Summer Reading 2013

The Grass is Singing, by Doris Lessing

First Line:  Mary Turner, wife of Richard Turner, a farmer at Ngesi, was found murdered on the front veranda of their homestead yesterday.

"Because he had never yet earned his own living, he thought entirely in abstractions.  For instance, he had the conventionally "progressive" ideas about the color bar, the superficial progressiveness of the idealist that seldom survives a conflict with self-interest."

The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne

First line:  The evening before my departure for Blithedale, I was returning to my bachelor-apartments, after attending the wonderful exhibition of the Veiled Lady, when an elderly-man of rather shabby appearance met me in an obscure part of the street.

Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi

First line:  Kweku dies barefoot on a Sunday before sunrise, his slippers by the doorway to the bedroom like dogs.

The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham

First line:  She gave a startled cry.

Narrative of Sojouner Truth

First line:  The subject of this biography, Sojourner Truth, as she now calls herself, but whose name originally was Isabella, was the daughter of James and Betsey, slaves of one Col. Ardinburgh, Jurle, Ulster County, N.Y.

The Herbfarm Cookbook by Jerry Traunfeld

First line:  If you're learning to cook with fresh herbs, you'll do well by starting with soups, for in a soup everything is told in a single spoonful.

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

First line:  Then there was the bad weather.

Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington

First line: The patient, an old-fashioned man, thought the nurse made a mistake in keeping both of the windows open, and her sprightly disregard of his protests added something to his hatred of her.

Psychopath Test

Anyone read the Psychopath Test by the same author who wrote Men who Stare at Goats? It's a really intersting book that meanders through the land of crazy. It starts a little slow, and the writing style of the author is more like a journal than a typical non-fiction book. However, its a good read!

PS - I'm not if anyone is still following this blog. I'm posting this in part to see if anyone is interested in continuing this blog.

Library Sells Off Good Stock Real Cheap

It's a little hard to see, but those are 25 cents stickers on three promising books. If only I could read as fast as I buy. Check out these first sentences:

THE BOOK OF LAUGHTER AND FORGETTING by Milan Kundera
In February 1948, the communist leader Klement Gottwald stepped out on the balcony of a Baroque palace in Prague to harangue hundereds of thousands of citizens massed in Old Town Square.

THE NEW MEANING OF TREASON by Rebecca West
The idea of a traitor first became real to the British of our time when they heard the voice of William Joyce on the radio during the war.

UTTERLY MONKEY by Nick Laird
Moving is easy.

Okay, maybe they're not that gripping, but I have high hopes for these.

Some Summer Reading

First sentences:

THE NAME OF THE WORLD by Denis Johnson
Since my early teens I've associated everything to do with college, "the academic life," with certain images born towards me, I suppose, from the TV screen, in particular from the films of the 1930's they used to broadcast relentlessly when I was a boy, and especially from a single scene: Fresh-faced young people come in from autumn night to stand around the fireplace in the home of a beloved professor.

This was a Pen/Faulkner Award finalist, but I picked it up because I noticed that the author lives in Bonner's Ferry, ID. I might have liked this story of a middle aged man grieving the loss of his wife and daughter more at a different time in my life. Found myself skimming.

THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING by Milan Kundera
The idea of eternal return is a mysterious one, and Nietzsche has often perplexed other philosophers with it: to think that everything recurs as we once experienced it, and that the recurrence itself recurs ad infinitum!
Funny, but reading that first sentence I am suprised how much I loved, loved, LOVED this book.

A HOUSE FOR MR. BISWAS by V.S. Naipaul

Ok, sorry, but I returned this to the library before I wrote down the 1st sentence. I think it was a pretty good one, too. This is yet another book I didn't finish, but would like to sometime. I actually was enjoying it but have too many other things I want to read for upcoming discussions.

THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE by Muriel Spark
The boys, as they talked to the girls from Marcia Blaine School, stood on the far side of their bicycles holding the handlebars, which established a protective fence of bicycle between the sexes, and the impression that at any moment the boys were likely to be away.

I've got to try some more Muriel Spark. This is good writing. I have the distinct memory of lying on my bedroom floor in Mich reading this as a teenager and being very impressed. I don't reread too many books, but I've forgotten most of the details and only remember the feeling. And it's a July discussion choice.

DROWN by Junot Diaz
We were on our way to the colmado for an errand, a beer for my tio, when Rafa stood still and tilted his head, as if listening to a message I couldn't hear, something beamed in from afar.

That's the first sentence from the first of 10 short storis, Ysrael. They are all good.

THE BOY NEXT DOOR by Irene Sabatini
Two days after I turned fourteen the son of our neighbor set his stepmother alight.

This was a May discussion book, but I'm finally getting around to it. I've been doing far too much suduko, and not enough reading lately. So far, I like it. It's set in Zimbabwe soon after independence was gained.

Go Down, Moses

I'm only a few stories into Go Down, Moses but I'm enjoying it. There's a bit of the Brer Rabbit feel to it. Something about this Faukner that I really like.

