I've decided to try to go back in the blog and use the labels to indicate a star rating, from 0 to 5, kind of like grades A through F. That way these ratings will be listed under "Labels" and it will be possible to find books by their rating.
On another subject, I've felt almost guilty that the last several books I've read have been on my iPad using Kindle. I love physical books. I love their smell and feel and look. I love sitting surrounded by them in my library. I feel conflicted about not purchasing them or going to the library for them. My plan is that if I think I'll re-read a book because I think it's so good, I will purchase it. And I know that I won't purchase all my books that way. It's a changing world. Even a big chain bookstore like Borders is going bankrupt. I wonder how it will all turn out.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Unbroken is by Laura Hillenbrand, who wrote Seabiscuit. I like both these books. Hillenbrand is a good writer who can make non-fiction interesting. I don't read as much non-fiction as fiction but I've always liked biographies because they are still a story.
My brother and father both mentioned reading this book, which is why I picked it up. It's about Louis Silvie Zamperini. I'd never heard of him but it turns out he was quite a famous runner. He came close to breaking the 4-minute mile record back in the days when everyone was trying to beat that mark.
The book tells about his childhood. It sounds like he was a naughty boy and got into more serious trouble in his teenage years, but his brother encouraged him to put his energies into running and that turned out to be something he could do well at. He went to the Olympics and would have continued competing in running except the war started -- World War II.
Louis joined up and became a bombadier. I never knew that the saying "bombs away" came from such a literal source. As a bombadier Louis would sit by the bomb doors, open them, and when the bombs had gone out he'd yell, "Bombs away!" so the pilot knew he could start climbing higher.
Louis was in the Pacific arena in the war. It was interesting to read about the way the war went over there, some of the strategies and reasons the U.S. was fighting for these islands, and also the way the mechanical abilities of the planes had a lot to do with those strategies. That may sound dry but, trust me, it wasn't, which is why I say that Hillenbrand is good at making non-fiction interesting.
Louis' plane was shot down and he was one of 3 survivors. The tale of their survival for more than 3 weeks on an inflatable raft is amazing. One of the 3 died during that time and then Louis and the other, the pilot, were captured. Japanese prisoners of war had a horrible time, much worse than those taken in Europe, another thing I had never known. Louis' experiences in prison were horrible and unforgettable.
After the war Louis' body had been so wrecked by prison that he couldn't go back to running. He bacame a kind of celebrity for the military but started drinking and went into a downward spiral. He also started to be obsessed about killing a particularly horrible Japanese officer who had singled Louis out for torture during the war. Hillenbrand also chronicles that officer's life.
Louis' wife persuaded him to attend a Billy Graham crusade. What Graham said affected him so much and reminded him of his childhood plus the promises he'd made to God during the war and he absolutely turned his life around. He opened a nonprofit boys camp where he helped boys learn how to turn their lives around, too. He also went on speaking tours and was given many awards. He lived a long, active life, even skiing at the age of 90.
As you read the book you get to know other people important in Louis' life, such as the pilot who survived the plane crash and prison with him, his brother, and others. I just found it very interesting to get to know Louis and these others and to hear how they lived and changed.
My brother and father both mentioned reading this book, which is why I picked it up. It's about Louis Silvie Zamperini. I'd never heard of him but it turns out he was quite a famous runner. He came close to breaking the 4-minute mile record back in the days when everyone was trying to beat that mark.
The book tells about his childhood. It sounds like he was a naughty boy and got into more serious trouble in his teenage years, but his brother encouraged him to put his energies into running and that turned out to be something he could do well at. He went to the Olympics and would have continued competing in running except the war started -- World War II.
Louis joined up and became a bombadier. I never knew that the saying "bombs away" came from such a literal source. As a bombadier Louis would sit by the bomb doors, open them, and when the bombs had gone out he'd yell, "Bombs away!" so the pilot knew he could start climbing higher.
Louis was in the Pacific arena in the war. It was interesting to read about the way the war went over there, some of the strategies and reasons the U.S. was fighting for these islands, and also the way the mechanical abilities of the planes had a lot to do with those strategies. That may sound dry but, trust me, it wasn't, which is why I say that Hillenbrand is good at making non-fiction interesting.
Louis' plane was shot down and he was one of 3 survivors. The tale of their survival for more than 3 weeks on an inflatable raft is amazing. One of the 3 died during that time and then Louis and the other, the pilot, were captured. Japanese prisoners of war had a horrible time, much worse than those taken in Europe, another thing I had never known. Louis' experiences in prison were horrible and unforgettable.
After the war Louis' body had been so wrecked by prison that he couldn't go back to running. He bacame a kind of celebrity for the military but started drinking and went into a downward spiral. He also started to be obsessed about killing a particularly horrible Japanese officer who had singled Louis out for torture during the war. Hillenbrand also chronicles that officer's life.
Louis' wife persuaded him to attend a Billy Graham crusade. What Graham said affected him so much and reminded him of his childhood plus the promises he'd made to God during the war and he absolutely turned his life around. He opened a nonprofit boys camp where he helped boys learn how to turn their lives around, too. He also went on speaking tours and was given many awards. He lived a long, active life, even skiing at the age of 90.
