy
136. House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (1905) 368 pp
"She was so evidently the victim of the civilization which had produced her, that the links of her bracelet seemed like manacles chaining her to her fate."
Lily Barton lives among the rich of New York City, the creme de la creme, yet she is not rich herself. She comes from a good family, has some rich relatives, yet she must rely on the good will of her friends, as well as her beautiful face, her charm, her wit, her ability to always do and say the "right" thing. Her mission in life is to find a rich man to marry, and her ability to do so is unquestioned. Yet she has somehow arrived at the age of 29 and is still unmarried. It seems that at the last minute before sealing the deal something always causes Lily to question whether marriage to a rich man is what she really wants. Then through a series of misteps Lily finds herself on the wrong side of society's arbiters, an outcast.
I first read this as a teenager, and remember loving it, but had no actual memory of the story. Wharton writes beautifully--I've always thought she was deserving of the Nobel in literature. Wharton was a member of the class that destroyed Lily, and she presents them to us warts and all.
This is one of her earliest books, and it is the book that established her literary reputation, as well as being one of the three or four most read/most famous of her works. Some of the themes of her earlier works are fully developed here. It is an exquisite book and it deserves a place in the literary canon. This is one of the rare books I think everyone should read.
Highly recommended
5 stars
279japaul22
Your last two are also favorites of mine. I splurged after a particularly hard stretch a work a few years back and bought the Folio Society edition of Sound and the Fury that is printed in different colors for the different voices, as Faulkner originally conceived the book. It was a fabulous reading experience.
280arubabookwoman
From my Kindle
137. Diary of a Murderer by Young-ha Kim (2013) 210 pp
This is a book of Korean short stories. Maybe you could call them crime stories, but I think they are a great deal more than that, and certainly transcend the crime fiction genre.
My favorite is the title story, in which we are in the mind of an elderly serial killer who is now suffering from dementia. He tells us that he last murdered someone 25 years ago, and that "I killed people for 30 years straight. I was very diligent back then. Now that the statute of limitations has passed, I could even go blab about what I'd done. If this were America, I could probably publish a memoir." Now he has trouble remembering things, and trouble processing the meaning of situations in which he finds himself, but he thinks that his beloved daughter is missing and in danger, and he suspects that a man who keeps coming around and says he is a police officer may have something to do with this. The ultimate unreliable narrator.
I also liked most of the other stories. In "The Origin of Life" two childhood friends reconnect and become lovers. When the man learns that the woman's husband is abusing her, he believes that the husband must be disposed of. In "Missing Child", a three year old is kidnapped, and his parents lives go off the rails. The mother becomes schizophrenic, the father keeps losing his job. Then, eleven years later, the child is recovered, a sullen teenager who only wants to stay where he was, with his kidnapper, who he believed was his mother. The only story I didn't care for was "The Writer" in which aman with writer's block goes to New York City to finish his book.
The book is written largely in a literary and somewhat experimental style, and the author has won crime awards. Many of the stories involve elements of mental illness, and are often dream-like and surreal. Even so, I liked them.
3 1/2 stars
And, believe it or not, I am not up to December's reading!
137. Diary of a Murderer by Young-ha Kim (2013) 210 pp
This is a book of Korean short stories. Maybe you could call them crime stories, but I think they are a great deal more than that, and certainly transcend the crime fiction genre.
My favorite is the title story, in which we are in the mind of an elderly serial killer who is now suffering from dementia. He tells us that he last murdered someone 25 years ago, and that "I killed people for 30 years straight. I was very diligent back then. Now that the statute of limitations has passed, I could even go blab about what I'd done. If this were America, I could probably publish a memoir." Now he has trouble remembering things, and trouble processing the meaning of situations in which he finds himself, but he thinks that his beloved daughter is missing and in danger, and he suspects that a man who keeps coming around and says he is a police officer may have something to do with this. The ultimate unreliable narrator.
I also liked most of the other stories. In "The Origin of Life" two childhood friends reconnect and become lovers. When the man learns that the woman's husband is abusing her, he believes that the husband must be disposed of. In "Missing Child", a three year old is kidnapped, and his parents lives go off the rails. The mother becomes schizophrenic, the father keeps losing his job. Then, eleven years later, the child is recovered, a sullen teenager who only wants to stay where he was, with his kidnapper, who he believed was his mother. The only story I didn't care for was "The Writer" in which aman with writer's block goes to New York City to finish his book.