Book Quote

From Google's Quote of the Day:

Books have the same enemies as people: fire, humidity, animals, weather, and their own content.
- Paul Valery

Interesting Cover Choices

I confess I didn't read this book. It just happened to make me laugh out loud in a coffee shop while perusing one person's selection of
Bookcovers that are just plain wrong.

Life Is Like Smoking

excerpt from drunken conversation under mosquito netting:

"Before I was twenty, I mean, I used to think that life was a thing that kept gaining impetus. It would get richer and deeper each year. You kept learning more, getting wiser, having more insight, going further into the truth-" She hesitated.

Port laughed abruptly. "And now you know it's not like that. Right? It's more like smoking a cigarette. The first few puffs it tastes wonderful, and you don't even think of its ever being used up. Then you begin taking it for granted. Suddenly you realize it's nearly burned down to the end. And then's when you're conscious of the bitter taste."

Ok, I lied

Though I had every intention of reading the book I last wrote about, this other book sauntered up to me, and I read it instead. don't blame me, blame this little tart of a book.

Maybe you have heard of Clever Hans, the "educated horse" that was exposed as a fraud. Well, Jim Key was a horse owned by William Key. He became a media sensation who toured the country around the turn of the 20th century. He did "tricks" including spelling names, adding, making change, and picking up a silver dollar from the bottom of a pail full of water. It is part biography. part social history, and just a very fun book to read.

William Key had a gift of being able to work with animals from a very young age, he had already made a small fortune in the patent medicine biz from the liniment he invented(it could be used by horses or people) by the time Jim Key became a superstar.

Lots of fascinating details are given about William Keys life, including his time in the Civil War looking out for the sons of his "owner", to how he toured the south with his medicine show(which included minstrels), how he became a self-taught vet and a racetrack owner. All of this in central Tennesee.

Jim Key was a sickly colt. William Key's workers at one point begged him to put him down, but he could not of course. He was too soft-hearted. One day Jim, who followed William everywhere like a dog, fetched a stick that was thrown for one of the dogs. William then started to train Jim, and took him on tour with the medicine show. They attracted the attention of a promoter, and within a short time they were on the way to stardom. Jim was used to help promote the humane movement, and was part of a Be Kind to Animals pledge taken by school children.

Though you might not be convinced of any reasoning abilities that Jim possessed, you would be convinced of the almost other-worldly bond between an above-average horse and his caretaker.

This will be the next book I read

I saw him on The Daily Show, and was just taken with this author. He built a windmill in his village from scrap parts, with a library book as instructor, while his country of Malawi was in unrest and famine, when he was 14 years old.

Some Horses

Entertaining essays on horses and horsemen, the author concentrates mostly on ranch and cutting horses. He lives in Montana and even though he is a successful writer, he also competes in cutting horse competitions all over the west. Horse lovers will like the book of course, but even if you are not that attracted to horses, you may really appreciate the author's dry wit and humorous descriptions. I have read a number of his novels as well and really enjoyed them.

eat, pray, love

I did not really think I would like this book as much as I did, but once I started it, I read it in just 2 nights. Mostly I was jealous of the author. As a successful writer, and even after a financially disastrous divorce, she was able to take 1 year to go to 3 places and look into things for herself. Her writing style in very engaging, and she is unafraid to delve into the heart of the matter she was dealing with. In Italy she eats, and eats, and eats. With no thought to weight gain, she just eats. Her descriptions of the food make you just wish you were there, eating whatever she is eating. She also wants to learn Italian, just because she always wanted to. Of course she also meets people ( it does seem her primary focus is on the eating, she also had a rather heart-breaking love-affair on the heels of the divorce. She just fills her heart with food of the real kind, as a healing agent.) Then it is off to India to be in real-life ashram.(she had met a guru, while she was with her lover) This part seems like it could be really cheesy, but her candor and honestly about the experience come through, and it gave me insights into what undertaking that experience could be like. For the last part she goes to Bali, again to study with someone, an old medicine man (who she also met when she was with her lover), the Bali part of the story is filled with people she meets and hangs out with. This part gathers up the insights from her previous experiences, it is filled with wonderfully descripive anecdotes and insights. I like to read memoirs and travel books, and I would count this as one of my favorites.

King Arthur

Has anyone read John Steinbeck's retelling of Mallory's King Arthur stories? He never finished the retelling of these tales. However, what he did was mostly really good even though they were only first and second drafts. Steinbeck said that he translated Mallory into modern english before writing his version. I think some of this book was his translation only of Mallory, and some was his re-telling of these stories. He seemed to understand the original stories, which Mallory re-told hundreds of years after they were originally told and written.

A large part of the book was Steinbeck's letters to his editor and publisher. These letters were as interesting as his stories. He discussed mythology and story telling.

I'd love to hear from others who read this book, and know if there are any other good translations of Mallory and other Arthurian stories.

Not Dead Yet

I had given up on this blog, and thought perhaps it was time to retire it.

I changed my mind.

I'm not ready to write this one off just yet. It's true that my Goodreads obsession has sort of filled the void, but my cousin said she had taken a lot of pictures of books that she would be willing to post. I too have some ideas for posts, such as "Pulitzers You can Take to the Beach."