As you read the book you get to know other people important in Louis' life, such as the pilot who survived the plane crash and prison with him, his brother, and others. I just found it very interesting to get to know Louis and these others and to hear how they lived and changed.
Never in My Wildest Dreams by Belva Davis
I read this book for a book club. My overall assessment is that it was good, rather more interesting because it is about a "local girl" but I didn't feel like it was extremely well written or compelling.
Belva Davis is a journalist/reporter in the Bay Area. She was born in Louisiana but nearly immediately was given to her Aunt Ophelia and her husband, who had no children, to be cared for by them. When Belva was 3 her aunt died and Belva then went back to her mother & father's home and for the rest of her childhood was shuffled around from one part of the family to another. She wasn't always badly treated, but she was pretty much unwanted, there was a period where she was molested by one of her male relatives, and when her father was under the influence of drugs and alcohol she was abused, so her childhood was an unhappy one. It got to a point where Belva was ready to commit suicide. She didn't do that but she did decide to escape somehow.
By high school they were living in Berkeley and she attended Berkeley High. They were integrated but Belva experience many instances of discrimination, at places of business refusing to serve her and many other things. She got married at 18 and had two kids. Belva worked throughout her marriage and eventual divorce. Eventually she started to write and became a reporter. She had many jobs around the Bay Area and ended up with a career at NPR.
It was interesting to read about the experience of growing up as a black woman, especially as she was experiencing the changes that happened in the '60's and '70's. When I try to figure out why I didn't particularly love the book, I think it's because I didn't feel like I got to know her well enough. When I read of all that she went through, it is a marvel that she turned out so strong and successful, but I feel like I didn't really learn how that happened.
So, a pretty good book.
Belva Davis is a journalist/reporter in the Bay Area. She was born in Louisiana but nearly immediately was given to her Aunt Ophelia and her husband, who had no children, to be cared for by them. When Belva was 3 her aunt died and Belva then went back to her mother & father's home and for the rest of her childhood was shuffled around from one part of the family to another. She wasn't always badly treated, but she was pretty much unwanted, there was a period where she was molested by one of her male relatives, and when her father was under the influence of drugs and alcohol she was abused, so her childhood was an unhappy one. It got to a point where Belva was ready to commit suicide. She didn't do that but she did decide to escape somehow.
By high school they were living in Berkeley and she attended Berkeley High. They were integrated but Belva experience many instances of discrimination, at places of business refusing to serve her and many other things. She got married at 18 and had two kids. Belva worked throughout her marriage and eventual divorce. Eventually she started to write and became a reporter. She had many jobs around the Bay Area and ended up with a career at NPR.
It was interesting to read about the experience of growing up as a black woman, especially as she was experiencing the changes that happened in the '60's and '70's. When I try to figure out why I didn't particularly love the book, I think it's because I didn't feel like I got to know her well enough. When I read of all that she went through, it is a marvel that she turned out so strong and successful, but I feel like I didn't really learn how that happened.
So, a pretty good book.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Island Under the Sea by Isabel Allende
I read a different book by Isabel Allende previously and didn't like it particularly. I can't remember the title but the thing I didn't like was the spiritualism, or mysticism, or whatever you want to call it, that was in it. There were things about ghosts and spiritual worlds that I didn't enjoy having as part of the story.
This book, however, I liked a lot better. It is well written and has some very interesting characters. It's told in first person by "Tete," who starts out as a slave in Haiti, called Santa Domingue at the time. You learn a lot about the history of Haiti, which was interesting since it's been in the news lately with the flooding and all. Tete and her family and friends leave Haiti for Louisiana later in the book, when the revolution is going on in Haiti.
It's good writing and I was interested to read what was going to happen next. I didn't find it super compelling -- I read a different book in between starting and finishing this one -- but I did want to finish it.
This book, however, I liked a lot better. It is well written and has some very interesting characters. It's told in first person by "Tete," who starts out as a slave in Haiti, called Santa Domingue at the time. You learn a lot about the history of Haiti, which was interesting since it's been in the news lately with the flooding and all. Tete and her family and friends leave Haiti for Louisiana later in the book, when the revolution is going on in Haiti.
It's good writing and I was interested to read what was going to happen next. I didn't find it super compelling -- I read a different book in between starting and finishing this one -- but I did want to finish it.
Friday, December 24, 2010
The Risk Pool by Richard Russo
This book is cracking me up. I'm less than halfway through but it's made me laugh out loud several times already. Here's the scene I just read:
The narrator is a boy. He's in a restaurant with his father and a man walks in with his daughter, "the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, and she looked about my age." His father talks to the girl for a while and then says,
"I tell you what, how about I introduce you to somebody your own age. He's not as good-looking as his father, but you can't have everything."
Suddenly, everyone was looking at me, as luck would have it, just as a song ended on the jukebox. Tria Ward gave me a weak smile, as if to acknowledge my reality, or perhaps the fact that I wasn't too bad-looking, or that, yes, it was true, I wasn't as as good-looking as my father.