The book is written largely in a literary and somewhat experimental style, and the author has won crime awards. Many of the stories involve elements of mental illness, and are often dream-like and surreal. Even so, I liked them.
3 1/2 stars
And, believe it or not, I am not up to December's reading!
281BLBera
I'm glad I've already read some of these, Deborah, or my 2022 list would be unmanageable. Wildland and The Tunnel did stand out, though.
I agree about The Sound and the Fury; it's time for a reread for me as well.
Happy New Year!
I'm glad the eye is improving and happy that you got some family time.
I agree about The Sound and the Fury; it's time for a reread for me as well.
Happy New Year!
I'm glad the eye is improving and happy that you got some family time.
282arubabookwoman
>279 japaul22: Hi Jennifer--Everytime I read book like The Sound and the Fury or The House of Mirth, I ask myself why I am not always reading books like these, instead of wasting my time on some of the "bright and shiney" new books (usually library books) I find myself so often reading. I guess I am always hoping to find something new that is just as good, and I do enjoy a good, engrossing crime novel, or an inventive science fiction novel. I think in 2022 I'm going to try to read/reread more books that have stood the test of time, and fewer unknowns.
Off my Kindle
Litsy NYRB Book Club
138.The School For Love by Olivia Manning (1951) 232 pp
Felix lost his father in the war, and his mother dies shortly afterwards of typhoid. He is sent from Iraq where they had been living to Jerusalem to stay with a distant elderly relative until he can be sent back to England. The relative, Miss Bohun, is involved with a religious fundamentalist group. She is extremely stingy, feeding Felix barely enough to keep him alive, while congratulating herself on not participating in the black market.
In fact the book could be read as a character study of Miss Bohun. She is constantly congratulating herself on how good and generous she is, the perfection of her character. We, the readers see through her, but Felix does not, and despite her mistreatment of him, thinks she is an admirable character. "He was always reflecting how honest she was, how good to people, how right in her judgement. It did not seem to him possible that she could be anything but right...."
Then, Miss Bohun takes in another boarder, a war widow, Mrs. Ellis. Felix soon transfers his loyalties to Mrs. Ellis, and through his experiences with her comes to see reality.
I mostly enjoyed this coming of age novel, set in an exotic location and somewhat distant past.
3 stars
Off my Kindle
Litsy NYRB Book Club
138.The School For Love by Olivia Manning (1951) 232 pp
Felix lost his father in the war, and his mother dies shortly afterwards of typhoid. He is sent from Iraq where they had been living to Jerusalem to stay with a distant elderly relative until he can be sent back to England. The relative, Miss Bohun, is involved with a religious fundamentalist group. She is extremely stingy, feeding Felix barely enough to keep him alive, while congratulating herself on not participating in the black market.
In fact the book could be read as a character study of Miss Bohun. She is constantly congratulating herself on how good and generous she is, the perfection of her character. We, the readers see through her, but Felix does not, and despite her mistreatment of him, thinks she is an admirable character. "He was always reflecting how honest she was, how good to people, how right in her judgement. It did not seem to him possible that she could be anything but right...."
Then, Miss Bohun takes in another boarder, a war widow, Mrs. Ellis. Felix soon transfers his loyalties to Mrs. Ellis, and through his experiences with her comes to see reality.
I mostly enjoyed this coming of age novel, set in an exotic location and somewhat distant past.
3 stars
283arubabookwoman
>281 BLBera: Thanks Beth, and Happy New Year to you too.
re Wildland, I'll shortly be reviewing another book on the same topic--How did the country get here?-- by George Packer'
Library Book
139. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (2020) 266 pp
I checked this out of the library because I so loved her first book, Homegoing. Unfortunately, I failed to connect with this book.
Gifty is a Ph.D student in neuroscience at Stanford studying addictive behaviors. Her older brother Nana died of a heroin overdose as a teenager, sending her mother into a deep clinical depression which lasted months. Now, Gifty's mother has shown up at Gifty's apartment from Alabama, and is once again deeply depressed. She gets in bed, and refuses to get out of bed or to eat.
