false <![CDATA[Ship Fever]]> 92267 4 In 1764, two Englishwomen set out to prove that swallows--contrary to the great Linnaeus's belief--do not hibernate underwater. But they must be patient and experiment in secret, such actions being inappropriate for the female of the species. In 1862, a hopeless naturalist heads off for yet another journey, though he can't seem to rid his conscience of the thousands of animals that have already died in his service. In 1971, a pregnant young woman, ill at ease with her socially superior husband and his stepchildren, hears of a Tierra del Fuegan taken hostage by the commander of the <i>Beagle</i> in 1835. This unwilling specimen was, we read, "captured, exiled, re-educated; then returned, abused by his family, finally re-accepted. Was he happy? Or was he saying that as a way to spite his captors? Darwin never knew." <P> Many of the characters who populate Andrea Barrett's National Book Award-winning collection, <i>Ship Fever</i>, feel similarly displaced in the world. They long to prove themselves in both science and love, but are often thwarted by gender, social position, or the prevailing order. In "The Behavior of the Hawkweeds," the wife of a genetics professor has learned that each narrative of discovery is matched by one, if not more, "in which science is not just unappreciated, but bent by loneliness and longing." Barrett's astonishing tales of ambition and isolation convey the meaning and feeling behind the patterns--scientific and emotional--but slip free of easy closure. The two women in "Rare Bird," like the swallows, depart England for more conducive climes, or so the brother of one believes. The reader is left to hope, and imagine. Much has been made of Andrea Barrett's interlacing of history, knowledge, and fact--and rightly so. But equal attention should be paid to the brilliant serenity and exactitude of her style. <i>--Kerry Fried</i> 88991 1 12 1996 Ship Fever total:502|5:150|4:229|3:95|2:22|1:6| 502 2001 732 103 4 1 false false Fri Apr 04 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Nov 21 07:42:13 -0800 2007 Tue Apr 08 07:13:26 -0700 2008 The Air We Breathe as some of the same characters are in both books. This is a book of short stories. The title story takes place in 1847 and is based on a real event. The potato famine in Ireland has forced many of its starving citizens to...more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 12:32:49 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 12:43:05 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 2 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 18 08:37:22 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 18 08:37:26 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Jul 05 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 05 06:44:02 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 05 06:56:01 -0700 2008
I wanted so much for the vignettes to be connected by something more than the myriad ways in which good people fail as scien...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Mon Mar 03 07:15:36 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 03 07:21:35 -0800 2008 ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu May 17 19:22:00 -0700 2007 Thu May 17 19:39:32 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 05 10:49:44 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 06 18:11:09 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 12:16:59 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 12:16:59 -0800 2009 ...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Jun 22 10:42:31 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 21 10:04:09 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Fri Sep 28 02:47:12 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 30 05:57:51 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Jun 15 04:41:06 -0700 2007 Fri Jun 15 04:42:49 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Sep 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 10:29:59 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 10:38:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jun 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 02 06:04:45 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 16:52:25 -0700 2009 fourth culture that would put science and the humanities in productive conversation. There's plenty of art that does this, for example, the work of Steve Kurtz or Eduardo Kac. I know of some literature that does this too, and not only Paradise Lost: Richard ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Jun 04 04:25:37 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 00:10:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Nov 12 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 17 01:14:43 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 17 01:56:37 -0800 2008 A fellow bus-rider lent me this book to break up the non-fiction I wasn't getting through in my reading (slow reading? non-reading?) of Democracy in America. I tore through it in a couple of days; really couldn't put it down!


Author Andrea Barrett includes several short stories in this volume,...

more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Sep 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 09 08:59:06 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 02 11:35:46 -0700 2008 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 06 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Aug 12 08:54:43 -0700 2008 Sat Dec 06 11:13:21 -0800 2008 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Nov 04 20:39:48 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 06 20:53:32 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu May 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 18:39:54 -0700 2009 Fri May 08 06:30:48 -0700 2009 Voyage of the Narwhal, I picked up a couple more books by Andrea Barrett, including this collection of short stories. I loved it! Most of the stories again centered around science and naturalism in its early days, a topic which I find fascinating. Well written, these stories fru...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 17 14:19:35 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 17 14:23:00 -0700 2009 more...]]>