And in response to her beautiful smile, I bleated.
I remember the horror of it even now. The sound I made resembled no word. It didn't even sound human. My father blinked, probably in disbelief, and for long terrible seconds nobody said anything. I flushed so deeply that my skin burned.
That struck me so funny I laughed until I cried and actually had to run to the bathroom to prevent peeing my pants.
The book is separated into four sections named after something the boy's grandpa used to say about Mohawk, the town the book is set in (as are many - maybe all? - of Richard Russo's books):
"There are four season in Mohawk," he always remarked, "Fourth of July, Mohawk Fair, Eat the Bird, and Winter." No way around it, Mohawk winters did cling to our town tenaciously. Deep into spring, when tulips were blooming elsewhere, brown crusted snowbanks still rose high from the terraces along our streets, and although yellow water ran along the curbs, forming tunnels beneath the snow, the banks themselves shrank reluctantly, and it had been known to snow cruelly in May. It was late June before the ground was firm enough for baseball, and by Labor Day the sun had already lost its conviction when the Mohawk Fair opened.
Apologies to my Michigan friends and family, but I thought this was a great description of the weather in Michigan.
I like all of Richard Russo's books that I've read. This one is my favorite, at least so far.
The narrator is a boy. He's in a restaurant with his father and a man walks in with his daughter, "the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, and she looked about my age." His father talks to the girl for a while and then says,
"I tell you what, how about I introduce you to somebody your own age. He's not as good-looking as his father, but you can't have everything."
Suddenly, everyone was looking at me, as luck would have it, just as a song ended on the jukebox. Tria Ward gave me a weak smile, as if to acknowledge my reality, or perhaps the fact that I wasn't too bad-looking, or that, yes, it was true, I wasn't as as good-looking as my father.
And in response to her beautiful smile, I bleated.
I remember the horror of it even now. The sound I made resembled no word. It didn't even sound human. My father blinked, probably in disbelief, and for long terrible seconds nobody said anything. I flushed so deeply that my skin burned.
That struck me so funny I laughed until I cried and actually had to run to the bathroom to prevent peeing my pants.
The book is separated into four sections named after something the boy's grandpa used to say about Mohawk, the town the book is set in (as are many - maybe all? - of Richard Russo's books):
"There are four season in Mohawk," he always remarked, "Fourth of July, Mohawk Fair, Eat the Bird, and Winter." No way around it, Mohawk winters did cling to our town tenaciously. Deep into spring, when tulips were blooming elsewhere, brown crusted snowbanks still rose high from the terraces along our streets, and although yellow water ran along the curbs, forming tunnels beneath the snow, the banks themselves shrank reluctantly, and it had been known to snow cruelly in May. It was late June before the ground was firm enough for baseball, and by Labor Day the sun had already lost its conviction when the Mohawk Fair opened.
Apologies to my Michigan friends and family, but I thought this was a great description of the weather in Michigan.
I like all of Richard Russo's books that I've read. This one is my favorite, at least so far.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger
After reading Wolf Hall, like a chain smoker I put that book down and immediately picked up So Brave, Young and Handsome, which I'd bought earlier because I'd like Peace Like a River, by the same author. I loved it. Loved it, loved it.
It's very different from Wolf Hall, no historical fiction to it, no list of many characters or family trees, just a great story. In one of her movies, Katherine Hepburn says, "My, she was yar." That's how I felt after reading this book.
The main character is a writer, Monte Becket. He was a postman who wrote a book that became a bestseller so he quite his day job and thought he'd devote himself to writing. His first book was about a pony express rider and Monte Becket loves cowboys. At the beginning of the book he's realizing that he's not going to be able to write another book. He has a wife Susannah and a son Redstart. He can't bear to confess to Susannah that he's unable to write.
He becomes friends with a kind of mysterious man named Glendon Hale who builds beautiful rowboats. Glendon and Monte end up going on an adventure together, meeting up with other great characters including a boy who wants to become a cowboy and an ex-Pinkerton Detective.
I love the story and I love the writing. Here are a few quotes:
It's very different from Wolf Hall, no historical fiction to it, no list of many characters or family trees, just a great story. In one of her movies, Katherine Hepburn says, "My, she was yar." That's how I felt after reading this book.
The main character is a writer, Monte Becket. He was a postman who wrote a book that became a bestseller so he quite his day job and thought he'd devote himself to writing. His first book was about a pony express rider and Monte Becket loves cowboys. At the beginning of the book he's realizing that he's not going to be able to write another book. He has a wife Susannah and a son Redstart. He can't bear to confess to Susannah that he's unable to write.
He becomes friends with a kind of mysterious man named Glendon Hale who builds beautiful rowboats. Glendon and Monte end up going on an adventure together, meeting up with other great characters including a boy who wants to become a cowboy and an ex-Pinkerton Detective.
I love the story and I love the writing. Here are a few quotes:
"I'm afraid Franco is taciturn." "Well, disappointment comes to us all.")