I don't know why I didn't like this book. The science parts were interesting, and I liked the parts about Gifty and Nana growing up better than the parts set in the present. Overall, though, the book felt aimless and seemed to go nowhere. I was very disappointed.
2 stars
re Wildland, I'll shortly be reviewing another book on the same topic--How did the country get here?-- by George Packer'
Library Book
139. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (2020) 266 pp
I checked this out of the library because I so loved her first book, Homegoing. Unfortunately, I failed to connect with this book.
Gifty is a Ph.D student in neuroscience at Stanford studying addictive behaviors. Her older brother Nana died of a heroin overdose as a teenager, sending her mother into a deep clinical depression which lasted months. Now, Gifty's mother has shown up at Gifty's apartment from Alabama, and is once again deeply depressed. She gets in bed, and refuses to get out of bed or to eat.
I don't know why I didn't like this book. The science parts were interesting, and I liked the parts about Gifty and Nana growing up better than the parts set in the present. Overall, though, the book felt aimless and seemed to go nowhere. I was very disappointed.
2 stars
284japaul22
>282 arubabookwoman: I know what you mean. Most of the newer books I read can not measure up to the 5 star classics I love. But, on the other hand, they often broaden my perspective in a way that I also value. So I think I'm still happy with my balance of rereads, new books, nonfiction, mysteries, etc. It is important to me to make time to reread the "best of the best" books that bring you something new every time, though.
285arubabookwoman
Library Book
140. The Trees by Percival Everett (2021) 288 pp
This is the second book by Percival Everett I've read this year, and it's another good one.
We are in a small Mississippi town, and there is a series of brutal murders, each involving a least one white victim and one black victim. It is not clear who murdered whom, although in each case the white victim has been genitally mutilated. The strange thing is, though, that in each case, the body of the black victim disappears shortly afterwards.
I can't say more about the plot, but this is a brilliant exploration of racial violence and our country's brutal history of racially motivated murder, including the rash of murders by police. It is unlike anything else I have read this year. When I first started reading, it reminded me of something by Carl Hiassen or Dave Barry with characters with names like Hot Mama Yeller, Hattie Berg, Pick L. Dill, Governor Pinch Wheyface, Officers Ho, Chi, and Minh, and so on and so on. As the seriousness of the themes became apparent, I began to wonder if the humor was appropriate, but in the end all worked.
Recommended
4 stars
140. The Trees by Percival Everett (2021) 288 pp
This is the second book by Percival Everett I've read this year, and it's another good one.
We are in a small Mississippi town, and there is a series of brutal murders, each involving a least one white victim and one black victim. It is not clear who murdered whom, although in each case the white victim has been genitally mutilated. The strange thing is, though, that in each case, the body of the black victim disappears shortly afterwards.
I can't say more about the plot, but this is a brilliant exploration of racial violence and our country's brutal history of racially motivated murder, including the rash of murders by police. It is unlike anything else I have read this year. When I first started reading, it reminded me of something by Carl Hiassen or Dave Barry with characters with names like Hot Mama Yeller, Hattie Berg, Pick L. Dill, Governor Pinch Wheyface, Officers Ho, Chi, and Minh, and so on and so on. As the seriousness of the themes became apparent, I began to wonder if the humor was appropriate, but in the end all worked.
Recommended
4 stars
286arubabookwoman
Library Book
141. Rider on the Rain by Sebastien Japrisot
Mellie sees a stranger get off the bus in the rain during the off season on the French Riviera. Later when she returns home, she finds that stranger has broken in, and he rapes her. Later she shoots and kills him. Instead of calling the police, she dumps his body over a cliff into the sea. Then another stranger arrives in town. Mellie meets him at a wedding, and he immediately implies that he knows what she did. A game of cat and mouse begins.
I read a book by Japrisot, many years ago, and I loved it. It was a wonderful example of French noir. This one is a total dud. It consists mostly of dialogue, and reads like a screen play, and a pretty mediocre screen play at that. In fact there is a movie of this story, and I am not sure whether this "novel"(term used loosely) was adapted from the movie or vice versa. The parts of the text that are not dialogue read more like stage directions than anything you'd read to provide context, depth, or even just information in a novel. The characters are cardboard, and the treatment of women, especially Mellie is sexist to the Nth degree. Do not read.