Killing the White Man's Indian

By Fergus M. Bordewich...
a recent find at, of all places, the Peace River Center Thrift Shoppe.
I really enjoyed this one and learned some Native American history that I was unaware of. The author explored a variety of issues, including history, racial identity, reparations, tribal sovereignty.Of these I have always been intrigued most by the concept of tribal sovereignty. There are so many shades to how it can work. The work was well researched with lots of examples of how different tribes have lived and survived. There are heartbreaking stories as well. It is a topic that I wish more people would read about.

Reading About Reading

In my quest to talk about books, I have ended up reading about what other people are saying about them. This new hobby takes so much time I don't seem to have any left for reading books. I added a new link in "more things i read." I like her reviews and also Books 4 Breakfast has a long list of literary links that could keep a person blog hopping for days.

Moving Into the Book Club World

I've joined a couple of book clubs from goodreads.com. I've ordered one book, but think I'll go back to One Million Books at the Gadsden Mall to see if I can pick up the Delillo one. I've never read him before, so I might as well. Maybe having a couple of books going will keep me from turning on the TV. Last night I watched parts of 4 movies flicking through channels and woke up feeling gross.

Oh Where Have All My Favorite Blogs Gone?

I recently added Elyse Sewell's Live Journal to my list "more things I read." She takes great pictures of food. I found her through Sassmaster and used to visit occassionally.

I feel the need to beef up my list, because it has gotten shorter due to the discontinuation of some and to the new trend of making blogs private. My Tango Year and Superblogmuch were old favorites of mine, but I missed the invitation list. Joe had a good explanation for making his Appalachian Trail adventure private, but I have not heard any reasons from the others. I hope it's not because of annoying spammers. Anybody know what's up with this unsettling trend? Synonym Master, got any for "trend?"

Talking With Ghosts in Mexico

Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo is an odd little book that I liked a lot. It begins with a son travelling to the village of his birth to meet his father to fulfill his dying mother's request. You think it's going to go one direction, and then it goes somewhere else. Even after you get used to most of the characters being ghosts and you start to get a hang of the time jumping, you have to pay close attention in order to keep up.

The book came out in Mexico in 1955 and was not particularly well received. While he'd written a book of short stories prior to Pedro Paramo, Rulfo never wrote another book. He did live to see it gain popularity and be credited with beginning the movement of Magical Realism. (I would credit that source, but I've already lost track of it.) I was kind of suprised by this because I think everything I ever read by a latin american author had surreal qualities. Maybe they were all later than 1955. I find myself wondering what Rulfo did for a living since he wasn't writing books. Looks like a trip to Wikepedia.

According to reviews, the later translation is far superior to the one I read which was translated by Lysander Kemp. I still liked the book a lot. I would even consider reading it again, but only because it is so short besides being good.

Betrayal and Heartbreak In Senegal

I picked up this book last fall in Laramie when I was knocking around town with Erika before our climbing adventures in Grand Junction and Moab. It appealed to me because it was only 89 pages long. I thought it would be a good book for the road, but I couldn't seem to concentrate well enough for it. Being lightweight helped it make the cut and the moves from SD, MI, FL, and MI again. Being sick in a motel room in Alabama allowed me the quiet I seemed to need to read it. I'm glad I did.

The book, So Long a Letter, by Mariama Ba, translated by Modupe Bode-Thomas, is written in epistolary style. It takes place in Senegal, I would guess in the late 1970's. Ramatoulaye, a recent widow, writes a very long letter to her lifelong friend, Aissatou.

From the first page:

If over the years, and passing through the realities of life, dreams die, I still keep intact my memories, the salt of remembrance.

I conjure you up. The past is reborn, along with its procession of emotions. I close my eyes. Ebb and tide of feeling: heat and dazzlement, the woodfires, the sharp green mango, bitten into in turns, a delicacy in our greedy mouths. I close my eyes. Ebb and tide of images drops of sweat beading your mother's ochre-coloured face as she emerges from the kitchen, the procession of young wet girls chattering on the way back from the springs.

We walked the same paths from adolesence to maturity, where the past begets the present.

My friend, my friend, my friend, I call on you three times.

Both women were educated, professionals married to men they loved. Both had their lives torn apart by polygamy. Their situations were not the same and their reactions differed.

Reviews of this book point out the highlighting of the inequality of women in Senegalese society and the mixing of european and traditional values. It does do this, but the real strength of the book is in the very human quality of the characters. They seem like real people with distinctive personalities, strengths and foibles. They are not cardboard cutouts used to make a point. In fact, I had sympathy for everyone, even the dweeb who abandoned his wife and 12 children to chase a young skirt, who happened to be his oldest daughter's best friend. Ok, I didn't have any sympathy for one particularly treacherous mother-in-law, and I did despise the mother that more or less sold her daughter off to the old guy, but I did have sympathy for her.

It was a good read and got me thinking about human relations in general and how life doesn't necessarily turn out how one expects, but how worth it it is.