"You authors, I mean--this world ain't no romance, in case you didn't notice." "So I am discovering," I replied...but now I am taking it back. I take issue with Royal, much as I came to like him; violent and doomed as this world might be, a romance it certainly is.
"...You were never in jail, I suppose." "Not yet." "Well, it ain't any good. You don't ever wake up and say to yourself, What a pretty day, I feel good today. No," he reflected, "a jail ain't nothing but a collection of corners."
"Of course it's been years, but I doubt forgiveness is the sort of fruit he cultivates."
At this we heard a sharp metallic lurch and Hood roared a string of impolite adjectives. He might even have cried a little. It wasn't his fault. I've looked under a car or two myself, since then--it's bedlam down there, no beginning no end, and a consequence for everything you touch.That's just from flipping through the first several chapters. I thought the book was enchanting.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The librarian at Sinaloa recommended Wolf Hall to me, and then so did several other people. It's about Thomas Cromwell, a novel but historical fiction.
When I first opened the book I was worried I might not be able to keep track of things. It starts with a list of characters and also some family trees. This is during Henry VII's time. I decided to read slowly and not skim things, which I often do otherwise, and so far so good (I'm a little over halfway through the book). The only thing that makes it a little difficult is that the author often doesn't use Cromwell's name as she's describing his actions, just "he" and since the sentence before often is about a different male person, I sometime realizes after several sentences that this must be Cromwell and not the other person. It's rather annoying. Why would she do that?
But, besides that minor complaint, I'm very much enjoying the book. The writing is good, and you really feel like you're in England in the 1500's. It's incredible what life was like then. It's horrible the way they burned people at the stake and tortured them in the Tower. She writes about Tyndale and Luther, not as main characters, but several people are killed or tortured because they have Tyndale's book in their possession. Sir Thomas More is rather obsessed with finding those people, it seems. How we take things for granted -- these people were killed for believing that we should be allowed to read the Bible in our own native language.
The peoples' belief in what the Roman Catholic church proclaims is also remarkable. It's a novel so you don't know how exactly right this is, but she writes about King Henry being very worried about whether he'll go to hell if he divorces his wife Katherine and marries Anne Boleyn, although that is most definitely what he plans to do. He, and those who are helping him, do all kinds of things to try to get the church to declare Henry was never married to Katherine in the first place. So far the book's been during that time -- when Henry's trying to get Anne Boleyn. Since I'm over halfway through, I wonder if it'll end when he finally does. The author is working on a sequel.
..............................
later addition
My sister wrote the following about this book. Thought it would be good input to include. She knows her stuff:
I liked Wolf Hall but I was disappointed at the portrayal of Thomas More. He may not have been as wonderful as he was portrayed in "A Man for All Seasons" (or maybe he was), but Hilary Mantel goes to the opposite extreme to make it seem like he really didn't have a redeeming feature--even his martyrdom was just showing off for his European fans. It seemed spiteful. I looked her up on Wikipedia and it seems she grew up in Catholic schools; maybe she's one who has turned against her upbringing.
From what I've read elsewhere, I could buy her portrayals of Anne Bolyn and Henry VIII.
I'm not sure I believe in her Jane Seymour, however. From what I've read, Jane Seymour did her best to turn Henry back toward Catholicism. She also did her best to bring his daughter Mary back into his favor, while trying to undo Anne Bolyn's legacy. On the other hand, her brother who was regent for her son, Edward VI, promoted more Protestant reforms than Henry VIII had ever implemented.
It was interesting to learn anything at all about Thomas Cromwell, the central character of the book. I'd read his name in reading biographies of other figures of the time, but never knew much about him. I was always curious if he was an ancestor of Oliver Cromwell. I looked that up too, and it seems Oliver Cromwell is a descendant of Thomas Cromwell's sister.
One thing I was dubious about as a part of Thomas Cromwell's life was the description of really brutal abuse by his father. It seems unlikely to me that someone whose dad beat him up regularly and neglected his education as described in this novel would grow up into the cultured, multi-lingual, Latin-speaking, and humane person Mantel shows Cromwell to be as an adult.
Just a few thoughts. And, below, a poem by Thomas Wyatt, reputed to be about Anne Bolyn.
When I first opened the book I was worried I might not be able to keep track of things. It starts with a list of characters and also some family trees. This is during Henry VII's time. I decided to read slowly and not skim things, which I often do otherwise, and so far so good (I'm a little over halfway through the book). The only thing that makes it a little difficult is that the author often doesn't use Cromwell's name as she's describing his actions, just "he" and since the sentence before often is about a different male person, I sometime realizes after several sentences that this must be Cromwell and not the other person. It's rather annoying. Why would she do that?
But, besides that minor complaint, I'm very much enjoying the book. The writing is good, and you really feel like you're in England in the 1500's. It's incredible what life was like then. It's horrible the way they burned people at the stake and tortured them in the Tower. She writes about Tyndale and Luther, not as main characters, but several people are killed or tortured because they have Tyndale's book in their possession. Sir Thomas More is rather obsessed with finding those people, it seems. How we take things for granted -- these people were killed for believing that we should be allowed to read the Bible in our own native language.