1 star (maybe even 1/2 star)
141. Rider on the Rain by Sebastien Japrisot
Mellie sees a stranger get off the bus in the rain during the off season on the French Riviera. Later when she returns home, she finds that stranger has broken in, and he rapes her. Later she shoots and kills him. Instead of calling the police, she dumps his body over a cliff into the sea. Then another stranger arrives in town. Mellie meets him at a wedding, and he immediately implies that he knows what she did. A game of cat and mouse begins.
I read a book by Japrisot, many years ago, and I loved it. It was a wonderful example of French noir. This one is a total dud. It consists mostly of dialogue, and reads like a screen play, and a pretty mediocre screen play at that. In fact there is a movie of this story, and I am not sure whether this "novel"(term used loosely) was adapted from the movie or vice versa. The parts of the text that are not dialogue read more like stage directions than anything you'd read to provide context, depth, or even just information in a novel. The characters are cardboard, and the treatment of women, especially Mellie is sexist to the Nth degree. Do not read.
1 star (maybe even 1/2 star)
287arubabookwoman
Library Book
142. Learning to Die in the Anthropocene by Roy Scranton
Subtitle: Reflections on the End of a Civilization
This is a short but factually dense book. Its conclusion is that even acting drastically and immediately, there will be only a small chance that humanity can survive the ravages of climate change. Even if some strands of humanity survive, our civilization will exist at a much reduced standard of living. Under no scenario is our current life style sustainable. This is a very depressing book.
3 stars
142. Learning to Die in the Anthropocene by Roy Scranton
Subtitle: Reflections on the End of a Civilization
This is a short but factually dense book. Its conclusion is that even acting drastically and immediately, there will be only a small chance that humanity can survive the ravages of climate change. Even if some strands of humanity survive, our civilization will exist at a much reduced standard of living. Under no scenario is our current life style sustainable. This is a very depressing book.
3 stars
288arubabookwoman
Library Book
Not really a review, because for some reason, I took almost no notes on this book, and don't remember many specifics about it, though overall I liked it.
143. The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper
This is a memoir by an emergency room doctor. She was raised in a home with a physically abusive father. She married while in residency, but shortly before she and her husband were to move to the location of her first job, he told her he wasn't coming. Most of the book consists of her emergency room experiences and what she has learned along the way. She is engaging, and I enjoyed the book.
3 stars
Not really a review, because for some reason, I took almost no notes on this book, and don't remember many specifics about it, though overall I liked it.
143. The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper
This is a memoir by an emergency room doctor. She was raised in a home with a physically abusive father. She married while in residency, but shortly before she and her husband were to move to the location of her first job, he told her he wasn't coming. Most of the book consists of her emergency room experiences and what she has learned along the way. She is engaging, and I enjoyed the book.
3 stars
289arubabookwoman
Library Book
144. Goldilocks by Laura Lam
The Goldilocks Zone: "Not too hot. Not too cold. The right temperature for water to be liquid on the surface given the right atmospheric pressure. For life to potentially grow."
Five women who have trained as astronauts are sidelined when a new authoritarian fundamentalist government pushes women out of the workforce. Humanity is facing extinction due to changes wrought by climate change, and there is a program in place to send a crew to a distant Earth-like planet as a possible world for humans to settle. The five women steal the spaceship that has been prepared for this probe, and head for the new planet. But along the way it becomes apparent that their commander Valerie may have ulterior motives that she has hidden from the other members of the crew.
The novel is told from the point of view of Naomi, a botanist, and Valerie's adopted daughter. Naomi is charged with growing food for the long voyage to the new planet, as well as genetically engineering new food plants that will grow on the new planet. She has been betrayed by Valerie in the past.
I am not a scientist, and I normally don't fret about whether or not the science in science fiction books is feasible or accurate. But I do like the characters in the books I read to act realistically and to be true to life with motivations that make sense. I didn't find that to always be the case with this book. It was good enough to keep me reading to find out what happened, but there were several things/characters that sometimes just did not ring true. So overall this is one I can't give an enthusiastic recommendation to.
2 stars
I liked this anecdote about John Glenn related in this book. When asked how he felt waiting to blast off as the first man to orbit Earth, he stated, "I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew you were sitting on top of two million parts--all build by the lowest bidder on a government contract."
144. Goldilocks by Laura Lam
The Goldilocks Zone: "Not too hot. Not too cold. The right temperature for water to be liquid on the surface given the right atmospheric pressure. For life to potentially grow."
Five women who have trained as astronauts are sidelined when a new authoritarian fundamentalist government pushes women out of the workforce. Humanity is facing extinction due to changes wrought by climate change, and there is a program in place to send a crew to a distant Earth-like planet as a possible world for humans to settle. The five women steal the spaceship that has been prepared for this probe, and head for the new planet. But along the way it becomes apparent that their commander Valerie may have ulterior motives that she has hidden from the other members of the crew.
The novel is told from the point of view of Naomi, a botanist, and Valerie's adopted daughter. Naomi is charged with growing food for the long voyage to the new planet, as well as genetically engineering new food plants that will grow on the new planet. She has been betrayed by Valerie in the past.
I am not a scientist, and I normally don't fret about whether or not the science in science fiction books is feasible or accurate. But I do like the characters in the books I read to act realistically and to be true to life with motivations that make sense. I didn't find that to always be the case with this book. It was good enough to keep me reading to find out what happened, but there were several things/characters that sometimes just did not ring true. So overall this is one I can't give an enthusiastic recommendation to.
2 stars
I liked this anecdote about John Glenn related in this book. When asked how he felt waiting to blast off as the first man to orbit Earth, he stated, "I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew you were sitting on top of two million parts--all build by the lowest bidder on a government contract."
290arubabookwoman
Library Book
145. Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal by George Packer
Like Wildland which I read last month, this book is another attempt to explain how America got to the position in which it currently finds itself. Packer sees 4 opposing narratives by which Americans define themselves:
1. FREE AMERICA--(basically Republicans)-libertarian, tax cuts, deregulation, individualism, property rights (no public investment), hostility to government, religious traditionalists, break the unions, starve social programs, nationalistic. This group is represented by Newt Gingrich, Ted Cruz, Sean Hannity, and others of their ilk. Tax cuts and deregulation equals freedom and prosperity. They mobilize anger and despair by offering up scapegoats.
2. SMART AMERICA--(basically Democrats) success depends on brainpower, not accumulation of wealth. Meritocracy, social liberalism, fairness, but if you don't make the cut you have no one to blame but yourself. Smart America lost the white working class. Sees the answer to all problems as education.
3. REAL AMERICA--this began with Sarah Palin (who Packer describes as John the Baptist for the coming of Trump). Proud ignorance and contempt for the establishment and for experts. Anti-intellectual, the country of white people, religious and nationalistic, an offshoot of FREE AMERICA, but they pay the costs of Americas liars.
4. JUST AMERICA--seeks continuous wrongs to be battled. assaults the meritocracy of SMART AMERICA, identity politics and political correctness, not just concerned with race, some followers are socialists, environmentalists, feminists; "Something is deeply wrong; our society is unjust; our institutions are corrupt." Its members are mostly young and well-educated; because the most desireable occupations have contracted our cities have large populations of overeducated and underemployed young people; intolerant and coercive.
Packer states, "Free America celebrates the energy of the unencumbered individual. Smart America respects intelligence and welcomes change. Real America commits itself to a place and has a sense of limits. Just America demands a confrontation with what others want to avoid. They arise from a single society, and even in one as polarized as ours they continually shape, absorb, and morph into one another. But their tendency is also to divide us up, pitting tribe against tribe. These divisions impoverish each narrative into a cramped and evermore extreme version of itself."
I found Packer's division of the country into these four factions to have a reasonable basis in fact, and an interesting way to describe the problem. He also offers some solutions to try to bring us back together once more as a country. Most of his suggestions are related in some way to addressing the extreme economic inequalities prevailing nowadays. Looking at our Congress, its inability to address the massive voter suppression efforts well underway, as well as the extreme politization of the Supreme Court, I personally don't have much hope that there is going to be a solution to the problem any time soon.