The peoples' belief in what the Roman Catholic church proclaims is also remarkable. It's a novel so you don't know how exactly right this is, but she writes about King Henry being very worried about whether he'll go to hell if he divorces his wife Katherine and marries Anne Boleyn, although that is most definitely what he plans to do. He, and those who are helping him, do all kinds of things to try to get the church to declare Henry was never married to Katherine in the first place. So far the book's been during that time -- when Henry's trying to get Anne Boleyn. Since I'm over halfway through, I wonder if it'll end when he finally does. The author is working on a sequel.
..............................
later addition
My sister wrote the following about this book. Thought it would be good input to include. She knows her stuff:
I liked Wolf Hall but I was disappointed at the portrayal of Thomas More. He may not have been as wonderful as he was portrayed in "A Man for All Seasons" (or maybe he was), but Hilary Mantel goes to the opposite extreme to make it seem like he really didn't have a redeeming feature--even his martyrdom was just showing off for his European fans. It seemed spiteful. I looked her up on Wikipedia and it seems she grew up in Catholic schools; maybe she's one who has turned against her upbringing.
From what I've read elsewhere, I could buy her portrayals of Anne Bolyn and Henry VIII.
I'm not sure I believe in her Jane Seymour, however. From what I've read, Jane Seymour did her best to turn Henry back toward Catholicism. She also did her best to bring his daughter Mary back into his favor, while trying to undo Anne Bolyn's legacy. On the other hand, her brother who was regent for her son, Edward VI, promoted more Protestant reforms than Henry VIII had ever implemented.
It was interesting to learn anything at all about Thomas Cromwell, the central character of the book. I'd read his name in reading biographies of other figures of the time, but never knew much about him. I was always curious if he was an ancestor of Oliver Cromwell. I looked that up too, and it seems Oliver Cromwell is a descendant of Thomas Cromwell's sister.
One thing I was dubious about as a part of Thomas Cromwell's life was the description of really brutal abuse by his father. It seems unlikely to me that someone whose dad beat him up regularly and neglected his education as described in this novel would grow up into the cultured, multi-lingual, Latin-speaking, and humane person Mantel shows Cromwell to be as an adult.
Just a few thoughts. And, below, a poem by Thomas Wyatt, reputed to be about Anne Bolyn.
Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, alas, I may no more;
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,
I am of them that furthest come behind.
Yet may I by no means my wearied mind
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore
Fainting I follow; I leave off therefore,
Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I, may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain,
There is written her fair neck round about,
"Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame."
Sunday, September 12, 2010
A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
How much do I love this book and movie? Oh my goodness, so much!
If I remember rightly, I think I saw the movie before reading the book and I fell in love with the movie. I don't know what year it was that I went to the movie. I think I went with Randy and my sister Jan. I remember we arrived late and had to sit so far in front we had to lay our heads on the seat backs to watch. When the chapter headings came up between scenes, I sometimes didn't have time to read what they said because I had to move my head from side to side to side to read all the words.
But what a great movie it was. First, it's British and I do love British movies. The stars are wonderful, too. Helena Bonham Carter is beautiful -- all that thick, long hair -- and so good as Lucy. I love her expressions and mannerisms. Her pettish look when Charlotte bothers her, her giggle when she sees Mr. Beebe by the pond, her disgust when her mother says she's just like Charlotte -- "to a T." The other actors, too. There's one scene that I just wait for, and all it is is a look. Lucy's mother and brother are sitting at the piano and both look out the window on Lucy and Cecil with such a look of *sigh*.
Another scene I love is when they're all in the carriages "and Italians drive them." The Reverend Mr. Eager kicks the driver's girlfriend off and Mr. Emerson says, "Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?" Classic.
I could go on and on. Much of the dialog in the movie comes straight out of the book. I love the book, too, and have read it several times, but in my mind's eye I see and hear the actors, scenery and rooms of the movie, and I feel my reading is all the better for it.
If I remember rightly, I think I saw the movie before reading the book and I fell in love with the movie. I don't know what year it was that I went to the movie. I think I went with Randy and my sister Jan. I remember we arrived late and had to sit so far in front we had to lay our heads on the seat backs to watch. When the chapter headings came up between scenes, I sometimes didn't have time to read what they said because I had to move my head from side to side to side to read all the words.
But what a great movie it was. First, it's British and I do love British movies. The stars are wonderful, too. Helena Bonham Carter is beautiful -- all that thick, long hair -- and so good as Lucy. I love her expressions and mannerisms. Her pettish look when Charlotte bothers her, her giggle when she sees Mr. Beebe by the pond, her disgust when her mother says she's just like Charlotte -- "to a T." The other actors, too. There's one scene that I just wait for, and all it is is a look. Lucy's mother and brother are sitting at the piano and both look out the window on Lucy and Cecil with such a look of *sigh*.