3 stars
145. Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal by George Packer
Like Wildland which I read last month, this book is another attempt to explain how America got to the position in which it currently finds itself. Packer sees 4 opposing narratives by which Americans define themselves:
1. FREE AMERICA--(basically Republicans)-libertarian, tax cuts, deregulation, individualism, property rights (no public investment), hostility to government, religious traditionalists, break the unions, starve social programs, nationalistic. This group is represented by Newt Gingrich, Ted Cruz, Sean Hannity, and others of their ilk. Tax cuts and deregulation equals freedom and prosperity. They mobilize anger and despair by offering up scapegoats.
2. SMART AMERICA--(basically Democrats) success depends on brainpower, not accumulation of wealth. Meritocracy, social liberalism, fairness, but if you don't make the cut you have no one to blame but yourself. Smart America lost the white working class. Sees the answer to all problems as education.
3. REAL AMERICA--this began with Sarah Palin (who Packer describes as John the Baptist for the coming of Trump). Proud ignorance and contempt for the establishment and for experts. Anti-intellectual, the country of white people, religious and nationalistic, an offshoot of FREE AMERICA, but they pay the costs of Americas liars.
4. JUST AMERICA--seeks continuous wrongs to be battled. assaults the meritocracy of SMART AMERICA, identity politics and political correctness, not just concerned with race, some followers are socialists, environmentalists, feminists; "Something is deeply wrong; our society is unjust; our institutions are corrupt." Its members are mostly young and well-educated; because the most desireable occupations have contracted our cities have large populations of overeducated and underemployed young people; intolerant and coercive.
Packer states, "Free America celebrates the energy of the unencumbered individual. Smart America respects intelligence and welcomes change. Real America commits itself to a place and has a sense of limits. Just America demands a confrontation with what others want to avoid. They arise from a single society, and even in one as polarized as ours they continually shape, absorb, and morph into one another. But their tendency is also to divide us up, pitting tribe against tribe. These divisions impoverish each narrative into a cramped and evermore extreme version of itself."
I found Packer's division of the country into these four factions to have a reasonable basis in fact, and an interesting way to describe the problem. He also offers some solutions to try to bring us back together once more as a country. Most of his suggestions are related in some way to addressing the extreme economic inequalities prevailing nowadays. Looking at our Congress, its inability to address the massive voter suppression efforts well underway, as well as the extreme politization of the Supreme Court, I personally don't have much hope that there is going to be a solution to the problem any time soon.
3 stars
291arubabookwoman
Library Book
Another one I didn't take a lot of notes on, and consequently don't have much to say about:
146. Around the World in 80 Books by David Damrosch
Subtitle: A Literary Journal
I enjoyed this "book about books." The author follows the path of Phineas Fogg around the world and discusses books relative to each of the places/areas the Phineas Fogg visited. The books include the usual suspects, but there were many that were new to me. I made a list of the books I was interested in. Now if I could only find it.
3 1/2 stars
Another one I didn't take a lot of notes on, and consequently don't have much to say about:
146. Around the World in 80 Books by David Damrosch
Subtitle: A Literary Journal
I enjoyed this "book about books." The author follows the path of Phineas Fogg around the world and discusses books relative to each of the places/areas the Phineas Fogg visited. The books include the usual suspects, but there were many that were new to me. I made a list of the books I was interested in. Now if I could only find it.
3 1/2 stars
292arubabookwoman
Library Book
147.Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show by Jonathan Karl
"Honor systems, however, only work when people are honorable."
I know I said I wasn't going to read any more Trump books, but I am weak, and here is another one. If you've been listening to the news over the past few months, you've probably heard a number of the tidbits first revealed in this book. I took a couple of overall points from this book. First, by the final year of Trump's presidency, especially towards the end of that year, he had purged many of the people in his administration who had acted as guard rails. Those left were the most extreme loyalists.
Having read this book, I also now think that Trump truly believes that there was massive fraud and that the election was stolen, which to me means the man is clinically insane. I think only his own incompetence (and his reliance on incompetents like his attorneys Guliani and Sidney Powell) prevented him from overturning the election and staying illegally in power. We really came within a hair's breadth of losing the 200+ years of democracy--and it's not over yet.
4 stars
147.Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show by Jonathan Karl
"Honor systems, however, only work when people are honorable."
I know I said I wasn't going to read any more Trump books, but I am weak, and here is another one. If you've been listening to the news over the past few months, you've probably heard a number of the tidbits first revealed in this book. I took a couple of overall points from this book. First, by the final year of Trump's presidency, especially towards the end of that year, he had purged many of the people in his administration who had acted as guard rails. Those left were the most extreme loyalists.
Having read this book, I also now think that Trump truly believes that there was massive fraud and that the election was stolen, which to me means the man is clinically insane. I think only his own incompetence (and his reliance on incompetents like his attorneys Guliani and Sidney Powell) prevented him from overturning the election and staying illegally in power. We really came within a hair's breadth of losing the 200+ years of democracy--and it's not over yet.
4 stars
293arubabookwoman
Library Book
I've loved the Slow Horses series, but have now read all the published ones. So I thought I'd try this one by Mick Herron. I think it's a standalone.
148. Reconstruction by Mick Herron (2008)
A lone gunman, a foreigner, has taken hostages at a nursery school. He demands to see "the woman" and a man named Ben Whistler, who works as a financial analyst at the spy agency. Soon we are in a labyrinth peppered with various spy agents and members of the local police force, and we aren't always sure who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. But it is just as witty and intricately plotted as the Slow Horses series, and I enjoyed it. It may seem a little dated, as it partially involves the massive graft and corruption that were rampant during the so-called reconstruction of Iraq after the war there, but I didn't mind.
3 stars
I've loved the Slow Horses series, but have now read all the published ones. So I thought I'd try this one by Mick Herron. I think it's a standalone.
148. Reconstruction by Mick Herron (2008)
A lone gunman, a foreigner, has taken hostages at a nursery school. He demands to see "the woman" and a man named Ben Whistler, who works as a financial analyst at the spy agency. Soon we are in a labyrinth peppered with various spy agents and members of the local police force, and we aren't always sure who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. But it is just as witty and intricately plotted as the Slow Horses series, and I enjoyed it. It may seem a little dated, as it partially involves the massive graft and corruption that were rampant during the so-called reconstruction of Iraq after the war there, but I didn't mind.
3 stars
294arubabookwoman
Believe it or not I am totally caught up on reviews for books completed to date. I have several books on the go now, but I seem to be in a reading slump (it's been over a week since I finished a book), and I don't know if I will finish another one before years end.
I read more than half of Outline by Rachel Cusk before the library took it back, but I was not enjoying it at all, and found it a chore to read, so I'm not sure I'll put a hold on it to check it out again to finish it. I had wanted to read it because I own the second in the trilogy Transit, and wanted to read Outline first. I may just dip into Transit without going further in Outline.
I'm also about halfway through The Wreck of the Mary Deare, and Reading the O.E.D.. And I've read about 30% of Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi, but it's not calling to me, so last night I started Portobello by Ruth Rendell, hoping something lighter would entice me.
If I don't appear here again, it's because I finished nothing else before the end of the year.
Thanks to all who visited. I didn't post often enough on other people's thread, though as of now I have read them all. See you all in 2022!
I read more than half of Outline by Rachel Cusk before the library took it back, but I was not enjoying it at all, and found it a chore to read, so I'm not sure I'll put a hold on it to check it out again to finish it. I had wanted to read it because I own the second in the trilogy Transit, and wanted to read Outline first. I may just dip into Transit without going further in Outline.
I'm also about halfway through The Wreck of the Mary Deare, and Reading the O.E.D.. And I've read about 30% of Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi, but it's not calling to me, so last night I started Portobello by Ruth Rendell, hoping something lighter would entice me.
If I don't appear here again, it's because I finished nothing else before the end of the year.
Thanks to all who visited. I didn't post often enough on other people's thread, though as of now I have read them all. See you all in 2022!
295lisapeet
>294 arubabookwoman: But... are you reading Reading the OED or reading the OED? Inquiring minds need to know.
296arubabookwoman
>295 lisapeet: LOL-I don't know why the title didn't turn blue for me like it did for you. I am reading the book called Reading the OED, and despite NOT reading the actual OED I am learning lots of new and amazing words. (Which I am sure I will soon forget).
297lisapeet
>296 arubabookwoman: It didn't work for me until I took the periods out of "O.E.D." Either way, that sounds like some interesting reading.