Another scene I love is when they're all in the carriages "and Italians drive them." The Reverend Mr. Eager kicks the driver's girlfriend off and Mr. Emerson says, "Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?" Classic.
I could go on and on. Much of the dialog in the movie comes straight out of the book. I love the book, too, and have read it several times, but in my mind's eye I see and hear the actors, scenery and rooms of the movie, and I feel my reading is all the better for it.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
My Life With the Saints by James Martin
The other night at a meeting Brad said he finds that when he reads books by some great theologians their message is: Read Scripture. Pray. Be in community.
There you go. In My Life With the Saints, James Martin writes about one saint per chapter. He writes them in the order that he "met" them in his life. In each chapter he tells about how the saint came to his attention and attracted him, then he writes the story of the saint, then he reflects on the saints' life and what he can see as he relates his life to that, and finally summarizes how and when he prays to that saint.
In the first chapter he writes about why he decided to write the book. He says he started researching and learning about the saints and "Gradually, I found myself growing fonder of these saints and developing a tenderness towards them. I began to see them as models of holiness relevant to contemporary believers, and to understand the remarkable ways that God works in the lives of individuals. Each saint was holy in his or her unique way, revealing how God celebrates individuality. As C.S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity, 'How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerors have been: how gloriously different are the saints.'" He quotes someone who says the saints are like "older brothers and sisters to whom one can look for advice and counsel." He says "Some might argue...that all you need is Jesus....But God in his wisdom has also given us these companions of Jesus to accompany us along the way, so why not accept the gift of their friendship and encouragement? ....Everything the saints say and do is centered on Christ and points us in his direction."
Over and over as I read about the saints, people so very much dedicated to living a life in Christ, I saw that in many cases it was not because of some spectacular contribution to mankind that they were saints. In fact, some of the saints lived secluded lives and performed menial tasks in a religious community. But, they read Scripture, prayed and were in community.
I'm sure I'll find the book again, and I am confident I'll re-read it.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez
Richard Rodriguez was a speaker at the Festival as well. He's an interesting man. He is an essayist. I was going to write, he's got lots of opinions. But that's kind of a dumb thing to say.
Anyway, this is a memoir. He and his family were immigrants from Mexico, and he grew up in the Sacramento area. He talks quite a bit about the experience of learning English after only speaking and knowing Spanish in his home. He writes about the intimacy of the language they use at home vs. the public language of English in school. The experience was very significant, maybe even traumatic for him. He talks about the guilt of hearing his parents' halting English, about losing his ability to speak easily in Spanish although he continued to understand it fine. He also talks about being a "scholarship boy," someone who doesn't fit in with the people around him.
Although the process of getting his education in a different language than he'd learned as a child was traumatic, Rodriguez is definitely not a proponent of bilingual education. He sees it as part of a "decade when middle-class ethnics began to resist the process of assimilation -- the American melting pot." This reminded me of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She talks about assimilating, too, and the need for Americans (and other countries) to have some beliefs and standards that people must agree to when they live in the country. It makes a lot of sense and I can see where speaking the language would need to be a part of that. I'm not so positive, though, that having some bilingual education would necessarily prevent the learning of English. I'd hope that it would be a gentler way to learn English. But it's true that the pendulum often swings too far.
I like the book. I haven't finished it yet but I plan to.
Anyway, this is a memoir. He and his family were immigrants from Mexico, and he grew up in the Sacramento area. He talks quite a bit about the experience of learning English after only speaking and knowing Spanish in his home. He writes about the intimacy of the language they use at home vs. the public language of English in school. The experience was very significant, maybe even traumatic for him. He talks about the guilt of hearing his parents' halting English, about losing his ability to speak easily in Spanish although he continued to understand it fine. He also talks about being a "scholarship boy," someone who doesn't fit in with the people around him.
Although the process of getting his education in a different language than he'd learned as a child was traumatic, Rodriguez is definitely not a proponent of bilingual education. He sees it as part of a "decade when middle-class ethnics began to resist the process of assimilation -- the American melting pot." This reminded me of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She talks about assimilating, too, and the need for Americans (and other countries) to have some beliefs and standards that people must agree to when they live in the country. It makes a lot of sense and I can see where speaking the language would need to be a part of that. I'm not so positive, though, that having some bilingual education would necessarily prevent the learning of English. I'd hope that it would be a gentler way to learn English. But it's true that the pendulum often swings too far.
I like the book. I haven't finished it yet but I plan to.
Peace Shall Destroy Many be Rudy Wiebe
I got this at the Festival of Faith & Writing. I've started it but I'm not very motivated to keep going. I'll try to get back to it.
It feels a little slow moving and heavy. It reminds me of some pioneer books I've read before. Not just the story of a pioneer but the thoughts and struggles.
It's about Mennonites.
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later addition
Kind of funny. I didn't finish this book and I also didn't finish this blog. Couldn't get through the book. It just seemed too slow.
It feels a little slow moving and heavy. It reminds me of some pioneer books I've read before. Not just the story of a pioneer but the thoughts and struggles.
It's about Mennonites.
------------
later addition
Kind of funny. I didn't finish this book and I also didn't finish this blog. Couldn't get through the book. It just seemed too slow.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L. Carter
I heard Stephen Carter at the Festival of Faith & Writing, too. He was very interesting and articulate. I read his book The Culture of Disbelief quite a while ago. I know I liked it but I can't remember details, I'll have to find it and re-read it.
The Emperor of Ocean Park is a mystery. His mysteries involve politics somehow, and upper middle class black families. I'm only about 1/4 of the way into the book and I like it so far. The writing is excellent, and it's interesting. A member of my book club said that she likes the book but not the main character. Often if I don't like the main character, I don't like the book. I can see why this main character, Talcott Garland, may not be that likeable. So far he seems a little, I don't know, selfish maybe. But I'm still enjoying the book.
A review from the Washington Post on Amazon.com says (about another of his mysteries):
So I'll keep that in mind.
Talcott Garland is a law professor. He's married to a lawyer who is trying to become some kind of political judge. They have one child. Talcott's father dies near the beginning of the book and I'm up to the funeral. Talcott's sister has suggested that their father was murdered but Talcott's not convinced yet.
The Emperor of Ocean Park is a mystery. His mysteries involve politics somehow, and upper middle class black families. I'm only about 1/4 of the way into the book and I like it so far. The writing is excellent, and it's interesting. A member of my book club said that she likes the book but not the main character. Often if I don't like the main character, I don't like the book. I can see why this main character, Talcott Garland, may not be that likeable. So far he seems a little, I don't know, selfish maybe. But I'm still enjoying the book.
A review from the Washington Post on Amazon.com says (about another of his mysteries):
But let's be honest: No one should read a Carter novel for the mystery.
We know by now that the author is only partly concerned with whodunit; he'd rather ponder why any of us does the things we do -- especially the bad things. For instance, we know it's wrong to cheat, lie, steal or wound, and yet hardly a day passes in which most of us don't commit at least one of these transgressions on some scale. Human weakness is troubling, fascinating stuff, and Carter has spent much of his career plumbing its depths.
So I'll keep that in mind.
Talcott Garland is a law professor. He's married to a lawyer who is trying to become some kind of political judge. They have one child. Talcott's father dies near the beginning of the book and I'm up to the funeral. Talcott's sister has suggested that their father was murdered but Talcott's not convinced yet.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Eat This Book by Eugene Peterson
I saw Eugene Peterson at the Festival of Faith & Writing. What a wise man he seems to be. He wrote The Message Bible which is an amazing thing. I would have thought that was written by a group of people. Imagine sitting down and rewriting the entire Bible!
This book, Eat This Book, is about reading the Bible, "A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading." I have not finished it yet but it's good. It is written in a very conversational style. The title is based on a verse in Revelation where an angel tells John to take a book and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey."
I've just started the part where Peterson is writing about Lectio Divina. I've participated in some of that in a group but have not tried it myself. I'm eager to read what he says about it. He is trying to be practical and really describe what to do.
In one part he wrote about praying after reading the Bible and asking, "How can I obey?" I'm reading a devotional that has a short passage for each day. Last night's passage was the parable about an enemy planting weeds among the seeds a farmer had planted (not the one where there's different soils). In the parable the farmer sees the weeds and decides not to take them out because he may mistakenly take out the good with the bad. He says he'll separate them at harvest. When I prayed after, it seemed to me the way I could obey was to continue to grow strong in the Lord regardless of the "weeds" around me. A kind of simple answer but not simple to do.
This book, Eat This Book, is about reading the Bible, "A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading." I have not finished it yet but it's good. It is written in a very conversational style. The title is based on a verse in Revelation where an angel tells John to take a book and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey."
I've just started the part where Peterson is writing about Lectio Divina. I've participated in some of that in a group but have not tried it myself. I'm eager to read what he says about it. He is trying to be practical and really describe what to do.
In one part he wrote about praying after reading the Bible and asking, "How can I obey?" I'm reading a devotional that has a short passage for each day. Last night's passage was the parable about an enemy planting weeds among the seeds a farmer had planted (not the one where there's different soils). In the parable the farmer sees the weeds and decides not to take them out because he may mistakenly take out the good with the bad. He says he'll separate them at harvest. When I prayed after, it seemed to me the way I could obey was to continue to grow strong in the Lord regardless of the "weeds" around me. A kind of simple answer but not simple to do.
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen
I am loving this book. It's cracking me up! I heard about, and saw, this writer at the Festival of Faith & Writing. It's a memoir. She grew up in a Mennonite family, moved on to live outside the Mennonite community, and then went home after her husband left her and she had a bad car accident.
She writes in a very witty way. I wish I could talk and write that way. Here's an excerpt. She is writing about after coming home from the hospital with a catheter, and planning a shopping trip with her friend.
And so it was that I sallied forth into public carrying my pee bag in an aqua patent tote, shopping with urinous enthusiasm...And less than a week later my doctors upgraded me to the kind of pee bag you strap on with Velcro around your leg, under your skit, like a nasty secret. I taught for half the semester like that. And dang, I'm here to tell you that when it's ninety degrees outside, nothing reminds you of your own mortality like a steaming hot bag of urine hugging your thigh.
I'm happy to report that I made a full recovery from the netherworld of tube and clamp...Whereas before I had taken for granted my miraculous ability to run without wetting my leg, I now silently praised my bladder, "Good show! You're holding up great in there honey!" I'd sneeze and think, Bravo! You have achieved true excellence, my friendly little sphincter!
Some parts where she writes about her mother made me laugh out loud until I cried. I'm not finished yet and I'm not looking forward to being finished. Always the sign of a good book.
Imperfect Birds by Anne Lamott
Good book. It's a story of a family with a daughter, Rosie, in high school who gets into drugs. The mom and dad have to figure out how to handle it. Rosie excels at academics and is great with kids, but she lies repeatedly about where she is and what she's doing.
The characters are in a previous novel, according to what I've read. She's got a novel called Rosie so I imagine that's the one. I need to go back and re-read it.
I liked this book. It's not funny or sad, it's just a good story, well written. It felt real, the way the parents reacted, what the mother was thinking. The end does not tie everything up but it still felt like a decent ending. You don't know what's going to happen, you hope for the best.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Last night one of my book clubs met to discuss Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. We all liked the book.
It's about twins who were conjoined at the head and separated after birth, born in a hospital in Addis Ababa to an Indian nun. They were brought up by an Indian couple living and working at the hospital.
We wondered about the name. "Cutting for stone" is in the Hippocratic oath so we knew that was part of the reason for it but we weren't sure what the phrase actually means. One member said it meant quarrying, searching for something, which made sense.
Our discussion drifted when we started talking about the way the two boys in the novel would fall asleep with their heads touching, as they'd been in the womb. We started talking about sleeping with our siblings and having our kids join us in bed. My kids all learned to go to Randy's side of the bed because I couldn't take their wiggling around and bumping me.
We all liked the character Ghosh a lot. He was like the boys' father, although not their biological father. He was a rock, everyone could rely on him and he always had sage advice.
I recommend this one, too.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
So, it's been forever since I've written, but I'm going to try again. I won't try to go back and do all the books I've read since my last post, but I'll do a couple anyway.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett is a very good book I read for a couple of my book clubs. It's set in Mississippi (how fun is it to write that, thinking "M-i-crooked letter-crooked letter-i-crooked letter-crooked letter-humpback-humpback-i"?) right at the beginning of the civil rights movement. Three women are the "voices" in the book. One is a young white woman who wants to be a writer and decides to write the stories of the black women in the town. The other two are two of the black women.
I was afraid it'd be more of that Southern women's book kind of stuff but it really wasn't. The women's voices seemed genuine, and it felt like you kind of got in their heads. The women served as maids/housekeepers and also nannys. There was definitely a comment on the way that these women were trusted so implicitly with such an important task as raising the family's children, yet they were not allowed, in some cases, to use the same bathroom facilities. And then those children grew up to have servants of their own.
I recommend it.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Saturday, August 08, 2009
A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffet
My book club at work, the Pivot Book Club, decided to read a book by Jimmy Buffet and chose this one. I'd describe it as okay. It was kind of fun as an escapist read; you got that I'm-on-a-tropical-island feeling. But even that meant suspending disbelief in a big way for me -- I hate humid heat and I know how miserable I am in places like Florida, so I kept thinking, "This sounds beautiful but I bet if I were there I'd be all sticky and hot and crabby."
One other member, Sherri, read the book and pretty much felt the same way about it -- okay but not compelling. It was kind of like a series of short stories, which he writes, too. And I felt it had a real man's voice to it. Not that that's bad but to me it felt almost like what you'd hear men talking to men about.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. Although it's not really the same, as I began it I thought this was kind of like when I read Anne of Green Gables for the first time. The story was so good. I was reading every word - no skimming, as I often do when there are descriptions or long passages not central to the plot. After that thought came to me, it occurred to me that might mean something sad was going to happen, as when Matthew died. When I read Green Gables I had no idea it was coming and it was the first book that made me cry.
Something sad does happen, several times. But even though it's not a happy story, it's a good one. It's a nice, thick book and one where I didn't want it to end.
The main character is Edgar, who is growing up on a farm owned by his parents. They raise a particular breed of dog that Edgar's grandfather began, based on breeding for an ideal dog, not a show dog. Edgar is born with no voice. He can hear but can't speak. The doctors don't know why. When I read that in the summaries and reviews I was afraid I wouldn't like the book. It sounded too odd. But I was wrong.
It was a good thing I didn't read what some wrote, that it was part ghost story. That would've turned me off. But when those scenes happened, they didn't seem out of place. In that way it reminded me of Leif Enger's book, Peace Like a River.
And, really, it's not just a story of a boy and his dogs. Not at all. All the characters are so well drawn. And you really are IN the book. You see his life, the characters, the setting.
I guess I can't really write too much about the story or I'll give a lot away. I liked the book very much.
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